This post was originally featured in two parts on Spokane FAVS in Summer 2013.
Earlier this summer, I returned from an overwhelming, surprising, and enlightening trip to what I apolitically call “The Holy Land.” This seems to be a good way to avoid a political discussion when it’s appropriate to do so by avoiding the words “Palestine”, “Israel”, “the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories,” and so on. I traveled with an organization called Interfaith Peace-Builders in a group made up of different denominations of Christians (largely Lutheran), secular and religious Jews, one Muslim, at least one confirmed Atheist and a sprinkling of spiritually connected but non-religious folks like me. We came to the journey from different entry points; some were already immersed in activism supporting human rights and equality for all through the BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement and other avenues, while others who were neutral on the issue simply wanted to learn more. Some were looking to explore another side and question their Zionist beliefs which they were raised with in church, politics and home.
Though the conflict between the state of Israel and the displaced Palestinian people is often characterized as a religious one, I found that religion was only one aspect of an incredibly complex and multifaceted issue. The basic premise of Israel — that the Jewish people need a state of their own in order to protect themselves from the possibility of another Holocaust — was first linked to religion when early Zionists (pre-WWII) chose this region to “settle” based on religious text and geographical references in the Old Testament. While the region is a historic homeland for many Jews, the same is true for the Arabs living there, known as Palestinians. Religious imagery is also invoked on the flag, which appears around every corner in Israel and the more ‘Judaized’ areas of the West Bank.
Judaization is the process by which the bantustans and rural areas of the West Bank are slowly and illegally annexed by the state of Israel. Jewish people from anywhere in the world are encouraged to help in the project by moving into these illegal, but very comfortable settlements. Their housing is subsidized by the state and many incentives are offered for becoming a settler, so the program attracts young families, immigrants and people struggling economically. In general, this program has been effective in engineering a Jewish majority in more and more communities in order to ensure the success of a “democratic” Jewish-only state.
My group met Jonathan Cook in Nazareth, one place where the settlement and Judaization campaign is visually apparent and overtly carried out by the local government. He took us on a walking tour of Nazareth Illit, the separate municipality set up on the hills above Nazareth and explained the goals of settlements in general: containment and isolation, redistribution of resources, and surveillance. Like almost all settlement communities, Nazareth Illit is built upon the hilltops surrounding the city of Nazareth. This has a strategic and psychological effect on those living below; the state and its racist agenda have the literal high ground and a physical, daily reminder to those underneath about where they stand. Cook summed up the inherent racism in Israel’s model, saying, “Israel is a democratic state for Jews, and a Jewish state for everyone else.”
The reason that Nazareth is currently being heavily targeted with this Judaization campaign is twofold. First, Nazareth is seen as a political threat by establishment Israel due to its large majority of Arab citizens and unusually large Palestinian middle class. Second, Christian tourism in Jesus’ childhood backyard, rife with holy sites, is a huge economic factor for the city and fuel for the aforementioned middle class. The state does not want to miss out on an opportunity to capitalize upon this industry, especially if it can simultaneously work to engineer a Jewish majority in such an important strategic location.
The darker side of Zionist expansion into the West Bank (the action which makes a “two-state solution” geographically impossible) can be seen in Hebron, a city south of Jerusalem with a population of about 200,000 Arab Palestinians and 800 Jews. As with any specific area of this region, observers and students can trace the ownership and control back for many generations and can argue endlessly over what a friend calls, “Who did what to whom first,” but this dance around does little to further understanding of what happens today and even less to promote reconciliation and peace. The challenge presented is a complex one: to understand history’s broad sweep without becoming entangled in the endless debate above and to suss out the truth among competing narratives. Narratives that I saw can be internally consistent and factually wrong at the same time.
The internally consistent narrative is an important concept to grasp if one wants to understand, as we all did on my delegation, how such horrific acts as child arrests, torture and land desecration can be justified through religion. The best example of a group employing and projecting their own narrative can be found in Hebron’s Jewish community. We met with their official spokesman, David Wilder, a New Jersey-born immigrant who arrived in Israel in 1974. He, as many of his fellow settlers in Hebron do, carries a loaded Glock on his hip and in his introduction to our group casually mentioned, “…that if you really disagree with me, that’s why I carry a gun.”
