John Lynes in Palestine

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2005-03-02T00:23:00.000+02:00

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2005-03-01T15:49:00.000+02:00

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Nonviolence in the South Hebron hills

2005-02-22T14:21:00.000+02:00

This is an exciting time to be in At-Tuwani, the tiny village in the South Hebron hills, from which I have just returned. We are seeing the beginnings of organized nonviolent resistance.

Just two weeks ago Palestinian shepherds would flee at the sight of an armed Israeli settler. Last Saturday shepherds from At-Tuwani and from neighbouring villages gathered with their flocks on the slopes surrounding the Avigail settlement outpost, about 3 miles west of At-Tuwani. Sheep and goats were everywhere. Here a flock is about twenty animals; there must have been a dozen flocks grazing on hillsides that the shepherds had not dared to crop for years.
They came within 80 metres of the settlement. When an Israeli army officer warned them not to approach within 500 metres they moved round to the other side of the outpost.

On Sunday the combined flocks approached the woods by the Ma’on settlement – another area from which they had previously been driven. Settlers and police were ignored. Eventually a pair of senior Israeli army officers appeared, warning the shepherds, and their accompaniers from the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), that they were in a military firing zone and would be arrested if they returned.

Previous attempts have been made to declare a large area south of At-Tuwani a live training area for the Israeli army. In 1999 the Israeli carried out mass evictions; the Israeli High Court of Justice confirmed the villagers’ right to return home temporarily, but a final ruling is still awaited. Now the villagers seem confident of eventual victory. On Monday the shepherds were
back on the Ma’on slopes. On Tuesday they returned to Avigail.

It is doubly exciting to realize that our simple presence has helped to bring this change about, and is giving us a grandstand view of history in the making. No Gandhi or Martin Luther King: just sheep and goats, shepherds, and us, far away in the South Hebron Hills on the edge of the Negev Desert.

Of course there will be setbacks. Only last week one of our Italian colleagues from Operation Dove was attacked by an Israeli settler from Ma’on. His jaw was broken and he suffered neurological damage – blurred vision and memory loss. Call me an optimist, but I feel more hopeful every day I spend in At-Tuwani.

Do you remember what I wrote in January about abandoned villages in the South Hebron hills? I blinked in disbelief when I revisited one last week-end, empty for ten years. Hens clucked in the yard. Washing flapped on the line. Two or three families have ventured back. Nonviolence thrives on steps like these.

I too have a dream

2005-02-14T14:21:00.000+02:00

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.”
Psalm 122:6.

I share the psalmist’s dream. Even today Old Jerusalem is a cosmopolitan neighbourhood. Black-coated Hasidim rub shoulders with kaffiya’d Muslims and robed Christian priests. But guns are here, there and everywhere. Over the shoulders of worshippers at the Wailing Wall. In the hands of watchful Israeli conscripts. Our dream will not be realized until these weapons are removed from the Holy City.

Why does a weapon-free Jerusalem have to remain just a dream? The Old City is bounded by an ancient wall and penetrated by a mere handful of “gates”. I can envisage a couple of airport security systems outside each gate, staffed independently by Israelis and Palestinians. If an aircraft can be weapon-free, why not Old Jerusalem?

Think of the benefits. Pilgrims of every faith would come and go without fear of guns or bombs. Tourists would return to the old markets. Mosques, churches and synagogues would become havens of peace once more. Why not?

Blame the military. Blame the politicians on both sides who maintain that only arms can protect their people effectively. But wait – Jerusalem is a Holy City for Muslims, Christians and Jews. Their combined prayers, their longing for peace, the dedicated conscience of the three Abrahamic faiths could launch such a compelling bandwagon that politicians(and even cautious church dignitaries) would hasten to climb on board. Jubilee 2000 is a lesson we should take to heart: the pressure must come from below.

