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Rev Clarence Musgrave  
and his wife Joan  
were our mission partners. 
They  worked at 
St Andrews Church of Scotland Church 
in Jerusalem before they retired in the summer of 2006.

Sunbula, the shop in St Andrew's Hospice that promotes and sells handcrafts made by Palestinians is now on the web: www.sunbula.org

• No 260
• No 261
• No 262
• No 263
• No 264
• No 265
• No 266
• No 267
• No 268
• No 269
• No 270

Partnership in Conflict

Support Jayyous

Circular Letter No 269 17th June 2006

The size of the Congregation at our Sunday services in Jerusalem fluctuates. If there are tourist groups in town who come to share in our worship, then we can have anything from 40 to 100. If there no groups, we may be as low as 20. With the summer coming and the hotter weather, it is likely that the numbers will be smaller.

At Tiberias, where there is a very small group of folk who come regularly to the service there on a Sunday evening, it only takes a couple of them to be away, and there is almost no congregation, unless there are visitors to the area whom come to the church.

We are now down to our last 4 services, and it is a strange feeling. Our hope is that the final service here in Jerusalem, will be one that we share with our ecumenical friends, in the form of a Taizé service on June 25th.

We are also in the throes of saying goodbye to folk. Jayyous was last week, this week it is Idna and Bethlehem, next week the Galilee, and then finally on June 26th a Reception here in Jerusalem where we will be able to greet some of the people with whom we have worked over the past 6 years.

Tuesday 13th June. In the Old City I met one of our friends who works there, but lives in the northern part of Jerusalem. We had time for a chat, in the course of which he was sharing something of his anger and frustration at the daily treatment he has to endure to get to work.

There has long been a checkpoint close to his home. Sometimes it has taken a long time to pass it, sometimes it has been almost just a formality. Some weeks ago, the Israeli army came round his area, late at night, to write down the names and ID numbers of all the folks in the houses. This apparently was to form the basis of people who would be allowed to use the local checkpoint in the future. Those whose names were not on the list would then have to go several kms north to Kalandia before being able to travel back south into Jerusalem.

My friend spoke of the way in which people regard Israel – a “hi-tech” society, a wealthy society, one that can produce sophisticated weapons systems, computers etc. He then recounted several of his recent experiences at the checkpoint. A list was supposed to have been compiled, but no one whose name was on it was given a number. When asked for a number, he had to wait till the soldier on duty could find his name, and then tell him his number. A couple of days later, when giving this number, he was told that it was wrong. The list had been changed, and he had now been allocated a different number. On occasions the soldiers took the ID cards from several people, manually wrote down their particulars, then went off to check them somewhere, and ended up taking 45 minutes to process the occupants of 5 cars. Security? Harassment? All this compares with a facility at the airport. It is possible for some Israeli citizens to register their handprint with the Government. On arrival at the airport they are then able to go to a machine which will “read” their handprint and allow them to pass through Immigration control. What could I say to my friend about his daily humiliation?

On my way home – we live in West Jerusalem, where very few Arab people live – when I met a young man close to what is called David’s Village. This is just opposite the Jaffa Gate, and is a very expensive place in which to live. This young man, with his black kippa, his white shirt, his shawl tassels visible, was examining a map and wanting to know if there were any Arabs in the area through which he was going to have to pass. He did not want to go near any place where there might be Arabs. I had no idea what experience he might have had to make him feel this way. Although I offered to have him walk with me, he refused. What could I say to someone like him, to change his attitudes?


Wednesday 14th.

We went to Idna to say goodbye to the women there. We had some orders to collect, so there was business to be done. It was in fact quite a sizeable order, but the sadness was that it was the last for us at this time. More will come, we hope, by mail, or maybe on future visits.

The women had organised a lunch for us and the friends who were with us, so we all sat round their large sewing table and had some chicken and rice. We all enjoyed it – it was good to be able to share in a meal like that with folk whose lives have been considerably enriched by the work of the Co-operative, and who really have little prospect of even moving outside their immediate neighbourhood.

Gifts had been prepared –a traditional dress for Joan, and an embroidered map for me. I will look well wearing it!

We were taken round the corner to a new shop, organised by another recently formed group of women. The goods they had produced were almost exclusively appropriate for a local market – we hope they succeed, but it will be hard work.

Although there was sadness in the air, there was also a sense of confidence – women who know that they have some skills, and are able to produce goods that do sell overseas. They may not earn a fortune, but they do earn sufficient money to make a difference to the lives of their families. There were tears, but there was also laughter.

We then drove on to Towani, the tiny village in the South Hebron Hills. Our contact with this community is of much more recent vintage. There are about 28 family units in the village. As one drives down the road to the village, many of the houses are almost invisible against the hillside on which they are built – traditional shapes and traditional stone.

We drove down on a paved road. Off it there are paved roads into Settlements. The road into Towani is unpaved, and in places very rough. A permit has been applied for to pave the road – (though where the funds would come from I do not know) – but the Israeli authorities have so far refused to issue such a permit.

In the village, and in others in the area, there is a chronic shortage of water. Oxfam has now started delivering water to those who have been identified as being most “needy”. However, there is a main water pipe passing the entrance to the village. Permission has been applied for to take a supply pipe from this water main into the village. Permission has been refused. It would appear that its main function at present is to supply water to the Settlements and to their farming activities.

There is a generator in the village, which supplies electricity for a couple of hours each evening. The people of the village built a new shed for it, and have been served with a demolition order on it by the Israeli army – as it has been built without a permit. In the immediate area of the village, there is one of those Israeli Jewish “outposts” which has been set up by residents of the local Settlement. It is from these houses that people come and harass the local children as they come to school on foot. It is to guard the children against such attacks that both the Israeli army have regular patrols on duty to escort the children, and members of the Christian Peacemaker Team organisation live in the village. On 30th May, the Israeli army issued demolition orders on the houses of the Settlers that had been built without permits. So far nothing has been done. A day or two later, at a village near Towani, the Israeli army demolished one house and 5 toilets that it said had been built without permits.

Along the side of the road on which we travelled, but which is classified as a road on which Palestinians are not supposed to travel, the Israeli Government has recently commenced construction of a “low-level security wall.” This is some 80 cms high, about 1 metre off the side of the road. While we were there, members of the CPT were down at the roadside watching the building of this prefabricated wall. The villagers of Towani had got legal help from some Israeli Jewish Organisations, and had got agreement that there would be an opening in the wall opposite their village, to enable them to use the dirt road that is there to get to the local town. The CPT people were monitoring that in fact this opening was being left. When we arrived in the village, a meeting was in progress between a few men of Towani and some from another village further south. The wall has been built in that area for 5 kms without a single opening to let people get trucks, cars or tractors have access to the nearby town. Although called a “security” wall, it is hard to see what security it provides. It would seem just another way of imposing control on an already impoverished population. As one person said, the fit able-bodied younger people who might pose security threats can easily jump over it. Older people will find it more difficult. It may even be too high for sheep to get over, and if that is the case, then it effectively barricades shepherds from taking their sheep to the areas on the hills where they can graze.


Thursday 15th June.

I have not been treating you to many quotations from Haaretz recently. Just in case you wonder if I have stopped reading the paper, here are a few from today’s paper.

Haaretz, 15th June P1. “Survey : European public support for Israel increasing.” ‘There has been a significant rise in the level of the European public’s support for Israel compared to its support for the Palestinians, according to a global opinion poll released yesterday. … A Poll released last week by the Israel Project, an international non-profit organisation based in Washington, found that French support for the Palestinians went down from 47% in 2002 to 21% today. … The Survey found that 37% of Germans support Israel while only 18% support the Palestinians. … Palestinians get 4% more support than Israel in Britain, and are far ahead in Spain.’

Haaretz 15th June P4. “Baggage scanners to be installed after uproar over discriminatory airport policy. Haaretz probe found Arab passengers were barred from flights from north.” The Transportation Ministry said yesterday it would install temporary x-ray scanning machines at the Kiryat Shmona airport, in an effort to calm public protests over its policy of barring Arabs from travelling on flights from the north to Tel Aviv. The Transport Ministry, acting on instructions from the Shin Bet (Security Organisation) had decided that Arabs would not be allowed on the flights following a financial dispute that prevented the use of luggage scanning machines in airports in the north. An investigation by Haaretz revealed that there was a policy of allowing Jewish passengers only on to these flights.’

This afternoon we had to go to visit a family in the north of the city – an area that has been designated by the Israeli Government as to be on the Palestinian side of the Wall. This is despite the fact that many of its residents were given Jerusalem ID documents in 1967; they work in Jerusalem; their children go to school in Jerusalem; their health facilities are in Jerusalem. The Wall has been partially built down the middle of what was the main road between Jerusalem and Ramallah for some time. Now, it is in the process of being completed, and there is a whole new arrangement at what is known as the A Ram Checkpoint. In a way it exemplifies everything that we have seen happen where the Israeli Army takes control – it is a wasteland. What had been a vibrant neighbourhood is now almost totally deserted. What had had some beauty in it is now a desolate waste of concrete blocks, wire fences, metal gates – and almost total hopelessness.

