Wi'am Center for Palestinian Conflict Resolution



Wi'am's playground is in foreground.

 

Usama



     The name Wi'am means "harmony" or "agreement" and is what this NGO is all about, even while it embraces the struggle for Palestinian freedom from occupation. It has a lovely playgrund nestled beside the Apartheid Wall -- a scene which is a good metaphor for the work of the organization. Wi'am did not chose to put the playground and its offices next to the ugly wall , but Israel errected the wall and Wi'am did not budge. We were greeted by Usama Nicola, who gave us an hour of his time even though we did not have an appointment.  But first he offered us a tiny cup of Arabic coffee.
     The Wi'am brochure says, "The more cups (of coffee) we drink, the more conflicts we solve!" The Arabic traditiion is for both sides to share a cup of coffee once they have reached agreement through mediation.
     Like a lot of other NGOs, this one started in 1994 as soon as the Oslo Agreement was signed and almost everyone thought that peace was at hand and they should prepare themselves for running a democratic, independent country. Workshops and trainings sprang up all over Palestine to teach civic education, the value of elections, and sustainable development. At the same time as people needed training in non-violent means of solving problems, they had alot of basic needs from years of deprivation under Israeli occupation.  Wi'am tried to meet those needs in this Bethlehem community near two refugee camps, Aida and Azza.
      Programs are offered to help traumatized children, programs to empower women through income-producing activities, programs to address domestic violence, environmental degradation, youth delinquency and drug abuse. "Our society is living in a constant state of uncertainty with always a risk of potential violence," states the brochure. "We are living in a pressure cooker situation. It is in this context we provide our services."
     Training for trainers in many models of conflict resolution, mediation and non-violent resistance fills the rest of the center's agenda. It is a two year training for college graduates and includes mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice and civil society education. The importance given to the training comes from a spiritual committment to the belief that every human is an image of God, and that one must use the tools of justice (nonviolence) to fight injustice.
     As we were talking, Usama got a phone call with the news that Israel had just confiscaated 150 dunams (about 40 acres) from two families in the greater Bethlehem area to give to the abutting Daniel settlement. His own grandfather had owned land in that area, but it was taken 10 years ago.
     Wi'am identifies itself as a Christian organization, yet serves a largely Muslim community. (I was interested to learn that it is a member of the International Fellowship of  Reconciliation.)  International volunteers help Wi'am, but if they tell the Israeli "passport control" officials in the airport that the reason for their visit is to help a Palestinian organization, they will either get deported or be given only a 10 day visa.
      So we ask Usama about the current situation and how people are coping? Usama says that his people are tired and can only focus on feeding themselves. Things keep happening that destroy their hope. For example, there was an opportunity for unity between the two main parties, Hamas and Fatah, in 2006, " but nothing happened." (The lack of unity within Palestine is a big disappointment to everyone I met.)
     Usama continued: Even Israel is divided, and needs a common enemy to keep it together. Thirty percent of settlers are ultra-religious and don't care about the state of Israel; they don't work, pay no taxes and don't serve in the army. Another bunch are apathetic "economic" settlers who have subsidized housing and services and do their shopping in West Bank stores that have cheaper prices than in Israel. Then there are the new immigrant settlers from India, Ethiopia, Russia, etc., many of whom are not even Jewish but say they are in order to benefit from jobs, free education and all the privileges that accrue from serving in the army. There is not much that unites the settlers to each other or to the rest of Israeli society except fear.
     I ask about the Arab Spring. Usama says it is an important change but won't help Palestine because all the Arab countries in revolt are wrapped up in their own situations and not paying attention to Palestine. And the Arab world is fragmented. He thinks the protestors won't win in the end because only 30% want change, while 70% are afraid of change. The Islamists will win. The next 10-15 years will be theirs, backed by the West. So Usama and many others here refer to the popular uprisings as the "Arab Winter."
     Wi'am makes a positive contribution to its immediate community and to Palestinian civil society which it guides in the direction of nonviolent resistance. In the shadow of the Bethlehem checkpoint and Aparthed Wall, it is yet another symbol of "sumud" - steadfastness.

