In case anyone had any lingering doubts about Israel being a fascist state...

Normally, I don't think I will make a habit out of this, but after my recent rant on fascism in Israel after reading the news, I just felt I needed to share these two articles from the Ha-Aretz newspaper here in Israel:

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Last update - 22:30 24/05/2009
Israel moves closer to banning mourning of its independence
By Haaretz Service

Public commemoration of Israel's independence as a day of mourning could become a crime subject to prison penalty, should a bill approved on Sunday by a ministerial panel be brought to the Knesset and cabinet for vote.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday approved a preliminary proposal which would make it illegal to hold events or ceremonies marking Israel's Independence Day as a "nakba," or catastrophe.

Rather than holding barbecues and parades on Independence Day, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians usually take the day to commemorate the dispersal of Palestinians during the 1948 War of Independence.

Palestinian refugees around the world and Israel's Arab citizens mark the Nakba on May 15, the day after the British mandate over Palestine ended in 1948. Nakba Day is often observed by the Arab population in Israel with marches through destroyed villages.

According to the bill, those found in violation could face up to three years in prison.

The ministerial approval is only a preliminary step and has no legal bearing yet. Before the proposal could become a law, it must first undergo Knesset approval and cabinet consideration.

The proposal was brought forth by MK Alex Miller, of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party.

"This is the first measure geared at stopping the organized incitement spread by the Islamic Movement and the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee within Israel's Arab population," Miller said following the vote. "Every democratic country has the right to defend itself, and that's exactly what the Israeli government has chosen to do today."

The panel's approval caused an uproar among Arab parties and those factions geared toward Arab-Jewish cooperation.

"Government validation of one historically uneducated MK's delusions only goes to demonstrate the putrid sewers into which the governmental has, very expectedly, descended," said Hadash Chairman Mohammed Barakeh of Miller's proposal.

"Commemoration of the Nakba, which will continue regardless of this bill, does not represent a threat to Israel's existence. It is a way to mend past injuries inflicted upon the Palestinian people."

"It isn't Israel which faces an existential threat over commemoration of the Nakba. The Nakba is the ultimate threat of the Palestinian people," added Barakeh.

"This bill belongs, as do others, in the trash. Laws cannot rewrite a history in which crimes against peoples were committed, including the Palestinian Nakba," he said.

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Last update - 21:58 27/05/2009
Knesset okays initial bill to outlaw denial of 'Jewish state'
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent

The Knesset plenum gave initial approval on Wednesday to a bill that would make it a crime to publicly deny Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, punishable by a sentence of up to a year in prison.

The measure was the latest of several introduced in the past week by right-wing lawmakers and denounced by critics as an assault on free speech, particularly for Israeli Arab citizens, most of whom are of Palestinian origin.

It would outlaw the publication of any "call to negate Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, where the content of such publication would have a reasonable possibility of causing an act of hatred, disdain or disloyalty" to Israel.

Forty-seven MKs voted in favor of the bill and 34 voted against, with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) abstaining from the vote.

MK Zevulun Orlev, a lawmaker with the right-wing Bayit Hayehudi party who initiated the bill, said the bill permitted a maximum one year prison term for any offenders.

The measure would have to pass three additional votes in parliament and a committee review before becoming law.

Orlev linked the bill to the case of former MK Azmi Bishara, who resigned from the Knesset and fled Israel in 2007 to avoid charges of assisting the enemy. Bishara was under fire then for a series of trips he had made to Syria and Lebanon, where he issued praise for Hezbollah.

Orlev said Bishara's case shows that what begins with words "very quickly leads to actions."

MK Haim Oron (Meretz) attacked the proposal, saying "this insane government, what exactly are you doing? Creating a thought police? Have you run off the rails?"

Oron said that even though he disagrees with those who do not support Israel's identity as a Jewish, democratic state, there is no reason to make it a criminal issue.

Civil rights activists have cautioned that this and other legislation threatens to curb the rights of Arab citizens.

Its approval on a preliminary reading showed how Israeli support for laws seen as targetting Israeli Arabs has grown since a right-wing government was sworn in after a February election.

Most Israeli Arabs, who make up about a fifth of Israel's population, are descended from Palestinians who remained in the country after hundreds of thousands either fled or were driven away in fighting over Israel's founding in 1948.

Many are related to Palestinians in conflict with Israel living in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank.