The friend whom we were visiting is living in a house in which he and his family have invested their life savings, to say nothing of effort and loving care. It is now virtually worthless. They can see the house of their daughter about 400 metres away. To get to it now is a journey of approx 5 kms to the Kalandia Checkpoint, and then approx 5 kms back again. And all this is being done while the Israeli Government PR machine trots out the same message that it does not want to harm the ordinary Palestinian.

Two sad comments this week came from two separate conversations. The first was with a senior figure in the Palestinian community in East Jerusalem. “All my friends when I was growing up were Jewish. We played together without any problem. Then came 1947 and 1948 (when I was a teenager). When I had children, I told them that they had to respect the Jewish people around them. Now, I am appalled at the level of hatred which is developing in my grandchildren and their friends as a result of the Occupation and the humiliations they receive from the Israeli soldiers.” The second was with a woman in Bethlehem area: “I am alarmed when I see the hatred developing in my children, when they see this Wall, and realise what it is doing to them and their way of life.”


Stay well.

Joan and Clarence
 

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Circular Letter No 268 10th June 2006

Wednesday 7th June.

The afternoon was spent in Bethlehem. As part of our “farewells” we are inviting some folk to a small Reception in the International Centre of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem – and so I was visiting some folk to invite them to come, and also to have reasonable time to say good-bye to them.

Ii have already mentioned the dire consequences of the economic boycott that has been put on dealings with the Palestinian Government led by Hamas. Last week I shared with you the information that an organisation such as Al Shurooq School was being asked to provide if it wished to be considered for further funds from a charity in the US.

This afternoon I was visiting Wi’am (Palestinian Conflict Resolution Centre). Information about it can be easily found at its website – www.planet.edu/~alaslah Among the programmes that it regularly organises are summer programmes for children. In the past, we have been able to support this particular aspect of its work, and I had prepared a donation to assist with this year’s programme. Sitting talking with the Director, Zougbi Zougbi, it was clear that all was not well. He had recently received a message from an organisation which has supported Wi’am in the past, saying that its Government was stopping all support for programmes within Palestine, due to uncertainty about the security situation and an unwillingness to have anything to do with Hamas. The fact that Wi’am is a humanitarian organisation, that it is Christian, made no difference – and this was in a country in the West that is at least nominally Christian. So, one member of staff had already had to be “let go”, and the probability was that other reductions would have to be made. The letter had said that there might be assistance for the year 2008.

Another aspect of the work of Wi’am is to assist young people from Bethlehem get opportunities for further education overseas. This, too, is proving difficult, but some scholarships still are available. However, it is the passionate belief of Wi’am that when young people obtain a scholarship, they should then come back to their own home to share the benefit of their education with their own society. That is all well and good, if there are any jobs to come to – and at the moment, there are virtually none. So, we talked a bit about what might be done. One way for overseas churches and organisations to help would be to sponsor employment within a place such as Bethlehem – meeting two needs at the same time. On the one hand offering the economic benefit of another job in the community. On the other hand supporting the Christian community which is losing people on a steady basis as they migrate to find work in other parts of the world.

It was not the happiest visit that I have ever paid there, knowing that the donation which I had been able to make was perhaps about 2% of the donation which had been lost as a result of governments boycotting Palestine.

(A reflection : How can it be right and proper for the Israeli Government and others to organise an economic boycott of Palestine, but wrong for Churches to consider withdrawing investments from companies which profit from aspects of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank? )

While in Edinburgh I had been given some medical supplies for a particular family in Bethlehem. I was able to pass them on this afternoon. In the course of this particular visit, I heard more stories about families that are well below the bread line. One family is moved month after month from houses which it finds to occupy, as it has no money to pay rent. Now, a small “summer house” has been made available to them, but it has only walls, a roof and a door. So, from somewhere, windows were found and have been put in. Beds have been donated, paint has been given, and slowly there is the possibility of this particular family having a “home” for perhaps a year. But, there are medical bills, food bills, etc – and no income. Millions of shekels would not meet the need, so what will the few thousands do, which I was able to give? We hope that they will have brought some relief, if only for a week or two.

One of the places which I visit from time to time is the Al Feneiq (pronounced Phoenix) Centre in Daheisha Refugee Camp on the southern side of Bethlehem. On what was probably my last visit there, I sat with Naji Odeh, its leader, under a tree in the garden. It was close to 40C, but the shade and the breeze made it quite pleasant. Behind me on the skyline were the buildings of the Settlement of Efrat – the illegal Jewish Settlement which is spreading across the hills to the south of Bethlehem, and playing a major part if the strategy of the Israeli Government to encircle Bethlehem. In front of me, a wall covered with paintings which had been done by an international group which had come to work at the Centre.

Naji spoke with passion about the Centre, its work, its vision, and its latest success. He had recently been with some of the members of the Theatre Group from the Centre to an international competition in Amman. There had been groups of actors from many of the Gulf States, from Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, and further afield in N Africa. For Al Feneiq it was the first time they had participated in such an activity – and the joy was unrestrained – they had won! The sense of achievement was boundless, and the increase to their own sense of worth and value was priceless. He had also been invited to visit different groups in Italy and France – staying in the homes of the people there, rather than in hotels, as he wanted to be “part of their community.” He spoke of a recent phone call from a group in Europe, asking to come and stay in the Camp for 5 days, again staying in the homes of people, rather than hotels, so that they can get a better understanding of what life is like. Life will have some difference – the frequent Israeli Army foot patrols which go through the Camp in the middle of the night – despite the fact that Israel is supposed to have withdrawn from Bethlehem.

He also spoke of a young man – Muhammed, or Ibrahim, or …., aged about 16. He had been with Naji on a cultural exchange trip to France some months ago. Not long after they returned to Bethlehem, he had gone with some other young men to where there is a sort of market close to one of the checkpoints around Bethlehem. Israeli soldiers had appeared, there had been a disturbance. He did not run away, as he had taken no part in the incident, but he was arrested. He has now been in prison for some months. During that time his father has died – and he has not been allowed to come to visit his family, or to share in the funeral. From the heights of affirmation in Amman, to the depths of occupation in Bethlehem.

At Al Shurooq School, there was the good news that the project to erect the new School is progressing, and that tenders from contractors will be called for in the next few days. So, perhaps by the autumn, construction will be under way. Anyone with a spare $500,000 for the second stage of the project is invited to get in touch with Helen Shehadeh!

Wednesday evening.

The Minister of St Andrew’s Church is invited to be a member of the Rainbow Group. It is a small group of Christian and Jewish people, which meets 6 times a year. It has no “agenda” but provides space for people to share ideas and explore different aspects of Christianity and Judaism. The last meeting of the year was held this evening, and a young woman had been invited to sing. She was Israeli and Jewish. In the course of the evening, she sang in Hebrew, English and Arabic. She shared with us the information that her grandmother had been born in Baghdad, which gave her roots in what she referred to as “the East.” She had been advised to learn as much as possible about Arabic music, and it was moving to hear her saying that when she first really listened to someone playing the Oud it was as if she were back in her mother’s womb.

I was recently asked by visitors if I felt there were any signs of hope in the situation here. There are, but one has to look for them. This young singer was just one such sign – if she is able to develop her existing contacts with folk whom many of her own people regard as ‘the enemy” perhaps she will help a bit in the process of mutual understanding and ultimate reconciliation.

Friday 9th June

We drove up to Jayyous to say farewell to people there, and to have a meal with Abdul Latif and his family. As with all journeys on main roads in the West Bank, it is utterly depressing. The road passes through the heart of the West Bank, and it used to be one of the main arteries for travel. Now, it is virtually deserted. There are a handful of Palestinian registered vehicles on it, fewer than the yellow-plated Israeli registered vehicles, many of which will belong to Settlers. A road which could serve millions of Palestinians is more or less reserved for thousands of Settlers.

One of the sayings of Jesus quoted in Matthew’s Gospel is “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” You will not be surprised to know that I regard the Settlements as “bad fruit” of the policies of the Government of Israel. They are much in evidence along that road to the north, and they are increasing. What sort of a tree is it that bears such fruit?

We had a delightful time with the folk in Jayyous. One youngster, who was told that this would be our last visit, and that he would possibly not see us again, responded to his parents that “he would see us in heaven!”

But the economic plight of the people is worsening – no salaries now for months. A teacher was out scavenging round the village to pick up scrap metal which could be sold to a scrap yard a few kms away – to get something to help with the expenses of the baby his wife is expecting in a couple of weeks.

I recall some time ago sitting with a family there, and the father grieving at his inability to take his son to the beach, which they could see in the distance – in Israel.

It was a bitter moment when we heard, later in the day, of the killing of people on a beach in Gaza. It was not surprising to read this morning in the Haaretz On-line edition, the following sentence: Major General Yoav Galant, head of the IDF Southern Command, said Friday evening that the army is looking into the circumstances of the explosion. In addition to the more likely scenario that a shell strayed from its path, the army was also exploring whether the explosion might have been caused by a "work accident." (“Work accident” is the euphemism that describes people blown up by their own bombs).

