We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

A Future of Peace:

The peace plans have been watered down and frosted over. I’m a pessimist in this regard. Palestinians are extremely complicit with the situation; which is of course the result of 60 years of war and occupation. Palestinians are also extremely reliant on Israel, and they spin the wheels of their own oppression.

I hope for an economic intifada (uprising) rather than a violent one. Violence has only brought about harsher responses from the military. If it is going to be fought out, then the stronger of the two is going to win, which is obviously Israel. Even if Palestinians were to win, it would be national suicide due to their reliance on Israel for just about everything from the water they drink, to the electricity that lights their homes, to the monetary currency that they use. An economic uprising would set them on a path that they will be able to separate themselves from Israel, gain some sort of power, and then go to the negotiation table when they are on a fair playing level. As it stands, there is nothing Israel actually needs from the Palestinians, and therefore, there is no such thing as a real ‘compromise’ or ‘solution.’ Everything needed is in the hands of the Israelis.

Asking Israel for power is like a slave asking his master kindly to remove his shackles. I do not support violence in any way. I think it has proven a failure. But there is a way to go about liberation more strategically, as to take the power for themselves without sucking up to Israel and asking for it. Then they can move to the negotiation table once they have power.

Internal Conflict Within Myself:

I am connected to both Israel and Palestine in every way. I was raised in a Zionist community and arrived at my own conclusions totally independently. I have relatives in Israel. I even have relatives in settlements. My relatives migrated to Israel largely after having suffered at the hands of Europe. I cannot blame them. I blame the ones who made the ridiculously immoral decision of handing them someone else’s land. It would be like the United States handing control of Iraq to oppressed and starving people in Somalia or Sudan. No one coming from the Holocaust had the mental ability to understand the Palestinian suffering as a result of their move. I cannot blame those in my family who saw their own mother decapitated in Russian Pogroms.

But I do strongly and vocally stand with Palestine. I want a true solution to the conflict, and I’m interested in helping stop suffering on both sides. I visited Israeli cities bordering Gaza that are often victims of rocket attacks, and could not help but feel sympathetic for them as well. They practically have had to turn their cities into one massive bomb shelter, and have faced years of living in freight and horror. The children of Sderot and the children of Gaza would have a lot more in common than they think; one of which is obviously that their entire life has been stained by war, conflict, and trauma.

My parents are supportive of my political views after years of debate and often emotional argument. I have successfully awoken them to the reality in Palestine. Others were not so enthused. I have had a few people curse me out and threaten me. But a majority of people just thought I was absolutely insane. They were surprised when I returned in one piece. It has forced many of them to question their own beliefs. I’m happy to have people question anything. We are living in a world filled with deception, myths, conflict, and hate. The more we question, the more we learn. But sometimes, the more we learn, the more questions we have. And I suppose that is why fully understanding and trying to help the conflict in Palestine will be my life-long mission. After visiting the region, I only have more questions than answers.

The saddest thing:

-That I could leave while they are mostly stuck there.

-That I have an American passport while they have a Palestinian one.

-That I can go just about anywhere without a pre-approved visa, whereas they spend months waiting for a visa that they are unlikely to ever attain.

Honestly, far worse than bullets and bombs is sheer boredom and no hope for the future. Nothing is more a depressing thought to me, than the idea that most of my friends in Palestine will go on after studying double-majors in universities to either sit home unemployed or work crappy street-jobs. Most of them will stay in the refugee camps, hardly leave their city, let alone their country, and live the rest of their lives in utter boredom or resistance. No mother should ever expect her child to grow up and spend the rest of his life in prison.

A young girl asked her father how I was able to leave…imagine having to explain that to a child. It was my last night in the camp. That very same night, that young girl pulled her baby brother away from the door as she heard Israeli jeeps driving through the streets. Age 6 and she already knows the sounds of an Israeli jeep. No child anywhere on earth should know the sound of a military jeep’s tires.

May Allah (swt) reward us all and help the oppressed across the planet. May he grant them, as well as all of us, with patience, steadfastness, and faith. Ameen.

