Walls, Bridges and Lunches: When Lunch Becomes Something Else.

This year at the Assembly of the Southwestern Texas Synod of the ELCA, the Peace Not Walls Task Force decided to branch out beyond the usual display table and host a luncheon.  The display featured the wall between Israel and the West Bank as well as the wall along the Texas-Mexico border.  The theme was Tearing Down Walls and Building Bridges.  At the luncheon two people who had recently returned from serving with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel would say a few words and the Lutheran pastor from Eagle Pass would speak about his experiences.  The display was fine, but the luncheon did not turn out at all as envisioned.

PEACE NOT WALLS LUNCHEON AT SYNOD ASSEMBLY

            For centuries people have said, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”  The Peace Not Walls Task Force listened to this time honored advice and said, “We want to win hearts and minds, so, let’s have a lunch time presentation at Synod Assembly.”  We pictured a group of people around tables with white clothes enjoying wonderful food.  With their hearts won, their minds would be open to the important information we had to share.  We would win hearts and minds to the cause of justice in the Holy Land and along the Texas-Mexico border.

            But God had another plan and he works in mysterious ways his purpose to accomplish.  Instead of a serene lunch in the middle of a busy day at the Assembly, we got to experience what it is like for Palestinians going through Checkpoint 300 in Bethlehem to their jobs in Jerusalem.

Life at Bethlehem Check point 300 (aka Gilo Checkpoint)

            When I monitored Checkpoint 300, one could call the “Humanitarian Hotline” and a very polite Israeli soldier would say, “I will check on it.”  I called many times over the 3 months I was there and maybe something happened, maybe not.  It was very hard to tell.

            When the men were going to work and the first turnstile would not be opened on time, the line would grow, and tensions would rise.  Then suddenly men would be allowed to go through and they would run across the parking lot to the second turnstile.  Not so much to get ahead of anyone as to feel free for a moment until they were stopped at the metal detectors that were opened and closed for no apparent reason.  Frustration and anxiety would again mount as men looked at their watches and wondered, “Will I get through in time to work today?” 

            Most days they did, but it was not unusual for some men to have to return home because they did not get through in time to get to work.  By 3:30am there were already 200 men in the line—sitting and standing, leaning on the metal bars of the entrance ramp to be sure they did not miss work that day.  Some were sleeping, some were drinking coffee and tea from the vendor who walked up and down and passed the cups through the bars.  Each man had a small, black, plastic bag for his lunch and to put his belt and change in to go through the metal detectors.  Sometimes people waited patiently, sometimes impatiently; but, more than one person told me, “Everyday we die a little.”

Peace Not Walls Task Force Lunch Event

            At the restaurant, instead of the "Humanitarian Hotline", there was “the Manager”.  Getting us moved out of the sun and into the shade was easy (even at check points sometimes some thing is easy).  As time went by with no food, the calls to our “Humanitarian Hotline” were less successful and anxiety rose.

            Then suddenly, when it was too late to enjoy it, the food began arriving (in batches—like the men being allowed through the checkpoint)  Some got to eat, some got to gobble down a little and run, a few had to leave without food.

Reflection

            For us the frustration of realizing things were not going as we expected and having no control over it was mostly a temporary inconvenience or discomfort.  For some it was more urgent.  For a few it really didn’t matter.  But can you imagine everyday trying to get to work being like trying to get something to eat before it was too late to get back to the Assembly on time?  And wondering why you had been invited to this thing (to a lunch or to a job) and they did this to you?

            It is much more complicated for the Palestinian workers to get a work permit, than it was to RSVP a luncheon, but in either case once you have your invitation to eat or to work one expects smooth sailing.

            The PNW Task Force thanks you for attending our function and humbly apologizes for giving you an unexpected Check Point experience.  While the PNW Task Force has learned a lot and you can expect a more gracious and humane experience at any future events, the Palestinian workers at the Checkpoint do not have this assurance.

Let us pray for peace and justice in the Holy Land and in our communities, in our families and in our own hearts, that we may see more clearly what we can do to help.  In Jesus name we pray.  Amen.

Pastor Sharon Wiggins

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT:

 International Humanitarian Law and how it applies to Occupation go to:

            Diakonia-International Humanitarian Law

                   http://www.diakonia.se/sa/node.asp?node=827

            International Committee of the Red Cross

                   http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/what_is_ihl.pdf

Bethlehem Checkpoint and conditions go to:

            CBS 60 Minutes:  Christians in the Holy Land aired April 22, 2012 go to:

                                                                                                                        www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7406228n

                        Includes interviews with Pastor Mitri Rehab of Christmas Lutheran Church in

                        Bethlehem and the Israeli Ambassador to US.  Extremely valuable resource. 

             Two excellent youTube videos are: 

                        Daily life in Palestine; Checkpoint Bethlehem  and

                        Gilo Checkpoint-Bethlehem-Palestine.  