I suppose people such as the General have to take into account every possibility, but the thought that Palestinian people would take shells on to a beach on a family picnic day is far-fetched. Still, it is a normal ploy – divert attention from yourself by blaming someone else.


Best to stop here.

Stay well.

God bless

Joan and Clarence

 

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Circular Letter No 267 2nd June 2006

For the eagle eyed and those of long memory, the Number at the top of this letter will be a bit odd. What happened to No 266, I can hear you asking! The answer is that it was written in Edinburgh, and I forwarded it to myself here – but this computer does not speak the same language as the computer in Edinburgh, and so the letter cannot be opened. When I manage to find out what to do, it will come – out of sequence, but I hope it will also be worth reading.



Joan and I returned here on 1st June, for a final spell of 4 weeks, or 28 days. It is hot, it is sunny, it is what we have been accustomed to for the last 6 years – it has been home. Now we are in the painful process of withdrawing.

There have been at least two privileges for us.

The one has been to be a sort of conduit for folk to send donations to people here, and to try to make life a bit easier for some. That has been an immense privilege, and given us an undeserved reputation for generosity. What we have tried to make clear is that the donations have largely come from the Christian community abroad, and that many of them have come from Scotland. It has helped to make people more aware of the existence of the Church of Scotland, and of the concern of Christians within Scotland. Questions have been asked about what will happen after the end of June. These will be for our successor, Jane Barron, to answer.

The other is perhaps a bit more painful, but it is nonetheless a privilege. It is to be able to listen to folk who want to talk about their particular situation – sometimes it is good news, at present it is more likely to be bad news. Certainly one of the things that we will miss will be this face to face contact with those whom we have come to respect and admire for the way in which they have kept going for years, and still retain a capability to laugh and enjoy life.

I had not intended to write today, but I was in Bethlehem this morning, and among other things I had to do was to visit Helen Shehadeh in Beit Jala. It was to be a good visit – with some donations from folk in the UK. She was delighted to receive their gifts – and then got started speaking about the difficulties of the present situation.

Her landlord built a large new block of apartments right beside the building which she has rented for some years for the school. The garden play area has disappeared, and the sheer bulk of the building looms over her school, closing it in and in a way seeming to threaten it. As the apartments have been occupied, so there has been an increased demand for water – and so at present she may go days without getting much of a regular water supply. In the heat, and with 26 children, this can be quite a problem. She bought a tanker full of water last week, at a cost of NIS 250 (£30), and it was gone in a couple of days.

To cook food, the kitchen depends on bottled gas. One of the effects of the financial squeeze being put on Palestine by Israel and the rest of the world is that gas supplies are now almost finished, and Al Shurooq is on its last bottle of gas.

To drive cars depends on petrol and diesel getting through to Palestine from Israel. Before we left to go to Scotland there was already the beginning of an embargo on fuel supplies, as the Palestinians had not been able to pay bills to the Israeli provider of petrol and diesel. The situation does not seem to have changed appreciably – there is some petrol, but not as much as is needed.

Al Shurooq is approaching the end of its School Year. There will be tests and assessments in the next couple of weeks. Helen felt that it would be better to send home one of the less-academically gifted girls. So she contacted her family – to be told a story of woe. The girl’s father is employed by the Palestinian Authority. He is now in the 4th month of having no pay. Just to keep going to work costs money that he and his wife do not have. The girl’s mother has now sold all the gold and jewellry that she had – just to put food on the table. (Gold is a traditional wedding gift, and a traditional way of holding savings, and is sold only as a last resort.) So, the girl is away home, and who knows what sort of future there will be for her over the summer.

So, all in all, Helen had plenty to worry her.

When I was at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, one of the people who sat beside me gave me a cheque to help some family where salaries had not been paid. So, with Helen’s assistance, some money will get to this family next week. It is like a sort of band-aid – will help for a few days, or perhaps a couple of weeks, and then what?

This evening, I had a phone conversation with Abdul Latif in Jayyous. The checkpoint routine which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago is a bit easier. Now it takes only 1 ½ hours to get into Nablus and the same in the evening to start the journey home. Another person in Scotland had given me a donation specifically for Jayyous, and so I asked about how it might be used. “Food” – was his reply. With the non-payment of salaries, there are now homes where there are significant shortages of food. So, in the next week until we are able to get to the village, he will talk with one of the organisations of women in the village to see what they feel will be the most helpful way to use a donation.

Another side effect of the non-payment of salaries is that people are not able to pay the local Council for their electricity supplies. So, the Council is not able to purchase diesel, as and when it is available. Result – the supply of electricity to the village is sporadic.

Like Helen at Beit Jala, Abdul Latif also spoke of the shortage, or non-existence, of gas supplies.

Then he mentioned the coming likelihood that Israeli banks will not carry on with their links with Palestinian banks after the end of the month, so even if there is money out there in the world, how it will get to a place like Jayyous is a bit of a problem.

No lights, no refrigerators, no cooking facilities, no banks – no money.

Just to add a bit of spice to life, Helen received an e-mail from the United Palestinian Appeal in the USA, which has made grants to some of the pupils in the school under its UPA Child Sponsorship Programme.

Dated 1st June, it states that UPA will not be sending any funds until all documents are received and thoroughly reviewed. The grant has not been large – perhaps $800 every three months – but even that is significant in the present economic situation. The UPA requests that all documentation be returned by June 30th 2006.

This is all so that UPA will be acting in accordance with pending US Government legislation concerning sending money to Palestine.

There are 10 requirements.

1. All Locations of Business (address and phone number of each place of business) if applicable.

2. Available historical information, including the following:

a) Jurisdiction in which organisation is incorporated or formed;

b) Copies of all documents related to organisation incorporation;

c) Information on individuals who formed the organisation

d) Information relating to organisation’s history.

3. Detailed report of current programmes and projects and their goals

4. Detailed description of how the child sponsorship funds are distributed each quarter.

5. Detailed statement on how each individual child is deemed necessary to receive funds from our child sponsorship programme.

6. Names and Addresses of individuals, entities, and/or organisations to which your organisation currently provides or proposes to provide funding, services, or material support, if applicable.

7. Names and addresses of any subcontracting organisation utilised by organisation, if applicable.

8. Copies of any public filings or releases made by organisation, including the following:

a) Most recent official registry documents;

b) Annual Reports;

c) Annual filings with the pertinent government;

d) Annual financial statements.

9. List of sources of income, i.e. official grants, private endowments, and commercial activities.

10. The following information about organisation’s key employees, board members other senior management at place of business and key employees at other business locations (if any):

a) Full name in English;

b) Citizenship;

c) Current country of residence;

d) Place and date of birth.


Some organisations have already been asked to supply such details, and some have said that they would rather lose the funding they get from US sources, than go through this bureaucracy.

I suppose that, if Helen complies with this request for information, then some civil servant in some office in Washington will come across the name of St Andrew’s Church of Scotland Jerusalem as one of the “Sources of Income”.

While this is going on, today I was taken completely aback as we went into Bethlehem. There has been a wall around the approaches to Rachel’s Tomb. This lies totally within the area of Bethlehem, but has been more or less annexed by the State of Israel. Now, on the southern side of the compound which surrounds the Tomb an extension of the Wall has been built. It is not yet completed, but it totally encloses some Palestinian homes, and in one of them today we could see the family sitting by their front door. It is inconceivable that they will be able to continue there, and they will become the latest in the list of Palestinian refugees.

While the US Government requires the information set out above in order to decide if it will allow charities to pay funds to other charities in Palestine, it also allows the State of Israel to take land and property without any real hindrance. One wonders where such policies will lead in the long run.

It would be good if we had better news to share.

Stay well. God bless.

Joan and Clarence

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By a miracle of modern science, I wrote this letter in Edinburgh and sent it to myself in Jerusalem, as I did not have addresses in Scotland. I could not open it, so this morning sent it off to Adelaide, Australia, where Brian Astill put it into a format I could use and sent it back to me. Now it is off on its travels, and I hope you can open it.

Letter No 266 27th May 2006

View from Edinburgh.

Joan and I have been in Edinburgh for the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In all probability, it will be the last such Assembly which we will attend, as we retire at the end of June.

As people have often asked us, over the past few years, if we have enjoyed our time in Jerusalem, so people now ask us if we have enjoyed being at the General Assembly. To both questions it is hard to give a direct and conclusive answer. However, there are several memories of the meetings of the past week, and the people whom we have met, which will stay with us for a long time.

One of the features of the General Assembly is the presence at it of Delegates from some of the Churches which the Church of Scotland regards as Partner Churches –often those churches which have grown out of missionary work of the Church of Scotland. So, there is a great opportunity both to meet folk from different parts of the world, and for the General Assembly to hear part of their story.

Mrs Alice Ngosi was one of the people who were sitting with us at a Lunch on the opening day of the Assembly. She comes from Malawi. When I asked her what was her work within her Church – the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), I was a bit taken aback at her reply. “I am a Behaviour Change Officer”. It seemed a strange title to have, and my initial reaction was to wonder what sort of work merited such a name. I soon found out.

