9/14
The following message was written by Rev. Sandra Olewine, the United
Methodist Liaison in Jerusalem.
Joseph Gerson
American Friends Service Committee
Dear Friends,
I've had numerous emails from people asking me to help interpret the
scenes they have watched of Palestinians 'celebrating' after the
event.
Yes, there were some gatherings of people, particularly in Nablus, who
were shown in the very early hours of the horrible attacks in the US
on the street, dancing and cheering, and passing out chocolate. But,
these expressions were few and certainly did not represent the feelings
or
mood of the general population. The deep shock and horror of the
Palestinian people, the real sorrow for all the dead and wounded, was,
and continues to be, unseen by the world, particularly in the USA. It
is the story unheard.
Because those few scenes were disturbing, the easy response is to cast
judgment on the participants, naming those 'celebrating' as inhuman,
despots, or despicable. The more difficult response, though,
particularly in the midst of grief, is to ask the questions about what
might drive people, men, women and children, to such actions. One
might remember that the people who were seen 'celebrating' are a people
who
for almost a year have been under a brutal siege, who due to the siege
have been unable to feed their families and hover on the brink of
poverty and despair, who have watched their children and their parents
killed by bullets, tank shells and guided missiles, most of which are
supplied to the Israeli Occupation Army by the USA. One might remember
such things as one watches those images. Attempting to understand
motivations doesn't discount our feelings of anguish at such scenes,
but does allow us to keep humanity a bit more in tack in a time of such
utter brokenness.
But, more importantly to me is what has mostly gone unseen by the
American public. I have to ask why these scenes of a few
Palestinians been shown again and again and again, as if they capture
the 'truth'
of Palestine. How few cameras have caught the spontaneous sorrow,
despair, tears and heartache of the vast majority of the Palestinian
people.
As the news unfolded here on Tuesday afternoon about the extent of the
attacks, people gathered, as people did everywhere, in front of
television screens to learn as much as possible. My phone rang and
rang as Palestinians from around the West Bank called to express their
horror and their condolences.
Yesterday following a prayer service held at St. George's Anglican
Cathedral, I talked briefly to the US Consul General in Jerusalem. We
talked about the scenes from here which were most prevalent on the TV.
He told me that his office had received a stack of faxes of
condolences from Palestinians and Palestinian Organizations 'this high'
(indicating a stack of about 12 inches). He asked his staff to fax a
copy of
every last one of them to CNN to give a different visual image from
Palestine.
When we left the cathedral after the service, we drove by the American
Consulate in East Jerusalem. Gathered there were about 30 Palestinian
Muslim schoolgirls with their teachers. Looking grief-stricken, they
held their bouquets of dark flowers and stood behind their row of
candles. Silently, they kept vigil outside our Consulate. But no
cameras captured their quiet sorrow.
When I got home, my neighbor explained that her son who is in 8th
grade came home in the afternoon and talked to her about the students
reactions at school. He told her that everyone was talking about what
had happened. He said that many were asking "how could someone do
that?" "Is someone human who can carry out such acts?" He went on to
tell her that many of the girls were crying. Friends, then, began
stopping by my home. Palestinian Christian and Muslim came together,
visiting me to express their sorrow and to ask what they could do.
Again, the phone rang incessantly with Palestinians asking if
everyone I knew was okay and asking if they could do anything to help.
As we talked many went on to tell of stories of their loved ones who
are in the States - relatives they were worried about having been
injured
or killed or who had been subject to harassment in the last couple of
days. Others talked of having received emails from people who had been
supporters of their work who wrote saying "I can never again support
the Palestinian people," as if somehow Palestinians everywhere were
suddenly responsible for the attacks in the States.
The remarkable thing to me, though, was that despite such messages,
these same people still wrote letters of condolences, made phone calls
to friends, and asked what they could do to help. Despite the world,
and particularly the American world, not seeing them or seeing them
only as 'terrorists', Palestinians continued to express their common
humanity with people everywhere as they shared in the heartache and
dismay.
Trusting in God's everlasting presence,
Sandra
Rev. Sandra Olewine
United Methodist Liaison - Jerusalem
