Here, There, and Everywhere.

Yesterday I began the morning in Ein Rafa, an Arab village located in what is now Israel--home of Palestinians made Israeli citizens [who actually comprise about 20% of Israelis]. Although granted citizenship, these Arabs are faced with no small amount of discriminatory laws and practices. Adalah, the legal center for Arab minority rights in Israel, has compiled a database of over 50 laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel in relation to political participation, access to land, state resources, education, and court procedures. Perhaps even more concerning though is the way that this structure cuts off Palestinians within Israel (also called 48 Arabs) from Palestinians within the West Bank, and of course also from Palestinians within Gaza. Here we can see a typical "divide and rule" strategy at play in the context of Israel as a colonial-settler state.

Then I participated in a tour of the port city of Jaffa, once the heart of Palestine and a thriving economic and cultural center of the Arab world, now under the jurisdiction of neighboring Tel Aviv with Hebrew on its signs and palpable racism on its streets. Our Palestinian tour guide told tragic stories of the Nakba in this city--the forced expulsion of 95% of the indigenous Arab Palestinian population by Zionist military forces in 1948, with the remaining Arabs rounded up from their homes and ghettoized in a small area under military control. These people suddenly lost everything: their homes, their families and friends, their historic buildings, even their street names. Until this day, the minority group of Palestinians living in Jaffa face what they call an "ongoing nakba," characterized by severe housing discrimination and demolitions, as well as a systematic erasure of Arab Palestinian history from the education system and public monuments. Walking through the area with a critical mind, the goal of the Israeli municipality becomes clear: "the Judaization of Palestinian space and consciousness," and thus the erasure of this people group.

Next we walked down the shore of the shimmering Mediterranean sea, whose waters the majority of Palestinians have been banned from touching, towards the towering metropolis of Tel Aviv. I learned that these skyscrapers and recreational areas were built on the ruins of 20 Arab Palestinian villages, their original inhabitants ethnically cleansed. That changes the way you see things.

View of Tel Aviv from Jaffa

Once in Tel Aviv, we bypassed the wealthy tourist areas and visited instead a neighborhood of the city with a high concentration of African asylum seekers. I recently learned about the tragic circumstances of these people at a lecture by David Sheen, but this day provided a chance to hear the story of a young man from Darfur firsthand. He told us how he fled genocide in his homeland, forced to leave behind his family in order to avoid being captured as a child soldier. After being pushed out of several cities in northern Africa, he heard about some people from Darfur living in Israel. Although getting there involved serious risk [of being caught and sent back to Darfur, or else being shot and killed at the border], he decided to try to make it, having no other options available. Against many odds, this man did actually get into Israel safely; however what he experienced upon arrival was far from welcoming.

After more than 10 years, this asylee has not been granted any status by the state of Israel: no clear rights, no work permits, no recognition as a refugee [in violation of international law]. There are an estimated 45,000-60,000 other asylum seekers like him, mostly from Sudan and Eriteria--many of whom have been forced into jail-like detention centers in remote areas. In addition to these highly discriminatory official policies, there exists a shocking level of racism against Africans in Israeli society in general. Leading rabbis have issued edicts that Israelis should not rent apartments to Africans, or any other non-Jews. The media presents them as a threat to society, with politicians referring to them as "a cancer" and "disease-ridden terrorist threats." They often face physical violence on the street and there have been countless racist demonstrations specifically targeting them. Despite their history of suffering, these African refugees fleeing genuine persecution are not given relief in Israel, supposedly created as a state of refuge--but only if you are Jewish.

From Tel Aviv, we headed back to East Jerusalem, the Arab section of the city--but under Israeli military occupation. Here we had dinner with a few Israeli university students who wanted to share with us their perspective [which I realize isn't the perspective of all Israelis, but seems to be the dominant one]. After months of attending a Palestinian university and seeing the situation in the West Bank with my own eyes, I could hardly believe what I was hearing. This guy's well-rehearsed narrative was rooted in the language of human rights and international law, but set forth so many misconceptions that I don't even know where to start... But of course, Arabs have equal rights because Israel is a "democracy," severe human rights violations are acceptable for the sake of the "security" of one side, Palestinians are all terrorists while Israeli soldiers murder hundreds of children in Gaza. I'm really not one to debate for the sake of it, but this conversation was so deeply infuriating--primarily because I realized how easily people can be deceived by arguments that sound good on the surface while actually perpetrating blatant lies.

In order to get back home, I had to cross through the pedestrian checkpoint into Bethlehem--a winding maze of narrow passageways, metal bars, and cage-like barriers. Being late at night, the place was mostly empty, but I could imagine the chaos of thousands of Palestinian workers being forced through this dehumanizing passageway each day. I have heard many refer to the checkpoint's structure as similar to the methods used to herd cattle. There is often a lack of order with dangerous [and sometimes deadly] overcrowding, purposely limited soldiers on duty, and arbitrary rule changes without any announcements made. Trust me when I tell you, this place is literally designed to mess with you, both physically and psychologically.

Photo taken outside of Bethlehem Checkpoint
 https://greennumberplate.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/228/

In the end, I got into my bed exhausted, thinking over all of the layers of oppression witnessed in one day. So many complex situations: from Palestinians discriminated against within Israel to remnants of the Nakba in colonized cities to the horrific treatment of African asylum seekers to the lies perpetrated within the Israeli system to the crossing of dehumanizing checkpoints into the West Bank...

How is it possible to make sense of all of these injustices?

In some ways, I feel that each of these situations are unique, impossible to grasp without a solid understanding of the specific context. However, I am also beginning to see that the forces at play in all of these examples are exactly the same [and intertwined themselves]. Various expressions of racism. Colonialism and white supremacy. Militarism and state-sanctioned violence. Neoliberal economic polices. The manipulation of law. Language as a mechanism of power. Lying politicians and deceptive media coverage.

I think I am realizing more and more that what can be observed in this place so overtly is happening not just here, but everywhere. Understanding the dynamics of specific cases in Israel/Palestine sheds light on what is wrong all over the world. America especially conducts many of these same practices within its own borders and across the globe [and also has a complicit role in most of the situations I just described].

If only our eyes could be opened to see...




If you are interested in learning more:

Adalah: The Discriminatory Laws Database

"Jaffa: from Eminence to Ethic Cleansing" [written by the tour guide I mentioned]

Anti-African Racism in Israel [a compilation of resources from David Sheen]

Jewish Voice for Peace: Israel/Palestine 101 [helpful for understanding the basics]

Humanitarian Situation Deteriorates at Bethlehem Checkpoint 300