My Trip to Palestine

Image by Dylan Shaw.

In September of 2012, I found myself at the Seattle African American Museum at a book launch for my first book my People are rising a memoir of my 10 years as the captain of the first panther chapter outside of the state of California.

The book detailed my 10 years of dedicated revolutionary life n the BPP. It is was a story of love and death of victory and defeat of sadness anger and pain and despair.

After my exit from the party, I would join others in a 20-year effort to save our beloved black communities from the ravages of the crack cocaine and gang epidemic.

In mid-November, I was bound on a plane on my way to Jerusalem as part of the Heritage delegation sponsored by an organization called the Peacebuilders that sponsored and organized delegations to Palestine 2 to 3 times a year. The tours were usually for 14 days.

The purpose of the tours was to give an opportunity for the outside world to witness what was happening in Palestine and the occupation and the Palestinian’s fight for dignity and respect.

I first learned about the Palestinian fight for liberation while reading the international section of the Black Panther intercommunal news service in 1969.

The Palestinian liberation movement at that time was part of the international struggle worldwide against Western imperialism and colonialism. The party over the years would develop a strong relationship with the PLO and othe Palestinian factions. Yasser Arafat the leader of the PLO visited the party’s international section in Algeria and Panthers had visited Palestinian training camps. Huey P Newton had also visited Palestinian leader George Habas in Lebanon.

We landed at the Tel Aviv airport at 3 am. I along with several other members of the delegation were singled out for extra interrogation lasting several hours. The uniformed young Israeli customs security officers demanded my email address I refused but they maid it clear that I would not be released until I relented. After a few hours, I gave them my email address something that I would regret upon my return to the states.

Eventually, we were released and our transportation by the comfortable vans took us to our destination.

We finally arrived at the beautiful St. George Guest house where we would reside for the next two weeks. It was a beautiful hotel with classic Middle Eastern design with high arching ceilings and sandstone colors. In the morning we finally awoke and made our way to the dining hall where tables of Mediterranean dishes awaited us. Fruits, olives, hummus, and pita bread filled our hungry stomachs as we prepared for the day ahead of us.

There was a separate delegation that was not connected to ours that was also Sponsored by the peace builders led by the parents of Rachel Corry. A brave poetic young white girl who placed herself in front of an Israeli tractor in an attempt to stop the illegal demolition of Palestinian homes. Sadly, her life would be sacrificed as an American-made tractor tore through her young body.

During the morning breakfast, the two delegations mingled and talked about the things that we were going to see and experience. I would become good friends with Mr. and Mrs. Corry who shared the stories of their courageous daughter.

This was also a time when our delegation had the opportunity to become familiar with one another. Three of the women in our delegation were ministers and there was a brother, who had been a long-time organizer with SNCC. Also a young professor from a Chicago Historical Black College, there were a handful of young people and one who I would become good friends with a sister from Chicago, whose name was Aisha. And a Nigerian brother who was from an elite Nigeran family who owned several businesses.

We loaded up in our comfortable minibus and headed out through narrow uneven streets past old buildings and Palestinians walking to their morning destinations. We drove up to the top of a hill and got out to listen to our tour guide. As we looked over east Jerusalem, we could see the giant light grey cement monster that made its way arbitrarily through Palestinian neighborhoods.

Our tour guide explained to us how the wall cuts deep into the West Bank, expanding Israeli land and the theft of Palestinian land and resources such as all the rivers. The wall has left over 25,000 Palestinians isolated from the West Bank she also said that the International Court of Justice has said that the wall was a violation of international law.

The wall had severely affected the travel of Palestinians. It impairs their ability to commute to work and to freely visit relatives and families in other parts of Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Travel often requires going through multiple checkpoints which sometimes means being subjected to harassment and humiliation.

From the hill, we could see the ancient city which is referred to as an old city encased in a giant fortification along with the gold dome of the Alexa Mosque our next destination. We drove back down through the Palestinian community’s being directed by the wall which would determine our next destination.

