in my shoes

I had so many pictures of Israel that never made it into a blog, so I’ve included them here.  Hope you enjoy!  Feel free to write if you’d like to know the story that goes with the picture.

One of the most iconic things that unites most of Israel and the international Jewish community is the observance of Shabbat.  Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday night and finishes at sundown on Saturday night.  Of all the things that I will take away from Israel, this tradition, or some evolution of it may be the most likely to make it into my life’s routines.  It is a day to celebrate family and life through food, stories, song, discussion and rest.

A traditional Shabbat dinner looks a bit like this:

The first challa bread I ever wove! I was so proud!

Before sunset, everybody gets dressed up and gathers in a circle.  They share some sort of thanks and blessings for their individual weeks, and they light candles that will burn throughout the night.  They sing a series of songs loudly . . . and with enough spirit to inspire dancing in some circles.

After singing, somebody reads a passage from the Torah in Hebrew.  Another says a prayer that blesses the challa bread.  The challa bread is sprinkled with salt and broken, and everybody begins to enjoy the first course of their meal.  Usually the first course consists of challa bread, hummus, tehina, and different types of salads.  Somebody blesses the wine and everybody clanks their glasses before drinking.

As people finish their first course, there is a pause in eating long enough to sing some more.  After singing a few more songs, the second course is served; usually baked chicken with several vegetable accompaniments.  Everybody eats and talks merrily.

Then, somebody volunteers to discuss a topic pertaining to the Torah and their life.  This could lead to more discussion, or it may just be appreciated for what it is.  After discussion, more singing occurs along with more pouring of wine.

Dessert is served.  Another type of focused discussion occurs.  This could be a Torah reading, a personal story or a facilitated discussion with questions.

After people are fully fat and happy, another song or two is sung and then everybody clears the dishes into the kitchen to be cleaned after Shabbat (no dishes that night!).

Shabbat dinner was one of my favorite traditions I experienced in Israel.  Thank you so much to all of my hosts for being so gracious!

Rules of Shabbat:

As I wrote in a previous blog, Jewish customs are all filled with rules — 613 to be exact.  Many of them govern Shabbat, a day of rest.  Because it is a day of rest, anything that requires you or others to work on this day are prohibited.  The following are things that you can and cannot do on Shabbat.

On Shabbat, thou shall not . . .

• Ask others to work for you.  The entire country of Israel seems as if it is closed on Shabbat because of this.  Even if somebody does not observe Shabbat, their boss is not allowed to request their services in the store on Shabbat, so the store will remain closed.
• Turn anything on or off.  Turning lights and appliances on and off requires the appliance to work.  You may, however, keep an appliance on that was already turned on.  Therefore, people will keep their bathroom lights, hot plates, and air conditioners on continuously for the entire Shabbat.
• Cook or clean.  All cooking and cleaning for Friday night and Saturday must be done prior to Friday night.  Food may be kept warm on hot plates or in an oven that stays on at a very low temperature but is not turned on or off.
• Write, paint or build.  These all require work and generally take you away from family.
• Walk more than a certain number of steps.  Walking requires work.  You should be resting!

Thou shall . . .

• spend time with family and friends.
• read and discuss the Torah (or other family-oriented stories).
• play board games.
• eat and drink a lot.
• sleep a lot.

At sunset on Saturday, another song is sung, another blessing is said and candles are lit again marking the end of Shabbat.  Beautiful tradition!

Part V of V:  Other interesting facts about the conflict . . .

• Palestine is accepted as part of the Arab League and supported by its Arab neighbors.  The Arab world has made a deal with Pepsi corporation to only accept and sell Pepsi products if it does not trade with Israel.  Therefore, you cannot find Pepsi or its products in Israel.
• There are many tunnels built from Egypt to Gaza that transport products into the country bypassing Israeli security.  Through these tunnels, Gaza residents can access any product that they need, but there is a large tax on the products imposed by Hamas.
• There are several projectiles launched across the Golan Heights and Gaza borders into Israel weekly.  In fact, five had been launched on the day of one of the peace conferences I was at.  The news here does not call them rockets, so I am not sure how much damage they can do.
• There are many stories that I heard from Palestinians about harassment and abuse by Israeli soldiers.  For example, a man was killed by an Israeli soldier after he verbally defended his sister who was being accused of something.  This type of story, one that is vague and impersonal is common, but I never saw any aggressive physical harassment.
• The idea of symmetry, or an eye for an eye, is prominent in both countries, but the facts about how symmetrical things actually are, are miscommunicated and misunderstood.  In 2009 for instance, there were 6 Israelis killed during a Palestinian-Israeli conflict, while there were 600 Palestinians killed.  I’d say the death rate is asymmetrical.
• Many Jewish settlers move to settlements in the West Bank as smart financial decisions rather than political or religious motivations.  Some even believe that they are making steps towards peace by choosing to live happily among Arabs.
• There are many individuals, partnerships, business ventures and artistic ventures that are trying to mend the wounds between Israelis and Palestinians and build bridges to become peaceful neighbors.  The following video is a wonderful example.

