Letter from Palestine, 37. Palestinians in Israel.
13th May 2005
Dear friends!
The nice visit continues, and more friendly people meet us on our way. We have had many good experiences, and when having visit, I also get some new experiences. When we met Father Paul one day after a tour with ICAHD, he asked Stine if she got to see any holy sites with me, or if I only took her around on political tours…
I think I have managed to show some holy sites too, at least we have been to the most important here in Jerusalem, and yesterday we travelled to Nazareth. Some thought it was a bit strange to go there yesterday, on Israel’s Independence Day, because it was not easy to get around by bus. But we found a taxi and bargained enough so that he took us to the Sea of Galilee with Kapernaum and Tabgha.
We thought of visiting the churches in Nazareth after lunch. We had lunch at an outdoor restaurant where we started to talk with two Palestinian girls sitting at the next table. They both worked in I’lam, Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel. I don’t have the chance to hear about the difficulties for Arab journalists in Israel every day, so we took the opportunity to get answers on our questions. Arab journalists in Israel are neither member of interest associations in Israel nor in Palestine. They are caught in between. It is in fact how it is for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship in many situations.
The Palestinians remaining in what became Israel in 1948 are in a quite special situation. I have focused on Palestinians in East Jerusalem and on the West Bank. I know that Palestinians in Gaza face difficulties. But the Palestinians in Israel have not been so much in my thoughts, though I have known that they are the third class citizens after European and Oriental Jews. I have anyway thought that these Palestinians have a much easier life than those living in East Jerusalem or on the West Bank. I have heard Palestinians in the Occupied Territories complaining about lack of support from Palestinians in Israel. But there are big differences. The Palestinians we met yesterday were clearly Palestinians first.
I am more used to hear about Israeli Arabs than Palestinians in Israel. It is part of the policy of Israel to minimize the Palestinian national identity of the Israeli Arabs. Many in this minority anyway see their Palestinian identity as very important, and the meeting with the two girls yesterday was a meeting with two Palestinians still living in what they called Palestine though it today is called Israel by everyone else. It means, it was a great difference between them. One was raised close to Nazareth, had Jewish friends, and no problems pronouncing “Israel”. The other is born and raised in Canada, but has just come here after marrying a Palestinian from Israel. Her father never wanted to say Israel out loud, it was a dirty word. The family members are victims of the expelling of 1948. We understood a bit of the demography policy of Israel when she described how difficult it will be for her to get Israeli citizenship though her mother with her Israeli citizenship fled from Israel in 1967. Her husband also has Israeli citizenship. While Jews from anywhere in the world automatically get Israeli citizenship when they arrive, neither the Israeli citizenship of her mother nor of her husband is any guaranty that our friend will get it.
Galilee and Negev are the two areas in Israel having a majority of Palestinians rather than Jews. I was surprised to hear that the same policy used to settle the West Bank, is used fighting against the Palestinian majority in areas in Israel. I am used to seeing settlements on every hill on the West Bank, a strategy ensuring Israeli control. That the same strategy is used in Israel was new to me. But it is true. On the hills around Nazareth, which is a Palestinian city, four Jewish towns have emerged, seeing to stop the Palestinian Nazareth to expand. The Jewish settlers who will be withdrawn from Gaza this summer, will in addition to in settlements on the West Bank, be placed in such towns in the Galilee and Negev. I can understand that our new friends also called Jewish towns in Israel ‘settlements’.
Through ICAHD I have heard a lot about house demolitions both in East Jerusalem and on the West Bank and in Gaza. Palestinians in East Jerusalem don’t get building permit, so they are forced to move outside the city, to the West Bank, or they build without permit and risk demolition of their house. I did not know that the same weapon was used in Israel. One million, 20 %, of the inhabitants of Israel are Palestinians. They are not allowed to live on 93 % of Israeli land. Where they are allowed to live they do not have good chances to get a permit to build. Some build illegally, and house demolition is a phenomenon which is not unusual.
When the lunch was over, we were asked if we wanted to attend a march remembering the Nakba in 1948. “Nakba” means catastrophe, and is the term used by Palestinians to describe what happened to many Palestinians when the state of Israel was established. While some celebrate the independence, others mourn the catastrophe. The march was between two villages destroyed in 1948, and then there were speeches and songs. The media reported afterwards that there had been 5000 present, mostly Palestinians, but also some Jews and foreigners. By chance we met a Norwegian scholar on the march. She wrote about Arabic and Jewish identity in Israel. Then it seemed like our friends knew almost all the journalists who had come to cover the event, it is not very strange as they work in a media organisation.
When we came back to Nazareth, it started to be late, and only one church was open. Paul might be right that I often happen to be in and show political events as much as holy sites… But it is not necessarily bad. As not all of the holy sites in Nazareth are visited, we have to come back some time. With I’lam and other interesting organisations it is worth coming back to get to know more about the situation for Palestinians in Israel. I got some links to explore:
http://www.arabhra.org/
http://www.ittijah.org/
http://www.adalah.org/eng/index.php
Mixed greetings from Hanne.