The Old City

We arrived at the main entrance to the ancient city. Many people were on the vast square out front most who were tourist, you could look up to see the ancient walls and fortifications. The walls of the great city were built in 1538 by Sulieman the Magnificent. But the original old city goes back to over 3000 years. The old city was the heart of the Muslim Christian and Jewish religions.

With great anticipation, we began our entrance walking along with the crowds and being pleasantly assaulted by the color of reds that stood out from the blue and black, and yellow colors of Middle Eastern clothing. The many shops were crammed together in a line that seemed to go on forever. There were many twists and turns and different walkways you could easily lose your way down. You hear the Arabic being spoken and sometimes Hebrew. The lights were bright, sometimes they were low or dim, where the sun and the sky did not shine through.

The Muslim quarters were the largest of the 4 Quarters. The smell of spices, food, and incense is thick in the air. This area was known as the shuck it literally is an ancient shopping mall, where you could barter and buy anything imaginable. Kids played and ran around, old men sat out in the cafes spoking Haka or Shisha. And the Israeli soldiers were everywhere with their m16s with their hands on the trigger. A disturbing scene was the Hebrew men dressed in black and black hats who always seemed to be in a hurry often pushing past people as if it was their privilege to do so. You could see some of them carrying handguns stuffed in their back pockets which was illegal for Palestinians to be armed. We visited the Christian quarters , where there were over 40 sacred sites including the church of the holy Sepulcher where Jesus is said to have been crucified and buried. We passed the Armenian quarters the smallest of the Quarters and their religious sights including the tower of David. The Armenian Quarters is said to have more of an ancient look and feel than the other quarters. We visited the sacred sites for Jews the Wailing Wall, where Jews came to leave prayers in the many cracks in the wall. Some in the delegation went up to pray at the wall. I sat back and curiously watched the people flocking to the wall, especially the Jewish men standing there in black suits and big black hats, some of them rocking back and forth while praying

One of our tour guides was Muhammad a black Palestinian who was tall and majestic. He had spent 19 years in an Israeli prison. He had been caught throwing a Molotov cocktail at an Israeli police car. He told us that his stay in the Israeli prison was the worst experience in his life, something that no one should ever have to experience. He took us to the black Palestinian quarters of the old city. We had trouble keeping up with him as he bounded up the steep concrete stairs with what seemed like endless energy.

It was like stepping back in time. The small gray quarters were the homes of some of the black Palestinians. Children played women walked about. There was a picture on the wall of a black woman wearing a Hijab. He said this is Fatima, the first Palestinian woman police officer. And she also became the first Palestinian women chief of police.

We continued our tour, stopping at the Muslim’s most sacred site the Al Aqsa mosque and the dome of the rock part of the noble sanctuary. A place sacred to Jews, christens, and Muslims. It was also a place where Muslims believed that Muhamad ascended to heaven. Muhammad took me inside of the mosque which you had to be Muslim to gain entry, I told him that I had converted to Islam to Mary my wife. To gain entry, you had to recite the first line in the Koran something I did not know but Muhammad told me what to say. Which was the SurahAl Fatiha.

There just wasn’t enough time in the day to take in all that you could visually see in the old city. In the old city you could almost feel the history flowing around you, and imagine all of the conflict and intrigue that happened in this place.

Finally, our tour of the old city ended for now. During my stay in Jerusalem, I would visit this ancient marvel, as often as I could for It seemed to always be calling me back.

I would later learn that the British had brought Africans to Palestine to fight In one of their many colonial wars in the 11900s and many of the Africans would become Palestinians. The British Empire had a habit of scattering their colonial subjects all over the world when they needed workers or soldiers, and when they finished with them, they would just leave them there, in their new land. The tour was wall organized the organizers wanted us to see and experience the good and the bad and the things that were affecting the Palestinians the most. And one of important factors was the blatant displacement of Palestinian families.