Part IV of V:  What can be done?

I was walking through the Bethlehem checkpoint on the way back to Jerusalem and spoke with an Irish priest who works for a peace activism non-profit on the Bethlehem side of the border.  I asked him whether he thought peace was really possible.  He said, “Well, I think there has been a lack of education, which our organization is working on.”  I retorted, “Don’t you mean miseducation?”

I volunteered at the Israeli-Palestinian Center for Research and Information for only one week while in Israel, where I gained a tremendous amount of data and perspective.  I attended two conferences over two weekends:  one was for regular people from both sides of the border who wanted to interact with other peace believers and learn more about the conflict, the other was a creative think-tank where big-wigs from peace activism organizations, the military, the press, and universities brainstormed political steps for  forward progress.

At this moment, the best solution is called the two-state solution.  It would create two completely separate countries where the borders are clear and agreed upon, and the countries govern themselves independently and fully.

One of the most striking statistics I received was about misconceptions.

25% of Palestinians believe that Israelis believe in the two-state solution.

30% of Israelis believe that Palestinians believe in the two-state solution.

At the normal, average person level, the people who I spoke with on both sides of the border believe that they have to be defensive because the other side hates them, wants to demolish them and their religion, and that they would be friends if the other side would let them.  The miseducation of Israelis and Palestinians is a major problem and there are several organizations that have a mission to re-humanize the perspectives of both cultures.  The organizations do cultural education lessons with kids from both sides to make Jewish people or Muslim people respectively less monstrous.  Some of these organizations also gather families from both sides of the border for fun days where kids play together and parents break bread together, again helping to create more humane images of both cultures.  There are also some media sources that are trying to get rid of fear-based media because fear-based media has been pushing both cultures farther to the right creating ultra-orthodox Jews and ultra-conservative Muslims; they want to promote more positive and humane messages of one another’s cultures.

Graffiti on the Israeli-Palestinian boundary wall. It is currently on Palestinian land leaving a large buffer zone on the Israeli-side of the wall.

On the political level, it is more complex.  I’ll try to be brief.  First of all, the two state solution requires Israel to fully agree upon borders that are fair and equitable.  Since 1948, they have changed the borders that were originally agreed upon, and Jewish settlers have “stolen” land that was supposed to belong to Palestinians, reducing Palestine’s land mass substantially.  Palestine wants some of this land back, and wants to make sure that Israel gives them some of the forest and water along with some of the desert (fair trade).  The Jewish settlers who have made their homes within the new borders of Palestine will have a choice to move to Israel or become legal residents of Palestine.  Both countries will have to agree to enforce human rights so that prejudices within their countries do not create harassment.  Muslims and Jews should be able to reside peacefully in either country.

Secondly, the Palestinian state will need to be able to connect Gaza and the West Bank via a road, a tunnel or a bridge through Israeli land so that there is free movement through the country.

Thirdly, Palestine must be acknowledged as an Islamic state of the Arab League (which it already is) and Israel must be acknowledged as a Jewish state.

Fourthly, Jerusalem, a homeland for Jews, Muslims and Christians, would be deemed an international self-governing entity like the Vatican City in Italy.

The peace talks between the nations leaders have not been very successful for awhile, so most political leaders believe that the negotiation will have to be done via a third party, namely the USA.  Israelis do not trust Europe because of its past anti-Semitic statements and stances.  They know that President Obama will not likely get involved until after mid-term elections in November because he would not want to risk any Democratic constituent’s re-election.  Therefore, the Israeli and Palestinian participants in the think-tank I attended want and expect him to get involved at the end of 2010, just after the elections.  They believe that Obama is their only hope for the two-state solution to come to fruition, and if it does not come to fruition Israel and Palestine will likely be attacked and occupied by Syria or Iran.

