by Bill Dienst

March 10th, 2005, Jerusalem, Kfar Saba, Tel Aviv and Jaffa (Yafo)

Old Jerusalem

We left Bethlehem in the rain this morning and moved to Jerusalem. Now we're at La Notre Dame just across from the Old City; with medieval walls that were built in the 1500's. More specifically, we are across from New Gate, one of two entrances to the Christian Quarter, and one block east of the Green Line, which used to separate Jordanian controlled Jerusalem from Israel, prior to 1967.

We are a few blocks east of where we met with progressive Israeli activists three days ago, and where Israeli interrogators are known to torture Palestinians; and where some of Jerusalem's best nightspots are. We are also only a few blocks west of Damascus Gate, the heart of the Palestinian City, which goes to bed early.

We are a few blocks away from centers of Israeli intelligence, and also Palestinian resistance, not to mention the International Solidarity Movement. It all plays out on a stage, just walking distance from here.

We do a quick and intense walk through Old Jerusalem, through the Christian Quarter and inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: the spot where Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christians believe Jesus was crucified. We walk through the Arab Old City. We pass the entrance to Al Haram Al Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, the third holiest Shrine to Islam; The Dome of the Rock, the place were Abraham offered his son for sacrifice (the Jews and Christians say it was Isaac; the Muslims say it was Ishmael; and here Muslims believe Mohammed ascended into heaven. It is also the place that Jews call The Temple Mount, based on accounts in the Torah and Old Testament; where King Solomon's First and Second Temples were built long ago, and subsequently destroyed. The remaining Western Rampart of Solomon's Temple is known as The Wailing Wall, the holiest Shrine to Judaism. Unfortunately we don't have time to clear Israeli and Muslim security and see these sacred Jewish and Muslim Shrines; this takes time. At the Dome of the Rock, getting in is now usually impossible, unless you are a Muslim. There has been widespread mistrust, suspicion and strife over the last 5 years. In 1985, I was able to just walk through the Arab entrance and see this beautiful Dome, and the Rock beneath it.

This is the place where in September, 2000, Ariel Sharon walked with a thousand Israeli troops inside the Noble Sanctuary on the Temple Mount. Sharon is infamous among Palestinians because of the Sabra and Shatilla Massacre in Lebanon when he was defense minister in 1982; this is the most well known among other massacres (like Al Qibba, 1956 near Ramallah just north of here).

On that day in September when the Oslo Peace Process was mortally wounded, Sharon was making a political statement, which enraged Palestinians, started riots and set off the current 4 years of violence; This has lead to over four thousand Palestinians and about a thousand Israelis being killed in this second Palestinian uprising. This uprising is known as the Al Aqsa Intifada, named after the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is located over there in the Noble Sanctuary, or Temple Mount. As we climb up to the Jewish and then Armenian Quarters, we are treated to a Mass, featuring Armenian monks singing Gregorian chants; I am moved, tears swell up; I am overcome by all these conflicting and contradictory spiritual movements!

Now it is time to board the bus to Israel proper, so we hurry out of Jaffa Gate and cross the street north back to La Notre Dame. Our bus heads past the Knesset, and down from the hills of Judea, past hillsides that played out wars, mass killings, and flights of Palestinian Arab refugees in 1948. The Palestinians call this time Al Naqba or The Catastrophe. The Israelis proudly call this time The War for Independence. The ruins of Israeli military trucks from 1948 are still visible along the highway. The hills flatten out to a fruited plain in spring time, and Israel blooms. I immediately regain the feeling of being back at home in the West. This could be the San Joaquin Valley in Central California, except the signs are in Hebrew.

Kfar Saba

We head northeast of Tel Aviv, to the town of Kafr Saba. It is beautiful. It feels much more tranquil here, compared to the hills of Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Ramallah, not to mention the hideous Eretz Checkpoint into Gaza. We disembark the bus, and enter Majdi Restaurant where Jewish and Arab Israelis meet as friends and companions. There is a spirit of unconditional love and optimism here that has not been part in our trip so far.

The term "Israeli Arab" deserves some elaboration. These people are really Palestinian Arabs, and their descendants, who never left after Al Naqba in 1948. They have relatives in the West Bank and Gaza, and also in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and throughout the Palestinian Diaspora. Israeli Arabs are citizens of Israel, and can vote in Israeli elections. They comprise about 20% of the current population of Israel. Although they generally have a better standard of living than their extended families in the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Diaspora, they are still second class citizens, living as non-Jews in a Jewish State.

