From August 23-August 30 2004 Arun Gandhi will head a delegation to Jordan, Israel and Palestine to carry his grandfather's legacy of nonviolent resistance to the people of the Holy Land. This blog will be updated daily during the tour.
Click [here] to find the current time in Jerusalem.
Gandhi Tour of Israel & Palestine
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
This reflection was written by Ann Helmke, one of the delegates on the tour:
Climbing a Wall
Gandhi walked to the sea.
Rosa Parks sat down on a bus.
Pete, from Alaska, climbed a wall.
Looking at any one of these in their most basic sense, well, they don’t sound like much. One walked. One sat. One climbed. Three simple human acts. That doesn’t mean that any of these acts were easy. Try walking 241 miles with only a stick in your hand and a pair of sandals on your feet. Try sitting down anywhere where you know you’re not wanted, the surroundings are hostile, and your feet are dead tired from working all day. Or, try doing what Pete did…
He climbed a 25-foot concrete wall by only using his feet and hands along a seam. In itself that was difficult enough, but he also knew that he could be shot at any moment. And he did it in front of an audience of 5000-8000 people.
There we were, the Peace Delegation and Arun Gandhi, in the midst of the largest Palestinian and Israeli peace rally ever, in the middle of Abu Dis, in the exact place where Jesus walked and visited with friends.
The sun was hot. The crowd was filled with energy. There were banners everywhere – “Freedom is our birthright,” “No to Occupation. Yes to Freedom. Yes to Peace.,” “Peace is our birthright.” There were round placards where the Israeli flag and the Palestinian flag were part of one design. The backdrop for the stage was that concrete wall. Cameras and media from all over the world swarmed the crowd. Young and old were smiling and singing. You couldn’t tell who was Palestinian and who was Israeli. The people were ecstatic to be there. They were geared up with the thought of nonviolence and the longed-for day of peace.
A poet read. A Muslim spoke. A Jew spoke. A Christian spoke. They all joined hands together and raised them to the sky in a gesture of unity and peace. Then Arun went to the microphone to speak. He spoke words of nonviolence and the simple yet courageous human acts that are needed to make peace concrete. While he was speaking, the eyes of the crowd and the murmur of their voices began to rise upward. Everyone’s eyes were slowly, with awe and trepidation, following Pete as he began to scale the wall behind the stage. Carefully he would place one hand, one foot after the other in the middle of a seam that went straight up to the top. There probably weren’t too many other people in the crowd who even knew how to do this, let alone the courage, because this is no ordinary wall on the side of a building or between two neighbors’ yards.
The wall that Pete was climbing is being built on Palestinian land by the Israeli government. Its spoken intent is to separate these two neighboring peoples and provide security to the Israelis. The only people it truly separates are neighboring Palestinians, family from family, hospitals from the sick, children from their schools, farmers from their land, the dead from their cemeteries. The wall also only seems to heighten the animosity and anger instead of increasing security.
I know. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve listened to the stories firsthand from the two neighboring peoples. It causes me great despair to see people in such oppressive pain. It causes me great shame to realize how little we know of this in the U.S. and how we’re so entangled in this nightmare politically, religiously, financially. This structure is called by many names. For me, it is the epitome of despair and shame.
I marveled at Pete as he climbed that wall – his dexterity, his sense of freedom, his embodied knowledge of nonviolence. Pete knew exactly what he was doing, just as much as Gandhi knew, just as much as Rosa Parks knew.
In his climb he was making the statement that nonviolence is made up of simple human acts, nonviolence is active and not passive. In his climb he was making the statement that even though walls, metaphorically and physically, are built between peoples there are many ways to overcome them – through them, around them, over them, or simply tear them down. In his climb he was making the statement that even though there are sometimes such great obstacles to peace, so much so that one thinks they have no choice in the matter, a person still has choice.
Pete knew the creative ingenuity of the means meeting the end. He knew that the nonviolent action in regards to this wall needed to be more than staring at it, or complaining about it, or protesting it, or accepting it as total humiliation. I have never seen such a free and liberated and passionate man in my life. And it was contagious. With each foot he traveled, with each cheer that went up from the crowd, people were being filled with the sense of their own freedom and liberation, their own passion and potential choice for peace.
But Pete knew one other important thing about nonviolence. He knew that it wasn’t just about him. It’s larger than that and it’s available to everyone. When he got to the top of that wall he secured a couple knotted ropes down the side to others waiting on the ground. His great act of courage inspired the hearts of those of us below. One by one others began to climb up those ropes to the top of the wall, and when they reached the top they all, we all, became one in solidarity with that freedom and potential peace.
Through my tears I began to imagine Israelis on the other side of the wall climbing up to meet them. It was a beautiful sight in my mind, but as I stood on the stage and turned from the wall to look out across the crowd, I realized that some of the Israelis had already made it. United on the stage and in the crowd were Israelis and Palestinians.
