NGOs in Palestine: Who can save us??

Everyone wants to think that someone or something can save them.  Perhaps a good job, a chance to travel, a coveted scholarship, God or even love.  Here in Palestine, just as in many other places in the world both rich and poor, many people are looking for a path to salvation from their present circumstances – a path leading them to happiness and contentment. Aren’t we all?

In Ramallah, many NGOs are offering paths to hope and success.  Of the over 800 NGOs operating in the West Bank and Gaza, there are programs and projects ranging from job training, agricultural support, water sanitation, trade facilitation, health clinic support, microfinance, gender programs, small business development, summer camps, English language, computer skills training, etc on and on. 

This plethora of NGOs, programs and projects has caused me to consider what I would want my role to be if I worked here long term, as well as the overall effects of this NGO explosion. Without writing a long treatise on the subject, I venture to say that there are things about this system that make me uncomfortable.  One is that many NGOs seem to be offering salvation in one sense or another.  So many Palestinians are frustrated by lack of job and educational opportunities, or the inability to travel, that many look for a project that can help them.  In Gaza, many NGOs have been choked off due to the siege, but UNRWA continues to provide schooling and jobs to tens of thousands of Gazans (UNRWA is technically considered an inter-governmental organization, not an NGO, and is one of the single largest employers of Palestinians).

The uncomfortable, or troubling, aspect of this is that offering these projects to improve peoples’ lives seems to be a thriving industry, and has been going on for decades. UN agencies and NGOs employ thousands of Palestinians through international donations, keeping the economy afloat. Yet the overall situation for Palestinians does not seem to be improving. In fact, it is declining. I hear over and over again about the declining quality of the universities, the schools, the shrinking job market and especially the difficulty obtaining permits to travel. 

I have no doubt that many NGOs here have helped a lot of people. I am sure that many Palestinian would say this as well.  The question is, as foreigners working here – with international aid dollars flowing in – what is the best role for us? Should we be focusing on more NGOs, more programs, more projects? Or focusing on what will really change the situation?

If I had a direct line to President Obama, I would use it. If I could sit in the Knesset and somehow convince Israelis that their policies in Gaza and the West Bank are unproductive and harmful, I would. But I am just like everyone else – I don’t have the ability to pull the political strings and work the political muscle necessary to broker peace in Israel-Palestine. So, I’m here working in an NGO, hoping to help some people, but knowing that overall the situation will continue to stagnate until politicians can muster the energy to change it.

There is no answer to this, but I wish that I felt more comfortable about working in the NGO sector here in Palestine.  I think everyone – foreigners, Israelis and Palestinians alike- is skeptical about promises of salvation here, when from hard experience we know that decades are passing without ‘peace.’ So I come back to: who can save us? I suppose we all know that it isn’t NGOs, and it isn’t even Obama. It’s going to take perfect timing, strong leadership, a lot of political will, immense pressure and a whole lot of luck and blessing to deliver salvation to this land.

the Cage that is Gaza

After reading this excellent article by Ethan Bronner and Michael Slackman in the NY Times - "Trapped by Gaza Blockade - Locked in Despair" - I became engrossed in some of the words they used. I found myself pulling quotes, each one I found poignant in expressing the despair of the Gazans that they interviewed.  I also wondered what I would say if I was one of them.  How would I express my frustration and rage? The following are a collection of quotes from the article.  Please also see this collection of photographs from Gaza that accompanied the article.

“scars have accumulated like layers of sedimentary rock, each marking a different crisis — homelessness, occupation, war, dependency”

“talk about food and people here get angry because it implies that their struggle is over subsistence rather than quality of life. The issue is not hunger. It is idleness, uncertainty and despair”

“there is a paradox at work in Gaza: while Hamas has no competition for power, it also has a surprisingly small following”

“Hamas and Fatah are two sides of the same coin…”

“since Israel’s three-week war 18 months ago here aimed at stopping Hamas rockets, their children frequently wet the bed. The youngest, Taj, 4, is aggressive, randomly punching anyone around him”

“my own children tell me it is better to die”

“when she visited her mother, her two brothers fought bitterly because one backs Hamas and the other backs Fatah. Recently they threw bottles at each other. Her mother kicked them out.”

“Israel is never far from people’s minds here. Its ships control the waters, its planes control the skies. Its whims, Gazans feel, control their fate.”

