Today is a day of flying from Amman, Jordan to Frankfurt, Germany to Chicago. Not much else happening, so I can conclude the trifecta of posts on the Israel/Palestine conflict.
We started Friday, March 29th with stark news. The night before, while our group was enjoying a wonderful dinner and a tour through a West Jerusalem shuk (blog from Day 5), a Palestinian gunman was shooting civilians in an Orthodox Jewish part of Tel Aviv, killing 5 people before he was shot and killed by police. That was the fifth attack in less than two weeks, and brought the death toll to 11 in that short time.
Here's the news story about that incident on March 29th.
And here's a news story about the incident the day before, on March 28th, in which ISIS operatives killed two people north of Tel Aviv.
And here's an article about another shooting in Tel Aviv on April 7th, in which two were killed and dozens more injured.
And here's a news story about an incident just yesterday, in which three different Palestinians (two women, one man) were killed by Israeli police in three separate incidents.
This article explains some of the causes and consequences of the recent violence, which one person interviewed says is reminiscent of the start Second Intifada of 2000 to 2005, during which 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians were killed.
We visited the Temple Mount, where the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque are, on March 26th. On March 29th, the day we met with Ahmad Muna, the Temple Mount was closed to all visitors in an effort to restore peace.
With these incidents as the backdrop of what might be a deadly season of religious holidays coming up in Jerusalem (Ramadan, Passover, Easter), let's look at part 3 of the Palestine/Israeli conflict.
Ahmad Muna is 31, and he just got married last month. He was born in East Jerusalem to a father who was also born in East Jerusalem, which was controlled by Jordan at that time. But in 1967 East Jerusalem was seized by Israel, so when Ahmad was born the people in East Jerusalem were not Jordanians. But they're not Israelis, either. Because they live in East Jerusalem, they are technically... Palestinians? But they aren't really Palestinians, because Palestinians have a different status than Arabs living in Israel. Ahmad is an Arab living in Jerusalem, which they refer to as "Jerusalemites." Because Ahmad's father was a Jerusalemite, Ahmad is also a Jerusalemite.
Ahmad's parents opened a bookstore in 1986. It focuses on Palestinian culture and history, with books mostly in English. When he was a boy, Ahmad had little interest in the issues his parents spent their lives sharing. He decided to go to college at the University of Kent, in Canterbury, England. He stayed there from 2008 to 2013.
When Ahmad came home for two weeks in 2014 he became sick and needed to see a doctor. Israel has a national health care system, so everyone who pays taxes is entitled to health care whenever they need it. When he got to the doctor's office he was denied treatment because, as he put it, "I wasn't in the system." He checked with the insurance office, but they couldn't find him in the system, either. They told him to check with the national health insurance office. He checked with them, and they just validated that he wasn't in the system.
This made no sense! Why wasn't he in the system? He's from East Jerusalem! He was born and raised there! He just went to college for a few years, and now he was home and needed to see a doctor!
It was eventually explained that it was because he was out of the country for more than six months, so he would need to be put back in the system now that he was back. He said, "Okay, great, put me back in the system." They told him they couldn't, because he didn't have an ID card. He asked them for an ID card, but they told him they couldn't issue one because he had been out of the country for more than six months. He had lost his residency status. This is the tricky thing about residency versus citizenship. I am a resident of Colorado, and a citizen of the United States. If I travel to England for a college program for several years, I will no longer be considered a resident of Colorado. But I'll still be a citizen of the United States.
This experience got Ahmed really interested in the issues his parents have always tried to educate people about. Suddenly these issues were completely personal, and the injustice of his situation became very clear.
The complicated status of those in Israel goes back to the war in 1948. During that war over 30,000 Palestinians were killed. Over 750,000 fled Israel for Palestine, and today their population has grown to six million who still have refugee status. But 150,000 Palestinians didn't flee. They stayed in what would become Israel, and today there are 1.5 million Palestinians in Israel without Passports, which is 22% of Israel's population. These "Arab Israelis" are integrated into the overall Israeli population. They pay taxes to Israel, they've been educated in the Israeli school system, they speak Hebrew, they are residents of Israel (a very modern country), they dress just like the rest of the people in Israel, they drive the same streets, and they eat the same cuisine. But they aren't citizens, so they experience limitations that the Jews of Israel don't have.
In Jerusalem there are two types of ID cards. One is for Israeli citizens. It grants access to health care, education services, and grants people the ability to run for office and vote in elections.
