So first we headed to a small kibbutz called Kibbutz Kefar Azza. At first this kibbutz would have seemed like any other kibbutz that we had visited, only it had a very different feel. What made it different was that it was located on the border with Gaza. This kibbutz was founded in 1961, 6 years before the war that would bring the Gaza strip under the control of Israel.
The kibbutz had been under relatively peace until the second intifada started in 2004. Rockets, RPGs, and other homemade weapons have bombarded Kefar Azza and it's surrounding area every since. Chen, our guide on the tour of Kefar Azzza, told us that roughly 80% of the children under 18 on the kibbutz suffer from some sort of trauma or stress related to the conditions created by rockets and mortars from Gaza.
It's a strange place to walk around, every home and every building has its own bomb shelter. I got a very eerie feeling. It's got to be such a hard place to live. One minute you could be walking around going about your daily routine, then the code red siren could sound and you would literally have to drop everything your doing and head to the bomb shelter as quickly as you can. I wonder what kind of quality of life you could salvage while living in that kind of environment; I don't think I'd be able to do it.
After Kefar Azza, we went into the regional council area that Kefar Azza is apart of (many kibbutzim have joined together to create a 'regional council' that looks similar to a municipality in the US--many kibbutzim are too small to govern themselves alone so the join forces and pool resources and leadership). We toured the new school--completely fortified to withstand any bomb blast from Gaza. Around the buildings at the school, they've built 28 fortified bus stops, which double as bus stops. In case anyone is outside during a bombing, the shelters are strategically places so that anyone can get from anywhere on the property to a bomb shelter in less than 10 seconds (roughly the amount of time it takes a rocket launched in Gaza to reach Kefar Azza and the surrounding area).
We then headed to Be'er Sheba and the surrounding areas which mainly consist of unrecognized Bedouin settlements--settlements created after the nomadic Bedouins decided to settle in around the Be'er Sheba area. There are a lot of tensions between the Bedouins and Jews, the Bedouins and Palestinians, and the Bedouins and 'assimilated Bedouins'. They are a very proud and very secluded people. Unless you are invited into their home, they don't want you anywhere near them, and when they do invite you in, you're treated like royalty.
The places we visited are known as unrecognized settlements because they were created by nomadic Bedouins who just decided randomly where they were going to settle and expected the Israeli government to pay to have utilities and services sent to them. Just like in the US, you have to pay for land and apply for permits to have services sent to your land, i.e.: roads, water, electricity, sewer, and the like. Because the Bedouins settled such an expansive and distant area, the government decided that unless they move into predetermined areas paid for by the government, they weren't going to provide services. Each man 16 and older was offered a 1/4 acre of land that they could develop (worth roughly $75,000) but many refuse to take they offer because they want to live where they've settled. The main problems now are the unrecognized settlement issues and the coming battle of service provisions. Things are just starting to get heated there, and the battles between Israel and the Bedouins are starting to become intense.
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I enjoyed my time in Israel IMMENSELY. If I had the opportunity to go back, I'd go back in a heartbeat. There is so much rich history and beauty in Israel that I could spend a lifetime exploring there.
Everyday on our trip, I found myself thinking about the incredible complexity of the conflict. Each time we heard from someone on either side of the issue it seemed to get even more complicated. We talked with Bedouins, Christian Palestinians, Muslim Palestinians, Palestinian Israelis (yeah that's a complicated identity for sure!) Jordanians, Religious Jews, Secular Jews, American Jews, and everyone in between. Each time we heard a different story, a different perspective, and a different idea of what was the 'right solution' to the conflict; but one thing we found in common: there isn't one correct solution that will make the issue disappear.
There is no solution to this conflict where everyone comes out a winner, it's not possible. It's zero sum game--whoever gains something, gains it at the loss of the other side. Sure there are swaps and compromises but the essence of a swap or compromise is that you're giving something up in order to reach an agreement.
What I've taken away from this experience is that with radical groups on each side, there will never be a completely peaceful situation because the radicals on both sides won't stop until the other side is gone completely from what the radicals see as their land. It's an unfortunate reality that can only be resolved through education and tolerance which MUST start with the youth on all sides of the issue. Until the children from Gaza and the children from Kefar Azza can see each other as equals there will not be a peaceful ending to this conflict. When the 3rd grader from Sha'ar HaNegev can meet with the third grader from Gaza and not harbor any hatred, we know there is again a possibility for peace.
