There is a green hill far away…
If you’ve been following the news — and even this news made it into the US mainstream media — you know that the Israeli government announced last week that contracts had been let for 1600 housing units in East Jerusalem just as US Vice President Joe Biden paid a visit to Israel. While Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and undivided capital, most of the rest of the world considers East Jerusalem occupied territory under international law and Israel’s annexation of it illegal.
I had to agree with NY Times columnist Tom Friedman when he said, “He should have snapped his notebook shut, gotten right back on Air Force Two, flown home and left the following scribbled note behind: ‘Message from America to the Israeli government: Friends don’t let friends drive drunk. And right now, you’re driving drunk. You think you can embarrass your only true ally in the world, to satisfy some domestic political need, with no consequences? You have lost total contact with reality. Call us when you’re serious. We need to focus on building our country.’” The Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren is opining that this is the worst crisis in US-Israel relations since 1975.
The part of me which has been kicking around on this issue for over 20 years is saying, ‘this too shall pass’. As Israeli Haaretz journalist Akiva Eldar said, “In a sense, the uproar actually helped [Netanyahu]: To wipe the spit off his face, Biden had to say it was only rain. Therefore, he lauded Netanyahu’s assertion that actual construction in Ramat Shlomo would begin only in another several years. Thus Israel essentially received an American green light for approving even more building plans in East Jerusalem. Biden might not know it, but the Palestinians certainly remember that this is exactly how East Jerusalem’s Har Homa neighborhood (sic) began: Then, too, Netanyahu persuaded the White House that construction would begin only in another several years.”
I’ve got a series of slides of Har Homa, or Jabal Abu Ghneim, as it is known to the Palestinian community. The first, probably taken around 1998, shows a tree- and bush-covered hill — the last green hill in between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The last shows every vestige of green destroyed and replaced by an Israeli settlement. Construction is ongoing. When I’m on the 21 bus going from Jerusalem to Bethlehem I avert my eyes as we ride by. It’s too hard to look at.
Meanwhile, IMEMC, the International Middle East Media Center, reports “Palestinian Christian organizations, figures and many other Palestinians from the Jerusalem and the surrounding area have sent a letter on March 4, to the heads of churches in Jerusalem, demanding them to encourage all Christians in Palestine to enter Jerusalem for the Easter celebrations without applying for permits from the Israeli authorities.” Only Israeli-Palestinian s/Arabs, Palestinians with a Jerusalem ID or Palestinians with permits from Israel are allowed to go to Jerusalem. Western Easter, Orthodox Easter, and Passover fall in the same time-frame this year. Israel generally puts the West Bank under closure for the duration of Passover, allowing limited passage for Palestinians. This could be a magnificent nonviolent direct action. Given how the Israeli military and police are overreacting to Palestinian nonviolent resistance, it reminds me of the march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965.
There may not be a green hill left outside Jerusalem but the Palestinian community continues to practice sumud (steadfastness) in the face of a worsening Israeli occupation. We can only pray that news of their nonviolent resistance to the occupation may yet reach the eyes and ears of people who subscribe to the mainstream media.
17 March 2010
Durham NC
