Posts
Happy Thanksgiving from Hebron
November 30, 2002
Hi everyone,
Happy Thanksgiving! We had a delegation here and had nothing on the table which looked like traditional holiday food. I made maqlube ('upside down') chicken and rice; Mary made grated potato salad; and John made a lentil-egg bake. We've now been eating leftovers for the past two days so that is something our team is sharing in common with all of you. This is the first close encounter I've had with a raw chicken. It didn't seem like such a tough thing at the butcher shop, but when I got home and took it out of the bag there was still a chicken head attached. This was not a happy experience for myself. Kristin looked on in horrified fascination as I tried to figure out how to prepare the bird. Fortunately, there were experienced chicken-handlers on the delegation that came to the rescue. Yesterday was my first try at boiling chicken stock. That was much easier. Later we will have maqlube soup. Overall though, I think many of us on team will be extolling the virtues of vegetarian eating while on project for some time to come.
Things are thankfully quieting down in Hebron, we are not needed to stay with families near the new settlement quite as often as a few weeks ago. Curfew was lifted yesterday in the Old City and it sprang to life. We all went on shopping spree to stock up from our neighbors. This is the team's small-scale practice of economic justice. Sure, food is available in some neighborhoods any day of the week. But we try to wait on stocking up until our immediate neighbors are open so that they have some income in order to keep their shops in the neighborhood for the long haul. Only two shops still open on the souk road leading down to the Avraham Avinu settlement. When I first came here, there were at least fifteen shops and multiple fruit and vegetable vendors. Now it is a parking lot for settlers, heaps of razor wire, and a lonely alley.
Anyway, my shopping spree totals came to nearly $200 the other day. I thought about how common this is in a week's shopping for many families in the US at the supermarket or Wal-Mart; here it is more than most of our neighbors make in a month, sometimes two.
It is just now getting bitterly cold though the sun is out today. Yesterday's heavy rains and hail dropped the temperatures rapidly. Due to the curfews, we haven't been able to get gas tanks for our heaters, and are trying to conserve our cooking gas. It will be at least another week before gas is available to us. We're laying in more emergency supplies (non-perishables, etc.) now that we've experienced such a long and intense invasion. Again, it is possible to buy food in some shops far away from the office. But other families are competing for the supply, it's a long distance for heavy items, and it takes away from our other tasks and energies. (Like going to the store for our neighbors who cannot leave the house under curfew). Most of our neighbors do have stocks of some foodstuffs to last for months, but need bread and milk for children on a regular basis. Finally now, after some three weeks, the Red Cross has been allowed to distribute aid packages, and families have had some access to fresh food.
It was a real blessing throughout the invasion that our upstairs neighbor mom sent plates of Palestinian cooking down to us. Her daughter explained this was how she was coping with the curfews, by compulsive cooking. This was great for us--we were so tired or so few in the apartment come dinnertime that sometimes it was our dinner. Otherwise it was just a good morale booster. We try to keep up the neighborly ties by filling the empty plates with things they might not be able to get--like produce when we could find it, or sweets.
Now, it is time again to make supper here--heating up the soup, and then to clean the kitchen (my chore today) and then all of us are going to curl up in the the same room around our electric heater. While the weather has been turning, I've been getting back into my cross-stitch bag and back into the kitchen where I am happy to work over a hot range for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The conversation in the evenings is good and the pace is slowed. I realize how grateful I am to experience this kind of living, which is now so foreign in the U.S. I hope I will be able to maintain it when I return. Although, I think it is a major reason I may not spend much time in the U.S. after seminary. Our hurried pace does not fulfill us, and our families and friends are lost in the rush.
I've spent a lot of time with Palestinian families from a range of incomes over the past week. In every case, the family is together all evening around the heaters. To keep their bodies warm enough, they serve hot coffee, tea, and milk several times throughout the evening. At night, everyone of the same gender climbs into the same beds, or bedroom, and shares heavy covers. It is in this need for survival that the community and family relationships are nurtured. In one home with my friends the Abu Haikals, I sat tucked in next to Hannah and Lena for hours, cross-stitching with them and catching up on two months' worth of news. It felt luxurious. Even the wealthiest families I know here do not have the material possessions we have in an average home, and the political strife hangs over their heads daily, where it barely touches us at home. But what they do have that most of us have traded in for our affluence, like patience and strong family ties--is far more precious.
Happy Thanksgiving, and encouraging reflection on where our priorities lie,
Le Anne
Saturday, November 30, 2002
Sunday, November 24, 2002
Some thoughts after visiting Jabel Johar
Some thoughts after visiting Jabel Johar
November 24, 2002
Hi everyone,
I guess it's odd that I have so much time to write and reflect in one day. Probably won't again for several weeks. I had just spent a lot of time thinking this afternoon about the young boys I met near where the new settlement is being built, and how deeply the situation disturbed me.
I have often felt that the children here for the most part are not like normal children. Most Palestinian children are far too well mannered, as compared to US children. They're generally nonaggressive, compared to American kids. One of the psychologists with Doctors Without Borders pointed this out to us this spring. And so much smaller. They're too responsible too soon, like tiny adults knowing too much. And you see that in their knowing eyes. It's haunting.
