Ma'salame

Before I start, a friend pointed out something in my last post that requires some correction. Looking back, the description in my last blog entry of who can and cannot enter the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was somewhat misleading. When Tamer said everyone can visit but the Palestinians, he meant that the international community has free access to the site, but the four million Palestinians in the West Bank and the million and a half in Gaza do not. There is still a small but significant number of Palestinians living within Israel's borders, who despite their second-class citizenship still carry Israeli IDs, and thus can indeed enter Jerusalem and reach the Temple Mount. Jewish Israelis, on the other hand, are denied access outright. In fact, Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount in 2000 is often credited with being the spark that lit the tinder box of the Second Intifada. Being the third (some say second) most holy site in Islam, Jews entering the Temple Mount is akin to Muslims praying at the Wailing Wall, and is thus strictly forbidden.


"I know one thing: give me theatre and I will give you a revolution."

This was perhaps my favorite snippet of conversation that came out of our trip to the Jenin Freedom Theatre today, a youth theatre program in the heart of Jenin Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank that has been working wonders with the local youth, providing a means for them to deal with and resist the Occupation through art, and founding the first theatre degree program in the West Bank in cooperation with Arab American University in Jenin. The quote was spoken by Ahmed, a 20-year-old Palestinian student of the program, describing why he wanted to become an actor (Denzel Washington was second on his list of reasons).

We later had the pleasure of watching Ahmed and his scene partner Batol perform (in Arabic) perhaps one of the best Romeo & Juliet death scenes Gabriella and I have witnessed. These kids have talent.

Our day-trip to Jenin marked our second-to-last adventure in the West Bank (the last being our attempt to leave the country this coming Saturday without being forbidden to return by Israeli airport security). Accordingly, as you might guess, this also sadly marks our last blog post from the region. Come Saturday we will be spending the next month in Edinburgh, Scotland, where we will start transcribing the 26 hours of audio tape, editing the nine hours of video tape, and organizing the couple hundred or so photos that we've collected over the past three months here. Come Thanksgiving we will be back in the United States, where the real work begins.

Gabriella and I have spent much of the last week reminiscing, and in our doing so I came across a video interview a ProjectHOPE volunteer, Frank Barat, actually conducted with us back in August, for his own documentary about the occupation. The interview was conducted sometime around our fourth week in Nablus, so it was a real trip for me personally to watch it after all this time here.

At one point Frank asked if our attitudes toward the occupation had changed since we'd been here. We give one answer in the interview, but I must say that I've gone back and forth a million times since then on the issue of how complicated is it really here. Is it black and white, is it shades of gray, is it a Technicolor rainbow of cultural and political madness. Nowadays I maintain the answer I give in the video, that the situation is in fact rather black and white, but with one amendment.

Morally speaking, there is no question. This is a violent and inhumane occupation. There is a clear oppressor with immense and unchecked power, and a clear victim with none. It is Apartheid. Of course there have been losses of innocent life on both sides, but given the proportion of these losses (generally about 5 to 1), and all the other things that have been taken from Palestinians that have not been taken from Israelis (several dozen freedoms, their economy, property damage, land, etc.), this does not change the bigger moral picture. Morally speaking, the situation here is black and white, and in that sense what must be done is also rather clear.

Legally speaking the situation here is also incredibly black and white, perhaps even more so. The Occupation and its components are in blatant violation of international law, the International Court of Justice, the Geneva Convention, etc. The occupation is only able to survive legally because of the United States' veto power in the U.N., which it uses liberally. The U.N. resolutions that the United States constantly shoots down, though, are also rather clear about what Israel is legally required to do.

How that is to be done, though, in the practical sense, this is complicated. The situation is incredibly complex in this sense, to the point where after all this time here, speaking to so many people who have been working so hard for peace, devoted their lives to it, I still have no idea where to begin, where the solution will come from.

Some say the international community must step in, that boycotts following the anti-Apartheid model in South Africa are the answer, or that the U.S. must apply more pressure, etc. Many Palestinians we've spoken to say it must come from within Palestine, that it's up to the people to unite and be a clear force for peace. Many Israelis we've spoken say it must come from within Israel, though many Israelis are skeptical that this is at all a realistic expectation, either. Despite the desire within Israel for peace, and despite all those working for it, there still remains a very influential right wing, without which most Israeli politicians and political parties cannot survive, who will not budge on the issue of Jerusalem, where the peace process generally falls apart.

