Friday, 9 September, our group of mostly German Mennonites, in the first German-speaking CPT delegation, participated in a Women in Black vigil. The Women in Black are Israelis, including Holocaust survivors, who silently protest the Israeli occupation of the land of Palestine by gathering at the same spot in West Jerusalem at the same time every week since the first Intifada.  They hold up signs in the shape of a black hand bearing the slogan, “End the Occupation” in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.

At the vigil we encountered animosity by Israeli passers-by and many of us felt uncomfortable taking part in the protest because German history.  However, although we could respond to insulting gestures and shouting and even aggressive Israeli youth by smiling and silently praying for them, we were not prepared for one particular Jewish reaction, even though we all knew exactly what that reaction would be.  The challenge of how Germans, responsible for the Holocaust and the extermination of six million Jews, could dare criticize Israel, the perceived safe haven for the Jewish people.