Jerusalem Dispossessed Preview

“Jerusalem Dispossessed”: Giving Apartheid a Face

By C.V. Rotondo

Among the shards of rust-colored rubble, children stand grinning, kicking soccer balls between them. A group of boys stand in an innocent line, unassuming faces level with the temporarily dormant violence of a machine gun slung across an older man’s shoulders. Men in jeans and t-shirts mill about in the shadow of the avaricious wall of gray granite looming above, behind, and before them. Life moves under the manifest darkness of impending violence and more wall. The inertia of its color and shape veil its hidden animal nature to reproduce, to expand and enclose. In no scene does it have an end, only an oppressive purpose – the zoning of humans like propertied cattle, the distinction between one portion of desert and another. The rubble, like some malicious decorative architecture, lies strewn about streets among the garbage and guns. People sit atop the rubble, in front of it, behind it, holding signs and stoic faces. Their message is clear: we defy this affluent destruction to undermine our humanity, take a photo of us before our obliterated homes and know we still stand. Looming guard towers of stone, looming guards made of flesh, armor, bullets mark the skyline of the new desert. Like the spine of a subterranean beast, metal fences punctuate the streets; checkpoints where people are daily corralled and reminded of inferiority, of the prosperity that their devaluing provides others; those who live beyond fences, towers, and walls, in what was once their land. The glossy promise of billboards invite the privileged to profit from these walls, these despoiled peoples. The promise of a modern, leisurely life within the walls can only be granted the chosen few, at the expense of the chosen many.

Neon signs and hovels, children grinning beside machine guns, and charming gardens within granite enclosures: these scenes make up “Jerusalem Dispossessed,” an exhibition of photographs from Active Stills, a photography collective dedicated to documenting social and political issues not addressed in traditional media forms and thus disseminating the information to the people through public displays of photography. Accompanied by the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish and Muna Hamzeh, this exhibit is designed to make one question the historical role of the United States in Israel’s continued apartheid and the latest degradation imposed by systemic structures of power. The following are brief interviews with Erin Genia, the organizer of the exhibition at Evergreen who is exploring the links between the United States treatment of Native American populations and the current treatment of the Palestinian people, Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, an advocacy officer for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICHAD), and Muna Hamzeh, journalist and poet who has lived in the Palestinian refugee camp at Dheisheh and whose work will be featured at the event.

C.V. Rotondo - The importance of historical analysis and synthesis with the present is integral to any social movement. You hope to make connections between the current Palestinian situation and that of Native Americans in the United States. What do you see as the importance of these connections in regards the current opposition to racist imperialist expansion?

Erin Genia - I think the patterns of dominion are alive and well. The very same patterns that allowed the demonization of Native American peoples – who were decried as “savages,” and thus not worthy of their land – are happening right now to Palestinians. Native people had a genocide perpetrated upon them so their land could be seized. Tribal territory dwindled down to small tracts of land, while white settlers took by force the very best land for themselves. Looking at a map of Palestine over a century shows the very same thing has happened there, while the amount of Israeli settlements in Palestine continues to grow. The indigenous people of this continent were forced onto reservations –similar to a detention camp, or a refugee camp of today -- where they were made to be completely dependent on the U.S. government for all livelihood. Increasingly, Palestinians are at the mercy of Israel’s cruel policies which seemed to be aimed at their complete debasement and even elimination. Sadly, many people in our society today feel that all Palestinians are terrorists. Fear-based laws are used by the usurping governments of Israel and the United States to keep people afraid of Palestinians, so that their land can be claimed, and lives can be taken under the false pretense of security. That is exactly the same thing that happened to Natives in America over the past several centuries. People accepted the genocide of Native Americans because they didn’t see them as human, they were made to fear attacks by them, and made to believe that Native people were wild and needed to be tamed, or killed. As long as we, the masses, allow our government to control our mindsets in a way which allows us to condone the subjugation of whole peoples, this pattern of dominion will go on.

How do you feel that facilitating “Jerusalem Dispossessed” at Evergreen is contributing to the movement for Palestinian self determination and what do you hope that students will take away from it?

The photographs plainly show the injustice of the realities that Palestinians in East Jerusalem face. The viewer will come face to face with home demolitions, checkpoints, settlements and an apartheid wall. Even though our tax dollars help to fund these shameful realities, most people in America never see them. This exhibit will give viewers a window into them, as well as an opportunity to confront their own ideas about what life is like for Palestinians.

How do members of a seemingly distant culture, deeply rooted in a position of privilege, aid in the struggles of people on the ground in Palestine and across the Middle East?

Palestinian people’s human rights are being systematically eroded by Israel. Because our government pays billions to Israel so it can continue to commit military atrocities upon Palestinians, we, as U.S. citizens, have a responsibility to say “no more.”

