An Empty Playground

Today we visited a park called the Peace Park in Beit Sahour which is in the Bethlehem area. It is a lovely area with a large playground, ball court and a picnic area. But when we got there this morning it was completely deserted. In fact, the Peace Park has been closed for several weeks because of harassment and violence to the children and families using the park, from Israeli settlers coming from nearby areas. The reason being that the park is built on part of the former military base of Shdema. It is technically a closed area and land that the settlers believe they have the right to. The park was finished in 2008 and funded by USAID. It is one of the few recreational areas for the inhabitants in this municipality and was meant to "represent a symbol of peace, tranquility and safety for the community,” according to USAID Assistant Administrator Michael E. Hess.

As we walk around the area, two truckloads of IDF soldiers and one police car tak position on the road leading down towards the park. After a few minutes, a minibus and a jeep decorated with Israeli flags arrive. They park next to the soldiers. The settlers come out, picnic gear and steel pipes in hand. I wonder who would ever bring steel pipes to a picnic. Indeed, I wonder who would choose to have a picnic on what is a cold, windy and cloudy morning. And I also wonder why anyone would use a trashed former military base (see photo) as their picnic destination of choice? The soldiers hints that we should leave. So we walk to a hill on the other side of the small valley where we can watch the situation. We can see the park and the soldiers from there. The soldiers stay put, protecting the settlers' picnic. One of my colleagues runs to grab lunch. We have our own "picnic for peace" and we laugh at the absurdity of it all. I look across the valley and wonder why it is that 15 "picnicers" get protection from 20 MI16 armed soldiers and the police while the playground is shut because of the actions of these people. It does not seem fair. We stay and watch the settlers leave. Then the soldiers leave. Understandably, the Palestinian children never even came to play.