Dear friends!
The nice visit continues, and more friendly people meet us on our way. We have had many good experiences, and when having visit, I also get some new experiences. When we met Father Paul one day after a tour with ICAHD, he asked Stine if she got to see any holy sites with me, or if I only took her around on political tours…
I think I have managed to show some holy sites too, at least we have been to the most important here in Jerusalem, and yesterday we travelled to Nazareth. Some thought it was a bit strange to go there yesterday, on Israel’s Independence Day, because it was not easy to get around by bus. But we found a taxi and bargained enough so that he took us to the Sea of Galilee with Kapernaum and Tabgha.
We thought of visiting the churches in Nazareth after lunch. We had lunch at an outdoor restaurant where we started to talk with two Palestinian girls sitting at the next table. They both worked in I’lam, Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel. I don’t have the chance to hear about the difficulties for Arab journalists in Israel every day, so we took the opportunity to get answers on our questions. Arab journalists in Israel are neither member of interest associations in Israel nor in Palestine. They are caught in between. It is in fact how it is for Palestinians with Israeli citizenship in many situations.
The Palestinians remaining in what became Israel in 1948 are in a quite special situation. I have focused on Palestinians in East Jerusalem and on the West Bank. I know that Palestinians in Gaza face difficulties. But the Palestinians in Israel have not been so much in my thoughts, though I have known that they are the third class citizens after European and Oriental Jews. I have anyway thought that these Palestinians have a much easier life than those living in East Jerusalem or on the West Bank. I have heard Palestinians in the Occupied Territories complaining about lack of support from Palestinians in Israel. But there are big differences. The Palestinians we met yesterday were clearly Palestinians first.
I am more used to hear about Israeli Arabs than Palestinians in Israel. It is part of the policy of Israel to minimize the Palestinian national identity of the Israeli Arabs. Many in this minority anyway see their Palestinian identity as very important, and the meeting with the two girls yesterday was a meeting with two Palestinians still living in what they called Palestine though it today is called Israel by everyone else. It means, it was a great difference between them. One was raised close to Nazareth, had Jewish friends, and no problems pronouncing “Israel”. The other is born and raised in Canada, but has just come here after marrying a Palestinian from Israel. Her father never wanted to say Israel out loud, it was a dirty word. The family members are victims of the expelling of 1948. We understood a bit of the demography policy of Israel when she described how difficult it will be for her to get Israeli citizenship though her mother with her Israeli citizenship fled from Israel in 1967. Her husband also has Israeli citizenship. While Jews from anywhere in the world automatically get Israeli citizenship when they arrive, neither the Israeli citizenship of her mother nor of her husband is any guaranty that our friend will get it.
Galilee and Negev are the two areas in Israel having a majority of Palestinians rather than Jews. I was surprised to hear that the same policy used to settle the West Bank, is used fighting against the Palestinian majority in areas in Israel. I am used to seeing settlements on every hill on the West Bank, a strategy ensuring Israeli control. That the same strategy is used in Israel was new to me. But it is true. On the hills around Nazareth, which is a Palestinian city, four Jewish towns have emerged, seeing to stop the Palestinian Nazareth to expand. The Jewish settlers who will be withdrawn from Gaza this summer, will in addition to in settlements on the West Bank, be placed in such towns in the Galilee and Negev. I can understand that our new friends also called Jewish towns in Israel ‘settlements’.
Through ICAHD I have heard a lot about house demolitions both in East Jerusalem and on the West Bank and in Gaza. Palestinians in East Jerusalem don’t get building permit, so they are forced to move outside the city, to the West Bank, or they build without permit and risk demolition of their house. I did not know that the same weapon was used in Israel. One million, 20 %, of the inhabitants of Israel are Palestinians. They are not allowed to live on 93 % of Israeli land. Where they are allowed to live they do not have good chances to get a permit to build. Some build illegally, and house demolition is a phenomenon which is not unusual.
When the lunch was over, we were asked if we wanted to attend a march remembering the Nakba in 1948. “Nakba” means catastrophe, and is the term used by Palestinians to describe what happened to many Palestinians when the state of Israel was established. While some celebrate the independence, others mourn the catastrophe. The march was between two villages destroyed in 1948, and then there were speeches and songs. The media reported afterwards that there had been 5000 present, mostly Palestinians, but also some Jews and foreigners. By chance we met a Norwegian scholar on the march. She wrote about Arabic and Jewish identity in Israel. Then it seemed like our friends knew almost all the journalists who had come to cover the event, it is not very strange as they work in a media organisation.
When we came back to Nazareth, it started to be late, and only one church was open. Paul might be right that I often happen to be in and show political events as much as holy sites… But it is not necessarily bad. As not all of the holy sites in Nazareth are visited, we have to come back some time. With I’lam and other interesting organisations it is worth coming back to get to know more about the situation for Palestinians in Israel. I got some links to explore:
http://www.arabhra.org/
http://www.ittijah.org/
http://www.adalah.org/eng/index.php
Mixed greetings from Hanne.
posted by Hanne at 3:59 PM
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