New this month at Paidia

Paidia built the Jack Forrest Adventure Gardens on a former Israeli military camp. The area is called Oush Grab, and prior to the Israeli military base, it was a Jordanian military base built on land purchased from Palestinian owners. The Israeli military expanded the base after taking control of it, confiscating adjacent private land in order to do so. The Beit Sahour Municipality, Paidia International Development, and other NGO's worked together to lift Israeli military control of most of the area and to establish a public park there, which includes Adventure Gardens as well as other recreational facilities. The confiscated private land was returned to its previous owners. Only the top of the hill, where the old military buildings still stand, remains under Israeli control. Thus, although it is all public land, the Municipality is not allowed to develop that part of it.

On May 15th, we went to Adventure Gardens to do some cleaning. We noticed a large number of cars with Israeli plates and grew suspicious. When we went to investigate, we found that people from the surrounding settlements had come to protest the development of the land for the use of local residents and to attempt to establish a new settlement outpost in the old military buildings. There were around 40 settlers present.

When our staff returned later that day after doing some other work, the Israeli military had closed off much of the area. There were also a number of protesters demonstrating peacefully against the settlers' attempting to live there. We joined them in order to show that we will not tolerate illegal confiscation of the public land which we are working so hard to help develop. The settlers left the site while the protesters were still present, but they made it clear they intend to return later this week. They have spray-painted pro-settlement slogans such as "The Land of Israel for the People of Israel" (a reference to the concept of "Greater Israel", which includes Gaza and the West Bank) in Hebrew on the walls of the abandoned military buildings.

As word of a settler presence in the area spreads, locals are likely to become frightened and stay away from the park. If the settlers succeed in establishing a permanent presence on Oush Grab, with the attendant military protection, we and our partners will no longer be able to use the park to provide badly-needed constructive recreational opportunities to young residents of the Bethlehem area and their families.

Paidia and several other area NGO's, as well as other concerned Palestinians and internationals, met on Sunday to discuss non-violent and effective ways to keep Oush Grab from being taken. We intend to maintain a regular presence on the hill on Oush Grab, holding weekly events such as barbecues, games, dances, and outdoor movies. If anyone spots settlers at the site, the organizations involved in this discussion have agreed to an "emergency" plan. Internationals and locals will meet at Oush Grab as though preparing to do a program, bringing equipment for games and other fun activities. Then we will begin playing as though the settlers are not there. This, we believe, will be more effective than a traditional non-violent protest; it will be much less likely to degenerate into a belligerent or violent affair because the protesters will have something to do in addition to and in the process of demonstrating. The presence of internationals, as well as locals, is vital because it decreases the likelihood of settler violence against the locals.

Returning Paidia volunteer Andrew Raelson and Regional Director Jason Pollock had a separate worrisome encounter last Wednesday while preparing to hike a local wadi (dry river-bed) near Teqoa with around 20 kids. They had gathered the kids in a circle and were about to begin the hike when Andrew, glancing behind him, met with an unwelcome sight—"an unhappy settler with an M-16", as he put it, describing the incident in an e-mail message. He and Jason found they were unable to communicate with the man, who did not speak English. The settler called the military, and Jason and Andrew waited for them to come. Some of the kids wanted to leave right away, as they had forgotten to bring their ID cards. Some were understandably afraid of the armed settler.

Paidia has spoken with the Israeli military about using the area for hikes and games in the past, and they have granted us verbal permission. We have brought kids to the same wadi for over a year without incident. This time, however, the soldiers gave in to pressure from settlers and asked the group to leave. The planned hike never happened.

Settlement of Israeli civilians on Palestinian land taken during the war of 1967 (the West Bank and Gaza Strip) from Jordanian and Egyptian control, respectively, is illegal under international law. Under Israeli law, however, only some settlements are considered illegal, and even those may be provided with military protection. Israel has pulled its settlements out of the Gaza Strip and some parts of the West Bank, but in other parts of the West Bank the settler movement is still going strong. Settlers may be motivated by religious ideals, believing that they are entitled to Palestinian land by divine right, or they may be motivated by economic factors, as it is sometimes cheaper to live on a settlement. However, many in the general Israeli population are against the settler movement and view it--as do many Palestinians--as a major obstacle to peace.