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To the Editors of the Boston Globe: As a regular reader of the Boston Globe, a native of Kingston, MA, and a Catholic who is currently living in Bethlehem (a Christian city in Palestine), I am appalled by Jeff Jacoby and Dexter Van Zile’s recent op-eds printed in your paper. Both pieces attacked Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek and Sabeel, an organization that is committed to making the gospel relevant in the lives of the local indigenous Church in Palestine. Having lived in Bethlehem for the last month, and having visited Palestine twice before, I have seen the reality of the brutal Israeli occupation on the ground. When Rev. Ateek speaks of Palestinians being crucified with Jesus (who was a native of Palestine), he is absolutely correct. This statement does not make me somebody who hates Jews (in fact, just yesterday, I worked hand-in-hand with 200 Jews and Palestinians harvesting olives in Palestine). It may, however, make me somebody who is able to point out and condemn human rights abuses wherever, and against whomever, they are perpetrated. The Globe should be more careful to educate Americans about the truth of a situation, rather than merely printing reactionary insults. Some of this truth includes the facts I will list below. The state of Israel has built a towering 26-foot concrete wall in and around the entire West Bank, annexing large areas of Palestinian land to Israel. The wall has allowed Israel to steal a particularly large amount of land from residents of Bethlehem – the city of Christ’s birth – completely cutting residents off from Jerusalem, located only six miles away. Because the city is surrounded by eighteen illegal Israeli settlements, built on land stolen from Palestinian landowners (both Christian and Muslim), Bethlehem is also almost entirely choked off from the rest of the West Bank. Those residents of Bethlehem who are lucky enough to get permits to work in Jerusalem arrive at the checkpoint – a massive jail-like structure – sometimes as early as 2 AM. They sleep on cardboard boxes in order to make sure they are first through the line when the series of metal detectors and ID booths finally open (which is supposed to be at 5 AM). I have witnessed several such mornings, dark and chilly, as hundreds of Palestinians wait in line until the young soldiers, who often harass them, decide to open the gates (almost never earlier than 5:15, sometimes later). Just before opening time, crowds of Palestinians in the caged corridor outside the checkpoint – nurses in hospitals, shop-owners in the old city, maintenance and day laborers, and professors at universities – cram up against each other, trying to squeeze to the front. The indignity is appalling. Bethlehem, once a mainly Christian city, is losing its Christian identity. In the five years before 2007, 400 Christian families left Bethlehem. 78% of them said they were leaving because of the Israeli military occupation, and another 12.5% attributed their departure to a combination of both the occupation and the rise of Islamic movements, which are directly related to the horrors of the occupation. Both Jacoby and Van Zile refer to Israel as a “great democracy.” The reality of what I witness here on a daily basis is completely the opposite. All across the West Bank, which is Palestinian land, Palestinians are unable to walk or drive on “Israeli-only” roads, which provide Israeli settlers, illegally present, direct access to Israel. Thousands of Palestinians are unable to obtain permits from Israel to build homes on their own land, and when they do build homes, or try to gain access to regular sources of electricity or water, their efforts are literally bulldozed. I personally know many Palestinians who have been arrested and held for months or years with no charge, and who have been released with no apology or compensation. This is a sick, sick version of “democracy.” Lastly, the op-eds describe Sabeel as the “hard-line Christian left.” I consider myself neither a member of the “Christian left” nor the “Christian right” and I do not appreciate the authors pigeon-holing those who carry the opinion that when human rights are viciously abused, the world should be concerned. Sincerely, Brenna Cussen Michigan Peace Team/Long-Term Team in the West Bank |
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