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News from the Region

South African Brings Hope to Palestinians

By Paul Pierce, Quaker International Affairs Representative

Having been involved in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, Dr. Nomfundo Walaza said she resonated with the pain and trauma of those trying to cope with occupation in Palestinian cities and villages across the West Bank. Dr. Walaza, a clinical psychologist, recently brought a spirit of hope to Palestinians during speaking events in Ramallah, Jerusalem and the West Bank village of At-Tuwani.

Dr. Nomfundo Walaza Photo: Paul Pierce

Dr  Walaza worked for the end of apartheid in South Africa and was later involved with the South African Peace and Reconciliation Committee. She shared her observations and lessons learned during that struggle with both Palestinians and Israelis seeking an end to Israeli occupation. “I am very moved by your suffering,” Walaza told the residents of At-Tuwani and others attending from neighboring villages. “I bring a message of peace and nonviolence, not because I read it in books, but because I know what it is to suffer,” she said.

She spoke in At-Tuwani, a tiny village in the South Hebron hills that witnessed settler attacks on school children and shepherds and invasions by the Israeli army. Nearly 100 persons gathered under a tent adjacent to the local school to hear her presentation and ask questions abut her experiences in South Africa.

Dr. Walaza answering questions in At-Tuwani. Photo: Paul Pierce

The event was co-sponsored by Operation Dove, an Italian peace group, the At-Tuwani non-violence local committee, Quaker Service-Jerusalem, and the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture (Ramallah).

Walaza asked the villagers not to give up hope in spite of all the violence that has been inflicted on them by the Israeli army and settlers from the nearby settlement of Ma'on. “We need to develop hope,” she said. “We need to have hope in our eyes so that the little children will not see that you’ve given up. To give up means that the enemy has triumphed over you,” she explained.

School children from At-Tuwani and surrounding villages have been attacked on numerous occasions by hilltop settler youths. Grazing areas and wells have been poisoned by the settlers causing the deaths of sheep, goats and wildlife in the area, thereby causing economic hardship for the villagers. Shepherds grazing their sheep have also been the victims of attacks by settlers and face regular harassment by the Israeli army. A grove of olive trees belonging to the village was chopped down and destroyed by settlers last year.

As a result of these problems, Operation Dove and the Christian Peacemaker Team have maintained a presence in the village of At-Tuwani for the past two years, providing  accompaniment to the children and local shepherds in an effort to decrease the violence directed at them by settlers.

On three separate occasions, members of the peace groups have been attacked by settlers carrying bats and chains. Members of both teams were hospitalized in October and November, 2005 due to those attacks. Israeli settler violence against the school children drew so much attention that the Israeli Knesset ordered the army to accompany the youngsters to and from school to avoid violence. In spite of that order, settlers persisted and have even attacked the army when it was escorting the children to school.

Dr. Walaza was especially concerned that the men and women of the village impart lessons to the children in order to reduce fear, hatred and anger in them as they grow up. She spoke of the determination of the South Africans to use nonviolence in their fight against apartheid so as to not have the “blood of the oppressor” on their hands.

"Some people believed that it was important to be nonviolent so that we didn’t destroy ourselves," she stated.

She also emphasized the fact that for a long time South Africans had no hope that apartheid would end in their lifetime, but kept up the struggle in the belief that the system of oppression would change someday.

"We never thought in our wildest dreams that our country would be where it is today. And I am sure you are asking yourselves if you’ll ever be free in the land of your ancestors," she said.

Virginia Fernandez, a representative of the European Union from Spain, spoke to the group and asked if the presence of the peace teams makes a difference in the level of safety for the village. There was a load chorus of approval by the villagers that the peace teams do indeed make a difference in the villager’s security.

After lunch, Dr. Walaza held a separate meeting with the women of the area to discuss their particular concerns and talk about her experience in overcoming apartheid in South Africa and her work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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