In the Light, Palestine-Israel: The Holy Fire Comes to Bethlehem

On Holy Saturday, May 4, 2013, the Holy Fire arrived in Beit Sahour from Jerusalem at approximately 3:00 pm. The Holy Fire appears annually at the Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem during a special ceremony performed by the Greek Orthodox priests. It is then carried and distributed to all the churches in the West Bank and to other churches in around the Orthodox world.

Thousands of locals and internationals joined in the joyous celebration in front of the Greek Orthodox Church. Local scouts and marching bands created a festive atmosphere.

Beit Sahour is a model of cooperation and brotherhood between Christians and Muslims. Throughout the troubled and turbulent history of the land, the people of Beit Sahour have always stood firm as a united community. Today, Beit Sahour is home to just under 14,000 residents, 80% Christian and 20% Muslim.

Dimitri Diliani, head of the National Christian Coalition in the Holy Land, said Israeli forces deployed heavily in Jerusalem’s Old City. He accused Israel of trying to stop Christians from performing rituals for Holy Saturday and of trying to erase the Christian identity in Jerusalem.

(Drawn from various news sources)

Excerpts from my journal as I explore the situation in Palestine and Israel

May 5, 2013, Sunday, Bethlehem, the Tawil apartment, kitchen table

I engaged in Holy Fire for the second time yesterday, in Beit Sahour (last year in Beit Jala, both villages adjoin Bethlehem), an easy walk from my home near Shepherds’ Fields to where the action would happen. Someone at the market told me to wait at the Hotel Ararat and there I discovered a high vantage point. Altho the building is about 10 stories high only a few levels have finished rooms. So I climbed stairs to the 4^th floor and leaned out a window to show the growing crowds. I then joined in on street level, sauntered back and forth to do my favored grab shot photography (aka hip pocket photography, aka wild mind photography), chatted awhile with a man who splits time between Virginia and Bethlehem (he works for GE medical), and eventually joined the throng to greet the priest with the holy fire.

I observed Muslims along the Holy Fire route, some of them simply watching, another group throwing hard candies at the car with the fire. Whether to honor the tradition or tease the priest I wasn’t sure. We walked by a mosque next to the Greek Orthodox Church. The procession seems a strong sign of religious co existence.

While waiting for the Holy Fire I noticed many drummers playing their instruments, about 6 small groups in my locale, from different bands. They all played separately. No one played together. I remembered drumming circles at home in the States where first one person showed up with a drum, then another, and more, and soon the large group would drum together, drawing more and more people, including dancers and other musicians—a large joyous circle. So I asked the guy from Virginia and Beit Sahour, you’ve lived in both places, ever seen drumming circles in the states?—No.—Could you imagine one?—Yes.—Have you noticed here that no one joins with others to drum?—I have, it is very peculiar.

So I concluded, perhaps prematurely, that this separate drumming mirrors the separateness of some or most of Palestinian society. Coincidently I’ve been reading in the current issue of This Week in Palestine an analysis of separateness, swashbuckling, bravado (shatarah), and impetuousness (nazaqah). Each for oneself and to hell with the rest. Accurate or not? Recent or long-lived? Ali Qliebo in his article, “Bravado, Impetuousness, and Swashbuckling in Palestine Culture,” believes this is recent, an effect of urbanization, and a departure from the relative civility of earlier Ottoman culture. What might this imply for the Palestinian freedom movement?

I begin to feel more of the widespread despair in Palestine. Cars are part of this—zooming thru intersections. The Palestinian news agency I volunteer for is part of this—lack of support for my work. Ayman told me that in Gaza anyone successful would not disclose the method of attaining success because the successful one did not want to share it with others. My host in Bethlehem, Johnny, is an exception in how well he treats me (while perhaps himself in deep despair at his unemployment). Have I been too long in this region, too many times here, time to move on?

Minor coda about Palestinian fashion:

While waiting for the entrance of the Holy Fire I noticed high heels, long shiny straightened black hair, and hooked arms (not only women’s in men’s, but occasionally men’s in women’s). I am well situated to notice such cultural signs. Because I’m out of the culture, everything here is new to me, and because I deeply appreciate some of these traits. Linked arms for instance reminds me of walking with a friend a day or so before my departure. I look forward to walking this way again with her. Very very soon. Too bad we can’t do this via Skype.

TO BE CONTINUED

LINKS

Holy Fire, a believer’s account

Holy Fire, a skeptic’s view

“Bravado, Impetuousness, and Swashbuckling in Palestine Culture,” by Ali Qliebo, This Week in Palestine, May 2013

Beit Sahour

“Palestinian Christians ‘mistreated’ by Israel at Easter celebrations”

Holy Fire Photos from Xinhua/Luay Sababa

“Holy Fire Lights Orthodox Easter In Jerusalem’s Church Of The Holy Sepulchre (VIDEO) (PHOTOS)“

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In the Light, Palestine-Israel: Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza & Ayman Nijim

Excerpts from my journal as I explore the situation in Palestine and Israel

To all the children everywhere, whether already here or yet to born. May their lives be a little easier; may they suffer less, because they have grown up unencumbered by the shadow of trauma. May they be blessed with resilience and inner peace!   —Ayman Nijim

