10 | FEBRUARY 27 • 2020
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Views
from a nearby outpost called
Avigayil took the area over,
renaming the spring and
swimming in it, destroying
its use as a drinking water
source. Palestinians have
described facing harassment
from settlers when they
attempted to use the spring,
ultimately dissuading most
from using it completely.
Furthermore, according to
reports in Ha’
aretz, any water
infrastructure Palestinians
do construct, the Israeli Civil
Administration routinely
destroys.
When we visited, activists
put a banner over the spring’
s
sign to state its real name, Ein
Albeida. Not even 10 minutes
had passed when a group of
settlers arrived and ripped
the banner down. They con-
tinued to harass our group,
confidently knowing that the
presence of the army and
police were there to defend
them, even though their out-
post is technically illegal under
both Israeli and international
law. Yet our group continued
to clear bushes, chip away at
rock and lay down new stone
pathways to the spring. We
were ultimately successful at
reopening access, and, for the
day, Palestinians drew water
from the spring for the first
time in more than 15 years.
As we celebrated in a nearby
village, I looked around at the
group of Palestinians, Israelis
and other Jews: eating, talking,
embracing, laughing. In that
moment, I knew that another
world was possible. I could see
it right in front of me.
The American Jewish com-
munity can no longer support
a brutal military occupation
that oppresses Palestinians. We
cannot support sham “peace”
plans that maintain this sys-
tem, like the one recently
unveiled by President Trump
and Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
Today, Israeli authorities
and settlers continue to build
settlements, obstruct access to
water and electricity, demolish
homes and violently control
the daily lives of Palestinians.
This is not about the safety of
the Israeli people; it’
s about
power.
I will never forget what a
Palestinian activist and moth-
er asked our group at the end
of our trip, “Did you see the
difference in our children’
s
lives and your children’
s? Does
the soldier block the road for
them?”
When you meet with a
mother of two in Ramallah or
families in the South Hebron
hills, it’
s easy to see how the
current status quo fails to pro-
vide dignity and freedom to
the Palestinian people. When
you are welcomed again and
again into homes and villag-
es in the West Bank, always
with ample hot tea, coffee
and smiles, you can see how
ridiculous and discriminatory
these practices are.
It may feel vulnerable and
scary for American Jews to
acknowledge and criticize
wrongdoing by the state
of Israel, but our moral
conscience demands it.
Palestinians, like us, want to
live their lives with dignity
and safety. We must call for
our governments to shift
course and promote a real
path toward peace for all
Israelis and Palestinians. The
soul and future of our Jewish
community, and the lives
of millions of Palestinians,
depend on it.
Lisa Tencer is a member of IfNotNow
Detroit.
FINDING HOPE continued from page 6
JVS