Her work is to try to bring about changes in the attitudes of her people to sexual behaviour, and has developed as a response on the part of the CCAP to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. It involves her in work, as part of a team which includes a young male youth worker, with her society, trying to educate them about the dangers of many aspects of traditional attitudes to sexual behaviour. Remembering our time in Zambia - which we left in 1980 – I could not recall a single instance when a woman had spoken with us so openly about sexual matters. Behaviour change had had to start first with this woman herself, before she could become a teacher for the rest of her community.

The compelling reason for her work was the catastrophic effect that HIV/AIDS had had, and was continuing to have, on Malawian society. She spoke of the death of a whole generation; of grandparents having to take the place of their children to look after their grandchildren; of older children having to look after their younger brothers and sisters, while at the same time trying to complete their own education which might provide them with a way to earn a living.


Bishop Michael Baroi, of the Church of Bangladesh, was one of the speakers who addressed the Assembly on its opening evening. He spoke first about poverty, but ended his remarks with a most arresting comment about Global Warming. He spoke of the way in which folk in many parts of the world spoke of the effects of Global Warming almost in an academic way. For him, and his people, if predictions about the rise of the sea-level come true, half of Bangladesh will disappear under water. He wants to leave a place for his children and grandchildren to live, but he is afraid that this will be impossible.

As parents and grand parents, like everyone else we know, we have tried, and keep on trying, to provide our family with education and opportunities to develop their future. We have never faced the real prospect of the land literally disappearing from under their feet. The words of the Bishop were a real cry from his heart for people like us to be aware of how our decisions and actions had an impact on people like him.


On the closing evening of the Assembly, the Moderator spoke about one of the people whom he had met during the week. He recalled one conversation with a young man from Malawi. During the course of his time in Scotland, this young man had been able to visit Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow. He said that he had never really felt that he was poor, until he had seen the cells at Barlinnie. They were so much better than his house in Malawi.

We had spoken the previous evening with a colleague who is a Chaplain in the Scottish Prison Service, and he had been speaking of the way in which living conditions for prisoners had been radically improved over the past few years. This programme of building new prisons and upgrading existing ones, to provide a more humane environment for prisoners to live in, is part of our society’s way to show that it has a responsibility to allow people to live with a certain dignity, even when they are in prison.

The contrast between the wealth of our society which enables it to provide such facilities, and the poverty of much of the rest of the world, was tellingly illustrated in this remark by the young youth worker from Malawi.

Joan and I started our connection with the overseas work of the Church of Scotland in September 1966. We will finish our full-time work in June 2006. We will have spent almost 20 years working outside Scotland, and 20 years in a parish in Edinburgh. In addition, I was a member of our Mission Board for almost 10 of the years when we lived and worked in Edinburgh. So, one way or another, the overseas work of the Church of Scotland has been an integral part of our lives.

I felt a certain sadness when the Report of our World Mission Council was presented to the General Assembly, and there was so little discussion of it. It is not, I hope, that the Church is not interested in what is happening in churches in other parts of the world. We have experienced the support of many congregations and people during our work in Zambia, and latterly in Jerusalem. But somehow on this occasion, the spark of excitement in the Assembly seemed to be missing.

The way business is conducted in the General Assembly is that a Report is presented. Before it is officially “Received” by the Assembly, there is a question time. Assuming that it is then received by the General Assembly, what are called Deliverances are proposed. It is at this stage that there can be detailed discussion of the contents of the Report and reaction to its Deliverances or Proposals.

The Church and Society Council - formerly called the Church and Nation Committee - presents a Report which covers many of the areas of interaction between the Church and Society- social, economic, ecological, scientific, financial, political matters are all included at various times. This year the Report had an Appendix entitled Investment in Palestine and Israel. The text of the Report is available on the Church of Scotland Website - www.churchofscotland.org.uk There was also a Supplementary Report entitled Israel-Palestine.

The Deliverances which accompanied the two Reports were as follows:

Main Report: Investment in Israel and Palestine.

1. Note that the Church’s money has not been connected with oppressive practices in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

2. Instruct the investment bodies of the Church, with the assistance of the World Mission Council, to investigate possibilities for positive investment in the Occupied Territories.

3. Call on the European Institutions to ensure the clear labelling of products which come from the illegal settlements in the West Bank, so that consumers can make an informed decision on whether or not to purchase them.

4. Request the World Council of Churches to coordinate an authoritative listing of those products available whose source is illegal settlements, so that those who wish to do so can make a decision to avoid purchasing them.

Supplementary Report: Israel - Palestine.

1. Receive the Report.

2. Accept the principles 1.1 - 1.6 set out in the Supplementary Report.

3. Call upon the Foreign Secretary to use her influence both as the representative of HMG (Her Majesty’s Government)and in co-operation with her colleagues in the EU, to

3.1 encourage HAMAS to issue a statement accepting Israel’s right to exist;

3.2 encourage Israel to cease its attacks on Gaza and the West Bank;

3.3 encourage the two democratically elected governments to enter into discussions either face to face or through the offices of an intermediary or intermediaries, such as the EU or the Quartet, on the issues of more secure boundaries and viable sustainable states for both parties;

3.4 encourage the two democratically elected governments to adhere to all relevant UN resolutions and to the relevant provisions of the Geneva Convention, these to be supported by the Security Council of the UN.

4. Urge all Christians to continue to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and of all the Holy Lands and the people who live therein.

5. Encourage pilgrims to continue to visit the Holy Lands and to ensure that they visit and understand the problems as experienced both by Israelis and by Palestinians.

6. Instruct the Church and Society Council and the World Mission Council to bring an updated report to the 2007 (General) Assembly.


For some, the contents of the Report and the words of the Deliverances were yet another example of double standards from the Church, and of harassment of the State of Israel. Are there not many places in the world where there is conflict, and yet year after year the Church of Scotland returns to its criticisms of the Jewish people and their State.

For others, it was an example of yet more words and no action, and contrasted unfavourably with the more robust statements from other churches. It is difficult to see how any of the Deliverances will make any real contribution to the resolution of the conflict and the injustices.

You pay your money and you take your choice.

Just two comments from me.

In the titles of the Reports, there is reference to Palestine. In the Deliverances, there is reference to Palestinian Land, The Occupied Territories, The West Bank and Gaza. What is, or should be, the correct name?

There is reference to the purchase of items produced in the illegal Settlements. There are those living in Israel and Palestine who are concerned at the way in which the Church of Scotland Hotel in Tiberias sells goods produced by Settlers in the West Bank.


We often feel frustrated that so little of the real news of Israel and Palestine is reported here (i.e. Scotland). We sometimes feel frustrated at what seems to be the inaction of many here in relation to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. However, one of the enduring memories of the General Assembly is of the extremely wide range of concerns - social, political, economic, theological, moral, etc.-with which folk in the Church of Scotland are involved. So much to be done, so many people to be supported – and individuals can only do so much. It was salutary to be reminded of the needs of other parts of the world, - even if it does mean that there may be less time and effort able to be devoted to the problems being faced daily in Israel and Palestine.

Stay well

Next week in, and from, Jerusalem.

God bless.

Joan and Clarence
 

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Circular Letter No 265 13th May 2006

Saturday 6th May

Another Pastoral Visit.

Our hostess brought through a tray with cups of tea and sprigs of fresh mint for us. She was extending to us the traditional hospitality we have met everywhere we have gone here. She looked weary, thin, and drawn. Given what she has to endure, it was not at all surprising.

We were sitting in what was a commodious house, which had once been vibrant and lively. Now, it is a different story. We had approached it with a friend, who had made arrangements for us to be met by our hostess. This was a precaution which was explained to us in greater detail once we were safely inside the house.

We were in Bethlehem. On one side of the road as we approached the house, there was The Wall which has been built around what it is supposed to become a bus park for Jewish people going to visit Rachel’s Tomb. The road itself, which we had used on many occasions in 2000 and 2001, was blocked with a concrete barrier.

There was a wall with a gateway through it into a large open parking area – the gate which had once been there lay a wreck on the ground. Part of the wall had been demolished. Weeds grew all over the parking area, a sign of lack of attention to it. The building to which we were going looked gaunt, with the exception of one balcony on the first floor (for Americans, the second floor!)

The story of the building is the story of Carmin and her family. A Bethlehem family, they had two sons and a daughter. One son had gone to work in America, and had sent home some money. They had been able to buy some land, close to the main road into Bethlehem from Jerusalem. They had built a restaurant with living accommodation above it, and had developed a prosperous business with people from Jerusalem – Jew and Arab – as well as from Bethlehem, coming to dine. Towards the end of the 1990’s, thinking like many in Bethlehem, that there was some prospect of “peace”, they borrowed money to extend their building and develop it into a hotel. Then came the Intifada, and their dream evaporated. More than that, it turned into a nightmare.

