It is a difficult decision, for one to walk away from their home and country: Sure, after the last presidential election, many Americans started dreaming of far way places... But to actually do it, well that is another matter.
Israel was my second Country, not the country of my birth, the country of my Choice. I bought my first home in Israel, after years of living as ether a student or a war gypsy, student again, back to war, I was beginning to look like the constant Traveler. I carried more weight in camera gear then in cloths, my family and friends would laughing tell me they only knew I was alive, when odd books showed up in the post. I only tell you this because for me to buy a home was a big deal, to own more shoes than fit on a carry on. Oh an all my books in one place...
I became active right away, working with different groups trying to bring equality to Israel’s two system schools: Under Law, Israel's Education has separate departments: dividing Israeli-Arabs and Jewish Students. I have always been an Activists, I come from a long line of them. I felt up to the challenges. Bill Clinton was the President and a two state solution looked hopeful.
more after the fold
I watch hope slip away, in ways that my Israeli family and friends didn’t understand: Tactical moves, made by politicians, moves I understood, in ways others could not. Divide and concur: It is an old tactic, one I have seen in every war I have covered.
But I don’t give-up easy or as my mother would say, my love is durable... The Israeli "Security Fence" made me take a hard look at myself, and the country I had grown up loving and held so much hope for. At first, I had a hard time believing how quickly it had changed. Soon I found myself with unusual allies: The old, Holocaust Survivors and Zionist Heroes... it is their confirmation that hastens my exit.
Don’t let the talk of Walls and Border Fences Fool you, this wall is Unlike any other...
Here is the picture of Australia’s Wild Dog and Rabbit Fence
Next shows the Layout of the Berlin Wall.
Whatever the Israeli Government wants to call it: the Security Barrier is NO Fence- it Cuts through the land leaving a scar so deep it is nearly imposable to describe, please look at the Satellite Imagery. It is Massive. Twice as High as the Berlin Wall, nearly 25feet high and at some points almost a Football field wide.
B'Tselem Maps have the most Information in PDF
B'Tselem (Hebrew: בצלם, "in the image of", as in Genesis 1:27) is an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) that describes itself as The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. It was founded in 1989 by a group of Israeli public figures, including lawyers, academics, journalists, and members of Knesset.
B'Tselem's stated goals are to document and inform the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and to help inculcate a "human rights culture" in Israel.
Wiki
The Separation Barrier, will be over 400miles long. It is in side the Green Line (1948 border) built on 7-10% of the most fertile Palestine land. Most Palestine villages are Now Cut off: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are denied access to their land, workplaces, schools, firefighters, and healthcare.
- In July of 2004 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague gave an advisory (non-binding) ruling that declared the barrier violates international law.
Violation' of Israeli Law-
An exact number of Groves Lost seem imposable to calculate, but you Can Help...
The East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine have initiated a campaign to replant olive trees in areas where they have been uprooted and destroyed, or in areas where the fields are threatened by land confiscation by the Israeli occupation army or settlers.
Keep Hope Alive
The culture of olive trees requires the patience of generations of agriculturists. The olive tree is green and non-deciduous, with a gray trunk that comes to appear wrinkled and knotty. An olive tree takes twenty-five (25) to fifty (50) years to mature, however, it begins to give fruit six (6)to eight (8) years after planting. The olive tree is an evergreen tree, and stands anywhere from 10-50 feet high. An average tree will yield about 22 pounds of olives during harvest, and the best yields are often from mature trees exceeding 250 years of age.
The Olive Tree
Please call and write your Senator and Congressperson as well as All the Democratic's Running for President. (Because I live in an Affluent Republican Strong Hold, I often find a more sympathetic Congress person in one of my Democratic neighbors)
Request that that they put pressure on: The Government of Israel: Israel must respect their own Rule of Law: Stop the Illegal Settlements and Protect the Palestinians this fall when they Harvest their Olive Groves.
I hope together we can bring about Real Change.
Find your Senator and Congressperson.
Links to Campaigns/ listed Alphabetically
Sen. Joe Biden
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Sen. Chris Dodd
Sen. John Edwards
Sen. Mike Gravel
Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Sen. Barack Obama
Gov. Bill Richardson