Twists and turns (part four)

I have two more things I want to share with you about Jerusalem that I learnt last week. One, on the separation barrier, told to me by an Israeli woman, and the other, about settlements, told to me by an Israeli man who spends his life monitoring settlement activity in the West Bank.

First, the Separation Barrier. The Israeli woman carefully explained that the decision to build the barrier between Israelis and Palestinians came after a particularly deadly period of terrorist attacks. From 2000-2002, 330 people were killed and 6, 000 were injured in terrorist attacks across Israel. Jersusalem was particularly badly hit. The separation barrier was proposed as a security measure in response to the attacks.

But, she argued, the route of the separation barrier in East Jerusalem defies all security logic. Instead of separating Palestinians from Israelis, the barrier actually includes thousands of Palestinians on the Israeli side, and in some cases even goes through Palestinian villages, splitting them in two. Take a look again at the map. The red line is the route of the barrier, the brown dots are Palestinian villages, and the blue dots are Israeli villages. As you can see, there are lots of brown dots on the Israeli side of the barrier.

She showed me how the route of the separation barrier lies more or less on the municipal boundary (the yellow line) of East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967. She took me to two villages, Abu Dis and Kafr Aqeb, which had been separated in two by a concrete wall. She spoke of families who have been split apart. 60, 000 Jerusalemites have found themselves on the "wrong" side of the wall. Her conclusion: the barrier is designed to change the demography of East Jerusalem and undermine the prospect of a viable Palestinian state.

Now to the settlements. First, I want to clarify, settlements are not a politically divisive issue in Israel. Both the left and right support settlement construction. In fact, as I learnt from the Israeli guy, more settlement projects were born when the left was in power. We went up to Mount Scopus to see the project of Ma'ale Adumim and the E1 zone (see the map above).

Ma'ale Adumim is the third largest settlement in the Palestinian territories. 35,000 Jewish Israelis live there and most of it was built on private Palestinian land. The Israeli government has plans to expand the municipal boundaries of Ma'ale Adumim and to build an extra 4, 000 housing units. The proposed municipal borders would effectively cut the northern part of the West Bank from the southern part because the only road that connects the two areas passes through zone E-1.

I asked whether the Palestinians could build an alternative road, but I was told that the area is mountainous and any alternative solution would be extremely difficult. Once again, I heard the same message, this project severely endangers the possibility for a viable Palestinian state.

I know that things can and do change: settlements can be evacuated and walls can come down. Just the other day, Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank (although, NOT in East Jerusalem). Nevertheless, the situation is pretty scary. Time could be running out for a two-state solution.

Are we prepared to abandon the idea of a Palestinian state? Are we aware of the consequences? What are we hoping will happen to the millions of Palestinians living in a divided West Bank?

32 days to go...

Visualizing Jerusalem (part one)

I know, I know, I keep coming back to Jerusalem. But, this conflict keeps bringing me back to Jerusalem. It feels like Jerusalem IS the conflict. So please, bare with me.

Today, I went around Jerusalem with an Israeli woman, currently living in Nepal and practising Vipassana meditation. For those of you who do not know me so well, I lived in Nepal for almost two years, and travel regularly to an Ashram in India, where I practice meditation. It seemed quite fitting for me to do a tour with her. We clicked straight away.

She knows East Jerusalem better than anyone else I have met so far, and she inspired me to tell you the story. Tonight, part one.

She started by explaining the different colours on the map.

The green line on the map is the internationally recognised border of Jerusalem. Everything to the left of the green line is West Jerusalem, where 300, 000 Israelis, mostly Jews, live.

The yellow line is the municipal borders of Jerusalem, which is the territory Israel annexed and declared as its own in 1967, but which no other State recognises. Everything between the green and yellow lines is known as East Jerusalem. The territory incorporates seventy square kilometres, which in 1967, contained twenty-eight Palestinian villages with 17, 000 people. Today there are over 250, 000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

In the center of the map is a small pale white box. That is the old city of Jerusalem.

The red line is the separation barrier. The solid line is where the barrier is constructed, the dotted line is under construction or planned for construction.

The blue spots are Israeli neighbourhoods. They are considered as illegal settlements by all other States, since it is forbidden to transfer your own population to occupied territory. But, most Israelis are unaware of this, and do not consider the Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem as settlements. Suburbs like French Hill (just north of Hebrew University) or Gilo (to the south) are as much a part of Jerusalem as Ben Yehuda street (where I spent many nights partying when I was here fifteen years ago). Around 200, 000 Israelis live in these neighbourhoods/settlements.

The brown spots are Palestinian neighbourhoods.

Next, she explained why Israel chose this route for Jerusalem's border.

First, for security reasons. Israel wanted to have military bases on the hills around Jerusalem to protect the city. Second, Israel wanted Jerusalem to be the biggest city in the country. Third, Israel needed as much land as possible, with as few Palestinians as possible.

