The Meta Peace Team
Report for Saturday, November 11, 2017
This morning our
team prepared with a Centering Practice of Yoga at the home where we
are staying. We were invited to witness and record disruption of
Settlers burning and chopping down olive trees at a Palestinian
Family Farm.
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| Palestinian farmers working |
On our way we needed
to cross through a checkpoint used by the farmers to reach their
farmland. When we arrived, the gates were closed, but the people
working the checkpoint were present. At this Checkpoint, the Israeli
Soldiers noticed that we were Americans and opened the checkpoint.
As a practice, our
Team will use our judgment and we chose to stand in line behind
Palestinian people, so we are able to witness how they are treated.
In front of us, a Palestinian woman had her papers taken. Mother
Bear asked the soldier questions and what was the process. Asking
the Palestinian woman to leave without her papers puts her at great
risk. Mother Bear then asked the soldier, how the woman would
receive new papers. She asked several questions of the soldier.
After several minutes, the soldier returned the papers to the woman,
did not let her through to work with her family farm, and the
crossing gates was closed.
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| Farming Gate just outside of Hebron |
We were not able to proceed to the farm field to help the other farmer today as we were not able to get through the gate that leads to the farm land of the Palestinians.
I felt frustrated that so much precious time was lost and I wish that I had thought to videotape the behavior of the soldiers. The woman that was turned away has to make this trek to the gate and she reported that she is often turned away. I was hopeful that with the American's present, the Israeli’s would allow the farmers to get to their fields.
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| Our peace team |
