Bethlehem: Holy Land Trust

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So today I went to Bethlehem and visited the Holy Land Trust. First I just want to say that I really love Bethlehem. It’s an awesome city, and I love the atmosphere. The people are so nice and friendly. The history behind the city is amazing. I wish that I didn’t live so far away so I could visit more often. It was awesome to see so much of the group again too. The guys from Ramallah were there along which was really great because I haven’t seen them since the first weekend they came to Tel Aviv.

We all went to lunch at a great restaurant right off the Nativity Square. During lunch we talked to the supervisor from the Holy Land Trust. He told us why the organization was created and what they do. I thought all in all it was a good presentation even if I don’t agree with everything he said.

The most important thing I learned was the non-violence programs that they run. They condemn all forms of violence and try to talk and educate young people about violence and the repercussions. I think that’s the biggest problem with my organization, they don’t really address the violence of the conflict. The only time they address the violence is when it relates to the occupation in the West Bank.

My supervisor told me a story, which I think relates to this topic very well. My organization facilitates discussion and communication between groups of Palestinian Israelis, Jewish Israelis, and Palestinians from the Occupied Territories. One letter from the Palestinian OPTs was written by a young girl who told the receiving Israeli student that she wanted to study nuclear physics so she could grow up and build an atomic bomb to use against Israel. Eventually she became friends with the Israelis and told them she no longer wanted to kill all the Israelis just the soldiers.

While I understand that you have to let the children express themselves I’m not sure it balances out. And I do understand that the young girl who wrote that letter was young and hopefully no longer desires the destruction of Israel I think her proclamation of violence needs to be addressed.

This conflict will never be resolved if the multiple parties resort to violence to solve it.

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