We've just arrived in Bethlehem after a day that brought up a lot of emotions and touched a deep place within my heart. Great experiences today and I remain ever grateful to be able to be here, to travel freely, and to live in a democratic society that has within it's constitution the availability to create equality for all human beings.
Today I have been impressed with the range of emotions that one person can experience in one day. From being cynical and disheartened to being hopeful and comforted. On the day of traveling from the beauty of the Galilee region through poverty stricken Occupied territories I experience a plethora of emotions. To borrow a word that we used in the Biblical Interpretation after the Holocaust class last spring term (2013) I find it utterly absurd how different the quality of life is between the (Jewish) Israeli land and the (Christian and Muslim) Arab Palestinian Occupied land. The fact that people are denied basic human rights like access to water and the inability to move around freely in their homes is in my mind unacceptable. A classmate brought up a question that has long been on my mind. Why do people who have been oppressed become oppressors themselves? Is it because the Jewish people were treated so badly by so many people for so long that they feel justified in the inequality and injustice that they subject the Arab people to?
From my observances and learning today I did not experience a people (Arab) that wanted to destroy everything that I hold dear. Often times we tend to spread the influences of the Taliban and Al-Queda to places where it doesn't belong. The Palestine that I caught a glimpse of today is not one that wants to become like the terrorists. They want their freedom, they want democracy--they do not want to be like the fanatics.
This sentiment was shown by our tour guide today in Nablus, but it makes me wonder if the opinion of a Palestinian changes drastically by their approximation to the ongoing turmoil between the Arabs and Israeli Settlers. Is it that the closer you are to the daily conflict the more violent you want to be towards the enemy?
Today I saw hope in the eyes and faces of the Palestinian children. This new generation has within their reach a chance at living in a land where there is no more violence. I recalled today the words of Paul Rusessabagina spoken at his lecture at Miami University several years ago. When asked about what the West can do for Africa he stated that we [ the West] need to help them help themselves. I feel like this can be directly applied to the situation in Israel/Palestine.
When we were walking around Nablus and talking to people at the refugee camp women's center, as well as our tour guide I realized just how uninformed the US is about what is going on in the West Bank. We don't really know what Israel subjects them to, we don't know how they are building community by education people in cultural affairs like music and art. We do not understand that they need help. We don't completely grasp the degree to which the violence has affected children mentally and emotionally. We also do not know where all the money that the US sends into the area actually goes. Is it an even split between Israel and the Palestinian areas? Or is it unfair?
Just some of the things that are weighing on my heart this evening. I do not have any answers to any of these questions. What I do know is that it is our obligation as Christian, Children of the God of Abraham to see the human face of this God within everyone--Jew, Christian, and Muslim.
From my observances and learning today I did not experience a people (Arab) that wanted to destroy everything that I hold dear. Often times we tend to spread the influences of the Taliban and Al-Queda to places where it doesn't belong. The Palestine that I caught a glimpse of today is not one that wants to become like the terrorists. They want their freedom, they want democracy--they do not want to be like the fanatics.
This sentiment was shown by our tour guide today in Nablus, but it makes me wonder if the opinion of a Palestinian changes drastically by their approximation to the ongoing turmoil between the Arabs and Israeli Settlers. Is it that the closer you are to the daily conflict the more violent you want to be towards the enemy?
Today I saw hope in the eyes and faces of the Palestinian children. This new generation has within their reach a chance at living in a land where there is no more violence. I recalled today the words of Paul Rusessabagina spoken at his lecture at Miami University several years ago. When asked about what the West can do for Africa he stated that we [ the West] need to help them help themselves. I feel like this can be directly applied to the situation in Israel/Palestine.
When we were walking around Nablus and talking to people at the refugee camp women's center, as well as our tour guide I realized just how uninformed the US is about what is going on in the West Bank. We don't really know what Israel subjects them to, we don't know how they are building community by education people in cultural affairs like music and art. We do not understand that they need help. We don't completely grasp the degree to which the violence has affected children mentally and emotionally. We also do not know where all the money that the US sends into the area actually goes. Is it an even split between Israel and the Palestinian areas? Or is it unfair?
Just some of the things that are weighing on my heart this evening. I do not have any answers to any of these questions. What I do know is that it is our obligation as Christian, Children of the God of Abraham to see the human face of this God within everyone--Jew, Christian, and Muslim.
Well said. An excellent reflection of your experience. Monday here is Martin Luther King , Jr. Day. Keep posting and giving us something to think about. Maybe it is what Jesus would do.
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