Until the end of 2010, Palestinians can do a lot to show the world that they want to govern themselves.  Currently, one of the biggest frustrations among Palestinians is the harassment and humiliation when they have to travel through multiple checkpoints everyday on their way to and from work.  These checkpoints are mostly within the Palestinian territories.  There is not a single checkpoint manned by Palestinian soldiers checking the Jewish settlers or international visitors.  Palestinians can monitor their territory, which as a side note, would increase the number of jobs available.

Another method of showing the world and Israel that they want to govern their own country is by boycotting Israeli trade in the West Bank (it gets more complicated in Gaza where they need some Israeli products to survive).  Many Palestinian villages have boycotted products that come from the Jewish settlements; they could extend this boycott to all Israeli products (especially to reciprocate that many Palestinian products are not allowed into Israel).

If there is peace in Israel and Palestine’s future, we will likely see progress by the end of 2010.

Part III of V:  The Gazan Perspective

Gaza is a twenty-five mile strip of land that holds 1.5 million people, some of whom moved there in 1948, many of whom were born there.  Because of its lack of security, Israel has put blockades on the goods that enter and exit along with the people.  Most people who live there have never left.  I was lucky enough to meet a man who expressed his gratitude toward IPCRI, the organization that I was volunteering with, for allowing him the opportunity to see past the Gaza border.  This man was 32 years old and had stayed up all night long the night before in disbelief.  He did not believe he would ever be able to cross this border.  He was so grateful to come to the Peace Education Conference we were hosting that he was in tears.

Israelis and Palestinians working together at IPCRI's Peace Education Conference in June 2010.

I am not sure how bad the situation really is in Gaza.  According to some, the media is blowing things way out of proportion and they have everything they need.  To some extent, this is true because of the trading tunnels to Egypt that I spoke of in a previous blog.  While I was in Israel, the amount of food and supplies that Israel provided to Gaza residents increased dramatically.  Some say that the amount of aid that is given should be enough, but it is horded by corrupt leaders leaving many still hungry and without necessary supplies.  Others say that the Israeli government wants to keep the Gazans weak, starving and stupid so that they cannot attack or defend themselves.  After my time in Israel, I think all of these theories play together and have a grain of truth.

Figuring out a way for residents of Gaza to have freedom to move outside of the small strip of land, to access clean water, healthy food, toys and sewage always is an extremely important part of a peaceful future.  According to Israelis, it will not happen though until projectiles stop being shot from Gaza into Israel and until there is a stable government that respects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

Part II of V:  The Palestinian Perspective

Just as a brief history lesson, Jewish people inhabited this area from 3000 BC until the time of Christ, at which point they scattered around the world during the Diaspora movement.  From the time of Christ until 1948, the land was inhabited majorly by Arabs.  There were Bedouin clans who migrated through nomadic villages as well as Palestinians who lived in established towns and cities with mosques, shops, farms and all of the other parts of life that create a sedentary community.  Prior to 1948, the country that is now called Israel, was called Palestine, but it never retained governmental control of itself.  It was controlled by the British, Jordanians, Turks and the Romans.  In 1948, the British gave the Jewish people a land to call their own, Israel.  In this agreement, clear borders were drawn for Palestine which are much larger but roughly in the same areas as current day Palestine.  The borders have moved several times exchanging a few miles of land with Egypt and Jordan and from Palestine to Israel.

Me overlooking an Arab town in Palestine that has grown dramatically in the past five years.

During the British occupation, and the wars that followed, many Palestinians fled to surrounding countries (especially Syria, Lebanon and Jordan).  Others sought refuge in the Palestinian territories now called Gaza and the West Bank.  The UNRWA funded refugee camps, and after more than sixty years, the UN is still actively invested in the livelihoods of the refugees and their families.

Most of the people in the West Bank strive to live fairly typical lives within their communities.  They own homes and have family land.  They have access to products, food, building materials and education.  In fact, most Palestinians go to college which is a problem because there are not enough white-collar jobs to support the college graduates.

Depending on which West Bank resident I spoke with, I received very different answers to the questions, “What is life like?” and “Do you think there will be peace in your lifetime?”  For instance, one man responded, “I try to ignore the conflict and just live.  I go to work, I hang out with friends . . . my life is good.”  Another man responded with a sorrowful tone, “You just don’t understand.  They [Israelis] have everything and they leave us [Palestinians] nothing.  They control our water.  They control our trade.  They control where we go and when. They have everything.”