And then you see the settler kids, well dressed and well fed, and taking absolute delight in defacing buildings and assaulting Palestinians and human rights workers alike, verbally and physically. Actually, an odd combination of hatred and delight. They know they're supposed to hate us, and they get rewarded when they do these things. They are just carrying out the actions of their parents, not really seeming to see that this might be something wrong to do. By the time they're old enough to know, I think they've been doing it so long it's just normal or a hard habit to break.
And then there is a group of Palestinian boys, maybe 7-12 years old, that we encounter on a regular basis. It's the same batch of kids mostly, dirty, scrawny, not in school. If you follow the Hebron reports, this is the group of kids we often have throwing stones at us. And I've often thought, 'what is it that seems different between settler kids throwing stones, and these boys throwing stones?’
I think it is the look in their eyes. In these kids, there is anger, and disturbing emptiness. Somehow their parents or families don't or can't look after them, say the neighbors. In addition, being boys their age, they are particularly vulnerable to attacks from settlers or soldiers. The border police go after them first, down at the schools. There is nothing there except each other, and that is challenged every day. I've heard other NGO workers in town say every group has tried to set up a program to help them, but nothing has worked.
There's kind of a futility in their eyes when you try to converse with them, and then they throw small stones at you the second you turn your back. Sometimes neighbors have said, "They think you are settlers." But then we speak to them in Arabic that we're not, and the neighbors tell them also, and this gives them pause for about two seconds, and then they start in again. Not terribly aggressive, but mechanically repetitive.
Two days ago, one of the kids grabbed my hat off my head. Not knowing what else to do, I bear-hug-grabbed him, took back my hat, and scolded him in Arabic. And I felt the kid in my arms, not really struggling, and everybody else watching, and I got the sense that this is what they were looking for somehow. Is it attention? Or a violent reaction? It was almost as if some of them had a 'just kill me' look on their faces. There is not much for them to live for here, especially now if a new settlement is going up in their neighborhood.
I've also been thinking about boys we've seen whose families do look after them. There are two houses in particular, the boys in each are cousins to each other. Their grandparents' house was demolished the same night as the shootout in Hebron, they lost everything. In one house as I sat, the 12 year old was extremely agitated. He kept getting up and leaving the room, and eyed us suspiciously. Suddenly, spontaneously, he threw the glass he had in his hand across the room and through the door, where it shattered. His mother and sisters were shocked and began scolding him. He erupted back and stormed out. His sister said, "We are sorry. He thinks you must be settlers, but we told him you are not. On Friday night (of the shootout), they came and took one of his puppies. Last night, the soldiers came to this house and searched it three times, and took his other puppy. This morning, he found his first puppy outside, shot full of holes and half buried in the dirt." Later he came back into the room with tears in his eyes.
In the other house live two girls and two boys. Their father died in the conflict a few months ago. The girls are at the top of their class, studying constantly. The boys now blow off school completely. Their mother can't make them go. The daughters speak freely and easily with us strangers, the boys are unreachable. My teammate remarked to me, "the girls seem to see that their education is what will help them survive in this world. But the boys aren't concerned with survival. It's like they don't even want to live. Sitting there I thought, these kids will grow up to be the next suicide bombers." It was a chilling thought. But, sitting in the middle of a neighborhood that was about to be bulldozed, where soldiers come every night and beat the men, where children's puppies are killed and border police teargas the school on a regular basis, they are deeply traumatized. I also wondered what they had to live for. For what there still is, I don't think they can see it anymore.
There are lots of suicide bombings that go off 'prematurely,’ or with only killing one other person, or only killing the bomber himself. There is a rising trend of individual or small groups of teen boys who are not affiliated with any Palestinian militia who are becoming suicide attackers. We've seen a woman in front of our eyes try weakly to stab at soldiers at a heavily armed checkpoint, then refuse to run away, and heard of several other such incidents. We've heard it repeated here a few times, a growing part of suicide attacks, are suicide.
-Le Anne
November 24, 2002
Hi everyone,
I guess it's odd that I have so much time to write and reflect in one day. Probably won't again for several weeks. I had just spent a lot of time thinking this afternoon about the young boys I met near where the new settlement is being built, and how deeply the situation disturbed me.
I have often felt that the children here for the most part are not like normal children. Most Palestinian children are far too well mannered, as compared to US children. They're generally nonaggressive, compared to American kids. One of the psychologists with Doctors Without Borders pointed this out to us this spring. And so much smaller. They're too responsible too soon, like tiny adults knowing too much. And you see that in their knowing eyes. It's haunting.
And then you see the settler kids, well dressed and well fed, and taking absolute delight in defacing buildings and assaulting Palestinians and human rights workers alike, verbally and physically. Actually, an odd combination of hatred and delight. They know they're supposed to hate us, and they get rewarded when they do these things. They are just carrying out the actions of their parents, not really seeming to see that this might be something wrong to do. By the time they're old enough to know, I think they've been doing it so long it's just normal or a hard habit to break.
