WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF 2015
Habla – Plant nursery area –
"Dad, I need you, please teach me how to be optimistic." Aviad Don lamenting for the death of his father Yaakov from Kfar Etzion.
"No work, no social life, everything has collapsed, what do I have to offer my children", these were the words of a Palestinian man from Bet Amin near ShaareiTikva (gates
of hope), where there are no gates and no hope.
In times of daily terror attacks the end of which seems far away, my friends from Machsomwatch and I went to listen to what the Palestinians in Area C have to say about the situation. We spoke to people whom we met on the road. Nothing was planned.
Following are a few examples of what we heard:
S. a Palestinian man in his forties from the village of Jalud: "As you have seen, I have a plant nursery with different kinds of fruit trees. I try to make a living and manage to survive. Survive, not more. Do you see the rusty water pipe from the sixties? They won't let me replace it. In area C we're not allowed to change anything, not even on the land surrounding our houses." He adds: "Why do you have as much water as you need while our water supply is limited and not enough? Why is your water purified while ours is not good for drinking?"
We approached his house through a yard roofed with vines. Inside, we were struck by the poverty of the home; some mattresses on beds with iron legs (like those we used to call Jewish agency beds), a worn curtain covering the entrance to the toilet, on the floor a prayer mat. The way things are they believe only prayers might help.
R. is a sixty-year-old taxi driver from Jalud. Without passengers, he arrives in his taxi and stops to share his distress with us: "I have 8 children. In order to support them and to pay for their education I need to earn 10,000 NIS. I hardly use my taxi. I'm afraid of the settlers when I drive on road 60. I was harassed by them in the past. So how do I make a living? I do odd jobs in the village. Of course, I don't earn enough to support my family, but that's how I live from one day to the other. I remember when I was working in Israel a little more than 20 years ago. I made good money. We used to go dancing in TelAviv (he shows us how) and we had a life. I mean a good life. And today, what do I have to offer my children?
You ask me what my hopes are? To live together, to live in peace. Is it much?"
On the way we saw a heap of tires. We went to have a look, and what did we see, a small pool of water, maybe rain water or sewage from the Shaarey Tikva settlement or maybe both. And in order to reach the checkpoint the Palestinians have to walk on the tires above the sewage until they reach the other side of the pool. Just to remind you, this is the year 2015.
We kept driving until we reached a railing on the side of the road. We stopped just to reveal a flow of stinking sewage from Shaarei Tikva, and flies and mosquitoes all around.
A. from Bet Amin: While we were standing there a car stopped behind us. The driver came out to ask if he could help us. He began talking. "What are you looking at? At the sewage from Shaarei Tikva? We suffer a lot from the heavy smell. At night when we go to bed we feel it. Why are we allowed to drink only a limited amount of unpurified water while the residents in Shaarey Tikva can drink as much purified water as they want? And my children, why shouldn't they be allowed to live just like the children in Shaarey Tikva? Please, come home with me for a cup of coffee", he said.
We arrived at his house and sat down on the porch enjoying the view of an untouched landscape. His brother, who had married the day before, arrived together with a brother who lives in the gulf countries and his five-year-old little daughter. The conversation was easy going. "I studied lighting in Netanya. I was working in Israel for some years until I was told that I didn’t have a permit any longer. Do I look dangerous to you? I don't know. By God, I don't know." And he laughed. "I earned 8,000 NIS. Since they took my permit I grow zatar. People buy it here. I make 3.000 NIS and hardly make a living. It's really hard." He smiled again. "Look at my children, a good reason to smile, aren't they? But what have I got to offer them? No wonder frustrated kids do what they do. Why do the children in Shaarei Tikva have hope while my children have nothing to hope for?"
"And what do I want? Living together with you in peace without checkpoints and being able to work in Israel. Exactly the way you live. I want to have a life, meaning a good and full life.
And so, on our way home I thought to myself, what hope do these children have, Jewish and Palestinian? Will the constant threat of the sword, that the Prime Minister suggests, give hope for a better life? Without hope, Palestinians and Jews alike become frustrated and sad.
THIS IS WHAT WE OFFER OUR CHILDREN IN THE FALL OF 2015.