Israel vs. Palestine

In the US, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is taught in a very limited and very biased way. Even the most common facts – like the fact that Nazareth and Bethlehem are both Arab cities, and Bethlehem is in fact in the West Bank – are surprising me. Granted, some of this might be my own poor attention span and aversion to the news, but a large part of it is the very one-sided stance public schools in America take on the issue. According to the US, Israel is good. End of story.

It's not so clear that the US has the right idea, though, and today's visit to the Human Rights Clinic at the Abu Din Law School has substantially muddied up the waters. Abu Din is technically in the West Bank, a Palestinian village, and right on the edge of the wall Israel has constructed to separate Israel proper from the occupied Territories. Of course, the wall and the Green Line (the line between Israel and Palestine drawn at Oslo in 1967) don't line up – Israel is de facto annexing substantial portions of Palestinian territory by building the wall further into Palestine than the Green Line was drawn. Anyone who knows international humanitarian law (IHL - the laws of war, essentially) knows that an occupying power cannot annex portions of the occupied territory, but Israel carries on with this and other IHL violations with impunity. (For example, Palestinians are subject to Israeli law in some parts of the West Bank, even though IHL clearly states that occupied territories may keep their own law and cannot be governed by the law of the occupying power.)

We met with the clinic administrator, who gave us some history on the area, the clinic, and the law school, and then took us out to look at the wall. This segment of the wall, like many segments, has been graffiti-ed with messages of peace and reconciliation in dozens of languages. It's at least 20 feet tall, made of concrete slabs, and cuts between neighborhoods – houses that were previously next door are now separated by a wall, and families that could walk 30 seconds to relatives' homes must now drive 30-45 minutes, on a road that Israel is planning on closing, through a security checkpoint manned by Israeli soldiers authorized at any time to refuse entry to the West Bank to Palestinians for “security reasons.” And that's just the hardship of those on the outside of the wall, who have East Jerusalem residency and therefore East Jerusalem ID cards (although no Israeli citizenship or passports) – the people inside are stuck, not allowed past the checkpoint at all. And while they are restricted to the Palestinian territories, this doesn't mean that they have free movement within the territories. Roads between major cities are ruled by Israeli police, who may or may not allow access for any reason under the sun. Even a travel permit, granted by the military authority, guarantees nothing – it just decreases the likelihood that travel will be refused.

As if the wall wasn't depressing enough, we also visited a prison museum at the University. I have had enough experience with prisons and prison reform to know that oppressive regimes have disturbing prison policies, and it seems Israel is no exception. The museum is full of artwork done by prisoners and former prisoners, letters written by prisoners and smuggled out via plastic wrapped capsules swallowed by those prisoners being released, and photos and stories to make the most grizzled war veteran a bit squeamish. We also met with the museum director, who founded it as a response to his own time as a political prisoner. He told stories of being “tagged” as a Palestinian by guards who needed to practice their torture techniques and otherwise discriminated against and oppressed by Israeli prison staff. Even in prison, the state insists on enlarging the difference between Israelis and Palestinians.

With two peoples laying claim to the same land, things are obviously going to end badly. I have to admit, much as I hate Israeli policy, they're quite efficient – they've taken over the country and instituted a pretty strong occupying force in only 60 years of statehood. All the same, I get the sense that the Palestinians are starting to realize the Jews aren't going to just go away, that something needs to be done, soon. It's going to be a long and drawn out fight, and I only hope both groups are left standing when the dust finally settles.