From: R Scott Kennedy <kenncruz@pacbell.net>
Sent: Dec 24, 2003 9:34 PM
Benjamin Kennedy, born and raised in Santa Cruz, is a graduate of Santa
Cruz High School. He is living in Bethlehem and working as a volunteer
at the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem. Ben plans to continue
his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz
in 2004. Benjamin Kennedy <goleedsunited@hotmail.com>
Merry Christmas from Bethlehem
by Benjamin Kennedy
This year I will spend my first Christmas away from home. Up to this
point, all 23 of my previous Christmas celebrations have been spent
in the warm embrace of my family. This year I have the opportunity to
spend Christmas in Bethlehem, the place where it all got started. I
have been living and working here in Bethlehem for the past two months.
Even though my younger sister has joined me and will be celebrating
Christmas with in Bethlehem, the experience of these last two months
leaves me feeling very far from home. The Christmas season has only
served to highlight and amplify these feelings.
In the past, the celebrations of Christmas have naturally focused on the
town of Bethlehem. The scripture readings, the hymns, the carols, even
the wrapping paper all create an image of Bethlehem in the time of the
coming of Jesus. This picture for me was always very clear. The star,
the manger, the wise men, and so on -- the mental picture was formed in
my mind at a very young age. This picture, while familiar and
reassuring, was always lacking a basis in reality. The Biblical world
seemed so far away from my daily life, and I was always aware of the
nature of the image I had created in my head. My time in Bethlehem has
replaced this idealized and romantic image with one based in the cold
hard reality of the modern world.
The continued occupation of the Palestinian people by the State of
Israel is the dominant and overwhelming feature of life in Bethlehem.
The brutality and repression of the occupation alter every aspect of
life. Sometimes it is manifested in violent and dramatic clashes. But
most often it is seen in smaller more gradual ways. Either way, the
major result of the Israeli occupation is the destruction of Palestinian
lives.
Living under occupation and experiencing just a fraction of what
Palestinians have been experiencing virtually continuously since 1967
have permanently changed the image of Christmas in my mind. I know I
will never be able to forget the things I have seen and heard over the
past two months. They will always be associated with Bethlehem and
therefore Christmas in general. Christmas was a big event when I was a
child and children have always been the focus of the celebration of
Christmas in my family. As I have grown up, my role has changed from a
participant to more of an observer. But still my strongest association
with the feelings of Christmas will be as a child.
I would like to share two specific experiences I have had in Bethlehem
that illustrate what life is like for Palestinian children living under
the occupation. These two specific experiences serve to highlight just
what an unbearable price the children of Bethlehem and the rest of the
occupied territories have paid, simply for being Palestinians.
As I walk in the morning through town to my volunteer job, reminders of
the price of the occupation of Bethlehem surround me. On nearly every
building of the town posters of the Palestinian 'Martyrs' are pasted on
the wall. These posters are made to commemorate the deaths of all the
Palestinians that have died in the fight against the occupation. They
are a feature of every Palestinian town. Some are rather threatening
pictures depicting fighters posing with rifles and machine guns before
their deaths. But I find others are more striking. These are the posters
honoring the civilians who have been killed during the occupation. On my
way to work, the face I see the most is that of Christine Saada.
Christine was a ten year old girl who died on March 27, 2003, two days
after Israeli soldiers opened fire on her family's car, mortally
wounding her and injuring her mother, father and sister.
To me, Christine Saada is just that smiling girl in those posters. I
have read about her and seen her parents in the media, but she is still
defined mainly by the haunting image of her posters. To the small tight
knit community of Bethlehem, however, she was a friend, classmate,
sister and daughter. Christine is just one of the 494 Palestinian
children killed since the start of the second Intifada in September 2000
(www.rememberthesechildren.org).
The other experience that has focused my attention on the plight of the
Children of Palestine came from another ten year old, but in a much
different way. Tarek Zoughbi is the eldest son of the friends I'm living
with. Tarek is an amazing boy, bright, energetic, always ready to dance
and constantly looking out for his little brothers and older sister.
Tarek, his siblings and their mother, who is an American, have just
returned from living for a year in the United States. Tarek and I had
just finished watching a movie on the satellite TV when an advertisement
for the next show came on. The advertisement was for the American movie
'Heat,' starring Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Tarek immediately sat up
and exclaimed, "Ohh!! I want to see that movie!! It looks great!!!"
Despite the fact that Heat is one of my favorite movies, in
consideration of the R rating and the tremendous amount of violence
throughout, I said, "Tarek, that movie is pretty serious. There is a lot
of violence and I don't think it is the best movie for you to watch.