I guess there isn't much more to say. As I look out my window at the blue sky of Ramallah, I find it incomprehensible that only a few kilometers away are over 1.5 million people trapped in an open-air prison. What makes me crazy is that there is nothing anyone seems to be able to do to help, other than sailing more ships.

World Cup Final in Ramallah!

In the end, I went with Spain. I know they beat Germany, but I had to join the rest of the crowd in Ramallah in cheering for Spain and going crazy with excitement.  And after all the octopus in Germany predicted it. ;) Here are a couple pictures of us enjoying the match. Inside the place, the noise was deafening, and it took us a looong time to get home through the happy crowds on the streets. :)

Obama, Israel and the Palestinians

This week, President Obama gave an interview to Israeli News with correspondent Yonit Levy. You can listen to the interview in English here.  While talking to an Israeli audience, Obama sounds like every other U.S. President. He took the time to encourage Israelis that peace is possible, and that they should take hope from the very founding of their country in 1948.  He talked about the legitimate fears that Israelis face, due to the hostile Muslims in countries surrounding them.  He defended his special relationship to Israel by pointing out Rahm Emmanuel, and referred to the support of the Jewish-American community as essential in his political success.  Lastly, just as every American President has, he expresses his hope and optimism for the peace process. That if you can get the two sides into direct talks, trust can be built because (direct quote): “people feel like there’s a forum where conflicts can be resolved.”

I wish I could respond to Obama’s interview with anything other than sarcasm.  It’s wonderful that he is encouraging Israelis to trust him, to soothe their fears.  Wonderful that he points to the founding of Israel in 1948 as a great source of hope for peace.  And so optimistic of him to think that bringing Netanyahu and Abu Mazen to the same room for peace talks will build any trust among the people.

Just months ago, Obama delivered a speech in Cairo where he blatantly compared the Palestinian struggle to South Africa’s blacks before apartheid, and to the civil rights movement in the United States.  Now I understand that President Obama is a politician, and he wants to gain the trust of Israelis in order to move forward the peace process. The problem is that he is never speaking only to one audience.  When Palestinians, Arab citizens of Israel, and Arabs in other countries hear this interview with Israeli news, it makes Obama so disingenuous.  How can he on one hand identify the Palestinian struggle with civil rights and apartheid, yet encourage the oppressors in their special relationship with America? How indeed, can he encourage the Palestinians to fight for their freedom while providing more ‘security assistance’ to Israel than any other previous American President? 

If Obama was thinking historically, he would know that in both during civil rights in the United States and apartheid in South Africa, outside supporters played a great role in changing the oppressive systems of the day.  The world slowly turned against South Africa during the apartheid years, increasingly isolating it.  The support of powerful northern white people was key in propelling forward the civil rights movement in the United States, including Attorney General Robert Kennedy. 

The Palestinians need a Martin Luther King, Jr., but they also need a Robert Kennedy. Obama is no different from other U.S. Presidents in his record so far with the Israelis and the Palestinians. On one hand, he is encouraging the Palestinians to seek peace, but at the same time refusing to be the outside support that is necessary for them to succeed.  Instead, he is encouraging Israelis to ‘face their legitimate fears’; refusing in the meantime to condemn their racist and inhumane policies of the Gaza blockade, illegal settlement of Palestinian land and utter control of Palestinian movement in the territories. 

I would like to see President Obama address the Palestinian people in the same way he is addressing the Israeli people.  If anyone has a reason to doubt the peace process, it is the Palestinians.  They have never found a friend in the United States and have no reason to see one now, when all that is offered to them are more empty words.  Obama should address 1948 as a day of great sorrow for the Palestinian people and acknowledge the violence that drove thousands of them from their homes.  He should address their actual concerns.  The actual concerns of the Palestinians are that they cannot travel to see their families, cannot find jobs, suffer waiting at checkpoints and in lines every day, and have no options in life simply because they are Palestinians and no longer have equal rights with other human beings.  Why can’t Obama say this? Why can’t anyone say this?!

American Dollars supporting Israeli Settlements

The first time I was in Egypt, back in 2005, one of the first issues that I had to personally tackle was the direct influence that Americans, and particularly American Christians, have had in Middle East politics.  Particularly in Israel-Palestine, Americans have not only governmentally and militarily supported Israel, but private American citizens have poured millions of dollars over the years into settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza.