David Wilder took us on a tour of the newly finished museum dedicated to Hebron’s Jewish heritage, which focuses on various acts of violence done to Jews there and their triumph over them, which in his narrative, lead to the reality today. In his words, Hebron is a Jewish city being “occupied” by 200,000 Arab Palestinians. This objectively absurd claim is backed up in his version of events by the geographic anomaly presented here. As Wilder shared with us, almost all settlement communities are built up around the outside of existing villages, towns and cities, but Hebron’s have expanded into the shape of a donut — starting with the “donut hole” in the center of town bordering the important religious site The Tomb of the Patriarchs. The marketplace itself was invaded and taken by the small community backed by the army. The few Arab vendors who remain today do so as an act of symbolic resistance and at great personal risk.
The absurdly violent acts which are commonplace in Hebron are justified by religious zealotry. The idea that God has chosen these specific people to live on this specific land is used to justify murder, harassment and injury of children on their way to school, rampant vandalism and random violence, including throwing of acid and chunks of rubble down onto the vendors below the settlement’s “reclaimed” housing. Wilder speaks for the community when he says, “God says to, ‘Make war for this land. Conquer this land.’ And so I do.” This so-called holy war has resulted in a huge influx of soldiers (three per settler in Hebron for a total of about 2,500) and an escalation of violence.
In Hebron, we visited The Tomb of the Patriarchs where Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah are buried. It is now divided in an unfortunate metaphor for the entire region. Isaac’s family’s tomb resides on one side of the main building in the Ibrahimi Mosque and visiting pilgrims go through a security checkpoint to enter. Jacob’s family rests in the other half of the structure, which has been converted to a synagogue. Jews, Christians and Muslims alike peer into a cage-like structure visible from both sides but surrounded by bulletproof glass to see the mouth of the cave where Abraham is buried.
This political situation, often described as ‘intractable’ due to religious and political extremism, racism, greed, and historical violence certainly does look dim from Hebron. The good news is that this spring, 33 people (including me) witnessed these acts and met with these people and then returned to the U.S., where we can share what we’ve seen with our communities, congregations, families and friends. Thousands more have been on some type of political pilgrimage to the region over recent years. The even better news is that people of conscience all over the world are standing up against what can only be described as apartheid in the Holy Land. During 11 days alone, I was able to meet inspirational Arab, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, atheist, feminist, anarchist and every other stripe of activists (not to mention the children) and they helped me to see the possibility for peace.
Groups like Jewish-led New Profile and the weekly Women in Black protest show Israelis that not all citizens and not all Jews agree with the militaristic state agenda. People like Cook and his wife, Sally Azzam-Cook create communication conduits among and outside of Israeli society, using human connection to spark change. Religious leaders in organizations like Sabeel and Kairos Palestine see the mandate in their religious texts to seek equality and justice for all people and heed it. Human rights organizations and grassroots groups like Palestinians for Dignity, Al-Haq, and Youth Against Settlements do important on-the-ground organizing, educating and agitating for human rights.
American churches are leading the way where politicians have refused on this issue. Various Mennonite, Quaker, Lutheran, Unitarian Universalist, Methodist and Presbyterian conferences have all passed various resolutions supporting the BDS (boycott, divest and sanction) movement and begun taking action to back up their verbal support. Groups like Interfaith Peace-Builders and Christian Peacemaker Teams bring Americans to experience the conflict firsthand and provide tangible action steps to take upon returning. As a non-religious person, I’ve been very glad to meet so many committed people who share a more broad and liberating notion of their theology, who feel a responsibility to honor their God by seeking justice and peace on Earth. Having seen the beauty of the Holy Land in person, I feel this responsibility too and hope to share what I have seen and learned with others and to continue learning more for as long as I can.
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