Naomi Chazan, president of the liberal New Israel Fund, denounced a bill approved by Israel's cabinet on Sunday to outlaw public displays of mourning over Israel's birth, which Palestinians call "nakba", an Arabic word for catastrophe.

Chazan called that bill an "attempt to trample on the feelings of pain of Israeli Arabs" that could hurt efforts to forge better coexistence between Jews and Palestinians.

Another bill introduced by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu Party this week would require Israeli citizens to take a loyalty oath to the Jewish state before they could be issued a national identity card.

The cabinet was scheduled to debate the loyalty oath measure at a session next week.

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Calling Israel a "democracy" is a complete sham; any country which fails to look out for the interests of a huge portion of its population (Palestinians) and attempts to shut out dissent to the state agenda is fascism: "a governmental system ... forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism [check!], regimenting all industry, commerce, etc. [check!], and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism [CHECK!]" (dictionary.com).

The Good and the Bad

Well you’ve heard already that the participants are here if you read my last post. And you’ve heard pretty much what I’ve been doing considering I am with them at all times, responsible for organizing their activities and leading/accompanying all of the activities as well. I suppose I can just take a moment on a personal note to say that I am really enjoying this group. They seem like very mature individuals, and actually, I am one of the youngest people among us right now. I have had a lot of fun getting to know them and hanging around with them in our meetings and our trips within Bethlehem and in Jerusalem. A couple of nights ago at Osh Grab (the park where I worked last year), there was a little festival with a British musician and a few debkah (traditional dance) groups performing. One member of the group went with me, and besides having a good time watching everything, we had a really great discussion about using our expensive private educations to do something meaningful here and back in the U.S.

Even though so much has been going very well, I have been getting very frustrated recently—just because I have been reading the news. While waiting for a while to meet our participants as they arrived in Jerusalem, I was reading an Israeli newspaper, which had a mix of articles from right-wingers and people who are probably middle-of-the-road politically. I have also been reading Ha-Aretz online in my spare time. I’ve read about how Israeli companies are removing stone from West Bank quarries, which is a violation of international law (it is illegal to exploit the non-renewable resources of an occupied territory). I read from people who were indignant that illegal settlement outposts were being threatened by the government to be dismantled. (Never mind that normal settlements are against international law themselves—it is illegal to move a civilian population into an occupied territory—but, the outposts are illegal even by Israeli law! Defense minister Ehud Barak has been making empty threats of dismantling these for two years; he tries to negotiate with the people living in them, who are clearly not interested in negotiating, and never gives an ultimatum for talks to end and action to commence, enforcing his own laws/policies.) Over and over, I see how Israel out-rightly refuses to abide by the terms of the peace agreements it has signed. I read how the Obama administration and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton are actually “pressuring” Israel to freeze all growth in settlements (something encouraging finally!), yet how Netanyahu has decided to ignore that. (In another article I learned that despite Israel’s noncompliance, the U.S. is going to completely foot the bill for a new missile defense system.) I read how Israel is getting closer to outlawing the mourning of its conception. (Palestinians usually commemorate the Nakbah [i.e. “catastrophe” in Arabic] rather than the Israeli Independence Day.) To echo a cry I’ve heard at the Ma’asara protest numerous times: “1, 2, 3, 4, Occupation NO MORE; 5, 6, 7, 8, Israel—a FASCIST STATE!” I want to know what is going on around me, yet I wonder if reading all of this news is just going to make the whole situation even more unbearable because, when I hear all of these things day after day, it wears me down and chips away at what little hope I am still holding onto for this situation to be resolved with a real peace (and there can be no Peace without Justice).

Week 1 Report

Below is a release I wrote today for the Holy Land Trust website:

On May 21, the first twelve participants for this year’s Palestine Summer Encounter program arrived in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and were transported to Bethlehem to meet their new Palestinian host families. To begin the program activities, the new participants attended an orientation on life in Palestine and then went on a bus tour around Bethlehem to get them acquainted with their new surroundings.

The participants, from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia, have already bonded as a group as they embark on this exciting journey for their summer together. Seven of the participants will be here for whole three-month program, and six have planned on staying for two months. Participants have already experienced the great hospitality of Palestinians even after just a few days on the ground. One participant said of her experience with her host family so far: “I was immediately part of a family. Instantaneously, I knew that I could count on these perfect strangers for anything.” (To read more of the PSE participants’ experiences and thoughts, follow the online blog at: http//www.palestinesummer.org/blog.)

