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Israel - The Frontline Is Everywhere, page 10
by Lloyd Howell
Leafleting
Two times several of us did some mass leafleting outside the [ancient] Damascus gate to the old city of Jerusalem. This gate was frequented by Muslims going to and from their prayer times at the Al Akqsa mosque on the TempleMount.
On Friday literally thousands of men would come pouring out after the morning prayer. All one had to say was the Muslim words of greeting “salaam alaikum” [peace upon you] and extend the flyer announcing the rally to them. They would always respond “w’alaikum salaam”. I came to understand the power of those words; they evoked some universal feeling of community and friendship, once uttered they demanded an equal response and opened a door that made personal interaction [with a stranger] possible. Almost everyone would then accept the flyer and many would stop to read the entire text.
Reactions were expectedly varied and were, in my opinion, a fair barometer of the state of people’s hearts toward peace. I have to say that most people I met were fed up with politicians and welcomed the idea of heart-to-heart peace. Some said to me that God had given the land to Abraham’s descendents, specifically to people of faith. Those that had faith [in God] be they Jew, Muslim or Christian should be welcome to live in the Holy Land. Many were happy to learn of the event and gave a nod of approval. Of course there were a good many that were skeptical and disillusioned and with these I had some engaging conversations. I was occasionally questioned as to why America was supporting the Israelis, why ’we’ were giving the Israelis bullets to shoot their people and helicopters to attack them? Those were sincere questions and often difficult to answer to their satisfaction. Most were strongly against the war with Iraq.
Among those leafleted a few persons openly expressed anger by ripping to pieces the leaflet they had received. Those that I got to talk appeared to have good reasons for being upset such as having been driven out of an ancestral home during fighting between Israel and Lebanon or some other grievance.
Gratitude
On one day I visited a number of shops and businesses on the Mount of Olives - an area that has been severely hit as a result of the Intifada [violent Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation] and the subsequent drop in tourism to Israel in general and Jerusalem specifically. No more were throngs of tourists to be seen. Where once there had been busload after busload of foreigners seeking to photograph Jerusalem from the peak of this favorite spot or visiting Jesus’ alleged place of ascension or see the street from which he rode the donkey in to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday or visit the Garden of Gethsemane at its base - now they were no more. Hard working vendors and other people were now on the verge of desperation and could descend upon a stray visitor with a spirit so desperate that it bordered upon assault and was inevitably counterproductive.
What amazed me was that in spite of the barren financial climate many were ready to overlook money to demonstrate their support for peace. Indeed it was their only hope. Let me give a couple of examples: once Benedicte and I sat down and had a coffee and a tea in a smoky Mount of Olives coffee shop amidst what must have been half a dozen unemployed men. We showed the proprietor our approach book, spoke the simple English he could comprehend and got his permission to put an Arabic poster on his shop window. After I asked how much we owed him for the coffee. He said ”don’t worry, you are working for peace”.
Then on another part of the Mount we went in to a hotel that felt like a ghost town. Nonetheless there were two people in the office; one was, like me, a mechanical engineer who could not find work. They talked of how they had no guests and that business had been dead for almost three years. They too consented to our hanging a poster for the rally on their exterior window. And as we left the manager said, ”Come back and stay here some time.” That sounded like any normal business promotion but then he added, ”at no charge because you are working for peace.” I was choked up especially by such graciousness in the face of financial depression.
My overall conclusion was that most likely more Arab/Palestinian people would come to the Rally. My concern, if success was to be judged by significant numbers of both parties, was then just what percentage of the rally attendees would be Jewish! It seemed to me that most Israelis felt they could survive without the Palestinians whereas the Palestinians felt a benefit from being associated with Israel in one form or another.
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