Racism is in the Mind, Not in the Heart

     Sammeh Hammoudeh’s optimism is infections because he comes from his heart, and you can't argue with the heart. He says, in the context of our conversation about religions and how he reacts to what Israel is doing to Palestinians, "If you live from your heart, there is nothing between you and God, and then you have no anxieties or fear." His warm smile fills the room, and I believe that he walks his talk.
     Sammeh was encarcerated in a U.S. prison for two and a half years before being exhonerated of all charges of supporting terrorist organizations. Then, disregarding his innocence, the court ordered him deported. He was handed over to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and put in jail for the maximum time allowed for someone awaiting deportation. The good news was that he was returned to his native Palestine The bad news was that he was kept from finishing the last three months of his PHD. studies at the University of Southern Florida.
     He might have cause to be bitter. Instead, he puts his personal experience in the context of the ebb and flow of world events, adds a large dose of spirituality, and shares his wisdom with his wife, six children, his university students, and us. Sammeh now teaches Political Science at Beir Zeit University.
I was anxious to hear Sammeh's opinions and analysis of the Arab Spring and its effects here in Palestine. Here is what I gleaned from our conversation over a traditional Palestinian dinner, coffee and tea.
     "The Arab Spring is an introduction to change." Israel must now be more careful. It cannot do whatever it wants because its actions are bringing reactions in the Arab countries that surround it. The recent prisoner "swap" (one Israeli for 900 Palestinians) was a result of pressure from Egypt. Jordan is having weekly demonstrations outside the Israeli embassy in Amman. Syria is holding out, but is targeted by the West for its support of Hezbollah, Hamas and alliance with Iran. But the main thing is the people are learning that they can DO something. And the politicians are learning that they CANNOT do whatever they want. An additional bonus is that the Arab Spring has changed American attitudes towards Arabs. (I recalled the posters in Wisconsin saying "This is Our Tahir Square.")
     As for one state or two states, Israel made sure that two states would fail, because they didn't want an independent Palestinian state alongside it. Yet Israel's racism makes one state impossible also. Zionists have acted with a "kind of stupidity" by putting their state in the middle of the Arab world and simultaneously rejecting all things Arab. "They think that power can get them everything....But look what happened to Egypt." Israel is fighting a losing war with its Arab neighbors.
     The answer lies in Israel realizing that it will not have security as a racist state and must change its attitude to respecting and cooperating with Arabs. This change of heart will bring peace to the Middle East. In fact securiy never comes from military power, but only from accepting other cultures. Such openness will eventually eliminate racism. "Racism is not natural; it is in the mind, not in the heart."
     We asked about Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas has the position that Israel is not a legitimate state, and this land is Palestine and cannot be given to anyone. Thus, they would like to dismantle Israel, but not by killing the Jews. Their position wll not change and will not allow Hamas to "negotiate" with Israel. Sammeh sees Muslim Brotherhood through the lens of the charitable work they do on the ground, and notes that they are not as extremist as the Wahabi sect of Islam that won 20% of the elections in Egypt. He does not think the Brotherhood is allied with the U.S. in any way (which would ruin its reputation), whereas the PA and Israel are controlled by the U.S..
     Sammeh admits that he is an optimist: "Change will come to Palestine soon - in the next ten years." How does he think this? Well, he notes, changes have been happeninng in the whole world, from attitudes towards the rights of women to having global connections that can bring down dictators and strengthen the voice of the people. While I have my own doubts, I appreciate this voice from a well-informed Palestinian intellectual.

