Congressional Staff Delegation Leadership Learning Mission Trips
to the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza
First Leadership Learning Mission Trip
April 27 2018 - May 5 2018
All photos taken by Joshua Grossman and used with his permission.
Our first-ever Congressional Leadership Learning Mission was more incredible and fruitful than we could’ve imagined. For six days, Rebuilding Alliance led a delegation of seven Congressional staffers and concerned constituents throughout the West Bank and Israel, learning about the Occupation and gaining valuable firsthand perspectives and experiences. Our delegation included six Democrats and one Republican. Our trip also included eight constituents who came to accompany their Congressional offices. It was a great chance to build a network of influential partners on Capitol Hill and in each district, and give them the opportunity to see, feel, and hear for themselves why it is so important to advance equal rights.
Most of the group got in late in the evening on Saturday, April 28, though some of us arrived in the wee hours of Sunday morning. We wasted no time and headed to the Ofer Israeli military prison complex at around 10am on Sunday, after lots of coffee and a thought-provoking orientation by Gerard Horton and Salwa Duaibis, founders of the human rights organization Military Court Watch. We then met with parents in the waiting area and joined several hearings of boys arrested for allegedly throwing stones. The trial process can take months or even years while the children are held in detention. This would be one of the only times the parents could see their child. Court proceedings were in Hebrew with translation into Arabic so that the accused can hear what is being discussed. Remarkably, one of the judges was from New Jersey. The conviction rate in the Israeli military court system is 95%. Several members of our group thought this first visit to the military court to be the most impactful.
Following this, we ate a delicious lunch in Ein Karem and explored the Old City of Jerusalem, led by our fantastic tour guide, Itamar, who is part of the Green Olive Collective, our tour company.
The next day we toured the greater Jerusalem area, drove through the huge nearby Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and its elite suburb, Kfar Adumim, and then went to Khan al Ahmar, a Palestinian village for which Rebuilding Alliance advocates. There, we heard from Eid, the spokesperson for the village, as well as Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom who has worked with the village for a very long time, and Ezra Korman who is an Israeli settler living in Kfar Adumim and is part of a settler group who supports Khan al Ahmar’s rights.
On Tuesday we met with the American Consulate in Jerusalem. This was the most disappointing activity of the whole trip for much of the group. While it was good to chat with consular staff, they talked a lot but didn’t say much, so to speak. Fortunately, we were able to spend some time later in the day with the very compelling mayor of Al Aqaba village, where Rebuilding Alliance built a kindergarten in 2008 and continues to support construction of homes, the library, and the kindergarten scholarship program. This place is a wonderful example of how a village can thrive when it is not demolished. Later in the afternoon, we swung by Jaba’ village to learn about an antiquities restoration project by RIWAQ. We were guided through ancient homes by architect Ranad Shqeirat, and then had a lovely dinner at Darna Restaurant in Ramallah where we were joined by special friends of Rebuilding Alliance and also the local Rotaract club (Rotaract is a Rotary membership program for young professionals).
Wednesday was another busy day. We visited Banksy’s Walled-Off Hotel in Bethlehem, and then toured the AIDA refugee camp in Bethlehem, led by UNRWA's Director of West Bank Operations, Scott Anderson. Bethlehem, of course, carries a lot of cultural significance for many religions, so our group visited the Church of the Nativity. We then traveled to the village of Susiya for an incredible homemade lunch. Aysar, the young man who addressed Congress last September, took everyone on a wonderful tour to see all the birds he is raising!
Somewhere in the midst of all this, we spent an evening with Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan of the Parents Circle. Both had lost their daughters, one murdered by a soldier's rubber bullet, the other killed by a suicide bomber. Their lives were never the same. We were all deeply moved by their stories and their profound friendship with each other.