Later that evening we went to visit a large Palestinian family and listened to their fight to keep their house from being taken by the Israeli army. They explained to us how a Palestinian woman who lived across the street from them was kicked out of her home at 4 am. The IDF showed up in full military gear and proceeded to throw all her belongings out into the street and proceeded to move in a family of Israeli settlers. She put up a courageous battle to get her house back. She even set up a tent on the side of the street in front of her now-occupied house as she protested and fought with the courts. But it was all to no avail. This was happening throughout the west bank of the occupied territories. Palestinians seemed to have no rights whatsoever. The family we were meeting with, was in a fight of their own to keep their house. They did have papers that certified their ownership to their property, but even that was no guarantee that they would be able to keep their home. They had built a smaller section onto their house and in response the IDF took that section over and moved an Israeli settler into the room connected to their house.

Palestinians are not allowed to build any new construction on their property. If they do, the property would be seized. Sitting there talking with them and their elder mother you could tell that they were very worried and that they were under constant stress. They looked into our eyes as they told their story, their eyes were hoping that maybe we could do something, that maybe we could have some influence to help them save their house that had been part of their family for many decades. But sadly, enough we could only listen. While we were talking their small children came running and crying from the front of the yard. They were scared by the settler who was very rude and threatening and this was not the first time that he was mean to their kids. We finally left that night disturbed by what we had heard and seen. For us this story sounded very familiar, as part of our own history in the racist deep south. We could only hope that they would be able to remain in their home.

Telavi

The next day we drove to Telavi, on our drive we noticed something very odd, there were 2 roads running parallel to one another one a modern freeway and the other an old road. It was explained to us that the modern freeway was for Jews and the old road that we drove on was for Palestinians. Another glaring example of an apartheid system that existed in the so-called promised land.

Something else we observed, every time we drove to Telavi that there would be a throng of Palestinian men on the side of the road hoping to get picked up By Jews looking for workers to build homes. We also learned that the Palestinian builders and the architecture were some of the finest in the Arab world. We arrived in Telavi to somewhat of a modern-looking city free of the packs of Armed Israeli soldiers.

We met with an Israeli group called The Boycott Within, who were young Israeli organizers working to support the Palestinian people. They were at times somber and nervous. It was obvious they were very serious about their work, as they were under pressure by the Israeli government to stop their support for Palestinians.

We met another Jewish woman who started an organization to stop young Jewish kids who turned 18 from serving in the Israeli defense force. She had six children, her oldest daughter had to serve during the war with Hezbollah in Lebanon and she swore that she would do everything she could to keep her other children from having to serve. She told us during the war against Hezbollah that some of the young Jewish soldiers caught cabs home back to Israel rather than fight in another unjust war. She also told us that a lot of Jewish families were sending their kids to Europe by plane loads, to keep them from serving. She seemed to be very confident and serious about making sure that young Israeli kids would not be drafted to serve as cannon faders for Israel’s many military campaigns.

We went to a neighborhood and got out and walked through a section of Eritrean cafes and shops, down the street we met with a large contingent of Eritrean refugees, who had escaped the brutal dictatorship of the Eritrean government. We listened to their harrowing accounts of their escape through the Sinai desert. walking up to 8 to 10 days, for some the trip took up to six months through the hot desert sun, sometimes without sufficient water. Many women and children dying along the way as they attempted to avoid capture by the Bedouin and Eritrean Gangs. The Bedouin gangs often held them for ransom and if the ransom was paid or the smuggler’s fees were paid, they would be transported near the Israeli border. If the ransom was not paid many of them were killed and in some cases, their organs would be sold. They explained to us what these gangs had done to those they caught going through their lawless territory. Many people were murdered raped and tortured some beheaded and many sold into slavery.

If they were lucky enough to make it through this onslaught, they found refuge in Israel, but it was not a welcoming refuge. Sometimes, Israel against international law would return them back to their point of origin which often meant back to Eritrea where they would face imprisonment in underground prisons or execution. However, there were some Israeli soldiers that would refuse to send them back to hell.