We decide to mix it up: our delegation with our Jewish and Arab Israeli hosts. On my left is Yenny Gutman, a beautiful blond haired blue eyed clinical psychologist. We start out speaking in English, but when I discover that she is a Jewish immigrant from Uruguay, we continue our conversation in Spanish. On my right, is Mafra' Mahmoud, an Israeli Arab, and Deputy Mayor of Bostan El-Marj Regional Council.

Our group is called to order by Dr. Ernesto Kahan, who is the current Israeli regional Vice President of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). He shares this position with his Palestinian colleague Dr. Hikmat Ajjuri, whom we met 4 days ago at the Palestine Red Crescent Society Hospital in El Bireh near Ramallah. Dr. Ernesto was originally a Jewish immigrant from Argentina.

He explains that Majdi Restaurant is a sanctuary, where Arabs and Jews find common ground in a place where they can build personal relationships in spite of the bitter conflict; they are working for a better future.

After lunch, we head to the top of a water tower, to view the topography of Israel and the West Bank. We are at the narrowest waist of Israel. Here, it is only 14 kilometers (9 miles) between the Mediterranean Sea and the border with Qalqilya in the West Bank. We can see all this from the tower.

We look south, and see the skyscrapers in Tel Aviv. We look northwest and can see the beach city of Netanya, where the Passover Massacre occurred in March, 2002. A Palestinian suicide bomber struck a hotel, murdered 29 Israelis and wounded scores of others celebrating the holiday. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered the re-invasion and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as a result, including the flattening and mass killing in the West Bank city of Jenin and the reoccupation of Ramallah, Bethlehem, and other towns in the Palestinian Territories. This essentially erased the meager gains that Palestinians had made as a result of the Oslo Peace Process of the 1990's and brought them far graver setbacks.

We look to the east and can see The Wall in the distance, separating the West Bank town of Qalqilya from Israel, and No. 6, the main North-South highway in Israel. Dr. Ernesto explains that the wall acts as a sound barrier between the busy highway and the town of Qalqilya in the West Bank.

This may be true, but subsequent inspections of aerial photographs and interviews, with Palestinian sources like Dr. Mustapha Barghouti, will indicate that there is much more to it than that. The Wall is trapping Qalqilya, a town of 35,000, into a giant enclaved Ghetto.

Tel Aviv

Gush Shalom

After the water tower tour, we head south on the highway to Tel Aviv. We arrive at the offices of Israeli Physicians for Human Rights.

We meet Adam Keller, editor of The Other Israel, and prominent member of Gush Shalom, and Peace Now.

Mr. Keller explains the premises of his organizations. Israel-Palestine is the home of 2 peoples; neither has the power to throw out the other. One side is militarily strong, the other side militarily weak, and hence, resorts to suicide bombing as their primary means to address violence with violence. But there is a better way...

There is the Two State Solution: Two States, Israel and Palestine, each with its Capital in Jerusalem. The borders are roughly those of the Green Line, prior to 1967. Although there could be some minor modifications, or land swaps, based on mutual consensus.

Ariel Sharon, the current Prime Minister of Israel, says that he is for a two state solution, but there is a vast disconnect between what Ariel Sharon says and what he does.

Mr. Keller goes back to his youth. Normally, all Israelis are conscripted for 3 years into the military. Adam Keller's time of military service occurred during Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and subsequent occupation of Southern Lebanon. This all started in 1982, when Menachem Begin was Prime Minister, and Ariel Sharon was Defense Minister. As a recruit, Adam Keller refused military service in Lebanon, and he was sent to a base in Northern Israel.

One night, he became a graffiti artist and spray-painted peace slogans all over some Israeli tanks. He faced charges of "Spreading Propaganda Harmful to Military Discipline", was convicted by a military court, and ended up serving three months of a three year term.

One of the few benefits of prison was that he was able to become acquainted with the different ethnic backgrounds of Israeli society. For example, in his experience, Argentinean Jews tended to be on the Left, Russian Jews have a tendency to be on the Right, and the Druze tend to represent "the worst of both worlds." He came to enjoy "prison democracy". After all, there was nothing else to do. Political debate became the best entertainment around.

"The Brigadier General had a thick folder on me," he says. After being released from prison, he was again forced into one more year of compulsory military service in 1989. He began first by refusing to go to Lebanon, or to the Occupied Territories, and then this became a total refusal to participate in the military whatsoever. He was sentenced to one month more in prison. He then refused to wear his military uniform, and then refused to call the military guards "Sir". They forcefully undressed him.