As I have mentioned, their building is close to Rachel’s Tomb. It was across the road from what was initially a modest sized Israeli army “base”, established within the Municipality of Bethlehem. It was 5 floors high, with the top three floors being under construction, and without any windows. In the eyes of the Israeli military, it provided an ideal sniper and observation post from which to overlook Aida Refugee camp, and so the army moved in. They took over the top three floors, ransacked the ground floor restaurant, and declared it and the top of the house to be a “closed military area.” To gain access to the top of the building, they took over the main entrance and the main stairway. To prevent Carmin and any of her family straying into the area they had taken over, they demanded the key of her front door, and forbade any of her family to use it or the stairway. Being sensitive about visitors to the area, they have made it abundantly clear that they do not appreciate visitors, and have from time to time stopped them.


To allay any suspicions that watching soldiers might have about us, Carmin met us at the roadside, and walked with us the few metres to the front of her house. With the main entrance out of bounds, we had to use a make-shift step of some concrete blocks to climb over the low front wall, and step down on to a verandah. To make sure that we did not stray where we were not welcome, the Israeli soldiers had put a roll of razor wire right beside the steps.

We walked across what had been an extension of the building under construction in 2000, and which had never been completed. We were invited to peer into what had been the main dining area of the restaurant – now a shambles with broken glass and destroyed furniture littering the floor. At the rear of the building, we found the staircase to Carmin’s house. It was an unfinished concrete ramp, on to which had been nailed some wooden slats to provide “steps.” This took us up one floor, and although it continued on to the upper floors, the Israeli soldiers had blocked it with more razor wire to discourage any people from trying to go higher up.

From the concrete ramp, Carmin opened a metal grille door on to an unfinished area which led to the back door of her apartment.

We were not really prepared for the “normality” of her home, after the devastation which we had seen. The kitchen units would not have been out of place in any home in Scotland or farther afield. The sitting/living areas where spacious and had once been smartly furnished. However, the last 5 years have somewhat changed them, and they now seem very sad.

Taking tea, we were told some of Carmin’s story. The Israeli army has used the building as a firing post for the past 5 years. While we were with her, on the other side of her front door we could hear the voices and the feet of Israeli soldiers, some going up to their post, and some coming down. It was an eerie experience, but sadly, Carmin hardly seemed to notice the noise, it is so much a part of her daily existence.

She lives in the house with one of her sons. Her husband died in 1999, one of her sons died in 1996. Her daughter is married and lives in Bethlehem.

She has 9 grandchildren who used to live with her – but after some months of the occupation of their house, of the noise of gunfire, of searches of their house, especially at night, the children were taken to stay with other members of the extended family who live in the centre of Bethlehem. They come from time to time to visit their grandmother, but are too frightened to stay with her.

Searches still occur from time to time – particularly when a new unit of the Israeli army takes over duties there. With their own key of her front door, they come in when they want, and order her out of the house while they search it. If her son is there, he is used to “assist” in the search.

Sometimes their searches are “peaceful”. Just after Christmas 2005, one search was carried out where she was beaten by the soldiers and had to go to hospital for treatment. Hearing her screams, the neighbours felt powerless – what could they do against the Israeli soldiers?

One result of the occupation of her house is that she and her family have completely lost their source of income. The restaurant is dead, and it would take a miracle for it to be brought to life again. So, with no income, they have no money to engage lawyers who might take their case to the High Court. Even if it got there, they have little confidence that there would be a positive outcome. Poignantly, it was just part of the conversation, with no particular emphasis, that at times for the children to get bread and tomatoes was something special.

The regular litany from the soldiers is that the building belongs to them, and they want her to leave. She sleeps there, out of defiance of the soldiers, and in determination to hold on to her property. The moment she would leave, she and her family would lose their home.

With no income, she has been unable to pay electricity bills. So, the supply has often been cut off. However, the Municipality has always, up to now, reconnected it. Her water bills still accumulate. Her phone line has been cut by the soldiers, and has been restored. But just the standing charges on the phone are beyond her capacity to pay. The soldiers cut off the pipe that connected an outside gas cylinder to her kitchen – now she has a small gas cylinder hooked up inside her kitchen, which is not the safest arrangement.

Yesterday we received a donation from a family in Scotland with the instruction “to use it where you see best”. It was used today to make it possible for a mobile phone to be bought for Carmin, so that as she sits in her isolation in her beleaguered home, she might be able to be in touch with the outside world a few metres away, and people might be able to get in touch with her.


Before we said good-bye and left Carmin, we said a prayer together. It seemed so little, and yet it is one of the few things that we are actually able to do that is positive.

We left drained by an hour in this situation – what it must be like to cope with it day after day for 5 years, we cannot even begin to imagine.

We left frustrated at being so impotent to do anything other than provide a few shekels for a phone or to pay a bill.

We left angry that the Israeli army is allowed to subject someone to such terror, and no-one is prepared to say or do anything about it.

We left feeling hopeless about the prospect of any change in the situation, reflecting that on Thursday 4th May, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the USA, the Chancellor of Germany, the Deputy Prime Minister of Israel were all guests at a Gala Dinner in Washington to mark the 100th Anniversary of the American Jewish Committee.

Sunday 7th May.

One of the facts of being part of St Andrew’s congregation in Jerusalem is that you never know who will come to attend worship, or how many of them! This Sunday the congregation was 85% Dutch speaking, with a group from Holland, and several individual tourists. After the service, they asked if they could stay in the church and sing a couple of hymns in their own language – sounded much more lively than the hymns that had been chosen for the “regular” service.

After the service, a completely different side of Israeli Jewish society than that portrayed in the first part of this letter was shown. Yael arrived. She is a member of Checkpoint Watch who had met Helen Shehadeh some time ago when Helen had been waiting at Gush Etzion for a Permit, and Yael had been on Checkpoint Watch duty. Yael had approached Helen to ask why she was there, and since then has been of great assistance to Helen in obtaining Permits. It was good to have a chance to meet her, to hear something of the work that she is involved in – the day before she had managed to obtain a permit for a woman to come to the West Bank from Gaza, to be present at the funeral of her father.

The good thing is that people such as Yael exist – and they need support and encouragement. The sad thing is that, at present, the number of those actively involved in working with Palestinians, is rather small.

Stay well

God bless

Joan and Clarence


PS. No letters for the next couple of weeks, as we will be in Scotland for the meeting of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

 

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Circular Letter No 264 May 2006

3rd May

It’s the time of the year here again when cars sprout wings – or more accurately, flags. For the past few days youngsters have been at many intersections where there are traffic lights, selling flags of Israel on a special fitting that can be put on to the windows of cars, encouraging people to show their patriotism and support for the State of Israel. Flags are flying from many homes, and most of the way from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv there are flags on the lamp standards. All over Israel, it is flag time.

But not only is it flag time in Israel, - major road junctions in the West Bank are also festooned with Israeli flags. It is difficult to convey the sort of provocation that the flying of Israeli flags on the West Bank produces. I remember some years ago asking a French friend who had lived through the German occupation of her country, what it had been like. 50 years after the end of the Second World War, and after the end of German Occupation, she still found it too difficult to speak about it. One can imagine German flags flying along the roads of France, and what that must have felt like to the French folk who were under occupation. They would have been statements and symbols of control and power. Similarly, on the West Bank, the ubiquitous presence of Israeli flags is making a statement of control and power. The occupying power can do what it likes.

I wonder how Canadians would react if, at every major intersection on their road network, the flag of the United States was flying for days, and sometimes weeks, to mark July 4th, American Independence Day? I hazard a guess that it would not be all that popular.

Then, there is all the continued media coverage of the fact that Hamas is a terrorist organisation, and does not recognise the State of Israel. What does the flying of the flag of Israel all over the West Bank indicate about the State of Israel’s perception of the West Bank and its people?

Today will be marked in two very different ways. For the citizens of Israel who are Jewish, there is pride in celebrating the 58th anniversary of the birth of their country. For the citizens of Israel who are Arab, and for the Palestinians, today will be marked as Naqba Day – Disaster Day.

Each Independence Day there is a Reception at the home of the President of the State of Israel for the Diplomatic Community, and for the Heads of Churches. As the Minister of St Andrew’s Church Jerusalem is regarded as the Head of the Church of Scotland in Israel, each year I have received an invitation to attend the Reception. The format is traditional, with refreshments, an opportunity to greet the President of Israel and his party, which normally includes the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and two speeches – the first given by the Foreign Minister and the second by the President.

What the speech of the President contained in the years before 2000 I do not know, but each year since then it has dealt with the continuing struggle with the Palestinians.

The speech of the Foreign Minister includes reference to the relationships that exist between Israel and all the countries and organisations represented at the Reception. This year, part of her remarks illustrated the inherent tension that exists within in Israel. She said that Israel was both a democratic and a Jewish state. The population is listed on the Internet (under CIA statistics) as 6,352,117, of whom 80.1% are listed as Jewish with the majority of the remaining 19.9% said to be Arabs. How can Israel construct a State which is Jewish, with all that that entails, while also ensuring full democratic rights to the almost 20% of its citizens who are non-Jewish?

