Labour2 Palestine tour
I recently led a ‘Labour2Palestine’ tour that gave a group of Labour Party people the opportunity to see for themselves the situation facing the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation and oppression. The 13 strong delegation included five parliamentary researchers, a councillor and five other party members – a nurse, lawyer, local government officer, teacher and retired firefighter, as well as the organiser, Martin Linton.
It’s hard to explain the qualitative difference between mere intellectual knowledge of what’s going on and actually touching, seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting it for yourself. All five senses were fully engaged during our week in Palestine, and yet, when questioned by the Israeli ‘child soldier’ at the last checkpoint before Tel Aviv airport on our way home, we found ourselves explaining that we hadn’t been anywhere, we hadn’t seen anything and we hadn’t spoken to anyone. We had just sat around in Jerusalem chatting to each other.
The reality was very different. Several of us had been questioned on arrival at Tel Aviv Airport, one for 1 ½ hours, before we eventually were able to set off for Ramallah.
We heard from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) about their work to stop illegal demolition of Palestinian homes or their campaign against evictions, deportations and discrimination. ICAHD told us of the 26,000 demolitions since 1967 – all illegal under international law.
We visited the village of Al Walaja, just beyond the Jerusalem boundary, which the Israelis are in the process of encircling with an 8 metre concrete wall, stealing the land and attempting to drive the people away. We were guided on our visit there by Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh from Bethlehem University and had lunch cooked for us by the women’s committee at the Oxfam-funded Ansar Centre.
Then we visited to an Israeli Kibbutz where we were able to get an Israeli perspective on things. The impressive Australian lawyer, Gerard Horton, International Advocacy Officer for Defence for Children International – Palestine Section. who campaigns for the rights of child prisoners took some of us to the Ofer Military Court to see at first hand young Palestinian juveniles being denied their basic human rights in a mockery of justice, while the rest of us walked round Amari Refugee Camp built for 1000 and now housing 8,500 in 1 square kilometre.
Its hard to explain how emotionally drained we all were after our visit to the village of Nabi Saleh, the location of weekly peaceful demonstrations against the Israeli theft of their land and blocking of their roads, as well as the abuse at the hands of the Israeli settlers. We had sat listening to the dignified and courageous testimony of community resistance from two women and their families. Their eyewitness and video accounts of the Israeli soldiers’ brutality and that of the nearby settlers were heartbreaking. We heard from the 16 year old son of one of the women how he had been arrested and taken from his home three times at night; how he had been humiliated and abused as part of an act of collective punishment against the village for stone throwing by persons unknown. He told his story in a matter of fact tone, even adding that on one occasion he had been watching football on TV when they came for him – Real Madrid v Zaragoza. We also heard from Bassem Tamimi who was jailed for organising peaceful demonstrations and was named as a Human Rights Defender by the European Commission. We were accompanied there by Gerard Horton and Salwa Dauibis of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling.
Then it was on to Bethlehem through the Wadi Nar, the route that West Bankers are forced to take avoiding Jerusalem. We visited the church of the Nativity and then continued our journey to Hebron where we met the Governor, Kamel Hemid. Hebron is a city of 225,000 where the city centre is now banned to all Palestinians because of the presence of 413 Israeli settlers guarded by 2,300 Israeli soldiers. We visited the village of Um Faggarah where the Israeli army had already demolished many houses and spoke to Hafez Huraini, Coordinator for Popular Struggle in the South Hebron Hills, and other local leaders. Our Fatah accompaniers, Nadia Sarraj and Hamdi al-Bitar, were later told by the Israeli army not to return with visitors to the village which has been declared a “closed military area”.
After a briefing from the British Deputy Consul-General Ben Saour, we set off for Jericho. There we saw the obscene juxtaposition of Jericho’s rich cultural heritage such as the ancient city at Tell Es-Sultan dating back 10,000 years; Hisham’s Palace, destroyed by an earthquake in 747 and the biblical Mount of Temptation alongside the brutal evidence of everyday Israeli oppression.. The ‘City of Palms’ is an enclave of the Jordan Valley in Area A of the West Bank, while the surrounding area is designated Area C under full Israeli military control. Four road blocks encircle the enclave, restricting the movements of Jericho’s Palestinian population. After lunch with the Mayor we returned to Jerusalem for a briefing at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs from Raymond Dolphin.
Fatah’s spokesperson on foreign affairs, Dr Nabil Sha’ath, and his deputy, Dr Abdallah Abdallah, briefed us on our final day. Dr Sha’ath regaled us with a master class in the current political situation in an urbane, witty, intelligent, perceptive and inspiring manner. We explored with him the potential for co-operation between Labour and Fatah, our sister party in the Socialist International. We listened to his powerful exposition of the strategy to continue to pursue a two state solution and seek recognition as a ‘Non Member State’ at the UN. He explained that the important word here is ‘State’ and that such recognition would open doors to membership of other important UN institutions. The meeting concluded with the launch of the Sha’ath Scholarship, under which someone appointed by Fatah will spend three months in Britain working in the office and the constituency of a Labour MP.
Some of us were able to pay our respects at the Yasser Arafat Memorial at the Muqata and learn more about Palestine’s national poet Mahmood Darwish when we visited his memorial in Ramallah, overlooking Jerusalem. Attempts to have his work included in the Israeli school curriculum have been made but without success so far.
Back in the UK it is so important that we don’t forget anything. We have to take every opportunity to raise awareness of Palestine throughout the Labour and Trade Union movement.