And then there is a group of Palestinian boys, maybe 7-12 years old, that we encounter on a regular basis. It's the same batch of kids mostly, dirty, scrawny, not in school. If you follow the Hebron reports, this is the group of kids we often have throwing stones at us. And I've often thought, 'what is it that seems different between settler kids throwing stones, and these boys throwing stones?’
I think it is the look in their eyes. In these kids, there is anger, and disturbing emptiness. Somehow their parents or families don't or can't look after them, say the neighbors. In addition, being boys their age, they are particularly vulnerable to attacks from settlers or soldiers. The border police go after them first, down at the schools. There is nothing there except each other, and that is challenged every day. I've heard other NGO workers in town say every group has tried to set up a program to help them, but nothing has worked.
There's kind of a futility in their eyes when you try to converse with them, and then they throw small stones at you the second you turn your back. Sometimes neighbors have said, "They think you are settlers." But then we speak to them in Arabic that we're not, and the neighbors tell them also, and this gives them pause for about two seconds, and then they start in again. Not terribly aggressive, but mechanically repetitive.
Two days ago, one of the kids grabbed my hat off my head. Not knowing what else to do, I bear-hug-grabbed him, took back my hat, and scolded him in Arabic. And I felt the kid in my arms, not really struggling, and everybody else watching, and I got the sense that this is what they were looking for somehow. Is it attention? Or a violent reaction? It was almost as if some of them had a 'just kill me' look on their faces. There is not much for them to live for here, especially now if a new settlement is going up in their neighborhood.
I've also been thinking about boys we've seen whose families do look after them. There are two houses in particular, the boys in each are cousins to each other. Their grandparents' house was demolished the same night as the shootout in Hebron, they lost everything. In one house as I sat, the 12 year old was extremely agitated. He kept getting up and leaving the room, and eyed us suspiciously. Suddenly, spontaneously, he threw the glass he had in his hand across the room and through the door, where it shattered. His mother and sisters were shocked and began scolding him. He erupted back and stormed out. His sister said, "We are sorry. He thinks you must be settlers, but we told him you are not. On Friday night (of the shootout), they came and took one of his puppies. Last night, the soldiers came to this house and searched it three times, and took his other puppy. This morning, he found his first puppy outside, shot full of holes and half buried in the dirt." Later he came back into the room with tears in his eyes.
In the other house live two girls and two boys. Their father died in the conflict a few months ago. The girls are at the top of their class, studying constantly. The boys now blow off school completely. Their mother can't make them go. The daughters speak freely and easily with us strangers, the boys are unreachable. My teammate remarked to me, "the girls seem to see that their education is what will help them survive in this world. But the boys aren't concerned with survival. It's like they don't even want to live. Sitting there I thought, these kids will grow up to be the next suicide bombers." It was a chilling thought. But, sitting in the middle of a neighborhood that was about to be bulldozed, where soldiers come every night and beat the men, where children's puppies are killed and border police teargas the school on a regular basis, they are deeply traumatized. I also wondered what they had to live for. For what there still is, I don't think they can see it anymore.
There are lots of suicide bombings that go off 'prematurely,’ or with only killing one other person, or only killing the bomber himself. There is a rising trend of individual or small groups of teen boys who are not affiliated with any Palestinian militia who are becoming suicide attackers. We've seen a woman in front of our eyes try weakly to stab at soldiers at a heavily armed checkpoint, then refuse to run away, and heard of several other such incidents. We've heard it repeated here a few times, a growing part of suicide attacks, are suicide.
-Le Anne
Day Nine of Hebron Siege
Day Nine of the Hebron Siege
November 24, 2002
Hi everyone,
My teammate remarked this morning, "Day nine of the siege." I hadn't thought to count. We spent the night in a three story home downhill from the new settlement, which lies in a valley between the settlements of Hebron and Kiryat Arba. The people living there include a young mother, her two small children, and a diabetic grandmother with a wooden leg. The settlers have been stoning the house, and the soldiers threw a percussion grenade at the front porch. The mother is not happy.
Last night at 3am, we awoke to a bulldozer clearing out a vineyard. The soldiers put up a 'Palestinian only' dirt road as opposed to the 'Israeli' only paved road where the new settlement is. They also bulldozed a friend's prized blue Nissan. A few days ago, settlers broke out the windshield. It was in good condition before. It was pushed downhill 100 meters and then squashed.
The settlers also had a large rally at the site of the new settlement starting around 9pm. The speakers were vehement in both Hebrew and English. We didn't know how long the rally would last, but last week the rally descended into groups of settlers running around trashing the neighborhood. Lying in bed inside the house (they go to bed early here) it occurred to me that it was somewhat like staying in a black family's home near a Ku Klux Klan rally, expecting them to 'ride' that night. Really, that's all you can compare it to these days. Figuring the Hebron settlers have about as much to do with Judaism as the KKK had to do with Christianity.
