The End ?

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your interest and support. I hope my trip and sharing of thoughts will cause a few to learn more about the situation in Palestine and maybe in some small way begin to impact public opinion here in the USA. This will be my last blog. Everything must come to an end at one time or another.

This picture of the wall in Bethlehem shares that hope, i.e. "With Love and Kisses - Nothing lasts Forever". It is easy to end an overseas trip or a blog. How do we end an occupation that has been going on for over 40 years? I found myself looking at the settlements and the road systems and the meandering barrier wall and the fragmented nature of the West Bank and thinking, "I do not see how a two state solution could ever work." And I do not believe Israel would ever let a one state evolve as they would lose their much "needed" Jewish majority. That leaves only a continued occupation, a two state with Israel remaining in effective control of many aspects of Palestinian life, or a one state that could evolve if enough Palestinians are moved out of Palestine.

Some have asked me, "Haven't they stopped work on the wall?"

My last few hours with the Michigan Peace Team (just before I left to be a tourist for a few days) was spent in the village of Nilin. They protest often on Friday afternoon. They are a tad disturbed by the loss of land and the presence of the wall on their land. You can read about Nilin in detail on the MPT blog at http://mptinpalestine.blogspot.com/2009/11/nilin-87-land-loss.html That is me in the 8th picture from the top.

This picture is the wall at Nilin, some Red crescent workers, the Palestinian flag, and the settlement in the background. Nilin proper is about a half mile behind me - I'm holding the camera. A local person who frequents this demonstration said, "This 200 foot section of the wall was not here last Friday." I think it is safe to say that the barrier wall is still under construction.

The level of violence is higher at Nilin. They have started using live ammunition again. Word is that sharpshooters use 22 caliber rifles and aim low. I read of this practice in other areas. Leg wounds do not seem to stop determined groups so the aim seems to rise until someone gets killed. This day they shot two.

The young man on this stretcher got a leg wound. We heard that the second young man took a bullet in the groin area. When will it end? Don't ask me. I know that some were shot the week before and they still demonstrated again. I know that two were shot as I watched and nobody left; the demonstration continued.

They have the ability to shoot up to 30 tear gas canisters in one volley. Gee, if it was the 4th of July, it would look kind of pretty. But it puts a lot of gas in one area. And sends protesters running - till the breeze blows it away - and then they return.

When will it end? Ask this young man. It will be a long time before I forget this sequence of events and its many implications.

Out of the tear gas running up hill over rocky ground is this gas masked Red Crescent volunteer carrying this young boy who was overcome by the tear gas.

The boy sits, barfs and spits for a while near us.

And then he gets up and walks back into the gas, and the rock throwing, and the potential bullets. And, although internationals and Red Crescent participants are not likely targets, he knows that 12 year old boys are.

I think it will end when the international community says enough is enough. This is a tremendously lop sided struggle between a people who have next to nothing who are surrounded and controlled by the fourth most powerful military on earth. There are dirty hands on both sides of this ongoing struggle. But one side is not interested in negotiation. They continue to claim more and more land in violation of international law and the Geneva Convention. And the international community allows it to continue. The United Nations is the critical organization that could react but is generally unable to do so because the USA vetoes many potential actions while sending mega dollars to Israel to support their actions.

We talked for a while with a young Palestinian man who was refitting tear gas canisters that had failed to activate. He was getting them ready to return to their owners. I am sure in hopes that they would activate in the process. He had been a college student in a UN sponsored school but continued his activist activities, got caught, went to prison, got labeled a terrorist, and lost his scholarship. He was a very soft spoken and thoughtful young man. He did point us to a collection of spent tear gas canisters.

It is supposed to say, "MADE IN USA".

Palestine cannot end this situation; they have not the bargaining clout.

Israel is unlikely to end it in the near future; as they continue to gain "facts on the ground" the longer the occupation continues.

The occupation will end when the Americans say "Enough" in combination with an international Boycott, Divestiture, and Sanction effort similar to the one that helped South Africa to move toward peace.

Well, that is the conclusion I have reached anyway and the conclusion of this blog.

A few days later I was able to visit the hillside near the Sea of Gallilee where Jesus shared the Sermon on the Mount including Matthew 7: 3-5.

In Peace, Fred