My Heart Belongs to the Women and Children

Please click one of the videos to your right first and read while it plays.  It was first aired in 2005.  The Hebrew was sung in Palestinian territories and the Arabic was sung in Israel via the radio.  David Broza and Said Murad (two well-known Israeli and Palestinian musicians) wrote the song; it was performed by David Broza and Wisam Murad.  Please notice the children singing in the background.  If that does not work click the following:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkpwdQQcimU

When do we teach our children peace? When the bombs are dropping? When reading hateful material? While we are shooting at each other? Does learning another language help to break down barriers?

When do we teach our children peace? When the bombs are dropping? When reading hateful material? While we are shooting at each other? Does learning another language help to break down barriers?



In trying to find recent Israeli-Palestinian articles about women and children, I found it extremely hard to find something current. There are very few articles, and I mean very few articles, written by Jewish-Israeli or Palestinians or Arab-Israelis or Palestinian-Israelis, Christian or Druze Israelis dealing with the actual daily life of what it is like to be a child or woman. That being said, every now and again, there is an article which shows the breadth of possible humanity and how we might just create peace.


One of the articles I read about deals with Arab-Israeli women, Moslem and Christian. Another article talks about the way school could be used to break down barriers by teaching non-Arab Jewish-Israeli children Arabic and Arab culture. You might ask what the two articles have in common.


They put a light on those with the least amount of clout in society – women and children. Of course, these are not just any women but widows in a culture that requires that they crawl into a hole without coming back out after their husband dies. The article, Sisters Doing It for Themselves by Ruth Eglash, mentions that even if they have children and need to work, they are supposed to sit at home with their families. JPost.com


At Widows Center, in the Arab-Israeli village of Kafr Reina, the women learn how to become independent financially, psychologically, and emotionally. By meeting and learning together, these women garner the support needed to climb out of the hole of poverty by creating jobs for themselves or going to school.


The next article was about a young woman, Arab citizen of Israel, who teaches in an Israeli secular school. Arab and Jewish Israeli children do not usually attend school together. The state of Israel funds both schools but the curriculum is not the same. The books do not have same view of history. So how can Jewish children learn and interact with Arab children? Teacher Integration for Attitude Change by Mike Prashke


“Beginning in 2004, The Abraham Fund Initiatives, in cooperation with local municipalities and the Ministry of Education and financial support from the Jewish Agency for Israel, established the infrastructure for the teaching of Arabic and Arab culture in Jewish elementary schools.” Ynetnews.com Published: 06.19.09, 09:09 Israel Activism


The program is called Cultural Bridges and was set up to help breakdown the Arab stereotypes previous taught in Israeli state Jewish schools. The program is working because the children are no longer afraid of Arabs.


There was a comment on the ynetnews.com addressing the article which brought up the fact that the Israeli Arab state schools have books which teach hatred, so why should there be such a program? Most of the comments back to this one dealt with the fact that there is no reason to teach hatred just because someone else is teaching hatred. Another point made by one of the comments was the fact that ¼ of the Knesset speaks Arabic and 3.1 million Jews (Mizrahim) in Israel speak Arabic having either come from an Arab country or their parents did. I thought this was a wonderful way to say - Arabic is one of the ways to enjoy the diversity of society.


In the first article I read, I could not find the Widows Center in Kafr Reina nor could I verify the amount of money that International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) was supposedly to have contributed to this center. I did find mention of IFCJ by Haaretz and the Jewish Agency; however, I could not find any mention of the Widows Center on the Jewish Agency site nor the Haaretz site. This makes me wonder how thorough the Jerusalem Post is in verifying their sources. It makes me wonder if the story is true because I originally liked this article for the being so positive regarding the role of women. I did find the Ahali Center which promotes educating Arab Israeli women to become independent. So something is happening in Reina, Israel.


The second article I was able to easily verify. The New York Times has written more than one article on the Abraham Fund such as Seeking to Promote Arab-Jewish Harmony by Herbert Hadad and the Jewish Agency has a number of articles about Cultural Bridges. As far as checking out the Israeli Ministry of Education that only popped up in Hebrew that was a big stretch for me because my Hebrew skills are sorely lacking. I did find something in English by Teach Kids Peace which listed all the things the Ministry of Education was doing but could really verify if it was true or not.

