Gaza Mourning Tent

March 30th is Land Day for Palestinians. What, you might ask, do Palestinians--who are losing their land at a breakneck speed--do on Land Day? True to the spirit of Palestinians, they celebrate what land they have left and protest that which they've lost.

Since February our Palestine Action Group had been planning a Mourning Tent for the victims of the Gaza massacre in December and January. Originally it was to be on March 16th, the anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death in 2003. Rachel, shown in the photo below, was a 23-year-old student at Evergreen College in Olympia, WA, and a peace activist. She was a volunteer in Gaza with ISM (International Solidarity Movement), trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes, when Israeli soldiers crushed and killed her with a D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer.






Each year there are memorials around the world for Rachel on the day of her death. It seemed like a fitting day for our Gaza Mourning Tent, but the weather would not cooperate. So at the last minute we rescheduled to March 30th, and joined in the global solidarity effort with Palestinians in observing Land Day.

Our student member Lia, along with other student friends on campus, reserved a space for us on the Quad (the hub of student traffic--kind of the crossroads of the campus) and we set up there in the morning and stayed until 3pm. We caught the student traffic between classes and especially at lunch.





Inside the tent we had flowers and candles and photos--of the dead and of mourners in Gaza. That was by far the hardest part of this whole project--looking at one gruesome and awful photo after another and trying to find ones that conveyed the tragedy and horror and loss, without scaring people away. In those photos there were so many terrible images that I hope some day will leave the recesses of my mind.

In the end I think we did an excellent job of finding photos that were respectful and dignified and gave the message that this was about mourning the deaths of innocent people and the destruction of their homes and neighborhoods.

Along side the tent was a table with information about the seige on Gaza and about Rachel, two tri-fold boards with photos and quotes, and postcards for people to sign: one asking Obama to end military aid to Israel, one showing the loss of Palestinian land over the last 60 years, and one to Caterpillar about stopping the sale of bulldozers to Israel (beefed up by the military and used to demolish homes, uproot olive trees, destroy farms and gardens, and flatten refugee camps).



Below in the Mourning Tent are hanging some posters of Rachel and the Palestinian flag. As soon as we hung up the flag a young woman stopped and said "I recognize that flag! It's Palestinian!" Turns out she had taught at the American School in Jordan, knew all too well the situation in Palestine, and was so happy we were doing what we were doing. It was a good start.



Our statement on the table read:

We Mourn the Dead in Gaza

December 27, 2008-January 21,2009

1,417 Palestinians killed
including 926 civilians
of whom 431 were children
and 116 were women
5,450 seriously wounded, mostly civilians
of whom 1,872 were children
and 735 were women

255 civil police officers killed
16 healthcare workers/medics killed
and 22 injured
13 Israelis killed
including 3 civilians
and 4 soldiers accidentally killed
by Israeli forces

Statistics according to CARE International UK, Amnesty International,
World Health Organization (WHO), International Medical Corps and
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR)

The photo front and left was the one that most touched me. It is of the bodies of three little brothers being carried to their funeral. They look smaller than Ben. There's so much tragedy in that one picture: the tiny bodies wrapped in white shrouds, the looks of grief on the faces of the men carrying them, and on the far left is a young boy, his face covered with his hands, but obviously crying.




Different friends stopped by during the day to stand with us, talk with students and help pass out information. Most people were very respectful, and especially the middle eastern students were very appreciative that we were doing this. But as always there were those who were angry, didn't come too close, but shouted something as they passed by.

We all, especially Gretchen and Jeanne, got our practice talking with people who see things quite differently than we do. But we had an unfair advantage because our friend Josh, who just returned from months in the West Bank working with Christian Peacemaker Teams, was there with us all day. We could pull him into a conversation if we needed to, but we each tried to hold our own and not rely on him.






Then in the evening we moved the tables, photos, candles and flowers, plus information boards and postcards, downtown to the daily vigil in front of the Courthouse. Among the people at the vigil was Charlie, who is involved with the Peace Action Committee at the Unitarian Church. He was quite affected by the photos and by the map on the Loss of Land postcards, shown below, and invited us to bring all of this to their church, which we did the following Sunday.





The Mourning Tent was the second event our Palestine Action Group put on. (The first was the Celebration of Palestinian Culture evening in February.) As I've said before, I love this little group. We work so well together--it's a tight little operation. Below are two wonderful members--Emmet and Alison. (Emmet consistently puts out the message "It will be great!" and so far he's been absolutely right.) What's up next on our plate? That's yet to be determined, but as Emmet says, it will be great.



Our cultural celebration in February was a fundraiser for MECA, Middle East Children's Alliance in Berkeley. On March 26th MECA hosted a talk by Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American author and activist, my favorite speaker on the subject, who gives a very clear analysis of the Middle East conflict, including solutions. Ali Abunimah's talk is well worth the time to listen.



Meanwhile, spring is coming to Corvallis. The trees are budding and blooming. Winter is fading from our memory and life is renewing itself. The talk is all of what's been planted, what will be planted, etc. Hooray for all that spring brings.

One change in our lives is how infrequently Aaron comes to Corvallis. More and more he has plans with his friends on the weekends, and that's to be expected. How fun are we compared to friends?!? But I miss him and would rather see him more often.

As he heads towards his 14th birthday I'm reminded how little we teach our children in this culture about how to survive in daily life. So each time he's here I try to help him learn a new skill. (Maybe that's why he stays in Eugene!)



On Saturday nights now he's responsible for cooking dinner. Above and below you see the fruits of his labor--mushroom and black olive pizza. He did it all--from rolling out the pizza dough to serving it up.



One last thing: the literary tip you've been waiting for. My two new favorite books were written by Alison Clement (yes, the Alison in our Palestine Action Group!) The first is Pretty Is As Pretty Does. Anyone who has ever lived in a small town, or ever been a woman, or ever felt oppressed by the circumstances of your life, or ever felt frustrated by the confines of our society, etc, etc, will love this book. Shortly after I started this book I sent Alison an email with the subject line "I curse you, Alison Clement" and complained to her how tired I was at work after staying up all night reading her darned book!

Then the second one was just as great! The title is Twenty Questions and that's all I'm going to tell you. Go straight to the library and get them both. The sad news is that they are the only two books Alison has written. But the good news is she's working on one right now.

I'll leave you with that good news, and hopes for a beautiful beginning of spring for each and every one of you,

Valori