The First Activity

Taste of Peace: The first public activity of Rapprochement.

The Intifada is a cry for freedom and a message of peace. While struggling against injustice, Occupation, oppression, and uprooting. Palestinians sent messages of good will and peace to the Israeli public.

On December 15th, 1988. The Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement Between People issued the following invitation, in the name of the people of Beit Sahour, to the Israeli People:

A Taste of Peace

What will it look like when Israel and Palestinian line together in Peace?

A town in the West Bank invites you to tour sites in what will someday be The Palestinian State and taste today the peace of tomorrow.

Come as a guest, NOT as an Occupier.

Friday, December 16th, 1988, two days before Beit Sahour welcomed its guests, Israeli soldiers killed and injured an unprecedented number of civilians from the Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian City of Nablus. Shocked by the tragic events, The people of Beit Sahour decided to convert pain and suffering into positive work and continued preparing for their peaceful activity.

Sunday morning December 18th, 1988, was a special day in Beit Sahour. While people of goodwill were working hard arranging for this historic, Unprecedented meeting, the occupation authorities were doing everything possible to stop it. Since the early morning hours the army announced Beit Sahour a closed military area and blocked all its entrances.

Planning for Peace is not easy. There is a need for another plan. The first task was to bring our guests into Beit Sahour through this Anti-Peace siege. The second was to insure their stay until the end of the planned activity. While everyone was tense and felt that this opportunity is slipping through his fingers, groups of Beit Sahouris checked carefully the location the location of the military check and observation points. Finally the checking groups came back with a plan. They recommended that: a car from Beit Sahour should meet the guests near Mar-Elias Monastery and lead them through a long and difficult mountain road. As settlers use this road to travel between Jerusalem and Tequaa’, it was neither blocked nor observed by the army.

At around 10:30 a.m. of twenty cars entered the backyard of the Greek Orthodox Church without being blocked or observed by the army. Smiling, welcoming, chanting and waving with the signs of victory, that was how the guests were welcomed by hundreds of Beit Sahourians gathered in the churchyard.

The Israeli guests, around seventy people including Knesset Member Ran Cohen and former IDF chief education officer Mordechai Bar-on, stepped out of their cars smiling and greeting the masses. At this instant we all realized that we had broken the taboo that existed for decades. The Sunday morning events cleared the vague picture of who was truly for peace and who was against it.

All prejudgments, stereotypes, and fears were wiped out at the moment. Not a single enemy appeared in the scene.

“We should not give the occupation army the opportunity to end our meeting”, said someone asking the people to enter the church hall. Inside, people started the celebration by singing the Palestinian national anthem “Biladi Biladi Biladi, Laki Hubbi wa Fuadi”.

Then, Mayor of Beit Sahour Mr. Hanna Al Atrash welcomed the guests and announced the first cease-fire since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada against the occupation. He asked people not to throw even a single stone on this historical day. “ Only people of good will like you can bring a cease-fire, can bring peace to this area. Force and oppression can never force Palestinians to end their Intifada, their struggle for justice, peace, and independence”, said Mayor Al Atrash.

“We will not be able to sleep again at night until you can, until arrests end, and the beatings end, and the humiliation ends.” Said Sidra Rzrahi from Israelis by Choice, in the name of the Israeli group went back to the churchyard. They split into small groups and engaged in a human dialogue. As the army was observing many places in the town, it was impossible to tour different sites as proposed in the invitation letter. People decided to use their time in private dialogues in the churchyard. While engaged in their dialogues, some people noticed that an armed soldiers was looking, with a big surprise, at the churchyard from an adjacent yard. The soldier was totally surprised, as one can tell from the impression on his face, to see hundreds of people, including many wearing keppa (A small cap that religious Jews wear), gathering there in a friendly atmosphere. His first reaction was to leave the site looking as if he could not understand what was going on. Half an hour later he came back with a few officers and soldiers. They surrounded the place, asked the people to disperse, and ordered the Israelis to leave the site immediately.

As the activity was approaching its end. Our Israeli guests, who were treated harshly by the soldiers, decided to say good-bye and leave. While the convoy was leaving soldiers were writing down the number of each car license plate.

The invitation for this activity looked like the following: