My Story by Alison M
My journey towards understanding Palestine
Raised Catholic, my childhood understanding of the word 'Israel' was that it was a holy place and special because it was talked about in the Bible. If I heard reference to Palestine, it would have registered with me as another far away country that starts with a 'P'. I don't believe I came across the word Palestine in either The Old or The New Testament. I was taught that Jesus was a Jew and was raised in Nazareth; and Modern Day Israel, so I heard, was where there were exciting holiday camps for young people to live in harmony and do lovely things together like growing their own food and singing and cooking for one another in the sunshine.
About thirty years ago my mum, with my auntie, went on a tour of the Holy Land; she brought back Jesus, Mary and Joseph in olive wood, beautifully sculpted by a craftsman from Bethlehem. "Cute! Joseph was a carpenter too!" She also told me that they had had to stop at points on their travels to have passports checked. There were scary-looking barriers and soldiers with guns and for a moment I was worried and angry at the thought of my mum having been in danger. But nothing sinister had happened to her so I stopped thinking about it.
Fast forward to December 2008 when I was a single parent watching BBC news on tv with my four-year-old daughter. "Fireworks!" she cried with glee. I explained that they were bombs not fireworks and that what was happening was very bad. (But I didn't really know why.)
A month later, by chance, I met a wonderful man. His name was Patrick. I didn't know it at the time but that was when I began my journey towards understanding Palestine.
There is so much to learn! But you have to start somewhere. It's an education you don't get at school but there are resources, organisations and people to help along the way. I now understand a fair amount about Palestine's past and those responsible for the mess we're in today. In these 15 years I have seen the dots on the map of Disappearing Palestine get smaller and smaller and now more than ever I wonder if those dots might disappear completely. I've discussed Palestine and Israel with people from different backgrounds and faiths, I've talked first-hand with Palestinians, I've cried at photographs of little kids and their mums sitting amidst the rubble of their demolished homes, and I've cried for their dads who had to pay for the bulldozers.
Today is October 18th 2024 and I again I have cried. More dead. More burned alive. More orphans. I scratch my head struggling to understand why those tasked with taking care of us all, still do nothing. Please, tell me how it is ok to bomb refugee camps, murder aid workers and journalists and to continually displace people. More to the point, how can you be a refugee in your own country? It just doesn't make sense. Now, I am angry because I pay tax so that my country can arm the enemy, because my employer stifles free speech and because we never get to hear the voices of those on the side of justice, including those in Israel.
It's overwhelming but now is not the time to give up. There is hope and there is strength in numbers. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a fantastic place to start feeling like you belong to a movement of like-minded people who care passionately about justice, equality and freedom for Palestinians. I'm so proud to be married to one of the founders of Lancaster PSC and to be part of the wonderful community that we have become.
I was blind, but now I see, and it took so little! In my case, all I had to do was fall in love with a wonderful man. My journey illustrates the fragile line between knowing and not knowing, and that a chance encounter might be all it takes to kickstart someone on their journey towards the truth.