PHOTOS

The main event yesterday [April 6, 2013] was a visit to the Nuseirat refugee camp adjacent to the Bureij camp (Raghda’s former home) with Ayman Nijim. He is a program coordinator at the psychosocial service agency, Afaq Jadeeda Association (New Horizons). I learned about him thru Cliff who put us in touch. The program is partially sponsored by the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) and includes a theater, kindergarten, counseling service, women’s center, library, and play area, among other offerings. At first I thought this might be simply a sit and chat sort of visit without photos but I asked if there was anything happening that I might photograph. MECA installed water purification facilities in the kindergarten after a survey revealed that what children in Gaza most wish for is clean water. He and a young woman, also a program coordinator, Fatma M. Khateib, pregnant and maybe worried what her next job might be since she works on a 4 month contract (when I asked her, what qualifies you for this job? thinking education, she retorted boldly, I’m good!), toured me thru some of the program’s facilities, mainly the main office and 2 schools. I photographed freely some of my most appealing topics—kids playing, learning English, singing, etc. We set up a few scenes of kids drinking from Maia project water installations.

Ayman Nijim

Fatma M. Khateib, Project Coordinator

His self-description from his fundraising letter:

I created and manage the psychosocial program “Let them Play and Heal”, the third phase, which is for children suffering from trauma, PTSD, hyper-attention deficit disorder at Afaq Jadeeda Association  in partnership with Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). PLUS, I consult with classes to teach women methods to help traumatized children in Gaza Strip, obtain funding through grants for diverse programs including water filtration systems, children’s trauma treatment, emergency financial relief for refugees, and scholarships for orphans, coordinate with international visitors, providing research and training sessions with local participants and write press releases and invitations for liaising organizations to expand program capacities…

I made two fundraising events, one was in cooperation with the Maia Mural Brigade to bring financial aid to the medical sector in Gaza…This was with a long-time friend, Susan Green, who is a famous American Jewish muralist and founder of the Maia Mural Brigade and the other was with Mr. Bill Salughter, President of Gaza Mental Health Foundation, Boston.

I am a mental health practitioner and board member of International Trauma Treatment Program (ITTP) in Olympia, WA.… When I was in Olympia, I took classes in mediation, negotiation, crisis management, program management and multicultural psychology.

All of these courses shaped my dream to apply for study in the States, I researched how to build peace across cultures based on my experience of living under war in Iraq and being a journalist during the toppling of Fatah Movement in 2007 and the Operation Cast Lead Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008-09.

Fortunately, I was accepted in two universities in the states; the School for International Training in the field of Conflict Transformation Across Cultures, Brattleboro, Vermont, and in Center For Justice and Peacebuilding at the University of Mennonite in West Virginia. I hope I can succeed financially to attend one of these universities.

Now, I want to achieve my supreme dream: to make something for my community and the global community. But what hinders my dream is the money. I spare no effort to find people who might be interested to pave the way to a student to enroll in SIT school.

(Anyone wishing to contribute to Ayman’s education in Vermont which begins May 26, 2013 may send checks made payable to John Van Eenwyk with a note “Ayman” to Rev. Dr. John Van Eenwyk,  P. O. Box 1961, Olympia WA 98507.) He already has many contacts Stateside, including the Corries, some others in Olympia, Washington, and generally seems well-connected with USA activists and educators. After the tour we met with Lora who had some ideas for fundraising. One was to organize a fundraiser in Gaza itself. Ayman scratched this idea, explaining to us that there is no such thing in Gaza. Unheard of. He even resisted calling a friend in Gaza associated with MECA Something about their friendship. No doubt, a culturally bound ethic that Lora and I didn’t understand.

LINKS

Afaq Jadeeda Association

Ayman’s program in the camp is sponsored by the Middle East Children’s Alliance

More information here

International Trauma Treatment Program (ITTP) 

Conflict Transformation Across Cultures, CONTACT, the program Ayman has been accepted into in Vermont

TO BE CONTINUED                      

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In the Light, Palestine-Israel: The ordinary-extraordinary life of a father and son in Gaza

Excerpts from my journal as I explore the situation in Palestine and Israel

Hesham, the son, and Taher, the father, live an ordinary life in an extraordinary setting: Gaza. What is normal here in Gaza might be considered extraordinary elsewhere. In this account I hope to show something, maybe only minor details, of their relationship. My audience is not Gazans, but people in my own country, the United States of America. To see father and son in some of their daily life—fitting a suit for a wedding, later a party of males celebrating the upcoming wedding—is ordinary for many. However, because of where Taher and Hesham live, Gaza, which is under siege, frequently attacked by Israel, suffers high rates of poverty, unemployment, medical problems, and with most of the world oblivious to life here, the ordinary can become the extraordinary. That is my hope. Sumoud!

