West Bank/Shomron(Samaria) Tour

As part of Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv, we as participants learn about the issues facing Israel and Israeli society. As part of this study, we went past the Green Line and into Samaria to understand the Settlers. Samaria is the northern part of what some people call the Shomron, West Bank, and the Occupied Territories. Depending on what political affiliation you have you call it be a certain name. For instance, if you call it the Occupied Territories you are more affiliated with the Political left. As part of our tour, we learned that there are about 600,000 settlers with 360,000 settlers living outside of East Jerusalem. We met with a representative of the University at Ariel, a major settlement city in Samaria. We learned about the university and how it faced issues being accepted as a university and the city of Ariel as well. Near Ariel lies an industrial area that employs Palestinian workers as well as Israelis. After learning about this, I started to realize how ridiculous the BDS movement is. If you do not know what the BDS movement is it stands for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. The goal of this movement is to Boycott Israeli institutions to pressure the Israeli government to come to a peaceful solution to its involvement in Gaza and the West Bank. If the BDS movement knew that Palestinians were working in the factories that they actively boycott, who is the movement good for? If they stop buying products created in the West Bank by Palestinians as well as Israelis the movement itself needs to look at the conflict more in depth and critically. In my opinion, the BDS movement therefore needs to pressure not just the Israelis, but also the Palestinian leadership. If there is to be peace between Palestinians and Israelis, they need to pressure both groups, not just one.

After our visit to Ariel, we went to Shiloh. Shiloh is important to the Jewish narrative because it was in Shiloh that the Mishkan, or tabernacle sat before King David made Jerusalem the Jewish capital city. Extensive excavations were done in the 1920's and 1970's to confirm Shiloh's religious and historical significance. During these excavations, archaeologists found remains from a Byzantine church that had the inscription about the Tabernacle being located at the site. They also found charred bones from kosher animals, and charred remains of raisins. This gives clout to the claim that the Tabernacle once stood at Shiloh because it was at the Tabernacle that three times a year Israelites would come to the Tabernacle to give a sacrifice to God. They also found clay pots and jugs from the period of Israelite activity in the area. It was the place that Hanna prayed for a child, and later gave birth to the Prophet Samuel. It was interesting to see that there were Palestinian workers working at the archaeological site. So it was the second place in the West Bank where Palestinians and Israelis were working together.

After our stop in Shiloh, we went to an outpost to listen to this women Tehila. Tehila lives in an outpost that some people say is legal, while others say it is illegal. She moved to the outpost 14 years ago. They were first evacuated for a year before moving back across the road to their outpost. They live off the land and have an environmental lifestyle. They pay taxes to the State, yet they seem to be hostile to the situation in the West Bank. We asked her if she think Israel should annex the West Bank. After talking with her I realized that there are certain groups on the periphery of both Israeli an Palestinian society that deepen the conflict and create roadblocks to a peace settlement. We need to look at these periphery groups more critically to understand how they think and operate. We also need to combat the hatred that is prevalent on both sides.

Our final stop was at Psagot, a winery near Jerusalem.  We learned about the renewal of wine making in the region and got to sample some of their wines. They are award wining wines so if you are in Israel and see Psagot wine, give it a try because it is delicious.

Overall the trip the West Bank confused me even more about the conflict between Israelis, and Palestinians. I saw places where Palestinians and Israelis were working together. I met with a settler that was quite hostile towards her Arab neighbors, and I met with settlers looking for their roots. The status quo is something that is very hard. If you have not been to the West Bank and met with settlers you should. It was a shame that we did not get a chance to meet with Palestinians. That would have been nice to see their narrative and point of view. We were not allowed to visit because of our program being sponsored through the government and Israeli programs are not allowed in Area A, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. If you are interested in what is going on in the West Bank there are many different organizations that give educational tours. I highly suggest if you are in Israel and want to learn more see for yourself and take a tour. It will give you a perspective of the conflict that is personal and not coming form a textbook or the news.