Let Me Count the Ways

Some of you will recognize of this phrase as coming from the Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem, "How do I love thee?" (sonnet 43) However, I'm using this as an introduction to something not nearly as pleasant. I am using this to introduce a number of ways in which our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters, as well as their Muslim neighbors and others, are troubled by their Israeli overlords. 

I am not coming to this task easily nor lightly. However, after writing on this issue for the last few months, I think there are still many of our readers who are not up on what is happening on the ground, as we say, in Palestine-Israel on a daily basis. They still think they need only to support Israel for a variety of reasons ranging from buying Israel's propaganda about the dangers from surrounding nations including the Palestinian people, to their understanding of Israel's role in the Zionist interpretation of Scripture. The sequence is not necessarily significant either; I am just going to catalog what I do as it comes to mind.

1.     1. Water - a necessity.

      Israel, after their occupation of Palestine in 1967, controls all of the water supply of this whole area. For Palestinians in the West Bank, this means the no longer have an adequate water supply to irrigate their crops and so their crops fail. If this happens for three years in a row, meaning the farmers cannot worked th land in that time, the Israelis have a convenient law that says this land is not being farmed and becomes the property of the state. Of course, this is just a ruse to try and gain more property for Jewish settlement. For all, this simply means not having enough water for the daily uses which many of us take for granted, e.g. doing your laundry. Water can be turned on to Palestinian communities for as little as four hours a day, sometimes twice a week, especially in Gaza. There is an aquifer under Gaza but it is getting drained and contaminated, negatively affecting Gazan's health. It is not uncommon for Palestinian mothers to get up at 4 AM to make sure they get enough water to get their laundry done before the supply is turned off again. When many of them are already sleep-deprived and anxious for fear of when the Army might break into their house and accuse them of this or that, this only adds to their sleeplessness and stress level.

2.   2. Roadblocks. 

     For years, Israel has blocked roads that lead to places where they would rather there was no travel to. Again, this is often simply a tactic to discourage farmers from trying to continue to live on their land and farm. We visited a farm in May in which this was the case, as the Israeli government would really love to force this farmer his land, which has been in the family for 100 years, and which he has title to. Unfortunately, as the Israeli government and legal system have so often demonstrated, even title means nothing to them.

     3. Building.

     If a Palestinian wants to get a building or business permit, the barriers are unending. They can pay the ridiculously high application fees, and I am talking thousands of dollars, pay lawyers to help them, but the offices to which they apply to always have a different reason as to why their application is inadequate. They have to start the process all over again. And this is after making them wait for who knows how long, and I'm talking months dragged into years. The Israelis simply do not want the Palestinians to build, anywhere. 

      But people have to live. So, the Palestinians build. Doesn't matter. It can be a school or a health centre, as has been demonstrated recently even in this Covid-19 era. It's all considered illegal. Legally, according to the UN and world community, Israel has no right to do all this. However, they have the power and neither the Arab nations nor Europe stop them. America, on the other hand, supports them, thanks to the huge Zionist lobby, mainly misinformed Christian evangelicals in the US.

 

      4. Demolitions.

        If the Israelis decide they do not want a certain farm or home, even business, they find ways to take it over and sometimes don't even bother with that, but just do so. If they do go to the point of administering a demolition permit, which the home or landowner can appeal, but is unsuccessful, not only does the demolition occur, but the homeowner is sent the bill for all related costs! They are not allowed to take anything out of the home either, and have not always even escaped with their lives. This happens repeatedly but the Palestinians rebuild, to demonstrate their title to the land and their resilience. The health centre mentioned above was the victim of one such demolition order. In recent months, Israel has been working to demolish whole Bedouin communities, both in Palestine and in Israel (the Negev).

5.    5. Walls. 

      Many of us have seen and heard stories about the wall that Israel claims to be building for its protection; a 16-foot high concrete barrier. When this is done, it will apparently measure over 400 km in length. It is not only illegal to create this in the first place, but they are adding insult to injury by generally building it a few meters within the space that actually belongs to Palestine. Thus, just another way in which they take more land. The upshot of this is that many farmers are separated from their land. Again, if it is not farmed for three years, remember the rule discussed above. Families are separated from one another. Children are separated from their schools. People are cut off from their places of work. The ill cannot get to hospitals before they die. Of course, such destabilization is exactly what Israel wants. One more plank in their campaign to eliminate Palestinians from the land.

6.     6. Checkpoints. 