Here’s the programme I’m proposing. First a world-wide inter-faith Week of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem. Ideally this would be endorsed by the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the various Chief Rabbis and Imams. Christians might be invited to pray in mosques and synagogues; Jews and Muslims also in alternate places of worship. Subsequent religious holidays involving Jerusalem, e.g. Isra’-Mi’raj, Easter, Tisha B’Av, might be encouraged to incorporate some support for the campaign. This would develop into an international campaign to persuade and press world statesmen to declare the Old City of Jerusalem a weapon-free area for a trial period of twelve months.

The first step would be to remove private weapons. These need not be monitored or surrendered, just taken out of the Old City. Then the monitoring equipment would be wheeled in and the twelve-month experiment would be under way. Once this is seen to work then we might hope it would spread out in two directions:
(a) New Israeli settlements in Greater Jerusalem could be internationally accepted as part of Jerusalem on the same terms as the Old City: no weapons, and free indiscriminate access and movement.
(b) Other divided cities (Belfast?) could also take note.

Just a dream; but look what’s just dropped out of Friends Quarterly. The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust is seeking six “Visionaries” with ideas for changing the world (see www.jrct-visionaries.org.uk). Could I be one of the chosen six? Statistically, not a hope. Hundreds of applicants are expected, and Hebron doesn’t even have a letter-box to post my application. Still, I’m filling out that application form ....

So pray that the Joseph Rowntree Trust will be rightly guided, even if my dream doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. And do let me know what you think of it. Maybe a better dream will blossom later. And maybe somebody else will pick it up and run with it.

“For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.... and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks”. Isaiah 2:3-4.

News from Hebron

2005-02-03T13:44:00.000+02:00

First some bad news. The Old City used to be the heart of Hebron, a souk full of noise, colour and bustle. The neighbourhood where the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) lives was once the chicken market, but nowadays it is deserted. Every few hours a wary 6-man Israeli patrol passes through the souk, with automatic weapons pointing into each doorway and alley along the way. Often they force their way into Palestinian homes “in search of weapons”. A small Israeli settlement overlooks the main passageway. Wire netting is fastened overhead to catch garbage emptied by settlers into the old market. Entrances to the souk are continuously guarded by Israeli army checkpoints where Palestinians (and sometimes CPTers) can be stopped and searched.

Few Palestinians venture in, so most of the shops have had to close, perpetuating the cycle of hopelessness. The local Palestinian administration has responded by offering 2-year-rent-free dwellings inside the Old City. So as our old neighbours give up their homes they are being partly replaced by desperate families, unemployed and without roots in this age-old community.

In the CPT team we notice the difference. Nowadays if we go out alone we can expect to be harassed if not physically assaulted. During the past week all the lock barrels on our apartment doors were knocked out in an attempted break-in. Our steel doors held fast, but we were locked out in the cold and dark for several hours that evening. A day or two earlier I was deliberately knocked down by a Palestinian who had been prevented from snatching a bag from one of my companions. Don’t worry. I’m OK. Small bruises and cuts are almosthealed. I was without glasses for several days, but a Palestinian optician has repaired them free-of-charge. Frustrating, though, as a grazed knee stopped me from returning to At-Tuwani where accompanying shepherds involves rock-hopping. I intend to be back in a day or two.

Now for some good news. Local Palestinians have been very concerned and supportive; we have to discourage them from threatening retribution. Everyone seems quietly optimistic about the peace process: keep praying for this. Last week I took part in a sit-down near Khallet Eddar, just south of Hebron. The sit-down sounded just right for my grazed knee. Some hope! It was on the summit of a hill on land claimed by an Israeli settlement. Getting there meant scaling a succession of hills and valleys. I finished up in the rear with the hajs. No Israelis in sight. A peaceful but exhausting day.

On a lighter note, we have combined birthdays in the team with birthday parties for local children in threatened homes. Israeli soldiers at checkpoints have twice had to confront CPTers, joined by Ecumenical Accompaniers and ISMers, with balloons, party hats and birthday cakes.

Planting with Bedouin in Israel

2005-01-17T01:03:00.000+02:00

On Saturday Bill Baldwin, a retired Anglican priest from Ottawa now with CPT in Hebron, and I helped to plant olive trees, this time in Israel, not Palestine.