SHEIK JARRAH, WHERE YOU CAN LOSE YOUR HOME OVERNIGHT

Qavi and others gather before the protest march

     Going back to Sheik Jarrah is always upsetting. Something about seeing with my own eyes that people are getting thrown out of their homes into the street while settlers move into the home, discard the furniture and personal belongings - everything from toys to photographs to beds and dishes - like so much garbage, put up Israeli flags and even a giant menorah on the Gowi home, and then come and go from the home as if it was really theirs -- it is unnerving. It has happened to three families so far, and at least two others have settlers living in parts of their houses or yards, while 23 more families are threated with a similar fate. Note that this threat can be carried out at any moment, starting with a knock on the door at 2:00 A.M.When I told him I had seen him back then, he informed me that since then he has been arrested 89 times for defending his right to live in his own home. 






 

Farhaat home -settler guard hut to the right

 

 

 Gowi home with menorah added by settlers

 I went with Doris to the weekly protest which is made up of many anti-occupation Israelis, some internationals, and a handful of stalwart Palestinians. We gathered across the intersection that leads into the Sheik Jarrah neighborood of middle class famllies. There I went over to a man holding a banner in English which said, "Repair the world, keep hope alive," and started a conversation. I thought he might be Palestinian and could tell me what the plan for today's demonstration was. Turned out he was an Englishman of Indian descent, born in New Delhi, and had come to Palestine several times but never to this particular demonstration. As the procession was about to begin, we continued talking as we walked.     

     Soon I was helping Qavi who was wrestling with the wind in his banner by carrying his folding cane/seat. I was able to explain which homes we passed were the ones settlers had occupied until we reached one I didn't know anything about. No one else I asked knew either. Finally I had a chance to ask the protest leader, who explained that this family's situation has not been as well publicized as it should be due to lack of coordination among supporters. It is the Farhaat family home of 30 people who still live, there though the outisde of the house is "decorated" with little Israeli flags, and adjoined by a sort of guard station with a settler inside it.





Nasser Gowi  addressing the crowd





     The protest leader is Nasser Gowi, head of the 37 member family that was thrown onto the streets back in August, 2009. I had seen him along with other adults and children of all ages camped out on the sidewalk across from his home in the Fall of 2009. When cold weather demanded it, they rented an apartment in another neighborhood but come back every week to haunt the setttlers

Hebron --Reclaiming Itsef from the Inside Out



Walid with promotional poster

     Although I have talked about criticisms of NGOs that receive foreign funding and pay inflated salaries that lull people to sleep, there is an NGO in the Palestinian city of Hebron with a budget of $2 Million that is working miracles. It is the Hebron Rehabilitation Committe (HRC). Because its director of PR, Walid Abu-Alhalaweh, is a friend of George's, we got a last minute appointment with him two days ago. His office is in a beautiful old building, typical of the kind they are rennovating throughout Hebron's Old City.
     Though greater Hebron boasts 600,000 inhabitants, its Old City had been practically abandoned by its residents when violent settlers moved into it under the protection of Israel's army. To push back against this devasting loss, HRC has in the last 15 years of operation rennovated 900 apartments and brought back 5,000 Palestinians to re-inhabit them. They have been joined in this task by Architects Without Borders, the governments of Sweden, Spain and other EU countries, Saudia Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, and other Arab and Western funders.
     Walid had just come out of a staff meeting where they were developing plans for the next 2 years. They will turn their focus from homes to businesses. They will offer to rennovate any Old City business that agrees to keep its doors open, and combine this effort with a campaign to change the city's image to "A Beautiful Hebron," and work on bringing the tourists that will support the businesses.
     It would seem grandiiose were it not for this organization's track record and its absolute dedication to working WITH and serving the community. People are constantly streaming in and out of the Center's offices seeking technical, legal and social help. I think it is this concern for the well-being of the entire community that has made HRC so successful.
     Furthermore, this Center does not let foreign funding cloud the reality of the occupation, which starkly manifests in the presence of 600 fanatical Israeli settlers in the middle of the Old City. Over 500 Palesitinian shops have been closed by miitary order so that settlers may circulate freely in the area they have chosen as their own. As stated in HRC's brochure, one of their objectives is, "to contain and encircle Jewish settlements inside the Old City, by erecting rings of buldings around them in order to stop their horiontal expansion and prevent their urban interconnection by increasing the Palestinian population density between them."
      In past years I knew Hebron as the city were Israeli settler children were throwing stones at Palestinian children on their way to school, and every Palestinian home had elaborate screening and gates over their windows to protect against settlers' regular attempts to break them. According to Walid, there is less of that now -- less tension -- but instead a kind of staqnation, as Palestinians have grown used to settler presence. To brighten their lives and inject some new energy, HRC has painted many doors and window frames a shade of purple that seems to reflect the sun and offsets the red geraniums in people's flower pots. (Forgive the absence of a photo showing this!)
      Another innovation is that local families are encouraged to receive foreign guests for overnight stays, creating a network of B & B's. Walid was working on a list of vocabulary to help hosts and guests navigate the language gap: towel, toilet paper, water, salt, lights, etc. Other families receive significant financial support: free water and electricity, free health care and free rent. Schools and a health clinic haave been added to serve the growing population. The HRC brochure exsplains:

"Breathing life back into the Old City neighborhoods takes more than the mere restoration and preservation of old buildings: it requires caring for the people who dwell there by creating a host of facilities and public services inside the Old City, including a social guidance center and a project to revive the old 'souq' itself."

     Needless to say, the rennovation work and efforts to promote cultural heritage requires skilled labor and craftspeople, so HRC now has a training academy which empowers 17-25 year old men and women by preparing them for real jobs.

     Before I left Hebron, I stopped at one of the famous glass factories to buy some gifts. I hope some of my readers will consider coming to Hebron to spend a night in the Old City, to shop for crafts and to help the city fulfill its dreams.




Ibrahimi Mosque -HRC is renovating interior ancient caligraphy.



 Doris in front of HRC

 

PALESTINE AND THE ARAB SPRING

I have interviewed activists, intellecuals, students and middle class professionals about their assessment of the Arab Spring, and its effects on Palesine. Among them is Mazin Qumsiyeh - a university professor and activist who spent 29 years in the U.S., Mohammed, also a professor and community leader, and Amal, who once was a member of the leadership of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), became disillusioned, and is now an outspoken critic of Palestinian politicians and promoter of Palestinian self determination.
In Mazin's words, Israel is in a hole and doesn't know what to do. The Palestinian Authority (PA) doesn't know either.
But the Arab Spring inspired Tahir Square-type encampments last March in both Ramallah (for 3 weeks) and Nablus (for two weeks). Their demands were for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah (Gaza and the West Bank), and an end to corruption in the PA. Their effectiveness could be measured by the fact that Fatah and Hamas signed a unification agreement the following May in a fairly obvious move to defuse the protests. Indeed, the encampers packed up and left the city centers. And the agreement went on a shelf.
The reconciliation agreement was not implemented, because in fact both parties like things the way they are. B oth have total power in their respective areas, Fatah in the West Bank, and Hamas in Gaza, and are pocketing many thousands of dollars sent by foreign governments in various aid packages. Reconciliation would mean sharing power, or-- more threatening-- submitting to elections that either or both parties might lose.
Meanwhile, the unaffiliated youth are not well enough organized to carry out a significant rebellion against the entrenched PA, and are also wary of seeming to agree with Israeli criticism. Their priority now is to overthrow the Israeli occupation.
Along with questions about the Arab Spring, I ask everyone their opinion about Palestine's bid for statehood at the U.N. It turns out that these are related issues. First, the U.N. bid probably wouldn't have happened if not for the Arab Spring. Abbas needed to do something to assert his authority and divert attentiion from his critics. However, while everyone would like a state, the conditions do not exist on the ground, and the PA has done nothing to prepare for a real state.
To begin with, there was no public discussion or plebicite to ask the people if they were in favor of such a bid. Abbas is not a popular figure, so his initiative did not have popular support until it was clear that it rattled Israel and the U.S. The PA spent alot of money advertizing for statehood, but should have instead, accordng to Mohammed, put its energy into speaking out and strategizing against settlements, the apartheid wall, home demolitions, and evictions, and for freeing political prisoners and, returning refugees to their homes. But they did none of that. They failed to speak for the Palestinian people; they have failed to lead the fight against the occupation.