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

Hospitality

What kept me enjoying each and every moment of Palestine was certainly the hospitality and caring nature of the people. I once was told that guests are treated this way, as a famous proverb says, because a guest is a guest sent by God and followed by angels. They certainly take this idea to heart, as just about everywhere I visited, I was greeted by smiling faces inviting me in for a cup of tea and coffee as well as the regular meal. By the end, I was so worn out from going house-to-house every single day. Of course I never wanted to feel like a burden, but they actually enjoy whipping up a dinner for foreigners there. Every visit begins with tea and ends with coffee. There’s no such thing as a “short-visit” in Palestine. Forget the idea of rushing.

Will I return again?

I feel inseparable from this land. I feel an emotional attachment to it on every level; be it my family’s Jewish heritage, my Islamic beliefs, my long-lasting and life-changing friendships or my need to help those suffering on both sides of the conflict in some way. I cannot just forget it and block everything out of my memory, though this conflict has caused a lot of family and community disputes for me. I’m not exactly an optimist, but I do want to go down on the right side of history. Insha’Allah, I will make this conflict my key issue and the rest of my life’s work. Not a day passes that I do not reminisce about Palestine.

I do, however, wish to see other areas of the world before returning to Palestine for an extended period of time.

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

Religion in the West Bank:

I was rather disappointed upon realizing how secular a majority of the people were. The women wear hijab, but it seems nothing more than a cloth and something their ancestry had grown up practicing. Very few men actually pray, including those who are knowledgeable about Islam. Women are more likely to pray, as they are often indoors. Most people have crazy myths regarding the religion that have been inserted in due to the conflict. A lot of the people look down upon the men with big beards wearing the traditional clothes. A lot of the teenage males drink, watch pornography, and chase after female tourists.

I’m tired of Palestinian nationalism. It’s time for Islamic revivalism. Nationalism has yet to work anywhere on earth, and it surely is not working in Palestine.

Palestinian Women:

Women in Palestine are extremely strong and bright. Palestine has a long-running tradition of education despite the conflict and economic difficulties. Females are extremely educated and have great potential. They are not disadvantaged in the workplace from what I saw. Never will a woman have to work a cruddy job that she never wished to do, as would be the case for a male, seeing as the male is responsible for economically supporting the family. A woman would either work a job she has always dreamed of, (i.e. a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, etc.) or more than likely, not work at all.

On the other hand, there are unnecessary chains and restrictions set on girls. Most males could easily get away with yelling at their mother or father, dating a girl, staying out late into the night, or even losing their virginity. To the contrary, most girls are kept on a very tight leash with an unfair bias against them. I never like to judge other cultures in harsh ways. But I could tell this was not something that only I understood as a western and Caucasian male. Sisters of male friends complained to me of unfair treatment. A lot of it is caused by the conflict. Women need to be propped up as good potentials for marriage, because the economic situation caused by the conflict puts families in a position that they wish to marry of their daughters as quickly as possible. But sadly, I have my doubts that such practices will end anytime soon, even if the conflict is to come to an end.

Unfortunately, a lot of women are treated as slaves. Males are completely dependent upon their mothers and sisters. I grew very close with a refugee family, and completely threw them off when I offered to make tea for the wife and daughters. Oh- the controversy that would be caused by a male cooking for his wife! It works out well for farming families, when the men are out in the fields while the women cook and clean indoors. But that only comprises of a small percentage of Palestinians. Especially for families that face unemployment, it is unfair in my opinion for men to sit down and watch television as their wives work all day to keep the family happy.

On the other hand, to have each person take care of different issues in the home keeps some necessary structure to the family-life and keeps families close-knit. I think the breakup of the family structure in America is a leading cause for drug-addiction, homosexuality, pursuit of destructive forms of happiness, and so on.

There is good and bad in every culture. There are positives and negatives to the treatment of women in America, as is also the case of women in Palestine. At the end of the day, women are the most prominent figures in society. They make up 50% of the population but also bring up the other 50% (males) and teach them their values and morals. Palestinian women practically live for their children, and nothing clings stronger than a mother to her son or daughter- a beautiful image that I do not think will ever leave my mind. Families are just so close-knit and caring there!

