I think it’s kind of wild, especially since there were times when I’ve met certain Arabs I thought – “Oh my God, he looks so Jewish holding that prayer book” or “She looks just like my aunt” – and even at times felt as if we were closer than sisters or brothers. There was no explanation for this.

There’s a link to a newspaper article written about this subject …. here

So at a retreat a few weeks ago at the Austrian Hospice, I asked one of my Palestinian friends who lives in the Hebron area if he believes this theory that they come from Jewish stock. He tells me ‘Oh yes, my grandfather told me we are descended from Bar Kochba .’

Israelis I tell this to were like – ok, now they’ll really have our official Right of Return, since they’re all from Jewish ancestry

Then I think one could understand more – with this theory in mind – why their explusion/fleeing from their villages in 1948 was so painful for them and that they commemorate it each year, as we have done for 2,000 years on the anniversary of our exile.

Now there is one place that will actually pay $1,000 each (one Palestinian/one Israeli) for the following essay:

Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture The Simha Bahiri Annual Youth Essay Prize The Palestine-Israel Journal (PIJ), Middle East Publications, declares the launching of the Simha Bahiri Annual Youth Essay Prize. The prize competition is open to all Israeli and Palestinian youths between the ages of 18 and 26. The topic of the 2009 essay is “The Day after the Gaza War: What Can Young People Do to Strengthen the Prospects for Peace?” The essay should be between l, 000 and l, 500 words and submitted typed and double-spaced in one of the three languages: English, Arabic or Hebrew. The deadline for submission is March l0, 2009. There will be one Israeli and one Palestinian winner who will receive a prize of $l,000 each. An award ceremony will be held on March 28th, 2009, the anniversary of the launching of the Arab Peace Initiative. Middle East Publications retains the exclusive copyright for reproducing the winning essays in a future issue of the Palestine-Israel Journal, the PIJ website, or any other medium as chosen by the PIJ Editorial Board. Essays not selected will not be returned to their authors. The PIJ was able to offer this prize thanks to the generous donation of the PIJ’s Editorial Board member, Dr. Simha Bahiri and his family. Questions can be directed to heidi.pij[at]gmail.com

Good luck!

The tour lasted about four hours, taking us to the southernmost part of Gilo, overlooking Beit Jalah, El Khader and Bethlehem, then driving past Har Homa through Sur Baher and Jabel Mukaber…

A tree grows in Sur Baher

We saw the new Jewish housing built right at the edge of Jabel Mukaber. The ads for this project, Nof Zion, say nothing of it being right at the edge of this town! But it is touted as luxurious living.

The spiffy Jewish neighborhood of Nof Zion at the edge of Jabel Mukaber.

Then on to the wall which divides the neighborhood of Abu Dis – cutting right through it.

Then to French Hill/Issawiya overlooking the disputed E1 area.

Some of the things I found out from Ir Amim were:

1. There are 10,000 Arab children not registered in schools (due to lack of space). There is a lack of 1,500 classrooms that the Jerusalem municipality failed to provide. Therefore, many classes take place in private homes/apartments and often Hamas and the Islamic Trust provide schooling, being that the Jerusalem municipality doesn’t. Support for these extremist groups is growing in these East Jerusalem neighborhoods, as a result.

2. Neighborhoods in East Jerusalem do not have zoning plans, so most homes are illegal and prone for demolition (as high as over 90%!). When families expand, what can they do? Where can they go? So they: a) build illegally; b) live in one house all together, causing overcrowding.

3. East Jerusalem Arabs DO pay their municipal taxes (many Israelis believe they don’t). This is a way to prove Jerusalem residency. If they do not pay taxes, or leave Jerusalem, after seven years they may lose their residency rights.

4. There is a lack of playgrounds and parks throughout East Jerusalem. In fact, I hadn’t seen one playground or park the entire trip, unlike West Jerusalem, where they are in abundance. Garbage collection is not supplied by the Jerusalem municipality.

5. Black water tanks on rooftops were pointed out to us. People get their water supply independently. The Jerusalem municipality doesn’t supply water for them, so they have to bring it in privately. Garbage collection is also not supplied by the municipality.

6. Seeing the wall that divides Abu Dis from Jerusalem mid-neighborhood, we were asked if the people that live behind the wall are any more dangerous than the people living in front of the wall. Being that the last two Jerusalem terrorists lived in front of the wall and not behind it, does it mean the people are even more dangerous behind this wall? Many people, because of lack of housing in Jerusalem, went to live in nearby Abu Dis. They have Jerusalem area residency cards, but have now found themselves behind the wall.

I was happy to see a more recent email with a link to a Haaretz article that 160,000 people living in East Jerusalem will finally be connected to water through the municipality. That’s a happy first. Perhaps they’ll consider that it’s also a good idea to help the children of East Jerusalem get an education. Because if they don’t do it, someone else will.

In my second daydream, I’m protecting Palestinian farmers from rampaging settlers in the fields of the Hebron Hills.

I say to the angry young settlers, “If you really believe this is Holy Land, why desecrate it with hate and anger and violence. Do you think this is what God wants? To see the Children of Abraham fighting amongst themselves?”

I try to get a dialogue going about the commonalities of Islam and Judaism, but am not succeeding too well. Both sides are just glaring at the other.

I try to shake the young men’s hands at the end of our dialogue and they walk away from me muttering “I’m not shaking hands with an Arab lover.”

I yell back at them…”I bless you to one day not only shake hands with Arab lovers, but to hug and dance with your Arab brothers..”

And I say to the soldiers who had just arrived on the scene, “I bless you that you will not need any more bullets, and that only flowers and balloons will come out of your guns.”