We spent the following morning at the UNRWA headquarters, listening to speakers from Gaza tell us about their organizations. We heard from Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei of Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Anas Jenna from We Are Not Numbers, and UNRWA Gaza Operations Director Matthias Schmale. Then, the most amazing surprise: the door opened and in walked the two speakers from Gaza who were granted day-permits: Tarneem Hammad, also from We Are Not Numbers, and Mrs. Najah Ayash from the Women’s Project Center in Rafah. Their permits to leave Gaza and travel to Jerusalem had been approved the day before! This was Tarneem's first trip out of Gaza. They shared their stories with us over a delicious vegan lunch, and then everyone parted ways for the afternoon. They visited Jerusalem before returning home to Gaza in time to satisfy the requirements of their day-long permit.
Friday, we toured Hebron. This was a difficult experience for several people, as Hebron is a hotbed of Israeli settlement. There are frequent clashes in the city and the tension in the air was palpable. Though we were fortunate to not encounter any violence, the experience was unsettling. To decompress, we spent the rest of the afternoon in Jaffa – swimming in the Mediterranean and smoking hookah with the locals. The group gathered for one last delicious dinner together before the staffers headed off to the airport and Rebuilding Alliance's team went to Ramallah for a few days, with Donna, our Exec. Director, heading off to Gaza.
Since the trip, we’ve maintained good working relationships with the Congressional staff who joined us. In their reports, they noted how impactful their experience was; one even called it "a life-changing experience." They are motivated to promote the human right to a home, to go to school, to have a job, and to travel at the US government level, and their bosses continue to intervene when Constituents ask.
For those interested, House Ethics Committee forms submitted by each Congressional staffer who joined the trip are available online at the House Clerk's website. Search for the staffer's name or their office to find their post-travel disclosure packet.
Have you ever heard of the advice “Show, don’t tell”? Of course, using data to tell the facts around how the Israeli occupation impacts Palestinian communities is crucial when reaching out to elected officials and Congressional staffers to enact change, but taking these individuals and their constituents to Palestine to show them what is unfolding on the ground leaves a lasting impact and drive for social change. That is what happened when Rebuilding Alliance was joined by seven Congressional staff (6 Democrats and 1 Republican) and eight constituents in 2018 on an accompaniment tour operated by Green Olive Collective to the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem during the first Leadership Learning Mission between April 27, 2018 to May 5, 2018.
“Why can’t Congress see what I’m seeing?” recalled Donna Baranski-Walker, Founder and Executive Director of Rebuilding Alliance, when talking about the idea behind initiating the Leadership Learning Mission. “It’s because no one was showing them what I see.”
The Leadership Learning Mission program aimed to shine lights on the rights [of Palestinian children and families] to a home, especially in the 62% of the West Bank under Israeli control known as Area C; to food and economic insecurity; to education; to safety; to legal rights; and to a future. The program included discussions of how the peaceful aspirations of all can be achieved when Palestinians and Israelis both enjoy the benefits of basic human rights.
“Reverend Darrell and his wife, Sue, used to host delegations like these to Palestine, but now, they were retired, and so they recommended I take on such effort,” Baranski-Walker added. “There was also someone who had some back from a Birthright Trip and wanted to see another perspective. All those things helped in moving towards this idea.”
During the first Leadership Learning Mission, the delegation was quick to witness, however, that human rights are not afforded to Palestinian communities. The first case was that of the human rights abuse towards Palestinian children who were arrested and waiting on hearings for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The first trip was to Ofer Military Court, where Gerard Horton and Salwa Duabis, founders of the human rights organization Military Court Watch, provided them an overview of the treatment of these children during and after the court proceedings in Israeli military confinement. The members of the program met with some of the parents of the children.
A number of villages were visited throughout the Leadership Learning Mission. The delegation first visited Ein Karem, a Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governate, that was destroyed in 1948, and then, took a walk through the Old City of Jerusalem where they visited cultural and religious sites to gain a better understanding of the history of the region.
The group then toured the greater Jerusalem area, drove through the huge nearby Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and its elite suburb, Kfar Adumim, and then went to Khan al Ahmar, a Palestinian village for which Rebuilding Alliance advocates. There, the delegation heard from Eid, the spokesperson for the village, as well as Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, an early member of Rabbis for Human Rights who has worked with the village for a very long time, and Ezra Korman who is an Israeli settler living in Kfar Adumim and is part of a settler group who supports Khan al Ahmar’s rights.
