CPTnet

17 January 2009

AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Soldiers in the village 

by Art Gish  

"There are soldiers in the village," came the call.  Right by our house in the village of At-Tuwani, where Christian Peacemaker Teams has had a presence since 2004, we saw an Israeli military jeep and humvee.  Soldiers were standing on the street with guns drawn. 

The villagers ignored the soldiers, continuing their work.  One person was building a little planter for flowers.  One was working on a house.  

We were worried, but it turned out the soldiers had made a wrong turn and were having difficulty turning around on our narrow road.  After getting their vehicles turned around, they quickly left the village. 

How sad.  The soldiers didn't need to have their guns drawn.  They could have come into the village in a friendly way, as many Israeli peace activists have done, and the villagers might have warmly welcomed them.  The villagers could have given them simple directions so that they would not have needed to turn around.  They could have had tea together.  They could have shared stories about their families.  They could have listened to each other's pain.  They could have become friends. 

Instead, they left, having talked to nobody, without giving or receiving anything.  They may even have been relieved to get out of the village, to get away from the people they feared. 

I wish those soldiers could experience the love and joy that I experience with the villagers in At-Tuwani.  I wish we could put away our guns and our missiles, and open ourselves to worlds to which we have been closed.  There is a beautiful, good world out there.