The participants had time to relax after undergoing orientation, spending time finding their ways around Bethlehem and getting to know their host families. On Sunday, May 24, the participants shook off any remaining jet-lag and stepped up their activity, taking a day trip to Jerusalem during which they were taken on an eye-opening tour with ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions), including a visit to a Bedouin camp currently being separated from the neighboring Arab community in East Jerusalem by the construction of the Wall, and a visit to Ma’ale Adumim, the largest Israeli settlement in the West Bank. After the ICAHD tour, the group had the opportunity to engage in a very informative discussion with the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem.

On Monday, May 25, participants gathered at the Holy Land Trust office in the morning, and then separated ways to begin work at their individual volunteer placements around Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, and Beit Jala. After volunteering, colloquial Arabic classes began at the Bethlehem Bible College to equip the participants to truly enter into the life and culture of Palestine. The remainder of this first week, the participants will be beginning the other classes in the summer curriculum (Nonviolence, Christian Zionism, and Theology of the Land), meeting with Holy Land Trust Executive Director, Sami Awad, for a presentation, and further encountering Palestine with a night of cultural activities. The participants are excited to be here and learning much, and their new community is grateful to welcome them. Ahlan w sahlan!

Getting Started

Marhaba everyone. I'm really not a fan of blogging at all (see the quote below my profile picture on the right...), so I thought that I might just use the official Palestine Summer Encounter blog as my own blog to keep you updated this summer; after all, what the participants explain in their entries will be a direct result of my work here, facilitating the entire program in which they are involved. But, upon further consideration, I suppose that is not the best way to communicate with everyone who is interested in specifically what I am doing.

For this reason, here I am, blogging once again. I had considered also doing a vlog (video web log) instead of writing, but I think that me sitting in front of a camera and just describing things would be a little awkward, so I'll likely be sticking with this format. I will hopefully be doing update videos for what is happening in PSE, and I will post links to those when they become available.

I'm not going to write much now since I actually just wrote a blog yesterday for the official Palestine Summer Encounter webpage blog. The text of that blog is below, but I also encourage you as the summer progresses, if you are interested, to visit the official blog and hear the experiences of the participants. (The web address is: http://www.palestinesummer.org/blog.) From time to time, I will likely be posting as part of the PSE blog, but I will also post those entries here, to my own personal blog.

More later...

ma' salaame daymaan (with peace always)

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Issalaam alaykum min Bayt Lahem!

Ismi John, and I am one of the two representatives of Middle East Fellowship who will be on the ground in Bethlehem this summer, helping coordinate the Palestine Summer Encounter program. Sara will join me for the second session, but I have been here since May 9, working in the Holy Land Trust office putting things together for our first session to start here at the end of the week. As I work with our program calendar and our office staff finalizes volunteer opportunities and homestay placements, I am growing increasingly more excited for the participants to arrive and soon begin their amazing summer experience with the PSE program.

I remember last summer at this time: I was a worried, excited, and hopeful incoming participant, unsure of what I was getting myself into for the summer. I had planned on being here for three months without having had any previous experience in the region and knowing no one, so it was a leap of faith, but by the end of the summer, it was very obvious I landed in the right place. This past week has been wonderful for me to get to reconnect with friends here at Holy Land Trust and at PAIDIA International Development—the NGO where I volunteered last summer. I just wish some of my friends from the program last summer were still here as well—it will be different without them accompanying me this time—but I have already made some great new connections, which I know are going to make this summer special in its own ways. My own experience with PSE was challenging but thrilling and incredibly educational and rewarding, so I am excited to welcome the 13 new participants who will soon be starting their own summer journeys with us.

This summer, the participants will have new opportunities that have just been added to the program. In addition to our colloquial Arabic classes, we are going to be offering three other courses during the first session: Christian Zionism, Theology of the Land, and Nonviolence—all of which are being taught by Palestinians who hold impressive credentials of numerous degrees and personal experience in their fields. In addition to classes, as in past years, the other components of the program include living with host families, doing volunteer work, having cultural nights, listening to guest speakers, and going on trips around the region. Programming for this first session looks exciting, and I know the participants are going to learn a lot and really enjoy themselves.

Hopefully soon you will begin to hear from the participants themselves; as they begin and work through the program, all will have the opportunity through this blog to share with the rest of the world how their summer experiences are informing, challenging, inspiring, and changing them as they encounter Palestine. Stay tuned!