Israeli soldiers standing watch in the Muslim quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem.

Both perspectives are valid.  Life in much of Palestine’s West Bank feels very normal and calm with people living normal and good lives.  But, it is also cluttered with Israeli checkpoints that sometimes take multiple hours to cross.  Israel does control the trade routes, the electricity and the water, and it has been known to shut any of them down for extensive periods of time.  In fact, many Palestinian goods are never allowed to be exported to Israel for sale even though Israeli goods are imported to Palestine.

Palestinians feel like they are being dominated and oppressed by Israelis.  Generally, Palestinians do not want war and think it is only a defensive option.  They feel like they have given over land time and time again to appease Israeli desires, but Israeli leaders still will not stand by their agreements.  They feel like their homes, villages, and ways of life are consistently threatened by the Israeli government’s desire to build walls through farm fields, the Jewish settlers taking over towns or mountaintops, the military taking over homes for stakeouts, and the Israeli soldiers harassing Palestinian residents just to flex their power.  They feel like war cannot be an option, because Israel has a more powerful military and they will most definitely win.

Palestinians also believe that they would not be able to successfully lead their own country right now.  They have been an occupied country for two thousand years, and the government that they elected into power, Hamas, will not work for the people’s best interest.  Palestinians believe that it is time for new elections and that they will need help from a third-party like the U.S. to become a sustainable governing body.

This issue is so complex. The following is a compilation of five articles from my seven weeks in Israel speaking with individuals, two days visiting Palestine and attending two Peace-building conferences. What I have written is a short summary of the issues and perspectives of the Middle East which is quite simplified. I hope it is clear enough to get a taste of the peace-building process.

A small disclaimer:  To be clear, I desire peace and abundance for all Israelis and Palestinians.  I came into the Middle East very ignorant about the situation, and am reporting solely on issues that arose for me while visiting.  I am not taking sides, though I may write more about certain topics that I had more exposure to.

Part I of V: The Jewish Piece of the Puzzle

When I first arrived to Israel, I met a woman who is very strong-willed and full of right-wing beliefs. She is very religiously Zionistic believing that Israel is the home of Jewish people. I spoke with her in depth about the conflicts that confront Israel now and I was extremely stretched when I heard her responses. I came to find out that her perspective is extreme, but widespread.

I came into Israel knowing very little about Jewish tradition, but feeling completely tolerant towards Jewish people. She introduced me to the idea of present-day anti-Semitism, a belief system that I thought had disappeared after the Holocaust. According to her, “most of the world still hates the Jews and doesn’t believe in their right to exist.” Although it is surprising and sad to me, this anti-Semitism is a central issue that inhibits the peace process in the Middle East.

In Poland, Jewish men were chastised and made to wear fox-tails. They have re-claimed this symbol with pride by wearing these fox-tail hats.

After speaking with her, I confronted the same belief from many more orthodox, moderate and liberal Jews. Many Jews feel a sense of persecution. I began asking why. I specifically used the question, “Has there been any incident in your life that has led you to feel prejudiced against?” Very few people had a specific incident of harassment or abuse which led me to dig deeper. There are two reasons that I found that Jews feel persecuted even when persecution is not apparent on a daily or individual basis.

Firstly, the Jewish tradition is extremely grounded in retaining its history which has its pros and cons. It is beautiful to understand one’s ancestral journey and the sacrifices that have been made. However, it becomes problematic when mottos like “Never Forget,” inhibit one from forgiving past incidents. Some Jewish people still hold on tightly to being exiled from Egypt and wandering the desert for forty years. Many still feel extremely sensitive to the prejudices of the Holocaust. And, many feel like they need to be ready to defend themselves at all costs (including nuclear war) because the entire Arabian world has shot rockets or threatened to shoot rockets at them in the past thirty years. Every Jewish son and daughter serves in the military so the stories of war and defense are always strong within families. Although the sad history of Jewish people is completely valid, I question whether or not detaching from the painful past could promote more tolerance and optimism for a future of peace.

Secondly, the form of anti-Semitism has evolved. It is less likely to hear

Candles at a the synagogue where Father Abraham is buried.

anti-Semitic remarks from individuals like Christians than one would have prior to the Holocaust. Now, anti-Semitism is shown on a national level through the 3Ds: delegitimization, demonization and discrimination of Israelis. Israelis feel they have to fight to be seen as a legitimate country because of their Jewish-central mission. Other governments around the world have officially placed Christianity, Catholicism and Islam into their governmental documents, but they scrutinize Israel saying that having a Jewish state will produce intolerance towards others.

