I do not believe that sheer suffering teaches. If suffering alone taught, all the world would be wise, since everyone suffers. To suffering must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, openness and the willingness to remain vulnerable.
Joseph Addison
This is too beautiful not to share.
Aziz Abu Sarah writes in +972:
Six months ago, nineteen Jews broke the usual partisan norms when it comes to visiting the “Holy Land” by choosing to hear not only the Israeli Zionist narrative—with which most of them are already familiar—but also pushing themselves to learn and experience the Palestinian narrative on their synagogue’s trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. They chose to shatter the classical stereotype of tourists who come to Israel to experience the luxurious hotels and touchstone religious sites but that prevent them from experiencing the “other” important local culture.
Last December, Aziz, a Palestine, was a co-leader of this tour along with an Israeli partner, for nineteen Chicago-area Jews traveling with their rabbi. The group requested Palestinian home stays and were hosted by four families in the Deheisheh refugee camp outside of Bethlehem.
Aziz describes the deep bonds that were formed between the visitors an their hosts.
The rabbi told me that on the first night at the refugee camp, a seventeen-year-old young man at one hosting house took him around the camp and introduced him to his friends. He took him to his “hangout” places, and shared with him his life and dreams. Who would believe the story of a Jewish Rrabbi experiencing nightlife in Deheisheh Refugee Camp? This is a glimpse of hope that we should all hold on to.
On the day I picked up the group from their home stays, the scene was unbelievable. I never expected to see Palestinians in tears, weeping because Jews were leaving their homes. It is normally the other way around. The goodbye moment was emotional, even heartbreaking; everyone had tears in their eyes. The relationships created in two days seemed to be unbreakable and unshakable. The fact that these were Jews and Muslims in a place torn by nationality, religion and conflict did not stop them from overcoming stereotypes and becoming friends. They looked beyond religion and nationality and connected on the basic level of human relations.
Approaching in friendship led to amazing results.
Some Jewish extremists claim that if a Palestinian state is to be created, the Jews will not be able to visit their holy sites in the West Bank. They argue that Palestinians would not grant them the freedom to worship there. This argument is the basis for many settler justifications of the Occupation.
Nineteen Jews proved that this notion is not necessarily true. The Palestinian families in Deheisheh Refugee Camp did not mind hosting Jews, not just in hotels but rather in their homes. They stayed under the same roof, with no protection, no weapons or checkpoints. They were safe because they came as friends, not as enemies. They came with flowers and gifts, not with guns.
When back in their East Jerusalem hotel, the Jewish congregation held a prayer and worship service. Not only did the Palestinian hotel staff not object, but rather they did everything possible to make sure the Jews had all they needed for the service.
Jews have a significant history and heritage in the West Bank, and many Palestinian Muslims and Christians do not deny it since it is part of their own religious history. It is understandable why many Jews feel connected to some places in the West Bank, just like Palestinians have history and heritage within Israel to which they are drawn. Palestinians will always welcome Jews to the West Bank, not as settlers, but as friends and neighbors. This is the kind of new relationship needed between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the “Holy Land”, a place that will hopefully one day soon live up to its name.
This is the future.