Bethlehem: tale of two cities

The complexities of life in Palestine and Israel continue to unfold. Our day began early with a trip to a Jewish settlement where Aldin an modern orthodox Jew invited us into his home in a settlement that he and his family moved into in 1984. Here he has raised 6 children and told us about his life and perspective on an Israeli state, the building on "unclaimed land" and what his hopes for peace n the region are . At the core he believes the problems are with Islamic fundamentalism and that there can be no negotiations as long as the palestinians refuse to acknowledge the right of Israel to exist and that they come ready to negotiate and compromise at the table without preconditions. His summary seemed a pretty accurate representation for the moderate Jewish perspective though probably a bit right of the middle .

Next we were off to Biet Ommar at the edge of Hebron, a Palestinian village that is being ever encroached upon by 6 Jewish settlements and where because of the very close proximity, the tensions are high. They say the military regularly fires tear gas cylinders into the school yard, children are arrested and detained and Mousa, the project manager of the Palestinian solidarity project with whom we met had been jailed twice, once for 3 years with no charges ever brought forward. The child with him in this picture was just released from jail with the help of this organization that paid 300$US to have him returned to school and family . This organization also is trying to bring the two sides together to talk and to be in solidarity with farmers whose livelihood is being threatened by Jewish settlers vandalizing their crops and the notice they have received that the wall will be extended through their village where they have been for over 500 years.

We were to go to Hebron today but that has been postponed until things settle in that city. There were demonstrations today because of the death of a Palestinian in jail and the body was to be returned to family in Hebron today.

We headed into Jerusalem to go to the Holocaust museum. It was both a tragic and ironic experience to see the history presented through jewish eyes. When the most basic of human rights were so abused in WW II it is easy to understand why the Jewish community feels it can never risk again not having a safe place in the world for jews to retreat to in the face of danger. It is at the same time ironic that they cannot see the need for another group to be given the same fundamental human rights and to be at times playing the role of aggressor . Having been to Dachau many years ago, I thought I was pretty familiar with many of the stories etc. What struck me the most this time was the images of the 1.5 million children who were taken from their patents and murdered. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain this was for parent and child and I felt my heart break into a million pieces several times . See memorial pic

A complex set of issues with no simple answers emerging. Pretty unlikely though that a one state option will ever be entertained by Israel given the trauma of the Holocaust that is still a critical part of their memory and fear . A two state option though will require a lot of support from the international community of the Palestinians for it to be worked through.

Tomorrow we head to the dead sea and Jericho .