CPTnet
November 27, 2001
HEBRON: Ramadan Reflection #3. Ramadan Hunger

By Mary Lawrence

[During the month of Ramadan, November 16 December 15, members of CPT
Hebron will be fasting from sunup to sundown along with their Muslim
neighbors. The Team will post periodic reflections during this time.]

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be
filled" Matthew 5:6 (paraphrased)

"As this Ramadan begins, the Palestinians are in the worst situation they
have been in since the Israeli occupation befell them," writes Gideon Levy
in the November 17 edition of the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz. "Their lack
of freedom has reached a level that they have never known before. Only a few
people in the world live under such dire conditions of occupation, and
none of them have been subjected to occupation for such a lengthy period of
time."

Levy points out that during this holy month of Ramadan, the Israeli
occupation has effectively decided who will eat with whom. This is a month
of fasting and prayer, and of family feasting. However, a Palestinian
friend of CPT tells us that her brother was stopped and beaten by soldiers
at the checkpoint and is now afraid to come into this part of Hebron to
join the family for the evening celebrations. Many others are simply not
allowed through checkpoints from one town or village to another.

 What is worse is that the tight closure imposed on Palestinian villages
and towns is responsible for creating a forty percent unemployment rate in
the occupied West Bank and Gaza. "Poverty," says Levy, "has turned to
hunger." Many Palestinian families will not be serving the traditional meat
dishes during Ramadan. Young men and fathers of families who have tried
unsuccessfully to cross "illegally" into Israel to find a day's work, are
now under "administrative detention" in Israeli jails. Their families
remain without a breadwinner.

As we move into observing this second week of Ramadan, I become more deeply
aware of all the hungers in this place. Most Palestinians are hungering
during the day because they are
observing a religious fast, hoping to grow closer to God, and remembering
with compassion all those who are poor and hungry. Some Palestinians are
hungering because they are unable to buy enough food to feed their families.
All Palestinians are hungering, day and night, for justice.