Before I left for Israel, I received many worried questions about the conflict in Israel and how far away I would be from any of the regions generally connected to this conflict. I responded to these worries with assurance that I would be in the Negev, far away from any regions of conflict. Then, today, we drove straight into the areas that are shown on the news-the areas that people generally try to forget unless they are blamed for terrorist attacks or violent in other areas of Jerusalem. Nobody wants to see the quality of life of the Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, and certainly not the quality of life of those living within the confines of the separation wall.

 

 

This morning, before our tour of East Jerusalem, we had a class with Shlomo Fox who offered Jewish texts relating to walls: walls as tools for separation, safety, protection, and isolation. We looked at a number of different texts, including some poetry by Yehudah Amichai. One of the poems, “The Tourist,” brought into question, what one sees as they travel-the people or the community’s physical appearance.

 

The tour of East Jerusalem discussed the people-we drove past children walking home from school in the middle of the streets because they lacked a sidewalk. Although the Palestinians living in these areas pay taxes, they receive little, if any, support from the Israeli government. Even trash disposal, which is supplied by the city, is denied these communities and the shoulders where these children might have been able to walk at one point, are piled with the overflow of this trash.

 

The discussion of the wall was carried from our class discussion with Shlomo Fox in the morning to our tour in the afternoon as we drove next to, through and around the separation wall. We drove past Rachel’s tomb to see an example of what fear does to people and how it has impacted the building of the wall. Rachel’s tomb is a holy site for both Jews and Muslims, so the building of the wall was problematic. It was also problematic because it is located in a Palestinian community. In order to allow Jews to visit the site, the built the separation wall along both sides of the road and around the tomb. In order to pass through the gates, you have to stop at a military check point and show a certain kind of identification-identification that is not available to Palestinians. Not only are there two, 8 foot walls on either side of the car on the road to this holy site, but most Palestinians are unable to visit this holy site.

 

One has to wonder about the presence of this wall. It may help people feel more secure, and since it has been built, it has cut down on acts of terrorism, but at the same time, we have to question what it is doing to both the Israeli and Palestinian communities, emotionally and physically. I don’t have any answers. But I do have images of the people and their lifestyle.

 

At one stop, some school girls got off a bus and were walking by our group. They looked at my feet and saw that I was wearing what looked like little pink socks, standing on a pile of plastic bottles, twisted metal, and other abandoned trash. They looked back at me with shy smiles. I looked down at my feet, their gaze followed, and I wiggled my toes. We laughed together. Like Yehudah Amichi suggests in his poem, I am going to try and remember their faces as I continue to try to make sense of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the need for walls.

 

The Tourist

 

Visits of condolence is all we get from them.

They squat at the Holocaust Memorial,

They put on grave faces at the Wailing Wall

And they laugh behind heavy curtains

In their hotels.

They have their pictures taken

Together with our famous dead

At Rachel’s Tomb and Herzle’s Tomb

And on top of Ammunition Hill.

They week over our sweet boys

And lust over our tough girls

And hang up their underwear

To dry quickly

In cool, blue bathrooms

 

Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David’s Tower, I placed my two heavy baskets at my side. A group of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker. “You see that man with the baskets? Just right of his head there’s an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head.” “But he’s moving, he’s moving!” I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells them, “You see that arch from the Roman period? It’s not important: but next to it, left and down a bit, there sits a man who’s bought fruit and vegetables for his family.”

 

By Yehudah Amichai