Here, Two Sides of Life

(This is from last night, I wasn't able to post it until today. Love and peace! Forgive the typos)

I've had some not so good internet connection recently, which is why I haven't been able to post much. I went to another protest yesterday, it was little crazier than the one last week. It was at the same place, but this time we were able to get right up on the highway, which made everything a little more intense. At one point, a sort of scuffle broke out when an Israeli soldier tried to move a protester backwards, away from the street, and some of the protester's friends went to help him. All of the sudden, another Israeli soldier, standing maybe five feet from me, raised his gun and fired into the air. I was terrified, to be honest. The whole point of the shot was to scare us, I guess, and it worked. My heart was pounding and I backed away immediately, as did everyone else in the near vicinity, but I didn't run, and I lifted my camera and started taking pictures. I actually haven't looked at them yet, I don't think they will show much. But it was a scary show of force, especially because it is hard for me to view the protestors as a threat. We were all unarmed, facing a huge mass of physical force; jeeps, guns, tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, boots, batons, handcuffs, everything. The little blonde kid from my pictures last week was making a lot of us nervous though, he kept taunting the soldiers and it doesn't seem like it would take too much for something to happen. Later, I learned that his home was demolished by the Israelis... which is why he is so angry, and fearless. There was one soldier here this time who just stands there, half-smiling, with the total appearance that he would rather be anywhere, anywhere else in the whole world. He even laughs at the kid a lot.
When we got home last night my dad here told us that in Bi'lin yesterday, another protest where soldiers regularly fire tear gas and sound bombs, three or four protestors were injured by rubber bullets and sound bombs. Rubber bullets are steel cubes or balls wrapped in rubber that are designed so that they don't penetrate skin. Instead, they are often fired at people's legs so that they can't run away, and can be arrested. If they hit the ground before they hit you, they lose most of their force, but if they just hit you, you can expect a big bruise. Tear gas is either rolled or tossed, grenade style, into the crowd, or fired so that it will drop into the crowd. Sound bombs are usually rolled into the crowd, because if it explodes near your ear, in the air, it can damage hearing and injure you. I learned this tonight at a three hour non-violent training session a lot of us attended, in case we decide to go to Bi'lin next Friday. Other things: if they throw tear gas, you should cover your face with a scarf (which we carry to the protests anyway, just in case) and stick an onion near your nose, to block the gas from getting in. The people in the town near the protest hand out cut onions to the demonstrators as they walk by. Don't wear contacts or makeup, because that makes it stick. Don't run, because the tear gas will eventually blow away but they continue to fire it at receding protestors. Plug your ears and open your mouth if you see a sound bomb coming, and don't run. Don't run was definitely repeated a lot, I guess even if you are running away from the soldiers you can be considered a threat and they can shoot rubber bullets at you. As an international, I'm more protected from the rubber bullets because they are really trained not to shoot internationals. The rubber bullet stuff is definitely worst case scenario information, the woman leading our session has been protesting here for ten years and never once been hit. The tear gas and sound bombs are pretty regular occurrences, however.
It was all good information to have at hand, but I haven't made up my mind about attending the Bi'lin protest. By staying on the sides or in the back, you are safe from arrest, tear gas and sound bombs because you can leave the scene and you aren't posing any threat at all to the soldiers. I'm not going to do anything stupid, but I would like to see it. We'll see.
On Thursday night we walked to an olive grove in Beit Jala to watch the sunset, and then up to an outdoor restaurant on top of a hill to eat, drink, smoke narguila and dance. Almost everyone left but four of us stuck around and ended up hanging out with the guys who were working there and a bunch of their friends. They played the guitar and sang, mostly Arabic music but notably "La Bamba," Bob Marley, and Ben Harper's "Lonely Day." When we realized how late it was (well after midnight) and we weren't able to get our usual cab driver on the phone, the guys offered to give us all a ride to the nearest checkpoint. Because the olive grove we had been in (which is a huge valley) is currently being annexed by Israel to build the Wall, they have floating checkpoints in the area. So we got a ride with them there, and one of them stayed with us while they went back for the rest of their friends, then they were going to give us a ride back into Bethlehem. As we waited for them to come back, a jeep full of Israeli soldiers pulled up. They asked us where were from, where we were staying, what we were doing, apparently the usual. We told them we were Americans and that we all had our passports, and that we were just tourists who had just come from Jerusalem to see the sights in Bethlehem for a few days. We definitely did not tell them that we were living there, or working as volunteers. They tried speaking to us in Arabic and we pretended not to understand. True, I didn't understand anyway, but two of us spoke relatively fluent Arabic, so they pretended. I wasn't really scared, it was just an experience that helped me to once again better understand what it is like to live there. I didn't have my camera with me but my friend slid his to me behind his back so that if anything were to happen, I could take pictures. The other people from the restaurant showed up a few minutes later, and I was worried that they would be harassed, but to my complete and utter amazement, the soldiers and the Palestinians started hugging and kissing, laughing and talking. They turned to us and said, "Oh! We know them, they pulled us over last week, and now we are friends."
If only everything was that easy!!! We got our ride back into Bethlehem, and promised to go hang out with them again soon.
Tomorrow we go to Jericho for a little hike, and then to the Dead Sea to float and rub ourselves with Dead Sea mud, which will supposedly make our skin clear and beautiful and maybe even be the Fountain of Youth. I'm just kidding. But it will be nice to have a relaxing day.. with lots of sunscreen. It isn't that much hotter here than it is in DC, but the sun is totally different. I think that if it was ever quiet here (which it isn't, in a good way) I'd be able to hear the sun burning. It is not a friendly orange ball, it is like a flat yellow-white disk like you'd draw in elementary school. After Jericho, back to Be'it S'hour where we have rented out the YMCA for the day for swimming and some basketball practice... That's right, the women's Greek Orthodox team has challenged us to a friendly match on Monday night. Our numbers are low and most of us haven't played in at least 8 years, but we'll bring what we have!
Reading this post through reminds me of some thoughts I was having earlier today, after reading the news. There is a duality to life here that almost seems normal by now. There is Everything Else, by which I mean hanging out with my new friends, reading my books, studying Arabic, riding the bus, navigating the seriously slippery streets, getting falafel from our falafel man, playing with my brothers. Then there is the Reality of life here, which is that people are being killed not far from me, protestors are being shot, walls are being built, lives are being destroyed, families separated... I guess Everything Else has to happen, life has to continue on, but it is strange how quickly my mind can adapt to it, how easily I can carry both streams in my head. All of my conversations are one or the other, we can be hanging out at the Citadel (our restaurant/bar/World Cup venue) and on one side having a conversation about the best way to attract the attention of the guy with the coals for our narguila, and on the other side debating the recent news that Palestinians from East Jerusalem have just been barred from entering Bethlehem, even to see family. See what I mean? It would be impossible to be in either mode of thought all the time... but it feels like it should be pretty hard to be in both at once, as well.