Living in the Future

I started this blog to be a record of my trip to Jordan, Israel and Palestine in early 2008. But, as more and more people began asking me questions about why I was going, why the politics of the region were so important to me and why now...I started posting news and information pertinent to the present situation in Palestine.

The content of this blog is biased, of course. But well it should be. Dante Alighieri said that 'the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, elect to remain neutral.' The situation in Palestine constitutes one of the great moral crises of our times. Neutrality is not an option.

So, I am going to Palestine as a volunteer for the International Women's Peace Service. I will be living in Haris, a small village in the Salfit Governate in the West Bank . What my responsibilities will be, I am not certain. But one of them is to observe and document IOF abuses in the West Bank and most especially, around the Apartheid Wall. The village of Haris stands directly in the path of the wall.

I think that many of the questions people have posed to me can be answered by simply looking at the articles I have posted. The question of 'why now' is more difficult to answer. There are many different ways to answer that, many layers of thought.

I have always been skeptical of the nature of altruism and the people who profess to do things out of purely altruistic motives. People who want to change the world really just want to see if they can. It is an ego-driven goal best left to presidential candidates and petty dictators (or do I repeat myself?).

I lean more towards the Gandhian 'be the change you want to see in the world'. And the understanding that the personal is political. So I go not to change the world or make a difference in the lives of others, but to see what I could only have imagined and understand what I could not grasp. I don't expect to come back a better mother or writer or friend, but a better Elena. And that is all I can ask for.

The intrinsic value of knowledge is that you act upon it (Iman Ali)

For years I have ranted and raved, lamented, wept and screamed about the Palestinians and Israelis. I have editorialized, boycotted, debated and petitioned. I have come to a place right now in my life where the truth on the ground is more important than the words...for me a radical shift.

It is time to show up or shut up.