I'm Studying Sign Language

I attended my first Women in Black demonstration this past Friday to stand in protest of 40 years of occupation. Many cars honked their horns and gave a thumbs up as they passed by, but I also learned quite a few new hand signs. The first few times that I saw one particular hand gesture, I interpreted it as being supportive and a sign of solidarity. I later found out it is far more offensive than the old school middle finger. This was probably one of the few times I was grateful that I didn't understand Hebrew. Oy! Do they kiss their mothers with those mouths?

When I was doing research on the Israeli Peace Camp, I was always fascinated by the group of women who have been standing in silent protest every week since the first Intifada. Out of all the peace groups, Women in Black is clearly the most moderate, yet they evoke the most contempt from the right-wing elements of society. Check out some very cool women's groups here: http://coalitionofwomen.org/home

What is it about a group of non-confrontational women--mostly mothers and grandmothers--that makes grown men scream obscenities and shake their fists in rage. Existing literature has led me to conclude that women’s groups that voice opposition to the Occupation are especially vulnerable to hostility--more so than all other groups in the Peace Camp. Women's activism is seen more as a betrayal because they deviate from expected gender roles. When people protest they are often labeled leftist or radicals. When a group of women stand in protest, especially middle aged women, their presence lends more credibility to the cause and their protest serves to shame a community. The reaction therefore is less political and more personal.

Ayala Emmett, one of the contributors to Our Sisters’ Promised Land: Women, Politics, and Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence, wrote that counter-demonstrators at the silent vigils in Israel used to hold signs that read: “The Women in Black are longing for Auschwitz”, “The Women in Black—A Knife in the Back of the Nation” and “We ‘recognize’ Black Widows. We recognize that they can kill, and we recognize that they are insects.” By evoking national symbols of vulnerability, the counter-protest signs implied that women in the Peace Camp are betraying the Jewish collective.

Last year, I did a news search for articles about the Peace Camp in Israeli media starting from 1988. I was horrified by the vilification of women's and bereavement groups that want dialogue. In 1990, the Jerusalem Post had an article about attacks on Women in Black. The Kach youth movement would distribute leaflets in Jerusalem listing the names, phone numbers and addresses of members of the Women in Black organization. As a result of this listing, the women had become targets of death threats and threats against the lives of their families. Other callers threatened to burn their houses down. All for standing in silence in a supposedly "free" society. (Margot Dudkevitch. “KACH NAMES WOMEN IN BLACK.” The Jerusalem Post. August 24, 1990, Friday. News. Accessed through Lexis Nexus Academic.) I've also read about cars that have tried to swipe at the women protesters and opposition groups who sprayed protesters with bug spray. Maybe there should be some community workshops on how to use constructive debate instead of vehicular manslaughter to prove our points.

In my research, I found that Israeli society is generally uncomfortable with being occupiers. The symbols of occupation are deliberately kept out of sight, so the average Israeli never actually crosses a checkpoint, sees the Wall or enters East Jerusalem, West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The "occupation" is more of an abstract concept. Yet, like the bogeyman in a child's closet, the specter of Palestinian injustice and its attendant rage is always lurking in their subconscious. When they see people who look just like their mothers standing in the light of day with signs that remind them that the Occupation is real and it is wrong, people don't know how to process their feelings constructively. Like a petulant child being punished for their bad behavior, they lash out at "mommy".

Man, this country could use some serious time on the psychiatrist's couch. Interestingly enough, the other day I was thinking "hmmm, so do I"...for moving to this cognitive rubik cube of a town in the first place.

Dr. Spock's Baby and Childcare: Military Edition

Doesn't anyone in the Israeli military have a kid? Maybe a niece or nephew who they had to babysit once. I ask this simply because the soldiers seem to buckle to the slightest provocation from Palestinian children. It's as if they have never had any experience with child psychology or can even recall the days when they themselves were impetuous little rapscallions. This might be a CRAZY suggestion, so take it as you will...and keep in mind that I'm not a parent either. I am by NO means an authority... but maybe...just maybe...there is a better way to deal with children who are acting up aside from shooting rubber bullets and lobbing tear gas canisters at them. I'm just sayin'...maybe?

Then again, what do I know? I come from a culture that tends to indulge our youth and spoil them with indulgences like a good education, racial and social equality, minimal threat of home invasion and the absence of collective punishment. I'm only suggesting that perhaps...just perhaps...that if they didn't have a responsive audience they might be less inclined to cause a raucous? Perhaps, if there are no Israeli soldiers driving up and down the street then there is no real incentive to throw stones? If a trashcan gets set on fire, perhaps the appropriate response is to put it out with a fire extinguisher? Or maybe just let it burn out as the pitiful little protest it is. After all, these events are not occurring in West Jerusalem in front of skittish tourists from Calgary. They are happening in the Arab neighborhoods. Wee little Mohammad's dad will eventually come out and say, "Son, you're stinking up the laundry your mom just hung on the line whenever you burn that rubbish. Please knock it off." It's just a guess. These are good people here, let them reign their own children in. I doubt they'll use firearms and crowd control devices to do it.