A key challenge for Israel at the time, was to ensure that Jerusalem kept a Jewish majority, roughly two-thirds of the population. That remains a key challenge for the Israeli government. As a result, many of the policies and practices of the government are geared to maintaining that balance: the route of the separation barrier, the settlements and the house demolitions all point to that goal.

Now I know this might shock some people, but I do not have a problem with Israel encouraging Jews to come and live here and trying to maintain a Jewish majority in the country. I do not believe this policy should be used to harm or oppress the Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Armenians, Bedouins, cave-dwellers and any other minority group in the country, but I am not, per se, opposed to it.

What I do have a problem with, is Israel undermining the possibility of a viable Palestinian state. And what is happening in East Jerusalem, is exactly this. Everyone knows that any solution to this conflict involves East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. What is going on here though, shows absolute disregard for the aspirations of the Palestinian people.

Now, not everyone likes the idea of two States. In fact, a number of people I speak to think the only way forward is one State, a binational State, that would be the home of the two peoples. This might sound completely far-fetched, but time might just be running out for any other solution.

So, what future do you envisage for these two peoples?

36 days to go...

Ariel's finger

Today I visited the region of Salfit deep inside the West Bank, had coffee with the governor and lunched in one of the town’s restaurants. You can see my slideshow with captions here. The food was identical to the food you eat in a typical Israeli restaurant. It was even served in the same way. We started with pita, humus, dips and salads, and once I had finished stuffing myself, they brought out the meat and hot chips. Oi vey!

The city of Salfit and its neighboring villages are an important microcosm into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: it is home to one of the largest Israeli settlements, Ariel, with over 16, 000 inhabitants. In addition, over a dozen smaller settlements neighbour Ariel, there is a large industrial complex, a university and several settlement outposts. In 2005, a total of 37, 000 Israelis was estimated to be living in the area. Over 60, 000 Palestinians live in the area.

Ariel is known amongst Palestinians as the capital of the Israeli settlement movement. For many Israelis it is seen as a strategic city between Israel and Jordan. According to Ariel’s official website, Ariel Sharon chose the site because of its location halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, to protect the coast of Israel.

Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in the region has significantly reduced in the past few years due to increased security measures by Israel and the Palestinian Authority. However, the lives of Palestinians has worsened. The security measures put in place has created a system of separate roads for Israelis and Palestinians, road blockages for Palestinian roads that are near settlements, and endless rows of fences and barbed wire, sometimes cutting through Palestinian homes and olive groves. Israel also decided to include Ariel in the Security Barrier route, earning it the name “Ariel’s finger.”

I never realized how sophisticated and developed are the settlements. I suppose I was naïve. I had imagined a bunch of wild Jewish cowboys roaming around the West Bank in caravans. But this is not the case. The settlements are linked with highways, running water, electricity, public transport, sewage treatment facilities, and more. The government supports and encourages their expansion.

There is no doubt that this is the wrong path toward Palestinian nationhood. But as importantly, I wonder whether this is the best path for the Jewish people.

I am planning a tour with settlers to listen to their perspective. So expect more blogging on this issue.

57 days to go...

In the name of security

Okay, so not quite a tour into the heart of the conflict, but rather a tour of the Separation Barrier in parts of East Jerusalem. This was a hard one. It was depressing. And it did not help that it was pouring with rain, windy and freezing (even by Geneva standards).

So why a barrier anyway? In 2002, the Israeli government decided to construct a Separation Barrier in the West Bank to prevent terrorists attacks on the Israeli population. In urban areas, the barrier is a row of 25-foot (or 6.7-metre) high concrete slabs. In other areas it is an electronic fence with surveillance devices and barbed wire. Most Israelis are in favour of the separation barrier because it has significantly reduced terrorist attacks.

The problem: the barrier does not stick to Israel’s internationally recognized borders (the so-called green line) nor does it stick to Israel’s own accepted borders. And that is because the barrier is also meant to protect the over 450, 000 Israelis living in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

For Palestinians living on the barrier's route, this has lead to great suffering. I was confronted with what this means in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel in the 1967 six-day war while the rest of the West Bank remained under military occupation. Israel proclaims sovereignty over East Jerusalem but it is not internationally recognized, not even by the U.S.

The Separation Barrier takes in East Jerusalem, with its 250, 000 Palestinians (also known as Jerusalemites). Whilst most Palestinians from East Jerusalem hold Israeli residents permits, they retain strong social, economic and political ties with their families and communities in the West Bank (and vice versa). The barrier has severely disrupted these ties. I saw some areas where the barrier cut through entire villages. In other areas it separated Palestinian homes from their olive groves, taking away their land and livelihoods.

I am thrilled that Israelis feel more secure in their homes and daily lives. People do not think twice about taking a public bus. This was not the case when I was here fifteen years ago. But I saw for my own eyes the consequences of this new situation. I cannot accept that the security of Israelis comes at the cost of the rights of Palestinians to their own land, livelihoods and security. There must be another way.

58 days to go…