CPT Palestine #1: Culture of Fear

The sun rising over Al-Aqsa mosque, beside Mount Moriah

It's been a bit of a whirlwind coming back to Canada after being in Palestine for two weeks, plus recovering from some sort of stomach bug is never fun. But alas, I am no longer vomiting stomach bile and shitting brown water, so that's nice. That also means it's blog-writing time. This post is more like an introduction to the upcoming posts about this CPT delegation to Palestine. So hopefully y'all keep reading these things.

Anyway, I arrived in Tel Aviv on August 16. After telling the multiple security and passport control people where I was going, where I was spending the night, what my plans and intentions were, etc. (for which I was about 40% honest), I received the visa and made it into the country. Meeting up with Amy, the delegation leader, we caught a bus to Jerusalem, where we'd be spending the first half of the trip.

"This feels so Middle Eastern," I gush while looking out the window of the bus.

"Guess what, sweetie?" Amy chuckles, "you're in the Middle East!"

Growing up with a Christian background, Jerusalem's always seemed like a pretty important city. And luckily, jet lag seemed to work in my favour; I woke up around 6 for the first several mornings and explored the Old City of Jerusalem before the other members of the delegation met for the day's activities. Old City is divided into four quarters: the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter (since when do the Armenians get their own quarter? I never really took the time to figure this out). I would wander from one to another, walking through history. These morning excursions were really incredible because very few people were awake yet and the streets are bare.

Damascus Gate entering the Muslim Quarter of Old City Jerusalem, where our hostel was located. Usually, this area is completely packed with people. 

One of the oldest and most famous cities in the world - not a soul in sight.

A completely empty "Room of the Last Supper"

The Garden of Gethsemane, with trees ripe with olives

While at first it was fascinating and awe-inspiring to wander the ancient streets, I eventually felt a sort of aversion/discomfort. There were people lining up to kiss a rock that Jesus supposedly was washed on after he was crucified, people waiting to hear a dramatic sermon surrounded by paintings of a suffering Christ, people chanting at a wall, people buying crowns of thorns to shove on their head, and thousands of people in extremely inefficient but highly orthodox religious clothing.

Someone even put their live baby on it and started bowing to it!

People travel across the world to slump on this rock...

This cool medieval-looking door opens to the Church of the Flagellation (for real). Because we all want an entire church to commemorate torture.

The Dome of the Rock, containing the rock on which Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac before God was all "jk Abe, it's not that serious". In front of it is the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, where people come to cry for the destruction of the Jewish temple in like... 400AD. Is my cynicism catching on?

In general, I often lean toward religion being a positive thing - a safety net and community on which people can turn in times of need. Something to believe in and a reason to be.
But this felt absurd.
This was extreme fundamentalism; a scary point at which I could begin to actually feel its capacity to turn violent. And it does. People have died because of this stuff.
Of this. Things like a rock. A piece of earth like any other.
The religion that defines this land is terrifying. Yet here it is - the place where Islam, Judaism, and Christianity meet. And it's just a place like any other. This wasn't worth all the deaths over this place.

At the same time, you can't really understand the conflict happening in this area without understanding the religion. They're inextricable. It's so real and crucial here. In many cases, atheism is not even accepted as existing. People, land, and religion are all mutually inextricable here. And all three are at the root of the conflict.

The Via Dolorosa, aka the path Christ carried walked from Gethsemane all the way to Golgatha. An Arab-Christian Palestinian who survived the Naqba pointed out: "Zionist Judaism is always blamed as the cause of the oppression and conflict here, but fundamentalist Zionist Christianity is just as complicit. If this is what is necessary for Jesus' return, then I don't want the Second Coming - and honestly neither would he."

Another shocking thing I noticed upon arrival was the sheer number of weapons. There are soldiers patrolling nearly every street corner - the military presence is overwhelming. I saw more weapons in the five hours after I left the airport than I had in my entire life. Israel is so militarized that it's almost like it becomes a way of life. People view soldiers and giant guns as just a normal part of life; they hardly blink an eye.

The Damascus Gate entering Old City Jerusalem. There are always several soldiers posted just to the right of it.

It's intentional too. Israel has multiple years of mandatory military service for both men and women. While even yearly military reports recommend a professional rather than conscript military, this is routinely rejected in favour of the current conscription. It's political; a means of militarizing society and normalizing organized violence. And it isn't just me stating this; there are several on-the-ground organizations acknowledging and work on it.

Of course, in a culture of fear, this militarization is seen as protection. Israelis are taught in school about everyone who has ever attacked the Jewish people; all the times throughout history that the Jews have been persecuted. They are taught that Israel is the only safe place for Jews and that is why it is so essential to defend it; the whole world is against them. In this culture of paranoia and fear, even left-wing Israelis who vocally oppose things like the occupation, often still support the extreme military presence. "The need for protection" is utterly ingrained.

I wish I had a better finale for you here but... I don't. The next four posts about Palestine will get much more into detail about what we actually did on the delegation. You should probably keep reading.