Worship In The Midst Of Violence
A Report From A Five Day Visit To Israel
and the Palestinian Territories
Philadelphia, PA- Lilian Peters and David Jackman, American
Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Quaker Middle East Affairs Representatives,
are working in Amman, Jordan exploring opportunities for dialogue between Israelis
and the Palestinians. A recent trip turned out to be a tour amid bomb-explosions,
shootings, killings, anger and grief. Attached is a diary of their experiences.
AFSC has a long history working for peace and reconciliation in troubled regions
of the world, including the Middle East and Northeast Asia. In 1947, the AFSC and
the British Friends Service Council received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the
Religious Society of Friends for humanitarian service and work for reconciliation
during World Wars I and II, and the spirit in which these were carried out.
Quaker work in the Middle East dates back to 1875, with the establishment of a Friends
school in Lebanon. Before and during World War II, Quakers in Europe helped Jews
and other persecuted minorities escape from areas under Nazi rule. In 1949, because
of the experience it gained in helping to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees
and displaced persons following World War II, AFSC was asked by the United Nations
to organize similar relief efforts for Palestinian Arab refugees coming into the
Gaza Strip. By 1950, AFSC staff began work in Israel on agricultural development
projects in Palestinian villages and with internally displaced Palestinians.
For thirty years, the search for regional peace has been at the center of AFSC Middle
East International Affairs work. Quaker International Affairs Representatives traveled
exhaustively between Israel and neighboring Arab countries, promoting dialogue and
understanding.
For more information on international peace building programs in the Middle East,
call the American Friends Service Committee at (215) 241-7142 or visit our web site
at www.afsc.org.
The American Friends Service Committee
is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed
to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief
in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.
The Travel Diary of Lilian Peters
and David Jackman,
Quaker Middle East Representatives, based in Amman, Jordan .
"The purpose of our visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories was to discuss
the opportunities for further dialogue between the two societies...unfortunately
our trip turned out to be a tour along bomb-explosions, shooting, killing, anger
and grief. Below is our diary."
Thursday February 28, 2002
We left Amman on the last day of February, the day that the Israeli army entered
two Palestinian refugee camps in a hunt for Palestinian activists. A huge battle
followed in which seven people were killed, more were wounded and many houses were
destroyed. In return Palestinian gunmen in Bethlehem opened fire on the Israeli settlements
Gilo and Har Homa. This was retaliated by the Israeli airforce with a night full
of attacks on Bethlehem. The cycle of violence that would be predominant the following
days had begun.
Friday March 1, 2002
The people that we met with in Bethlehem on Friday morning looked very tired and
stressed, due to yet another sleepless night. Their main fear was that the Israeli
army would again enter and occupy Bethlehem, which didn't happen. Because of a call
for demonstrations after Friday noon prayers, when the dead of the previous day would
be buried, we decided to return to Jerusalem early.
While walking on Jaffa Street, which since the Pizzeria bombing in August 2001 qualifies
as the most dangerous street in the world, we were stopped by the Israeli police.
The road was blocked and we saw heavily protected soldiers searching a public bus
parked at a bus stop. Images of shootings at buses came to our mind, but it seems
that it was "only" an unidentified object that an army officer carried
away in order to be exploded in a controlled manner. The street was open again and
people followed their way, complaining that life in Jerusalem has become almost unbearable.
Israeli peace activists that we met with that afternoon were all extremely pessimistic
and had no confidence at all in the capability of the present or any future Israeli
government to strike a deal with the Palestinians. In their opinion only external
pressure can persuade the Israeli leadership to compromise.
Saturday March 2, 2002
Because of the Jewish Sabbath and the Palestinian weekend we had no meetings and
decided to visit our colleagues in the Gaza strip. Crossing the border between Israel
and the Gaza Strip never fails to amaze us. Coming from a high tech western-type
of society, entering Gaza feels like a transition back in time and place. Despite
Gaza's beautiful palm trees and beach, it has become a desperate place covered with
the traces of war and occupation. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in refugee
camps, often in extreme poverty. Life in the cities and villages is not that much
better. The Israeli settlements and army posts dominate the roads and people's movements,
cutting off cities and people from each other. The situation was calm but tense.
The day before, Israeli settlers killed two young children and the army raided Rafah.
That was hardly news since it happens all too often.