Particularly these days, as Obama has made settlements a central issue in his negotiations with the Israelis (as well he should), he should perhaps also be more aware of the Americans who are supporting the settlement movement with generous donations.  As this NY Times article is discussing: “Tax-Exempt Funds Aid Settlements in the West Bank,” many of these funds are even tax-free in the United States. This conflict of American interests should be of concern to the Obama administration. Though private citizens may have the right to use their money as they wish, the tax-exempt status of the funds makes it part of government policy.

The American donations to Israeli settlements come from a number of sources, with different motivations.  Some of the biggest donors are individual American Jews with nationalist reasons for supporting the expansion of Israeli territory.  There are also a number of Jewish foundations and organizations who specifically raise funds to send to settlements, such as the One Israel Fund.

The other population donating significant funds to Israeli settlements are American Christians, particularly conservative Protestant churches and organizations. These groups, such as the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities, are sometimes called Christian Zionists.  Christian Zionists support Israeli settlement of all the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, due to the belief that the Revelations of the Bible will be fulfilled only when the Jews have settled back in the Holy Land. 

Some of these Christians are also called Dispensationalists. This term refers to the ‘dispensations’ or times of God’s interaction with humans throughout history and in the future.  In a way, these dispensations are signs of the coming of the end of the world.  The belief of Dispensationalists include that the Jews remain God’s chosen people, and that the nation of Israel will be restored to the identical Israel of the Bible.  Part of this belief is that out of a remnant of the Jews, God will restore Israel, and the Jews will realize that they crucified Jesus, the Messiah.  All of this is supposed to lead to the Day of Judgment, when Jesus will rule the world from Jerusalem for one thousand years.

Whether Christian Zionists or Dispensationalists (they are closely related), these American Christian groups have been funneling money to Israeli settlers for decades.  This money has made it possible for Israel to control over 40% of the West Bank due to the excuse of protecting settlements. This American support has also made it possible for the political right in Israel to exercise far more clout than their numbers imply – as they are the politicians who insist on continued settlement activity.  Obama should closely examine these American dollars and their affect not only on the Palestinians, but on American foreign policy and the peace process.  If so many American dollars are flowing untaxed to Israeli settlements – often through extremely conservative religious groups – how can our government truly say that we are demanding a settlement freeze?  Settlements are ruining the lives of Palestinians and sabotaging the peace process. Their support should be the first thing that is examined if the U.S. really wants to stop them.

Budrus

Today Darin and I were invited to a film screening for Budrus – a documentary about the village of Budrus in the West Bank.  Link to Budrus film site.

Budrus is one of at many villages in Palestine that are threatened by the construction of Israel’s security wall (also called the security fence, the barrier, apartheid wall, etc. depending who you talk to).  I have posted here a map published by B'tselem in 2008 of the Israeli Wall current and planned route.  Notice Budrus in the top left corner of the map. The 1967 Green Line is represented in (surprise) green, and red is the route of the constructed or planned Israeli wall. See the entire map here.

In 2003, a man named Ayed Morrar started organizing the villagers in Budrus for non-violent resistance against the wall.  The villagers stood in their groves of olive trees, preventing the Israeli bulldozers from uprooting them. In the film, the way the villagers talked about their olive trees made me cry – they talk about the trees like they are their children.  It also reminded me of Avatar – the classic story of brutal technology uprooting the natural world, at the same time the spirit, livelihood and history of a people.

Ayed and all the villagers spent days getting up in the morning and standing with the olive trees, but eventually the Israeli Border Police who were there enforce the construction of the wall started to use violence.  The film show ample footage of Palestinian women being beaten with sticks by the Israeli soldiers, tear gas and stun grenades thrown to disperse the crowd.  Later, Ayed Morrar’s daughter jumps into the hole of the bulldozer, stopping it from continued digging.  To quote the film: it becomes a battle of wills. Israeli and international activists join the villagers in protests. The Israelis occupy Budrus and put the village under curfew.  Young men start to throw stones, and the Israelis start to shoot live bullets. They occupy Palestinian homes in the village.  Over a period of 10 months, the battle of wills continued.  In the end, the Israelis moved the Wall to the West of Budrus, leaving 95% of their olive groves untouched.

