The reality of the Wall (5th October)

Now that we are in Bethlehem, we have been driving past the Wall that divides Israel and the West Bank and the reality of seeing the massive construction is very confronting. This morning we had the opportunity to take a closer look and realise the enormity of it up close. We went to a section near a check point where there was lots of art and some very poignant messages (see some photos below and on Flickr). Our Palestinian friends were great tour guides as we found our way through Bethlehem.

From the Wall, we went to the Nativity Church, where Jesus was believed to be born and then had lunch at ‘The Tent’ restaurant. The afternoon sessions included one on ‘Looking After Yourself’, where we shared ways in which we look after our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health plus a Reflection session on how we are all going so far and things that are on our mind.

Below, Kuong shares his reflections on the day and some of his experiences so far:


What does a world of darkness look like? I asked myself this very question today, after we had a session about looking after ourselves. One of the Palestinians shared with the group about how he listens to music in the dark to help him cope with life in the West Bank. What moved me was when he said, “I hope to one day move away from the darkness of this place, and finally see the sun for the first time. Perhaps to Canada where my brothers live.”

I’ve been in the West Bank for a couple of days now and I am convinced anyone who spends any time in this place cannot escape the issue of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. While many Palestinians here seem to have hope for peaceful coexistence between the two groups, the physical landscape pins Jews against Muslims, Israelis versus Palestinian (this is over simplified of course), but the dry land of rocky hills allows one side to see the other; for the Palestinians, what they see is Jewish settlements being built up on the other side of a wall controlled by Israel. One of the action partners referred to the West Bank as a “modern day jail.” Perhaps this is an over dramatized statement, but in the minds of Palestinians here, many may simply believe that the sun does not shine in the place they call home. After the group visited the wall today, its hard not to sympathize and agree with the Palestinians.

How do the youth of Palestine feel so much pride for their country and believe wholeheartedly that this land belongs to them, when many of them have expressed to me that they would like to leave this place some day. Do you stay and live to resist what they call Israeli occupation of their land, or do you flee in hopes of rebuilding a new life for yourself, leaving your country, your culture, and the only world you’ve known behind? I guess this is an individual choice each Palestinian must make and what roads are open to them during their life.

As I reflect on this trip as an individual journey, I must say that it’s been a difficult one. Having grown up as a refugee and now a citizen of the United States, I find myself comparing my childhood life in impoverish tents in Vietnam with that of Palestinians refugee in permanent building camps that are integrated into the city of Bethlehem. How each of us defines ourselves, whether it be refugee or internally displaced people, is vastly different. Now as an American, I have felt uneasy with what my country has done to the global community and the outcomes of the 1948 agreement on the people of Palestine.

I have come on this trip knowing that I will bare no solution to conflict in the Middle East, and I would be naïve to say I did. What I have is hope. Hope that one day, the people of Palestine will not search to see the sun rise in a place far from here, but instead the sun will rise above the walls that have caused so much pain and bloodshed, and the only remains are not concrete but the darkness that has loomed over this place for far too long.

Kuong




The Wall


The Wall


Outside the Nativity Church