Here is the official multimedia recap of my Israel trip last week with links to Flickr, YouTube and bloggings here and elsewhere. I will update this page as more videos are uploaded and blog posts written.

7/5/10

• Old City walkabout (photos)

7/6/10

• Protest against home demolitions outside Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s home (photos & video + blogged)

7/7/10

• Tour through East Jerusalem, including Shiekh Jarrah and Silwan (photos & video coming)
• Seeing Budrus in Ramallah  (blogged)

7/9/10

• Meeting Dov Hanin, top MK of Hadash, in the Knesset (blogged)
• Sheikh Jarrah protest  (photos & video coming)

7/11/10

• Strategizing in the Breaking the Silence office (photos)

7/12/10

• Visit to Bil’in and Nebi Sahleh villages in the West Bank, run in with settler teens  (photos & video + blogged)
• Drive through southern West Bank around Hebron (photos & video coming)

7/13/10

• Protest in Dahamash in Israeli city of Ramle (photos & video coming)

7/14/10

• 30 mins in Notre Dam (photos)

Finally, my favorite pics of my Jerusalem peeps are here, includes some repeats, and the Flickr photo sets listed conveniently in one collection here.

Not only has public land allotted for the village been appropriated by Israel to build this settlement, but much private land has been taken as well. And what land is nearby, Palestinian construction and even inhabiting is prohibited to maintain the buffer zone. All of this is ostensibly to protect the settlers, but serves the settlement’s expansion because private land left “untended” reverts to Israel’s control within a year. Essentially, Israel blocks Palestinians from their land for security reasons, then steals it because Palestinians can’t access their land. It’s the insanity of the occupation, ensconced in law.

In Nebi Sahleh, the catalyst for forming a non-violent protest committee in the style of Budrus was the buffer zone’s prohibition of their accessing the town’s privately-owned spring. The town appealed to the Israeli High Court and achieved marginal victories upholding their ownership and rights to access, yet find the Israeli military still prohibiting it.

Furthermore, the Civil Administration zoned the plot an “archeological site” and thus blocked any development by the Palestinians. But while visiting Nebi Sahleh to meet the organizers of their committee, we stopped by the spring to witness settler teens digging a swimming pool in this so-called archeological site with pitchforks and shovels! See the video below for what happened when the settler guard arrived and called the IDF on us:

After a week and a half, I’ve reached the end of this journey. My airport shuttle hurtles through Jerusalem neighborhoods, swooping up bleary-eyed 2 am passengers airport-bound. The hills are as black as the night sky, making the highway down from the Jerusalem hills look like a rollercoaster in outer space. House lights on opposite hills become arms of the Milky Way, orbiting past. By divine providence, the radio is playing “Streets of New York” by Alicia Keys and I can’t help but smile. Time to go home.

I am reinvigorated, recharged, galvanized anew. Unlike my first visit, I come away not with a feeling of embattled loneliness but crackling excitement. Being a great activist is greatly about being a great storyteller — and I come away with both inspirational yarns and disturbing anecdotes. Doing this work requires finding hope, however small, in the actions of tzadikim on the ground here. The prognosis is bad, the occupation’s steamroller crushes lives daily, and the politics are ugly. But aside from newfound urgency, I bring back with me new plans, projects and connections that will turn the tide.

Activists on the ground are so utterly bereft of hope. They see their country continue to appropriate Palestinian land day to day, settlements rise despite the freeze, and the Israeli public remain apathetic if not outright hostile. They know they are few in number. But what they can’t see from their individual trenches is the vast community doing this work together. The percolations of a “new left” bubble out and reach our ears in the Diaspora. They are coming out of dormancy, asserting themselves with vehemence despite their limited numbers. And they’re winning small but important victories.

Meanwhile, the increasing number of Diaspora Jews who’ve been to the territories and maybe even made a Palestinian friend slowly but surely reach important echelons of communal leadership at home. There is a sleeper effect, waiting. And the sudden advent of J Street has altered the status quo in Congress, still yet to actualize its full potential. And I know of similar J Street projects now budding across the furthest reaches of Diaspora Jewry.

And what the activists on the ground cannot see is themselves: fighting the most important battles, standing up for Jewish-Arab equality, flexing democratic muscle, refusing to lay down the cause even when it is unpopular. They do not see how inspiring they are. They do not know how crucial it is for us out here to see them fighting in there. When the country seems to be striving as hard as possible to scuttle our connection, what saves my belief this country is worth saving? Them. Their laughing in the face of adversity, their 14-hour work days fighting for someone else’s rights. Scrappy, sunburned, impulsive, single-minded.

Out here in Diaspora, we owe them every ounce of matched passion. If they can sacrifice so much, then so can we. The State of Israel is not core to my being nor to my Jewish identity, but its progressive leaders are exemplars of a vision I am chasing for all societies. Their example fuels me. Can we inspire them in turn? Can I? Do they need — as I do — reinforcement by example? It is only fair to give them back what they gave me in spades: a sense of fraternity for those of us who live and breathe this issue.

They are all saying these days that a change will not occur within Israeli society, but must come from another player. The status quo is rooted in all parties — America, Europe, Israel, Palestine — and if but one of them shifted, we could break free. American Jewish communal politics is key and symbolic communities abroad like JCall are important. Our role is crucial. After the crash of post-Oslo, we are rebuilding, reconvening, reviving. For what are you waiting for?

New purpose, new projects, new people. These are what I’m bringing home to New York City. I came here and rolled up my sleeves, and as I return home, those sleeves are still up. In more ways that one, it’s time to get back to work.

Peace out, Jerusalem.

(And more after-the-fact posts about my trip coming still. Cross-posted to Jewschool.) ]]> http://www.judaismwithoutborders.org/2010/07/13/peace-out-jerusalem/feed/ 0 http://www.judaismwithoutborders.org/2010/07/13/protest-against-dahamash-demolitions/ http://www.judaismwithoutborders.org/2010/07/13/protest-against-dahamash-demolitions/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:28:52 +0000 Kung Fu Jew 18 http://www.judaismwithoutborders.org/2010/07/13/protest-against-dahamash-demolitions/

Protest against Dahamash demolitions, originally uploaded by Kung Fu Jew 18.

In Ramle, Israeli city where Dahamash neighborhood is located. Several hundred bused in from other cities and non-violent committees.

This lovely building and its sterile wait room are where Palestinians come when summoned by the military. Also, this is where land appropriation notices are posted. Seven days notice are all that’s given.

See here the public street where it turns Jew-only at the barricades, just a block from the Machpela, Abraham’s Tomb.

So much for democracy.

This is the main street of Hebron, area H2, where 1,200 shops are closed by warrant to protect 300 ideological settlers who represent the most vile of racial nationalism.

All construction is illegal in this zone since the Oslo Accords (because it’s under Israeli control, and they don’t want any) and Israel refuses to connect Palestinians to water, electricity, or sewage. Never mind a settlement is 500 meters away.

But guerilla Israeli activists build small wind turbines to provide power through a project called Comet.

Pyrric victory. They’ll just be back tomorrow.