There is a Jewish Israeli women's group that would like to set up a peace team in Hebron. They said, "Most of us in Israel don't even like the Hebron settlers, why should we allow them to do this?" It was neat to see. Other Israeli peace activists were in over the weekend and helped lawyers obtain an injunction against demolishing at least one of several Palestinian homes in the area where we slept. Good for them, although it was a funny sight that the college aged activists all had pink, green, and skunk-dyed hair and multiple piercings, staying in some of the most traditional homes in Hebron.
Some of you may know about ICAHD, the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions, whom we work with a lot. Jeff Halper heads the program and brought his students over the weekend. Lots of students. This tells me that all radical peace activists would do well to become college professors. What a good place to develop recruits! Even with skunk hairdos. Anyway, it was a hopeful sight here. There's so much attention focused here that I think maybe the soldiers and settlers won't be able to do too much.
Life in Bethlehem is not as hopeful though. As of this invasion, the Israeli military apparently has a list of 2,000 houses they would like to demolish, only a small portion of them belonging to Palestinian combatants, and say they're "not leaving until we finish them off." Yikes. Guess we're setting up a new team in Bethlehem. On the up side, our project coordinator estimated we'd have 20 full timers working here by next summer. Uff da!
I'd like to send more on Iraq, but that will need to wait a few days. I really did take a small book-full of notes. Anyone who wants to drop in on Jack and Anne can check out my 'goodies' that I posted home. They're coming along on next speaking tour.
If you've sent me anything between Nov. 5 and Nov. 20 on my hotmail account, please resend it. Since I was under siege, I discovered Hotmail just deletes your entire inbox when it gets full. Many thanks.
I think I mentioned they only gave me a 2 month visa at the border this time, am thinking through my options. If I go out for just a few days to renew my visa, I'm thinking about taking ulpan, or spoken Hebrew classes, in January. Seems like it would be neat to have a Hebrew speaker on team, and maybe the border guards would let me in without as much hassle if I were coming in 'to study Hebrew.'
Enough for now,
Le Anne
November 24, 2002
Hi everyone,
My teammate remarked this morning, "Day nine of the siege." I hadn't thought to count. We spent the night in a three story home downhill from the new settlement, which lies in a valley between the settlements of Hebron and Kiryat Arba. The people living there include a young mother, her two small children, and a diabetic grandmother with a wooden leg. The settlers have been stoning the house, and the soldiers threw a percussion grenade at the front porch. The mother is not happy.
Last night at 3am, we awoke to a bulldozer clearing out a vineyard. The soldiers put up a 'Palestinian only' dirt road as opposed to the 'Israeli' only paved road where the new settlement is. They also bulldozed a friend's prized blue Nissan. A few days ago, settlers broke out the windshield. It was in good condition before. It was pushed downhill 100 meters and then squashed.
The settlers also had a large rally at the site of the new settlement starting around 9pm. The speakers were vehement in both Hebrew and English. We didn't know how long the rally would last, but last week the rally descended into groups of settlers running around trashing the neighborhood. Lying in bed inside the house (they go to bed early here) it occurred to me that it was somewhat like staying in a black family's home near a Ku Klux Klan rally, expecting them to 'ride' that night. Really, that's all you can compare it to these days. Figuring the Hebron settlers have about as much to do with Judaism as the KKK had to do with Christianity.
There is a Jewish Israeli women's group that would like to set up a peace team in Hebron. They said, "Most of us in Israel don't even like the Hebron settlers, why should we allow them to do this?" It was neat to see. Other Israeli peace activists were in over the weekend and helped lawyers obtain an injunction against demolishing at least one of several Palestinian homes in the area where we slept. Good for them, although it was a funny sight that the college aged activists all had pink, green, and skunk-dyed hair and multiple piercings, staying in some of the most traditional homes in Hebron.
Some of you may know about ICAHD, the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions, whom we work with a lot. Jeff Halper heads the program and brought his students over the weekend. Lots of students. This tells me that all radical peace activists would do well to become college professors. What a good place to develop recruits! Even with skunk hairdos. Anyway, it was a hopeful sight here. There's so much attention focused here that I think maybe the soldiers and settlers won't be able to do too much.
Life in Bethlehem is not as hopeful though. As of this invasion, the Israeli military apparently has a list of 2,000 houses they would like to demolish, only a small portion of them belonging to Palestinian combatants, and say they're "not leaving until we finish them off." Yikes. Guess we're setting up a new team in Bethlehem. On the up side, our project coordinator estimated we'd have 20 full timers working here by next summer. Uff da!
I'd like to send more on Iraq, but that will need to wait a few days. I really did take a small book-full of notes. Anyone who wants to drop in on Jack and Anne can check out my 'goodies' that I posted home. They're coming along on next speaking tour.
If you've sent me anything between Nov. 5 and Nov. 20 on my hotmail account, please resend it. Since I was under siege, I discovered Hotmail just deletes your entire inbox when it gets full. Many thanks.
