Update 3: Colonialism, Displacement, Aunties, and Ice Cream

Digital Storytellers Delegation to Palestine Update

NOTE ABOUT MY PALESTINE UPDATES: Because of the nature of this trip, I’m not making specific details super public. I am not at spy-level security and folks can find info if they want it, I am just not interested in connecting with random folks who may choose to defend what is happening in Palestine at the hands of the Israeli Government and with the support of the United States and my tax dollars.

Update 3 Contains reflections on

  • Displacement and Disposition
  • Economics and Occupation
  • People Meeting People
  • Ramallah

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Displacement and Disposition

We began the morning focusing in Sheikh Jarrah & the Old City with Osama Risheq. Osama has served as a Legal Supervisor at Al-Quds Human Rights Clinic in Al-Quds University since 2009. He holds a BA in Public Law from Mohammad I University in Morocco, and an L.L.M in International Law with International Relations from Kent University in the UK. Currently, Risheq is a PhD candidate in International Criminal Law and Transitional Justice at Vrije University, Amsterdam. He has extensive research and fieldwork experience in international law, human rights, forcible displacement, prisoners’ rights, and the right to education.

This is the second time that I have been on a walk with Osama, and he was, again, brilliant. We looked at how settler culture, surveillance, and other folks of control have reinforced the occupation and apartheid state. No matter how many times you hear the story, it’s just as enraging.

One of the spots that we visited was the house in Sheik Jarrah where one of the most infamous testimonies of the settler atrocities, “If I don’t steal it, someone else will.” Here is the video followed by a few pictures from that house itself and a settler home just across the street. Note the heavy camera and microphone presence. As one of our guides noted, “Empire always surveils.”

Sheik Jarrah

Conversation with Sam Bahour: Palestine and the USA

Bahour was born in Ohio in 1964, to a Palestinian father and Lebanese-American mother. He moved with his family to the West Bank in the 1990s following the signing of Oslo Accords to become involved in developing the economy of the future Palestinian state. He graduated from Youngstown State University in 1989 with a degree in computer technology, and subsequently worked for several American software firms, before moving to the West Bank in 1995.

Sam is a businessperson who is trying to help with the economic health of Palestine. Raw and honest about Israel and the ongoing occupation, he helped provide context for the sinister nature of how greed and power play into the upholding of the occupation. At the end of the day, he is trying to provide enough work so folks can make it through without giving in, leaving, despair, or violence.

Quotes from the day

“Divest and Invest. Divest from Isreal and invest in Palestine.” [on threads]

“The narrative of ‘a land with no people for a people with no land’ is Bullshit." [on threads]

"You can't understand October 7th, if you don't understand October 6th." [on threads]

People Meeting People (Al-Muntada)

Al-Muntada was established on November 1, 2018, and aims to promote the concept of active aging by providing a venue to exchange and develop participants' knowledge, skills, and practical experience, including members and non-members. It develops capacities by engaging participants in lifelong learning activities, such as book club discussions. It organizes recreational activities and a well-being program to help respond to feelings of loneliness.

Probably the highlight of the day, the creators finally got to create. We (and by we I mean the musicians) sang protest songs with some seniors [video] from a senior health and community center. It was lovely. I was able to interview a few of the aunties and hear their encouragement for the young folks in the US and it was lovely.

Ramallah

I must come back to Ramallah. I thought this last time and it was reaffirmed. This is a glimpse of what Palestine could be like if Palestinians were self-determination. Just imagine a Palestine without occupation. While still not the same after October 7, there is a vibrancy of the city that you can tell is life-giving.

And yes, we topped of the day with some famous Ramallah ice cream.

[Transcript]

Whoo, we did a lot of things today, but back in Palestine, I keep saying that I was here a month ago, but I've been reminded that maybe it's like two months ago, two and a half months ago, any case, what is time in the era of pandemic?

We did a lot today, if any of you have been on any of these kind of trips, you know that you just kind of run, run, run, and so, you know, I could share a bunch of things, but I do share, I'll show in more detail about what we did all day and through this trip on my Substack. I'm really keeping it just for paid folks, but I'll put a free link down that you can join. I'm just trying to put some kind of buffer between me and folks who just want to argue or troll or pretend that what I'm doing here or what's happening in Gaza is not worth our time or energy.

In any case, today's learning is that, we can unintentionally perpetuate colonialism without even knowing it. I learned today, I've talked about Jerusalem being divided into four quarters, but that is just British empire hangover and that on the ground, that's not actually what it looks like. That Jerusalem, it has many nations that have taken care of parts of Jerusalem and the Old City in particular. But the Old City of Jerusalem is not divided by the people in those that was British empire decided that's how they're going to divide it into the Christian, the Jewish, the Armenian and the Muslim quarter. So we got to be really careful about that. That's my takeaway for today. I will be back later tomorrow.

Peace.

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