Thursday, June 29, 2006

Me Voy

Israeli Occupation Forces are attacking Gaza.
Israel has also kidnapped over 60 Palestinians in the West Bank.
After weeks of Israeli killings in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,
Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in an operation near Gaza and another group of militants kidnapped and killed a young Israeli settler.

The tensions are always there, the actions are mounting.

My sister asks if I am still going. My answer is, Me Voy, I am going. My my family is only comforted by the thought that "bueno, estamos en las manos de dios." With a priests' blessing, like all good catholics would do, I am leaving to the Tierra Santa to do "humanitarian" work.

I am anxious to get there but worried that my contribution of solidarity will be a drop in an ocean. Perhaps this little blog, if it is read by people who know me and trust me, and it sheds more light, and it moves you to do something to save lives in this region, may be my biggest contribution or act of solidarity.

Let me get going now, I have to pack.

Palante!

My next post will be from across the
Atlantic [and the Mediterranean]!

Monday, June 19, 2006

Soul Rebel

Less than two weeks from now I will be in an ISM training in Ramallah and take things from there. My insomnia hasn't gotten much better. Watching muay thai live and boxing on television distracts me a little. But Palestine remains on my mind. I can't keep track of the killings in Gaza; in some ways they seem to be the same one repeated over and over. What is the death toll now? How long can this continue without serious international public outcry? What will stop the Israeli Occupation Forces?

The tensions in Palestine are rising and that worries me. I know it worries my mother who wishes I would stay put for the summer instead of going across the globe "buscando problemas." But she knows I can't stay put when given an opportunity to run with rebels.

I'm a rebel, soul rebel.
I'm a capturer, soul adventurer.
Do you hear me?
I'm a rebel, rebel in the morning.
Soul rebel, rebel at midday time.
- Bob Marley

It is a wretched situation in the world when living life, ordinary, everyday life is rebellion. For a Palestinian to breathe, to dream, to love is rebellion - in the face of the Israeli occupation. Palestinians are rebels, beyond rocket launchers and rock throwers, mothers rock babies to sleep in spite of sonic booms and Israeli missile attacks.

I think of Puerto Ricans in Vieques. Who pushed the U.S. Navy off of their land with their resistance and who continue their defiance in order to demand demilitarization, devolution, decontamination, and [sustainable] development.

I think of the Maya in Chiapas who have refused to dissappear, who put on masks so that they would no longer be invisible, and who continue to struggle against the draconian politicians and prophets of profit who attempt to suck them of their life and natural resources.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Insomnia

It's early June. I can't sleep. I still have three weeks left of teaching to do, curriculum to write, and a newsletter to layout. But I can't concentrate. I am going to Palestine [and Israel]. My mind wanders and I try to absorb as much as I can from various books, newspapers, and websites. I haven't left this country much. I have never crossed the Atlantic.

In less than a month, I expect to meet people whose travels are more for survival than exposure or solidarity. Some cross borders everyday, managing to pass checkpoints or find alternate routes to find work across the scars of our world.

I expect to learn about hope, resistance, and solidarity.