Adam Keller explains, "Once you have decided not to be intimidated, you are not." He went on a hunger strike. He was finally discharged from the Army for psychiatric reasons. "If you become a trouble maker and are in prison multiple times, then they look for a reason to finally throw you out for psychiatric reasons." He was advised by friends, "Look, if they send you to the psychiatrist, just try and play along and you will get a discharge. If you apply for Consensus Objector status, you will be in and out of prison for the rest of your life."

The day came when Adam Keller was formally evaluated by the Military Psychiatrist:

"Are you controlled by creatures from another planet?

"No!"

"Do you hear voices?"

"No."

"Where do you get your inspiration?"

"I don't know."

"Are you hearing The Voice of History?"

"Sometimes when I close my eyes, I see the Dead Sea Scrolls!"

Bingo! Adam Keller was finally discharged for good from the Israeli Army due to a Psychiatric condition.

The genes seem to run in the family. Adam Keller's son has subsequently been imprisoned for one year for being a Refusenik.

Adam Keller works closely with famed Gush Shalom founder Uri Avnery , whom in his eighties, is still a prolific writer and quite vigorous. Mr. Keller believes that it would be better for the country if there were a separation of Religion and State in Israel. After all, the majority of Jews in Israel are secular Jews. There are also other non Jewish ethnic minorities, such as the Israeli Arabs and the Druze.

"There are all kinds of archaic Religious Laws. For example, there is no Civil Marriage in Israel. There is this naive belief that, 'if people are exposed to secular ideas, they will loose their identity as Jews.'"

A member of our delegation asks a simple question, "How broad is the peace movement in Israel?" Mr. Keller gives us a complicated answer. There are basically five major segments of Israeli Society. There are the mainly east European, or Ashkenazi Jews, who are the elites, like the WASP's in American Society. Then there are the Sephardic or 'Arab Jews'. Then there are the Russian Jews, the Orthodox Jews, the Arab-Israelis (Native Palestinian-Arabs and the Druze), and all the rest: Ethiopian Jews, Russian-Christians, Bahai's, etc.). Israel is a much more diverse society than most outsiders appreciate.

"Each of these groups constitute roughly one million people, and different ideologies are predominant within each of these groups. The religious Jews tend to be the most ideologically right-wing, with a few exceptions. At the core, these are only about 100 to 200 thousand people, out of a total population of about six million." But they have a disproportionate amount of power in Israel, since Israel is officially a Jewish state.

It seems to me that Israel is ironically similar to the Islamic Republic of Iran, in this way. In Iran, the orthodox Shiite Muslims wield a disproportionate sway over the population there. I see what Mr. Keller is saying. It seems that both societies could be much more democratic if they could separate their respective dominant religion from their states.

Mr. Keller is optimistic about the future of the Israeli peace movement. "Sharon has now discredited the War Option, and he has shown that it is not effective." Mr. Keller says that since 2003, there is a growing shift to the Left in Israeli public opinion. There is a growing acceptance of a two state solution among 30-40% of the Israelis. There is growing pressure from the majority of Israelis to disengage from Gaza.

Sharon is withdrawing from Gaza, while trying to reinforce the settlements in the West Bank. The extreme right is now calling Sharon a traitor, and he is now delaying the withdrawal from Gaza for as long as he can. But now there is too much invested both locally and internationally, for him to pull out at the last moment. It seems that withdrawal from Gaza will occur in July/August of 2005. Adam Keller says, "The withdrawal from Gaza will be a beginning first step, but it will not be enough."

Physicians for Human Rights

Next, we meet with Dr. Ruhama Marton, who is a psychiatrist, and director of Physicians for Human Rights. This organization was founded in 1988, originally as "Israeli-Palestinian Physicians for Human Rights", but with the increasing tension over the Al-Aqsa intifada, the name has been shortened to "Physicians for Human Rights." They currently have about 1000 members, 70% of which are Jewish Israelis and 30% are Arabs. They host a clinic for migrant workers in Tel Aviv, and do outreach services to Palestinian villages in the West Bank.

Dr. Marton began working with Palestinian physician colleagues in the West Bank and Gaza during the late 70's and early 1980's. At that time, governmental hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza, which had previously been administered by Jordanian and Egyptian authorities prior to 1967, came under the control of the Israeli Civil Administration, which governed all social services in the West Bank and Gaza after the conquest of the Six Day War.

