In October 2000, two Israeli soldiers entered Ramallah and were arrested by the Palestinian Authority police. An agitated Palestinian mob stormed the police station, beat the soldiers to death, and threw their mutilated bodies from a window. The mob then abused the bodies and dragged them through the street. The killings were captured on video by an Italian TV crew (Mediaset) and broadcast on TV. Images captured from the scene included one of the lynchers waving his blood-stained hands from the window to an enthusiastic crowd, who went on to beat the dead bodies.
Mark Seager, a British photographer who was the only journalist to witness the lynchings stated “I know they are not all like this and I’m a very forgiving person but I’ll never forget this. It was murder of the most barbaric kind. When I think about it, I see that man’s head, all smashed. I know that I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life.”
This moment in time is etched deeply in my mind. A shift in Israeli perception of “the situation”. The second intefada had just started in September and continued for the next 6 years. At that time, it was hard to imagine that such violence would clench the region for so many years, especially since economically, both sides were doing extremely well. Many Palestinians were working with (and without) permits within Israeli territories. Many households I knew employed domestic helpers who’d come in from Qalqilya every morning. The majority of construction workers all across the country came from Gaza and the West Bank. Masses of Israeli’s drove out to towns in the west bank every weekend to buy their fresh produce, including the most wonderful olive oil. Their casino was also reeling in Israeli shequels, as gambling is illegal within Israeli territories.
I remember visiting Eyal in Gaza and going to the beach. He was serving in the army, had Saturday duty, and we came down to bring him some good food. This was not a crazy adventure. No. Just a two hour drive down from Tel-Aviv. No big deal. Nowadays I would never dream of crossing into that plot of land.
But the Lynch did change it all.
Especially as emotions were amplified by mass media, repetitive coverage of this story. The utter brutality of these killings acted, in effect, as the cornerstone of the wall that would be built between Israelis and Palestinians. As the walls were being raised, trust faded, and the only connection many Israelis had with their neighbors existed through televised media.
Physical walls take longer to build than to tear down. Trust, however, takes even longer to rebuild. There was absolutely no trust. Not even liberal Israelis dared employ a Palestinian worker. “The situation” as Israelis like to call it, has escalated to a state of separation – little to no contact between the two sides. Or to clarify – little to no contact between regular people on both sides.
However, I am excited to witness a slow yet gradual increase in grassroots operations connecting across the two sides of the wall. Those who are able to forgive and work through issues that stand in between. Willing to take a risk, stretch a hand, and realize that similarities between the two sides shall over-power the differences.
I was deeply moved by Robi Damelin’s talk at the 2008 Pangea Day events in Los Angeles. Robi Damelin’s son was killed by a Palestinian sniper while he was guarding a checkpoint near a settlement during his army reserve service. Nowadays, Robi is an active member of a group of 500 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost close family members and who work together for reconciliation and a just resolution to the conflict. She speaks with a Palestinian partner in communities and schools throughout Israel and the Palestinian Territories, as well as internationally. I highly recommend listening to her talk, especially as she reads out the letter she sent to the mother of the Palestinian sniper who killed her son.
Robi has carried out over 1,000 classroom lectures with Israeli 17-year-olds, who were due to join the army. She discovered that while more than 70% of the youngsters in Israeli classes had been overseas, very few knew a Palestinian, despite living 10 minutes apart.
“In Palestinian schools they have not met an Israeli out of uniform who is not standing at a roadblock or an Israeli who is not a settler,” she says.
It is impossible for me to comprehend just how much courage it took Robi to overcome her anger and take this route of compassion. Robi is setting an example for the world; and I am in awe.
Luckily, we are are not all like Jill Price – the woman who remembers every day of her life. Emotions fade, and memories become hazy. As time goes by, we make peace with the past, and look for a brighter future. It is heartening to see that even through his traumatic experience in the West Bank, Marc Seager has not given up on attempting to capture images from Palestine, to keep punching another hole through the wall.
[tags] israel, palestine, wall, intefada, lynch, ramallah, robi, damelin, pangeaday [/tags]