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

Non-Violent Resistance:

Most resistance in the West Bank is non-violent. It’s the violence that makes media headlines, however, that violence nearly entirely ended in 2006. I strongly encourage those in support of the Palestinian struggle to offer their support to the non-violent protests in Nil’in, Massara, and other villages protesting weekly against the separation barrier that has cut off large portions of their farmland.

Protesters won in Bil’in after five years of non-violent struggle, when the Israeli courts decided to reroute the fence away from their farmland. So these protests are somewhat successful and useful. Protesters are met with military force, and 16 people have been killed. I must say that it was by far the most frightening experience I had while in Palestine.

The sound of rubber bullets, stun grenades, and teargas cannisters shooting in all directions from military weapons is extremely discomforting, especially when you cannot see because teargas and ‘skunk-spray’ have clouded up your eyes, burned your nostrils and throat, as you clumsily try to figure out the safest route out of the ‘conflict-zone’.

Furthermore, non-violent and artistic forms of resistance are sparking up all around Palestine. Nearly every city and refugee camp has a community center where children are taught traditional Palestinian dance, art, and tales to keep their heritage alive, as well as implement art as a form of expressing their difficulties as a means of non-violent resistance.

In my mind, every Palestinian home built without a permit (which is just about every home), every farmer that continues to work his land despite military orders, and every Palestinian case in the Israeli courts is a form of non-violent resistance that is often overlooked.

Internal Palestinian Dispute: Hamas VS. Fatah

Internal disputes have halted just about all political progress in Palestine. In the West Bank, where Fatah is in power, Hamas is extremely suppressed and persecuted. The opposite is true in Gaza, where Hamas is in power. A majority of people are tired of these partisan politics and wish for their political parties to come to some sort of deal.

Fatah is extremely corrupt and few people will deny that fact. They’re practically a mafia: supporting those who provide them with money and support, while wiping off those who speak out against them. I had met many people who spent years in Palestinian Authority prisons for speaking out against the Government. Quite sickening if you ask me, though it has become not only a norm in Palestine, but throughout the larger Arab and Muslim world.

On the other hand, Hamas is not seen as the great alternative. Art, music, movies, and other well-appreciated Western activities are common hobbies in the West Bank, to which Hamas tends to stand against. Usually those people who are overly strict and unfriendly are referred to, in a joking or mocking way, as “Hamas”- so it certainly does not seem to me to carry along a positive tag. Furthermore, a lot of Palestinians do feel that Hamas policy in Gaza has only encouraged further Israeli aggression.

Of course, views in matters such as these vary person to person. Also, do not forget that other parties exist. The PFLP (Communist Party) is quite popular as well.

We often forget that the faces on the other side of the television screen have thoughts and feelings just like our own. We forget to think about the common threads of humanity between all living beings. I’m obviously no expert on the subject, having only spent several months in the Middle East and studying the situation now for four years. But the following contains different sorts of observations, analysis and conclusions I had reached, having traveled throughout the entirety of the West Bank, meeting hundreds of families along the way, and engaging in countless enlightening and telling conversations about the conflict, culture, and lifestyle.

“How Do Palestinians View…?”

I cannot help but cringe at this question. People constantly ask me,

“How do Palestinians view Hamas?”

“Do Palestinians want the destruction of Israel?”

“Do Palestinians believe in a two-state solution?”

There is no answer to any question implying that an entire society thinks a homogeneous way. All societies contain a diverse set of views. I found families in the West Bank so sympathetic towards Israel that literally tears dripped down their cheeks at the site of a funeral on television for two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. Then, to the contrary, there are graffiti images of swastikas and suicide bombers bearing AK-47′s in their martyrdom poses along just about every wall.

Major Problems in the West Bank:

Just about every area confronts different issues. Israeli soldiers patrolling the streets are a rare sight now-a-days in the West Bank since the Palestinian Authority has been handed power of policing all major cities. But almost all cities still face night raids and rather frequent arrests. Most Palestinians seem to have family and friends in prison. From my observation within the refugee camps, a majority of men over the age of 18 had been imprisoned at some point throughout their life.

