She asks, "Why is America silent? Do your people see what is being done to us in your name?"
by Gary Anderson in East Jerusalem
April 7, 2002
I am within a 5 minute walk of many wondrous antiquities of Jerusalem, but do not have the heart to be a tourist. My heart is full of what I see and hear around me. I am near a garden in spring flower, but I can't see or smell: I think of the refugee camps and people who are being killed while
I'm outside, unable to stop what is happening.
A boy in Aida camp, a place with 4,000 people squeezed in a very small space drew a picture to give to fellow Coloradan, Nancy Stohlman. In Aida, the
children have seen only concrete, dirt, pavement and combat. The paths have holes in them that were made by gunfire from US-built Apache helicopters.
His gift to an American friend? A picture of flowers in the sunshine. Other kids paint pictures of things they have never seen, and never will, unless
we change their world: pictures of deer, forests, streams, meadows, ponds. How can they find this quietness, this gentleness, in such the harsh world
that we have put them into?
I am at a gate to the old walled city in Jerusalem and instead of seeing the sights, I talk with Arab men. They are polite and even friendly with me and
ask why do the Americans support the taking of our land?
I buy a sandwich and talk with an old man who says' please tell your people to ask your president to stop the killing'. This afternoon (Sunday) ten of us went to the Tantur checkpoint on the south side of Jerusalem with signs. I talk with a Palestinian lady who has escaped in recent days with her
family from Ramallah. She is with her son, daughter-in-law and 3 grandchildren. She tells of the home she has in Ramla (near Tel Aviv) that
they were driven from in 1948 at the formation of Israel [It was taken from her more than half a century ago, but it is still her home and real in her
mind]. She tells of life in camps in Jordan at Es Salt, west of Amman and life in other camps in the Palestinian Diaspora. They settled in Ramallah
[not the same as Ramla] 40 years ago so her children could have a good education. Her life in Ramallah is shattered; friends killed, civil order
destroyed. At 80 years of age, she is on the road again. She asks, "Why is America silent? Do your people see what is being done to us in your name?" The man in the bookstore says, we just want to live our lives, have jobs, have a family, sleep without terror. We Palestinians accept the reality of
Israel, want to live in peace with the Israelis as neighbors. We want to hold onto just 22% of our land, leave them the rest. Why does America stand
with Israel to crush us?
The man in the camera shop says that he heard that Bush has give Sharon until Friday to "finish the operations" in West Bank and Gaza. "Why?" he
asks me, "Why does your president give them another 6 days to kill us with American permission? Are we wild animals for Bush to give out hunting
permits for us?"
All I can do is try to fight back my tears and say, that there are some of us who are trying to bring those questions home to America. Some of us who
love the USA so much that we want to rescue it from the horrible path that we have been on. Some of us who want to change our direction and help the
Israelis move toward national security with recognition of Palestine and the building of secure boundaries for both nations.
This is not enough of an answer, but it will have to do for today. * Gary Anderson is one of five Coloradans with the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace taking part in nonviolent actions in solidarity with
Palestinians under siege by the Israeli military. More of their experience can be found at www.ccmep.org/palestine.html