AT-TUWANI BLOG: “What else is there to do?”
April 23rd, 2009
in:
CPTnet
23 April 2009
AT-TUWANI BLOG: “What else is there to do?”
By Joy Ellison
[Note: the following reflection is from an 18 April 2009 entry in At-Tuwani CPTer Joy Ellison’s blog, “I saw it in Palestine,” http://inpalestine.blogspot.com/]
Today was another one of those days that can't be adequately described. When I arrived in Mashaha valley, I found a friend of ours absolutely beside himself. His field of wheat had been completely destroyed. Settlers grazed their sheep in the middle of his field and now his wheat crop is decimated.
The day went down hill from there. Soldiers drove up clearly intending to declare the area a closed military zone, which always a very troubling development in this area since access to land is so important and so tenuous. You can read more information about what happened in the CPTnet release, “AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers destroy crops near At-Tuwani village; soldiers declare area a Closed Military Zone,” (http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2009/04/18/tuwani-israeli-settlers-destroy-cro...) but that's not what stood out for me.
I was struck deeply by how easily the hard work of a Palestinian farmer is destroyed. In November, Palestinians plowed that field in Mashaha in an impressive act of resistance. That day, the army permitted them to work and kept the settlers at bay. But a week ago, I watched as a jeep accompanied a settler has he grazed his sheep in the Mashaha and today, the soldiers conferred with the settlers and allowed them to stay in the area. Moreover, they acted as though Palestinians had no right to be there whatsoever. How quickly things change.
It's hard to believe that daily acts of nonviolent resistance—that plowing fields, grazing sheep, and harvesting olives—will be enough to build a just peace against an oppressive, violent state. But what else is there to do?
23 April 2009
AT-TUWANI BLOG: “What else is there to do?”
By Joy Ellison
[Note: the following reflection is from an 18 April 2009 entry in At-Tuwani CPTer Joy Ellison’s blog, “I saw it in Palestine,” http://inpalestine.blogspot.com/]
Today was another one of those days that can't be adequately described. When I arrived in Mashaha valley, I found a friend of ours absolutely beside himself. His field of wheat had been completely destroyed. Settlers grazed their sheep in the middle of his field and now his wheat crop is decimated.
The day went down hill from there. Soldiers drove up clearly intending to declare the area a closed military zone, which always a very troubling development in this area since access to land is so important and so tenuous. You can read more information about what happened in the CPTnet release, “AT-TUWANI: Israeli settlers destroy crops near At-Tuwani village; soldiers declare area a Closed Military Zone,” (http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2009/04/18/tuwani-israeli-settlers-destroy-cro...) but that's not what stood out for me.
I was struck deeply by how easily the hard work of a Palestinian farmer is destroyed. In November, Palestinians plowed that field in Mashaha in an impressive act of resistance. That day, the army permitted them to work and kept the settlers at bay. But a week ago, I watched as a jeep accompanied a settler has he grazed his sheep in the Mashaha and today, the soldiers conferred with the settlers and allowed them to stay in the area. Moreover, they acted as though Palestinians had no right to be there whatsoever. How quickly things change.
It's hard to believe that daily acts of nonviolent resistance—that plowing fields, grazing sheep, and harvesting olives—will be enough to build a just peace against an oppressive, violent state. But what else is there to do?
