Palestine

So yes, as indicated by my photos below, I’m in Palestine.

I’m still tired, though less so than 48 hours ago, and relieved and happy to be here. It’s not always easy for ‘peacemakers / activists / international observers’ to make it across the Israeli border, but my crossing yesterday from Jordan was smooth enough (though it did take a good few hours; apparently a common enough occurrence).

Having flown into Jordan two days ago, I spent a night there and yesterday made the journey by road here to Jerusalem. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to write a coherent essay right now, but here’s a few thoughts on how I came to be here.

I’m here to join with other internationals in learning about what life is like for Palestinians under occupation, and in some small way to get involved with attempts to reduce the violence they often experience.

I’ve felt drawn to this sort of active peacemaking for many years (I blame Elisa – but only in a good way – and to be accurate, there have been many other inspirations, both personal friends, and historic figures). I’ve followed closely the work of a number of groups who in different ways put their teams into conflict zones to work in different ways to attempt to de-escalate violence. Variously, this includes ‘protective accompaniment’ of community members under threat; monitoring and documenting human rights breaches; standing in solidarity with the oppressed, or simply ‘getting in the way’ of those who would use force.

I’ve been inspired towards pacifism and non-violence by the examples of Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr, the Plowshares movement, and hundreds of others less well known activists and peacemakers through history, and also by plenty of amazing friends and acquaintances around me in contemporary campaigns in Australia.

And it was a question from Elisa way back in Serpentine camp days in the late nineties that led me to get a whole lot clearer on my own response to war and serious conflict, and to the possibilities of direct peaceful intervention. The ‘pointy end’ of this inner journey was the threat of the Iraq war in late 2002 / early 2003 which led me to decide I was indeed willing to put my values to the practical test and to go on a deep personal process of preparation. As it turned out, I did end up in Iraq in 2003 but in a more typical aid worker role, rather than this sort of radical peace intervention (but that’s a whole other story).

Suffice to say, this journey has been a long time in the making, and I’m glad to be here, though somewhat anxious about what the reality will be like.

What I do know is that I’m in for a steep learning experience, and I’m looking forward to meeting and hearing from people on both sides of the conflict, and from a wide spectrum of those involved in trying to make small positive steps toward peace.




Comments:

insurgelicious said...

Go Khristo! Great blog you've got here. Best wishes with all the great work you're doing :-)

21 May 2011 19:15 

insurgelicious said...

Oh, it's Marco in Perth here, by the way :)

21 May 2011 19:15