The human face of Israel's Occupation

Christian Peacemakers Team bulletin - just one human face, one story of the reality of Israeli occupation.

For information on Christian Peacemaker Teams see: http://www.cpt.org/

The Palestinian shepherd arrested last week after soldiers attacked his family and CPTers (see http://tiny.cc/cpt1) was tortured before being released by police.

The same eight soldiers who arrested Raba’i and attacked his family took him to a military base at the nearby Suseya settlement. For four hours, soldiers struck him in the back, in the face, and slammed him into walls. The soldiers questioned him about his brothers. Raba’i refused to give any information and refused to speak Hebrew with the soldiers, which infuriated them. The soldiers told him that they would come to his house in the following days and beat or kill him and his brothers. They tried to force him to say that they were the best soldiers in the IDF and beat him when he would not. Raba’i told CPTers the soldiers tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, and sat him on a chair. Raba’i put his head in his lap, in an attempt to protect his head and his genitals, and refused to lift it. He said that at one point, a soldier cocked his rifle and told him to lift his head or he would shoot him. Raba’i refused. When another soldier tried to bring him food and water, as the military is legally obligated to do in such situations, the soldiers who were torturing him swore at the soldier and told him to leave. The soldiers also refused to allow Raba’i to pray.

After four hours of this interrogation and torture, they took Raba’i to Israeli police station in Kiryat Arba settlement. The Israeli police told him that they usually offer detainees food and water, but were giving him nothing because they wanted to punish him. They said that if they ever saw his face again, they would kill him. After thirty minutes, the police tied his hands and feet, blindfolded him, drove him to a location unknown to him and threw him out of the jeep. Fearing that soldiers, police or settlers might see him, he hid in a bush until he saw his family's car.

Raba'i was able to call his family, who, accompanied by CPTers, found him and brought him home.

For photos of Raba'i’s injuries see here: Injuries-caused-by-soldiers.

Please share this story with your community and consider other ways of supporting CPT's work in Palestine: http://www.cpt.org/participate

Peace on Earth? A Christmas reflection

Gene Stoltzfus, a founder of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, reflected this week on"Peace, War Nobel Prizes and Justice" on the acceptance speech by Barak Obama of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The full speech is available at: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10850.

A couple of paragraphs near the near of the speech I thought were a challenging and helpful basis for reflection as run up to the season of Christmas in which a key element of the announcement of the messiah relates to the call  "Peace on earth".

For many peace people, church members and third world nations, Obama’s speeches on Afghanistan and his acceptance of the Nobel prize, despite their eloquence, were a disappointment. This was the moment when I realised that my long term hope for ending the practice of war, in say a century, will require harder, more focused work than ever. I believe I can use this experience as a time to bound forward. The speeches remind me that the Lamb of God, with even wider reach in the stretch for justice, can overcome the god of empire that imposes chaos and destruction under the guise of democratic order.

The speeches remind us that fundamentalist preachers or pundits are tethered together with the liberal establishment on the question of war. Both stumble through various versions of just war ethics as the Predator drones drag us into a scary future. Above all, the speeches remind us of the very limited options that are available to an imperial President in matters of peace and war. This is the moment to pull up our pants, turn off the TV, awaken our imaginations, listen to God’s spirit of compassion for all human kind, and get on with our work.

Some of us will be called to unexpected sacrifice of time, career, and life itself. The goal of a world without war is worth all of the sacrifice of a great army of unarmed soldiers. This dream of a nonviolent world may be the only realistic vision now, despite the fact that our leaders doff their hats to just war. The renewal of our spirit will come one step at a time in fresh and even larger ways as our spirits are awakened to the politics of renewal and hope, a politics, like Jesus himself, that is never dependent upon a president who is often powerless to transform an imperial culture that devours good policies and strong words.

The universality of this season’s mantra, “Peace on Earth, Good Will Towards People” is a good place to start and it gets the best angels involved. If the mantra is going to bring down the institution of war, we had better be prepared with discipline and armfuls of imagination infused with love. When we are called idealists, we do well to give the realist answer, all of creation is groaning for something better. That is where we will put our energy.

Two sides or two stories? Talking about the Israel and the occupation of Palestine

I have spoken about Israel/Palestine to numerous groups in the U.S. during the past five years.  People frequently ask me at these presentations, "Well, aren't there two sides to the Palestinian story?
Let me ask a question before trying to answer that question.  Would you have told Gandhi that we have not yet heard the British side of the story before deciding whether we think colonialism is a good or bad idea?  If not, then why do people continue to tell me that there are two sides to our Palestinian story, when it comes to the Occupation?  (PALESTINE REFLECTION: Not two sides, but two separate stories by Tarek Abuat) http://www.cpt.org/node/7900

One part of Iraq where peace is absent...

While the level of violence in much of Iraq has thankfully declined the Kurds have not yet benefited. Kurdish villages in border areas are subject to bombing by Turkey, with the support of the United States, Iran and Syria. The following news report from the Christian Peacemaker Team in the area tells the story.

CPTnet
3 March 2009
IRAQ REFLECTION: Kurds feel abandoned and surrounded

by Michele Naar-Obed

Word is filtering throughout Iraq that the United States is starting to remove its military presence. The country is theoretically in the hands of Iraqis. However, the situation on the ground is chilling. Journalist Dahr Jamail writes "the capital city of the country is essentially in lock-down and prevailing conditions are indicative of a police state..." (See http://www.truthout.org/020309A). And, of course, the Kurds in the north are again experiencing feelings of fear and betrayal as they let go of the U.S. safety net.

While the recent election was touted as an example of democracy, over one million Kurds in the province of Diyala were not allowed to vote, costing them important political seats. Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission admits that voter fraud was rampant.

The new U.S.-backed leaders in Iraq have been levying threatening language the Kurdish region. When the Kurds turn to the U.S. for help, U.S. officials tell them to solve their own problems. A worse betrayal is the refusal of the U.S. to sanction Turkey for its ongoing bombing along Iraq's northern border. The U.S. has admitted to clearing air space inside Iraq for Turkey and providing "military intelligence" for strikes against the militant Kurdish Worker Party (PKK). Damning evidence that these attacks have caused extensive destruction for Kurdish civilians not associated with the PKK makes the U.S. complicit in violating their human rights.

While Turkey has done the most damage, Iran and Syria have also launched attacks. Iraq's central government has done little to protect the Kurds from hostile neighbors. Instead, they admonish the Kurds for their efforts at semi-autonomy because these efforts inspire the Kurds of Turkey, Iran, and Syria to exert independence. The Kurds thus feel completely surrounded by hostile forces. With feelings of nowhere to turn, some Kurds have found violent self-defense a more attractive option, and more may join PKK ranks if this situation continues.

In this atmosphere of fear and insecurity, CPT and Kurdish villagers are working with a UNHCR*-sponsored working protection group towards a return to homes the villagers fled from because of the bombings. While the villagers know CPT's accompaniment isn't a guarantee of safety, one said, "God will bless this plan, because it is for the good of our people."