With five other members of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) of the World Council of Churches, I spent a few hours on March 18th planting olive and almond trees on a hilltop near Bethlehem. Two of the Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs), as we call ourselves, David Lindberg, a retired seminary professor from the United States, and Mechtild Kappetein, a peace activist from Germany, arranged for the day of planting. David and Mechtild live and work in Bethlehem, where they met the Nassar family, who own the hilltop.

Tony Nassar, a teacher in the Lutheran school in Bethlehem, told us that his grandfather had purchased the land in 1924, and the family has all the legal documents required to prove their continuous ownership. Nonetheless, the Israelis are building settlements on all the hilltops around their land and have been trying for over a decade to force the Nassars from their property.

Planting

To be honest, the EAs who volunteered for this planting project were not a very helpful lot. We did help dig about 40 holes, and in doing so discovered how difficult a job that was. The ground in the hills here is very rocky, so the Palestinians use two different tools to dig a hole. First, a pick ax is used to break up the ground and to dislodge the rocks in the soil. The pick ax has two edges, one pointed and one slightly wider. Moist dirt sticks to the wider edge, so the pick ax does begin to make a hole. But the rocks and most of the dirt remain, although loosened.

So, a second tool is used to pull out the remaining dirt and rocks in order to create a hole large and deep enough to plant a sapling. The end of this second tool is shaped like a large hoe, but the handle (at least from the perspective of a part-time American gardener) is very short. Pulling dirt and rocks out of the ground with this "hoe" requires bending over at a sharp angle.

I could see that George Nassar, one of Tony’s older brothers, really put his back into using the pick ax and what I will call the "short handle hoe." By himself, George probably dug a third of the holes for our day’s planting. While a couple of us wielded another pick ax and a second short handle hoe to make holes (at a much slower pace than George), other EAs put the olive and almond saplings in the holes, packed dirt around them, and also loosened the soil nearby.

I discovered that I couldn’t use the short handle hoe without straining my back, so I worked with the pick ax. Just like chopping wood with an ax, there is a way to allow the momentum of the ax head (and its weight) to do most of the work. Unlike George, I didn’t put my back into the effort, but just swung the ax rapidly with my arms.

It was a beautiful spring day, and there was a wonderful view in all directions from the Nassar property, which is located on a high, broad hill. Had we not known of the difficulties of the family, we might not have been so concerned by the construction of large Israeli settlements on every side. We might only have felt that the natural beauty of the area was being lost.

Down in the valley to the west we heard at noon the call to prayer from the three mosques in a Palestinian town. Later, George and Tony invited us to share a meal that his mother had prepared for all of us. So, after our hard work, we rested and enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Nassar family. As we ate, Tony told us that his grandfather had purchased their land from the town in the valley below, which is entirely Muslim, and that his family had always had good relations with their Muslim neighbors. Although near to Bethlehem, the Nassars are the only Christians in this area, and there were no Jews nearby until the Israeli government began confiscating land on the nearby hilltops and building settlements.

Facts on the Ground

The Israeli government policy around Bethlehem, and elsewhere in the West Bank, is to reduce the land available to Palestinians and also to surround Palestinian cities with settlements populated by Jews. This puts pressure on Palestinians to move out, and it also makes housing for Jewish Israelis available in what settlers refer to as Judea and Samaria. (There are over a million Arab Israelis or Palestinians in Israel, who pay taxes to the government and are citizens of Israel, but none of them are eligible to live in government subsidized Israeli settlements on the West Bank.)

The "Separation Barrier" is also being built to transfer Palestinian land to Jewish Israelis. Under international law, the Israelis could legally build a barrier on the "Green Line," which is the border recognized after 1967 as separating Israel and the West Bank, so long as they built the barrier on the Israeli side of the border. A barrier on the border would be legal, even if many might argue it would nonetheless be undesirable.

The "Separation Barrier," however, is being built primarily on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, and in many places "takes" hundreds of acres of Palestinian land. In the Bethlehem area the "Separation Wall," for here it is a wall about 25 feet high, not only confiscates Palestinian land, but also divides Palestinians from Palestinians. The "Separation Wall" creates enormous difficulties for Palestinians in getting to work, being able to cultivate their agricultural land, taking their children to schools and hospitals, and being able to market what goods they might grow or manufacture.

Good people may debate whether or not terrorist threats from some Palestinian organizations justify a security barrier on the Israel side of the Green Line. But building Israeli settlements for Jews on land stolen from Palestinians, and then taking more land from Palestinians to build security fences, secure roads for Israelis, and a "Separation Barrier" that makes life miserable for Palestinians, cannot be justified. Such a practice is not only illegal, but also immoral.

