Welcome to Israel - Now Go Home!!

Back in the 80’s, Oregon Governor Tom McCall became famous for posting signs on the major highways leading into his state.  “Welcome to Oregon – Now Go Home!” was the message they carried.  The governor was trying to make a point – he wanted tourists to come and visit, but he didn’t want the state to become overpopulated. 

I thought about that message – albeit in a different context - when I learned how the Israeli government was treating visitors who landed at Ben Gurion Airport (and, to a lesser extent, at the Allenby Bridge border crossing from Jordan).   Reading these reports, and talking to some of the people involved, it became obvious to me that Israel does welcome tourists – but only certain tourists. 

Church “pilgrimage tours” organized by Israeli tourist companies that mostly stay in Israel proper (with maybe a quick, well-chaperoned stop in Bethlehem) are warmly welcomed.  Christian clergy, coming to learn more about the Israel/Palestine “conflict” and maybe visit colleagues in the West Bank?  Welcome to Israel – and, by the way, please sign this paper that says you won’t visit the West Bank. 

Volunteers coming to work with one of the numerous NGOs who are working for peace in both Israel and Palestine?  Hours of questioning – and a good chance of being denied admittance.  Palestinian Americans (i.e. US Citizens who happen to be of Palestinian heritage) coming to visit family or see their homeland?  Forget it!  Chances are good that the only glimpse of their homeland will be the inside of an interrogation room until they are sent back to the U.S.

Tulkarm Team 47 - Spring, 2013

Coming into Ben Gurion Airport in October of 2012, and again in February of this year, I didn’t have any problems.  Caucasian senior citizen, grey hair and wearing cross – I looked the part of a pilgrim and was admitted without questions.  My Peruvian EA teammate – twenty-one-year-old dark-skinned male?  Five hours of questioning and having his luggage searched before he was admitted.  (Not to mention additional interrogation every time he crossed a checkpoint between Palestine and Israel!)

I’ve heard anecdotes about Israeli’s draconian entry (and exit!) policies from many different sources – but when I heard that my own government was about to aid this “institutional racism,” I had to mount my soapbox!

I write today to draw attention to legislation that is currently pending in the US Congress.  As international travelers may be aware, the US has a “visa waiver” program that allows visitors from other countries to enter the U.S. without first obtaining a visa.  This is a reciprocal program – which is to say that the participating countries have agreed that they will admit US citizens without a visa.  So far so good!

Enter the US-Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2013 (SB 462), introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and co-sponsored by 40 senators, including my very own Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).  This bill would allow Israel into the visa waiver program – but with a difference.  Israel would NOT have to allow all US citizens into Israel; they could refuse to admit those who they deem a “security risk” (i.e. Palestinian Americans, peace activists – even clergy).  Israel would be the only country of the 37 currently in the visa waiver program that would be allowed to make this distinction.

Because most people do not closely follow the day-to-day doings of the United States Congress, I share what I know about this proposed legislation in the hope that Americans reading this post will contact their elected officials to let them know that they do not want Israel to receive “special” treatment – especially when such treatment results in discrimination against our own citizens!

Let’s show the politicians that AIPAC isn’t the only voice out there – we care and we vote!  Call, e-mail, and write YOUR elected representatives – TODAY!!

Please Pray for the Children!

I get a lot of my news from the Internet these days.  First of all, our “local” daily newspaper, The Oregonian, is a thin shadow of its former self.  Not only do its sketchy local reports make TV news look “in-depth,” its international news consists of one page (including advertisements!) with one-paragraph stories that range from Russia to Syria to Ireland.

No, if I want to know what is going on in the world – and specifically in Palestine/Israel - the Internet is not only my best option – it’s the only option!  (With apologies to Washington Reports, whose in-depth coverage of the Middle East is awesome, but as a less-than-monthly magazine, by necessity its reports are often dated.) 

Five-year-old and his father (blindfolded) detained by Israeli soldiers

So, although my “fat” Sunday Oregonian had no coverage of the story of a five year old Palestinian boy being arrested/detained (sources vary) in Hebron, last night and this morning I read three different versions of this story on line.

One story said that the boy was five years and nine months old – the exact age of my next-to-youngest granddaughter, Cora.  I wondered if they, perhaps, shared a birthday.  Does he, like Cora, likes to have “chapter books” read to him (she’s into “Boxcar Children” and the “Little House” books)?  Will he start school this year too?  I’m sure, were they to meet, they would simply see each other as potential playmates; children of that age don’t see differences as we adults do.

Cora can enjoy just being a kid!

But mostly I thought of the trauma he must have suffered at the hands of the Israeli soldiers.  The photos accompanying this piece are second-hand, lifted from images that accompanied on-line stories.  I share them here with the hope that those who read this will be as outraged as I am – and will share this story with those whose eyes are still closed about the apartheid regime in Israel, and the United States’ blind support of this sort of terrorist activity.

The “story” seems to be that this little boy may (or may not) have been throwing stones at Israeli vehicles, and the soldiers decided to make an example of him.  As anyone who has spent any time around them know, children have been throwing stones since time immemorial!  Yes, there probably is more of it in Palestine and Israel – they’re readily available there, and children have fewer options for “constructive” play, such as my granddaughter and others like her can enjoy here.

But Palestinian children are not the only stone-throwers in that part of the world.  Israeli children, particularly settler children, throw stones at the Palestinian farmers whose land the settlers are “occupying.”  They throw them at Palestinian cars, and at Palestinian homes.  Are they arrested or detained?  Of course not!  The worst thing that can happen to them is that they are told to go home.

Five-year-old being detained by Israeli soldiers

Israeli law provides that Israeli children under  18 receive special treatment if they do happen to be detained by authorities. The same law provides that Palestinian children 16 or older are treated as adults. And even this law is not followed, as can be seen by the detention of this five-year-old! Sadly, stories about Palestinian children being arrested and/or detained are not uncommon in the news sources I follow, although, until this report, the youngest child “detainee” I ever read about was 7!

I could go on about the sadness and the unfairness of this “situation,” which apparently has been continually deteriorating even in the short time since I left in late April.  I could use that popular expression, “What were they thinking?” with reference to the actions of the soldiers. I could also tell you what I would have done to those soldiers if Cora had been the detainee in that story (or maybe I couldn’t because I’d already be incommunicado behind bars!). 

But… The sermon that I heard this morning in church talked about “compassion fatigue” – about turning your cares over to God and not worrying about all the things you cannot change.  So, I’m just going to ask everyone reading this story to give the children in your lives an extra hug today.  Tell them how much you love them.  And pray these atrocities will end!

 

To read more about this incident:
 
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/watch-idf-soldiers-detain-five-year-old-palestinian-for-stone-throwing-in-hebron.premium-1.535260

http://972mag.com/one-childs-arrest-in-hebron-embodies-the-sickness-of-an-entire-regime/75625/?fb_action_ids=10200272778293132&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582