One year after the US decision to move its embassy, this delegation takes a special in depth look at the situation in Jerusalem including the effects of displacement and gentrification on the Holy City. The group also tours many other areas in Palestine/Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
Follow the delegation to read eyewitness accounts from the ground, reports from meetings, and experiences with Palestinians and Israelis.
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This delegation is Eyewitness Palestine's 68th, successfully exposing more than 1,300 people to the daily realities facing Palestinians in their quest for justice.
We believe in the power of eyewitness experience and transformation. Given the opportunity to speak directly with Palestinians and Israelis, delegates return to the United States better informed, more energized, and with a deeper understanding of the possibilities for true justice in the Middle East.
We enter the so-called City of David – a glistening, modern stone edifice built on multiple levels in the hillside, with open vistas onto the town of Silwan – amidst a deafening cacophony of children’s voices, shouting, laughing, shrieking with joy. Even though we are on the south end of occupied East Jerusalem, a supposedly Palestinian area, these are not Palestinian children.
Read MoreLack of sustainable and accessible drinking water continues to plague Palestinian citizens, complicates their already arduous lives, and presents a critical block in economic development. As our tour guide Said discussed on our second day of the trip, access to water was one of the main negotiation points that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat advocated for during the 2000 Camp David negotiations.
Read MoreI’ve learned about the debates in Biblical interpretation and archaeology in several seminary classes but I never realized just how politicized this debate is until visiting the Palestinian village of Silwan today… At Silwan, we learned of the continued attempts to deny the full history of the region, resulting in the destruction of Palestinian homes and communities in Israel’s effort to lay historical and religious claim to the land.
Read MoreThe landscape holds and represents the very essence of identity. It speaks volumes about the values and perspectives we hold and the foundations in which we build upon. However, upon visiting an active Israeli archaeological dig in the Palestinian village of Silwan. . .
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