Hillary Clinton on israel/palestine

Since this is Iowa the state is currently being overrun by presidential candidates. After a couple of the talks I've given I've been asked what some of the candidates positions are on Israel and Palestine so I thought I would start compiling some of them. This will take a while I suppose, but I'm going to start.
The Council of Foreign Relations website gives a nice summary of the candidates positions on Israel and Palestine. It can be found at http://www.cfr.org/publication/13579/

If you prefer a candidate with an even handed approach to Israel and Palestine it may be difficult to find a candidate you can support. In the next week Barak Obama, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson will be stopping in nearby towns, so perhaps I can ask them their position in person.

Tonight, Hillary Clinton. Some quotes, this one from a speech given to the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, January 19, 2006

"They [American values] include our enduring friendship with Israel, our firm commitment to the security and well-being of our own people, our friends and our allies, and a belief that dreams of democracy and human rights are ones that America can and must help make real. The security and freedom of Israel must be decisive and remain at the core of any American approach to the Middle East. This has been a hallmark of American foreign policy for more than 50 years and we must not — dare not — waver from this commitment."
I believe Prime Minister Sharon will be remembered for his life-long commitment to Israel's security and his own remarkable journey that led him to the conclusion that Israel would be best served by creating the unilateral disengagement from Gaza and the separation of the Israelis from the Palestinians. But we will also remember and admire the strength and stability of the state of Israel and its people at such a challenging time.
The elections to be held by the Palestinians will, in the best case, lead to the emergence of a responsible, capable leadership that can rise to these security challenges. That is really what is on the ballot: whether or not the Palestinians are capable of creating an effective government and moving away from explicit and implicit support for terrorism and forward, toward peace and stability. What is not on a ballot, and cannot be put into question, is Israel's right to exist and exist in safety. These two elections in Israel and among the Palestinian are turning points. No more excuses for the Palestinians. They have to demonstrate clearly and unequivocally their commitment to a peaceful future and they have to also demonstrate their ability to deliver services to their people." Hillary Clinton

The complete speech can be found at http://www.senate.gov/~clinton/news/statements/details.cfm?id=250529

An interesting article describing Clinton's visit to Israel in November 2005 can be found at this website: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/nyregion/metrocampaigns/13hillary.html
It describes her support for the separation wall and the move of Israels capital to Jerusalem.

When different candidate representatives call they generally ask what issues I care most about or what questions I have. When a young man from Clinton's campaign called I told him I was concerned about her position of Israel and Palestine. When I told him I had been in the West Bank, he responded with "I know, its something I have problems with as well." So if you are interested in voting for someone who will be a strong supporter of Israel, Clinton is probably your person.
If on the other hand you want to support a candidate who has a more balanced position, and who seems to be understanding of the situation many Palestinians find themselves in, I would strongly encourage you to look to another candidate.

traveling time

Last Saturday I drove with my son to Goshen for his third year in college. The trip was going well and we were making good time though the Illinois State Police had a much higher presence than normal. The trip to Goshen normally takes between 5 and 6 hours with traffic near Chicago being the variable. This time we cruised through Chicago without any trouble, stopping only at the toll booth. Then we got to the Indiana line and traffic came to a stop. We moved very little for the next 3 hours so a trip that should have taken us 6 hours ended taking us 9 hours. Now I know that isn't all that long to be in a car, but when you planned on 6 and your son is anxious to see his friends after a long summer of putting up with his parents it isn't the most pleasant situation. We found out later the delay was because the east bound lanes were covered by water from the heavy rains.
When I was with the CPT group in the West Bank, anytime we were delayed Jenette, one of our leaders would remind us that what we were experiencing was minimal compared to what many Palestinians need to deal with. According to B'tselem an Israeli peace group Israel has 78 checkpoints in the West Bank and that most of these are not on the border, or entrance into Israel. Because of the checkpoints traveling with in the West Bank has become much more difficult. A trip from Hebron to Jericho which we were told should take around 2 hours can routinely take over 9. In addition to the regular checkpoints there are also "flying checkpoints" which can be set up anywhere. We were told that at the checkpoints Israeli authorities can check such things as tire pressure, engines, go through luggage, in addition to checking ID's.
In the previous post I included a picture of the main checkpoint Palestinians need to go through to go from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Palestinians from Bethlehem need a permit to travel to Jerusalem, and even with a permit, going through the checkpoint can easily take 3 hours. Because of the checkpoints and the hassle and indignity involved, many families have stopped traveling causing extended families to lose contact with one another. It is one of the ways that life is made more difficult for many Palestinians as they go about trying to conduct a normal life.
So If I remember the words of Janette, when I remember my three hour delay on the trip to Goshen I should remember the plight of the Palestinians, which I will do, but also hoping the next trip to Goshen goes much better.
marcus

