israeli committee against home wrecking

volunteerism abroad begs a host of questions: who are you helping? are you actually helping? why did you come half way across the world to deal with problems that aren’t your own? why aren’t you dealing with the problems in your home community? is it your place to be here?

due to the “situation” (as some like to call it) in israel/palestine, this is a hot spot for internationals seeking to volunteer, work, help, bear witness, etc. i’ve grappled with many of the above questions throughout my time here, and I think I’ve found relatively satisfactory answers (at least for myself and my colleagues).

other volunteers are perhaps not so positively integrated into their host organizations and communities. one such woman, hailing from the netherlands, is currently working for an organization in ramallah. looking to “get away” for the weekend, she made her way to tel aviv and found herself the guest at the home of a friend of mine where she explained to him how her break was much needed.

“things have been weird with my organization…and I cant really go to their protests anymore. first a small gas bomb exploded near my legs and I have some bad burns…and also, I’ve been seeing a palestinian man, which is sort of against the policy of the organization and that has been causing some problems.”

“just wait until his family finds out, then you might see real problems!” my friend commented.

“yea…I’ve asked him to start saving money to buy a second house…and soon he plans on telling his wife and 5 kids…”

my friend and I conferred, and decided, that if she really has to break ties with her current organization, but truly feels committed to the cause of helping the palestinian people, she could seek work elsewhere. we suggest she looks into the israeli committee against house demolitions (ICAHD),* since home wrecking is perhaps the newest form of demolition.

*ICAHD is an actual organization, which does admirable work to oppose demolition of palestinian homes as well as rebuild those which have been demolished. i don’t mean to belittle their work through this mockery, which is aimed at the expense of the dutch woman.