All we want is to be ordinary. —Mahmoud Darwish

PHOTOS

April 1, 2013, Monday, Gaza City, Rimal neighborhood, El Shawwa Building, my home

Another improvised, spontaneous day yesterday [March 31.2013], Easter (for many worldwide, maybe for a tiny sliver here in Gaza where I observed no sign of it anywhere). Hesham phoned to ask where I was, whether I was free, whether we could meet. Two years have passed since we last saw each other: Gaza, the photo workshop he enrolled in. Despite his studies last fall in NYC we were unable to meet in my homeland. Yesterday we greeted each other with big hugs and the customary Arabic cheek kissing. So happy to see each other. Nearly like brothers. Or more accurately because of the age difference, uncle and favorite nephew. We strolled downtown, he treated me to a special concoction of ice cream and something like flavored ice. We strolled further, we might have had coffee, he phoned his father, asked me if I’d like to meet him. I said sure, and that began not only a foray into his family as a slice of Gazan life, but also a possible photographic project in Gaza—the ordinary-extraordinary life of son and father. After my recent Skype discussion with S when she encouraged me to photograph ordinary Palestinian life I considered who might be my subjects. Maybe Islam and Ban and their infant son. Which raised problems—the hijab or head covering (as Hesham instructed me, even if instead of me  a woman photographed Ban at home with her hair uncovered, etiquette dictates that those photos not be shown outside the family.) Then Hesham and his father walked onto the stage and might become the principal actors in my project.

Taher Mhanna (Taher in Arabic means pure and I believe fits him well) bought me chicken kabob and afterwards we visited his tailor to be fitted for new suits for him and Hesham. Before leaving the restaurant I tried a few portraits of Taher thinking, this will be the screen test, I will learn what sort of chemistry exists between us, how he photographs. The new clothing is for impending marriages. Hesham’s brother and cousin will both marry—separately—in the coming weeks, and I’m invited to some of the festivities including a bachelor’s party. Joking with Hesham I asked, do you know what bachelor’s parties in the USA sometimes entail? He nodded, but he may have thought simply alcohol when I meant paid sex, either a show or participation.

Not a particularly savory western influence. I doubt anytime soon Gazan betrothed males will partake in either the booze or the sex. I learned that the tailor’s business has diminished because of the siege Israel intensified after Hamas came to power thru an election in 2006. The business is now reduced by about 70%. Formerly they’d exported to Israel who would add a label, Made in Israel. All employees were male; 4 or 5 brothers, sons of the founder, run the business. When the founder died he was making a suit by hand. The suit now hangs on the wall and I dumbly forgot to include it in the copious set of photos I made yesterday.

When I photographed the line of workers at their sewing machines I wondered, what has been their education? How many have university degrees? What were their previous jobs? Why are they here? I could imagine a series just about this, portraits of some workers, with biographies or statements from them.

The owners and I joked about future clothing technology after one had told me that his father sewed everything by hand. I said, yesterday by hand, today by machine, tomorrow perhaps by computer. And following that perhaps a new clothing technology: not actually wearable clothing but virtual clothing—with a push of the button a new skin, one for cold, one for hot, one for dry, one for wet. Hesham added, the Japanese have invented an air-conditioned suit. No surprise, I added, from the inventors of the bread machine, the hybrid automobile, the digital camera, and the high-speed bullet train. The Japanese are very clever people. Photographically I played with the mirror that father and son used to see themselves in their new, overly loose at this point, garments. I played with the various personnel that helped in the fitting, including the main tailor but also onlookers and, when focused on Hesham, his dad in the background or nearby helping, or when on father, son. I believe the set portrays something about the relationship between father and son. And this might be a main theme in this series. Parallel to the tailor’s business condition, Taher has been out of work because of the Hamas-Fatah split and the siege. He ran a construction business and hopes now for new projects. He told me finding financing is slow and he wants to make sure he can work with his new partners.

Hesham had recently been accepted for a conference in Turkey about business (his major is business administration) that was to occur in a few days, but he declined because of the family marriages. Had those marriages not been planned, he might have attended the conference. Thus I’d miss him for my assistant in the photography workshop I lead and as a primary  subject of this photo series. He told me all about his studies in the USA last fall, at New York University in NYC, a program that brought Israelis and Palestinians together for dialog and often heated argument. He loved it, but found the city too busy and fast. He much preferred the relative peace of Boston where he went twice, both times failing to meet me—once to escape Hurricane Sandy and once to visit friends in a suburb far from Boston which is perhaps why we didn’t link. Like my friendship with Ibrahim in Gaza, my friendship with Hesham is yet another reason I am attracted to Gaza and find it a good fit.