                        Checkpoint videos are found by searching “checkpoints in Palestine” on youTube.

Lutheran Ministries in Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras;

            A PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly transcript produced during the construction of

                        the wall in Eagle Pass:                                                                                                      

                    http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week1136/feature.html

            A Texas Monthly article from last August about youth and drugs in Eagle Pass: 

                    http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2011-08-01/letterfromeaglepass

Rivers, Walls and Bridges--Eagle Pass, Texas



Rio Grande River





The Wall

 Last Thursday I went with a small delegation from the Peace Not Walls group of my church to visit and learn about the Lutheran churches at Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras.  We also wanted to see the impact of the Wall that was proposed and begun along the Rio Grande between the US and Mexico. 

At Eagle Pass the “Wall” is a rather attractive metal fence that does not block the view and is probably fairly easy for healthy young people to climb over which is hardly necessary as it is only a mile and a half long.  The most impressive thing about this separation wall is its cost which is said to be eleven million dollars.  At 1½ miles long, this fence cost $1,389 per foot.  Even if they had gotten a whole 2 miles for the $11million the cost is still just fractions of a penny under $1,042 per foot.  And this beautiful fence and the road beside it still have to be maintained on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.  I have not seen the cost to benefit analysis that went into this project, but it must be a remarkable piece of work just in and of itself. 

The impact of the wall varies tremendously depending on the area in which it is built.  At the original international bridge in Eagle Pass, the fence marks off the parking lot for tourist who wish to walk across the bridge and the area used for the local flea market which is held every Friday and Monday. From there the fence marches off into the trees and disappears over a hill.

A Visit to the Water's Edge

On Thursday afternoon when Pastor Bailie of Iglesia Luterana San Lucas stopped to show us the “Wall” on our way to Cristo Rey mission in Piedras Negras, the only vehicles in the large parking lot were two Border Patrol vans, but we did not pay much attention to them, or even to the wall.  What caught our attention was the herd of cows coming down the bank on the Mexico side of the river and going down into the water.  We were all holding our breath, waiting for them to swim across the river—wondering what sort of international incident that would cause.

There is a nice boat ramp right off the parking lot, so, I went down it to see if I could get a better picture of the cows, the river and the wall from there.  While I was trying to decide if I was going to wade into the river, a boat from down stream came into view.  At McAllen you can take tourist boat rides up and down the river, so I was curious about the boat coming into view. 

But this was not a tourist boat.   It was the Border Patrol. 

I started taking pictures and was waiting for them to get in front of me for a good picture when suddenly they swung around and gunned the motor straight at me.

My first impulse was. “Run!”   
          However, my second impulse,

                 “Oh boy now I’ll get a really good picture”,
         won out. 

 

 They turned aside and nosed into the bank a little down stream from where I was.  

Then Pastor Bailie joined me and we considered the possibility of using the area for baptisms.  And after baptizing our feet in the Rio Grande, we went on to Cristo Rey.

Reflections on our Trip

It was not until the next morning I remembered that there was an empty boat trailer hitched to one of the Border Patrol vans.  It had been right after lunch when we were at the river, and I wondered, “Had those two men in that boat had their lunch yet?  Or, did they have to get the boat back up on the trailer before they could eat?”  When they couldn’t scare me off by threatening to run me down, they had just waited patiently until we left.

There was no wall, no barrier that anyone could see between me and the two men in the boat, but something prevented them from easing in a little closer and saying, “Excuse us, but we need to get to that boat ramp, would you mind moving so we can get in safely?”

But, when the threat did not work, it seemed there was nothing else for them to say and an invisible wall went up.  The two men with a gun at the ready and wearing their flack jackets hid behind that invisible wall while a white haired lady took pictures of cows and baptized her toes in the river.

How many invisible walls do we erect between ourselves and other people?  What are the bricks and mortar we use to build these invisible walls?  Is it time to stop building walls and to start building bridges?

Concluding Thought

Actually, the bridge has already been built.  When his disciples were afraid they did not know the way, Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth and the life.” 

 John 14:6

We do not have to walk on water or swim a river, we just have to be willing to cross at the bridge and the walls will fall down.

For he is our peace;

in his flesh he has made both groups into one

and has broken down the dividing wall,

that is, the hostility between us.

Ephesians 2:14

 

Lesson We Took Home with Us

To do ministry on the US-Mexico border,

you do not have to walk on water. 

                       

                                        Or swim the river,

you just have to be able to cross a bridge.

Additional Information

A link to a program aired on the Religion and Ethics program in 2008 as the bridge was begun. 

Eagle Pass Border Wall

This is a very well done, balanced discussion of the Wall and relations between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras at the inception of the Wall.  This short video (under 10 minutes) features interviews with the many different people in Eagle Pass including the mayor, a priest, retired Border Patrol agents.  Some are in favor of the Wall and some are not sure about it.