Entries this day: Dream Palestine_vs_Tokyo Today

Dream

9:48am JST Saturday 03 December 2005

In Palestine again being charged 4.5 NIS instead of 3.5 NIS, but I was making like I didn't have enough to see if he would lower the price, and as he was making change, I was like, "and it's supposed to be 3.5 shekels" and he goes, "too many exchanges" and just closed his hand around the money he had and walked up to his room.

I stood for a bit then went up as well and found him and was all, "there were not 'too many exchanges' I know I shoulda told you right away that it was 3.5, but I had to remember how much it was last time I was here, oh about a WEEK ago, and it's 3.5."

He consented and gave the money back.

I had given a guy my cell phone and he gave me Niveen's cell phone back and there was some confusion in my mind about who had which cell phone and he was all, "you told me you would give Niveen's back to her," and I was like, "oh yeah, I had forgotten" and then Niveen and I had switched cell phones so I called my name on her cell phone to reach her on my cell phone and she answered and I was like, "where are you; I need to give you back your cell phone.." and I ended up walking to find her but didn't really know where I was except "near Texas" and had to cross a river that I thought was rather large, but turned out to be really small according to the map and someone said I was near "Oleander" and I found it spelled like "Ough Leighandear" on the map and discovered the map was super detailed, and I was already in Texas. I was using a map with a scale of about 1 inch = 1 meter.

Palestine vs Tokyo

2:36pm JST Saturday 03 December 2005

I have been agonizing over this document for weeks. My basic task is to write about my experiences in the occupied territories of Palestine, but I find it impossible to actually put to paper anything that could get across the idea of the reality there.

My friends have asked me questions, and I find the answers difficult because I have to keep "backing up" to give context before anything can make sense.

During my travels in summer 2005, I met an Israeli woman named Eilat, and a Palestinian woman named Niveen. During a series of workshops, they described the conflict with which they live every day. My short, generalized version of the story goes like this:

     In the land basically between the Mediterranean Sea and the
     western border of Jordan, people live with tension and fear on a
     daily basis.  Israelis and Palestinians (taken as a group) each
     believe they have the right to live in the area.

     Palestinians say they have lived there for generations and want
     to remain.  Israelis say they are blessed by God to live in the
     area.

     Supported by various western governments, Jewish people were
     given financial and military support to move into the area.
     After World War II, Jews from Europe were encouraged to move to
     this area, for it was "a land with no people" and they were "a
     people with no land."

     The countries in the middle east were clumped together and it
     was assumed that the few arabs who lived in the area could
     simply move to other middle eastern countries with the rest of
     the arabs.

     The area was renamed Israel.

     The Palestinians became angry and fought back against what they
     saw as an invasion.  The Israelis, with superior firepower (via
     the US and British governments) won the war and expanded their
     territory, further displacing Palestinians from their cities and
     villages.

     Palestinians fought back with bombings and the Israeli
     government decided the obvious solution was to build a wall
     around Palestinian areas and control access to/from and within
     this area.

     There is a separation barrier being built now.  Some of the
     barrier is in the form of an 8 meter tall concrete wall, which
     attracts a great deal of graffitti, both from Palestinian and
     international Palestinian supporters.  Most of the separation
     barrier is actually a fence, which does not look so unsightly,
     but takes up more space: it's a fence, with electric sensors, and
     a tracer road on one side (a dirt road kept smooth so that
     footprints can be detected easily), then the fence, then a patrol
     road, then another tracer road.

     Checkpoints on highways and in the separation barrier (where
     highways used to be) slow traffic within the occupied
     territory.

     Palestinians face great difficulties getting permits to build
     homes, and many therefore resort to building without a permit.
     The resulting "illegal" homes face the threat of demolition at
     any time.

     Suicide bombing attacks by left-wing Palestinians on Jewish
     citizens keep some Israelis on edge.

     Non-suicide attacks my right-wing Israelis against Palestinian
     citizens keep some Palestinians on edge.

I found this description beyond reasoning; beyond belief. I was assured I could visit the area and see for myself. So upon return to Japan, I set out to do that. I bought air tickets and did some research about what I could do once I arrived in Tel Aviv.

I found the International Solidarity Movement (http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/) and decided I could start there and see what else I find once I was in the area.

Today

8:49am JST Sunday 04 December 2005

Yesterday I just worked on the description of Palestine.. ended up resorting to summarizing my journal; it seems like the only way I can really "get across" what I experienced there, sort of allowing enough contextualization to make it understandable.