We spent hours catching up on each other’s lives, and as we chatted, I realized why I like her so much. She is probably the only Moslem woman (she’s an foreign woman who married a Palestinian and eventually converted to Islam) who does not cover her hair, despite all the peer pressure to do so. She was telling me how ridiculous it seems that many of the local girls put on all this makeup, wear tight jeans and then put on the hijab.

“What would you think if you saw a nun wearing a habit, and tons of makeup, wearing tight clothing underneath?” was her question to me. Her girls also do not cover their hair. She wants them to make the choice, and not to feel pressured by others.”I hope you’re not embarrassed that your mother is different from all the mothers in Tulkarem.” I told the well-behaved kids, who just shrugged their shoulders at the question. As if to perhaps tell me “why should they be embarrassed” or, they dare not tell me otherwise…. I felt a strong bond towards my friend at being “different” from other mothers.”You have to be strong to survive here, with a sense of humor of course.” My friend reminded me, but I didn’t need reminding about that.

I took them to the stately American Colony Hotel, which they had never seen or even known of its existence. The heat was stifling, and the kids wanted to put their feet into the pool. I said that they could, but the mother insisted that they not do so because they weren’t hotel guests. Her firm look to me told me not to push it further.

She wondered why I didn’t move back to Canada when Hubby had been working there and found it easier financially.

I don’t know whether she understood, but I told her there’s nothing for me over there. My soul is here. And Friday the 13th turned out to be a long and wonderful day.

===

I woke up at 6:00 am Friday, June 13 to get to the Jerusalem cemetery, as it was the Yartzheit (anniversary) of my dad’s death. I used to go in the heat of the day and the sun would burn down on my head, making me wonder how I just didn’t burst from the heat. But this morning I beat the heat as I said the appropriate Psalms which spelled out his name in Hebrew letters. Before I left I imagined giving his soul a big bear hug. I really felt him hugging me back.

In the evening, new friends from the ‘hood drove me to the Jewish Renewal service in Jerusalem which meets every month. It used to be at Rabbi Kagan’s home, but because there are now so many more people coming to the services, it was moved to the Reform congregation’s premises nearby. I warned my friends, who seem to be straight-laced people in their sixties, that it would be like nothing they’ve ever experienced. I was right.

The musicians were in their place. Two people were playing acoustic guitar, one was alternating between a darbouka and an oud (I would love to know who plays the oud in a synagogue – even a Reform one!),another drummer, while a monk from the Emmaus Monastery in Latrun played violin, and a few nuns, dressed in white, sat in back of him. The newbies thought the rabbi was “interesting.” She certainly was, bringing in Psalm chanting/singing and chassidic stories in-between the verses. Some people danced in the middle of the floor. Some people closed their eyes. Some people prayed with their palms up. However you wanted to let your soul fly, you were free to do so there! The music was beautiful and moving and really brought me to a spiritual high.

And as the day came to a close and I came back home to have the Sabbath meal with my family, I realized why I can never ever leave this country, even if it means having an easier life somewhere else.

Next week, Tuesday, June 24th is the Big Hug of Jerusalem. I’m too lazy to check if I plugged it already. I probably have. For those who can make it – please do. It’ll be especially lively at Damascus Gate. I’m forwarding an invite with the schedule. Do have a look at the video. It’s a touchy/feely one, but the happy faces and soldier in the middle of the circle are well worth the 5 minutes.

Here is the schedule for June 24th:

16:00 Gather at three meeting points around the Old City.

• Outside Dung gate – near the Western Wall.
• Habonim Garden – south of Jaffa Gate, on the lawn next
to the walls
• Palm tree’s Garden (Suk Al Falahin)- above Damascus Gate

Ibrahim abuelhawa, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bukhari and Eliyahu McLean will be hosting the
circle above Damascus Gate, please come to meet us there…

18:00 Begin to spread around the walls of the Old City

18:30 The Big Hug- hands stretched together to surround the Old City
with shared prayers for peace and unity between all those who honor
the sacredness of Jerusalem

19:30 Closing gathering at Habonim Garden with music and blessings for peace

Please join us, bring family, friends and your musical instruments.

If you wish to volunteer please contact us, and come one hour early to the meeting points.

For more info about the event at: http://loversofjerusalem.org

See this video from last year’s event:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9xVloQYZXw[/youtube]

The broadcast can be listened to here:

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/heart_and_soul.shtml 

So what am I doing?

I am trying to gather together a group of local people from my community, which is over the green line, and taboo for those that are politically correct (I’m not, obviously) together with Palestinians. We had a first meeting in February and I advertised the second meeting on our local e-mail list. I didn’t get one hate mail.

Instead, I met another woman waiting at the bus stop who told me “I’m doing such wonderful things.” She looks like the typical settler woman, wearing a long skirt and head-covering. I didn’t expect such a wide smile from her either!

True, they haven’t yet come to our interfaith meetings, but if I keep on pushing, maybe they will. It certainly is attracting a lot of interest on the outside.

A BBC reporter is doing a radio show about it. A researcher from one of Israel’s top universities is also attending. I know she will discover in her research that attitude change after encounters such as these do occur. Perhaps educators will begin implementing “encounters” in elementary schools and so on, as part of curriculum. Who knows where this can lead to? I’m hopeful.

And somehow, even Saudi’s King Abdullah got into the picture by saying he believes in interfaith dialogue, and that he includes Jews in it as well. Well, I’ll be danged, if that little bit in the paper didn’t surprise the ass off me. It sure did. And it made our meeting delightful, while our group of about 13 people said they would surely welcome the King as a guest at our next meeting.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf61OV2joDY[/youtube]