Which leads me to vegetables....
There is a reason why the environs of the Holy Land have been characterized as "the Fertile Crescent." I defy anyone to offer me a tastier tomato, a crisper cucumber, a richer avocado, a sweeter Clementine, a more flavorful spoonful of fresh-pressed olive oil than can be found in the northern West Bank, the "bread basket" of Palestine. As we used to say in my youth, "I kid you not": even the occasional misshapen, off-color, unappealing-looking vegetable (and these don't get hidden or kept off the shelves in a rural village) -- take'm home, wash'm off, cut'm up, and they are to die for! Fresh-picked, organically-grown produce, every morning, the salad lover's dream....
Nothing to do with the occupation, and everything to do with the occupation.... In Jayyous, these tasty treats are mostly grown behind the Wall, which affects every aspect of thier cultivation and marketing. Even with a permit, an individual farmer whose relatives cannot cross through the gate and who cannot afford to hire help, can plant or harvest only so much crop. Water access is controlled, and irrigation is limited only to daylight hours, because one cannot remain in a fild behind the Wall overnight. Vehicles are controlled, so getting the crop to market may be chance-y. And everything is grown organically because fertilizer must be brought in from Israel, which permits only one kind -- because fertilizers contain nitrates, ingredients also used in the manufacture of explosives, and therefore present a "security risk."
Had I not lived for three months in a northern West Bank farming village, it would never have occured to me that the production of fresh, delicious produce has anything to do with the occupation.
English Club members enjoying conversation at Al Quds Open University in Qalqilya. Photo: Patricia Carswell
"You are welcome." This is how Palestinians routinely greet visitors, whether in their homes, their places of business, at meetings, in casual settings and on formal occasions. I have been told by countless cab drivers while being driven to my destination, by innumerable storekeepers while I've made a purchase or merely window-shopped, by more people thatn I can remember who've stopped me in the street to ask where I'm from: "You are welcome." "You are welcom in my home." "You are welcome in my country."
Three words, no contraction (as in "you're welcome"). It's not an expression, not a rote response, it's very personal. In this culture, it is important to welcome visitors, It is important to receive them with gratitude and generosity, because visitors are a gift. I say "Thank you" for the welcome, after I have, in essence, already been tahnks for my very presence.
And, just in case I still thought how easy it is to toss off words like a memorized ritual, once inside any home or office, those three words were followed by the tangible offering of refreshment, usually at least three kinds in quick succession: water or juice, coffee, sweet tea, often punctuated with cookies or candy. (Don't get me started on the amount and variety of food offered when one is invited for a full meal!)
I remember vividly (and with some embarassment) the afternoon a teammate and I spent at the home of a young man who was eager to show us how the occupation manifested itself in his family's and village's daily life. We were there, perhaps, two or three hours, during which time the above refreshments were supplied in plenty. Our schedule, however, requuired us to leave before the evening meal, and when we stood up at the time we needed to depart and began to bid the family a grateful farewell, our young host suddenly disappeared! A cab was waiting outside to take us to our next engagement; we wanted to say goodby to the young man, so we waited, just a bit impatiently, at the gate. After several minutes, our host reappeared, aplogizing because his mother had not begun to cook earlier in the day, and pressing into our hands an assortment of packaged sweets -- he'd run quickly to the local shop as we were thanking the rest of the family, so that my teammate and I would not leave his home unfed. "You are welcome," he reminded us as we departed.
At the last English conversation session I led for the English Club students on the Qalqilya campus of Al Quds Open University, I began by saying, "I'm sorry to say that this is myu last meeting with you. I'm going to miss you! So today, instead of starting with questions and things I'd like you to talk about, I'd like to ask you if you have any questions for me. Is there anything you'd like to ask me about America, or about the program I've been working wiht in Palestine, or about what I've done or what I've learned here? Or is there anything you want me to know -- anything you want to be able to say to me, or want me to say to others about Palestine when I go home?"
One of the first questions I was asked was, "What will you tell people in America about us? What's the first thing you'll tell them about what Palestinians are like?"
After just a few seconds' thought, I responded: "Hospitable. If I have to say the first thing that comes into my mind about Palestinians, I will say, 'They are hospitable people.'"
A few seconds of silence followed and then I suddenly couldn't resist saying, "And that's a political statement. Do you understand why I say that?"
For young people who come from a naturally hospitable culture, my insistence that I was making a political point involved a good amount of discussion (after all, I was there to encourage them to talk to each other in English) to tease out my meaning.
Palestinians are, first and foremost, a hospitable people. This is in complete contradiction to the image of Palestinians as terrorists. Terrorists, by definiation, have to be the opposite of hospitable. The Palestinians I met daily are people who treate others with more disinterested kindness, sensitivity, attention and generosity than I have ever experienced in 45-odd years of travel on four continents. I emphasize this so strongly because it is important to give the lie to the (sometimes unconscious) western stereotype of Palestinians as closed-minded, brutal, cunning and intransigent people with no regard for the pain of others. On the contrary, in my experinece, few Americans are aware at all of either the pain or the hospitality that characterize the life of Palestinians in occupied Palestine.
I have been home for a little less than a week as I finish writing this. My body is just beginning to function in the right time zone. My spirit is still struggling with how to integrate all I have experienced in Palestine into my daily life in the U.S., as an American and a Christina, into my personal, social and faith commitments.
Perhaps the best place to start is... You are welcome; and see where it takes me.