"Something there is that doesn't love a wall..."

wall

prison

   Robert Frost wrote: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall..."  Palestinians?  Israelis?  He wasn't really writing for them, but art can stimulate us to reflect more deeply on issues of our time.
   When I was thinking about my coming to Palestine and Israel, I wondered how I would react to what I found.  I hadn't been here since 1998, before the wall and most of the settlements that have encroached on Palestinian land.  Seeing the wall day after day and stopping at check points, I do reflect after the initial impatience and sadness and disgust.  Writing this blog helps me do that.
   What is the difference between such a wall and a prison?  Not much.  And who is kept out and who is kept in?  To simply play with words is showing off, but to really consider these questions is interesting and difficult.  If you imprison a people, are you not also imprisoned?  We, the insiders, the haves, must maintain the prison, insure that those inside stay inside.  If we abandon the prison, it will fall apart and "the prisoners" will get out.  While I understand the desire of Israelis to keep suicide bombers out of Israel, I don't understand their imprisoning Palestinians and also taking their land.  This from a people who suffered so much in the 1930's and 40's and throughout time.  The guilty ones are not the Palestinians.  They didn't cause that suffering.  More guilty are western powers, including the United States, for not rescuing Jews from the horrors of the Nazis.  What to do?
   I watch Khitam work with Palestinian teachers and see the potential for improved education in Palestine and Israel.  Perhaps Israel already has what she offers; if so, it is not offered to Palestinians in their schools.  Khitam can work well with either people.  Nationality and religion do not matter.  She and others like her, and there are so many, should be encouraged, not limited, by the government and "circumstances."
   I had a long talk with Khitam's nephew, Inas, who used to live in Boston and moved back to Palestine six or seven years ago.  I met him in the States when he visited Khitam in Arrowsic, Maine.  Inas is married to Henade and they have three daughters: Haneen, Seeba and Tasmine (with apologies to Inas and Hanade if I have the names wrong).  They live in the village where Khitam grew up, a little outside of Acca.  They have a beautiful house and a good life.  Henade works in Tel Aviv with an accounting firm, and Inas is the CEO of a computer company in Nazareth.
   Now here is a story that Tom Frieman could write about with delight.  Inas came back to Palestine after working for years with a computer company in Boston.  The first few years back, he worked for a similar company in Tel Aviv, an Israeli company.  Then he decided to go into business for himself with an Israeli Jewish partner.  Three years ago they started a company in Nazareth, far from the hustle and bustle and traffic of Tel Aviv.  The company had Jewish investors and a Jewish board of directors.  The employees were eighty percent Palestinian computer engineers, most of whom had been working other jobs, often unrelated to their computer engineering skills because Israeli firms were not hiring Palestinians.
   "We still have lots of Palestinian computer engineers and we, yanni (I mean) Israel is exporting jobs to China and India.  Why?" Inas asks.  "In three years, we turned a profit.  We now employ 125 engineers, most of them Palestinian.  We are growing.    In three to five years, we may have 300 engineers working in the business.  We are providing a service the country needs.  My five year dream is to see other Palestinian businesses growing in Nazareth, even if they are our competitors!"
   Why Nazareth?  Quality of life and labor supply.  Nazareth is an Arab city, with a newer Jewish Nazareth beside - and above - old Nazareth.  The air is cleaner, the water better, the land open - there actually is land - the traffic much less than Tel Aviv.  With Inas' company succeeding, others are likely to come.  This will provide more jobs for educated Palestinians.  When Palestinians who are less educated see what an education brings, they will want their children better educated.  This will bring about pressure for better schools in the area and better services.  A ripple effect.
   There is so much potential in this view.  "I think the Israelis are making a mistake," Inas says.  "They are wasting resources and energy keeping Palestinians separate, with fewer services, crowded schools that they control and the wall.  We can work together to benefit our society."  He may have said "our societies," but ultimately it would be - will be? - "our society."  Inas speaks to kids in Palestinian schools, telling them about his path, encouraging them to get better educated and to think seriously about hi-tech. Israel is a highly successful in high tech.  It is the country's major business.  Inas is highly successful in high tech and so is his company.  He works with an Israeli co-CEO, I think, and an Israeli board.  Everyone benefits!
   Tom Friedman, where are you?  This is a story for you!

A byway in old Acca/Acre

   Inas is so busy, such a good father, and so committed to his work and his vision.  "And his vision" is important.  This is not simply a very successful man in high tech business.  This is a man who is that and a committed patriot with a vision for Palestinians and Israelis.  It is an exciting vision.
   Next, Acca/Acre, the old city.  This old city dates back to the middle of the 18th century.  Like so many "old cities" in this part of the world, it is built on the ruins of previous older cities, the same city.  This was once, 1,000 years ago, a Crusader city but not for long.