A resistance movement usually requires grievance, catalyst, and obstructive force. Take away any one of those ingredients and you've got nothing to worry about. I am suggesting that perhaps the patrols of Israeli soldiers serve any one of those three functions. Let's get Zen about it: If a group of children protest the Israeli occupation by throwing rocks and there are no soldiers around to see it, is it an intifada? These are just some thoughts that have popped into my head lately. Although, I shouldn't take credit for original thinking; I'm just being moderately observant. I seem to recall similar interactions with children somewhere before. Now where was it...kids were throwing stones... and the military responded with a disproportionate amount of force. Huh. Let's see... if I recall correctly, the whole world gasped in horror when they saw the images. Now where the heck was that? Oh wait...wait just one cotton pickin' minute! Wasn't it here..during the first intifada...and the second one, too....I wonder if there were any lessons we could have taken from those events. Naw, that's crazy. I doubt it.

So, I can already hear people rumbling about lack of respect for authority...if these kids have nothing to hide then they shouldn't fear the police...there is something wrong with a society that can't control their youth...blah, blah, blah. Let me just say to those people that perhaps lack of authority among pre-teens and teens isn't necessarily exclusive to the Palestinian population. I know for a fact that in highschool I was not the only person who ever hopped a fence when the cops busted the underage kegger in which I was in attendence. Nor was I the only teen who ever used the five finger discount at the local mall. Don't even get me started about spray paint, edible fungus, Spring Break and summers at the Shore. All in all, I was tame compared to others in my crowd. So, if we could all be so rebellious in a society that was relatively free of grievance, why can't kids who live under daily military occupation act out without being labeled "terrorists". At least they are rebellious about something that matters. There is something far more noble about a teen who rebels through political protest than a kid who rebels by puking up Jungle Juice on their neighbor's labrador retriever.

So, the pictures below are from my 'hood. This first one shows Israeli jeeps blocking the intersection as the soldiers run up the street to the school where kids are acting up. School lets out at 1pm, and the soldiers have been doing a couple of laps up and down the street in anticipation of recess.




The pattern goes like this: shots are fired, people scream, "sound bombs" are detonated and tear gas canisters are hurled...then people continue on their way. Now, before you ask "Well, what did the children do to provoke the soldiers?" I ask you to go back and re-read the pattern outlined above, and then take a long hard look at your own children/cousins/nieces and nephews/kids running around your table at Starbucks/an Anne Geddes poster...and you'll find that the only logical answer to that question is "like it matters".



...and repeat. Did I mention it's a school for children?...human children?...you know, gifts from God?





I watched all of this from our deck. The road was chaotic as cars tried to make u-turns to avoid the roadblock. As an Israeli woman drove past a bunch of Palestinian teenage boys, she started to curse at them. One of the boys stood in the street yelling vulgarities after her. Just then, a van full of guys in their late teens and early twenties pulled up and they all drove off in hot pursuit. I was washed over by a wave of nausea at that moment. I could only imagine what they would do to her if they caught up with her car. It is horrifying enough to see military violence, but there is something absolutely chilling when civilians hunt one another down. As much as I feared for this woman's safety, I thought: "How do you drive through a neighborhood that is already rife with tension and start talking smack?" I hoped that they wouldn't be able to find her, but I couldn't stop thinking about the hubris on her part. A short time later the van returned and I can only hope that she lost them.

No One Should Be Surprised

I was watching Al-Jazeera on January 30th; the afternoon that a suicide bomber struck in Eilat. Eilat is a very mellow resort community on the southernmost point of Israel. I have some very happy memories from that place. Eleven years ago, this small resort community was my haven after I had escaped from Kibbutz Grofit; a throw back hippy swinging commune in which I was forced to sift through truckloads of onions eight hours a day. While on Grofit, I became incredibly ill and the shrew of a nurse in the kibbutz clinic refused to excuse me from my onion sorting duties. So, being free labor with free will, I told them how they should sort their onions and left. The interesting thing about onions is that the offensive stink that emanates from someone who has just chomped down this malodorous bulb can be achieved much quicker, and with longer lingering effects, if you just inhale the juices that come splattering out of the onions as they tumble out of the dump truck and bounce through an industrial sorting contraption. On the bus to Eilat, people actually moved away from me because I was giving off such a funky scent. The point is that that experience stunk.