We travelled from Jerusalem in a hired coach with Israelis and a handful of other “internationals” to the Bedouin village of Al-Sidr in the Negev Desert, not far from the Dimona nuclear station and right next to the Nevatim air base. The Israeli air force had moved there in 1983 after the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt. The base stood on Bedouin land, but the Bedouin were permitted to build close to the fence surrounding the base.

The Bedouin village remains officially “unrecognized” by the authorities. This means that the Israeli government does not provide mains water, electricity or sanitary services. About forty other Bedouin villages in the Negev desert are in the same predicament. Without electricity, children have to do their homework by candlelight in the winter. The Bedouin are Israel’s forgotten citizens.

Last June the Israeli authorities issued “warnings before demolition” for every house in Al-Sidr, presumably to extend the air base. No alternative accommodation was offered. This stands in sharp contrast to the treatment of another group of Israeli citizens – the settlers in the Gaza Strip who have been offered generous compensation and alternative sites for the settlements they are to evacuate.

Not for the first time in Israel, military requirements are taking precedence over human needs. So Bill and I were glad to join the coach-loads from various parts of Israel, converging to plant olive saplings in Al-Sidr and to help draw international attention to the fate of the village. The fence of the air base is in the background of the attached photograph.

For me there was one disappointment. The shortest road from Al-Sidr back to Jerusalem passes close to Hebron. How convenient! But no: Israeli civilians are not generally allowed to enter the occupied West Bank. Our coach was diverted to avoid crossing the Green Line separating Israel from Palestine. Look at the map. Trace the journey from the Negev to Hebron via Jerusalem and you will understand my exasperation.

Planting in Negev

Violence against children, from Belfast to At-Tuwani

2005-01-11T23:26:00.000+02:00

Families in At-Tuwani, including the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), have to draw all their water from a well at the foot of the hill on which our new hut is built. While I was at the well on Saturday morning a blue Israeli police jeep drew up and an officer asked me at what time that day an Irish big-wig was expected to arrive in At-Tuwani. I had no idea, though we now have a steady stream of journalists and international officials coming to see for themselves the things we are reporting from the South Hebron hills. The officer seemed friendly but worried, and assured me that if I had any trouble he was here to help. I replied politely that if he had any trouble I was here to help.

School had broken up on Thursday, and the school building was being prepared as a polling station for Sunday’s Palestinian election. With no need for `school patrol’ Cal Carpenter from CPT, Monica from Operation Dove and I set off on foot across the hills to visit the Palestinian village of Mufakra (spelling questionable – not on any map I’ve seen) about 3 miles away, where a week ago Israeli settlers had attacked Palestinian shepherds injuring two of their sheep
which had subsequently died. We were anxious to discover whether CPT accompaniment was needed.

On that short journey across country we passed two abandoned Palestinian villages; a photograph of one is attached. All the families in Mufakra are cave-dwellers. In this tiny village there are only three flocks of sheep, so it was easy to spot the shepherd on the hillside. With typical Palestinian hospitality he invited us to drink tea in his family cave.

We were sitting on the floor in his `parlour’, with tea served by the shepherd’s children while his wife rocked her baby to sleep in a cradle, when in walked the big-wig from Dublin – Senator David Norris of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Irish Parliament, accompanied by two Israelis from the peace movement Ta’ayush. They had visited our empty hut in At-Tuwani and been redirected to Mufakra. Senator Norris joined us for tea and a briefing, being deeply affected by parallels between settler attacks on Palestinian school children in At-Tuwani and Protestant attacks on Catholic children in Belfast: both in the name of religion.

Finally the officer in the Israeli police jeep drove up and announced that it was far too dangerous for the Senator to remain inside the Palestinian dwelling. This caused some merriment. We finished our tea. David Norris had his photograph taken with one of the dead sheep and treated the Israeli officials to a vigorous and highly relevant homily on the troubles in Belfast before driving off in the Ta’ayush car, now closely followed by the protective blue Israeli police jeep and an additional Israeli army jeep.

