Bethlelem

Last Friday, I went to Bethlehem for the afternoon.

Bethlehem is Area A, which means that it is mostly under Palestinian control and so is closed to Israelis without military permission. (A helpful mnemonic is "A is for Arafat.") As an American, though, I was free to enter.

Getting there from my apartment in Baka in Jerusalem is actually exceptionally easy. One can catch the Arab bus #124 from the stop on Derech Hevron, just south of Yehuda Street. Make sure to flag down the bus to ensure it stops. (And, throughout this whole trip, I was advised not to wear outward signs of being Jewish, including a kippa or untucked tzitzit. A baseball cap was fine, though I of course looked like a tourist.)

The bus then drops off at the pedestrian checkpoint. Entering Bethlehem is easy for an American: just show your passport and Israeli visa (e.g. the stamp you got at the airport, either in your passport or on an attached piece of paper). You don't even have to go through a metal detector. On the other side of the checkpoint, you can get a taxi to the Nativity Church and other tourist sites. Locals pay 10 shekels (~$3) - tourists might have to pay 15 but shouldn't pay more. Whole trip door to door took 30 minutes.

The Nativity Church is across from a large Mosque, and adjacent to the Bethlehem Peace Center. I was there around midday on a Friday, and so much of the square was turned into a giant outdoor (men's) mosque, with a loudspeaker broadcasting what I was told was the midday prayer. It was a fascinating site to behold, since observant Jews don't use electricity on the Sabbath and so can't experience any kind of amplified outdoor space like this.

The Nativity Church was the site of a siege during the 2nd Intifada, with Palestinian militants attempting to take refuge there. I remember reading about the events as it happened, but it was good to refresh my memory.

The picture below shows both a mosque and a church right next to each other, showing the dual heritage in Bethlehem.

I spent most of the afternoon with a friend of a friend of mine, talking about his perspective on current events in the region. This contact was a Palestinian Christian, who had spent a good part of his youth in Saudi Arabia, as his father had a job there. Since he wasn't Muslim, he was not allowed to attend the regular schools, and instead had to attend an American school. (As a silver lining, he now speaks near-perfect American English. So good that I was always a bit surprised when he would speak native Palestinian Arabic.)

His family was kicked out of Saudi Arabia along with the rest of the Christians. I can only imagine what it must have been like as a Palestinian to be kicked out your temporary home, back to the West Bank.

He made numerous fascinating comments during our conversation. I will paraphrase several of the most salient points he made, based on my memory:

"Palestinians today are 60/40 happy/unhappy economically, but 40/60 happy/unhappy psychologically."

"Things are good now, but they were much better in '99-early '00. I remember being able to ride my bike to Tel Aviv to the beach in early 2000 before the intifada."

"Things could snap and get really bad again."

"Now I would need a work permit to enter Jerusalem. Though, most years, around Christmas and Easter, Palestinian Christians are given temporary permits."

"To fly anywhere, we have to cross into Jordon and use the airport in Aman. We can't go to Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv. It's not really a problem though, because most Palestinians have Jordanian citizenship or passports in one form or another."

"I only visit my parents to the north every few months, since I have to cross checkpoints between Palestinian villages, and it takes forever."

"With former President Bush, at least we knew where he stood. We have no idea where President Obama stands. One minute he's for halting building all settlements, the next excluding the Jerusalem, the next he's just proposing it."

"I once spoke to a settler who was saying that Palestinians are all taught in school how to build bombs and that we're supposed to continue the Holocaust. I explained to her that that's simply not true of my education, and that I learned about the Holocaust in history class like everyone else in the world."

"The Palestinians voted for Hamas because Fatah was very corrupt, and Hamas said it was against their religion to be corrupt."

"Fayyad would be great if he could speak for all of the Palestinians, the way that Arafat could. Abbas only speaks for Fatah, which gives him limited influence."

"1948 was an ethnic cleansing. And it is still going on in Jerusalem."

"Israel isn't going anywhere. We should go back to the '67 borders, and have a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, including all of the Old City in Jerusalem."

"There are many Christians here. Most people think Arab Christians are only in Lebanon, but we have lots here. We even brew our own beer in Taybeh. And it's really good."

My host insisted on treating me to my beer and Baba Ghanoush, given the Palestinian tradition of hospitality.

Going home took a bit longer, since the checkpoint is much more strict. There are bag scanners and metal detectors, but unlike in airport security, there is a kiosk door that only lets in one person at a time. The metal detectors are also much stronger, since my belt and shoes each set them off, despite that neither does in American airports. The line for checking documents also bunch up, with the same person doing both ways.

Regardless of the hassle, the return trip probably took 40-45 minutes.

I'll be heading back to Bethlehem next week to meet with an organization that does non violent protest. Should be interesting.

Women of the Wall

Today, for the second time, I proudly prayed with Women of the Wall, from behind a mechitza (a semi-transparent wall that separates men and women in Orthodox synagogues).

Women of the Wall pray at the Kotel (Western Wall), the holiest accessible prayer site for Jews once a month on Rosh Hodesh, the first day of the new month, and one of the most joyous non-Shabbat/holiday services. These women wear traditional Jewish ritual items, such as a tallit (prayer shawl with specially tied fringes). Over the past few decades, they have been harassed, taunted, arrested, interrogated, and sued, all only for peaceably assembling and expressing their religion. Recently, larger and larger groups of ultra-Orthodox Jews have gathered to attempt to disrupt their prayer.

(The other time I was there was a few weeks ago during one of the intermediate days of the holiday of Passover, and since it was a one-off meeting, no one seemed to notice what was going on or bother to protest. This is a case-in-point that the actual prayer is almost completely non disruptive and therefore not actually a threat to anyone.)

The space in front of the Kotel is organized with adjacent men's and women's sections with a mechitza between the sections perpendicular to the Kotel itself, and a mechitza parallel to the Kotel at the back of each section. I was with about a dozen men behind the mechitza at the back of the women's section, as close as possible to the about 70 women in front of the mechitza at the back of the women's section. There were also a handful of men across the mechitza in the men's section.

Today, there were multiple police officers on the outside of both mechitzot, near where each group of men stood. This police officers did their job perfectly, turning away any men attempting to harass the women, such as by throwing chairs (which happened one month ago).

At one point, one ultra-Orthodox older man on the men's section began screaming at a police office, about how they did not respect Jewish law and tradition. A younger ultra-Orthodox man came over and persuaded him to stop yelling, asking him to come with them toward a larger group. It was then that I noticed what was happening on the men's side. Before this point there was the general commotion of a weekday morning with Torah reading at the Kotel (generally Mondays and Thursdays) which normally includes Bar Mitzvahs of both Israelis and those that come from abroad. But at this point, something different was happening.

In our morning service, we were up to Hallel. This is special part of services added on the happiest days of the year: on holidays (Passover, Sukkot, Shavuot, Chanukah) and on Rosh Hodesh. It consists of the most jubilant parts of the book of Psalms. As we began this, the ultra-Orthodox men (there were probably now more than 50 of them) began also reciting from the book of Pslams. They however, were not singing Hallel. There were wailing the saddest parts of the book, normally reserved for times of intense mourning and hardship. It was as if they were begging God to forgive them for being near this spectacle.

As they began to sing louder, so did we. I could hear the women singing in front of me, and joined them as loudly as I could. I've never been that afraid while praying before. I kept saying to myself, "Look forward toward the Kotel and keep praying. You are here to worship God on Rosh Hodesh. What you are doing is normal and regular, albeit in an exceptionally special place."

This incredible contrast, between the our joyous Pslams of Hallel and the ultra-Orthodox men's wailing Pslams of mourning, reminded me of the verse in Deuteronomy 30:19:

הַעִידֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ

"Today, before heaven and earth, my witnesses for you, I give you live and death, blessing and curse; choose life that you and your offspring will live."

Unlike the ultra-Orthodox men there this morning, we chose life. We chose to sing and praise God on 1st of the month in the way that our ancestors have for many generations. I have asked myself why I, as man, needed to be there today. My answer was simple: How could I not be there? How could I justify to my children and grandchildren that when women went to the Kotel to pray and were harassed I did not go in solidarity with them? How could I justify it to my God?

After the services at the Kotel, one of the older women approached me and said that today was the first time when she could hear male voices behind her singing along with them, and how wonderful that was. I thanked her, but said that the honor of being there with them was all mine.

Gay in Iraq

Horrifying piece on cnn.com about the systematic abuse of gays and lesbians in Iraq.

Where is the outrage in the international community? Where is the outrage among American leaders? Is their silence related to their willingness to write discrimination into state constitutions? Surely a behavior that some consider morally reprehensible does not justify silence in the face of rape and murder.

Honor Killing in the US

Another honor killing, this time not far from Atlanta. A man "strangled his 25-year-old daughter San- deela Kanwal with a Bungee cord in her bedroom because she wanted to end her arranged marriage."

This is beyond domestic violence. It is, as prominent moderate Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali says, a systematic way of punishing Muslim women who refuse to along with the sexist rules of their society.

Where is the outrage from America's political and moral leaders? Where are the efforts from national women's organizations to create hotlines to help women in trouble? Where are their priorities? Isn't standing up for women being systematically murdered by their own families an important cause?

