CPTnet
April 19, 200
BETHLEHEM: Explosive Tension at Har Gilo
by Reinhard Kober

In a few days Jews and Christians will celebrate Passover and Easter,
feasts of God's righteousness and liberation. God leads his people out of
slavery and oppression; Passover remembers the exodus and Easter emphasizes
the resurrection.

After 52 years Israel is still expanding at the expense of the Palestinian
people. Nowadays it seems that the Israeli Prime Minister doesn't feel
obliged to keep promises he announced almost one year ago: no settlement
expansion, no more by-pass roads. The breaking of these promises means more
oppression of Palestinians.

Last week Anne Montgomery and I supported the Israeli peace
movement Peace Now in their resistance against 230 new settler housing
units for Har Gilo settlement, near the extended Jerusalem border. One peace
activist explained: "The settler's strategy is quite clear... In front of
your eyes you can see the building of a Jewish neighbourhood between the
Palestinian villages of Walaja and Beit Jalla. In doing so, both villages
are denied the space needed to grow, develop and breathe."

As our group of approximately 30 people, young and old, attempted to block
one of the bulldozers, police moved in, forcing us to the side. Shortly
thereafter, twenty or more settlers showed up with megaphones and banners,
one of which read, "You can't dance with a murderer" and pictured a gun
wielding Arafat. The police formed a buffer between us in
order to avoid confrontations.

Suddenly a man, who I immediately recognized as an armed settler, attacked
me. He jostled me as I was holding up a sign that read "Settlements = War".
"You f---ing German!" the man yelled in my face. "Never tell me about my
right to live here. You killed thousands of our Jews!!'

I have no idea how he knew that I'm German. However, after four months of
working with CPT in Hebron, I knew about the explosive tension that I could
expect when "getting in the way". In fact, I had been waiting for this
moment. He became very agitated when I responded, "Do you only know how to
use violence?" - probably not the best response I could have given. I felt
again how difficult it is to use nonviolent language in situations like
this to try and build understanding.

I can feel deeply the need for all of us to be liberated from our enslaved
hearts: What makes this man so deeply vulnerable and unable to see the
basic needs of his Palestinian neighbours? For a long time we in Germany
ignored that the foundation of the Israeli state, which ended the Jewish
exile and Jewish powerlessness after the Holocaust, was the beginning of the
Palestinian exile and Palestinian powerlessness.

For me it is important to recognize that the conflict here is not only one
between Palestinians and Israelis. It is the struggle against oppression
and for the liberation of all. This is why we need to remember both the
exodus and resurrection!