So leaving here we still don't know. Whether Barack Obama, after he wins (insh'allah - God willing), will pay more attention to the region than his predecessor remains to be seen. Whether the new Israeli government will negotiate fairly with the Palestinian Authority. Whether Mahmoud Abbas will step down from the presidency of the P.A. and allow his people to elect a legitimate representative. Whether either side will be able to stop its infighting, despite those who would have it continue, and unite for peace. Whether Gaza will be completely wiped off the map before a real peace process is even begun.

Much remains to be seen, but if there's anything the people we've spoken to here have asked, it's that we don't just stand around and watch. They want boycotts of Caterpillar (the bulldozer manufacturer who supplies Israel with their home demolition machines) and other companies who support the Occupation. They want people to speak out in the media, to write to their government. They want Americans to come see for themselves. And we can't recommend it more. It's cheap, it's incredibly rewarding, it's beautiful, it's safe, and you will be welcomed with open arms.

Before we say ma'salame (goodbye) and finally sign off, many thanks are in order. First to the dear friends, family, and supporters who contributed to our trip, financially and otherwise, and enabled us to come here in the first place. Your generosity has been invaluable and will not be forgotten.

Then of course there is the ProjectHOPE staff and its volunteers, Palestinian and international alike, all of whom have made our stay all the more comfortable, enjoyable, hopeful and enlightening. Thanks a thousand times to the staff: Jeremy, Hakim, Maroof, Jenny, Hassan, Tharwa, Hiba, Maissa, Fakim, Aqeel, Tamer, Feno, Lisa; the translators: Anas, Diana, Ayah, Raid, Haneen, Haya, Jafar, Ashraf, Islam, Bader; and the internationals: Frank, Christian, Bertrand, Claire, Ciara, Abe, Kim, Anna, Michael, Aaron, Simon, Javier, Mike, Charlotte, Nicole, Trude, Johanna, Kevin, Sadie, Maxime, Desiree, Nelleke, David, and Margaret.

Thanks to our students, whom we love and for whom we hope there will be peace one day soon.

And of course thanks to all those we interviewed:

• Bassam Shaka, former mayor of the city of Nablus
  
• Rema, Minister of Culture and Women's Affairs, Palestinian Authority, Nablus
• Those at ProjectHOPE: Ashraf, Jafar, Haya, Hiba, Tamer, and Maroof
  
• Rafat Hamedan, factory worker, Hebron
  
• Mohammad, waiter, Al Quds Restaurant, Hebron
  
• Jamal, shop owner, Old City, Hebron
  
• David Wilder, Spokesman, the Jewish Community of Hebron
  
• Brigadier General Roy C. Grottheim, Head of Mission, TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron)
  
• Pia Hänni, Head of Research, Analysis, and Information Division, TIPH
• Khaled, English teacher, Al Quds University
• Yasmin of the Ramallah Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture
• Mohammad Ethman, Youth Coordinator, Stop the Wall, Ramallah
  
• Jihad Shomaly, Program Coordinator, Defense for Children International – Palestine Section, Ramallah
  
• Manal Shomaly, actress, Al Kasaba Theatre, Ramallah
• Miriam of The International Women's Peace Service, Haris
• Eyad Bornat, Head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bil'in
• Nael Jaber, tour guide, Jericho
  
• Khaled, taxi driver, Bethlehem
• Sari, shop owner, Qalqilya
• Ran, Palestine Coordinator, Physicians for Human Rights, Jerusalem
  
• Arik Ascherman, Executive Director, Rabbis for Human Rights, Jerusalem
  
• Yahav Zohar of ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions), Jerusalem
• Eyal Hareuveni, Researcher, B'Tselem, Jerusalem
• Itamar, Co-Founder of Combatants for Peace, Jerusalem
• Judit Levine, MachsomWatch, Tel Aviv
• Omer Goldman, Tamer Katz, and Neta Mishly of The Senior Letter, Tel Aviv
  
• Nimrod, student, Tel Aviv
  
• The students, faculty, and random passers-by at Tel Aviv University
  
• The four American girls studying at yeshiva in Jerusalem
• The students of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin
  
• The Chief of Police and the people of Sderot
• The Israeli Defense Forces
  
• and of course the ever familiar Anonymous

Special thanks are also due to our friend and colleague Ken Kaissar, MFA student in playwriting at Columbia University, who has been incredibly helpful and generous, and is responsible for several of the above contacts.

And finally, thank you for reading. We hope it was even a fraction as interesting or valuable for you as it was for us. We hope to return soon. Maybe we'll see you there.

Much love,
John & Gabriella