Ahmad has the second ID card. Until recently it indicated "Arab" as the nationality, but there's no nation called "Arab," so it isn't a nationality. The ID card allows Ahmad to travel throughout most of Israel and Palestine, and to access health and education services, but it does not allow him to run for office or vote. Ahmad still pays taxes to Israel. He is technically Palestinian, but he can't prove that to anyone. There is no formal statehood for Palestine, so there is no citizenship of Palestine. As for travel, because Ahmad's status doesn't include national citizenship, travel between nations is exceedingly difficult. He has to make plans months in advance and apply for a visa. But if he stays out of the country for an extended period, like to earn a college education, he can't come back. He'll lose his residency status and all of the benefits that come with that residency. Also, he isn't allowed to fly out of the airport in Tel Aviv. To fly internationally he has to go to Amman, Jordan, and to go to Amman, Jordan, he needs a travel visa first, because he isn't a citizen of Amman.
There are 350,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem. That's 35% of the population.
Ahmad wondered aloud, "If you want to claim all of Jerusalem as your territory, then why not provide everyone there with passports?" The message Ahmad and others are getting from Israel is a frustrating one. He said it feels like they're saying to Arab Israelis, "We want your land. But we don't want you."
Ahmad explained that the current situation is not working, and hasn't been working for decades. Currently there is no Palestinian nation. It's just the nation of Israel, occupying Palestine, and not affording the people of Palestine with any rights. In addition to denying the people of Gaza and the West Bank equal health care and education, Israel has broken the law in creating settlements within the Palestinian territories. But what can Palestine do? They bring up their concerns to the United Nations, and the United Nations acknowledges that Israel is breaking the law, but then they don't do anything about it. As he was looking at our group of 6 Americans he said, "We don't have a problem with Americans, but your government always stands by Israel, even when Israel is breaking international law." For many years Israel has been demolishing Palestinian homes. Here's an interesting video about it. It's only 10 minutes long, but it packs in a lot of information about the frustrations we heard about during our trip.
The "Two State Solution" would result in a nation of Israel and a nation of Palestine. This idea has been under negotiation for decades, but it is not a popular idea with Palestinians, and Ahmad doesn't think it can happen. About 70% of Palestinians don't believe in a 2-state solution. If it did work Palestine could have their own passports, their own airport, they'd get East Jerusalem back, they'd have freedom of movement, and they'd have self-rule.
But what about the idea of a one-state solution? If Palestine and Israel were unified into a single nation, Israel would be an automatic majority, and Palestinians would be a minority. But the Palestinians would have equal rights, and they could move freely. They'd also have access to what Israel takes for granted. Right now there isn't a single hospital in East Jerusalem -- only West Jerusalem. While Israel has 5G and 6G cell phone service, Palestine still has 3G. So unifying into a single state has its pros. But a one-state solution would end Israel's identity as a Jewish state, which was the entire motivation for creating Israel in the first place. Israelis wouldn't want to give up their Jewish homeland.
The violence that has happened in recent weeks, Ahmad explained, is very alarming for everyone because of who's doing it. Most of the time, when terrorists attack Israel, the terrorist is an angry Palestinian from the West Bank who crosses the border to shoot or bomb civilians in Israel. But the recent attacks haven't been by Palestinians coming to Israel. They've been by Arab Israelis who have always lived in Israel. Border control isn't going to help if the terrorists are already living inside of Israel.
That was the end of our conversation with Ahmad. Since hearing from him we've been traveling all over Jordan, not hearing any news for over a week. But the situation worsened after negotiations in the Negev fell through last week. The Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, is a far-right politician who voiced the opinion that it isn't a good time to grant Palestine rights. He defends the Israeli settlements in Palestine, and just a couple of days ago he suggested that all Israeli civilians carry guns to protect themselves from terror attacks. That suggestion has bloodshed written all over it.
It's hard to find a side that's "right" in this conflict.
- Should Israelis be concerned about Palestinians going on shooting rampages? Yes!
- Should Palestinians be frustrated that none of their efforts to resolve these issues through the United Nations and other legal channels have fallen short for two generations? Yes!
- Should we expect Israel to change their policies when they are being manipulated through acts of terror? No!
- Should we expect Palestinians to be patient while another generation is born into refugee camps? No!
- Should Israelis do whatever they can to maintain a Jewish state? Yes!
- Should Palestinians do whatever they can to live in the land that has belonged to their ancestors for the past 2,000 years? Yes!
Unfortunately, two nations cannot occupy the same territory at the same time, and two families cannot occupy the same house at the same time. This is why the situation is not resolved, and why no easy resolution is at hand. Smarter people than me have worked at this problem for decades, and there is still no solution that will satisfy both sides. I'll be watching the news over the next few weeks, as Jerusalem swells with people observing their religious holidays there. If you're the praying type, feel free to send some words of peace toward Israel and Palestine.
Shalom and Salam
שָׁלוֹם
سلام