Dr. Marton toured the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, a hospital for Palestinians that was administered by the Israeli Civil Authorities. She was appalled by the extremely poor conditions of the government hospitals!

Private hospitals like Al Maqassed Hospital in Jerusalem, or Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza in these same areas were financed more compassionately by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) in the Arab World, Europe and the US. These facilities were much better. Palestinians who had the means would avoid the government hospitals because they were controlled by the Israeli Civil Administration, and bled dry by insufficient financing into disrepair.

In East Jerusalem, the Jordanians had just finished building the Sheikh Jarre Hospital in 1967; the Israelis converted it into a police station. Just northwest of Nablus, on the road to Qalqilya, a former government hospital became the Jneid Prison.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, there was the Hospice Hospital, across from the Third Station of the Cross on the Via Dolorosa. It had served the Old City's population for over 30 years. Over the years between 1967 and 1985, its finances were bled dry by the Israeli administration. Finally in July 1985, it was closed by force by the Israeli authorities. I was living in the Old City that summer. A few days before the scheduled closing, Israeli soldiers showed up unannounced, and carried the remaining patients out into the street and put a padlock on the door. A few were taken to the Hadassah Hospital. In this way, the Israeli government avoided most of the adverse publicity: the planned protests and media attention. The building has since been given back to the Austrian Church, who were always the proprietors.

In 1985, I was shown many of these same government hospitals informally by local Palestinian physicians. I know firsthand what Dr. Marton is talking about. Creating a dependency on Israeli health care services is another way to exert control over a population. You can also show the world images of enlightened Israeli healers showing compassion toward these backward Arabs, and fool the world again.

Dr. Marton saw this too, and found it to be unconscionable. She is a woman of sincere compassion and great courage. She began collaborating with Palestinian physicians in the West Bank and Gaza, including Dr. Eyad El Sarraj, who is the head of Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP). In the past 3 years, her organization's efforts in Gaza have been stymied. She has not been permitted to travel to Gaza for over 3 years now. Most Israeli's are not allowed into Gaza, unless they take the bypass roads directly into the settlements. Currently, she balances her time between doctoring and fighting for human rights.

A member of our delegation asked her about the ongoing effects of occupation on Israeli society. "We're the Zionist-Jewish Israelis. We were overwhelmed with surprise when the bomb went off in Netanya during Passover, 2002 and killed so many. We asked ourselves, 'How Come?' as if nothing had happened before. We don't want to see a connection between what we have been doing in the Occupied Territories, and what was done to us. There is never a connection."

"And if there is no reason, we become overwhelmed with anxiety and fear." When the re-occupation of the West Bank and Gaza began in March, 2002, the peace movement was stifled. People have had bumper-stickers on their cars which read, LET THE IDF WIN! (Israeli Defense Forces) Now there is an inner conflict in Israel that the IDF can and must win. There has since been extremely heavy military action, but still, the IDF has not won.

Now there are over 8000 Palestinians who have been swept up forgotten by the world in Israeli jails. "We are now becoming more aggressive in the Occupied Territories and at home . . . on the outside and on the inside. It has been spreading like a virus. Now more and more women are being killed by their spouses and boyfriends (femicide); the numbers have been doubling every year. We are now number one in the Western World in youth violence. Tension and Rage are more inherent as we continue to become an increasingly violent society. There are more random murders which follow a fight over minor situations, like fighting over parking spaces, etc. All kinds of extremely aggressive people have been moving here from the USA. Our press and media are not receptive to this message, and will not report about it."

As I listen to this, I cannot help but seeing parallels about what is going on in Israel, and what is happening in the USA right now. After 9-11, we Americans fail to see the connection between what was done to us and the injustices of our country's foreign policies in the Middle East and elsewhere. People are putting Yellow Ribbons all over their cars which admonish us to "Support the Troops"; this becomes tacit support for Bush's ill fated invasion and occupation of Iraq. But there are differences as well; we ignore it when our troops commit atrocities half way around the world. In Israel, the abuses are also being ignored, but they are happening right in their own back yard.

We leave Tel Aviv, and head to Jaffa. We have dinner at an Israeli-Arab restaurant called Abu-Lafiya. We look back across the water at downtown Tel Aviv, and it looks beautiful. It reminds me of the view from Alki Beach in West Seattle into downtown.

As we ride the bus back to Jerusalem, I pray that both of our countries, Israel and the USA, can find a more humane way out of our current quagmires. Next, the International Solidarity Movement, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, the Israeli Refusenik movement, Taiyush, Wounded Israeli's working for peace and the Parent's Circle.