Dale Perkins

  As readers learned in the Feb/Mar '12 edition of Island Catholic News, I was a pilgrim to Palestine/Israel with 11 others from April 24th to May 4th. I visited many of the ‘Top Ten’ tourist sites in this so-called Holy Land, but more impressive than being a reluctant participant of ‘religious tourism’ was to go as deeply as possible into the underlying social, religious and political dynamics that define current reality for the Palestinian and Israeli people at this time.

  As readers learned in the Feb/Mar '12 edition of Island Catholic News, I was a pilgrim to Palestine/Israel with 11 others from April 24th to May 4th. I visited many of the ‘Top Ten’ tourist sites in this so-called Holy Land, but more impressive than being a reluctant participant of ‘religious tourism’ was to go as deeply as possible into the underlying social, religious and political dynamics that define current reality for the Palestinian and Israeli people at this time.
   Most of us have some knowledge and impressions of what has been going on since the end of World War II, when Jews throughout the world were given a commitment to have a land under their complete control in order that the Jewish race would never again be subject to state-sanctioned genocide. This decision was a form of restitution for the horrors of the Holocaust under Nazi Germany.  The British government at the time generously handed over a large portion of Palestine they had commandeered from the former Ottoman Empire, and with the compliance of the fledgling United Nations they gave a large portion of Palestine over to the Jewish state, now called Israel.
   Of course no one bothered to ask the indigenous people who already lived there if they agreed. These aboriginal Palestinian Arabs thought they could happily live along side the Jews, as they had done centuries before with the Christian and Muslim people, never suspecting that they would be expected to move into Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. The UN designated the largest portion of Palestine to Israel, and the remainder was under the authority of Jordan.
   Following the ‘bouncing ball’ of moves and countermove between Israel and Palestine is almost impossible. There was the 1967 war between Israel and Egypt, which resulted in a wider occupation of Palestine under Israel’s control.  Then there were the infamous First and Second Intifadas, Palestinian resistance, which Israel used to justify its claim to more land and a reduction of Palestinian control in these regions.
   Present-day maps show a gradual erosion of Palestinian control in the West Bank to where there are now only small pockets of bona fide Palestinian control.  In fact the Israeli state now has ‘carte blanche’ to enter any place in the West Bank to claim both resources and residential usage with impunity. Anywhere you visit you can see evidence of Israeli settlers living in large subdivisions, with the abhorrent Wall surrounding nearby Palestinian communities purportedly to give Israelis protection from “terrorists” who may wish to do them harm.
   “Security” becomes the operative word used by Israeli authorities to build another section of Wall, or set up military compounds, or even to raze ancient Olive tree orchards, “because terrorists might hide behind the trees for protection”. The real function of the Wall is to confiscate Palestinian land for Israeli use. (i.e. The people of Bethlehem now retain only 18 percent of their original land with more land being taken.)
   And connecting each settlement are highways, which Palestinians aren’t allowed to use, and the interminable Check Points, which require much-despised Permits on the part of Palestinians before they can cross.
   Rather than attempting to reconstruct a travelogue of what I did and where I went during this period, I will offer commentary on certain experiences that reveal aspects of this terrible impasse happening to this day. This may happen over the course of several editions of ICN. In that way I hope I can convey the reality of life in Palestine now, and what the several political and social forces are attempting in order to bring peace and stability to the region.
 Currently, daily reports are inundating the news-ways, telling of up to 2000 Palestinian hunger strikers in prisons prepared to starve themselves over the abysmal treatment they receive from Israeli authorities.  And we have seen much political gesturing even within the Canadian government, which appears to be willing to embrace the Israeli state (and the Jewish vote in this country) at every turn.
   I believe there is much to be learned by the members of the Christian faith community over how we might become a reasoned and prophetic voice for justice and peace once again. However, stereotypical images and attitudes must be jettisoned, if we are ever to do the right thing by the thousands of refugees and prisoners who have been denied justice for so long. Any Christian wanting to stand in solidarity with the people who are being oppressed, the time for disinterested chatter and tourist voyeurism is passed. Pay attention and speak our truth now. In this vein Michael Riordin’s book Our Way to Fight: Peace Work under Siege is well worth a read.