Personal stories from the West Bank

I spent a number of days in the West Bank, hearing people tell me the same story over and over again, writes Baptist church member David Nelson. Reconciliation and justice between Israel and Palestine feels almost out of reach

So what do I conclude at the end of my fifth trip to Israel-Palestine in the past three years? It feels as though, despite the inevitable ongoing agony that many Israelis will have to live with following the brutal 7.10.23 attack, and despite the unimaginable devastation imposed on the Palestinian civilians in the aftermath of that attack, the Israeli government is wanting to move on. This is just my take, and it’s not reflective of individual Israelis who can be the most generous, kind, able people… rather it is my sense of the government's direction and the direction of others that support them.

I conclude that however much the Israelis complain about the Palestinians never wanting peace, about how Israelis only want ‘quiet’ in Israel, how they are proud of their strong moral democratic nation…. I conclude that they are weak. They are weak in their spirits because they are always fearful. They are weak in their morals because the society cannot see and does not want to see the other. They are weak because while they control the relationships, they couldn’t do anything without the backing of other states.

Their power is in the lobby. But this is a smokescreen. They have to wield that power because otherwise they are weak, and they skilfully use that power to affect their own society, to affect overseas states, to affect the media everywhere. Reconciliation and justice between Israel and Palestine feels almost out of reach.

I spent a quite a few hours in the Israel-Gaza border town of Sderot, horrified that the destruction of the closest Gazan towns was even greater than when I’d seen it six months before (why?), and disturbed by the modest number of mostly American tour groups coming to look at the memorials of Israelis killed on 7 October yet unable to look over at the apocalypse across the border. I spent time in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv where the many installations are starting to be packed up yet still the American and Israeli tourists come.

And then I spent a number of days in the West Bank, hearing people tell me the same story over and over again. The same story from a different person in a different town in a different setting. A story of an endless occupation.

So... Hala*, an artist who earns a small living from that work and also has a job in the local government. She lives in the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, which is raided by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) every few days on some pretext or other. Around 40 detainees were released back to Dheisheh under the Trump 20-point plan the previous month and most have been retaken by the IDF, without charge, since then.

So... Ahmed*, who makes beautiful fabrics. He’s about 22. His brother was taken to an Israeli prison two years ago for six months without being charged. It’s known as administrative detention. This six month period was extended for a further six months, again without charge. And then again, and again, and now again. His brother wasn’t even an adult at the time of his first arrest.

Or the boy in Silwad who was standing at the southern end of his village one Wednesday evening. He was shot by the IDF, they prevented ambulances getting to him and he bled to death. He was just 15, the cousin of someone at the university in the West Bank where my friend teaches.

Or Isra’a*, maybe 20, who studies at that university. She lives in Birzeit so doesn’t have far to travel each day so is always on time, but her friend lives in Aboud and can be stopped randomly at checkpoints and is often an hour or more late for class. 

And Isra’a herself, whose home was raided a week or so ago by the IDF and one of her family taken into custody. Turns out it was a case of mistaken identity, but enough for the family house to be invaded aggressively by the IDF and partly turned upside down.

Then there is Abrar* who is sad about so much and has little optimism for the future, other than when she talks of her work with young people and trusting them to be the changemakers of the future within their communities.

Also, Awdah, who was standing in front of his own home in July when he was murdered by an Israeli settler. It was all caught on film. The settler was placed under house arrest for three days and then released, while Awdah’s body was taken away by the IDF and not released for a week and even then strict conditions were placed around his funeral.

Even the Archbishop of York, who was also in the West Bank at the same time as me, who visited Awdah’s village, was unable to leave because of settler aggression for a short while. Just because…

Or the eight year-old children in Aida refugee camp on the edge of Bethlehem who tell their group leader that they want to die because ‘there is no hope for their futures’. No wonder Abdelfattah works so hard to give purpose to their lives.

And then at the Christian village of Taybeh we found the community unable to actively resist the Israeli settler who comes through the village every single day to harass and just proclaim that he is there and they can do nothing about it. Some of the village water has been diverted, some of the crops have been damaged, some of the olive trees have been destroyed, some of the village animals have been mistreated, some cars in the village have been burned. All in recent weeks and months.

All these are stories told to us, or situations we know happened while we were there. I have a dozen more. The Archbishop will also have a dozen more.

Remember this is not Gaza. The ‘ah, but Hamas’ argument doesn’t work here. This is real life in the West Bank, this is living history for people who press on regardless under a totally transparent 77 year-old occupation. If you think that Israel needs our exclusive support then I ask you to pause and think again because the way it treats its neighbours is not acceptable. Do pray for those Israelis who are working tirelessly against the state’s narrative to change the social and political outlook in their country.

But also pray for Palestinians – for Christians and Muslims alike, and especially for a wise leadership to somehow emerge to come to the fore there. After all, we've just had Christmas, and Bethlehem is in Palestine behind the Separation Wall in the West Bank.


*names changed
 

David Nelson is a member of a Baptist church in West Yorkshire. He has travelled to Israel and the West Bank on five occasions in the past three years.

He is a supporter of Amos Trust, a small creative human rights organisation based in the UK and registered as a charity. Their principal area of work is supporting partners in the West Bank and Gaza.

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