The story of Budrus is encouraging.  It also focuses in on some of the focal issues for Palestinians in resisting this occupation.  When we were watching the film, the audience was cheering when they watched the young men from Budrus throwing stones. I did not cheer. I truly believe that throwing stones will not work. In fact, it only gives the excuse for continued violence from the Israeli side.  However, NOT throwing stones after continuous provocation is so much more difficult than throwing stones. It takes a battle of will inside each Palestinian to NOT resort to throwing stones or other violence…. the humiliation they experience is such that throwing stones and fighting back is by far the most natural reaction.  NOT fighting back takes more strength than you can imagine.

For me, the part of this film that I was most focused on was this non-violent aspect. The vast majority of Palestinians are non-violent and resist the occupation in a quiet way, going about their daily lives. But with enough provocation and humiliation, anyone will resort to throwing stones. That is what the film Budrus shows very well.  Hamas and Fatah members of the village also worked together. They focused on strategy, not on their emotions.  This is what I really believe is needed here… a larger strategy and leadership that can help to inspire people to take the more difficult path. Not throwing stones.

How to pick your World Cup team

These days in Ramallah, much of life seems to be revolving around the World Cup. I am loving every moment. J One of the most hilarious parts of the World Cup is how to choose a team. Particularly among Palestinians here, it is a conversational process that takes many twists and turns.

Algeria was the only Arab country represented in the Cup this year, and even they were not supported widely in the Arab world (especially in Egypt – please don’t ask). ;) After they so sadly lost to the good old US of A, there is absolutely no team with close ties to Palestine, at least geographically. So who to support?!

Take, for example, a debate I heard over Argentina. “Great team, but there are so many Jews in Argentina. And so many Argentinian Jews in Israel. Plus, isn’t Maradona a Jew? Yes, he dealt drugs. But he changed. He is an amazing cheater. But he has charisma! Maybe, but most Israelis support Argentina, it was proven in a poll. So if they lose, more Israelis will be sad. We should cheer against Argentina.”

Amazing logic, right? I love it. Also, Ghana. Ghana is controversial because in the 2006 World Cup, a player from the Ghana team took out an Israeli flag at the end of a winning match, waving it around. Supposedly, the player has a lot of fans in Israel, so he was thanking them. In any case, it caused a major uproar, and this year most Palestinians remembered this and were hesitant to support Ghana. However, someone else pointed out to me that Ghana does have 3 Muslim players. So perhaps it is still okay to cheer for them. J

Well, I certainly can’t criticize anyone for their logic in the World Cup. I’m supporting Germany just because my family is half German, after all. J I also have something against Brazil, ever since I saw them come to Egypt and beat Ahly 7-0, after which all the Egyptians were so happy! (sigh) Oh, Egypt. No loyalty. Just because Ronaldinho was playing.

Well, that’s the logic of picking your World Cup team. Whichever agrees with your politics, or makes your enemies sad, or shares your heritage. Or just makes you happy.

On that note: GO GERMANY!!!!  J

Kosher, Halal and Sleepovers

I learned an Islamic saying the other day. “Kol 3nd yahodi w nam 3nd mase7e.”  Meaning: “eat with the Jews, and sleep/rest with Christians.”  Now, trying to explain the various interpretations of a saying like this is a bit dangerous, but it was making me think. J

First of all, the beginning of the saying refers to the rules governing eating for both Jews and Muslims.  Jews of course are prescribed to eat kosher. Kosher food has a number of detailed rules.  The basics are not eating properly slaughtered meat (slaughtered according to Jewish law, draining the blood), not eating pork, and not mixing meat and milk products together.  Kosher also prohibits eating insects, so fruits and vegetables have to be cleaned thoroughly to make sure you don’t eat an ant or two. ;) There are a number of other more detailed instructions on eating kosher – those are just the basics.

Muslims also have rules governing the intake of food/drink. Halal (meaning lawful), the opposite of haraam (unlawful) actually refers to all behavior in life that is considered lawful under Allah. For Muslims, eating halal means not eating pork or blood, therefore meat should be slaughtered in order to drain the blood.  Like Jews, Muslims are also prohibited from eating meat which is not slaughtered, meaning meat from an animal that died from natural causes in not allowed. Muslims are also forbidden to drink alcohol (according to the Quran, which says: (very rough paraphrasing) Muslims should not drink even a small amount of something, which could make one drunk)).

