Day 11: “We are all Gaza”
We are constantly heartened and astounded at the tenacity of Palestinians, struggling to live their lives in their way in the place they call their home, against Israeli genocidal efforts on so many fronts. Today we travelled to Ramallah. It’s the West Bank capital city and therefore a particular target of Israeli malice. For decades it’s also been a centre of deep-rooted Palestinian resistance, by leaders of government and non-governmental organizations in civil society.
In 2021, Israel’s Minister of Defence designated six Palestinian human rights organizations as “terrorist groups.” In Ramallah, we met representatives of five of the six organizations. At great danger to themselves, their representatives appeared and openly spoke to us in a conference room of St Andrew’s Anglican Church. In a raid two years ago, Israeli soldiers badly damaged St Andrew’s, which rents space to Al-Haq. The Diocese restored it.
Al-Haq protects and promotes human rights and the rule of law in the occupied Palestinian territories. They rent office space in St Andrew’s.
The Bisan Center for Research and Development supports marginalized Palestinians in their struggle to advance their socio-economic rights.
Addameer supports Palestinian political prisoners held in intentionally painful and degrading Israeli prisons.
Defence for Children International Palestine exposes human rights violations against children and provides legal services to children in urgent need.
The Union of Agricultural Work Committees works on agricultural land development and water supply, farmer capacity-building, and improvement of rural women’s livelihoods.
Ramallah City Hall: We are all Gaza
In the twisted world of Israeli politics, these groups are all apparently terrorists. Israeli soldiers have raided the offices of all of them, sealed their doors, seized files and equipment, and closed them down. Yet all of them promptly re-opened and have publicly continued their work. You can follow them all on their websites, which are still quite active.
That day we also heard a passionate personal address from Lulu Nasir, mother of Layan Nasir, a Palestinian student from Birzeit near Ramallah, arrested three times and now held indefinitely without charge in administrative detention, for taking part in a banned student group. Her family is forbidden to visit her. Layan’s case is now known world-wide.
We also heard a presentation by Sam Bahour, a telecommunications entrepreneur and outspoken advocate for Palestine on economic rights and Israeli harassment of Palestinian businesses. He speaks about all this openly, in person and on Internet publications.
To this list of brave defenders of Palestine, we add of course Sabeel, almost the only organization currently bringing groups like ours into Palestine. Omar Haramy, Sabeel’s Director, told us they have thirty more delegations in preparation for 2025. You could start now to plan to join one.
Mounted on the front of Ramallah City Hall are posters depicting art produced by people in Gaza. The exhibit is called ”We Are All Gaza.” This means that erasure of basic human rights in Gaza is not about Gaza only. The war-crimes in Gaza affect our whole world. If an ultra-nationalist government like Israel’s can act with impunity in Gaza, then like-minded governments in other countries are emboldened to do the same against anyone who resists their agenda on any issue. Climate change, free speech, workers’ rights, racial or gender discrimination—any issue that matters to you. Suppression creeps and creeps and is normalized. The exhibit’s motto: ”Unmute Gaza.”
The people we met today are fighting for us all.
*About the author
Bill Butt is retired after writing for CBC Television, teaching at Western University in London, Ontario, and thirteen years as Overseas Personnel for the United Church of Canada, based primarily in Angola and Mozambique. He is a member of the CFOS Communications Committee. Along with a dozen other Canadians, he participated in a Solidarity Pilgrimage, November 11-21, 2024, hosted by Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. Each day of the pilgrimage, he wrote about his personal experience.