True Voice

These past couple days have been really tough. I’m restless. I’m confused. I’m conflicted. I want to laugh and love these beautiful faces I meet but then cry to the stories they carry.

When you open your heart and soul to the people around you, you’re opening yourself to things you could have never imagined or originally intended to take into your safe place. My body is my temple and I love, therefore I hurt. I am angry at the injustices of Israel but this whole experience just opens my eyes to the injustices at home. So many parallels when you’re willing to widen your tunnel vision. I’m filling my little notebook with notes and quotes but still cannot find the right words to say. I want to bring you all in on my experience but how can I type the pain.

I cried last night, but I was not alone. A young women, Ayisha, and I have grown so close on this delegation. Even though we spend the days in different places, hers the African Heritage and mine the Olive Harvest, at night we join and cross analyze these experiences. It’s crazy how these experiences can re-traumatize experiences at home. I felt drunk with sorrow for my love, Ayisha, and her story. Even though my experiences are NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING compared to hers, she validated my sorrows alongside hers. We held eachother so tight and cried for one another. No, not cried but bawled, wailed, melted for one another. That is the real beauty of this delegation. To meet so many people who truly understand what it means to cross-movement build. Man. We got Aaron Dixon up in here! One of the founders of the Black Panther Movement in Seattle! We have people from everywhere! And a lot of us are realizing This all is Same Shit Different Place.

Palestine/Israel has a Green Line and USA has a Red Line. They have cement borders, we have metal fences and barron deserts.

It has been really hard on this delegation because it is SO MUCH TALKING. Dialogue is wonderful. I do it all the time. But I Am Here In Palestine And Israel and I Want to Be With The People Experiencing It.

Today was wonderful in that sense. We had quite the diverse experience today. Started our morning with some good old fashioned racism, imperialist, oppressor SHIT from a settler from Hebron, David Wilder. He is from New Jersey (Look him up) and seems to be REALLY GREAT at remembering all the dates but couldnt recall the year he moved to Hebron. Did I mention he had a Gun Attached To His Hip our WHOLE presentation from him? He joked about using it on us if he didnt like what we said. Funny Joke DUDE. You’re freakin HILARIOUS.

So many AWESOME quotes but I want to make this post not TOO long… oops

We get a personal tour, that young Glock(Gun) came along, and he tells us the Jewish History of Hebron which ends in Massacre and Suicide Bombs. We get to see THOSE images…no warning for anyone who it may re traumatize, but whatever..

Anways, he ends the tour to open it up for us to form the dialogue and have 30-45 minutes of questioning. We Were So Good, I Swear. Everyone was so precice, thoughtful and articulate. Very Calm. You would be so proud, especially if you were there to hear what this old man had to say.

In response to asking about human rights reports on the abuses of the Palestinians in Hebron, like pouring their toilet water and garbage onto the lower area of the market, throwing stones, beatings, etc David responded with:

“If you deal with an organization that calls itself a "human rights” organization, you must analyze who they are not writing about" He goes on to say that they exagerate and are not talking about all the Human Rights Abuses to the Jews. Ok. If you didn’t know anything about Hebron, that statement would be valid, but follow the link attached to this post, watch those videos, THEN talk to me about who has their human rights being abused.

Another question was about how he discusses the right to land, yadda yadda yadda, but wondered what he thought about a large 40 ft cement wall blocking Palestinians from their land and their Olive Groves. He responded:

“I dont know where you are determinating that it is Palestinian land. I don’t know where you got that”. CHICKA WHAT

Now I am getting into it, I want to transcribe the whole meeting. But anyways after about 4 people he told us only one more because he had another meeting to get to..

Ill end it with his last quote,

When asked if the Palestinians have a right to this land, right to survival, on the same terms that Jews do, David responds:

“If I tell you what I think we will be here for another half an hour and I know you don’t want tha,t but it’s not a question of survival but a question of if Arabs in Hebron are willing to except the legitimacy of this state to exist, and they don’t.”

Ps. He loves to generalize all Palestinians as Arabs. He doesnt say Palestinians. Racist Mothe Fuckin Imperialst Complex in The Clouds Bullshit.

Thank the Holy Goddess that we met with Youth Against Settlements after and were given a tour of the dark underbelly of Hebron. H2, where the Palestinians live under the Israeli Control. To enter their area of the city, they must go through checkpoints.. and settlers.

Hebron. Where the Captains are the Settlers and the Soldiers are afraid of them. Seriously watch some of the videos on their website I linked, I encourage you to read up. Fact Check and all that jazz. We are working with Facts. We are working with Living Human Beings. Not some messed up Zionist complex that keeps people in the clouds and their feet to stomp wherever they want.

I’m a glass box of emotion.

Ill end on a good note.

I’ve decided that I want to volunteer with Youth Against Settlements and help teach English and participate in their protests, actions, etc. Exchanged emails and I finally feel like I can do something. The Palestinian community welcomed me in as a sister and a friend. I was given not only free bracelets from some of the vendors (I swear I tried to refuse) but asked to come back and teach english. But I do not see myself as savior but a student to the love, hope, passion and will to peacefully resist. I will return either after Elizabeth leaves in mid Nov or around Feb after I travel to other areas of the Arab World.

We will empower eachother. I can feel it throughout my body. This is why I am here. To learn. To love and to experience life on all sides of this ever rotating world. Hold my hand and we will carry on.