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| An "intentional" demolition - Portland, Oregon, USA |
A few days ago I walked across the campus of Portland
State University, where bulldozers were tearing down an athletic
building as part of a re-model project. Juxtaposed against this,
when I got home, I opened my computer browser and read a story about the
Bedouin "tire school" that was (again? still?) under
a demolition order (https://www.rt.com/news/356363-palestine-school-demolish-israel/).
And then I learned that, while still
reeling from the recent demolitions in Sabastiya (see this blog, “Yet Another Sad Day in Sabastiya,”
August 9, 2016), the farmers there are now dealing with a fire that destroyed more
than 60,000 square meters planted in olive trees and other crops.
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| Fire in Sebastiya (photo by Ahmad Kayed) |
In 2013, as part of my EAPPI orientation, we visited the
“tire school,” located a short distance from Jerusalem. It is so called because it was constructed of
mud and tires, with materials and labor donated by the Italian government.
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| Bedouin children, Khan al-Ahmar |
The school, we were told, was built for the
Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar because it had become too dangerous for the
children of the village to walk to the nearest Palestinian school. I remember the pride with which the community
showed us their school – and the happy faces of the children!
The school, we were told then, has been under demolition
orders almost since its inception – the “reason” probably that it was built
without a permit, which is the usual “reason” given for demolitions of home,
schools and businesses. Of course,
permits are almost never given for any sort of Palestinian construction, and
demolitions are becoming increasingly common.
And, while most buildings are demolished because of the lack of a permit, an
increasing number are being demolished as “corporate punishment,” to the
families of suspected “terrorists.”
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| Tire School under demolition order |
Remember, in Israel, one can be labelled a “terrorist”
for throwing stones – or, as of the last few weeks when the most recent
draconian legislation was passed by the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), for
simply speaking out against the Israeli government. Now, in Israel, those involved in the Boycott
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, a historically respected form of
peaceful protest, can be punished – even jailed.
Foreign aid organizations are suspect as are
Israeli “peace activists,” and, with the encouragement of the so-called “Israel
Lobby” in the US (and elsewhere!), BDS has become a target for those who would strip us of
freedom of speech and expression.
There is, I am told, a Hebrew word that describes what is
happening here – hasbara, defined as
“a form of propaganda aimed at an international audience.” Hasbara is one of the major weapons in Israel’s
“war” against BDS – and against those of us who would educate others about the ills
of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Columnist James Wall describes this far better than I ever could (https://wallwritings.me/2016/08/23/israel-defends-its-false-narrative-against-bds/) and I recommend his writings for a thorough explanation of this issue.
Those of us who can do something about all of this are
required by our sense of humanity and justice to do so. That “something” can be as small as writing a
letter – or saying a prayer.
