Elections

March 16, 2015 

Elections are upon us. Polls open tomorrow at 7am, close at 9pm. Results begin to come in at 10pm tomorrow. The battle is being fought until the end: tonight in a move to court Bayt HaYehudi voters, Netanyahu officially stated that he is against the establishment of a Palestinian State. Herzog and Livni also dropped a political plot twist and announced that while they said that they would rotate the Prime Ministership in 2 years, they will no longer rotate. This is a huge deal; I know from many conversations that many people on the left were hesitant to vote for their united left-center party if Livni was the PM. Meanwhile the Joint-Arab Party has changed the face of politics here; if they manage to convince enough Palestinians to vote instead of boycott the election, they could have upwards of 14 seats in the Knesset. And the Haredi women party is pushing for acknowledgement of women's rights within the religious communities.

If this sounds complicated to you, just know, it's a soap opera here. Dramas play out, lovers are crossed, and someone wakes up from a coma.

But it's so much more than that. This little place garners so much attention worldwide and the decision of a vote impacts so many lives. Especially the lives of Palestinians living in the territories under military law who are not eligible to vote. (The biggest contradiction being the Palestinians who work in the printing shop that prepared the materials for the ballots for tomorrow who are themselves unable to vote.) Gaza has barely been mentioned at all during the campaign cycle, this summer was swept under a rug. Israelis are more concerned with economic redistribution and the expensive cost of living here, yet the mainstream conversation barely touches the grim realities of occupation or the connection between high food prices in grocery stores to the subsidization of settlements. According to +972 mag, 60% of Israelis polled believe that there will be no progress on the peace process regardless of who forms the next government, "because there is no solution to the disputes between the two sides."

Yet, there are some fireball politicians. Notably Stav Shafir, 29 year old and 2nd seat on the Labor party's list. She made a name for herself as part of the social movement protests in the summer of 2011. But I noticed her after she made this incredible speech during an impromptu session of the Knesset. 

She called out the right and their financial corruption, ideological corruption, and perversion of political ideals. She'll be assured a seat tomorrow in the next session of Knesset. And for that, I'm grateful. I'll be voting tomorrow for the first time, let's hope that the results leads to something changing.

Passion, Responsibility, Action: A weekend in Beit Jala

March 15th, 2015

I spent the weekend at a conference with Palestinians and Israelis in Beit Jala, a place only 15 minutes from Jerusalem that sits at the confluence of roads that lies in the space where Israelis and Palestinians both have permission to be. We stayed at a hotel called the Everest, and as we climbed the hill to the very top, it was clear why it was named such.

It was an incredible weekend; there were Palestinians from all over the West Bank near Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron. Israelis from Jerusalem, Hadera, Sderot and the north. We began the weekend by sharing the thing that is most important to us: family, freedom, silence, music, learning, an end to occupation, peace.

I befriended a young Palestinian from Jericho who plays classical guitar with fingers plucking notes like water. He shared how he can't meet his friends in Haifa because he doesn't have a permit to travel and the frustration he feels being 21 and not able to go 45 minutes away from home. I listened as a young Israeli described how she couldn't return to her work for 2 weeks after a rocket had fallen near it this summer. An older Palestinian from Bethlehem described his experience as a 15 year old when the army would not let him return to his home during a curfew and after making him take the long way around, arrested him. I listened as another Israeli described a moment meeting a Gazan and acting as his legal companion to satisfy permit requirements to reach Jordan. The Israeli shared how it was the Gazan's first time out of Gaza in his entire life—he hadn't seen an orange orchard since he was little. The Israeli took the long way to the Jordanian border with a stop in Jerusalem so that this Gazan could visit al-Aqsa. I sat at breakfast with a Palestinian whose family is originally from Gaza. He described how 15 members of his family died this summer. 11 of them died at the same time when their house was flattened. Yet he continues to come to these meetings. His eyes sparkle when he laughs.

Brought together to share these heavy personal stories, I was surrounded by a lightness. Here we were, a strange mixture of Arabic, English, Hebrew, and patient translations, coming together to talk, to listen, and to be heard.

The second day was devoted to brainstorming sessions: what projects could we create together, what ideas did we want to put into action? Ideas ranged from language exchange, to fundraising for a center for disabled children, to starting a running group and organizing a marathon from Tel Aviv to Ramallah, to trying to humanize the news and remove media bias. Past groups had created Tiyul Rihla, an organization that takes Israelis and Palestinians on tours of historical sites and shares both narratives and Two Neighbors, a fashion line that incorporates Palestinian embroidery in high fashion and is sold in the States. Our ideas were big, yet we broke them down into small steps such as exchanging each other's email addresses. The main goal was to commit to meet again.

I left the bubble from this weekend and I feel hopeful. I am now faced with so many opportunities and new beginnings, new friends and new experiences to come. The weekend was invigorating and inspiring. Good things can begin with something small.

Elections are in 3 days. Hold your breath, knock on wood, and do whatever superstitious ritual you have for good luck. We need it here.

To learn more about the organization that hosts Global Village Square Conferences, click here.

International Women's Day March at Qalandiya Checkpoint

March 7, 2015

Busy week since I've returned. On Wednesday there was a March of over 3,000 women who stood outside the Knesset demanding peace. The event was organized by a new group that formed after the war this summer, Women Wage Peace. The garden across from the parliament was full of Jewish and Palestinian women who gathered to demand peace.

Then this morning I was at Qalandiya checkpoint, the crossing between Jerusalem and Ramallah, with many women who were protesting against the occupation for International Women's Day. The nonviolent demonstration was organized by many feminist groups in Israel and Palestine including Women in Black, Mahsom Watch, Women against Violence, Democratic Women and 40 Mothers. I'm doing research for my masters on women peace movements in Israel/Palestine and the week proved to be first-hand research. Women were all ages, but I spoke with some of the founding matriarchs.

So there we stood on one side of the wall while Palestinian women from the West Bank stood on the other side; united by solidarity, divided by concrete. I joined some of the founding feminists in Israel over 60yrs old, Palestinian women from the North, young women from North and South, and internationals. We chanted, we held signs, we banged drums. One scrawny little woman wearing a straw-hat came up to me and handed me a page telling me to vote for the Joint-Arab list. She described to me how she immigrated to Israel from Canada in order that when she was arrested for protesting, they would be forced to honor her rights. She was spunky and radical and in her late 60s. Another woman and her daughter were part of Women in Black and held a big sign that said "Women against occupation." The daughter was my age and said that she has been standing on street corners and junctions with her mom for 10 years with that sign. A Palestinian woman and I began to talk about the event and her group "Women for Democracy" as the tear gas wafted over the wall towards us. We had to stop talking because breathing led to instant coughing.

From the other side of the wall, our Palestinian compatriots were hit with tear gas—not once, not twice, but three times. We only caught whiffs of it as the wind blew it our way, but it was enough to make me still gag hours later. 15 women were reportedly injured and several rushed to the hospital due to over exposure to tear gas. A peaceful, nonviolent protest for women's rights and it was met by teargas.

Here's to the brave women standing on the other side of the wall from me. And here's for the feeling of hope I had being surrounded by these strong, thoughtful, creative women who are fighting for a change. There's another protest tonight in Tel Aviv, it's being called "Israel wants Change" and is promising to fill Rabin square with people demanding a change in government.

Election season is in full swing here. Stay tuned!