Maybe we can find something else." For a moment I was satisfied with my
very ?parental? response. Then Tarek quickly replied, "That stuff
doesn't work here. I know a boy who was shot by the soldiers. He was a
friend of mine. It is part of our life." I was at a complete loss. How
could I argue with that? I looked at his mother and she just shrugged
her shoulders. The violence that I watch on TV in the States is a very
real part of every day life for every child living in the Palestinian
occupied territories. The boy that was killed was a friend from around
the neighborhood who was killed by Israeli soldiers during an invasion
into Bethlehem. Tarek and I watched the movie until bed time, happily
sharing the couch.
It is frequently stated in the US that Palestinians teach their children
to hate Israelis. A Palestinian friend of mine pointed out to me once
that, "No Palestinian child has ever needed to be taught to hate
Israelis. They see with their own eyes what the Israelis are doing to
their families and friends." In a meeting at the cultural center at the
Deheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, the director put it another way, "I
knew how to throw stones at the soldiers who came into the camp before I
knew how to read." The occupation is the crucible in which the core
principles and values of these children are being forged. Even the most
committed and ever-present parents struggle against the environment
their children grow up in.
Every Palestinian community has suffered a great deal under the
occupation. Despite the terrible pain and suffering inflicted on
Bethlehem the last years, in the bizarre and irrational world that is
life in Palestine under the Occupation, the City has been relatively
lucky. Many other towns and areas have suffered more than Bethlehem, if
such calculations are actually possible. In Jenin, the parents of a
friend of my sister and I were involved in programs to try and reach out
to the youth of the community. The mother said that: "The boys from
seventh to eighth to ninth grade have gone crazy. There is no other word
for it. They are absolutely out of control. They have no interests other
than guns and violence. They have stopped going to school. They wait for
the Israelis to come into town and chase after the tanks to throw rocks.
It is beyond despair and anger. They really are crazy. It is hard not to
think that this whole generation is finished. Just gone."
These are the feelings that are expressed in the inhumane and
indefensible terrorist attacks on Israel. After a few days here, the
question in one's mind changes from: Why are there so many attacks on
Israel? To, Why aren't there more attacks on Israel? The situation in
the occupied territories is really that bad. The solution becomes very
simple: End the Occupation!
So, as you celebrate Christmas this year, I implore you to focus some
attention and concern on the population of Bethlehem. The Israeli
occupation is a gross and indefensible violation of the Human Rights of
the Palestinian people. The challenge to myself and all Americans is
that this abuse is directly supported and encouraged by the actions of
our government. Despite this fact, every Palestinian person I have
encountered on this trip has been happy to see and eager to engage me as
a friend. As a Palestinian man said to a friend and I as he walked by
with his little girl in Ramallah, "It gives us hope that you would come
here, and see the situation that we live in."
It is in this spirit of humanity, compassion and understanding, that I
have the privilege and honor to extend to you the Christmas wishes of
the Palestinian people of Bethlehem: End the Occupation!! Merry
Christmas!! Peace on Earth!!
Benjamin Kennedy, born and raised in Santa Cruz, is a graduate of Santa
Cruz High School. He is living in Bethlehem and working as a volunteer
at the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem. Ben plans to continue
his undergraduate studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz
in 2004. Benjamin Kennedy <goleedsunited@hotmail.com>
***
From: Karin Pally
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 7:42 AM
*JUSTICE FOR GAZA
What : Silent Candlelight Vigil--Justice For Gaza
When: Monday, December 28, 2009, 5:00 to 6:30 p.m
Where: In front of the Israeli Consulate, 6380 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
90048
Please bring your own candle (or paper-covered flashlight). We will
maintain silence except for the designated speakers. Only one banner will
be displayed. For more info or to add your organization as a sponsor:
vtamoush@gmail.com or (714) 362-7676
***Sponsored by:
* LA Jews For Peace * FOR-LA (Fellowship of Reconcilliation)
* Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries * Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid,
* St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church * Islamic Shura Council
* Kinder USA * Friends of Sabeel Orange County * Los Amgeles Chapter -
National Lawyes Guild * Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid * Jews for Peace
Between Israelis and Palestinians * Women In Black - Los Angeles * Orange
County Peace & Freedom Party * Orange Ccounty KPFK Peace Support Group
* US Committee for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USCOM4ACBI)
* Anti-Racist Action - L.A./ People Against Racist Terror * Middle East
Fellowship of Southern California * Friends of SABEEL LOS ANGELES
* Muslims for Progressive Values * South and West Asia & North Africa
Collective/Radio Intifada/KPFK
* CODE PINK, * OOA, * Veterans For Peace
*AND THE LIST CONTINUES TO GROW!*
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