The media and international governments demonize Israel every time it uses arms. For instance, in the most recent Flotilla incident, the overwhelming theme towards Israel was that they had no right to board the Turkish ship in international waters or use arms against peace activists and that their act was anti-humanitarian. In fact, Israel had every legal right to board the ship to search for weapons, and after the soldiers felt their lives were threatened, they were legally allowed to use weapons.  This is very clear in the rules of International Law.  In the same week, there were many other illegal militant acts around the world that were not given much international attention and were not requested to have a third-party investigation into them.  In fact, weekly there are projectiles launched from Gaza or the Golan Heights into Israeli borders.  Israelis feel demonized and discriminated against by the international community.  Many Israelis have spent weeks or months of their lives in a bomb shelter, so they feel like they have a right to defend themselves from incoming weapons.  In general, Israelis feel badly that Gaza is in such a horrible condition, but they feel like Israel is providing Gazans everything they can without risking Israel’s security (remember that Gaza is only 7 miles wide which means any military action is likely to spread to Israeli land).

Anti-Semitism is a very central problem.  Because of it, very few Israelis that I met truly believe that peace is a viable option in their lifetime because they feel threatened as a country and as a culture.   Israelis want to be validated as a Jewish state with the right to govern and defend itself, even though it is located in the middle of an Arab world.

This is Part IV out of IV in a series called “My Survey of Palestinian Livelihood.”

Bethlehem is a very touristic city, being the birthplace of Jesus and the home of King Herod.  It is also the home of both Christians and Muslims.  In fact, it is the home of the largest Christian Arab population.  It sits just south of the Jerusalem border over a thick concrete wall and checkpoint.  From the Jerusalem side, the grey, concrete wall is very daunting, several stories high and stretching in both directions as far as the eye can see as if to tell Israelis, “It’s dangerous in here.  Don’t come close.”  Jerusalem sits a bit higher than Bethlehem, and there is a lot of undeveloped, historic, terraced land between the city and the wall.  It provides Israel with a buffer zone between the official Green Line and the actual border crossing.  I was lucky enough to live in one of only three historic homes in this undeveloped, buffer zone land overlooking Bethlehem. (Thanks Sam and Benji!)

It was interesting to cross over to the Bethlehem side of the Palestinian border.  Just as Hebron, there are major cultural changes.  Even in a town as touristic as this, the sounds, the smells and the looks were no longer Jewish-Israeli.  It is a very distinctly Arabic town.  What was more striking than the cultural change, was the look of the wall from the Bethlehem side.  The wall is directly on the edge of development so that much of the town cannot see the other side.  It cannot see Jerusalem or the hills and valleys to its north.  The wall is also covered with spray-painted color.  Local and international artists have painted extremely informative and inspirational graffiti activism all over the border wall.

The spray-painted wall pleads with the government to stop fighting.  It says that separation breeds anger and hatred.  It talks about how Israelis control Palestinian water, and have turned off their water regularly to show their power (the longest period being 48 days).  The graffiti satirizes the international support of the wall and it despises the amount of money the US has invested on building the wall.  More promising than any other place in Israel or Palestine, it shows hope for a brighter, more peaceful future.  The following are images of my trip to Bethlehem.

The following video is of the Israeli-Palestinian wall in Bethlehem being used to show the World Cup games . . .

This is Part III of IV in a series called “My Survey of Palestinian Livelihood.”

Hebron is a bustling city.  It houses a university, several commercial districts, and tons of shopping.  It also happens to be the location of the tomb of Abraham and Sarah, important icons of Judaism and Islam.  Upon first entering Hebron, I got a fast whiff of Eastern culture.  All of a sudden the streets were more rambunctious and loud.  Signs were in Arabic instead of Hebrew.  The women dressed in dark long sleeves and long skirts with Muslim-style head wraps.  Some men wore head wraps reminiscent of pictures of biblical shepherds or Yasser Arafat.  People rode donkeys in and out of the city with their goods to sell.  There were more street vendors than I’d seen in Israel, and the smell of kebabs filled the air.