In addition, Fatah and Hamas had not reconciled, which was bad for Palestine's image on the world stage. And, most surprising to me, the PA had no plan for what to do when the U.S. vetoed statehood in the Security Council.
Firas, the 26 year old son of my friend Nadia, added another note to this discussion. While change is good and needed, the U.S. is in there somewhere, trying to turn events to its advantage. I think we Americans need to pay heed to this observation when we try to understand what is happening in the Middle East. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood is presented in Western media as a sort of boogey man, but is in fact supported by the US as a destabilizing presence. It is a right wing, self-aggrandizing, pro-imperialist movement. That it won the majority in the Tunisian elections is probably an indication of Western intervention.
Amal has co-founded the Arab Cultural Center in Ramallah in order to gather unaffiliated leftists for discussion, cultural heritage preservation and to support young activists. I attended one of their weekly meetings when the agenda was the Arab Spring, although they didn't use that term. They don't consider the uprisings to be true revolutions. They are mass mobilizations that have been infiltrated and undermined by foreign intervention. An example is Egypt the protesters have only managed to cut off the head of the oppressive system.
Libya was an instance of recolonization by Europe. "NATO does not liberate countries." Instead, it destroyed the infrastructure in order to reassert dominance. Syria is being targeted in a similar manner, in an effort to make it pro-West and pro-America. Currently Syria is allied with Iran, and supports Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza - two "anti-West" groups which the U.S. has labeled as terrorist. Syria represents secular pan- Arab nationalism, which is anathema to the U.S. because it reaches across borders to unite all Arabs .For example, Iraq, under U.S. control, now has 146 political parties, but not one is a nationalist party.
The U.S. has changed its tactics when it comes to Syria because it cannot afford another military intervention such as in Libya. The Arab League is doing the dirty work of cooperating with the U.S., and the media, including Al Jazeera, is lying about the number of protesters and casualties in the streets. There are legitimate grievances against the regime, and there are people protesting in the steets, but this group fears that the U.S. may be fomenting civil war.
One member of the Center said that he has seen democracy in the U.S. where he lived from 2006-2009), and he doesn't want to see that democcracy in the Arab world. In U.S occupied Iraq there are now 146 political parties, not one of them a nationalist party. He said, "I don't buy the story of democracy. It's a nice story. That's all."
The mobilizaations in the Arab world could push Hamas (also Muslim Brotherhood) more toward the Right, towards cooperating with Israel like the PA does. Their main concern is in maintaining power. As one proof of the Muslim Brotherhood's self-serving alliances, the Center members state that the Brotherhood was more actively protesting in the streets during Nasser's popular regime than it was under Mubarak's oppressive regime. I have heard from several sectors of independent thinkers in Palestine that Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood is anti-democratic and anti-populist with a narrow focus on conservative religious authoritarian ideology. They are useful to the U.S. as a pawn in the strategy of divide and conquer.
The changes occuring in the Middle East are complex, exciting and confusing, and here in Palestine they are both embraced and observed with caution.

WHICH SHALL THE WALL TAKE: AL-WALAJA VILLAGE OR CREMISAN WINERY?

A LESSON IN DIVIDE AND CONQUER.