I think I mentioned they only gave me a 2 month visa at the border this time, am thinking through my options. If I go out for just a few days to renew my visa, I'm thinking about taking ulpan, or spoken Hebrew classes, in January. Seems like it would be neat to have a Hebrew speaker on team, and maybe the border guards would let me in without as much hassle if I were coming in 'to study Hebrew.'
Enough for now,
Le Anne
Saturday, November 16, 2002
15 Killed in Hebron Shooting Attack
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fifteen Killed, More Wounded in Hebron Shooting Attack
By Le Anne Clausen
November 16, 2002
HEBRON—At least fifteen people are dead and fifteen more wounded after a shooting attack Friday evening, November 15th, at 7:15pm. Palestinian gunmen opened fire and threw grenades at a group of Israeli settlers and soldiers walking to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba after Shabbat services at the synagogue in the Tomb of the Patriarchs/ Ibrahimi Mosque complex. The dead include nine Israeli soldiers and border policemen, three armed Israeli settler security, and three Palestinians believed to have perpetrated the attack. Colonel Dror Weinberg, commander of the Israeli forces in Hebron, was one of the victims. At least five of the wounded are soldiers in serious condition according to reports received by the team. The Palestinian militia Islamic Jihad has confirmed responsibility for the attack, claiming retribution for the Israeli military assassination of its leader Iyad Sawalha in Jenin late last week.
The Israeli military responded to the attack with several hours of firing at Palestinian areas with machine guns, tanks, and helicopter-mounted artillery. The military also used a bulldozer to demolish two Palestinian homes near the site of the shooting. It is not yet clear how the homes demolished were connected to the attack. At least five Palestinians were arrested according to local news reports.
News reports also indicate the Israeli cabinet is meeting to discuss plans for further retaliation to the attack. The Israeli-controlled areas of Hebron are under tight curfew, and shops in other areas of town are closed in anticipation of a large-scale invasion.
CPTers Le Anne Clausen, Bob Holmes, Jerry Levin, and Quaker Peace and Witness Service (QPWS) member John Lynes walked to the site of the attack, conveying their sorrow and condolences to Israeli settlers and soldiers gathered nearby, as well as to Palestinian families at the site of the home demolitions. Team members observed the bodies of the suspected gunmen being held by the Israeli military in a field nearby. As team members watched, soldiers placed a cover over one of the bodies and attempted to put it on a stretcher for transport. The CPTers also observed soldiers carrying out searches of Palestinian houses in the neighborhood. Later team members Rick Polhamus, Mary Yoder, and Christine Caton delivered a letter of condolence to the Israeli military base in Hebron. The Israeli victims are expected to be buried at sunset Saturday at the end of Shabbat. Team members intend to stay the night with Palestinian civilian families in areas which may be targeted for retribution attacks.
The Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron strongly condemns this night of violence and calls on both sides to end the cycle of revenge before more lives are needlessly lost. CPT believes that neither the killing of armed persons nor civilians advances the cause of peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of all who were killed, for the recovery of those injured, and for a just and lasting peace in this region.
Fifteen Killed, More Wounded in Hebron Shooting Attack
By Le Anne Clausen
November 16, 2002
HEBRON—At least fifteen people are dead and fifteen more wounded after a shooting attack Friday evening, November 15th, at 7:15pm. Palestinian gunmen opened fire and threw grenades at a group of Israeli settlers and soldiers walking to the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba after Shabbat services at the synagogue in the Tomb of the Patriarchs/ Ibrahimi Mosque complex. The dead include nine Israeli soldiers and border policemen, three armed Israeli settler security, and three Palestinians believed to have perpetrated the attack. Colonel Dror Weinberg, commander of the Israeli forces in Hebron, was one of the victims. At least five of the wounded are soldiers in serious condition according to reports received by the team. The Palestinian militia Islamic Jihad has confirmed responsibility for the attack, claiming retribution for the Israeli military assassination of its leader Iyad Sawalha in Jenin late last week.
The Israeli military responded to the attack with several hours of firing at Palestinian areas with machine guns, tanks, and helicopter-mounted artillery. The military also used a bulldozer to demolish two Palestinian homes near the site of the shooting. It is not yet clear how the homes demolished were connected to the attack. At least five Palestinians were arrested according to local news reports.
News reports also indicate the Israeli cabinet is meeting to discuss plans for further retaliation to the attack. The Israeli-controlled areas of Hebron are under tight curfew, and shops in other areas of town are closed in anticipation of a large-scale invasion.
CPTers Le Anne Clausen, Bob Holmes, Jerry Levin, and Quaker Peace and Witness Service (QPWS) member John Lynes walked to the site of the attack, conveying their sorrow and condolences to Israeli settlers and soldiers gathered nearby, as well as to Palestinian families at the site of the home demolitions. Team members observed the bodies of the suspected gunmen being held by the Israeli military in a field nearby. As team members watched, soldiers placed a cover over one of the bodies and attempted to put it on a stretcher for transport. The CPTers also observed soldiers carrying out searches of Palestinian houses in the neighborhood. Later team members Rick Polhamus, Mary Yoder, and Christine Caton delivered a letter of condolence to the Israeli military base in Hebron. The Israeli victims are expected to be buried at sunset Saturday at the end of Shabbat. Team members intend to stay the night with Palestinian civilian families in areas which may be targeted for retribution attacks.
The Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron strongly condemns this night of violence and calls on both sides to end the cycle of revenge before more lives are needlessly lost. CPT believes that neither the killing of armed persons nor civilians advances the cause of peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of all who were killed, for the recovery of those injured, and for a just and lasting peace in this region.
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
On Loving One's Enemies
On Loving One’s Enemies
November 12, 2002
I spent a lot of time in Iraq reflecting on Jesus' commandment to love our enemies:
Mt. 5:43-45 (Sermon on the Mount)
"You have heard it said that 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "
Loving your enemy on the global scale is seeking the harder path. It means taking the time to seek out a wider variety of sources of news and information. In many ways, the internet has revolutionized the human rights movement by putting reputable HR organizations' reporting directly into the homes of the average person. If you do not have enough time to investigate other sources for yourself, it is good to enlist the help of a media savvy friend to send you a briefing of important international issues. Internet is really the last democratic form of media. Previously local and independent newspapers, radio and television stations are being bought up and thus controlled by an ever-decreasing number of 'media giants.' Many of these corporate executives have real financial investments in the outcome of international political struggles. The outcome in many international conflicts depends at least in part on public opinion, which is influenced by what news is reported and the perspective from which it is reported.
As a Christian committed to loving my enemy on a global scale, my travel itinerary would need to include Cuba, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Viet Nam, and Serbia. If you have a passport issued before this year, look inside. According to US law, it is illegal to for a US citizen to visit half of the countries I just listed. It is illegal to purchase a souvenir or any other good or product while visiting the country or from overseas in all of the countries I just listed.
Loving your enemy is visiting your enemy, seeing what that enemy is really like, hearing the grievances your enemy holds against you. That does not necessarily mean they are completely innocent. But how many times are you completely innocent when you are in a conflict with someone else? It is not easy. In fact, it is the least popular Christian commandment in all of history. It is refusing to have anyone tell you that someone is your enemy without first seeing it for yourself.
Loving your enemy is refusing to label an entire country "evil." Leaders may be evil, or at least have long histories of evil deeds, but it is wrong to equate political or military leaders with the civilians of their countries. The Fourth Geneva Convention, written after the Holocaust to define minimum standards for humane warfare, says as much. Those of us in the peace movement know how leaders do not listen to desires of the majority, even when the leaders are "democratically elected."
The churches in the United States are united and outspoken against the war. On October 26, 100,000 US citizens marched on Washington, DC; tens of thousands more joined in simultaneous marches around the globe. Did you know? Was it reported? The peace movement to end the Viet Nam war needed seven years of mass American casualties to get as large a crowd to march as there is marching now.
I urge you to read the newspapers with a new filter to help you in your understanding. Every time you read 'war,' or 'military force,' just substitute the phrase, "Kill their civilians."
A new variation on an old cliche came to mind while I was in Iraq: "War is temporary. Radiation is forever."
Our leaders are becoming like the leaders of Israel. Accompanying Iraqi civilians during a mass bombing campaign is like hiding the Jews. If you cannot stop the great evil, then you can at least bear witness to it. It is Christian to go to jail. Christians, after all, are since their very beginning well acquainted with jail.
Bonhoeffer never believed he could stop the war. But he left his place of safety and went to bear witness in the midst of the danger. His country was losing its soul. He had to speak, act, and teach against this to the capacity which he could.
We do not think of a bomb falling into the middle of a room full of people, burning the people, piercing them with shrapnel. Even with Sept. 11 (the closest our country ever got to experiencing this) we still can't ourselves imagine. Now imagine that in your neighborhood, this bombing is occurring every day. Children still have to be fed.
Perhaps the most deeply disturbing part of our delegation was passing an exit on the highway that led south from Basra. It is the highway joining Iraq to Kuwait. This is the place where our armed forces annihilated retreating soldiers. Voices does not allow activists less than 50 years old to go into the area. The radiation level has made the risk of producing deformed children or developing cancer is too high.
Some babies are so horribly mutated that they are almost unrecognizable as human beings. I thought to myself, How would I feel if I gave birth to a lump of flesh? These infants have a short life in the hospital's intensive care unit. They almost always die. Frankly, I thought a lot about my ovaries while in Basra.
The mainstream media paints an image of Iraq the country as nothing more than a crazed leader. While that is true, there is so much more. Next time, think of mutated babies. Then decide whether it is right to bomb.
November 12, 2002
I spent a lot of time in Iraq reflecting on Jesus' commandment to love our enemies:
Mt. 5:43-45 (Sermon on the Mount)
"You have heard it said that 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "
Loving your enemy on the global scale is seeking the harder path. It means taking the time to seek out a wider variety of sources of news and information. In many ways, the internet has revolutionized the human rights movement by putting reputable HR organizations' reporting directly into the homes of the average person. If you do not have enough time to investigate other sources for yourself, it is good to enlist the help of a media savvy friend to send you a briefing of important international issues. Internet is really the last democratic form of media. Previously local and independent newspapers, radio and television stations are being bought up and thus controlled by an ever-decreasing number of 'media giants.' Many of these corporate executives have real financial investments in the outcome of international political struggles. The outcome in many international conflicts depends at least in part on public opinion, which is influenced by what news is reported and the perspective from which it is reported.