These were migrants escaping violence and imprisonment as well as inscription into the military in their home country. Under international law they should have been guaranteed some type of safe haven. Israel often confiscated all their belongings and confined them to the park in this one small area where they had set up shops to try to survive. Often many would be put in detention camps waiting and hoping to be given refugee status, but only a few were lucky enough to be given such status.

They were being held under an amended 1954 prevention infiltration law once used against Palestinians.

Israel began to fortify the border wall with an electrifying fence. And refusing to give them refugee status with the goal of getting rid of all their African refugees. At the time there were more refugees fleeing Eritrea than any place in the world. In Telavi Eritreans, because of their strong entrepreneurial spirit created their own business district setting up shops and street-side cafes for their people. We did meet some of these entrepreneurs and some sounded very hopeful about their chances of success. some of them would get lucky working in a restaurant or maybe some labor work. But it was obvious to us they were under some level of persecution by the Israeli government. Israelis had even threatened them with putting them all in a large ship and just sticking the ship out in the open waters. A story would emerge that many of the Eritrean women would be subjected to forced sterilization by the Israeli army, without their knowledge or consent. Eventually, Israel would stem the tide of the Eritrean refugees down to a trickle. And over time Israel would expel the remaining Eritreans from the country sending them back to hell.

While walking back to our Van, I went into a drugstore to get some cold medicine. The Jewish woman who owned the drug store told me, those are some good people, I try to help them as much as I can they shouldn’t be treated that way. There were many Israelis who did not condone the racist oppressive treatment of the Israeli government toward the Eritreans.

After we left the Eritrean refugees many of us were in a somber mood. We had expected the oppression against the Palestinians, but we were not prepared for what we saw and heard regarding the Eritreans.

The Israeli Black Panthers

Friday I was excited about meeting with the group that was once called the Israeli Black Panthers They were the Mizrahi Jews or Arab Jews from Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, and Kurdistan. The Ashkenazi Jews from Europe who were the founders of the state of Israel considered the Mizrahi to be savages and referred to them as black Arabs. Of course, a lot of this racism was started by the British, who controlled Palestine from 1920 to 1948 and the Israeli government that proclaimed to be a socialist state with justice for all would take up where the British left off. The British empire of course treated their African subjects with unbelievable brutality.

Though the Mizrahi comprised 65 percent of the population they were excluded from the rights and privileges of the Ashkenazis. They were also not allowed to participate in the political system. The Mizrahi who had once lived in decent neighborhoods before the founding of the Jewish state , found themselves living in run-down ghettos in very poor conditions. There children were excluded from equal educational opportunities and filled up the juvenile courts and detention centers. And they often clashed with Israeli police. 45 percent of the teenagers did not attend school.

In 1971 the young people rose up just as thousands of young people rose up against injustice and the old ways around the world.

Their movement for justice decided to name themselves after the most famous black revolutionary group in the world. The Black Panther party. They wanted a name that would garner the attention that they needed, to let the Israeli government know that they meant business. They organized huge protest and demonstrations. Demanding an end to the discriminatory practice of the Israeli government. They also contacted Palestinian groups and worked together when possible.

Because they adopted the Black Panther name, they received front-page headlines in the press in their fight for justice. They also began to implement many of the social programs that the American Panthers had implemented. They address the basic needs of their people, like free food programs, and clothing programs. They would often liberate bottles of milk from the milk trucks in middle class neighborhoods and distribute the milk to the poor Misrata’s

In May of 1971 they held their largest demonstration, over 40,000 Mizrahis turned out and they dubbed their demonstration the night of the Panthers. They also held a hunger strike at the wailing wall.

Finally, the prime minister of Israel, Golda Meir agreed to meet with the Israeli Panthers.

And out of fear that they would unite with the Palestinians, concessions were made, and more money was allocated for the Mizrati communities.