Monastery home to Cremisan Winery



     Last year I went with Mazin to see what was happening in a small village near Bethlehem called Al-Walaja. Israel was in the process of building the apartheid wall all the way around the village in order to expropriate all of the agricultural land from which it lives, and to contain/imprison its inhabitants. The specific reason for taking the land is to give it to one of the surrounding settlements, Har Gilo; and the wall will further restrict the movements of Palesltinians who live so near to West Jerusalem. If you can imagine a small fertile valley full of oliv e and fruit trees and on the hill across the valley a big city - that would be the land that used to belong to Al-Walaja and the Jerusalem that Al-Walajans are not allowed to visit.
     This year Mazin took me and my co-hort Doris to update us on the progress of the wall. But first we went to Cremisan, on the outskirts of the small Christian city of Beit Jala. It is the only Palestinian winery, and is located on the premises of an active Catholic monastery. It includes a beautiful wooded park (the only one in the area) and 1500 acres of agricultural land studded with exquisite terraces, vineyards and olive trees. Israel has given notice that it will build the wall through the middle of the monastery's 1500 acres of land or spare it and build it instead around neighboring Al-Walaja, a clear example of "divide and conquer." The winery has petitioned Israel to build the wall so as to separate the business from Palestine and include it on the Israeli side of the wall -- better for its bottom line.
     The Christian residents of this area are furious with Cremisan for asking to become part of Israel and taking the park, vineyards and trees with them. They are organizing protests in the form of a Catholic mass just outside of the gates of Cremisan. Mazin, Doris and I joined them last Friday afternoon for their 4th weekly protest-mass. While it was a lovely ceremony, quite well attended by about 50 people (grown from 30 at the first protest), it was not effective except as an organizing tool. Mazin, the intrepid activist, intends to try to get them to be more militant, and to join forces with Al-Walaja, their Muslim neighbor less than a mile away.T
     When the mass was over, we drove that mile to Al-Walaja, passing the Cremisan terraces on the way. Our first stop was to view the dirt road that will be the wall's path coming down a hill towards us and a lone house whose owner has refused to sell to the Israelis. Maybe he has legal title that Israel could not easily challenge, so the wall will encircle the house, leaving only one gate from which to leave and enter the home. Thirty feet from the house itself a special tunnel is being built to go under the wall so this family can get to the Palestinian side of the wall to go to work and school, clinics and friends. I am wondering about this very expensive arrangement. Is it to accommodate the family, or to make them pay a high emotional price for their recalcitrance?
     We drove a litle farther up ovver the hill separating Cremsan from Al-Walaja. Here we could see the wall passing within ten feet of a two story house, and then coming to an abrupt halt. Regardless of such gaps in the unfinished project of enclosing the village, the way has already been marked by bulldozed land and an unpaved road. Thus we can easily see how much land Al-Walaja will lose. This sight had a physical effect on me and on Doris. When we got home, we had no appetite for dinner.



 Pritest Mass









Ancient terraces to be lost to the wall.






One family's tunnel under the wall




Mazin and Doris





Al-Walaja's prison wall in construction



Normalization Is Not O.K.

     Normalization sounds good but not here, in occupied Palestine where it implies accepting an oppressive status quo.

     In America we tend to think that if we bring people on two sides of a conflict together to get to know each other, we will be promoting peace. It is hard to be violent toward the enemy you know. But what happens AFTER the encounter is key. Will the participants go home to work against the causes of the conflict ?

     Here, normalization is a term applied to any activity that does not openly oppose the Israeli military occupation and its root cause – the colonization of Palestine. As one of my Palestinian friends says, “Any integration based on a false foundation (colonizer vs colonized),... is a call for both sides to neglect or overlook the genuine cause of the problem. It would be a call for the oppressed to accept the idea of living with oppression, humiliation and inequality. To accept to coexist with apartheid.” Normalization is giving the impression that life (i.e. under occupation) is normal, and there is no need to bring up the terms occupation, colonization, apartheid, etc. and not necessary to speak out against the occupation or the occupier.