What is the imperative of groups like Students Educating Students about the Middle East (SESAME) now, in light of the present circumstances within the occupied territories and the continuing recalcitrance of U.S. political leaders?

SESAME’s work is more important than ever in combating media misinformation campaigns. By presenting the Evergreen community with resources to facilitate understanding of the conflicts in the Middle East, SESAME is helping to raise awareness about the ongoing human rights abuses there. SESAME is also dedicated to supporting student appreciation of the many cultures which reside there.

C.V. Rotondo - In a speech you gave to the U.N. conference on international civil society in Brussels on August 30 and 31, you mention the Right of Return for displaced Palestinians. How do you believe that the Right of Return demanded by those displaced by Hurricane Katrina is juxtaposed to that of Palestinians in order to create international solidarity in the face of racist, imperialist practices wherever they are employed?

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein - I think the comparison of displacement caused by Hurricane Katrina (a natural disaster) with the fate of those displaced by Plan D of the Jewish Yishuv leadership in 1947-48 (a deliberate policy of transfer and displacement or ethnic cleansing), and then by the Arab armies' attacks in May 1948 is interesting. Certainly, as little as I know about Katrina's displaced, there was an attempt by those in real estate to take their land, in a similar way that in those early days of statehood refugees were not allowed home (over 400 villages were deliberately demolished, or damaged homes in Jaffa were not allowed to be renovated so that they became easily demolished). But the Right of Return for refugees from war zones is a sacrosanct part of international law and I would not wish to see that element minimized in such comparisons. Similarly, self-determination. And, as I said before, Israel must acknowledge responsibility at least for those refugees who fled due to Israeli actions prior to the War of Independence (whereas Ehud Olmert has recently denied any Israeli responsibility for the refugees). I believe the issue of peace in Israel-Palestine and a solution to the longstanding conflict will only come when the issue of the refugees is dealt with according to international law, on an individual basis, and as such of course the more than 4 million Palestinian refugees (not to mention the internally displaced of '48 or '67) are a far more serious issue than the people displaced by Katrina in New Orleans.

You also mention promoting photo exhibits among students. In light of the recent exhibit “Jerusalem Dispossessed,” set to appear at Evergreen on October 17, what can you say about the brevity and necessity of such exhibits? What do you hope that the students of Evergreen will take away from such an event?

The exhibit "Jerusalem Dispossessed" which I subtitle "Living in Fantasy/Living in Denial" is intended, hopefully, to inform people - especially students who will be tomorrow's leaders and taxpayers of what Israeli policy really is, as established in cement and stone. Thus, as the UNOCHA recently informed Tony Blair, the Quartet Peace Envoy, in a powerpoint presentation bullet point: There is a gross discrepancy between the rhetoric and the facts on the ground. I hope that when people see the facts on the ground (preferably in person, but if not in photographic exhibitions such as this) that they will understand the real intentions of Israeli governments and how those facts on the ground are contrary to good faith peace negotiations. Because the facts on the ground are deliberately aimed to undermine the viability of a Palestinian state, especially where the sharing of Jerusalem is concerned.

You say that civil society must rise and demand an end to the apartheid actions of Israel (supported by the United States) against Palestinians. Civil society was also invoked by the Emiliano Zapata Army of National Liberation in southern Mexico. What is your concept of civil society and how can the disparate members of such a widespread group constitute a united social movement across the globe?

I hope that even individuals will effect change, not only mass movements. Anyone can ask his representative or local media why American foreign policy is allowing Israel to colonise and practice apartheid, both of which are deemed crimes against humanity under International Law. I do not have a fixed vision of international mass movement - whilst obviously the internet is a great help in uniting all the various organisations and campaigns on this matter, I am not wise enough to know whether we will eventually find leaders such as Peter Hain and Nelson Mandela and Willem de Klerk in order to bring an end to this Occupation. But I certainly know that if Israeli kids start being worried about getting off planes in Brussels, London, New York, Goa or Mumbai because international civil society has mobilised in campaigns which start to work on such leverage, this will help to get Israelis to work towards ending their Occupation. At present, the Israeli public is dormant on the issue. I believe that only by outside pressure can we change things. Not least, I hope that Americans will start to ask why they are providing Israel with $3 billion a year ($500 per person per year, as opposed to only $5 per person per year in international aid to Pakistan, for example), because American taxes are paying for this militarism and settlement expansion. I didn't really answer your question about my concept of international civil society - the citizens of the world. The drip system may be the solution (each one doing his little bit), or it may be that we shall succeed by mass movements that are well organised. Certainly, once we start getting the message regularly aired in parliaments and other halls of power (Congress, etc.), this must put pressure on Israel -- which until recently benefited from being able to say one thing and do the opposite without anyone knowing. Even in Israel itself!