The separation barrier (be it the wall of the fence) have cut off a significant portion of farmland from Palestinians and have shot a bullet into the heart of any previously existing economic growth. It has left a lot of farmers unemployed, cut off several Palestinian villages from the West Bank, has destroyed the tourist industry that once flourished, and has put a lot of Palestinians that once worked in Jerusalem out of work. Palestinians are also no longer able to reach the beautiful city of Jerusalem and pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque without a permit. Permits are hard to gain, and therefore, the Dome of the Rock has become the symbol of liberation and I personally witnessed Palestinians tear at the thought of visiting Jerusalem once again.

Settlements are a major issue. For those who do not know, they are basically Jewish plots of land built within the Palestinian territories. The settlers are in fact, “Imperialists,” or maybe more-so, pawns of those wishing to annex the West Bank. Some families move to the West Bank for practical and economic reasons, while other move for ideological and religiously-motivated reasons. Settler violence runs rampant and the Israeli Army tends to close their eyes to it, and maybe command them with a light slap on the wrist, “stop please.” Yeah, I’m not joking about the, “Please.” I actually saw them politely ask a settler in Hebron to stop throwing rocks at Palestinians. Of course, rocks thrown in the other direction are met by teargas, rubber bullets, battons, and stun grenades.

The Facts: The Simon Wiesenthal  Center, which has built the Museum  of Tolerance here in LA, has been issued the permit to build a Museum of  Tolerance in Jerusalem. There is some tension behind this because many believe that it is on a Muslim cemetery. This issue ought to be judged with knowledge, said Ran Boytner, an Israeli-born archaeology professor here at UCLA. After interviewing the opposing sides, namely the Museum of Tolerance and the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Los   Angeles, with the additional help of Ran Boytner, the truth finally emerged. The reason is because each said the opposite thing when asked if the Museum of Tolerance was to be built on top of a Muslim cemetery.

Ran Boytner affirmed that the site they are going to build on is a Muslim cemetery and that the cemetery will be removed and reburied elsewhere. It”s definitely a Muslim cemetery, there”s no question about that,? he said. He said that it was partially covered by a parking lot sixty years ago, and while the reasons for the building of that car park are nebulous, the fact is that there is a car park there that is on top of what was once a cemetery.

CAIR made it very clear that it is a Muslim cemetery there. This is the whole reason they are against it. Munira Syeda, a representative of CAIR-Los   Angeles, said, “we never said, ‘don’t build,’ we just want it to be moved elsewhere. Not doing so will further the tension and animosity between Muslim and Jewish communities. Companions of Prophet Muhammad and other famous Muslim scholars are said to be buried there. So, obviously the site has a special religious significance for Muslims, aside from having archaeological value.” She said that this Museum will be a good thing, and it has good intentions, and it is just the placement of this Museum that is the issue”being that it is atop a Muslim cemetery. It would not be tolerant, both Boytner and Syeda noted, for a Museum of Tolerance to build on top of a Muslim cemetery.

However, when I spoke to the Museum of Tolerance, they said it is definitely not a cemetery that they are going to build on. Liebe Geft, the director of the Museum  of Tolerance in Los   Angeles, who is also involved with the content in the museum in Jerusalem, said that, “were this the case, we would not proceed.” Clearly, they are proceeding, so maybe there is no cemetery. She also added that the site has been Jerusalem”s main parking lot since the 1960s; this parking lot is the same one that Boytner mentioned covered the cemetery. The Museum are the ones with the floor plans, and the site maps, so it makes sense that they really know where they actually are going to build. CAIR, on the other hand, said that the Museum was spreading false information, and that it is indeed on a cemetery. In fact, during the museum”s excavation of the site in 2006, more than 250 skeletons were unearthed. There”s no dispute about the existence of the cemetery,? Syeda said. She also urged the Wiesenthal Center to accord respect to non-Jewish cemeteries, as it does to Jewish cemeteries. The group spent 15 years forcing the removal of a Catholic convent from Auschwitz, saying the Jewish cemetery deserved “universal respect,”? she added, implying that this area deserves the same. The Museum, however, said that the Supreme Court ruling, which lasted over two years, confirmed that this is a site that is not considered a cemetery anymore, and it is an acceptable place to build on. CAIR, again on the other hand, said that the Supreme Court of Israel has allowed many unethical things to occur, like the continuing of an illegal occupation, the ongoing building of illegal Jewish-only settlements and the erection of an Apartheid wall, and thus cannot make any moral claims. The Museum, on the other hand, said that the main opponent of the project is a supporter of Hamas, whose intent is to destroy Israel and anything Jewish, and that this is only one of many construction projects that he has opposed in Israel. Eventually, one discredited the other, and there was nothing left to believe. It really stopped becoming about the cemetery altogether.

