An Israeli Jewish Woman Laments What She Has Seen

All of us are on pilgrimage. What we see and experience shapes who we become.

When I visited Israel in June, we met with Hannah, one of the volunteers with Machsom Watch. She, along with 500 other Israeli women, many of them grandmothers, monitors the checkpoints - documenting the way Palestinians are treated and helping them get through the checkpoints when she can. She told us that there are no rules for the checkpoints. It is up to each commander and each soldier how people are treated - what documentation is requred to pass, how long people must wait, how they are treated as they wait. I was very moved by her story and have told it often to people who ask about my trip (read it on my July 9 blog: http://apilgrimstales.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-07-22T11%3A04%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=3

Hannah did not come to her conclusions about the destructive nature of Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands easily. Her family and her community does not agree with her actions, but she sees how treating Palestinians as less than human in a system that allows freedom for Israeli Jews, but not for Palestinians, has dehumanized everyone - especially since every Israeli is required to serve in the military at age 18.

Here is another Jewish woman's story of how she experiences Israel's treatment of Palestinians. She, too, is part of Machsom Watch. She has seen what happens at the checkpoints - her lament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGm-gxmxHw