The philosophers

Several days ago, some of us went to the village of Al Walaja (ahl WAH-lah-jah) to meet some of the contacts there and get an introduction to the village and it's issues. The two main contacts are young men named Basil (BAH-sil)and Mahmoud (of course, with the name Basil, I think of Basil the Great, his brother Gregory of Nyssa and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus, all great theologians in the early church. But, then, I'm a church geek).

This Basil and his friend Mahmoud are both from the village, but have been educated elsewhere. They came back to live in this town because it's home. Basil is a pharmacist who works at one of the refugee camps in East Jerusalem (he has a hefty commute everyday). Mahmoud runs the Ansar center (for Palestinian culture and social services) in the village. They are both passionate men in their late 20s who feel very strongly that the occupation of Palestine is wrong. Of course, for them, this is a very personal issue as well: the village of Al-Walaja will be surrounded completely by the "security wall" (yes, completely encircled) and some of the houses have demolition orders (to make way for the wall to be built). As Basil put it, "we will be under siege". Nearby, there is a settlement (a large complex of apartment buildings built on West Bank/Palestinian land with the blessing of the Israeli government for Israeli citizens) that wants to expand. So, land from the nearby town of Al Walaja has been expropriated for that use.

Not surprisingly, the villagers are very concerned. They've already lots many dounoms (a measurement of area) throughout history that were the arable lands (often Palestinians will live in the village, but have land outside of town which they farm. It is not like farming in the US where most folks live on their land right next to their work). Now, they're loosing more farmland, plus the land under their houses.

To add insult to injury, the homeowner is often given a bill for the demolition that was ordered by the army which, of course, they're required to pay.

Basil offered an opinion (OK, he offered many opinions! After all, he IS a philosopher) that the solution to the occupation was NOT a 3rd intifada (as the rumours have been) but a "one-state solution" in which Arabs and Israelis, Moslems, Christians and Jews would all live together. He even had a plan to implement this solution!

I hope to meet more visionaries and thinkers like Basil and Mahmoud in my time visiting the villages around Bethlehem.

PS: I forgot my camera the day we went to visit, so no photos of the philosophers. Sorry.