Rami, my Palestinian friend and tour guide, and I walked quickly into the market of the old city through clothing shops and vegetable markets when all of a sudden the image of Hebron changed.  The bustle slowed.  Most of the shops were closed.  Looking up, there was a chain-link roof over the alleyway littered with debris.  Through the fencing, I could see Israeli flags fluttering over windows.  It was a Jewish settlement.  Five hundred Jewish settlers had decided that they deserved to live close to this sacred tomb, so they violently took over the homes in the center of the old city.  A portion of the mosque has been turned into a synagogue with a separate Jewish-only entrance.  Two thousand Israeli soldiers are stationed in the area to make sure that more violence does not erupt.

The entire area around the Jewish entrance is a ghost-town.  I saw a few Jewish settlers in the synagogue praying, and one tour bus that pulled up as I was leaving.  I walked down a wide street that used to be fully inhabited; now it’s completely covered in barbed wire, broken glass, graffiti, and bullet holes.  I saw a few Arab women and children walking the street; they must have been among the few decided to stay in their homes.  The biggest presence is Israeli soldiers—there are two-thousand soldiers currently stationed in the community working at checkpoints and in surveillance centers.  I could definitely feel that my every move was being watched and analyzed.

There were two incidences with Israeli soldiers that really concerned me.  The first was when I was leaving the synagogue side of Abraham Mosque.  There was a group of five Arab boys, all less than ten years old.  The boys were approaching the synagogue checkpoint.  Three of the boys had clenched fists as if they were holding stones.  An Israeli soldier equipped with his rifle came out of the checkpoint towards the boys (maybe thirty meters), and told the boys to go away.  The boys pushed the soldier’s boundaries getting closer and closer, but they did not use their stones.  They did this in a kind of mocking way showing the Israeli soldier they had the right to stand on this land.  The soldier began to be very aggressive with his words, but never raised a hand or used his gun.  This image is one that is shown over and over again on videos of the situation in Palestine.  I did not stay around long enough to see if the kids dispersed or not, but the provocation by both the soldier was quite scary for me . . . what would happen if one of the boys decided to throw a stone?

The other incident was when I was leaving the Arab side of the mosque.  This side of the mosque has metal bars and revolving doors that are controlled by Israeli soldiers; the Jewish-synagogue side of the mosque simply has Israeli soldiers standing watch.  When I was leaving, there were two families made up of mostly women entering the mosque.  As I went through the exit path, the soldiers locked the families in the cage between the two revolving doors.  The women asked why they were being held and the soldiers yelled something back.  I am not sure if the soldiers were trying to protect me, the only white woman in the area, or if they were simply exerting their power and humiliating the Muslim women.   Often, Palestinians and peace activists speak about the humiliation of checkpoints; this was the first time I became aware of how it exists in reality.

This is Part II out of IV in the series called “My Survey of Palestinian Livelihood.”

The recent flotilla toward Gaza spurred humongous international awareness about the refugee situation in Gaza. According to the flotilla movement, Israel is not allowing Gazans to access goods that are necessary for basic health and life. Israel is worried about war on its border, so it doesn’t allow any goods that may be used to create weapons or war craft. Some of the items on the past contraband lists have been sadly laughable.  At one point, Israelis would not allow concrete, certain types of spices and lime over their borders. (Click here for a current list.)

Part of the story that did not get international attention is the Gazans true access to goods. Hamas has dug tunnels (maybe even hundreds) to Egypt allowing for access to goods. Hamas taxes these goods highly, but it does provide Gazans access to anything they need or desire.  Gazans can buy cars, sweets, medicine and tiles for their bathrooms.

During this flotilla, there was a lot of international encouragement toward Israel becoming more humanitarian in its actions, but there was not much international encouragement for Gaza to gain a more humanitarian set of government leaders.  Part of the story that did not get attention is the oppression of Gazans by their own government.  Undoubtedly, the twenty-five mile strip of land needs to repair its roads, its buildings, its sewage system and its water system.  However, the ban on importing concrete is not the only reason that Gazans have not repaired their communities.  In so many of the videos of Gaza, I see piles of demolished buildings and piles of concrete block behind kids playing.  If Gazans were encouraged to be inventive, and constructive, they have materials within their borders to re-build.  In fact, the traditional form of building in the Middle East is earthen homes which can be extremely long-lasting, and beautifully done.

Just as Israel is oppressing the Palestinians, Gaza’s leaders are oppressing its people’s ability and desire to re-build.