Of course, Mayor of Al-Aqaba Village, Haj Sami Sbieh, was paid a visit! The members of the program received a firsthand account of how a village can thrive under dire circumstances. We also guided by architect Ranad Shqeirat when we visited Jaba’ village to learn about an antiquities restoration project by RIWAQ, which is a Palestinian non-profit organization that aims to preserve and restore architecture in Palestine.
The delegation visited cultural and religious sites in Bethlehem, such as the Church of Nativity and Banksy’s Walled-Off Hotel in Bethlehem. We also visited the ‘Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, led by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)'s Director of West Bank Operations, Scott Anderson. We then traveled to the village of Susiya in southern Hebron for an incredible homemade lunch. Aysar, the young Palestinian man who addressed Congress in September 2017 in an effort to save his village, took everyone on a wonderful tour to see all the birds he was raising!
“Somewhere in the midst of all this, we spent an evening with Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan of the Parents Circle. Both had lost their daughters, one murdered by a soldier's rubber bullet, the other killed by a suicide bomber. Their lives were never the same. We were all deeply moved by their stories and their profound friendship with each other,” wrote Tamsin Avra, Advocacy Program Manager for RA at the time.
The delegation also spent time at the UNRWA headquarters and heard from Dr. Yasser Abu-Jamei of Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, Anas Jenna from We Are Not Numbers, and Director Matthias Schmale, UNRWA Gaza Operations.
“Then, the most amazing surprise: the door opened and in walked the two speakers from Gaza who were granted day-permits: Tarneem Hammad, also from We Are Not Numbers, and Mrs. Najah Ayash from the Women’s Project Center in Rafah. Their permits to leave Gaza and travel to Jerusalem had been approved the day before! This was Tarneem's first trip out of Gaza. They shared their stories with us over a delicious vegan lunch, and then everyone parted ways for the afternoon. They visited Jerusalem before returning home to Gaza in time to satisfy the requirements of their day-long permit,” wrote Tamsin.
The group also visited Hebron on a tour led by Hisham Sharabati from Al Haq, Jaffa, and Ramallah throughout the trip. This first Leadership Learning Mission provided a first-hand experience to Congressional staffers and constituents of the Palestinian cause and the impact of the Israeli occupation on the rights of Palestinians.
A second Leadership Learning Mission occurred in February 2020 right before the first cases of COVID19 were documented in the West Bank. Four Congressional staffers - 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans representing Ohio, Utah, Florida, and Oregon - attended the delegation with 3 constituents.
The second mission program was modeled after the first one, and included other areas and issues visited. For instance, the delegation received a presentation on the Principals Together: Jerusalem Schools Connect for Learning program, where 41 Jerusalem administrators penned a letter to the Mayor of Jerusalem requesting intervention, so that children going to schools in Issawiya are able to reach their schools without encountering harassment or violence.
“One of the things we wanted to shed light on was what was happening in Issawiya, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem. We took the delegation to see the schools in the village to tell the story of the harassment and violence this community is facing,” mentioned Baranski-Walker.
Other events during the second program included visiting the Shufat Refugee Camp, the only one located inside of Jerusalem as well as Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art.
“A valuable lesson I have taken from the Leadership Learning Missions is the importance of hosting such delegations and how we are able to stay in touch with the participants and Congressional staffers to advocate for Palestinian rights. More recently, we’ve hosted 46 virtual briefings around protecting the olive harvests, and some of the Congressional staffers that attended the Leadership Learning Missions were able to attend,” said Baranski-Walker.
This isn’t the end of the Leadership Learning Missions! Rebuilding Alliance is collaborating with Eyewitness Palestine to convene an hour-long virtual staff delegation in November 2020 to connect congressional staffers and Palestinian olive farmers. Once the pandemic is contained to a point where it is safe and minimal risk to travel, Rebuilding Alliance expects to resume the Leadership Learning Missions in person!