It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. —Dag Hammarskjold

TO BE CONTINUED

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In the Light, Palestine-Israel: I enter Gaza

Hear the prayer of our soul. There speaks our truth and faith: To fulfill our task on earth we need Powers great from lands where spirits dwell, Strength that comes from friends who have died. —The House of Peace

Excerpts from my journal as I explore the situation in Palestine and Israel PHOTOS March 25, 2013, Monday, Gaza City, Ramal neighborhood, El Shawwa Building, my home Everything the same, everything different. That’s how I’d describe my current feeling upon arrival in Gaza yesterday [March 24, 2013]. Familiar surroundings and people in Gaza (this is my 6th visit), entirely different from the way I usually live and with whom I live and interact back home. From Jerusalem to the Erez crossing from Israel in about 90 minutes, paid for by the American Friends Service Committee with whom I work in Gaza, very smooth. The road narrowed and became more potholed the nearer as we approached Gaza. The driver was friendly but not communicative, probably the language differences. He has one young daughter, I told him about my family. He’d like to visit Gaza, but can’t because of Israeli restrictions. So much for that conversation. Entering the border crossing or checkpoint, a massive one, buildings expanded significantly since I was last here in winter 2010, a young woman (behind glass and placed higher than me) interrogated me for about 5 minutes. Her first question was are you a journalist? I slipped and said, sort of, well no, not really. (I might have been barred had I identified as a journalist.) Doing what, with whom, who is the American Friends Service Committee, what do they do, why photography, photography for what and whom, etc ? I was puzzled by these questions since I had a permit. Is honoring such a permit conditioned on giving proper answers? As I wrote my Levant list, with photos: One might ask: by what right does Israel control entrance into Gaza? The entrance hall is much larger than is probably needed. I’ve never seen more than a handful of people using it. Like a facility built for the Olympics and then the Olympics are cancelled, rendering the facility useless. I observed a family of Palestinians, 2 women, both obese, one very elderly, with a small child, going thru the turnstile—with wheeled luggage. All had problems. Had I not been under surveillance by the ubiquitous cameras I would have made photos. First the luggage, jammed thru, stuck, pushed, ejected, then the woman. The older woman held onto the turnstile as she painfully inched thru. And she could walk. What about those who can’t? A motorized cart awaited her and drove the small family the 2 or so km to the exit point. Once past the prying cameras I pulled out my own and photographed fences, corridors, more motorized carts, walkers, etc. No rubble collectors like I had spotted 2 years ago, but I observed one tent with about 4 young men and boys in it, which I photographed, and another ramshackle structure that might have been a temporary dwelling. Do people risk their lives out here or has Israel relented slightly and does not fire on them? I learned later that after the so-called Pillar of Cloud operation last November,  when Israel again assaulted Gaza, 8 days of unrelenting destruction, in a ceasefire agreement, Israel expanded the fishing area from 3 to 6 nautical miles. And then shrunk it again when militants fired rockets into southern Israel during Obama’s visit 2 weeks ago. After the group of Salafists (fundamentalist Muslims) admitted responsibility, Hamas arrested several men. Going thru Palestinian security I photographed (with permission) an exploded Qassam rocket near a Koranic inscription, proudly displayed on top of a cabinet in the inpection office. As if to state, our religion sanctions violent resistance. The luggage check was cursory. Had I brought with me some booze and stuck it near the bottom of the luggage I doubt the inspector would have found it (unlike the last time I tried that). Luckily he did not find my medicinal pill cache. How would I explain this? Not drugs sir, simply meds. Here, try one. No questions by these officials. And of course the architectural differences between Israel and Palestine are dramatic, indicating power and wealth disparities very clearly. First stop, the AFSC office where the director, Amal, greeted me and accepted a hug with cheek kisses (Only for Skip, she told a colleague). Islam greeted me with a bear hug, Mosab greeted me with hugs and cheek kisses, and I met some new staff, the taciturn Hamed, and a grim fellow stuck at his computer. My good friend Ibrahim was on his way to Tunisia with Firas for a World Social Forum, and Rana is out for 1 month after she slipped on oil and broke her leg. No sign of the ever-present cleaning woman with her insistent and incessant smile. They asked if I was glad to be back. Oh yes, very glad. When I enter the region, Palestine-Israel, I feel happy, mabsut. However, when I enter Gaza I am super happy, very mubsut. Wandering around while staff met to hire new personnel for a documentation project (that I might help with) I discovered a poster in Amal’s office showing 3 Chicago AFSC staff, Jennifer Bing, Miriam somebody, and a man I didn’t recognize. They smiled at the camera as Jennifer stood beside the photo I’d made of Amal at a Popular Achievement Program festival in Gaza in 2009. This pleases me, as I told Mosab, often much more than money. TO BE CONTINUED LINKS “Tunisia hosts World Social Forum, and reflects challenges to Arab Spring”  by Medea Benjamin on April 2, 2013 Popular Achievement Program of the American Friends Service Committee

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In the Light, Palestine-Israel: Water Justice Walk in the Jordan Valley

Excerpts from my journal as I explore the situation in Palestine and Israel

Yet another untold story: the Jordan Valley is nominally the West Bank, thus Palestinian, yet it is completely controlled by Israel. Organized by the Jenin Freedom Theater and sponsored by EWASH, the Emergency Water, Sanitation, and Health organization—a walk for equal water rights in the valley (and beyond).

Israeli greenhouses and orchard

Cross hatched area is a closed military zone, Palestinians usually not allowed—most of the Jordan Valley, nominally the West Bank

PHOTOS

March 23, 2013, Saturday, Austrian Hospice, Old City Jerusalem

I get up every morning determined both to change the world and to have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day difficult.

