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 Palestine and Israel would say a few words and the Lutheran pastor from Eagle Pass
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
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
International Committee of the Red Cross
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
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
Lutheran Ministries in Eagle Pass
A PBS Religion & Ethics Newsweekly transcript produced during the construction of
the wall in Eagle Pass
A Texas Monthly article from last August about youth and drugs in Eagle Pass
http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2011-08-01/letterfromeaglepass
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