In your experienced view, how can students, as members of civil society (albeit greatly undereducated and isolated ones) best contribute to the movement for global peace?

I think students can best work for global peace by thinking deeply about what sort of world they wish to inherit, how they will live in it, what their priorities and responsibilities must be and how they will achieve real security (and what real security implies). Global warming, poverty, militarism, receding resources (such as water) and health are all issues that will continue to escalate as crises in the future. Do we each of us bear responsibility and if so, how do we articulate that? Can we individually have an impact? How do we work together? What is the price of globalisation? What do we have in common with other cultures? What motivates us? Is consumerism sustainable? Is the Arms Race sustainable? Do nuclear weapons ultimately deter? Who are the mad men into whose hands WMD must not fall? And indeed, what did Eisenhower mean when he warned that democracy could be overthrown by the military-industrial complex? Is the War on Terror counterproductive? Is it a disguise for imperialist motives? Is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict creating conditions for Terror which threaten your society? Etc. Etc.

C.V. Rotondo - As someone who has directly experienced the situation in Palestinian refugee camps, how well do you feel that the photo exhibit, “Jerusalem Dispossessed,” grants insight for students at the Evergreen State College, so privileged and distant from the atrocities perpetrated there?

Muna Hamzeh - The photos give insight into the day-to-day life of Palestinian life under occupation: A life controlled by a separation wall and military checkpoints that restrict freedom of movement, as well as house demolitions and settlement expansion that devour Palestinian land. The photos reveal how much worse the situation has become since I left nearly seven years ago. What I found most revealing about the photos is the look of utter desolation and hopelessness you see in the faces of the Palestinian women, children and men. They have absolutely no hope that there will ever be peace.

Most Americans, including Evergreen State College students, don’t know that their tax money enables the occupation to continue. I find that very disturbing. As a journalist in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for 12 years, I used to have young kids run up to me with the remnants of tank shells or tear gas canisters and yell “Made in America. Take photo”. Our tax money should pay for the education and health care of these kids and not the bombs that maim and kill them or destroy their homes. I hope the students leave the exhibit wanting to learn more about the conflict and that some will decide to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories, perhaps as volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement or The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

In your experience as a writer and poet, how does art factor into the resistance to oppression such as the gross impositions of Israel upon Palestinians and what can writers, poets, and artists of the United States do in allyship with your struggle?

Art is an extremely essential expression of resistance and always has been in the Palestinian struggle for independence. The problem in the United States is that even though you have actors like Sean Penn who are very commendable for being outspoken about the war in Iraq and others like Richard Gere who’ve actually visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories more than once, you don’t see joint efforts by famous American writers, poets, artists and actors to publicly speak against Israel’s occupation. I believe the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. has created the conditions whereby any public criticism of Israel is immediately labeled as anti-Semitism and most people are afraid they would come under attack. Most Americans don’t have a clue what it is like to have to pass military checkpoints to get to work nor what it is like to live under house arrest for three continuous weeks. Yet the realty of Israel’s occupation is there for American writers, poets and artists to see. No one ever comes back saying what Israel does to the Palestinians is justified. I urge them to go and see the situation for themselves.

In your writings, you focus upon the immense personal and humane implications of the events unfolding in the occupied territories, describing the intimate struggles of individuals. How can these resonant personal images within your poetry and the photo exhibit translate to an understanding of the United States part in these atrocities and an understanding of the underlying economic and political motivations?

I’m not at all optimistic that there will be a better understanding. I started giving talks about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when I was a college student at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington back when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. It is now 2007 and I stopped giving talks nearly four years ago because I felt it is still occupation 101. It makes me very sad. Israel’s real and lasting security lies in making peace with the Palestinians and not continuing to occupy them. Serving in the army in Israel is mandatory. How many generations of Israelis are going to be occupation soldiers? An end to the occupation of all the territories occupied in 1967 would bring about political stability and economic prosperity.

Unfortunately, the major news networks don’t show the American public even a glimpse of what the Palestinian population has to endure under occupation and has endured since 1967. I’m afraid that the American public won’t wake up and see how disastrous our Middle East policy is, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, until it is too late – meaning only after a regional or maybe even world war causes so much death and devastation that the American public finally starts paying attention.

What do you hope to see Evergreen students take away from this exhibit and what actions would you like to see follow up this experience?

I hope the students go away thinking about the great responsibility that comes along with being the world’s super power. Wars and occupation are not the solution to the world’s problems. I hope as the future leaders of our country, the students will hold the belief that non-conflict resolution is the only way to resolve disagreements. War and occupation are never the answer. I would like them to remember that for every Hitler there is a Mandela.

Jerusalem Dispossessed opens in the Evergreen State College library on Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 pm.