I recently led a ‘Labour2Palestine’ tour that gave a group of Labour Party people the opportunity to see for themselves the situation facing the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation and oppression. The 13 strong delegation included five parliamentary researchers, a councillor and five other party members – a nurse, lawyer, local government officer, teacher and retired firefighter, as well as the organiser, Martin Linton.
It’s hard to explain the qualitative difference between mere intellectual knowledge of what’s going on and actually touching, seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting it for yourself. All five senses were fully engaged during our week in Palestine, and yet, when questioned by the Israeli ‘child soldier’ at the last checkpoint before Tel Aviv airport on our way home, we found ourselves explaining that we hadn’t been anywhere, we hadn’t seen anything and we hadn’t spoken to anyone. We had just sat around in Jerusalem chatting to each other.
The reality was very different. Several of us had been questioned on arrival at Tel Aviv Airport, one for 1 ½ hours, before we eventually were able to set off for Ramallah.
We heard from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) about their work to stop illegal demolition of Palestinian homes or their campaign against evictions, deportations and discrimination. ICAHD told us of the 26,000 demolitions since 1967 – all illegal under international law.
We visited the village of Al Walaja, just beyond the Jerusalem boundary, which the Israelis are in the process of encircling with an 8 metre concrete wall, stealing the land and attempting to drive the people away. We were guided on our visit there by Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh from Bethlehem University and had lunch cooked for us by the women’s committee at the Oxfam-funded Ansar Centre.
Then we visited to an Israeli Kibbutz where we were able to get an Israeli perspective on things. The impressive Australian lawyer, Gerard Horton, International Advocacy Officer for Defence for Children International – Palestine Section. who campaigns for the rights of child prisoners took some of us to the Ofer Military Court to see at first hand young Palestinian juveniles being denied their basic human rights in a mockery of justice, while the rest of us walked round Amari Refugee Camp built for 1000 and now housing 8,500 in 1 square kilometre.
Its hard to explain how emotionally drained we all were after our visit to the village of Nabi Saleh, the location of weekly peaceful demonstrations against the Israeli theft of their land and blocking of their roads, as well as the abuse at the hands of the Israeli settlers. We had sat listening to the dignified and courageous testimony of community resistance from two women and their families. Their eyewitness and video accounts of the Israeli soldiers’ brutality and that of the nearby settlers were heartbreaking. We heard from the 16 year old son of one of the women how he had been arrested and taken from his home three times at night; how he had been humiliated and abused as part of an act of collective punishment against the village for stone throwing by persons unknown. He told his story in a matter of fact tone, even adding that on one occasion he had been watching football on TV when they came for him – Real Madrid v Zaragoza. We also heard from Bassem Tamimi who was jailed for organising peaceful demonstrations and was named as a Human Rights Defender by the European Commission. We were accompanied there by Gerard Horton and Salwa Dauibis of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling.
Then it was on to Bethlehem through the Wadi Nar, the route that West Bankers are forced to take avoiding Jerusalem. We visited the church of the Nativity and then continued our journey to Hebron where we met the Governor, Kamel Hemid. Hebron is a city of 225,000 where the city centre is now banned to all Palestinians because of the presence of 413 Israeli settlers guarded by 2,300 Israeli soldiers. We visited the village of Um Faggarah where the Israeli army had already demolished many houses and spoke to Hafez Huraini, Coordinator for Popular Struggle in the South Hebron Hills, and other local leaders. Our Fatah accompaniers, Nadia Sarraj and Hamdi al-Bitar, were later told by the Israeli army not to return with visitors to the village which has been declared a “closed military area”.
After a briefing from the British Deputy Consul-General Ben Saour, we set off for Jericho. There we saw the obscene juxtaposition of Jericho’s rich cultural heritage such as the ancient city at Tell Es-Sultan dating back 10,000 years; Hisham’s Palace, destroyed by an earthquake in 747 and the biblical Mount of Temptation alongside the brutal evidence of everyday Israeli oppression.. The ‘City of Palms’ is an enclave of the Jordan Valley in Area A of the West Bank, while the surrounding area is designated Area C under full Israeli military control. Four road blocks encircle the enclave, restricting the movements of Jericho’s Palestinian population. After lunch with the Mayor we returned to Jerusalem for a briefing at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs from Raymond Dolphin.
Fatah’s spokesperson on foreign affairs, Dr Nabil Sha’ath, and his deputy, Dr Abdallah Abdallah, briefed us on our final day. Dr Sha’ath regaled us with a master class in the current political situation in an urbane, witty, intelligent, perceptive and inspiring manner. We explored with him the potential for co-operation between Labour and Fatah, our sister party in the Socialist International. We listened to his powerful exposition of the strategy to continue to pursue a two state solution and seek recognition as a ‘Non Member State’ at the UN. He explained that the important word here is ‘State’ and that such recognition would open doors to membership of other important UN institutions. The meeting concluded with the launch of the Sha’ath Scholarship, under which someone appointed by Fatah will spend three months in Britain working in the office and the constituency of a Labour MP.
Some of us were able to pay our respects at the Yasser Arafat Memorial at the Muqata and learn more about Palestine’s national poet Mahmood Darwish when we visited his memorial in Ramallah, overlooking Jerusalem. Attempts to have his work included in the Israeli school curriculum have been made but without success so far.
Back in the UK it is so important that we don’t forget anything. We have to take every opportunity to raise awareness of Palestine throughout the Labour and Trade Union movement.