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