      These go along with walls and roadblocks. Some of these are extensively established more permanently in places where Israel wants to have more control of traffic that they have more concern about, e.g. between certain Palestinian areas and their own centers, such as Jerusalem. Others can crop up unexpectedly anywhere, anytime. People who want to pass through these barriers on their way to school, to work, to visit family or even for medical care, often have to wait hours without any amenities, for no good reason. It is just another way to demoralize the Palestinians. There are too many stories of family members who have died because they could not get adequate medical care in time because of these inconveniences. Palestinians who are able to get work in Israel, mostly illegal and under the table, and therefore at lower pay - but income still - often have to get up in the wee hours of the morning to line up at checkpoints in the hope that they can get through to their work for the day. More sleep-deprived demoralization. 

7.     7. Permits. 

   This only adds to the litany of wrongs that are related to freedom of movement being denied. Understandably, Israel and Palestine have their own drivers licenses and vehicle registration systems. However, again, Israel often arbitrarily decides that vehicles with Palestinian licenses are being given by Palestinian licensed drivers, cannot drive on a certain road at a certain time. Indeed, the Palestinians often have to go a step further and get a permit to be able to regularly use a certain road, e.g. to go to work. If they try to move on any other route, e.g. in an emergency, they are easily denied. Likewise, Palestinian ambulances are often denied entry into Israel for more advanced medical care. The patient has to wait at the border or checkpoint for an Israeli ambulance, which often has disastrous consequences with respect to the outcome.  Permits for establishing a business and building a home are another issue, already referred to above. 

8.    8. Passports. Palestinians have their own, but if they want to leave their land, they have to face Israeli border guards, whether it is by land or at the airport near Tel Aviv. Israelis can choose to not recognize their passports, or at the least, hold them up for hours for searching and questioning, simply because they are Palestinian. Palestinians are not really free to travel outside the country. This is one way Israel tries to keep them from traveling abroad to maintain and build up support in the world community. It is also another way to keep families separate in the hope that those within Palestine will leave to join those without, as those without have no way of returning.

9.    9. Rights. 

      There are many Palestinians who for one reason or another have ended up living on the Israel side of the divide between Israel and Palestine. Many of these are citizens of Israel and Israel likes to brag about how they are part of the nation and included in things such as the democratic process of government. Indeed, there are Palestinian parties in the Israeli parliament or Knesset. However, no matter how many members it has on the floor, it would never play a role in government. To begin with, Palestinians in Israel do not even have all the rights of their Jewish neighbors. They are definitely and legally second-class citizens.

      10. Business.

     With all of the barriers mentioned, it is not surprising that it is a struggle to begin and maintain a business in Palestine, and unemployment is very high. With Israel's control of the borders, it is difficult to import or export products too. This is especially hard on Palestine's agricultural sector, which already has enough problems as mentioned all through the above points - land issues, water lack, etc.

10 I am going to stop with this point but it is definitely not the least. Israel likes to claim that all Palestinians are terrorists. Well, Palestinians can tell you who is terrorized on a daily basis, and it's not the Israelis. To be sure, the Palestinians are not innocent. Especially from Gaza, where the militant Hamas is in control, rockets, fire kites and other means are used to terrorize adjoining Israeli settlements. 

     Indeed, that is a weakness in Palestine. Most in the West Bank, under the Fatah Party, simply want to live and coexist in peace, but when you live in a pressure cooker, there is always the risk of an explosion. And when yo get provoked on a regular basis, you might strike back too. Both sides till live mostly by the Old Testament eye for an eye rules. 

    Palestinian homes never know when their will be a loud rude knock on the door in the middle of the night, or perhaps just a bullhorn command to open the door, accompanied by a threat to break it down if they do not acquiesce. Or, the door may simply be smashed in. There might be a reason, that is ostensibly valid, such as that they want to search the house to find and question certain individuals who are accused, or maybe just suspected, of somehow being involved in a crime. Or, the soldiers might not have a very good reason at all, and just want something to do on a quiet night that will further instill fear in the Palestinians. Of course, it does that quite effectively.

The ultimate aim of this, as with all of the other nine points above, is just to make the Palestinians weary enough of this all, to leave the whole land to Israel. To be sure, the United Nations regularly condemns all of this. However, as long as that United States of America is on the Security Council with veto power, and they deem it in their best interests internationally to support Israel, no one can stop what has sometimes been referred to as this rogue state. It is indeed a sad situation in the annals of human affairs.