Evening of 3rd May

Having had a meal with the American Presbyterian participants in a conference in Bethlehem, it came time to go home. About 2140 hours, we drove up to the checkpoint, to find that the gate had been closed, and we were confronted by a solid barrier. I got out of the car to have a look and see if there was any way to communicate with the soldiers on the other side of the barrier – none. To sound, or not to sound, a horn? Fortunately, there was a car entering Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and the gate was opened. There was no hassle in our passing the checkpoint – but just the sheer physical sight of the prison gate being closed was something of a shock to the system.

The welcome at the Residence of the President of Israel in the afternoon. The shut gate of the Wall at the entrance/exit of Bethlehem in the evening. Two of the many faces of Israel.

I write, from time to time, about my fear as to what the Occupation is doing to the character and morality of the Jewish people. Two reports that have come my way in the past couple of days illustrate my concerns.

They come from the Mandela Institute for Human Rights. www.mandela-palestine.org

Report 1, received on 30th April, contains the following passage:

“Mandela Institute visited a number of sick male and female prisoners held in Talmond and Al Ramleh prison hospital. Prisoner Sbaih is expected to deliver her first baby behind bars.

The female prisoners at Talmond Prison described their detention conditions as severely miserable. Women prisoners stated that in addition to daily insults they suffer from made by the Israeli prison authorities, they are still subjected to “humiliating” strip searches. In addition women prisoners stated that they are still deprived of hugging their children above the age of six during visitation.

Prisoner Samar Sbaih, who is expected to deliver her first baby Sunday 30 April at the Mee’ir hospital in Kfar Saba, described the way she was treated when admitted to the afore mentioned hospital as blatant violation of all humanitarian norms. Sbaih stated that she was subjected to the humiliating strip search while hand and leg cuffed in the presence of three guards. In addition, prisoner Sbaih stated that she went through medical tests while handcuffed. Prisoner Sbaih stated that she was informed that she will deliver her baby through a caesarean procedure. In addition, Sbaih stated that she was also strip searched on her way back from the hospital to Talmond prison. Prisoner Sbaih said “I wish I was able to deliver like all other mothers in the presence of my relatives by my side, yet, God’s will is above us all; I will go through labor pains and the psychological suffering for the sake of my baby whom I will name “Baraa (which means Innocence)”. I am concerned over his well being since he will have to live in a misty and ill ventilated cell full of insects lacking any of the basic needs of a new born.”

Mandela Institute has submitted a request through Advocate Jonathan Kuttab’s office to the head of the Israeli prison authority to allow the mother of prisoner Sbaih or her administratively detained – without charges - husband at Ktzeot prison to be by his wife’s side during delivery. Another urgent request has also been logged at the Israeli High Court of Justice to untie prisoner Sbaih during delivery and to allow her husband or her mother to be by her side at the hospital.”

Report 2, received on 1st May, continues the story.

From: Mandela Institute for Human Rights.

In the presence of Lawyer Buthayna Duqmaq Prisoner Samar Sbaih delivers her baby “prisoner” Baraa.

For Immediate Release 30 April 2006

Lawyer Duqmaq stated “what I saw at the hospital today prompts me to remind the international community and particularly the international human rights groups of the dire need to intervene immediately and place pressure on the Israeli government to put an end to its suppressive practices against our male and female prisoners.” Lawyer Duqmaq of Mandela Institute believes that it is the right of female Palestinian prisoners to give birth like all other mothers and she also believes that it is a shame on the world community who claims to be advocating for democratic practices to allow a situation whereby a mother is made to give birth while leg and handcuffed!!!

Even though the Israeli guards escorting prisoner Sbaih prevented Lawyer Duqmaq from entering the delivery room, Lawyer Duqmaq was able to talk to Sbaih in the waiting area just before she was admitted into the delivery room. Lawyer Duqmaq described Prisoner Sbaih as enjoying high morale even though she was aware beforehand that she will deliver through a caesarean operation. Sbaih extended her greetings to all Palestinian mothers and to all those who stood by her side during the difficult moments of delivery. Sbaih had hoped that she would at least be untied during delivery as she was promised by the Talmund Prison Administration.

It is worth reporting that prisoner Sbaih is married to her cousin Rasmi Sbaih who has been under administrative detention since 25 June 2005. Prisoner Sbaih had arrived from Jabalia camp in the Gaza strip to join her husband in Tulkarem after six years of engagement. Prisoner Sbaih is a graduate of the Islamic University in Gaza and holds a Diploma in Sharia (Religious Law). She was arrested on 29 September 2005 while in her third month of pregnancy. One day following her arrest, her husband Rasmi was placed under administrative detention at the Ketziot prison in Negev.

The treatment of the pregnant woman at the Beit Iba checkpoint which was reported in Letter No 263 and the treatment of the prisoner reported by the Mandela Institute for Human Rights are choices made by the State of Israel. Are they really in harmony with the ethics of Judaism, and the ideals of the State which today celebrates its Independence?

But then, what about similar things that are happening in other parts of the world – people held in detention in the UK, in the USA, and the treatment of prisoners in Abu Graib?

The village of Towani, south of Hebron, is tiny – a cluster of a few dwellings on the side of a hill. Facing it, to the north, is the Settlement of Maon. In Towani there is a Primary School which is attended by children from other villages as well as Towani. Some who come from other villages have to walk for something like 45 minutes to get there. Sadly, for some time they have had to have police or army protection against the Settlers, who routinely harass them on their way to school. Members of the Christian Peacemaker Team organisation now live in the village, as do members of an Italian Peace Organisation, and one of their daily tasks is to escort the children on the final part of their journey to school.

Some of the police and soldiers are very sympathetic to the children, some are less so. But such is the mind-set of the Settlers that the police and soldiers are also subject to harassment. Here, too, is one of the dilemmas within Israeli society. What sort of response should police and soldiers use against Israeli citizens who harass them and throw stones at them? What sort of response should be used against Palestinians who throw stones? Should the responses be the same? Are they in fact the same, or is there one rule for Settlers and one rule for Palestinians?

In the Internet version of Haaretz, 6th May (being Saturday, the paper is not published in printed version) there is the headline: “IDF says killed Palestinian youth who hurled firebomb in Nablus.” The report contains the following two sentences: “Israel Defence Forces soldiers operating in Nablus shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian youth who they claim was attempting to hurl a Molotov cocktail in their direction, Israel Radio reported before dawn Saturday. … The Palestinian, 19, was shot and killed when a group of protesters threw stones at soldiers after the arrest, witnesses said.”

Congregation news: Last Sunday we had about 100 visitors at our morning service. Quite a difference from the days when visitors were never seen at all.

Stay well

God bless

Joan and Clarence


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An extra Letter.

Circular Letter No 263 2nd May 2006

An Afternoon in Jayyous – or maybe a Pastoral Visit.

Over the past few years, Joan and I have got to know some of the people in the village of Jayyous. It is close to Qalqilya, in the northern part of the West Bank. There are perhaps 500 families in the village, and two of the people who have become good friends are Abdul Latif and his wife Lana. Abdul Latif is a Hydrologist. Lana is a secondary school teacher. For some years Abdul Latif was one of the leaders of the Welfare Society which ran the Kindergarten, and so we had quite a bit to do with him as often people gave us donations or gifts to support the work of the Kindergarten. Last year, he came to the end of his time on the Management Committee. Through them, we have got to know some of the other people in the village, and from time to time been able to offer some assistance. It was through them that we were able to assist Mufidi to obtain new olive trees to replace the ones that the Israeli army had uprooted when they were building the Fence close to the village. Through them, some friends from France are supporting a young woman from the village who has now started her University education.

They have been generous in welcoming us to their home, and sharing some of their thoughts and emotions. One of the most poignant meetings I had with Abdul Latif was when we met each other in the Muqata in Ramallah on the day of the funeral of President Arafat. In the middle of the thousands of people we suddenly met each other. There were no words that needed to be spoken – an embrace said it all, and then we went on our separate ways.

As part of the process of saying good bye to places and people, we were invited to their home in Jayyous on 29th April. The food was delicious and the atmosphere of sitting with a family was very special. However there was also a sadness in the air – nothing to do with the fact that we will be leaving this part of the world at the end of June, but rather a sadness with what they are experiencing at this particular time. During the meal they shared with us some of their experiences and feelings, which we now share with you.

With the decision of Western governments not to work with the elected government of the Palestinian people, and to discontinue funding its work, it has meant that teachers such as Lana have not now had their salaries for March. They usually are paid at the end of each month, which in practice often means the middle of the following month – March’s salary being expected by mid-April. However, nothing has come this month. They survive as Abdul Latif is employed by a NGO, and so has been paid. However, colleagues of Lana are beginning to wonder what to do just to meet the basic cost of living.

Repeatedly Abdul Latif has spoken of the effect on his society of the pressure of not being able to travel in the West Bank, and not being able to find work. There is now more aggression and violence in their society, and recently in a couple of villages there have been gun fights between different families. They are really concerned at how this will all work out. Such is the control that is being exercised over the people of the West bank, that to go to Ramallah, which is the “capital” of the West Bank, they now require permits.

