Signs of the (Wrong) Time

By Kelly Hayes-Raitt | March 18th, 2007 | 3 Comments »

I joined the Jewish college students on a tour through 3 Palestinian villages the Israeli Army invaded and destroyed in 1967. More than 7,000 Palestinians fled Amuas, Beit Nuba and Yallu as Israeli soldiers burned each community to the ground. The land is now a popular, forested park with cheery picnic spots and archaeological ruins dating back to the Byzantine period. Signs throughout Canada Park describe the Byzantine ruins – but not the recent history of displaced Palestinians.
Eitan Bornstein, director of the group Zochrot, told us of the epic legal effort to place signs explaining the park’s more recent history. After a year-long struggle that went all the way to the Supreme Court, signs with sketchy information were finally erected. Within weeks, they were vandalized and, now, more than a year later, they have still not been replaced.

(Photos of 1967’s violent displacement are at PalestineRemembered.com.)
Palestinians’ indignities run deeper than these excavated ruins at Canada Park:

• Education: Palestinians must send their children to Arab schools, which have substandard books and a less challenging curriculum than Jewish schools, making it harder for Arab kids to pass college entrance exams.

• Travel: Palestinians from the West Bank cannot leave Israel without losing their ability to return. In fact, some Israeli groups will actively assist Palestinians who want to relocate by buying their homes and providing other economic assistance. One Palestinian told me it is not unusual to receive regular phone solicitation calls offering such relocation assistance.

• Business: Israelis are offered a variety of government loans and other support for new business ventures. Palestinians’ applications languish – often for years.

• Housing: Palestinians who own agricultural land are being denied permits to build needed housing on their own land, forcing them to live in crowded quarters.

• Home Ownership: Some communities require prospective homeowners to indicate whether or not they have served in the Israeli military, which automatically screens out Palestinian buyers. A recent lawsuit in Lod, near the Ben Gurion Airport, struck down this discriminatory law after years of struggle.

“Even our history gets erased,” said Rita Boulos, program director of Neve Shalom~Wahat al-Salam. “Jews are taught that Israel was swampland before 1947. They are taught in school that they built the roads, the infrastructure. My father told one of my Jewish friends once, ‘That road was here, you just widened it a little.’ My friend was surprised.”

So the struggle for signs at Canada Park is more than symbolic. It’s more than a way for Palestinians to reclaim their history. It’s a way for a new Jewish generation to be educated about their own recent, unpleasant history.

“If we acknowledge what we have done, then don’t we have to do something?” demands Louise Hader, a thoughtful 34-year-old psychology student at Rupin College who is voluntarily participating in Neve Shalom~Wahat al-Salam’s School for Peace program.

“I had no idea about this history,” said Louise, herself conflicted. “I’ve come here a lot with my family to celebrate Independence Day. I thought these trees had been here for years.

“I want to know how the Palestinians who were here feel. I’m sure they are angry and resentful.”

Next time she picnics here, celebrating an Independence Day that marked historic tragedy for the Palestinians, will she tell her 10- and 7-year-old daughters about this park’s recent history?

“Now, it is a little bit less of a threat for us. We are here, period. It’s easier to talk about things.”

Louise pauses for a long time. “Yes, I believe I will.”

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