The European funded harbor building project was completely ruined, as was President
Arafat's helicopter base and, of course, numerous houses and buildings all over the
Gaza Strip. Farmland close to the settlements had been abandoned since it is too
dangerous to work on it.
Along the road we saw several billboards with the message "better to live with
the pain of peace than the agony of war", both in English and Arabic.
Back in Jerusalem we decided to join an Israeli peace demonstration that was scheduled
in the front of Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's house. Although we knew that the
hours after the end of Sabbath would be dangerous, we decided to walk from our hotel
in Arab East-Jerusalem to the demonstration that would start at Zion Square in West
Jerusalem. While walking, we suddenly heard quite nearby the dry but heavy sound
of a bomb-blast, followed within a few minutes by numerous sirens and people running
while talking on their mobile phones. A Palestinian suicide bomber had struck in
the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood that we were just passing through. Ten people, including
three infants, were killed and more than 30 wounded.
Later, on Jaffa Street in West Jerusalem we had just entered a restaurant when we
heard again the loud sound of sirens. As on the day before, an unexploded bomb was
detected at Jaffa Street and the police cleared the area. The waiter begged us to
leave the restaurant, so he could close the place and leave. Out on the street we
had no idea where it would be safe and we decided to go looking for the demonstrators,
who had also been asked to leave the scene. We were able to catch up with the demonstration
in front of Sharon's residence. It is clear that the 2000 people present were experienced
demonstrators, disciplined and clear in their message:
To "End the Occupation."
Sunday March 3, 2002
We woke up with the news that at an army checkpoint in the West Bank, a Palestinian
sniper had shot and killed 7 military and 3 civilians and wounded four others. This
serious blow to Israeli self-esteem and sense of security was described in the newspapers
as: "25 minutes, 25 shots, 10 killed". Apparently the sniper had acted
alone, using an old type gun, and disappeared unhurt.
Although we knew that Israel would retaliate for the bombing and sniper attack, we
decided to visit our AFSC colleagues in Ramallah and attend a meeting for worship
at the Friends School there. As is true for other West Bank towns, there was no direct
taxi service available, but we were able to travel to the Kalandia checkpoint and
then to walk across the hills and catch a taxi into Ramallah. Once in the town, while
sitting together in silence and worship, we heard three bomb-blasts and frequent
shooting. We learned later that morning that four people were killed. It was extremely
difficult to maintain calm and concentrated under the sound of gunfire and explosions.
While drinking coffee afterwards with staff from the Friends School, we asked ourselves:
"why are we doing this"? Our answer was: "because we are here and
committed to contribute to a peaceful solution to this violent conflict". In
the afternoon we returned to Jerusalem, walking over hills to bypass the military
checkpoints and being driven over dirt roads full of holes and stones. It is not
hard to imagine that sick people and pregnant women encounter serious problems while
traveling this way. Soon afterwards traffic between the two cities completely stopped.
More attacks took place and more people died, including a Palestinian more people
died, including a Palestinian mother picking children up from school, her three children
and two children in a car close to hers. The Israeli government announced that evening
that Israel would from now on, keep the pressure up in an ongoing attack till "they
will beg us to stop". In the mean time diplomatic efforts to stop the violence
are taking place, although described by Sharon as "an insult to Israel".
In response to an invitation from Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Sharon joked that
he was ready to meet but that Arafat "could not make it," referring to
Arafat's cotinued confinement to Ramallah.
Monday March 4, 2002
Appointments brought us to Tel Aviv where we enjoyed the sunset at the beach and
a delicious meal in a fish restaurant. Life suddenly looked normal again. No continuing
stress and empty streets after dark. At least that was what we thought. The next
morning we woke up to the news that a Palestinian gunman had emptied his machine
gun in a seafood restaurant in Tel Aviv, killing three Israeli's and wounding many
more. During the day, a Jewish extremist group threw a bomb at a schoolyard in an
Arab village close to Jerusalem, a Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and
an Israeli in a bus and the Israeli airforce raided the cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah,
Nablus, Gaza, Rafah and some refugee-camps.
Back in Amman our thoughts and prayers are with our friends and colleagues in Palestine
and Israel, who are living in fear and under immense stress. Certainly we will go
back because this is the time to make your presence and solidarity known. This is
the time that Quaker peace testimony has to be put into action.
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