As a Christian committed to loving my enemy on a global scale, my travel itinerary would need to include Cuba, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Viet Nam, and Serbia. If you have a passport issued before this year, look inside. According to US law, it is illegal to for a US citizen to visit half of the countries I just listed. It is illegal to purchase a souvenir or any other good or product while visiting the country or from overseas in all of the countries I just listed.
Loving your enemy is visiting your enemy, seeing what that enemy is really like, hearing the grievances your enemy holds against you. That does not necessarily mean they are completely innocent. But how many times are you completely innocent when you are in a conflict with someone else? It is not easy. In fact, it is the least popular Christian commandment in all of history. It is refusing to have anyone tell you that someone is your enemy without first seeing it for yourself.
Loving your enemy is refusing to label an entire country "evil." Leaders may be evil, or at least have long histories of evil deeds, but it is wrong to equate political or military leaders with the civilians of their countries. The Fourth Geneva Convention, written after the Holocaust to define minimum standards for humane warfare, says as much. Those of us in the peace movement know how leaders do not listen to desires of the majority, even when the leaders are "democratically elected."
The churches in the United States are united and outspoken against the war. On October 26, 100,000 US citizens marched on Washington, DC; tens of thousands more joined in simultaneous marches around the globe. Did you know? Was it reported? The peace movement to end the Viet Nam war needed seven years of mass American casualties to get as large a crowd to march as there is marching now.
I urge you to read the newspapers with a new filter to help you in your understanding. Every time you read 'war,' or 'military force,' just substitute the phrase, "Kill their civilians."
A new variation on an old cliche came to mind while I was in Iraq: "War is temporary. Radiation is forever."
Our leaders are becoming like the leaders of Israel. Accompanying Iraqi civilians during a mass bombing campaign is like hiding the Jews. If you cannot stop the great evil, then you can at least bear witness to it. It is Christian to go to jail. Christians, after all, are since their very beginning well acquainted with jail.
Bonhoeffer never believed he could stop the war. But he left his place of safety and went to bear witness in the midst of the danger. His country was losing its soul. He had to speak, act, and teach against this to the capacity which he could.
We do not think of a bomb falling into the middle of a room full of people, burning the people, piercing them with shrapnel. Even with Sept. 11 (the closest our country ever got to experiencing this) we still can't ourselves imagine. Now imagine that in your neighborhood, this bombing is occurring every day. Children still have to be fed.
Perhaps the most deeply disturbing part of our delegation was passing an exit on the highway that led south from Basra. It is the highway joining Iraq to Kuwait. This is the place where our armed forces annihilated retreating soldiers. Voices does not allow activists less than 50 years old to go into the area. The radiation level has made the risk of producing deformed children or developing cancer is too high.
Some babies are so horribly mutated that they are almost unrecognizable as human beings. I thought to myself, How would I feel if I gave birth to a lump of flesh? These infants have a short life in the hospital's intensive care unit. They almost always die. Frankly, I thought a lot about my ovaries while in Basra.
The mainstream media paints an image of Iraq the country as nothing more than a crazed leader. While that is true, there is so much more. Next time, think of mutated babies. Then decide whether it is right to bomb.
Monday, November 04, 2002
Greetings from Baghdad!
Hi everyone,
Greetings from Baghdad! I don't know what updates Chicago has sent out for us, so I'll try to give a brief update. We had a pretty good trip with two nights in Amman, Jordan, followed by a sixteen-hour bus ride on the oil road through the Syro-Arabian desert and into Baghdad. We're staying at a really neat hotel where all the walls are covered with carved clay tiles with Arabesque cityscapes. There's a monkey and a parrot in the lobby, I'm trying to teach the parrot to say Marhaba, and the monkey crawled up my leg and bit me through my pants leg and sock, fortunately no damage except that it’s sore. Glad I got my booster shots. He's bitten everyone on the hotel staff and a couple of the Voices people and no one has died so I guess I shouldn't worry and more importantly neither should you!
Tomorrow we'll hit the road splitting up the group to go to Basrah in the south and Mosul in the north, where we'll be meeting with churches and hospitals. I'll be going north and hope we get to drop by Ninevah. The southern group is going to Ur. Yesterday was our first full day here and we went to an orphanage and the Amariyeh bomb shelter (which was destroyed during the first Gulf War, killing several hundred civilians.) Today we visited the University and met students, then sat with the preeminent cancer research doctor in the country and learned about the effects of depleted uranium and other health disasters since the previous war. The photographs of the babies with cyclopeia, icthyosis, hydroencephaly, and extruding vital organs were difficult to see, yet a very quick visual lesson in the effects of radiation absorption. I'm working on a presentation for all this similar to my Palestine talk so you can all see this better. We met a professor today who remarked, "This is the cradle of civilization, which is about to be erased from the earth by the most civilized nation on earth." That pretty much sums up the sentiment. People are expecting to be blown to bits. When at the shelter, we heard one woman say, "people will not go into the bomb shelters now (after the Amariyeh bombing) They say, 'we go in there, we'll die. We stay at home, we'll die.' Although a student also remarked, "we are not 'afraid.' We are a courageous people." So many thoughts and feelings here about the near future.