A question of hope

8/13/2007 for faculty devotions
revised 8/22/07 for chapel

Reflections on my trip to Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jerusalem

Marcus Miller

“Hope that is not risking is not hope. Hope that is not promising is not hope.” Zoughbi Zoughbie

Three weeks ago I arrived in Jerusalem to participate in a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation. Christian Peacemaker Teams were organized in 1984 by the Church of the Brethren, Quakers and Mennonites. The goal is to send peacemakers into areas of conflict where their presence hopefully helps bring a peaceful resolution. CPT has been in Hebron for the last 20 years at the invitation of the Hebron City Council.

Our delegation consisted of 15 members including 2 leaders. The group ranged in age from 18 to over 65. There were 7 men and 8 women, 2 Quakers, 3 Catholics, 2-3 Methodists, a Unitarian, a Pentecostal, 4 Mennonites, and 3 pastors.

From Tuesday through Saturday we met with a variety of people including Israeli’s and Palestinians. In Bethlehem we saw our first close up view of the separation wall being built by the Israeli government. In places it is 20 ft high, accompanied by guard towers, razor wire and security cameras. We toured the Deheisheh Refugee Camp where Palestinians who fled from their homes in 1948-49 continue to live.

That evening we heard the story of Nihal Boqai who had grown up in the camp and whose extended family still lived in the camp. We heard about his brother, a Palestinian police officer who was killed when an Israeli missile hit the car in which he was riding and his younger brother who was exiled to the Gaza strip at the age of 18 and where he has been for the last 6 years separated from his family with little chance of seeing them anytime in the near future. Several of us slept on the roof that night hoping it would be cooler than staying inside.

I found it interesting that in their home was a grape vine, which we were told was planted over 30 years ago when the tents were replaced with cement block buildings, and I wondered, why would you plant a vine in a refugee camp?

Later that week we traveled to the Negev Desert where we visited two “unrecognized Bedouin villages.” The Israeli government has tried to force the semi-nomadic Bedouin into settled towns and while many Bedouins have moved, several extended families have refused to move to the towns where unemployment is over 50% and crime is a growing problem. Living in an “unrecognized village” means they receive no services from the government including water, electricity, education for their children, and that their simple homes can be demolished at any time.

Back in Bethlehem we met with the director of a Palestinian Christian center which works to improve the lives of people in Bethlehem. A man with a flair for words he described how Bethlehem has “gone from a grotto to a ghetto,” describing how for many Palestinians it is difficult to move beyond “the restricted areas to which they have been assigned,” by Israel. He described for us the many programs they have started to help children deal with the trauma of occupation, of helping families cope with the rise in domestic violence which happened during times when Bethlehem was placed under 24 hour curfew for 50 to 60 days. Zoughbi finished by describing his dream for his land, that it would become a place where people of all faiths could live together equally. “Hope that is not risking is not hope. Hope that is not promising is not hope.” He said

By this point I was finding all the information we were hearing to be rather depressing. On the one hand I was impressed by the many expressions of hope for a better future we heard from the Israeli’s, the Palestinians and the Bedouins we had met.

but frankly I found the expressions of hope I was hearing to be totally unrealistic based on what I saw happening on the ground. It was much easier to see signs of evil. The separation or
apartheid wall being built, the remains of home demolitions, the checkpoints, the settlements, the celebratory pictures of young men who had died for their cause posted in various places, the many IDF soldiers with their M16’s everywhere and the new highway built through lush Palestinian farmland on which only Israeli’s could drive. They all seemed to me, large barriers to peace which would ultimately squash whatever hope we heard expressed. I like to think of myself as a relatively optimistic person but I found the hope the Palestinians were expressing about a better future to be totally unrealistic and naïve. Many of the groups we heard from were doing good work but frankly much of it seemed pointless.