I don’t know how the news was received elsewhere in the world, but when the bomber hit Eilat, everyone here was baffled. It seemed like Eilat was exempt from this sort of violence and there were a lot of theories as to what had actually happened. The scraps of information that were tossed out immediately after the attack did not fit neatly into the modus operandi of any of the groups. The attacker was at one point reportedly from Jordan. Then it was reported that he was actually from Gaza but had crossed over from either Jordan or Egypt. Everyone was hypothesizing with whom this character was affiliated. All the groups initially claimed responsibility, but some had a hunch that this attacker originated from an off-shoot group trying to make the scene. Maybe Eilat was their Deb Ball. The attacker’s target also didn’t make much sense. There was no bombast. Most of us wondered what the point was. One Palestinian man said that some people think that the Israelis themselves were behind the attack. It was that much of a deviation from the strategic norm. Now it is much clearer that the target was selected out of desperation. The actual destination was thought to have been Haifa. Getting there was complicated by the fact that Mohammed Saksak apparently had a crap poker face. The Israeli who gave him a lift sensed that something was seriously wrong and Saksak soon realized that the jig was up. He must have thought any target was better than none. When all was said and done, everyone was left scratching their heads.

The events of the past week are far more unsettling. I was warned to avoid the Old City a few days ago and up until now I have not been in any rush to head down there. The warnings are for good reason, I think. Tensions have been running high with the new construction near the Western Wall and I don’t really get much love even when the Israelis aren’t actively antagonizing the Palestinian population. The other day I was in Arabic class and one of my classmates received a phone call warning her of possible riots. Later another classmate arrived, and when I gave her the warning, she confided that she had already been down to Damascus Gate. She said that as she approached the Old City, there were swarms of Israeli military and groups of tense Palestinians. She was not permitted to enter the Old City, and she could see through the gate that the cobbled streets were empty. So, she asked one of the soldiers to explain what was going on. He confirmed that there were rumors of potential violence. Well, duh. The presence of armed Israelis blocking access to the Old City and the Al-Aqsa Mosque doesn’t really engender tickle fights and Care Bear hugs.

Unfortunately, NO ONE knows what the actual situation is. I had dinner with a group of Israelis two nights ago who doubt both the Israeli and the Palestinian official positions. I have been talking with Palestinians who echoed the same sentiment and everyone is expressing frustration. It doesn’t help that every news report cites a different argument. Is Israel doing clandestine digging in an attempt to unearth more artifacts from the first Temple in order to increase the “Jewishness” of the area? Maybe. Is Israel really trying to reinforce the bridge leading up to the Temple Mount/ Haram el-Sharif? Probably. Are they deliberately trying to provoke a third intifada in order to engender global condemnation of the new Palestinian unity government? Uh...that seems like a LOT of work and a bit of a gamble. I don’t know if I buy that. The most ludicrous of the accusations is that the construction is an attempt to dig a tunnel under the Al-Asqa Mosque so that the compound will collapse. If that were the case, the Israelis would have already called up all of the reservists and would be at battle ready for the inevitable arrival of the Four Horsemen. Such an action would be national suicide. Maybe someday, if the moderate majority of Israel decides that perhaps the Diaspora is preferable to illogical communal politics, and all the crazy ass settlers have assumed cabinet positions, perhaps then Israel will be motivated to destroy Al-Aqsa. Until that day, I think that theory should be tabled.

I had suggested from the beginning that to avert any potential violence, the Israeli authorities should have invited the Waqf to send an observer. All parties were allegedly notified weeks ago that construction would begin, but I haven’t heard of any real attempts to find a compromise or to establish a proactive approach to a highly contentious issue on either side. I just read this morning that someone proposed that cameras be installed and then the work can be broadcast live over the internet. Olmert has allegedly approved that plan so I’ll try to find a link. Anything that adds transparency would be the right step toward diffusing the tension. When the construction began, the archaeological representative announced on the news that they have nothing to hide and anyone can come see for themselves. I suppose that statement would have a little more validity if anyone were actually allowed to enter the area. As I was walking back from West Jerusalem, I saw soldiers and police checking IDs and turning Arabs away from entering the Old City. I wonder if any of them were interested in observing the excavation. I’m going to bet that the answer to that question is yes.

So, now violence is here. As I was walking up to the entrance of the compound, I saw a large fire in the middle of the road just a few yards beyond our neighborhood shops. The police had blocked off the road and by the time I had run back to my room to get my camera, the fire was out. I’ve attached a picture of what is normally a beautiful sunset over the Old City.

It’s just a tad hazy from all the burning tires and tear gas canisters that have been lobbed continuously throughout the latter part of the afternoon. One of my housemates and I were discussing how our mouths and eyes were burning a little and I was feeling a little nauseous. It didn’t occur to us at first that maybe it was the tear gas that was getting to us. Duh. Every once in a while there is a rattle of gunfire, but I can’t see any actual fighting. Then again, I’m not going out looking for it. All of the roads seem to have temporary roadblocks, and when I went out to take some pictures I saw another one had been set up down the street. (The picture that I’ve attached shows a bus trying to turn around after it encountered another obstacle in our neighborhood.)

Although, I would love to go out and have a beer at the OHCHR Happy Hour tonight, I don’t want to have to don a flak jacket to do it. It will clash with my shoes and handbag. I think this will be a quiet Friday night for me.