Fence Building

     In 2005, four years ago, Gaza strip’s Jewish settlements and citizens were evacuated. The questions still being asked by Palestinians and Israelis alike revolve around whether this was really a good idea. Ghassan Khatib writes from a Palestinian viewpoint that Israel undermined the Mahmoud Abbas’  leadership position among the Palestinians by Israeli withdrawal of the occupied territory.  Khatib maintains that the withdrawal from Gaza guaranteed that there would not be a two state Palestinian unification which allows these fragmented states to be pushed to other countries, such as Egypt for Gaza and Jordan for the West Bank, for economic dependency. The unilateral Israeli pull out from Gaza put a plug into “negotiating and finding a peaceful settlement to the conflict.” Israeli Unilateralism Undermines the Peace Process by Ghassan Khatib, Bitterlemons.org Aug. 8, 2009.

     

   Yossi Alpher, an Israeli viewpoint, notes that Ariel Sharon’s decision not to negotiate with Abbas about the withdrawal was a mistake. I disagree when he says that Abbas’ failure was because he did not “capitalize on the withdrawal and generous international aid offered the Palestinian Authority for Gaza reconstruction.” In the previous statement regarding Sharon, it shows that without the open communication between both sides it would have been impossible for Abbas to take advantage of all the things that would lead to state-building in Gaza. Alpher notes that pulling out the Jewish settlers instead of allowing them to become part of a bi-national state changed the demographics of Gaza by changing the economics of the area as well as by the destruction of all the buildings, business, and schools used by the Jewish settlers. He also mentions that although it should have been a good demographic move for Israel to obtain the settlers, it turns out that a good many these Jewish settlers are not yet settled in Israel four years later. I think Alpher makes a good point that Gaza is currently barricaded on three sides by Israel (this includes the sea) and that Egypt closed its borders to Gaza causing great economic upheaval and lack of opportunity for growth. Although it is important to note that Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza do take advantage of open borders to smuggle in arms, on that point they also do not wait for open borders but dig tunnels to obtain arms as well as food and other supplies. He suggests that the “economic warfare” at the present needs to halt before anything more will happen toward a viable state and toward peace. We Can Do Better by Yossi Alpher, Bitterlemons.org, Aug, 8, 2009.

     Today Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, carried an article by Chaim Levinson regarding Ehud Olmert’s statements to an investigative committee about the Gaza Disengagement (such a polite term) during Sharon’s reign as prime minister. Olmert says he supported the withdrawal of Gaza and that it was “carried out at the right time.” Olmert believed that the only option was unilateral evacuation of Gaza if negotiations with Palestinian Authorities failed. Of course former president George Bush’s name came up because he wrote a letter which said that “Israel’s borders do not necessarily have to return to the 1967 borders in order to reach an agreement.” Bush was of the opinion that “Palestinian authorities were responsible for finding a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.” If the borders do not give a little by providing a state for the Palestinians, just how are they supposed to find a solution and where are they supposed to go? Olmert: Gaza Disengagement Carried Out At The Right Time By Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Correspondent, Sep. 9, 2009.

     Former Israeli Defense Force Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General (retired) Moshe Yaalon thought that the Disengagement of Gaza was a big mistake and allowed Hamas to control Gaza. He said that “the fact that there is no one to speak to on the other side doesn’t mean that we can ignore the other side and the effects of our actions upon them.” I think this is the most profound statement I have read that pretty much sums up what happened and what not to do in order to avoid the same mistake again. Although, Yaalon also comments on the fact that if Israel keeps withdrawing from one thing or another, the Arab world perceives this as weakness. Former Chief of Staff: Sharon’s Disengagement a Disaster by Ezra HaLevi, Arutz Sheva (Israel National News), June 7, 2009.

     I think a revisit of the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip is important now because there is international talk of a unilateral withdrawal of Jewish settlers in the West Bank. I do not mean to minimize the dangers associated with allowing some factions of the Palestinian community prone to terrorist activities but I think the majority of people would like to just get on with their lives – make a living, go to school, develop business, and etc. I think that communication lines must be kept open or at least try to keep the lines open even if there is still uncertainty on how the Palestinians will form a government and maintain a state. And if the Jewish settlers want to set up camp in the West Bank, let them. When the time is ripe for that area to becoming a self-governing state, then those settlers should have a choice – either move to Israel or become part of a new state. While we Jews are used to building fences around Torah, it is not conducive to the world economy or the world of human beings to build fences or walls around cities anymore.