—E B White

I joined the water justice walk in the northern Jordan valley yesterday [March 22, 2013]. Some 100 people, most young, many international, assembled at 3 points, Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, to bus or otherwise reach a small village, Khirbet Samar, and walk to different villages, all Bedouin. The Jenin Freedom Theater organized the day, EWASH paid for it, and the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign, among other groups, participated. The Freedom Theater performed at the first site, what they call Playback Theater, drawing on stories from the audience. They began by asking for emotions which led the 3 actors to embody each suggestion. The village headman or sheikh gave the last story, probably about soldiers and water. Much like Chicago’s Second City and Boston’s Story Theater by using improvisation to dramatize audience stories.

I observed only partial references to water, at least as long as I was with the group. I’d met the bus in Ramallah at the appointed time 8 am; it left at 9:30 delayed waiting for what might have been key people, like the translator (who vomited into a plastic bag and pail during the bus ride). So we arrived late to Khirbet Samra, the others had already left. After much decision changing we hiked the 3 km or so to the second point where the rest of the group awaited us. Then the performance. And then the lunch provided by local people—delicious but thin lentil soup, flat bread known as taboun, and salad. I mixed my salad with my soup, dipping the bread into the mush. Very tasty.

The walking was invigorating. The first time I’d walked with a group in some time, especially here in the region. And to be in the Jordan Valley—sheer pleasure!

As I emailed several friends:

i just returned from a long hot windy sunny day in the northern jordan valley with a water walk. today is international world water day….info here:

http://www.thefreedomtheatre.org/news/walk-for-water-justice/

i came back to jerusalem early to make sure i could reach jerusalem tonight. transport is always iffy and i wished to avoid camping out at the kalandia checkpoint tonight.

I bumped into Yonatan, now effectively the Jenin Freedom Theater director and successor to Juliano Mer-Khamis, cofounder and director, murdered 2 years ago, and Yonatan’s wife. I also saw the thin young earnest man who directs the Play Back Theater, and Susan, one of my less dedicated photo students from last year.

Not sure how to get back to Jerusalem before the night and into the Austrian Hospice before they lock up at 10 pm (forgetting to get the key) I hoped providence introduce me to someone driving back, at least to Ramallah by 8 pm when the last bus leaves for Jerusalem. Standing around wondering what will happen next I met my ride benefactors, 3 generous and jolly Italians, I think an older male and female with their young adult daughter—Marcello and family. They were driving to Jerusalem and had space in their car. He works with NGO’s on water issues, mostly providing services and equipment but some advocacy. He told me his organization has to be careful doing advocacy because if they are too visible and demanding they could be in trouble with the Israeli authorities. They are part of EWASH which provides cover.

Driving along the main highway thru the valley, off-limits to most Palestinians even tho in the West Bank, we stopped at the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign’s center, a house created in the style of traditional valley housing 100 years ago. The architecture surprised me. It was not a tent, my supposition about Bedouin always living in tents demolished. Arches, palm leaf roof (how do they keep the rain out?), internal bread oven, lounging areas with cushions, etc, all quite spacious and fitting into the land. On an outer wall, the words, Friends Meeting House. This I needed to photograph and send to relevant people—a little joke among clued-in people (like fellow Quakers).

To a limited list, mostly Quaker:

who would believe? i found this today, stopped in, chatted awhile, and  learned about the jordan valley solidarity campaign.

(http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/). they had no idea who quakers are.

PHOTO ATTACHED. however, just suppose…

The day was extremely windy, whipping plastic apart, driving large plastic barrels along roads, and hurling sand into our eyes. I’m relieved we weren’t riding in a VW bus.

Surveillance camera and balloon over the Jerusalem YMCA
where President Obama was speaking

East Jerusalem

Incidentally, President Obama was in Jerusalem. I made 2 related photos, a Palestinian couple under an Obama banner, another shows the surveillance balloon over the YMCA where he spoke. Here’s what I wrote a few people about my views of his presence:

…oh, that tricky obama with his clever words and absent actions. the few palestinians i’ve polled here were not impressed. altho at least after genuflecting and making the sign of the cross to the israelis he mentioned the palestinians and their suffering. leading however, wrongly in my view, to the “widely accepted” 2 state solution. fat chance. you outta see all the new construction in settlements.

TO BE CONTINUED

LINKS

Walk for Water Justice in the Jordan Valley

Water Rights in the Jordan Valley

“The Speech That was Not Delivered,” written by Uri Avnery, about Obama in Israel

My trip to Palestine-Israel and Shaliach Mitzvah Gelt (an overview of my trip plan with an appeal to financially support Palestinians)

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My upcoming trip to Palestine-Israel and Shaliach Mitzvah Gelt

Shaliach Mitzvah Gelt

An ancient Jewish tradition, Shaliach Mitzvah, claims that god will protect a person on a mission until she returns with evidence of the mission’s completion. Such as a receipt for a donation. I’m raising money to give to worthy folks I meet on my next trip to Palestine-Israel. I’ll donate your money, ask for a receipt, and hope to be protected until I give you that receipt as evidence that I’ve completed my mission as a conduit for your generosity.