I am still haunted by those abandoned villages. Their inhabitants left in about the year 2000, intimidated by the neighbouring Israeli settlers. Most moved in with extended families in the nearby town of Yatta, but continue to graze their flocks and till the fields around their old caves and houses. Historians and politicians will continue to debate who was responsible for the exodus of Palestinian refugees in 1948. But who remembers the villages deserted just yesterday in this remote corner of the occupied West Bank? The caves chiseled out of solid rock and cherished for generations? The grave elders and their rugged wives? Their frightened grandchildren? Each empty home, now perhaps vandalized by settlers, holds the memories of a heart-broken household. Each abandoned hearth cries out to heaven: ‘Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these …’

Abandoned Village Near Tuwani

Israelis & Palestinians protest together at Jayyous

2005-01-01T23:45:00.000+02:00

I spent the summer of 2003 with the World Council of Churches’ Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), in the village of Jayyous. In this village the Israeli Security Fence cuts the farmers off from most of their land.

When it was announced earlier this week that a protest rally was to be held in Jayyous on New Year’s Eve, I felt sad that the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Hebron was too stretched to release me to take part. However the team caucused (my American colleagues’ word) in my absence and told me to go to Jayyous as their representative. Tom Fox, an American Quaker from the CPT team in Baghdad, who had come to Hebron for a rest (!) joined me on the long journey to Jayyous.

We arrived on the evening of 30th December at the EAPPI house in Jayyous whereI stayed in 2003, and the ecumenical accompaniers (EAs) readily offered usfood, bedding and – so unlike Hebron – warmth and a shower. One of the EAs turned out to be a Friend from Somerset, and the resulting critical mass of Quakers enabled us to hold our own meeting for worship under a vine and next to the fig tree. In the village shop and streets I was greeted warmly by old friends. Farmers in whose fields I used to sleep were especially welcoming. But sadly their situation has grown worse since I left.

The illegal Israeli settlement of Zufin on Palestinian land close to the Green Line (the Israel-Palestine border) is about to build over a thousand new homes on fields, owned by Jayyous farmers, between the Fence and the Green Line. The settlers claim to have bought the land, and have already bulldozed hundreds of olive trees. The villagers deny that their fields were sold, and certainly Turek Salim, the owner of the olive trees, is heartbroken and would never knowingly have parted with his land. Indeed he would not have been granted his permit to pass daily through the Gate in the Security Fence if he had not satisfied the Israeli authorities that he was the owner of the land. A legal appeal has been launched.

The rally was a joint action involving the villagers and Israeli peace groups.The Israelis approached the fields from the West, and defied police warnings by planting olive saplings on the bulldozed land. They then moved eastwards towards the Gate in the Security Fence. Meanwhile the farmers emerged fromtheir Friday worship in the village mosque. Tom and I walked with them downthe track from the village to the Gate. We were confronted by dozens of armedIsraeli soldiers, who prevented us from any contact with the Israeli demonstrators.

The villagers had been at great pains to keep their protest nonviolent. The “shebab” (youngsters) were asked to hold back. We “internationals”, EAPPI, CPT and mostly International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were asked to keep ahead. Palestinian rallies usually end with stone-throwing, tear gas, rubber bullets and arrests, and as we came face-to-face with the Israeli troops (see attached photograph) I confess I feared the worst. But this time no stones were thrown and the rally ended peacefully.

I was disappointed that the soldiers prevented protestors on opposite sides ofthe fence from meeting, but my predominant feeling was one of hope. The twin demonstrations had given the lie to the notion that Israelis and Palestinians cannot work together. The Israelis had shown, both symbolically and practically, their opposition to the Fence and the Occupation. The Palestinians had shown restraint in the face of army provocation. We hear of Palestinians starting to advocate nonviolent resistance on Gandhian lines. Will the little village which I love be in the forefront? This is my prayer.

