I see dead people

– but only after they get out of prison.

I have heard twice now, that’s from two reliable sources, that the Israeli government keeps on ice the bodies of Palestinian prisoners who die while incarcerated until their sentence is finished. Basically that means that the families of those prisoners cannot see the body or receive the body for proper burial until the sentence is completed. This could mean years.

Let me reserve for a moment my own thoughts on how unbelievable and absurd that policy would be and just for a moment, believe that it is true. Could it be that Israel holds the Palestinian people in such contempt that they will spite them, even beyond the grave? I think not. Is this spite spread so thick that they would actually implement an extremely costly policy just for the sake of screwing with people? Again, I think not.

I have not met someone that has a direct story of such an incident and I have no way of determining the truthfulness of such a policy from the Israeli authorities, so, I can only conclude from my common sense that this is not true. And, if such an incident has happened, it just cannot be an official policy.

As wacky as this Israel/Palestine situation is, that just gets a little wacky for me. If anyone has any information about such a policy – let me know! I will simply be flabbergasted if this is the case…

Woman in Black

I attended a demonstration today that is held every Friday by a group of (normally) elderly Jewish women in central western Jerusalem who call themselves the Women in Black. It was hot and it was hard to stand in the sun. It was high afternoon and the protest lasted an hour, between 13:00 and 14:00. It was the first time I had held a placard. I wasn’t sure how it would feel and after I passed through the general feeling of being lame, the greater questions of whether I should be holding this placard at all rose up. The placard read “Stop the Occupation”. I agree with that idea wholeheartedly but still, thinking that and standing on a street corner, taking abuse from passers-by is another issue. I got over it though and my thoughts rather turned to the thoughts of those who were throwing abuse at me. I thought of thinking rationally.

There were religious Jews, mothers, taxi drivers…every corner of Israeli society and they all knew how to use their middle finger. The reactions to this very minor protest startled me. We are not saying we stand for the dissolution of Israel, we are not anti-Semitic, we are not criticizing Israeli society – we are merely standing against a government policy that has proven destructive to both the Palestinian Territories as well as Israel. We are in line with the thinking of the United Nations and frankly, the majority of the world’s population, that the occupation and its activities are illegal and in breach of a number of international laws. It can be argued that we don’t even need to talk about the law, it is morally wrong. But yet perfectly nice people are appalled by our stance.

I can put these reactions to misunderstanding the issues. Distinctions need to be made between concepts. To criticize current Israeli policies is not to be anti-Semitic; it is not to question the existence of Israel but rather to be concerned about where this is going. So far, it hasn’t been going to a nice place. It is the occupation that is a concern – not Israel, not Jews, not Muslims. As long as this occupation continues, Israel will never be secure. Realise that.

Quote note

“It is a personal decision to be optimistic here”

Per Midteide. Humanitarian worker in Bethlehem when asked what he thought of the Israeli policies against the Palestinians.