My good friend and colleague in the struggle, the Jewish activist and educator, Marty Federman, taught me that a shaliach is an agent or representative. He explained:

[And] “mitzvah” is…commonly used to mean a good deed as in “helping the poor is a real mitzvah” but the word actually means a commandment [normally something commanded in the Torah] as in “observing the Sabbath is a primemitzvah.” One who is a “shaliach mitzvah” is considered to be either “an agent of a good deed” or, more relevant for the situation you’re in, “an agent of fulfilling a commandment” [in this case the mitzvah/commandment is providing for the poor/needy.] This has become, as is often the case, a popular tradition done by people who don’t fully connect it to any specific Jewish text or ruling but it actually has roots in a couple of verses from the Talmud:

 “A mitzvah protects and rescues one while s/he is engaged in it.” [Sotah 21a]

     and

“Agents of a mitzvah will not be harmed.” [Pesachim 8a]

If you’re interested in joining me on this mission you can contribute directly thru PayPal (marked “for Shaliach Mitzvah”) on my website, or by check (9 Sacramento St, Cambridge MA 02138).

I’ll be in the Mideast from March 17 until June 11, 2013 working with the American Friends Service Committee, Friends of the Earth Middle East, Palestine News Network, and the Jenin Freedom Theater, among other organizations. I’ll make photos and teach photography. You can stay tuned to my dispatches at my website and this blog.

Thanks for your concern and possible largesse.

—Skip

Moamen Qreiqea, Gaza, Palestine, 2010

LINKS:

“Wheelchair-bound photographer strives to keep shooting”

“United by Loss, Israeli & Palestinian Dads Call for a Joint Nonviolent Intifada Against Occupation” (Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, Feb 26, 2013)

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Photographic exhibition by Skip Schiel about Gaza & the West Bank, open now in Cambridge MA, reception on Jan 20, 12:15

Gaza: How Do 1.5 Million People Live under Siege and Assault? + The West Bank: A Tale of Two Towns and Their Resistance: Violent or Nonviolent?

January & February, 2013

Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 5 Longfellow Park (near Harvard Square)

Mon-Fri, 10-3, other hours possible–Off hours appointments: 970-209-8346

Opening reception: January 20, Sunday, 12:15

Light refreshments and sale of photos, books, DVDs

Info about related programs (panels, slide shows, workshop, etc)

Flyer attached, please circulate this invitation

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We Notice (Gaza & Israel, November 2012)

Sent in empathy to Gazan friends

Dearest friends—Mona, Adham, Amal, Amani, Ibrahem, Islam, Marwan, Mohammed, Mohanad, Mosab, Raghda, Rana, Sharif, Wafa, Yousef, Mustafa, Reem, Eyad, and Awateef.

I and many others around the world attempt to notice what is happening in your beloved Gaza, and act for justice. In my case, in the United States, many of us participate in rallies and marches (recent photos from Boston below). Some of us pressure governmental representatives to question the unqualified support the USA gives Israel. Noam Chomsky and other people of influence speak out. I continue showing my photos from Palestine and Israel. And now I consider a return to Gaza and the West Bank in the spring of 2013 if I can find a way to enter by working with organizations there.

Stay strong, you are in my prayers,

—Skip

Jews supporting Israel (in the foreground, supporters of Palestine in the background), Boston’s Copley Square, November 15, 2012

Eyad El Saraj, one of the recipients of my note and the founder and former director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Center, responded with this photo, writing “Israel’s exercise of power today in Gaza”:

Because of a comment (below) claiming this photo is from Syria and not Palestine (which I tend to agree with) I’ve added the following photo from Reuters, a reputable news agency.

A Palestinian relative of four sibling children of the al-Dalo family, who were killed in an Israeli air strike, reacts as he stands next their bodies at a hospital in Gaza City November 18, 2012. (Reuters / Mohammed Salem)

Here’s the source. And if this too turns out to be a bogus photo I’m convinced there must be hundreds of photos truthfully showing the carnage Israel most recently unleashed on Gaza.From Noam Chomsky, a conglomeration of statements about Gaza:

The incursion and bombardment of Gaza is not about destroying Hamas. It is not about stopping rocket fire into Israel, it is not about achieving peace.

The Israeli decision to rain death and destruction on Gaza, to use lethal weapons of the modern battlefield on a largely defenseless civilian population, is the final phase in a decades-long campaign to ethnically-cleanse Palestinians.

Israel uses sophisticated attack jets and naval vessels to bomb densely-crowded refugee camps, schools, apartment blocks, mosques, and slums to attack a population that has no air force, no air defense, no navy, no heavy weapons, no artillery units, no mechanized armor, no command in control, no army… and calls it a war. It is not a war, it is murder.

When Israelis in the occupied territories now claim that they have to defend themselves, they are defending themselves in the sense that any military occupier has to defend itself against the population they are crushing. You can’t defend yourself when you’re militarily occupying someone else’s land. That’s not defense. Call it what you like, it’s not defense. 

(Raising questions of just who said what, if you’re interested.)

I add the following more recent report about many of the civilian victims of the current Operation Pillar of Defense, perpetrated on the same defenseless people, those who survived Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008-09.From the report:

…Yesterday we visited Al Shifa hospital, where most of the injured are brought to.  There we spoke with doctors, patients, their relatives, and witnesses about what they are going through in the current escalation in the Gaza Strip.  We wish to share some of the stories of the people we met.

