The group is small but active. They come out every week, holding the same signs. And amost every week they face abuse from people who are walking and driving by who see them as traitors.
We stood with them for an hour, from 1:00 to 2:00. We heard angry cries from people driving by in their cars. Many showed them (and us) the middle finger. A guy on a motorcycle drove up to me, stopped, spat at me, and took off.
I was more amused than insulted. First of all, he totally missed (which was a good thing). I couldn't help thinking how glad I was that he actually stopped his bike to do what his patriotic duty required before tearing back off into traffic. Like, what if he was speeding by and not looking at the road before he let loose and crashed into something? I would have felt pretty horrible then. It was more amusing then anything to me.
Then I remembered that this happened to me once. Weekly these women face spittle, verbal abuse, and in the past have been subjected to physical assault. All for silently opposing their country's policies in the West Bank.
A man walked up to me and stated that all Arabs should leave the West Bank, that the Bible says this land is only for the Jews. I asked him if he was referring to God telling Abram that "I will bless those who bless thee and curse those who curse thee". He said yes. I reminded him that Abram had 2 sons, Isaac and Ishmael. The promise was given to both.
He moved on to say he has friends in hospital on life support because of Hamas rockets. I told him that I feel terrible about that, that CPT does not support Hamas and that in my personal opinion the suicide bombers and gunmen who attack Israeli civilians are cowards and murderers. But I also pointed out that the Israeli army has killed far more Palestinians than Palestinians have killed Israelis.
He pointed out that not one Israeli has became a suicide bomber and blown himself up in a Palestinian city. I agreed with him, then pointing out that Palestinian helicopter gunships have not fired missiles into Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
I also said that Israel is a beautiful country and that as a tourist I have grown to love its people and would never support it being dismantled or destroyed. I told him that if the shoe was on the other foot and the Israelis were living under Palestinian occupation, I would be there with CPT to defend them and support them. He said that he is sad whenever people die, on both sides.
That kind of ended the discussion and we shook hands before he left. It was really good to be able to speak with him and I did not rehearse the words or prepare for this conversation. All I can say is that I thank God for giving me the right words to say in the situation.
One of our team members was approached by a group of soldiers and told that the Palestinians are dogs and that when they begin to make trouble they need to be kicked down.
No comments:
Post a Comment