So, back to the saying. Muslims, recognizing the similarity of kosher and halal laws governing food, say it is good for them to ‘eat with the Jews.’  In fact, many Muslims in the United States eat at kosher restaurants or buy from kosher grocery stores, because in general, if something is kosher, it will also be halal.  

As for the second part of the saying, I am told by some Muslims friends that Muslims consider Christians to be ‘closer’ friends to them than the Jews – as a historical view.  They are told to ‘sleep/rest with the Christians’ because they can trust them.  This view is due to many factors, but one is the stories of two early Christians who met and knew the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).  The Prophet, when he was still around 12 years old, met a Christian monk named Bahira in the desert, who foretold that he would become a Prophet from God.  Later, after the Prophet received his first revelation from Allah, he was encouraged to believe and accept the revelations by a Christian scholar named Waraqa ibn Nawfal. Both of these recorded incidents are taught in Islam as examples of Christians as friends to Muslims.

One of the things I like about Islam is its recognition of the things that join the three religions. As it was the last religion to emerge, it does have the benefit of hindsight. However, Islam has historically been a tolerant religion, allowing Jews and Christians to live among Islamic communities in peace.  I find this Islamic saying fascinating in its simplicity. It makes me smile, imagining two Jewish and Muslim housewives cooking away in the kitchen together. Or imagining some Christian kids from Minnesota camping with some Egyptian Muslim kids, maybe making s’mores and swatting mosquitoes. J For those of us Christians, we should probably steer clear of cooking a big meal for our Jewish and Muslim friends. But maybe we could invite them all over for a sleepover instead. J

Days of Blessing

Here in the Middle East, among both Muslim and Jewish communities, one of the patterns of life that I love are ‘days of blessing.’  For Muslims, Fridays are a day of prayer, a day to rest.  In Cairo, I used to be bored sometimes on Fridays, because most shops, cafes and restaurants are closed until late afternoon.  I used to wake up as late as possible, often around 12:30 when the mosques started blaring the Friday sermons on their loudspeakers.  Usually Muslim men go to the mosque to pray on Fridays, women usually pray at home. 

Last year in Kufr Qara, Fridays were my favorite day. J Because, especially on warm summer days, the family I lived with would often get together in the late afternoon for a BBQ and lunch. I loved those days, sitting in the garden with all the family. We usually stayed for hours into the evening, talking, eating and drinking tea at hour intervals. Fridays were really a day of rest and enjoyment, being with family. A day of blessing.

In Israel, the Jewish day of Shabbat is Saturday. From sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, most places are closed in Israel, including malls, all public transit, and many restaurants. Now, many of my friends have heard me say: “I hate Shabbat!” because due to my lack of a car, I am reliant on Israeli buses to get around. The Shabbat schedule greatly inhibits my ability to do anything on weekends. J However, I can appreciate setting aside a day for rest, not going out in the usual busyness of daily life. Some Orthodox Jews practice Shabbat by abstaining even from electricity, doing any kind of work, from traveling and using technology. Many Jews have a special Shabbat meal on Friday evenings or during the days Saturday with their families. In general, Shabbat is also meant to be a day of rest.

In the U.S., most people have lost this idea of a day of blessing.  Even here among Jews or Muslims it is often not acknowledged, but the forced change of pace creates a sort of forced reflection.  I know for me in Kufr Qara, the feeling of Fridays gave me energy for the rest of the week, and I was comforted being with a caring family. Last weekend visiting Darin's family in Tel gave me the same feeling.  Even when I get frustrated by Shabbat sometimes, and wish I could take a bus J it is nice to think about all the families enjoying a day of blessing together.

Blockade

It seems like everyone is discussing the Gaza blockade these days. It’s illegal, inhumane. Breaches of international law. Prevention of weapons smuggling. Terrorism. Defense of Israel. People trapped in an open-air prison. The flotilla. What does it all mean?

My first reaction when I heard about the flotilla attack was disbelief. Sadly, I was shocked because of the horrendous public relations mistake Israel had made – not because Israel had once again used any means necessary to prevent Gaza from breaking through the barrier of control that Israel has imposed upon it.

