Bethlehem Night

Beit Sahour, just next to Beit Lehem and Beit Jalla, is the legendary town that declared a tax rebellion during the first intifada and withstood the Israeli punishment for months. It is one of the centers of Palestinian civil society, issuing the call for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions on Israel.

Last night I visited Beit Sahour, to speak in the AIC Center about the work of Israeli activists in response to that call. After the talk, we went on a night tour of the walls... Walls of Rachel's Tomb, Walls in front of the refugee camp A'ida, Walls along the Jewish roads in the valley, Walls around the Jewish settlement on the hill.

Scenes from the lost 48 villages shimmering on the Walls of the refugee camp in the car lights...


Graffiti artists on the Apartheid Wall, giving meaning to unintelligeble constructions. Lights freely provided by watchtower guards and security torchlights... and the driver kept telling recent stories: about the man who burned down his own olive trees, to keep them from being stolen by the Israelis... about working as a driver while running for office... about Israeli prisons...

and I knew all that, but forgot - how could I have forgotten? how did I fall back into my Israeli matrix, working and arguing politics, as if Occupation is just a word to be debated, as if the Walls have crept their way into me.

Naming Home

Kiriat Ono is my home town.

It was established in 1939 by 38 Jewish families on land bought from the Palestinian towns Kafr ‘Ana and Al-Khayriyya. They called their new settlement Kfar Ono (=Ono Village), and later it became Kiriat Ono (=Ono Town).

Kafr ‘Ana was associated with the town "Ono" mentioned in the bible. In Byzantine era it was referred to as Onous. The newly arrived Jewish immigrants wanted to restore the ancient Hebrew name, they settled in a “densely populated Arab area”, in the aftermath of the great Arab rebellion.

In 1948, just before the Nakba, the town registry recorded 14,358 Arab residents, 2,334 Jewish.

Al Khayriyya, the other Palestinian town which hosted the Jewish settlement Kfar Ono, was originally called Ibn Ebraq, which goes back to the ancient name Bene Beraq mentioned in the bible and then in Roman times… It was only “during the British Mandate, (that) the villagers changed their village name to al-Khayriyya (=the good one) to distinguish it from the next door Zionist colony of Bene Beraq.”

In 1948, just before the Nakba, this town had 7,182 Arab residents, and 5,842 Jewish.

The next door Palestinian town of al-‘Abbassiyya also has a good name story: “The Romans referred to al-'Abbasiyya by Iudaea (=Judea), and later it was called al-Yahudiyya, meaning "The Jewish One" in Arabic. In 1932, the residents renamed it to al-'Abbasiyya, in memory of a Shaykh al-'Abbas.”

In April 1948 all the Palestinian towns in the Jaffa district, including these three, were occupied by the Jewish militia “Haganah” (which means Defense), and the Palestinian residents who had not left by then were made to leave. Later that year almost all buildings were destroyed to prevent the residents from returning.

This Haganah Operation was named “Operation Chametz”, after the Jewish tradition of cleansing the house of unwanted Chometz bread crumbs before the Passover holiday.

Nothing at all remains of Kafr ‘Ana today. Al ‘Abbasiyya became Yahud again - the Jewish one, and its mosque became a synagogue. Al Khairiyya, the good one, used to be in the plains, but today it is one of the tallest mountains between the Mediterranean and the Judean desert: Khairiyya Mountain has become the main garbage dump in the country, operating for over 50 years. These days there are plans to make it into “The Ayalon Park”.

From the Ayalon Park hikes plan:
"On the highest point of the upper plateau, where the cooling wind is flowing over the edge of the mountain the Summit View Point offers a great view... The strong wind mostly coming from the west is carrying the fragrance from the sea and of the plateau vegetation with it – a mix of salt, blossoms and Mediterranean herbs will encircle the visitor."

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, there are 26,800 residents living today in Kiriat Ono. All are registered under “Jews and others”. There are only two categories in this table: “Jews and Others” and “Arabs”. An endnote explains: “The ‘Jews and others’ population includes Jews, other Christians (non-Arab Christians) and those not classified by religion.”

The refugees from Kafr ‘Ana, al Khairiyya and al ‘Abbasiyya are mostly in Jordan.

I have heard people joke about “Kiriat Oh- NO!”… But the origin of the word Ono is probably from “On”, which means male potency, virile strength.

Bil'in Celebration

The only tear gas we breathed this friday came from this used canisters' display in the village center...
After almost three years of friday demonstrations, this time we came to Bil'in to celebrate.
Wagee is holding an Israeli right-wing newspaper, whose headline is "Victory to the Rioters". The "rioters" are the nonviolent demonstrators in Biliin, the victory is the recent Israeli supreme court ruling, forcing the army to change the route of the separation fence near Bil'in, and to return to the village some of its lands.
About 500 demonstrators, Palestinian and Israeli, marched to the fence where we were, as usual, stopped by the army.... The demonstration has started with a short prayer...

and then speeches:
here are excerpts from a moving speech by Bassel Mansour of the popular commitee (hebrew, english).
... and this is Muhammad of the popular committee:
...and this is Salam Fayyed the new PA prime minister:


Thanks to his presence, and perhaps to the fabulous truck-top DJ, the army has let us celebrate, and did not disperse the demonstration by force... so the Red Crescent guys could also relax...
...and the dancing began...
This is Mustafa Barghouti, on Wagee's shoulders...
...and this is Muhammad again...
Abdalla of the popular committee gives an interview
Wagee's son:

and here are our lawyers... Smadar with Wagee
... and Gabi with Yonatan... (Michael Sfard did not come)





The army stayed behind the fence, "SHOOTING" only film...



Taunting the soldiers (gently, gently...)

Note the soldier taking pictures of the party on his private cellphone, to bring home...
The dancing went on and on...
and when the organizers have declared the end of the demonstration, we have all marched back... this time, not running from tear gas, from sound grenades, from rubber coated bullets... just like that, walking away!


Wagee has invited us to his house - and offered us fresh figs from their trees... the view from their front porch includes the new settlement across the fence...
The struggle is not over. The fence is still here, and in many other villages, and next friday, the demonstrations will continue....
But today, we go back to the village square, where the village men are still dancing...





... and like always, the weary demonstrators waiting for their service taxis have to have some falafel...

...The palestinian taxis dropped us near one of the porous seams between "israel" and "palestine" (these are to be found everywhere, but less and less on the ground, more and more in our bodies and souls)...
...and here we are climbing to the Israeli-only highway, crossing back through the looking glass...
looking back behind my shoulder:
pictures: Dalit Baum and Yael Lerer