One of the highlights of my journey to Palestine/Israel centered on the home-stays. We lodged at hotels or hostels for much of our time in Palestine, but there were two nights where we were guests in the homes of Palestinian families. Our first stay was in the Palestinian Christian town of Beit Sahour – a wonderful town not far from Bethlehem. The family that I stayed with was beautiful and we shared many laughs and light moments over a delicious dinner.
Our second home-stay was in the Palestinian town of Bil’in. This was a little different experience because when we arrived in Bil’in, we were taken to the path where villagers and international supporters (including Nobel Peace Prize Winners) have engaged in nonviolent marches every Friday for the past 5 years! The path leads to what the Israeli Government calls a Separation Fence, but what Bil’in residents call an “apartheid wall”. Members of the town march every week with creative and courageous flair as an act of defiance to the Israeli occupation. On the other side of the apartheid wall lies the fields of Bil’in’s farmers – their olive trees and arable land. It is their main source of economic viability – stolen by the Israeli Government and guarded by Israeli Occupation Forces.
Our host family in Bil’in showed us the evidence of the Israeli soldier’s response to their nonviolent march. The path was littered with tear gas canisters and bullet casings. These unarmed people bravely march every Friday for freedom despite the reality of violent reprisal by their armed oppressors.
The latest act of retaliation by the Israeli Occupation Forces came this week when one of the children of my host family in Bil’in was arrested along with two of his friends. Fourteen-year-old, Majde Burnat, is an energetic and mature boy who helped welcome my delegation to his town. He assisted his father, Iyad, in showing us around and making sure we had what we needed. I really took to Majde because he and I had digital SLR cameras and were documenting this historic visit. At 14-years-old, little Majde took his photography responsibility seriously! He was stooping down and climbing pillars to get just the right shot of these visitors from America who came to stand in solidarity with his people.
Majde Burnat
Additionally, he courageously documents and participates in his community’s nonviolent resistance against Israeli Apartheid. Instead of playing on playgrounds, kicking the football around, and chasing little girls, one of the main preoccupations of this 14-year-old’s childhood centers on the Israeli Government’s oppression of his people. Last Friday, during the freedom march to the Apartheid Wall, Majde passed out from tear gas that was shot into an unarmed Palestinian crowd by Israeli Soldiers. Majde was there as he usually is to take a stand for freedom and human rights. As soon as I heard about him being injured, I contacted his father, Iyad, to check on him.
This week I have learned that little Majde has been arrested along with two of his friends by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Just like African American students in the Jim Crow South were some of this country’s martyrs (Emmett Till, The Four Little Girls killed in the Birmingham Church bombing, etc.); Palestinian children are not exempt from vicious and cruel attacks of Israel’s Apartheid. The IOF arrested Majde and his friends, questioned them for three hours, and took them away for imprisonment with their parents and families not knowing what will happen to their little boys.
14-year-old, Majde Burnat and his friends are in prison right now because of the “sin” of their ethnicity. Nothing more. They are Palestinians and in Israel that’s crime enough.
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Any updates about Majde?