New York State Recognizes Same-Sex Unions from Other States

New York Gov. David Paterson just issued a directive that requires all of New York State's agencies to recognize same-sex unions issued by other states. Well done, governor.

A side note to why this is so important to this blogger: Throughout my life, I've had the privilege of knowing many adult same-sex couples. Some were teachers, some were doctors, some were professors, some were administrators, and some were clergy. They came from many different religions and cultural backgrounds. All of them were in monogamous, long-term relationships that from my perspective seemed as sincerely committed as any of the adult heterosexual couples I've known.

As a result, I've been a strong advocate for government recognition of same-sex relationships, so that these individuals could enjoy all of the legal rights and privileges that my heterosexual friends receive. To deny them these rights is baseless discrimination, on par with historical discrimination based on race, gender, religion, and national origin.

California Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage

Read about it here.

Today is a proud day in America's ongoing civil rights struggle.

Eric Schlosser on Corporate Espionage

Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, has an excellent piece in today's New York Times. Schlosser argues that the public American corporations use more and more unethical and illegal tactics to spy on those whom they see as a threat. Just as "A Senate inquiry during the 1930s prompted companies to disband their private armies and stop spying on labor unions," Schlosser argues for federal hearings and action to curb these current round of spying.

Urge Yale to influence China to peacefully resolve Tibet crisis

Yale sophomore Eli Bildner has been building a campaign urging Yale to use its newfound influence with China (from recently ramped up collaborative programs with univerisites and government official) to speak out against human rights abuses in Tibet.

After two weeks, Levin et al. finally responded (http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24315). The work, however, is far from done. Please nudge Yale to keep up the pressure on China by signing Eli's petition at http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/Yaletibet.

End the dealth penalty

Spectacular piece in today's L.A. Times by a wrongfully convicted felon, who spent nearly 20 years in prisons. He is thankful today that he was not sentenced to execution, since he very well could have been executed before the DNA test that proved his innocence.

Irshad Manji's first Moral Courage Project event

Last Tuesday, Irshad Manji, author of "The Trouble With Islam Today," hosted Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, a professor of law at Emory University and author of “Islam and the Secular State,” at the first event of her new program at NYU.

Read more about the event here.

Classic MLK

In honor of Dr. King's memory, Americans should reread two of the most seminal documents in American history:

"I Have a Dream"

"Letter From a Birmingham Jail"

Irshad Manji on the late Benazir Bhutto

Irshad Manji hopes that in death, Bhutto can be "the catalyst for a deeper democracy than she ever advocated in life."

Mistreatment of widows

British lawyer Cherie Blair (wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair) has an excellent piece in today's New York Times on the awful ways the widows are treated in many parts of the world.

Why no one will stand up to the Saudis

Anne Applebaum has a great piece on slate.com about the fact that there won't be a real international campaign against the despicable treatment of women in Saudi Arabia until the leading American feminist organizations get behind it.

Another honor killing

Irshad Manji shows once again that she is one of the few progressive Muslim voices (and one of the very few female Muslim voices) willing to speak out against the horrors going on in her community.

How some Muslims treat rape victims

Fundamentalist Islam's mistreatment of women is unparalleled in any other major culture today. Specifically, no where else in the world are women physically punished and even murdered for being raped. Muslim societies need to get serious at a macro level about how to deal with this problem.

There are thousands of awful stories that fit this situation. Two, in particular, have made international headlines in the past few months.

In one case, a woman in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in prison for meeting with an unrelated male friend. The fact that she met with this individual only came to light because the woman was gang raped by seven other men during that meeting, and wanted them prosecuted. Her initial sentence was 90 lashes, but the judge increased its severity because she contested that initial sentence.

The more heart wrenching case is of a young girl who was raped in Syria. Her cousin subsequently married her in an attempt to bring her back into the family and protect her from being murder because she was raped. Tragically, this protection was not sufficient, as her brother subsequently stabbed her multiple times in an attempt to restore honor to his family, though what is know as an "honor killing". The brother is facing trial (which is unusual for a "honor killing"), but his likely punishment is far less than what it would be in much of the rest of the world for premeditated murder.

This is barbaric. Human society has come too far to be violently mistreating rape victims. While there are fundamental in every religion, from puritans burning witches to ultra-orthodox Jews throwing feces at immodestly clad women and stones at women trying to wear traditionally male prayer shawls, these practices pale in comparison to murdering rape victims.

Despite the fact that Islam is a diverse religion with numerous sects of varying degrees of progressiveness and modernity, Islam has not had such a fundamental change to its core that would completely end practices like honor killings. Where is the outrage among fundamentalist Muslim leadership? Where are the imams saying that is it wrong to inflict further harm on women who have been sexually violated? It is long past time for fundamentalist Muslim leaders to take a stand against stop inflicting further harm on rape victims.