In 1973 the Miszharis formed their own political party and their leader was elected to the Israeli Parliament, he who served until 1992. The Israeli Black Panther party disbanded in 1977, about three years after the us panthers ended. Their legacy left a powerful legacy that everyone has a right for justice.

I found myself with others. From our delegation sitting in the comfortable home of one of the founders of the Israeli Panthers. Through an interpreter, we discussed the times of struggle, and he talked about a lot of the trials and tribulations of the time and the fight for basic human writes. He was excited and talked with a rapid pace, I gave him a copy of my book My People are Rising and He took us around the complex where many of the former members lived. On the brick wall to the entrance to where they lived, was a black power fist above the address.

Israel was just one of the many countries that had movements that adopted the black panther name and symbol and practices, just as they had done in India among the Dalits, as well as in New Zealand with the Maoris and in Australia among Aborigines. After we left, Hyida our tour guide at the time told me that the Israeli government confiscated Palestinian homes and gave them to the Miharaites something that the Palestinians would not forget. The old colonial practice of divide and conquer.

Ramallah, Belin

Saturday we were off to Ramallah, also known as the Brookland of Palestine. It was a big bustling city, with shopping centers selling all the latest styles and shops and restaurants. The streets were crowded with cars, the curly-headed young men and women moving about in a frantic pace. There was an energy and a feeling of power that I had not felt since being in the occupied territories. After all It was the headquarters of the Palestinian authority We headed to our meeting at a large complex of various Palestinian offices and meeting rooms. We went into our meeting with Palestinian leader Saima Beton who was head of the Palestine campaign for the academic and cultural boycott and divestment of Israel. Which is better known as the BDS movement. The BDS movement was an effort to put pressure on Israel by getting entertainers not to come to Israel for concerts and other cultural events. And to get the international community to boycott Israeli products. In the future, the Israeli government would do everything it could to stop and destroy the BDS movement an effort that would not succeed. After our meeting we drove up to Belin one of the many small villages in the west bank, I had seen a documentary film called the 5 Broken Cameras that took place in Belin.

The film was about a Palestinian man who purchased a camera to record the life of his young 3-year-old son. In the process, he also filmed the weekly protest of the Palestinians in Belin, against the occupation. The film showed the brutality of the IDF as they beat protesters, often firing tear gas and live ammunition. The film also showed the IDF committing outright murder. One of the murders was of a young, unarmed Palestinian man with curly hair, wearing a Che Guevara teeshirt. He was one of the leaders of the weekly demonstrations. The Israeli soldiers shot and killed him without any provocation on his part. Another seen in the film shows another young man who was beaten and taken aside by Israeli soldiers and shot in the leg. The father filming the protest was beaten and had his camera broken on numerous occasions, on several instances he was shot by the soldiers only to be saved by his camera which ended up being shattered from the bullets. All the while filming, his 3-year-old son was growing and witnessing the beatings the shooting the intimidation and the chaos as people were often running. In all, the father went through five cameras, thus the title of the film. The film received worldwide critical acclaim. It circulated the world, showing the struggle of the Palestinians in Belin as they conducted there nonviolent protest against the brutal occupation and oppression at the hands of the IDF.

We were warmly greeted by the people in Belin. They took us up to the olive trees that they harvest to provide income for their families. You could still smell the tear gas and the skunk oil used to spray on the protesters. And some of their olive trees were burnt in an attempt to destroy the Palestinians’ main source of income. They also pointed out the Israeli settlement sitting up on the hill about 500 yards away. Which was a source of much of their problems. The settlers would come down from there safe settlements and attack Palestinians, and their olive trees. After our tour we went to one of the homes of some of the leaders of the village and sat down as thy explained their constant struggle against the settlers and the IDF. I was hoping to see the filmmaker of 5 Broken Cameras, but he was in Europe touring with his film. When his son walked in who was now almost 12 years old tears welded up into my eyes. When I first saw him in the film, he was 3 years old. Now he was on his way to manhood.

