Pictured Here: A settler intimidates Palestinians as soldiers, tourists, and human rights observers stand nearby.

Standing on a-Shuhada street, nearby the Qurtuba school, a chatoic scene breaks out as settlers rush from their vehical and start harassing local Palestinians and human rights observers. The Israeli police and military are right in the middle and do nothing to restrain the Israelis. 

The harassment quickly turns into physical attacks on cameras, cellphones, and human rights observers! Instead of protecting the people being attacked, the police arrest an innocent international who was caught in the middle of the chaos. The police and soldiers then decide to declare the area a closed military zone and remove everyone but the Israeli settlers from the street. 

As the Palestinians and internationals were being escorted out, the settlers continued to harass and threaten them along the way. This all takes place as students and teachers of the school prepare for an education and do their best to avoid being swept into the ordeal as they walk by. 

The international was later released with no charges and the settlers were able to return that afternoon and the following morning to start their routine again. These types of incidents are becoming more common and with the presence of the police who are tasked with providing protection and justice to the people in H2 area but only exercise that right to Israeli settlers.

(March 10, 2019)

Picture Here:  Soldiers prepare to fire three tear gas canisters in the Salayme neighborhood before school.

 

“In the state of siege, time becomes space

Transfixed in its eternity

In the state of siege, space becomes time

That has missed its yesterday and its tomorrow.”

~Mahmoud Darwish

As teargas is launched in the early morning hours to disperse a gathered group of restless young men, the old men who are standing guard over the safety of their community run: faces drenched with tears, stinging eyes and burning lungs. All the while, hundreds of young ones walk to school in through this ‘state of siege’ towards a tomorrow. Who can calculate or express or comprehend the missed yesterdays and tomorrows?

(March 07, 2019)

Pictured above: Schoolteachers bring their elementary age students to the mosque for a field trip.

Passing down the tenets of their religion is essential for both Muslims and Jews.  Muslim teachers bring the school children to the mosque to learn their ritual of prayer (5 set times a day) and how to revere the sacred space (Candles are kept perpetually burning at the tomb of Abraham by daily attendants).  “When I give hospitality to the stranger, then I am being a good Muslim. When I feed a hungry person, or give clothes to someone who doesn’t have clothing, or visit the sick, then I am being a good Muslim,” says Abed.

We often see Jewish children also being led to the synagogue and appreciate that the literature on display there (The 7 Noahide Laws: Universal Morality) promote justice for all humanity. What are the Seven Noahide Laws? The pamphlet opens with “The 7 Noahide Laws are rules that all of us must keep regardless of who we are or from where we come. Without these seven things, it would be impossible for humanity to live together in harmony…" For example, Rule #5  states “Whatever benefits you receive in this world make sure that none of them are at the unfair expense of someone else.” May the next generation have hope in these teachings of peacemaking.

 

(March 06, 2019)

Pictured here: History according to the Israeli point of view.