Barbed Wire Fence on Olive Tree Terrace
by Paulina Muratore
Class of 2013, International Relations
Boston University
One of the gifts of coming to a disputed land is meeting people who want to resolve conflicts not with violence but with civility, creativity, and a concern for the common humanity of everyone involved. Today, we met two such people, one a university professor who left a job at Yale University to focus on empowering non-violent approaches to the Israel-Palestine conflict from his home in Bethlehem; the other, a farmer committed to establishing good relations with his neighbors, to creating beautiful art, theater, and music with children in order to promote peace, and to making a space where people of all traditions and backgrounds can come together in peace. These men, Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, professor at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities and a leader in several civil and solidarity movements, and Daoud Nassar, owner of Daher's Vineyard and director of Tent of Nations, are Palestinians with a passion for justice and peace. Their long-term dedication to the creation of opportunities for mutual respect between Palestinians and Israelis, despite the ongoing discord about land ownership and use, water access, human rights issues, and much more, was both a sobering and an energizing aspect of our journey today.
We met Qumsiyeh after spending the morning at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. He welcomed us with hospitality, including a delicious Turkish coffee, and talked to us about his activist work. Qumsiyeh is deeply concerned about what is happening to Palestinians as Israelis build more walls, annex more land, uproot profitable and very old olive trees and vineyards, tap water resources underneath Palestinian-owned property, require Palestinians to carry special IDs, and control Palestinian movement throughout the region. It is clear that, despite his concerns for these and many other problems, Qumsiyeh follows the lead of globally-respected persons such as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Desmond Tutu, as he tries to respond in a non-violent manner that still makes his political points. He told us what it means to him to be a Palestinian at this time, saying, "to exist is to resist." Resisting, for Qumsiyeh and the people he works with, does not mean violent acts; instead, resisting means farmers picking olives in front of bulldozers and women taking sheep to pasture in forbidden areas, children going to school in the streets when their schools are blocked off by Israeli military units, writing books and talking to groups about peace and justice, hugging trees about to be torn down or burned, refusing to pay taxes without representation, and other similar kinds of actions. His message is a message of hope and empowerment, one that draws inspiration from the anti-Apartheid movement, women's suffrage and feminist movements, and the like.
After we left Qumsiyeh, we had much to ponder on the short bus ride and walk across the terraced fields and up the hillside to Daher's Vineyard just outside of Bethlehem. We arrived at the farm to a delicious lunch prepared for us by Daoud Nassar and his family, after which Nassar told us his family's story of land ownership in a rich farming area where Israelis are currently annexing land and building new settlements very rapidly.
Lunch in a Cave at Daher's Vineyard
by Paulina Muratore
The Nassar family bought their land in 1916 and have been farming it continuously in vineyards and olive trees and living in the caves on the land for three generations, but they have had to mount an extraordinary legal battle with Israelis for more than ten years in order to keep it despite having clear title to the entire property. The family was offered a large sum of money to give up the property rights to their 100 acres, but they refused because, Nassar said, "The land is our mother. We cannot sell our mother." They have endured nine demolition orders, all rescinded thus far, but they fear that the bulldozers could arrive at any time to destroy the few structures on the property. In addition to fighting the battle in court, the Nassar family's response to this situation has been to make something good come from the conflict. They host a summer camp for children and youths from the area; invite people, including Israeli settlers, to join them in working the land and sharing meals; and have been inventive in creating a self-sufficient farm with solar energy, rain water tanks, organic farming techniques, and good use of the natural caves on the property. They are not interested in theoretical peace-making but try to live it every day, from the grassroots up, whether they are engaged in hosting visitors like us or crossing through an Israeli check-point. As Nassar told us, "We refuse to be enemies." His goal, and that of his family and Tent of Nations is to develop friendships that will enable them to cross boundaries and solve problems together.
Peaceful Resistance, Daher's Vineyard
by Paulina Muratore
As we said our goodbyes to Nassar and headed back down the hill and across the fields to the bus, we were struck by how these two good men are, in their own ways, seeking and pursuing a future of peace. Both want unity with their fellow human beings, and one approaches it by researching and writing books and engaging in non-violent political actions while the other plants olive trees and invites everyone to participate in the planting and the playing afterward. Their kind hospitality, their honesty, their diligence in the face of many obstacles, and their humor will stay with us through the rest of our journey and as we return home to all of you.
~ Shan Overton
PhD student, Theology & Education
Boston College
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity!
~ Psalm 133 (KJV)
Most of Our (Very Unified) Group at Church of the Nativity!
by Paulina Muratore
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