After the meeting, we were all assigned to stay with various families for the night. The family that I and others were assigned to stay with prepared us food as we played with their small kids and attempted to communicate and get to know them and understand their daily struggles. The house was modest the food was good, and we laughed and joked. Afterward, the husband took us out on his large balcony to look out over the village and look at the many stars in the sky. He told us about the large Palestinian flag he and his wife had been working on. Palestinians were not allowed to have Palestinian flags even though there were Israeli flags flying everywhere. Observing the family, I was surprised at their calmness and their ability to relax and laugh and show happiness in the face of their constant occupation. Also, their humility and their generosity to us black Americans and the joy they exhibited for us being there. In the morning we woke up had breakfast and went outside and along with his kids, we unfurled the huge flag of Palestine. It was the largest flag that I had ever seen. We laughed and the kids were excited as we all participated in this so-called unlawful act. It brought joy to the family as well, as it did to us. And soon we were back on the road to our next destination.

Bethlehem

We arrived in the holy city of Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus, and all its holy sights filled with tourists from all over the world who had come to see and walk in the footsteps of Criste.

And most of these holy tourists were oblivious to the oppression of the Palestinian people., Israel made sure of that by limiting the tours to the holy sites.

We first visited the Ada refugee camp where many Palestrina families resided that had become refugees after losing their homes and being uprooted from their lands. We talked with the children as they followed us around, it was not surprising that these children already had the look of disposition on their faces.

We talked with Palestinian members of the Palestinian security forces, taking pictures with some of them. We also visited the Lujan Center which had photo exhibits and other displays of the oppression. We walked by shops that sold large keys, Keys that belonged to Palestinians from there thousands of homes that were lost to the Israeli onslaught. the Palestinians always cling to the hope that someday they would be able to reclaim their homes and villages.

We visited olive groves where we participated in the harvesting of Olives with Palestinian families. The olive trees were the most cherished agricultural part of their lives. The olive trees defined who they were as a people, the olive trees had been an essential part of their lives for a thousand years. It was slow and tedious work. But we were honored to be able to work alongside of them participating in this ancient ritual. The olive grove that we were working on belonged to a Palestinian man whose home had been surrounded by a wall. Separating him from his olive grove, he had to drive some distance to be able to reach his olive trees. The wall was always present but the Palestinians found creative ways to get over it or around it. Often you would see large ladders or ropes that stood as evidence of their creative of resistance against the wall. And often there were security stations at different points on top of the wall. Often there was Palestinian gratify and art depicting their struggle in defiance of Israel’s policy against drawing anything on the barrier. We noticed there were water towers on top of many of the Palestinian homes, they resembled the small water towers seen in parts of old New York. When we asked about them, we were told that through the building of the wall, Israel; had taken control of all the sources of water. Israel allocated the water to the Palestinian homes delivering the water to the small water towers., however the Jews had free access to water. The Palestinians went on strike to protest the taking, over of their water. Israel’s response was collective punishment, by putting snipers on rooftops and confining the Palestinian people to their homes for a month, threatening to kill anyone who stepped outside of their homes.

That evening I and some of the other delegates spent the night with Sami a wiry seemingly happy energetic Palestinian man who owned a travel and tour service. He lived in a beautiful marble home with his wife and 2 daughters. His wife prepared us a wonderful meal and afterward we went to a hookah bar and smoked on the hookah pipes and drank a clear bubble type of wine. We sat and talked for a while and went back to his house and went out on the large veranda and sat and talked, late into the night as we looked out over the brown hillside. . He talked about the intifadas that he was involved in and his brushes with death. And the many struggles of his people. We left that morning vowing to stay in contact with one another.

Part Two of this essay will appear next week.

Aaron L. Dixon is an American activist and a former captain of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party for its initial four years. In 2006, he ran for the United States Senate in Washington state on the Green Party ticket.