     So, for example, normalization includes sports activities that involve children on both sides on the theory that by interacting on the playing field, they will break down some of the barriers between them and carry that experience into a future reconciliation.

Some of us have heard of the Seeds of Peace camp in Maine, which each summer brings Israeli and Palestinian kids together for three weeks to help them to see each other as ordinary people, and to understand the point of view of the other side of the conflict. It sounds like a great idea. But it seems that the Israeli kids return home and join the obligatory armed services, and go to the checkpoints inside the West Bank or otherwise participate in the military that is occupying Palestine.

     The Palestinian kids return to their enforced enclosure behind those same checkpoints and the apartheid wall that snakes through their territory and are not any better off for the camping experience. Even their connections with their new-found Israeli friends dissolves over time, unable to breach the barriers that separate them.

     It saddens me to reject the goals of Seeds of Peace. But I listen to my Palestinian friends, and I respect their perspective. They are the ones suffering from the occupation, and if normalization doesn't work for them, then it doesn't work for me. Yes, one needs to humanize "the enemy" and there are ways to act that do not normalize. For example, Berieved Families Forum is a group that brings together Palestinian and Israeli parents who have lost children to the conflict, with the purpose of renouncing vengeful retaliation or any kind of military solution. However, the burden is on the Israeli families to work not only for nonviolent solutions but to recognize and work against the cause of the violence, which is, in the words of my friend, “Zionist colonization.”

     Another "bilateral" group is the Combatants for Peace, Palestinians and Israelis who have laid down their arms to renounce violence as a tool. They go to schools on both sides to talk about the horrors of war, and they join Palestinian actions against the apartheid wall. And the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions brings international and Israeli volunteers to help Palestinian families rebuild homes demolished by Israeli bulldozers for lack of an un-obtainable permit. Rabbis for Human Rights, based in Israel, goes into Palestinian villages to protect farmers against settler attacks during the olive harvest and speaks out against the checkpoints, the wall, the daily humiliations of the occupying soldiers.

     A more hidden manifestation of normalization is in the form of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive the bulk of their funding from foreign governments. They not only fulfill some of the functions that the occupying power is by law obligated to provide, but they pay high salaries that tend to lull their employees into thinking that life isn't so bad. On the other hand, there are Palestinian NGOs that are funded by individuals or charitable organizations and not by governments, and they provide essential services to people in need. These organizations don't need to talk about the occupation; they suffer its consequences like the people they serve.

     Nine years ago, when I first came to Palestine, normalization was not an issue. For one thing, it was the height of the Second Intifada, which was open warfare, and no one even thought about socializing with the other side. Even if they had, there was no way to do it because of the border closings, curfews and severe restrictions on travel. But in the last few years, while the Israeli military has withdrawn from Palestinian cities and even opened some of the most onerous checkpoints, the occupation has become more insidious, undermining the entire economy so that Palestine hardly produces any of its own products, and creating corrupt systems of collaboration with Israel and cooptation at the governmental level. Many politicians are pocketing vasts amounts of international aid while they enter into endless negotiations that have resulted only in losing more land and resources to Israel.

We must also understand that pouring money into Palestine is not necessarily the answer. At present foreign aid goes mostly to construction of roads and public buildings (and NGos), not ever to building factories that could provide jobs, products and incomes that would free Palestine from dependence on Israel.

     My friend, Amal, explains that Palestinians under colonization and occupation are like US. Blacks under structures of on-going racism – not so overt as slavery, but often successful at dulling the opposition to those systems that oppress them by asking them to co-exist with those systems.

     Palestinian activists who have made ending the occupation their highest priority cannot tolerate efforts, however well-intentioned, that minimize or normalize a system of oppression born of Zionism's drive to possess all of historic Palestine, taking its land, livelihood and culture. When the occupation ends, my friends will be among the first to normalize relations with their equals on the other side.