The night before we visited them, the Israeli army had come into the village and there was a lot of shooting. They did not know of any villagers shooting – just the Israeli army as a way of intimidating the people of the village.

Between their village and the next one – Azzoun – the Azzoun Municipality had started to construct a Children’s Playground. It is the only such playground in the area and is not near any Israeli installation. In the first part swings and slides were constructed for the children to play on – and in the second part work was under way to construct a swimming pool. With school holidays coming at the beginning of June, kids in the area were excited at the prospect of having a swimming pool.

The Noticeboard at the entrance to the Playground reads :

Emergency Response Programme. Psychological Response for Traumatised Children and Emergency Employment Generation through the establishment of recreation facilities for families and children in the West Bank and Gaza.

Funded by the Government of Italy. Implemented by UNDP - Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. Contractor – Azzoun Municipality.

Then a few days ago the Israeli army turned up with its bulldozers and demolished all the works around the swimming pool, the reason being that the Municipality did not have a permit to carry out this construction.

What makes this even harder to swallow is the fact that a few kilometres down the road, in a Settlement (built on the land of Azzoun village) there are all sorts of recreational facilities. Although illegal because they are built in a Settlement, no one demolishes them.

In his work as a Hydrologist, Abdul Latif has to oversee maintenance of wells in the area. One place, on the “wrong” side of the Wall required work done on pipes and a pump. The Israeli army has told those who have permits to go to do the work that the area is now closed and they cannot have access. If they try to gain access, they may well lose all the Permits to go to other parts of their working area.

As a teacher, Lana needs to do a certain amount of photo-copying, and for this paper is required. There is practically no A4 paper available on the West Bank, as the Ministry of Education has no funds to purchase it. There is said to be none at all in Gaza.

Lana said that often Abdul Latif has come home from work and has had no inclination to get involved with anything – family, community, or food. One of the things that she has tried to do is to get him to talk about what has happened, or to get him to write it all down. Below is one such story that he wrote a couple of days ago.

“Two days ago on Beit Iba Check Point.”

The way to Nablus is a nightmare for all the people who go there. Since the beginning of the Second Intifada, I have been going to Nablus three or four times a week. In the first three years of the Intifada, I had to explore all the dirt roads through the mountains to reach my work. On the way to Nablus, I have seen people die, or people killed by the Israeli soldiers; I have seen women giving birth and children crying because they were frightened by the Israeli soldiers. The roads were scary and risky, if not because of the shooting of the soldiers, then because they were steep and very rough. Often when the soldiers discovered these “dirt” roads, they came with bulldozers and closed them. So we had to find alternative routes. This situation has applied to thousands of people who have to travel daily to Nablus either for their work like me, or as students on their way to Al-Najah University, or trying to get to hospital, or needing to do shopping. Countless times we have had to run to escape from the soldiers, and often have had to turn back home before reaching Nablus.

For the past three years, the soldiers have changed the system and created three main checkpoints for people going into Nablus, and one of them is Beit Iba. Three years of passing this checkpoint has meant a tremendous waste of time and a rich experience of humiliation and suffering. I’m sure that everyone who has passed this checkpoint has hundreds of stories of bad treatment and chastised oppression. In the first three years of the Intifada, we physically suffered from the long distances that we had to walk on foot, or from the risky and scary roads. However, for the last three years we have had to pass the checkpoints, which I believe were created by the Israeli soldiers to destroy us Palestinian people psychologically. Everyday we have to face at least 2 “flying” checkpoints and to wait at them. Then we get to Beit Iba, the permanent checkpoint. For me to reach Nablus going straight without checkpoints would be about 20 minutes. But now, with the checkpoints, it takes on average two and a half hours.

I could say much more, but let me go to the title.

Two days ago I left my work in Nablus at 3.00 p.m. I reached Beit Iba checkpoint at 3.20 p.m. As was usual, there were two lines, one for young males and the other for women and elderly people (elderly is a flexible term; one day it can mean a doctor, or a disabled person or someone above 40 or 50 years of age. The next day, it is different according to the mood of the soldier with no respect for age or profession or anything else.) I found myself standing in a long line of ladies and elderly (!), and it took me around 1 ½ hours to reach the two soldiers who were checking this line. (one soldier checks papers, while the other keeps his gun raised and pointing at us Palestinians).

Then I noticed a lady who was pregnant and looked as if she was in the last month of her pregnancy. She was carrying another kid 2 – 3 years old who was sleeping in her arms. She came directly to the soldiers from a narrow passage specially for people entering Nablus. She was very tired and exhausted, and asked the soldier: “Please let me pass, I have been waiting for along time in the line and you can see I’m so tired. Here is my ID card.” The soldier shouted at her to go back, that there was no way for her to go through. Then another old man came through the same way asking for similar help. The soldier started to talk with the old man. Then I said to the lady: “Come beside me. I will talk to him.” The soldier finished with the old man and pushed him back into the line. He shouted at the lady; “I told you to go back.”
Then I said to him: “Look, I told her to come beside me, and don’t you see that she may be 9 months pregnant and carrying another kid also? Look, she will fall down at any moment, like that other woman a few minutes ago.” The soldier said to me” “Give me your ID card.” I thought that he wanted to check me, but then I realised that he wanted to teach me a lesson on how to listen and obey the orders and decisions. He said: “I am the commander here and the one who decides – not you.” I told him that it was okay, and I was asking him to help the lady. He said: “You go back to the young people’s line, for you are 45, not 50 (I think he is not good at mathematics, because I am 40). I said to him: “Today you let people who are 45 through also. I think you want to punish me.”

(The soldier or commander speaks good English.) He said: “I’m the commander who decides. (I think he is around 22 – 23 years old.) Take your ID card or I will keep it.” I took the ID card, and I said to him: Still I do not know what mistake I made. I was thinking of the woman beside me and I was trying to help her.” Then he said: “She will go back also.” I started to go back, but then I said to him: “Remember one day you were in your mother’s womb or sleeping in her arms. Help your mother.” Then I walked back to the end of the line, and when I turned round, I saw the lady following me, crying, exhausted and desperate.

I don’t know the lady, and I couldn’t do anything for her. All I know is that she is a mother and pregnant, and I saw her like any mother in this world. I felt sorry for this lady, and for the mother of the soldier also. Then I had to start waiting in the young people’s lines through the rotating gates. Finally, I reached Jayyous at 7.30 p.m., back to my home full of sadness, and waiting for tomorrow to start again a new tormenting travel.

Abdul Latif Khalid. 28th April 2006.”

Part of the story of two of our friends.

Joan and Clarence
 

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Circular Letter No 262 29th April 2006

Clearing out a house provides endless opportunities to sit and read those books and papers which somehow were set down when they arrived and never picked up again.

One such pamphlet which I found this week is entitled Jews, Israel and Peace in the Palestinian Authority Textbooks – the new textbooks for Grades 4 and 9. It has been produced by the Centre for Monitoring the impact of Peace (CMIP), and is dated October 2004. Chapter 2 of this particular issue is entitled : Israel, and deals with the recognition, or non-recognition, of Israel by Palestine. P 24 shows 3 maps of Israel and Palestine, illustrating the different proposed Partitions of 1937, 1947, and what happened after the War of Independence, or the Tragedy, depending on your point of view. There is then the following sentence, under the heading: Non-Recognition of Israel. “One of the following two maps, just one page away from the map showing the “Jewish State” presents the same territory under the title “Usurped areas.” P 29 , Section D is headed: “Palestine covers the whole country: Israel is missing from the maps.”

Implicit in the presentation is a censuring of Palestine and the teaching that is offered to Palestinians, which seems to be denying the existence of Israel, at least as far as maps go.

CMIP says of itself, on the back cover of the pamphlet, that “its main work consists of examining the content of school textbooks used in the Middle East, to determine whether children are being taught to accept and recognise the right of the other to exist. Curricula, schoolbooks for children and handbooks for teachers have been chosen because they are an indication that reveals the views and values societies want to instil in their youth.”

I wonder what the CMIP would say if it were to visit the Web page of Haaretz English Edition, and click on the weather forecast. There it would find a map which does not include any demarcation of the West Bank. What is Haaretz saying to its readers?

Thursday 27th April.

Someone remarked how seldom people mention “good news” and I am one of the culprits.

So – at the end of last week, I was at Al Shurooq School taking something to Helen Shehadeh. While sitting in her office, the fax machine started up, and a fax arrived. Not unnaturally, Helen asked if I could read it to her – and it was one of those rare moments of joy, happiness, achievement – call it what you will. It was from a “donor agency” saying that out of 1,500 projects which had submitted applications, about 150 had been chosen, and of those 150, the project to construct a new school for Al Shurooq had been selected. The grant is for the first phase of construction, so work will have to be done to find support to build the second phase – but for a few brief moments, there was a great sense of the miraculous.

