The following article is a reflection of a recent trip to Palestine, written by Sharon Conlon, a member of the Palestinian Rights Task Force.
Think about going to Palestine, seriously. It’s doable,interesting, relatively affordable, relatively safe for internationals, supports the Palestinian economy and most of all, meaningful. (Non-Palestinians are privileged to travel to Palestine.)
I’m talking about going with a tour group. I’m not travel savvy enough to plan my own itinerary. Various organizations offer tours and you can find them leaving most any month of the year: Eyewitness Palestine, Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Community Peacemaker Teams, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace (ICMEP) Pilgrims of Ibillin, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAD) (UK) and more. They have themed tours also. My first tour was centered around incarceration, prisons and military courts. Others examples are tours of: artists, people of color, olive harvest. Some offer scholarships and financial aid. If you want to stay longer and volunteer, internationals are needed to observe, your presence signals the occupiers that they are being watched and documented. You will also be working doing what’s needed or what matches your skills. Organizations like the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program, Tent of Nations, and others have you stay weeks, months, whatever you can do.
On these tours you’ll have Palestinian licensed tour guides. They do a lot of tours where the delegates just wanted to see the holy sites and save their souls. When they get to lead Palestinian solidarity tours, they have delegates that want to save the Palestinians. (I’m not talking white saviors). Palestinians there are grateful that we listen, we care and want to advocate for ending the occupation and changing our own government’s policies.
From January 17-27h five of us went to Palestine together leaving from Omaha’s Eppley Airport. Caroll Garwood is from South Sioux City, Nebraska, and she led our Omaha delegation consisting of Mary Ensz, Caitlin Finn, James Knowles and Sharon Conlon.
Sabeel hosted our tour. Sabeel is an Palestinian Christian ecumenical theology organization in Jerusalem. You may be familiar with FOSNA, Friends of Sabeel North America. It supports the work of Sabeel by fundraising, advocacy and… Sabeel arranged the transportation, meals, lodging, speakers, even the tips. All supporting Palestinian businesses.
The 5 of us flew in and out of the Queen Alia International Airport (Amman, Jordan) and crossed into the West Bank. We were there the week the Ceasefire began. Ordinarily there are some 500 checkpoints, but that week there were 889 recorded checkpoints, roadblocks, fences, road obstructions so travel took even longer with delays. Life for Palestinians is unpredictable, everything is uncertain. We didn’t know if speakers could get to us or if we could get to them.
I’ll tell you one of my lasting memories there. Carol, James, Caitlin, and Mary will have their own. Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan are two Palestinian neighborhoods on different sides of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, both have been continuously inhabited for over 3 millennia, with varied cultural and religious histories. Israel has long covet both. We visited Fakhri Abu Diab and his wife Fatima, an older couple, he’s a retired accountant. Fatima had fixed us a delicious lunch and we all ate sitting in front of their little metal-sided tin can of a house the size of a very small garage. We sat right next to the rubble of their bulldozed former home, less than 6’ away. Fakhir showed us pictures of the house before Isreal busted through their gated wall with their bulldozers and razed it.
He had a small fountain and greenery everywhere it would grow and a tree that canopied the house. Now there is nothing but construction debris, a daily reminder of what was. But the saddest part for me was the impact on Fatima. Her little matchbox tin house can’t hold her 16 grandchildren and they can’t all be together at their grandparents house anymore. Israel wants their land, wants them gone, destroys their homes and with it these grandparent’s future days with their children and grandchildren. Israel stole from them the opportunity to nourish their Palestinian culture with their loved ones. Israel destroys more than homes, they destroy dreams and memories. Israel uses the excuse that they want Silwan to build public gardens (and the city of David), as Fakhri says, “we want gardens too, but not on our houses.” Israel continues to demolish the homes in Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah for more illegal settlements.
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