Deborah in Palestine: “No One Can Call Me an Anti-Semite”/ “My host Family and the EC Opened Many Doors for Me.” Meet our volunteer, Deborah, a 33-year-old woman born in Switzerland. She studied anthropology and joined Engage in Palestine in May 2022. She did the volunteer with refugees-program in Hebron. She spent one-month teaching children and adults of various ages. In this article, she will tell you about her experience.
BEING JEWISH IN PALESTINE
‘Born Jewish, to a mom who has lived in Israel and did her military service there, but then moved to Switzerland and raised me in a secular family, I have a strange relation to Israel. Part of my family lives in Israel and I have cheerful memories of the beach in Tel Aviv, the smell, the language. Only later, when I became more knowledgeable about the situation in the occupied land of Palestine, those memories started to change. One of the reasons I came to Palestine is to see the occupation from firsthand, from the ‘’other side’’ than what I used to see, now being able to understand more what is going on.’
PART OF THE FAMILY
‘I arrived in Hebron when it was the feast after Ramadan, so instantly I met all the extended family and had to go to many events. It was overwhelming in the beginning, especially because my Arabic is not that good. But being exposed to Arabic all the time helped me progress fast, as is having to take the service taxi every day to the EC: I was thrown in the deep and had no option but to talk to people. My days were intense, but I am so grateful for the openness and hospitality with which I was welcomed. From day one in Hebron, my host family said: you are part of the family now, so stop saying shukran to everything, take whatever you want.’
WHAT YOU CARRY IN YOUR HEART
‘I told my host mom I am Jewish and luckily she has the same mindset as me: you make a distinction between being Jewish and being a Zionist. It matters who you are as a person and what you stand for, not what you are born as. My mom taught me that the most important thing is what you carry in your heart, and the rest is secondary. She moved to Switzerland more than thirty years ago, because she did no longer want to finance the oppression that happens in Israel.’
DOORS
‘My host family opened many doors for me which wouldn’t have been opened if I was a tourist. The Excellence Centre opened many other doors. I followed Mamun’s course about human rights and refugees, for example, which taught me a lot about Zionism and its horrifying teachings. Together with another volunteer I gave workshops to young girls about women’s rights, and their curiosity and motivation was very gratifying. On our trips to refugee camps, we met Palestinians who never met or gotten in touch with a foreigner before. That we could provide them with a person, and not only a book, to learn English with was very rewarding.’
COURAGEOUS
‘I had the chance to meet an incredibly inspiring woman, Seliga. She is the head of a kindergarten in the old town, surrounded by settlements. She told me that there was a curfew, but her neighbors were hungry and dying. She went to buy food, despite the curfew. An officer pointed his gun at her, asked her what the hell she thought she was doing. ‘You know what,’ she said, ‘first I will feed my neighbors, and then you can shoot me.’ She is so courageous, and that will inspire me forever.’
DARK SIDE
‘Close to her house I saw a Jewish school that used to be a Palestinian boys’ school, which the Israelis raided out and started their own school. When I see something like that I wonder: do you even read what is written in the books that you study every day? My experience has been unsettling, maybe especially being a Jew. I have come to know my religion in a nice and welcoming way, and it horrifies me to see the dark sides of it. I am still processing this. What happens to Palestinians is dehumanizing to a point where I can’t understand what it has to do with Judaism, or what is written in the holy books.’
CHECKPOINTS
‘My experience at checkpoints was somewhat (but only somewhat) similar to that of Palestinians. Every time I would see an Israeli soldier, I felt afraid, because as a Jew who mingles with ‘’the other side’’, I am considered a traitor, the worst of all people from the eyes of Zionists. Mahmud always told me: don’t be afraid, they are more afraid of us than we are of them.’
THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING A JEW
‘The situation here is frustrating and feels hopeless, but I know that I must use what I saw and heard here to spread the word, counteract the media. When the guards at the Israeli airport discovered I was going to Hebron, they told me: ‘be careful.’ Be careful about what? Which side do you think is the one to be feared here?! The image of Palestinians that is created by Israel and by the media that support is, is very harmful. During my time at the Excellence Center and in Hebron, I experienced the complete opposite from what we are told in the media. So I will do what I can to counterfeit the propaganda about Palestinians being terrorists and dangerous, and I will use the minor privilege of being a Jew: that no one can call me an anti-Semite.’
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