I share the opinion of many others, that the flotilla deaths broadcast Israel’s weaknesses very plainly. Israel is weakening year by year, just like the United States. The symptoms are its failed policies, a series of mismanaged wars, an increasingly fractious domestic political environment, and an obsession with the ‘war on terror.’ The flotilla deaths first show Israel’s military incompetence. I do not think Israeli soldiers are evil people. I think the soldiers were unprepared for the resistance of the flotilla activists, and lost control of the situation to the extent of shooting 9 people point-blank. This is the working of a third world military at protest demonstration, not an advanced military. I also think Israeli politicians and military commanders underestimate the damage done to Israel’s reputation year by year with their policies against the Palestinians. Israel’s weakness is in its inability to thoroughly convince the world that the blockade on Gaza is either working, or necessary in the first place. Israel is continuing to make the same mistakes that the United States made during the Bush years.

Israeli fanaticism with holding on to the Gaza blockade is another sign of its weakness. The Israeli government, and many Israelis, argue that the blockade on Gaza is necessary in order to prevent Hamas from getting weapons. If this is truly the logic for Israel blockading an entire 1.5 million Palestinians from the world, let me ask:

1. Why block ships from entering Gaza’s ports that are proven to carry nothing but humanitarian supplies?
2. In Dec-Jan 2009, why unilaterally kill over 1,400 Palestinian civilians, assaulting Gaza as if the entire place is a military base? Is this the working of an advanced military? Is this the way to ‘protect’ Israel, preserving its safety for the future?!
3. Why prevent Gazans with good jobs and education from traveling? Why punish all people with a Gaza ID from moving anywhere, keeping them separated from their families and friends?

The blockade is primarily about collective punishment. In 2006, it is widely noted that Dov Weisglass, a close advisor to Ariel Sharon in the Israeli government, stated: “the idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” In the 1970s, Moshe Dayan (leader of the Israeli Labor party) said: “We have no solution.. you [Palestinians] shall continue to live like dogs, and whoever wishes may leave, and we will see where this process leads.” (Source: Yossi Beilin, Mehiro shel Ihud (Revivim, 1985), 42; an important review of cabinet records under the Labor Party, from Noam Chomsky).

So where has this process led?? It has led to more and more collective punishment of the Palestinians, and less and less peace. Let’s punish Gazans for electing Hamas. Let’s starve Hamas out of power, let’s make them feel that we control every small detail of their lives. As Dayan said, let the Palestinians leave. It’s the same in the West Bank. The policies of the settlements are screaming to the Palestinians: “leave! It’s not your land anymore.”

I have seen this collective punishment played out in the lives of ordinary people from Gaza. My friend Nizar, whom I recently wrote about, is from Gaza. He is here in Ramallah, trying to go back to Gaza to see his mother who is sick with cancer. He is still waiting for a permit to go to Gaza. His father is a former Fatah minister (obviously not a Hamas supporter!) and Nizar works for a USAID contractor. He is as highly educated and successful as one can be, yet he cannot get a permit to even move from one Palestinian area to another.

A couple days ago, Nizar was informed that he could get a permit to go to Gaza within 1 hour if he signed a paper declaring he would never return to the West Bank, ever. The Israelis are trying to control every aspect of life for Gazans. They don’t want Gazans to leave Gaza, or to go back in. They don’t want Gazans to be in the West Bank, much less in other countries. Nizar is not even inside Israeli territory, but their occupation means they still control every aspect of his movement. He did not sign the statement, and so is still here in Ramallah, waiting for a permit that may take days or weeks to come. His comment to me was, “this is what we [Palestinians] know, occupation.”

Israel must stop claiming that the blockade is necessary to protect itself. As a friend of mine recently said, even if Israel killed every Hamas member, something else would rise in its place. Hamas – the spirit of it – will never die so long as Israel is oppressively controlling and occupying the Palestinian people. There is something called the right to resist…. The blockade is only increasing the hatred, frustration and rage against Israel. The flotilla deaths are another result of the huge mistake and failure of the blockade… another dark stain on Israel’s record…. another event triggering even more resentment and violence against the Israeli state. Showing Israel’s profound weakness, even in the midst of its tight control over Palestinian lives. There is simply no way to continue this policy. Israel has to find another way to ‘defend itself.’ Stop the obsession with military solutions. Show some commitment to actually respecting Palestinians, some sign that Israel actually wants peace. There is no other way out.