Welcome to Jerusalem - Holy Land, Housing, and a Robot

(Welcome to Jerusalem sign, posted on separation wall.)

(Western Wall and Temple Mount, behind barbed wire.)

(Security robot shaking suitcase in West Jerusalem.)

We've had trouble accessing the internet, so I'm a little behind!

Two days ago, we visited Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Saw the Western Wall, Temple Mount, and cobblestone streets of the Old City. While there was a lot to take in, and we enjoyed, for example, the lively music of a bar mitzvah happening as we entered the area, Denise and I both felt that our ability to appreciate the beauty and significance of the area was hindered by how heavy and tainted it felt by a history and ongoing status of violence, conflict, oppression. Examples of this were the "Welcome to Jerusalem" sign, posted on the separation wall; the fact that our tour guides, Palestinians, couldn't come in with us; riot gear and security cameras abound.

Later in the afternoon, we met with a representative of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and learned a lot. The group works to challenge house demolitions and settlements which are illegal under international law, and also works to educate the public and clarify the framework through which theses issues are communicated.

Because we found ICAHD’s work impressive, I’ll relay here some of what we learned:

- Israel considers itself a Jewish democracy, meaning that it must maintain a Jewish majority of the State’s population. When it confiscates and annexes land, such as in East Jerusalem, it must then build housing for (and otherwise support and encourage) “settlers” in these areas to ensure the Palestinian population (largely non-Jewish) now incorporated into “Israel” does not overtake the Jewish population.

- When settlers move into West Bank settlements, it is not a matter of a Jewish person moving into a West Bank neighborhood, it is a matter of Israel claiming sovereignty of those lands. Israeli flags fly over settlements, and the locations are chosen for politically and militarily strategic reasons.

- Settlements are often located on the outskirts of Palestinian cities, for example, to both limit the growth of the city, allow for deep embedding of the Israeli military in the occupied territories and provide a basis for policy makers (such as US leaders) to refer to the “reality on the ground” as a determination of what the State of Israel includes. That is, once Israel establishes a settlement, and Israelis move in, and there are Israeli street signs and post offices, it must be Israel – if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…

- ICAHD estimates about half of the Israeli population are against the illegal settlements.

- Many settlers are unaware they are moving into the West Bank, because by the time they arrive, the Israeli government has already built the infrastructure up. Though some settlers move into areas for ideological reasons connected to Zionism, many are simply in need of affordable housing.

After our discussion at ICAHD, we were detained because of an apparent bomb scare -- a suitcase left next to a garbage can. I've tried to post the video I took of a security robot shaking the suitcase as people look on in the street, but our connection is not strong enough. People posed for pictures with the robot after it was determined that the suitcase only contained garbage. Our guide at ICAHD simply said of the whole affair, "welcome to Jerusalem".