The sad thing is that it appears that the youth on both sides are only becoming more and more radicalized, and they're moving apart... One thing we heard from almost everyone--Palestinians and Jews--the greatest and likely last chance at peace was lost when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a Jewish zealot. Palestinians were going to get almost everything they had in 1967 and the Jews were so excited about peace that they (most of them anyway) were willing to give what it took for peace between two states. But when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered, many believe peace died with him.
It's a strange place to walk around, every home and every building has its own bomb shelter. I got a very eerie feeling. It's got to be such a hard place to live. One minute you could be walking around going about your daily routine, then the code red siren could sound and you would literally have to drop everything your doing and head to the bomb shelter as quickly as you can. I wonder what kind of quality of life you could salvage while living in that kind of environment; I don't think I'd be able to do it.
After Kefar Azza, we went into the regional council area that Kefar Azza is apart of (many kibbutzim have joined together to create a 'regional council' that looks similar to a municipality in the US--many kibbutzim are too small to govern themselves alone so the join forces and pool resources and leadership). We toured the new school--completely fortified to withstand any bomb blast from Gaza. Around the buildings at the school, they've built 28 fortified bus stops, which double as bus stops. In case anyone is outside during a bombing, the shelters are strategically places so that anyone can get from anywhere on the property to a bomb shelter in less than 10 seconds (roughly the amount of time it takes a rocket launched in Gaza to reach Kefar Azza and the surrounding area).
We then headed to Be'er Sheba and the surrounding areas which mainly consist of unrecognized Bedouin settlements--settlements created after the nomadic Bedouins decided to settle in around the Be'er Sheba area. There are a lot of tensions between the Bedouins and Jews, the Bedouins and Palestinians, and the Bedouins and 'assimilated Bedouins'. They are a very proud and very secluded people. Unless you are invited into their home, they don't want you anywhere near them, and when they do invite you in, you're treated like royalty.
The places we visited are known as unrecognized settlements because they were created by nomadic Bedouins who just decided randomly where they were going to settle and expected the Israeli government to pay to have utilities and services sent to them. Just like in the US, you have to pay for land and apply for permits to have services sent to your land, i.e.: roads, water, electricity, sewer, and the like. Because the Bedouins settled such an expansive and distant area, the government decided that unless they move into predetermined areas paid for by the government, they weren't going to provide services. Each man 16 and older was offered a 1/4 acre of land that they could develop (worth roughly $75,000) but many refuse to take they offer because they want to live where they've settled. The main problems now are the unrecognized settlement issues and the coming battle of service provisions. Things are just starting to get heated there, and the battles between Israel and the Bedouins are starting to become intense.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I enjoyed my time in Israel IMMENSELY. If I had the opportunity to go back, I'd go back in a heartbeat. There is so much rich history and beauty in Israel that I could spend a lifetime exploring there.
Everyday on our trip, I found myself thinking about the incredible complexity of the conflict. Each time we heard from someone on either side of the issue it seemed to get even more complicated. We talked with Bedouins, Christian Palestinians, Muslim Palestinians, Palestinian Israelis (yeah that's a complicated identity for sure!) Jordanians, Religious Jews, Secular Jews, American Jews, and everyone in between. Each time we heard a different story, a different perspective, and a different idea of what was the 'right solution' to the conflict; but one thing we found in common: there isn't one correct solution that will make the issue disappear.
There is no solution to this conflict where everyone comes out a winner, it's not possible. It's zero sum game--whoever gains something, gains it at the loss of the other side. Sure there are swaps and compromises but the essence of a swap or compromise is that you're giving something up in order to reach an agreement.
What I've taken away from this experience is that with radical groups on each side, there will never be a completely peaceful situation because the radicals on both sides won't stop until the other side is gone completely from what the radicals see as their land. It's an unfortunate reality that can only be resolved through education and tolerance which MUST start with the youth on all sides of the issue. Until the children from Gaza and the children from Kefar Azza can see each other as equals there will not be a peaceful ending to this conflict. When the 3rd grader from Sha'ar HaNegev can meet with the third grader from Gaza and not harbor any hatred, we know there is again a possibility for peace.
The sad thing is that it appears that the youth on both sides are only becoming more and more radicalized, and they're moving apart... One thing we heard from almost everyone--Palestinians and Jews--the greatest and likely last chance at peace was lost when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a Jewish zealot. Palestinians were going to get almost everything they had in 1967 and the Jews were so excited about peace that they (most of them anyway) were willing to give what it took for peace between two states. But when Yitzhak Rabin was murdered, many believe peace died with him.
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