The reception here has been good, though the situation heartbreaking. People around here haven't gotten many tourists in a long time I guess. When locals find out we're American, we usually get suprised grins and 'welcome!' Iraqis are extremely polite and well educated people, even more so than Palestinians though I never thought that possible. Somewhat similar to Cuba, college education is free to all who qualify on their exams. I can explain more of the demographics later, but the artistry and architecture is overwhelmingly beautiful. I asked our guides if we could get pictures of the mosaic mosques and fountains and statues around the city, things we never see on TV at home. It's so unlike I ever imagined here that I have to tell you all to come see it for yourself. I could easily feel at home here, I would love to spend another month here at least. It really reinforces my sense that I should spend most of my life educating other Americans about all the different people and places we consider 'enemies.' I'd like to write a little more about my developing theology of enemy-loving and the in's and out's of that, but I will wait until returning to Palestine. We are sharing a computer among 30 people here. The weather is extremely warm though the season is changing, and I should have brought more formal clothes. I am just scraping by on my dressiest outfit here. (My black 'Palestinian' slacks and a button down cotton shirt) The local women wear long though sophisticated skirts, and nice blouses, or blazers. I gotta spiff up if I want to stay here long.
That's enough for now. I'll probably write again next from Palestine.
Le Anne
Greetings from Baghdad! I don't know what updates Chicago has sent out for us, so I'll try to give a brief update. We had a pretty good trip with two nights in Amman, Jordan, followed by a sixteen-hour bus ride on the oil road through the Syro-Arabian desert and into Baghdad. We're staying at a really neat hotel where all the walls are covered with carved clay tiles with Arabesque cityscapes. There's a monkey and a parrot in the lobby, I'm trying to teach the parrot to say Marhaba, and the monkey crawled up my leg and bit me through my pants leg and sock, fortunately no damage except that it’s sore. Glad I got my booster shots. He's bitten everyone on the hotel staff and a couple of the Voices people and no one has died so I guess I shouldn't worry and more importantly neither should you!
Tomorrow we'll hit the road splitting up the group to go to Basrah in the south and Mosul in the north, where we'll be meeting with churches and hospitals. I'll be going north and hope we get to drop by Ninevah. The southern group is going to Ur. Yesterday was our first full day here and we went to an orphanage and the Amariyeh bomb shelter (which was destroyed during the first Gulf War, killing several hundred civilians.) Today we visited the University and met students, then sat with the preeminent cancer research doctor in the country and learned about the effects of depleted uranium and other health disasters since the previous war. The photographs of the babies with cyclopeia, icthyosis, hydroencephaly, and extruding vital organs were difficult to see, yet a very quick visual lesson in the effects of radiation absorption. I'm working on a presentation for all this similar to my Palestine talk so you can all see this better. We met a professor today who remarked, "This is the cradle of civilization, which is about to be erased from the earth by the most civilized nation on earth." That pretty much sums up the sentiment. People are expecting to be blown to bits. When at the shelter, we heard one woman say, "people will not go into the bomb shelters now (after the Amariyeh bombing) They say, 'we go in there, we'll die. We stay at home, we'll die.' Although a student also remarked, "we are not 'afraid.' We are a courageous people." So many thoughts and feelings here about the near future.
The reception here has been good, though the situation heartbreaking. People around here haven't gotten many tourists in a long time I guess. When locals find out we're American, we usually get suprised grins and 'welcome!' Iraqis are extremely polite and well educated people, even more so than Palestinians though I never thought that possible. Somewhat similar to Cuba, college education is free to all who qualify on their exams. I can explain more of the demographics later, but the artistry and architecture is overwhelmingly beautiful. I asked our guides if we could get pictures of the mosaic mosques and fountains and statues around the city, things we never see on TV at home. It's so unlike I ever imagined here that I have to tell you all to come see it for yourself. I could easily feel at home here, I would love to spend another month here at least. It really reinforces my sense that I should spend most of my life educating other Americans about all the different people and places we consider 'enemies.' I'd like to write a little more about my developing theology of enemy-loving and the in's and out's of that, but I will wait until returning to Palestine. We are sharing a computer among 30 people here. The weather is extremely warm though the season is changing, and I should have brought more formal clothes. I am just scraping by on my dressiest outfit here. (My black 'Palestinian' slacks and a button down cotton shirt) The local women wear long though sophisticated skirts, and nice blouses, or blazers. I gotta spiff up if I want to stay here long.
That's enough for now. I'll probably write again next from Palestine.
Le Anne
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