The Sweetness of Home
Food consciousness has been a big part of my experience on this trip. This has included fasting for me, as well as being overwhelmed by the sight, smell, feel and taste of the bread with the family in Artas that reminded me so much of my grandmother. Today, as part of our overnight trip to the north, we visited the Golan Heights. Here, in Syrian land occupied by Israel, I ate lava-red cherries from trees in my ancestral homeland. These remarkable treats, in their firm, moist texture and deep earthy sweetness spoke of experienced hands, fertile fields, clean water and a blessing from God.
We drove into Majd-al Shams just in time for lunch, which we found waiting for us at a small restaurant that we would have never found on our own. Some of us were leery because of the price - 50 shekels. The last time we paid that much, in Jericho, we ate a tourist trap where the food was less than memorable, although the price for lemonade was unforgettable. But today’s meal was exceptional: a stew of chicken, carrots, potatoes, and onions with sides of dark, hearty lentils and perfectly cooked rice. The hummus was so good that I had to scrape it out of the bowl just to get some for my pita. All of this was followed by Arabic coffee which I have now decided that I like – provided that it’s made well – and this little cup was as good as I have had yet.
From lunch, we took a tour with Taisir Maray, director of Golan for Development. This organization provides an array of positive community programs in one multi-layered building, including award-winning music instruction, a space to host theatre programs from within and outside of the community, and around-the-clock childcare. A health clinic is staffed with more doctors per capita than most industrialized nations. Later, we saw a physical therapy department (too often an underserved need), a multimedia department and an agricultural research lab. This lab is notable for propagating shitake mushrooms on apple wood (a soft wood), and they are currently running tests to see if this could be a viable part of agricultural production in the area.
Golan for Development, while having accepted some limited international aid, is funded primarily from community donations and service fees. Mr. Maray noted that there is a local governing council that primarily acts in the interests of Israel, and has a habit of recreating every Golan for Development project. But this is a healthy “competition” that benefits the community, and which the organization has learned to use to its advantage.
No outside country recognizes Israel’s occupation and control of the Golan Heights. Israel has stated publicly that it will give back the Golan, provided that it can control the water in it, but theft of this valuable resource is no different than land dispossession. Currently, 25-30% of the water used in Israel comes from the Golan Heights. Water is so valuable here that Israel changed its law for the building of rain catchments, requiring no less than five permits from disparate, suspicious Israeli bureaucracies – an impossible task. Israel even had the tenacity to demand that meters be placed on tanks and that payment be made to Mekorot, the Israeli water company. Meanwhile, all of the so-called settlers in the area – more than 30,000 – have unlimited state water at a huge discount. Majd al-Shams, meanwhile, must get by on more expensive water that only comes three or four days a week, and farmers must improvise on a third of the amount that they need.
Majd al-Shams has problems both unique and quite similar to the Occupied Territories of Palestine. For example, land confiscation has reduced the original lands available for use to five percent (!), and the rest is for Israeli use. While population has continued to rise – four times since 1967 and now at 21,000 – permission to build and expand the village is denied. Hundreds of young men – statistically high for the population - are in jail for acts of resistance. The educatioal curricula are based on Zionist teachings, including Hebrew. Yet life here in this mixed village of Druze, Muslims and Christians goes on.
Economically and culturally vital fruit trees have been uprooted within the last few months by Israel. These criminal acts of ecological warfare have been met with firm resistance by the village, even when they occur in the dead of night. While a few “offending” villagers are now under arrest, no one can say for sure how apple trees constitute a security threat. Agricultural production is vital here, providing Israel with 40% of the apples and 50% of the cherries used for internal consumption. Yet, the colonies are now trying their hand at producing fruit, succeeding with subsidized water, mechanization and chemicals.
Majd al-Shams villagers also suffer from being used as human shields not by Palestine or Syria, but by Israel itself. A military base looms in the center of the village, and smaller ones dot the perimeter. There are rumors of a nuclear bomb in a nearby mountain. Land mines planted in fields inside the village by Israel have killed and injured villagers, and are prone to relocating (sometimes inside people’s homes) during high-rain events. While Israel has the technology to locate mines, it chooses not to clear these life-threatening hazards out. Children here play in the fields not understanding the danger, and risk injury or worse for a conflict that they probably don’t know much – if anything - about.
Prior to 1967, the Golan Heights contained a population of over 130,000 in more than 130 villages. After the war, a total of 6,000 remained in only eight villages. But history is on the side of the Syrians. In 1896, the Turks destroyed the village and was subsequently rebuilt. The same cycle was repeated in 1925 – this time by the French - when the village resisted occupation. Today a proud bronze statue commemorating the resistance stands in the village center. Though at one point Israeli soldiers tried to demolish it, seemingly the hand of Allah held it in place and only minor damage occurred. Perhaps it is a sign that these proud people will soon be back under the umbrella of Syria.
The villagers live under special circumstances, as about 97% have refused to accept Israeli citizenship. Travel is possible, but rare. Over-the-fence communications and even celebrations are more common. Many villagers work in Israel, as the population is largely educated (including many postgraduate professionals) but the opportunities for local and appropriate work are few.
Mr. Maray made some memorable statements to our group about the conflict itself. He said that for him, it is important to “know history, but not to live for it.” He believes in a good neighbor policy, and disdains the wedge-driving techniques deployed by Israel. The racism of Zionists, he claims, starts with Arabs but doesn’t end there, and gave us numerous anecdotes that we had already heard from others.
Some big questions remain unanswered. Why is it acceptable to have a Jewish state but not a Muslim state? Or a Christian state? Or Druze? Israel has tried to endorse this without success to justify its cultural designation as a Jewish state. But Israel is hanging by a thread. It has come to an area that was self-sustaining and attempted to pave it, water it, and industrialize it. This sped-up economic experiment, when it fails, will see a new diaspora greater than that of the Palestinians, because Israelis who are committed to the land are few and far between. The pressure from both within and without Israel continues to build, and the scramble for resources is over. Hegemony may buy discourse, but it doesn’t change truth or fate. God did not give the Jews this land. The British and the United Nations did that, without consent of the natives. The land, to me, is what makes this place so special, and although you do hear a few Palestinians who claim that they aren’t connected to the land, I am confident that these are the exception and not the rule, and that they might change their minds after harvesting olives, baking bread, or snacking on God’s candy in the mid-afternoon sun. I know some Syrians who would be happy to show them.
Submitted by CT