Meanwhile we must be alert to the significance of the Zufin expansion. This isthe first major Israeli annexation of land between the Green Line and theFence. Unless this can be stopped in Jayyous it will surely happen elsewhere, creating fresh waves of resentment and violence. Please make this known as widely as you can, not only for the families in Jayyous but also for the sake of peace and justice in the Holy Land.

Israeli troops at Jayyous

A faraway village...

2004-12-27T23:55:00.000+02:00

Hebron Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) is now in two places. The main team lives inside the Casbah in the Old City of Hebron. A smaller group rotates in and out of At-Tuwani, a remote village 20 miles away in the South Hebron Hills. I was quietly overjoyed last week when the At-Tuwani group chose me as their liaison with the main team. As this will be my principal task in the next three months, this note is to let you know about the situation in At-Tuwani. I wish there was space to describe the village. Maybe later. Here is what has been happening lately.

Last September the villagers started to build a clinic. They did this without a permit from the Israeli occupation authorities, as it is well known that such permits are seldom granted, and even then typically after several years’ delay. The builders were harassed by Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement of Ma’on, and also had to stop work whenever Israeli soldiers approached the village. Much of the work had to be done at night. The Christian Peacemaker Team, together with a smaller sister group, Operation Dove (OD), responded to the villagers’ appeal for international observers to reduce the level of violence. Operation Dove (actually Operazione Colomba) is an Italian Catholic group which has also worked in Kosovo, East Timor and several South American countries. We get on well with them.

At-Tuwani has a school which also serves several surrounding villages. Children from one of these villages – Tuba – have to walk close to the Israeli settlement to reach the school. They were sometimes attacked by settlers, and scared of making the journey. In Hebron we are familiar with this situation, so it seemed natural in At-Tuwani too to set up a ‘school patrol’ to accompany the kids to and from their lessons. The settlers responded by attacking accompaniers with chains and clubs on three occasions. Two Americans from CPT and one Italian from OD needed hospital treatment. These attacks drew wide attention to the situation. As a result the Israeli Army has now undertaken to send a jeep to escort the Tuba children to and from At-Tuwani. The villagers understandably distrust the troops, and have urged CPT and OD to keep on watching the children as they pass close to the settlement. This entails a strenuous hill-climb twice a day, and will be very uncomfortable when the rains come. No joy for an elderly arthritic!

Perhaps the most valuable thing we do here is to bring publicity to bear on this lonely area, hidden from normal contact with the rest of Palestine and the world outside. For this reason I am especially grateful to those on my mailing list who have taken time to write to the authorities about the attacks. The villagers have no doubt this publicity has brought notable benefits. The kids now have a military escort. The village has written permission to complete its clinic and the work proceeds apace; the permit is proudly displayed on the door of the little house which the villagers have (illegally) built for CPT and OD. It is even rumoured that the Separation Wall being built in South Hebron is to be rerouted to place At-Tuwani inside Palestine instead of between the Wall and the Green Line (the 1967 border between Palestine and Israel).

We are hearing of similar situations in other villages to the south, and are seeking ways to respond without overstraining our resources. As I write there are only six CPTers out here. More will join us in January. But further injuries would create a critical situation. I know you will keep praying with us.

The attached picture shows Art Gish one evening in our At-Tuwani home, helping a village lad to learn English.

Art Gish teaching english

Inside an Israeli court

2004-12-27T01:00:00.000+02:00

Last Monday I attended a trial in an Israeli military court. The accused was an Israeli soldier charged with manslaughter for shooting Tom Hurndall, an English 23-year old killed in Rafah, in the Gaza Strip, in 2003.

Tom had been a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led group dedicated to nonviolence. One of his companions, Joe Carr, was with Tom when he was shot. Joe, now a member of the Christian Peacemaker Team, was subpoenaed by the defence (yes!) to give evidence at the trial. He asked me to accompany him.

The courtroom, in a military compound near Ashkelon, was quite small – in that respect more akin to an English juvenile court. There were three presiding officers, all in high-ranking military uniform. The defence counsel was a ponderous civilian. The prosecutor was a spirited woman soldier in her twenties. With repeated legal challenges, the action sometimes seemed closer to an American TV drama than to a typical English court.