…At approximately 1:10 pm, as we were leaving the ICU, a 10 month old girl, Haneen Tafesh, was brought into the ward.  She was unconscious and her tiny body was grey.  She had suffered a skull fracture and brain haemorrhage, which resulted from an attack that took place at around 11 am yesterday in Gaza’s Sabra neighbourhood.  She was in a coma and on mechanical ventilation.  Later in the afternoon, we checked how Haneen was doing and doctors said her condition had deteriorated.  After returning home in the evening, we learned that she had died….

More (No Safe Haven: Civilians Under Attack in the Gaza Strip by International Eyewitnesses in Gaza)

LINKS

The movie, Tears of Gaza. It shows the effects of Operation Cast Lead.

“The Latest Gaza Catastrophe,” by Richard Falk

“Trapped in Gaza” by Lara Aburamadan, November 16, 2012

#GazaUnderAttack| Names and ages of killed people in the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, a blog by the Palestinian woman in Gaza, Shahd Abusalama (she lists 84, the number is rising. This compared with 3 Israeli deaths.)

My photos from Gaza, the West Bank & Israel

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With an Open Heart, Israel & Palestine—Report of a west coast tour, fall 2012

For those accustomed to mass-media photojournalism, Skip Schiel’s approach to his craft and resulting body of work might come as a bit of a surprise. Schiel is a participatory photographer, a photojournalist who moves past traditional barriers of objectivity toward a more immersive experience with his subjects. His work, while most often centered in an area of conflict, such as his ongoing projects in Israel and Palestine, does not share the intense focus on violence and strife that most photojournalists seek out in such places, highlighting instead subtler aspects of daily life — a peace march, a market scene, a shared smile…

MORE

“The participatory photography of Skip Schiel” by Amy Fletcher in the Juneau Empire (newspaper), September 27, 2012

For one month I presented a series of multimedia shows and print exhibits on the west coast. Twenty-four venues (10 in Alaska, 2 in Oregon, and 12 in California) including churches and Friends meetings, libraries, middle and high schools as well as universities, a TV station, peace centers, and homes. Six different multimedia shows and one print exhibit. Benefits for 3 organizations. Some 15 hours of discussion following presentations. 4 radio interviews. Audiences ranging from 3 to more than 100. Voluntary contributions to respectable fees. And audience responses from warm to lukewarm with a few people hostile (either at the shows or by expressing distaste for my work by removing announcement posters).

I learned a great deal about the issues, my shows, my photography and how to present it, people who generously hosted me overnight, and the region I traveled thru by plane, train, and car. I can’t assess the impact of these shows, whether they will influence events in the Levant. I hope the shows improved with experience. I do know that many people met each other who are active in the movement for Palestinian rights. And this might help strengthen that movement.

My perception is that the movement for justice, peace, security, reconciliation and the application of international law in Palestine-Israel is growing. A key factor is awareness, which is my emphasis, and exhortation to activate, another emphasis of mine. The BDS or Boycott-Divest-Sanction movement gains traction in many regions I visited.

Multimedia shows: The Hydropolitics of Palestine and Israel; Eyewitness Gaza; Israel, the Occupied Territories, and Nonviolent Resistance; Facts on the Ground (a shorter, more basic show developed especially for schools and audiences completely unfamiliar with the region and its issues); Tracing the Jordan River; and Descendants of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. Plus the print exhibit, Gaza is Home to One & One-half Million Human Beings, How Do They Live?

With much gratitude to my primary organizers, Elaine Schroeder in Alaska and Louise Dunlap in California. Plus numerous local organizers and hosts and the friends who served as a preview group before I went on the road. The organizers and hosts spun a spiderweb of connections that I simply climbed along to find audiences. I am also grateful to the many financial contributors to this tour, those at my shows who offered donations and bought books and DVDs.

As I was about to leave Juneau Elaine asked me what had been the highlight of my Alaskan visit. I answered, the 90 6th graders I presented to. A solid hour of discussion. Suffering, risk, and death were among the main topics. ”Did you see any dead bodies?” Very few adults ever asked me such a question.

I now contemplate a spring tour to the Pacific Northwest. I’m looking for a regional coordinator and I’m willing to pay for this service. Any leads appreciated.

Thanks for staying tuned.

I wanted to thank you again for visiting with my students on the 24th of September.  I think they got a lot from having the Israeli/Palestinian water conflict described to them “up close and personal.” 

Students have responded to the water issues as you described them and as they studied them briefly before your visit.  You can see their responses on my two class blogs at:

http://shsglobalissues.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/israelipalestinian-water-conflict-commentary/#comments

and

http://aphumangeo.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/israelipalestinian-water-conflict-questions/

 (You may have to click on the red response button to read the students’ entries.)

—Jody Smothers Marcello, a high school teacher in Sitka Alaska, after I visited her class with my show, Hydropolitics of Palestine and Israel.

