I've been in Bethlehem all of three days, but thanks to truly great hospitality, I have met some wonderful and interesting people. Mostly, they want to welcome me and be pleasant, but I have also been plunged into some deep issues already.
Mostly, the conflict. I'll be honest about the fact that it's not what I came here to learn about, and thus I know very little about its history. I also am aware that my experience here will likely be very one-sided, as basically everyone I will talk to is going to be a foreigner or Palestinian, rather than Israeli.
But here's some interesting quotes to get this discussion rolling a little bit:
"Everyone just as the wrong idea about us (Palestinians)"
-Rhula, a 16-year-old, telling me about Western perceptions of the conflict. That was about as much as she wanted to say, since she, along with the only other younger person I have met, really didn't care to hear discussion of the conflict for what appeared to be the thousandth time.
"Two states will never work. We need to live together in peace in one state"
-Rhula's uncle. The problem that Patti points out is that Israel is stressing more and more its existence as a "Jewish state".
"Christians here get walked on. We too much get hit and then give the other side of our face."
-Rhula's uncle again. He was referring, of course, to Christ's teaching about "turning the other cheek." I've really only talked to Christians about this, who are mostly alarmed by their dwindling numbers (from a majority, they are now well under 10 percent of the population in Bethlehem, with 3,000 leaving the area since the end of 2007). They say the lack of presence ruins the reality of the holy sites and the idea of a Christian Holy Land. What are old stones and churches without any actual Christians living there?
"Jerusalem aside, the settlements are the real problem."
-Patty. She pointed across the way to an Israeli settlement, and explained how she thinks they are gradually surrounding Bethlehem and the other Palestinian territories. She frequently has said they are what stand in the way of peace.
"God will never forgive them for what they have done."
-Another friend of Patty's, who we spent yesterday with. This woman watched soldiers corner her son with machine guns in his chest, while she stood by helpless. He was eight years old at the time. He hates when she talks about it.
She frequently says she doesn't hate them, that she she only wants peace. After hearing quite a few stories from her, I was mostly amazed at the deep faith and frequent joy this woman had found despite the trauma.
After talking with her, especially, I had to take a second. The people I have met have been so very friendly and comfortable. I had to take a minute to look around and remember, despite its relative calm, I live in a place that recently was a direct war zone. Ok.
There's a lot to think about in all of this. I think people have tended to open up around me because I just got here and know very little about the conflict. Maybe they just want to help me understand, maybe they need to have a chance to talk about it because of the pain it still causes. I know I'll get more than I bargained for in that respect, but it's ok.
On a lighter note, check out the graffiti on my street:
The problem with remaining as one state is that Israel was created to be a Jewish state after World War II because the Jews had pretty much been a persecuted minority everywhere they went. Because the Muslim population is growing much faster than the Jewish population, however, Jews would be a minority in a one-state Israel within a few decades. So that would defeat much of the purpose of having Israel as a state in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe idea I've heard that sounds the most fair would be to have two states, and then have Jerusalem and Bethlehem be "neutral cities," administered by a committee of Israeli and Palestinian secular authorities, plus Jewish, Muslim, and Christian religious leaders. I don't know how well that would work logistically, but it seems like a good idea at least in theory.