Then came Sunday. We were encouraged to attend a local worship service. Though we were only a short walk from the church of the nativity I didn’t feel much like visiting there and participating in what one of our group members described as competing church services in the same building.

We were staying in a facility called “House of Bread” which I learned is what the word “Bethlehem” means. A group of Palestinian Christians met there for worship service so I decided to go along with two or three others from our group.

The service started with some singing. A young Palestinian, Grace Zoughby led us in “King of Kings and lord of Lords, “first in Arabic, then English, followed by another round of Arabic. Singing "king of Kings,... Jesus Prince of Peace" took on a whole new meaning for me when singing it in occupied Bethlehem while being led by a young Palestinian women. She then did "nothing is to difficult for thee..." and again a song which often seemed trite when singing it in Kalona, became a powerful chorus of hope.

A young man, Fadi, then shared his sermon. For scripture he used II Kings 6:1-7 and Hebrews 11:1 Fadi described the story of Elisha and the axe head and the description of faith in the book of Hebrews. He talked of belief in a God who was bigger than any separation wall that could be built, and of Jesus, born nearby, who challenged us to love our enemies and those who persecute us, and then he came around to that word hope again.

It felt like he was talking to me when he went on to say that when we give up hope is when we try to do things ourselves. When we give up hope is when we become tired and frustrated. When we give up hope is when we are tempted to resort to violence because it seems to be the most efficient solution. When we give up hope is when we look inward, surrounding ourselves with possessions while we ignore the situation of those around us. When we have hope is when the impossible can be done.

As we left for Hebron, as I traveled back home, this question of hope in the face of such adversity is one I continue to roll around in my head and frankly one I am still struggling with. Frankly I still find it hard to be hopeful that there will be a peaceful resolution to the situation in the West Bank.

As we begin this school year we hope for a good year, we hope our classes go well, we hope our students learn and mature and I think we have a strong chance of achieving these hopes. But we do not face restrictions on travel, don’t have Jewish settlers throwing stones or otherwise harassing our students on the way to school, we don’t deal with soldiers demolishing our students homes, or in the case of the Bedouin village, the threat of our school building be destroyed after a demolition order was placed on their new school building.

As I was putting this together I kept thinking about what images I should use at the end to either symbolize my lack of hope or to acknowledge some sense of hope. I couldn’t resist including the pictures of the boys soccer team formed in Hebron, where they play on a street that is 24 yards wide and where rocks thrown by settlers are an occasional hazard. The boys now have something productive to do in the afternoons and evenings. I also couldn’t resist including the picture of an IDF soldier playing with them even though he was later scolded by his commanding officer for doing so. .

I would like us to think about what is the basis of our hope, is it sufficient to take us through hard times, what do we hope for, and to use the phrase of Zoughbi, “Is our hope risking? Is our hope promising?”

I would like to finish with this picture. It is an ancient tomb just outside the old city gates of Jerusalem where many people believe Jesus was buried after his crucifixion. The tomb is empty, the stone is rolled away. On what do we base our hope? Is your hope risking? Is your hope promising?”

Back home

I have been back home for a week after my trip to the West Bank with a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation. I had hoped to post to this as I traveled around the West Bank but that obviously didn't happen. Part of it was due to limited internet access, though if I had been carrying a laptop there were many wireless connections. Part of it was a decision to talk with people or to walk around and experience as much as I could rather than to sit in front of a computer when one was available. Since many people are asking about my trip I think what I will do is to use some notes I kept and to share about the trip as time and inspiration allow. In the meantime, my body continues to adjust to the time difference, school has started and life is getting back into the normal school year routine. Next weekend I take Dirk to Goshen for his third year of college.
marcus

I think I'm ready

Tomorrow I leave for my two week trip to the middle east. The suitcase is packed and there are only one or two stops I need to make before heading to the airport. A number of people seem worried but either I am too dense or too stupid to be anxious. I am trying this for the first time so I am mostly doing this to see how it works.
mm