What could be extracted from this is that there was a cemetery in the area a while ago, and it was abandoned, and the issue is if a cemetery that is abandoned can really still be considered a cemetery. Is there a difference between bones in the ground and a cemetery? It”s true that many areas in Jerusalem have bones, and so it may be common to come by them once in a while, but this is a large concentration of bones. A similar conflict is ongoing in America with the graves of Native Americans. Archaeologists and scientists believe that by unearthing Native American burials, they may gain knowledge of the past. Native Americans believe that it is inhuman to do this to their dead, claiming also they know their past, and do not need scientists to affirm this. These issues both boil down to the issue on if it is ethical to unbury the dead, for whatever reason. Ran Boytner explained that when it comes to development, graves are unburied and reburied quite frequently. Across the world, it is routine that cemeteries are removed and people are reburied to make space for development, including for private, commercial and places of worship. Yet, given the context of the present conflict in the Middle East, no observer can escape the symbolic hypocrisy of building a Jewish Museum of Tolerance on top of a Muslim cemetery. It may be legal, but it certainly demonstrates no tolerance. Interestingly enough, there was an earlier plan to build a Muslim university on top of this same car park and cemetery a while ago, and it never went through because it did not have adequate funding. However, Affad Shaikh, another representative of CAIR-Los Angeles, said that the man who was to build this Muslim university was not considered a Muslim leader. He was very corrupt, and few agreed with his beliefs.? It is clear that this issue is really a clash of information drowned in a clash of two identities. In reference to the parking lot, Shaikh said that at the time the parking lot was being built, Muslims could not protest such an act. If they did, they were put in prison.

It is very important for the Museum to understand why this project is being contested, and for the contesters to understand why the Museum believes this place to be acceptable to build on. By truly understanding the other side, one can achieve a solution. The Native Americans versus the anthropologists issue was partially solved by NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), where a Native American must always be present at a development site, and if a grave is found, the most likely descendant is given the authority on what ought to be done with it. More often than not, the graves are unburied and reburied elsewhere. In both cases, it is the responsibility of those in charge to listen to the minority when it concerns their dead, and to address the concerns around this such that everyone may receive proper understanding of both sides, and a solution may appear.

But outside of religion and ethics, it”s clear this is also a political thing. If a Muslim cemetery is trampled on by a building that is founded by a Jew, Muslims will feel like Jews are trampling on their past. Ivan Strenski, a religious studies professor at UCLA, commented about people and religion. Religion is like an identity. It”s like being American. When you look at Iran and Iraq, the identity conflict is between Shi”as and Sunnis, and then when Israel comes in, its between Muslims and Jews.? So indeed, this is a clash between two identities. The only reason cemeteries are valued is because of their memory of the past. It”s actually brilliant that this particular museum is to be built, versus anything else, because this place is intended to be a place of tolerance. Perhaps if the Museum made an exhibit on this particular issue, or on the ancient cemetery, and chose to work closely with CAIR and other Muslim organizations in Jerusalem to bring a loud and accessible Muslim voice to the future Museum of Tolerance, the two religions would come together and learn how similar they are, and start a healing process. It is in peace that we can solve issues of violence, and we cannot be too naïve to translate our emotions from elsewhere here”we must try, though impossibly, to solve this with a fully open mind, and really understand where the other side is coming from. These political gestures, from both sides, have a kernel of anxiety that can be addressed, and extinguished. As for the placement of the museum, it is unlikely that everyone will agree on where it ought to be placed. In hopes that the two groups come together, maybe a conversation could be had where the Museum may justify its standpoint but also listen to the others, while those against it can justify their standpoint and listen to the Museum”s. Once each understands each other, and all the contradictions follow the same grain, both hands may place the first brick for this Museum that is bound to help tolerance in the region.