We shouldn’t have to imagine peace but if that’s where we need to begin, so be it. Better yet, why not look at those who are already about nonviolence? Why not support them? Why not become one of them? I don’t know, maybe I’m naïve, but many think Jesus was naïve, as well as Gandhi and Rosa and Pete. Frankly, it makes me no difference what other people think. History informs me. They chose peace, and changed the world.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
This reflection was written by Jerry Crane, one of the delegates on the Gandi tour.
The Palestinian Farmer
Saturday (August 28, 2004) we drove to Qalqilya and toured the area and the farms and saw the effects of the wall on the farmers and the community.
I talked with Omar. He grows 11 kinds of citrus trees, he has olive trees and also raises vegetable crops. The wall has separated him from his fields. He does have a permit to go thrugh gate 25, but it is much farther for him to go to get to his fields that way. The gate doesn't open early enough and it closes too early, which means by the time he has has to wait to get through the gate the days are too short and they have to work in the heat of the day.
In the peak seasons he needs a lot of workers and it is very difficult to get them through the gate and it also hard to get workers to work only in the heat of the day. Sometimes Omar and his wife have stayed and worked in the night, but it is illegal and he could be fined or even jailed.
How can a farmer operate this way, I asked myself. I am a farmer in America, in Illinois, and I can't imagine the pressure that these circumstances put on him and his wife.
The farmer is a survivor. Omar tries hard to keep his attitude good and his mind sharp. Can he make it? I don't see how, but in my innermost self, because of who he is and what he is, I guess somehow I believe he will.
But even if he does survive, is it right to punish him with so much pressure and difficulty? His workers told him they would work for a percentage of the crop, but they cannot sell it because of the wall, so Omar has to buy it back from them but then can he sell it? I don't know, but I do know that it will push this man to the maximum of his abilities, both his physical strength and his soul.
Some say the wall isn't violent. I believe it is one of the most violent things they could do to the farmer. Also, I noticed on our way to see the wall along the streets we traveled there were many shops where the farmers used to shop and now they are all closed up. Where did the shopkeepers go and what is the future?
During our visit the people in the area cooked a big dinner for us, chicken and all we could eat and drink. They were very hospitable and friendly. Is this the sign of a violent people - I don't think so. We talked much of non-violence - everyone is afraid and fears for their safety and their freedom, both Israeli and Palestinian.
I believe there are two basic emotions in life - fear and love. Everything comes from these two. If someone is angry with you and hates you and tries to destroy you it is because they are afraid. Can't we somehow practice love towards each other? Dr. Gandhi says if we could trade places with each other for 2 months then we would understand and be ready to love each other instead of hating each other. Is that too much to ask?
Saturday, September 18, 2004
This reflection was written by Sahar Abusadra, one of the companions on the Gandhi tour:
Confusion
Since I came back last Thursday, September 9th, I am trying to blend with my real world, but with no luck. I don't think I can blend any more. My life has changed since I saw Jerusalem with my own eyes. I cannot see anything else.
At the end of my trip I went to onto Cairo, then to Athens, and then To Amsterdam. But it is as if everything is fake. No where and no city is good for me any more. Plus I feel now more than ever that I am very proud to be Palestinian. I am very proud of my people and their resilience.
But tonight I started to get my self back together, just to see if I could explain my feelings while I was there in our beautiful and holy Palestine.To tell the truth, I got really confused, whether to be angry or not. Mr. Gandhi was asking us not to get angry or to perform any violence. And the Israelis are asking us the same thing. But how?!!
Story after story after story, and after all of these years being away from my homeland, what did I come back to see?! I came back to see prisoners being taken way from their families. I came back to see the sight of peoples' homes that were demolished. I came back to the check points with people dying under the sun. I came back to farmers losing there farms. I came back to see the Palestinian children lacking one of the most fundamental human rights -- their right to education. I came back to watch the whole nation under siege.
And I don't know how to describe this, but I was unable to visit the home town of my parents and my grandparents, Gaza. I guess I will have to wait a little bit longer before I get the chance to compare my mother's and my father's stories about Gaza and the beaches of Gaza.
In the beginning I was trying to get use to the idea of being with the Israelis on the same street, eating with them in the same restaurants, and riding in cabs with Israeli drivers. Maybe I'd get used to it if I stayed in Jerusalem, maybe.
I did not lose a father or a mother or a child in this Conflict. I was sheltered from most of it. And now I don't know how these mothers, the ones who kept flashing the pictures of their loved ones in my face, exactly feel. I never walked in their shoes. Maybe I would hate the ones who did this to my child, or maybe not. I don't know.
Have I said I'm confused?
If you would have asked me before my trip if I would be able to live with the Israelis in the same city, I would have definitely answered NO. If you were to ask me now the same question after my visit, I would probably say YES. After all I saw, I would answer YES?!