This afternoon I was back at Al Shurooq, with a cheque for a donation which someone had forwarded to the school through me. While there, the phone rang. Helen spoke animatedly to the person who had called – and when she came back, she said that a permit would be issued, but not until Sunday. Discussion had followed, and the caller agreed to get in touch again with the Israeli army. A few minutes later, she called back, and said that the permit would be ready in a few minutes. Fortunately I was there – as the office closed in about 30 minutes, and it was 10 kms away. I got there in time, stood waiting, and within about 20 minutes, the permit appeared and I was able to take it back to Helen. All told, my part had taken an hour – had I been a Palestinian there is no saying how long it would have taken. And so, for the next three months, Helen will be able to get to church. The permit will have to be renewed in July. What a crazy way to run things – the unreal sense of excitement and achievement to receive a permit to get to church in Jerusalem.


One of the significant features of this little story is that much of the contact work was done by an Israeli Jewish woman. One of the things that I have learned over the years here is how small the Israeli “Peace Movement” really is, but yet how important is its role. It is one group of people who consciously make the effort to work with and on behalf of Palestinians – for two reasons. The one is for justice for Palestinians and to demonstrate their opposition to the policies of the governments of their country. The other is because they see their own Jewish society being changed into a society that is more aggressive, and less interested in having any relations with their neighbours.


Visitors to Jerusalem often comment on the colour of the city – all new buildings have to be covered in Jerusalem stone – a white limestone. It gives a very attractive appearance to the swathes of new housing developments which one sees on the approaches to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. This afternoon, while standing at the gate of the Israeli army post where permit applications are processed, I looked around and although I was well into the West Bank, - 15 kms from Jerusalem – I could not see a single sign of any Palestinian presence at all. I could see the mushrooming housing development on the other side of the valley – pretty little houses covered in white stone. I could see the chicken houses and other farm buildings belonging to the Settlements around. I could see the orchards of fruit trees that had been planted. All of it major colonisation – and all of it illegal. Yet this is the reality of what is happening all around Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

That one achievement was in stark contrast to the call which I had made immediately before going to see Helen. Sitting in the office of the Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, I had heard a litany of woe. He had arranged a conference for University students last week in Jericho. But although all the participants were from the West Bank, and although Jericho is within the West Bank, and although no travel into Israel would have taken place, permits for the people to take part in the conference were refused. It is said that the only people who can get permits to enter Jericho at the moment are people with a Jericho ID, or those who are passing through Jericho on their way to Jordan. It is also said that this is part of the Israeli Government’s plan to annexe the Jordon Valley and retain control of the land and its resources.

He had also made application to go with members of his congregation for a trip to Nazareth and the Galilee. Frequently the Israeli Government issues permits to Christian people at the time of major Christian festivals, to enable them to visit significant sites in Israel. This year, during the Easter celebrations, the reports are that very few permits were issued at all – just before I had left for Bethlehem, I had heard about another church group from Ramallah being refused permits to go to Nazareth for services at Easter time. Members of the Lutheran congregation in Bethlehem were granted one-day permits to go to Jerusalem – not a 2 day permit to go to Galilee.

The reason that I was able to see the pastor at all was that he had been refused a permit to travel through Ben Gurion Airport to go to a conference in Germany. The Israeli army office had kept delaying and delaying giving him an answer, and finally when it was too late to go to Amman and travel that way, he was told that his application had been refused.

So, as you can imagine, he was not a particularly happy man.

Just for information, for someone to travel to Scotland from Bethlehem, for instance, will normally mean:

a) getting permission to get to Jericho, and from Jericho to the Allenby Bridge between Israel and Jordan;

b) making the journey, which will take most of a day to cover the 90 kms;

c) spending a night, or part of a night, in Amman, as most of the flights to Europe leave after 0330 hours – as they do from Ben Gurion airport;

d) repeating the process in reverse when returning to Bethlehem.

All told, it adds up to 4 extra days on to a trip, plus up to $250 of extra costs. So, for someone to attend a 3 –day meeting in Edinburgh will take a week, and cost not only the air ticket, but also all the extra costs of travel to and from Amman.

For the pastor, one item of good news is that there will be a conference in the next few days with approximately 100 Christian folk coming from the USA, and holding their conference in Bethlehem. Not only will that bring some money into the economy, but it will also give morale a much needed boost. Any chance of 25 Scots doing something similar next Spring – 3 days in Bethlehem, 3 days in Jerusalem, 3 days in Galilee, and even a few days in Sinai?

One of the decisions of “western” governments has been to cut off financial support for the programmes of the Palestinian Authority, and also to reduce or cut off financial support for organisations working with the Palestinian Authority. This is a response to the election of the Hamas Government in Palestine, which is classified as a “terrorist” organisation. During my conversation with Helen Shehadeh, she said that two of her staff, who are paid by the Palestinian Authority, have not had their pay for March as yet. It is when you come face to face with people whom you know, and whose work is very definitely helping others, such as the children who are blind, and when you realise that they have not been paid – that the impact of these “security” and “political” decisions becomes real. Fortunately, I was able to offer some assistance, so that the teachers would have some money, and as and when they are paid, they can refund the “loan.”


There is much talk of the fact that Hamas does not recognise the State of Israel. One of the pre-conditions for any resumption of aid is that it does recognise Israel, and pressure must be exerted on Hamas to do this.

Listening to people who are not necessarily Hamas members or even Hamas supporters, they again and again make the point that Mr Arafat did recognise the State of Israel, and all that they saw following this recognition was an increase in Settlements, in road building, and in taking over land. In their eyes, recognition produced no positive results at all.

One of the political parties here in Israel is called Yisrael Beiteinu, which won 11 seats in the Knesset in the recent elections. As I think I mentioned recently, it is a party largely, but not exclusively, identified with the Russian community. Its leader is Avigdor Lieberman. The Leader Column in Haaretz, 27th April, P5, starts as follows: “Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party propose stripping a significant proportion of Israeli Arabs of their citizenship as part of a territorial exchange agreement with the Palestinian Authority. This unacceptable position, even if it will not become part of the new government’s platform, contributes to the deligitimisation of Israel’s Arab citizens. The fact that Lieberman is thought of as a legitimate partner in the government while the Arab parties have been rejected out of hand, is a mark of disgrace for Israel’s political culture.” From Wikipedia on the Internet comes the following : “The (Yisrael Beiteinu) party came to attention in 2005 by proposing the Liberman Plan, an alternative to the Gaza Withdrawal plan that would see large blocs of land in pre-1967 Israel bordering the West Bank and Gaza populated by Arabs transferred to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for recognition of Israeli sovereignty in the larger settlements including Gush Katif which was evacuated by the withdrawal. The areas that were to be transferred to the PA included the "triangle" in central Israel of Tayibe, Tira, and Umm al-Fahm. Although the plan was condemned by most members in the Knesset as racist, it broke with a long tradition on the Israeli far right that saw transfer of minority populations between states as the only solution to deal with a perceived threat of disloyalty by Arab Israelis to the idea of a state of Jewish refuge in the Middle East. It was also the first proposal for the transfer of pre-1967 lands to the PA in exchange for peace. The Liberman plan also caused a stir among Israeli Arabs, many of whom identify with the Palestinians as compatriots, yet at the same time call for equal status in Israel as citizens, what Yisrael Beiteinu states is a trojan horse for Israel of citizens with dual loyalty and the potential for radicalization by Hamas and other militant elements on the Palestinian side.”

Should Yisrael Beiteinu become part of the Coalition Government, would that mean aid to Israel would be suspended until the Government of Israel recognised the rights of its own citizens?

Stay well. God bless

Joan and Clarence
 

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Circular Letter No 261 22nd April 2006

While both the flesh and the spirit are willing, here goes with the third in the Easter Trilogy.
 

Flashbacks
 

Monday 17th April.

We were sitting in a home on the West Bank talking with a young woman when news came in of the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Naturally our conversation turned to that. We tried to explain as best we could our opposition to such bombings, - on a variety of grounds. We believe that they are morally wrong; we believe that they harm, rather than help, the cause of the Palestinians in their relations with the Israeli Jewish community, and we are convinced that they damage the Palestinian cause in the wider political world. It was interesting to hear the views of our hostess. A young, articulate and devout woman, she asked us what she and her people were expected to do in the face of the Israeli armies activities in her country. She is absolutely convinced that suicide bombings only gave Israel the excuse to build the Wall – it had been planned for a long time, and had little to do with security and more to do with the desire of the Israeli government to get more land. Folding her arms across her chest, she asked if that was what she and her people were expected to do in the face of the fact that the Israeli army kills her people – men, women and children – with impunity. When for her to travel in her own land, to visit her own families, requires her to pass through checkpoint after checkpoint, sometimes being allowed to pass and on other occasions being sent back – her sense of anger and impotence is all to easy to understand. What shall we do, she asks?

Wednesday 19th April.

Our Japanese friend Toshiko Mizumoto, who had been very involved with Sunbula when she lived here, was back in Jerusalem. We took her to visit the women of Idna, whom she had started many years ago on their way to making and selling Embroidery. She has been in regular touch with th