Rabbi David Forman agrees. While serving as Director of the Jerusalem office of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, he wrote two years ago: "Jewish national identity was forged on the anvil of our people's collective suffering in ancient Egypt. During our wanderings in the desert, we learned that eventual Jewish sovereignty would be predicated on rejection of the cult of power symbolized by the hard-hearted house of Pharaoh. Our charge was to become a ‘holy nation.’ Yet today, having achieved nationhood after almost 2,000 years of statelessness, we Jews find ourselves ruling with an iron fist over another people. The demolition of Palestinian homes, land confiscations, extended curfews, and school closings are but a few of the collective forms of punishment meted out by a government that has lost its moral compass." (http://uahc.org/rjmag/03spring/opinion.shtml)

For those of us planting trees last Friday on the Nassar hilltop property, the "Separation Barrier" was only a minor inconvenience. Traveling by car between the Nassar property and Bethlehem required going through a checkpoint, and when I went from Bethlehem back to Jerusalem I had to pass through the Wall. But for the Nassars, the checkpoints mean regular delays, as cars and trucks are backed up, and perhaps also harassment, on a day when the Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint are fearful or in a bad mood. And the "Separation Barrier" means that they will not be able to go to Jerusalem, even if they have permission, when the gate is closed.

The Israel authorities close checkpoints all the time, without advance notice, whenever they feels there is a security threat that warrants such a closure. In fact, over the Easter weekend the West Bank and Gaza Strip is under a general closure, as Jews in Israel are celebrating Purim and there are heightened concerns about a terrorist attack. So, Christians wanting to come to Jerusalem from Bethlehem may be unable to do so, even if they have the proper permits.

Tent of Nations

Tony and his family cannot change the policies of the Israeli government. They cannot tear down the "Separation Wall" around Bethlehem or make the checkpoints go away. They cannot end the collective punishments that Rabbi Forman condemns as contrary to Jewish moral teaching. They can only hope to endure.

When the settlers come again with bulldozers to try to destroy their hilltop home, and their olive and almond trees, the Nassars hope the checkpoint will be open, allowing them access so they can try to prevent the confiscation of their land. Moreover, they must rely on the courts and the army of the Israelis, to protect their land and to seek justice for the damages they have suffered.

Despite having proper legal documentation of their ownership of the land, the Nassar family has been involved for 13 years in a legal battle with the settlements surrounding them, which are trying to take their land. Moreover, to defend themselves in an Israeli court, the Nassars have to raise $70,000 to pay the costs of an Israeli lawyer.

To help continue their struggle, the Nassars have created an educational program on their property for young people, which they call the "Tent of Nations." They have constructed a campground, and have dedicated part of their property to programs that bring together youth from different cultural backgrounds. Swiss and German peace groups are collaborating with them in the Tent of Nations project, and raising funds to help pay the legal costs needed to maintain the land as the Nassars’, and also as a center for multicultural youth activities.

Two women, one Swiss and one German, are now visiting the Nassars, and they explained to us that they would be bringing European young people this summer for a program. These young Europeans will camp out with Palestinian youth, do some work on the land, help care for the animals, and get to know each other.

It would be wonderful if Israeli young people would join this Tent of Nations. The Nassar brothers would welcome their participation, and have already begun to plan for it. In a cave on the property, where their grandfather lived most of his life, the brothers have created a place for prayer, which includes symbols from the various religious traditions.

Not long ago, George Nassar told us, two young Jewish boys carrying guns walked up the hill from one of the settlements along with two young Jewish girls. When they saw him, George says, they turned away and went back down the hill.

They didn’t trust George Nassar, because they didn’t know him. They hadn’t planted olive and almond trees with him. They hadn’t swung a pick ax with him, as he used a short handle hoe to scoop dirt and rocks out of the ground to make a hole. They hadn’t seen the cave where his grandfather had lived, which is now a place for prayer for people from all faith traditions. They hadn’t fed the chickens and rabbits with Tony and his daughter. And they hadn’t met the mother of George and Tony, or enjoyed a meal cooked by her in their cinderblock house on the hilltop.

Moreover, the young Jewish settlers didn’t know that the Nassars have read in their scriptures, as Jews do, that: "When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens: you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Leviticus 19:33-34)

Bob Traer, 19 March 2005

I am writing as a participant in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, which is sponsored by the World Council of Churches. The views expressed above are personal and do not necessarily represent the World Council of Churches. If you wish to publish or disseminate this letter beyond personal friends, please contact the EAPPI Communications Officer (eappi-co@jrol.com) for permission to do so. Thank you.

For photos taken during the events described above, go to http://christian-bible.com/Ethics/photos.nassars.htm. 

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