Settlers and Resistance in East Jerusalem

Orthodox settler praying in Sheikh Jarrah (East Jerusalem)

Today's visit to Sheikh Jarrah was troubling on many, many levels.  Troubling to see the ways in which Palestinian homes are seized or destroyed.  Troubling to see the ways in which Palestinian families are terrorized by the possibility of nighttime invasions and worse.  And troubling to see animosity building to a boiling point--between peoples who want so much to live and raise families and get on with their lives.  Sheikh Jarrah has been an especially tense setting for the conflict over illegal settlements, harassment and resistance.

We visited with Mrs. Amaal Al-Qasem of the Women's Forum; her anger and frustration were deep and personal; and she urged action toward ending the occupations that have changed her neighborhood and affected her neighbors so dramatically.

The picture just below--a children's playground--is a visual reminder of the conflict.  Settlers who've taken over Palestinian homes erected this playground for their children only, denying Palestinian children a neighborhood place to play.

I pray for Amaal tonight, and for her family, and for her neighbors.  Theirs is a pain I can never fully understand, but I am witness today to its very sharp edges.  And I pray for peace and some kind of healing for all this pain.

Playground restricted for settler children only in Sheikh Jarrah

Mrs. Amaal Al-Qasem of the Women's Forum of Sheikh Jarrah

Illegal Israeli Settlement, East Jerusalem, with security barrier in background

 

Two of the pictures above show an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank, built on a hillside in East Jerusalem for Israeli citizens only.  Our guide explained the implications of something like this 'pocket' settlement.  She noted that an Arab buyer tried to buy the land for a very large sum, but was turned down.  An Israeli buyer purchased the land for a much smaller sum, then proceeded to build big.  Our guide noted that Palestinians in the West Bank, if lucky, might be allowed to build at a rate of 30% of the zoning for a particular parcel.  The wealthy Israeli who bought the settlement parcel was allowed to build at a rate of 130%--hence, the huge structure with all kinds of units, another 'fact' on the ground in contested Palestine.

We've been hearing a lot about the link between humiliation and violence: when one humiliates another, leaving the humiliated few (if any) options for constructive response, violence is so often the option embraced.  Settlements like this one seem intended to humiliate, and seem destined to provoke violence.  One might even say, given the perversity of such things, that the settlement itself is a form of violence.  A way of humiliating and controlling and degrading the 'other.'  It has to stop.  For there to peace, it simply has to stop.