I guess I'm really confused, or maybe peace is sneaking up on me.
PEACE.
Monday, September 06, 2004
MORE NEWS:
This editorial appeared in The Monot, ND, Daily News today: Gandhi's effort will likely fail
This op-ed piece by Gandhi companion traveler Susan Ives appeared in the San Antonio Express-News Sunday: Nonviolence only way to expose Israel
This article appeared on Radio Netherlands: A non-violent Intifada
This radio feature by National Public Radio's Julie McCarthy includes mention of the Gandhi visit: Israel's Prisoners Maintain Hunger Strike
Saturday, September 04, 2004
More News:
A long commentary appeared in Britian's Guardian newspaper on August 31: Taking up peace, putting down arms
Uri Avnery, head of Gush Shalom, the Israeli peace bloc and one of the speakers at the rally in Abu Dis, had this commentary published: How Are You, Non-Violence?
This article appeared in the Outlook India Newspaper: Gandhi In Palestine
This article appeared in Al-Ahram Weekly (Egypt): Look again, Gandhi
This feature article appeared in Al-Jazeera: Palestinians weigh the non-violent option
This article appeared in Rabble, a progressive Canadian publication: Dr. Gandhi in the Holy Land
This article appeared in The Hindu on August 31: Banish philosophy of hate, Arun Gandhi tells Israelis, Palestinians
This article appeared in India Express and several other Indian papers: ‘Arun Gandhi's initiatives an education in non-violence’
This article appeared in the Palestine Chronicle Weekly Journal: Gandhi Urges Palestinians Not to Lose 'Moral Ground'
This article appeared in The Jerusalem Post on September 1: Master of moral relativism
This reflection was offered by Kara, one of the companion travelers on the Gandhi tour, about the checkpoint on Sunday, August 29:
The Bethlehem Checkpoint
Last night, on the way to Bethlehem, we had our first "real" checkpoint experience. I want to make it clear that we've been through many checkpoints but due to the priviledge of being with important people--and more accurately--important American people, we were able to cross with little to no difficulty. Last night, however, was different.
Over the past week we've spent 8-10 hours/day with them and have gotten to know them very well--we've shared meals, sang songs, shared stories about our children (and how they control our lives!) and laughed until our stomachs hurt. These are things friends do. And it was so hard to see my friends humilated and intimidated because of who they were--actually it's because of who they are PERCEIVED to be.
It's so ironic that the birthplace of Jesus is off-limits to certain populations--it's called area "A" which means Israelis can't go there. Radwon is Palestinian but was born in an Israeli town and therefore has an Israeli passport and is forbidden to go to Bethlehem. If caught, he would have to pay a $5,000 fine. Numan, who's also Palestinian, was allowed in (by special permit to pass through Israel) but wan't allowed back out the way we came in...because we were going back through Israel. Anyway, this is all so confusing and intentionally crazy-making.
So, we stopped and a young woman with a very large machine gun comes on our bus and asks for our passports. She doesn't smile. She looks at our passports and returns them but takes a long look at theirs and makes a face of disgust; she's clearly not happy. She asks them to go with her. People are very concerned and one of our American delegates goes along. They concluded that Radwan is not allowed to enter and Numan was told he could enter but he could not come back out of the checkpoint. They both had special passes that was to allow them access to these areas but the soldiers decided to override these permits. I was told the randomness is what'll drive you mad....
So we entered the city without our friend and were given a private tour of the Church of the Nativity. The beauty of the church was breathtaking; a special lighted tour just for us--with a full moon overhead and a cool breeze--can you imagine it? It's the place where Jesus was born.
After our tour, we climbed back on our airconditioned bus and headed to the checkpoint. Numan said to me, "I'm very worried about passing". He then dialed his mother on his cellphone--these have become their lifeline. We approached the checkpoint and were stopped and I thanked God the same woman was not there. A large young man with his machine gun walked down the isle inspecting our passports; all was silent. We aren't to say a word. He stops at Numan, the only one with a Palestinian ID card and starts asking him questions. Numan is humble, nervous and tries to smile. Whatever is said seems to satisfy (I think it's our presence) and the soldier starts to walk away but then stops and asks Numan another question. Numan quickly gets his camera equipment and opens the bag. Quick inspection and he's done. He leaves and we all take a deep breath. He tells me that if we weren't with him, he might've been beaten. We found Radwon waiting for us at our hotel; he had waited an hour for a cab and during his wait was taunted by the soldiers, "Go stand there" "No, move over there" "Didn't you hear me?"
There are about 60 such checkpoints in the occupied West Bank. The West Bank is about the size of Bexar County. And there are over 600 other types of closures--partial checkpoints, roadblocks, earth mounds, earth walls, trenches. There are 44 observations towers that house soldiers with guns.
Can you imagine it?