Rocky Mountains, Montana

Fairweather fast ferry, Sitka to Juneau, Alaska

Sitka

Great Blue Heron, Sitka

Point Lobos, California

Berkeley Street Sundays

ITINERARY

SHOW DESCRIPTIONS

PHOTOS FROM THE TOUR

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With an Open Heart: photos & stories from Palestine & Israel: Kibbutz Lotan

Excerpts from my journal as I examine and portray the troubles in the Levant

PHOTOS

May 24, 2012, Thursday, Kibbutz Lotan, Israel

I neared Lotan—I carry multiple maps, happy I do, since no single map contains all the sites or roads I’m looking for or curious about—and so I remembered Rabbi Jan’s suggestion of the environmentally oriented kibbutz here in the heart of the Negev Desert. I phoned, learned they had a vacancy, overnight would cost me 300 NIS (about $75). Seek it, young man, seek it! A childhood dream realized: to experience a kibbutz. Thru the gate, into an oasis in the desert. Green green green is the proper descriptor for this place.

I settled, showered, napped, inquired about tours and meals, enjoyed the rotund young woman at the reception office and her muzzled dog (he eats garbage and gets sick), learned I might meet Rabbi Daniel Burstyn (which I did later in the evening, a cursory meeting, not a very congenial guy, or so he seemed to me), and wandered the site several times, before and after a kosher meal in the dining hall.

The food was bland, pizza and salad, no dessert, no main course, unless pizza serves. The table conversation nil, sitting with a group of college age youth who I assumed were interns or students. They talked among themselves, I overheard, no one asked me whom I was, and I asked no one about their role here. The main feature of this event was an environmental mural which I photographed later. Then the evening walk to enjoy the relative coolness. I discovered a few caravans, probably the same type used by settlers to establish “Facts on the ground.” These were unused. They also reminded me of abandoned trailers on the Rosebud Lakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota. Much of the land I’ve explored in the Negev desert reminds me of the land and people of the Great Plains. Then a sort of community house which was a mess, the door open, air conditioner running. I shut the door. But in other parts of the kibbutz I found and photographed stylish homes, much sculpture (Daniel pointed out a collection made by one of the residents over years), gardens (Daniel is not only a rabbi but a landscape gardener, perhaps this is how he earns his living?), hammocks, pathways, walls made of old tires, the “green room” deep down inside the earth, perhaps designed as a bomb or rocket shelter, now used for education judging from the books, sheets of paper, and notes I found lying about.

I wrote M, checked my email, downloaded the day’s photos, examined them, relatively pleased with my work, looking forward to all the post processing I will do when (and if I ever reach, seems so far away, impossible to reach) home, and generally relaxed after a long drive south.

May 25, 2012, Friday, Israeli network youth hostel in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel

Waste water treatment

Compost feces and urine

Parabolic reflector cooker

Morning at Lotan was a big part of yesterday. Guy or Gee gave me a private tour that lasted well over 60 minutes. We viewed and he explained their toilet system (simply collect, drain, let rest, and wallah, compost which they use for shrubs and trees, not edibles because of some people’s perception that this would be toxic—instead he claimed such composting can destroy even heavy metals), waste water treatment (thru rocks, sand, and plants, after settling), organic gardening (not during the summer because of the heat and aridity, too much water needed), solar panels (that generate most of the electricity needed by one residential section, on the grid, they add to it during sun, and take from it otherwise), play space, experiment space, many buildings (straw bale construction over metal, plastered with mud), sheep and goats (used only for milk, as are the cows which we didn’t see, later sold for meat but not slaughtered here), solar ovens and a parabolic reflector stove for fast cooking, etc. The kibbutz of some 60 people (50 is the minimum until Israel reclaims the land, cutting the subsidy) uses 6 vehicles, and many many bikes. They cannot afford any alternatively powered vehicles such as grease cars.

I thought of Agape, thought of Ruah, and thought of M when I spotted an article reprint that details life on this kibbutz. I picked up a copy for each. The place is truly revolutionary, living out a portion of Jewish values. Especially caring for the earth and each other. Exemplary. I’d love to return, stay awhile.

I first met Guy after I’d finished an exquisite breakfast (which I photographed) of omelet, home-baked bread, pesto, various cheeses made from goat milk, Jewish coffee (as opposed to Arab coffee, Jewish simply made by adding hot water to finely ground coffee powder, adding some cold water, stirring and let settle, also called mud coffee), salad with oil and vinegar dressing, topped off with 2 sweet dessert balls. Served by 2 young women in the solar teahouse. I shared the space with a small Israeli family who appear to be visiting. Guy stood out as he rode up to the teahouse on his bike—he wore a wide-brimmed hat he’d made from a large piece of cardboard. He explained, my complexion burns easily. This helps. He volunteers for one year between high school and the army. We did not talk politics. I gathered that he’d like to see the conflict end.

The office worker, Daphna, had offered to throw my dirty clothes in with the laundry so I picked mine up, delivered my key, expressed how pleased I was with the kibbutz and my 24 hours there, promised to publicize it and encourage friends to visit. And joked: it is so far away. Maybe when we can shape-shift or time travel I’ll be able to encourage more friends to come here.

LINKS

Kibbutz Lotan

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