Proceedings were in Hebrew, so questions to Joe had to be translated into English. It soon became clear, both to me and to the court, that the defence lawyer was ‘fishing’ in the hope of trapping Joe into contradicting some of the written evidence previously assembled by Tom Hurndall’s father. Indeed the presiding officer himself used the word ‘fishing’, showing that the colloquial English term had passed into Hebrew legalese.

This was Joe’s first court appearance, and he spent two hours in the witness box. This would be draining for anyone, but was particularly stressful in Joe’s case as he had to relive the experience of seeing his friend shot through the head. His evidence was clearly consistent with written evidence from other eye-witnesses, which showed that an Israeli soldier had been shooting at unarmed Palestinian children. Tom had entered the line of fire to shepherd the children to safety, and a bullet passed through his brain.

Joe’s disrespect for the court was not always well concealed. He had urged me to photograph him at the witness stand and I didn’t want to disappoint him. I concealed my digital camera as best I could, but was not surprised when an usher prevented me from taking a second photograph after the one attached.

I am glad to have been there to support Joe. I was favourably impressed with the apparent fairness of the presiding officer, and with the smooth informality of the legal process. The accused soldier will have a fair trial.

Naturally I have misgivings. It seems clear that this trial would never have taken place but for the persistence of Tom’s family, supported by pressure from the British government. If the victim had been a Palestinian the Israeli Army’s initial disclaimer would have passed unchallenged.

But some ills have no remedy. Tom cannot be brought back. What is achieved by making one soldier – incidentally an Israeli Bedouin – a scapegoat for the widespread practice of indiscriminate shooting? Can confrontational legal processes ever achieve anything but retribution? How many more peace activists, and soldiers, and women, and children must be shot before this pointless conflict comes to an end?

‘Father forgive … … ‘

Joe Carr in court

Carols with Mordecai Vanunu

2004-12-26T23:53:00.000+02:00

In the morning of Christmas Eve I was with Arthur (‘Art’) Gish, a fellow member of the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), in At-Tuwani. As it was Friday, the Muslim sabbath, the village school was closed so our usual daily ‘school patrol’ was not needed. I left in time to join the Hebron team who were leaving for Bethlehem. Art characteristically chose to stay behind with the shepherds in At-Tuwani, believing that was the best place to celebrate the humble Birth in a manger. He wouldn’t be alone. Israeli volunteers from Ta’ayush had agreed to take our place in At-Tuwani over Christmas. The CPT team had been invited to Bethlehem by Jerry Levin’s wife Lucille (‘Sis’) who teaches nonviolence in Palestinian schools there. Together we attended the Carol Service in the Lutheran Christmas Church – the oldest Lutheran church in the Holy Land.

We knew that Mordecai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear whistle-blower recently released from prison, had intended to challenge his confinement to Jerusalem by travelling south to Bethlehem to take part in a Christmas service. On Christmas Eve he was arrested en route. His car was searched, but all the Israeli Army found was a Father Christmas hat. (I know what you’re thinking, but no – not a red CPT hat). Later he was released, but on even more restrictive conditions.

We recalled that Mordecai had become a Christian 18 years ago only just before his arrest and imprisonment. He was now prevented from attending his first carol service. Those of you who know Jerry Levin’s warmth and resourcefulness will not be surprised it was he who suggested CPT should take the carols to Mordecai instead.

The attached photograph shows Cathie Uhler (a Franciscan sister with CPT), and an unmusical Quaker, singing carols with Mordecai Vanunu and the rest of the CPT team. I was comforted to find Mordecai almost equally unmusical. And so back to Hebron and news from Art Gish in high spirits having been feasted by Ta’ayush. It will soon be my turn to return to At-Tuwani, far from the internet. So forgive me for trying to cram as many messages as possible into the next few days.

Too late to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Peace and love for 2005.

Vanunu, Kathie and I