Local delegation hopes to witness reality of Mideast conflict: Group traveling to Israel, Palestinian territories to learn, then return and educate others

By Michael Schroeder
Herald-Times Staff Writer

August 8, 2003

A Unitarian Universalist preacher, a mother of three, a well-traveled Indiana University senior and a handful of other peacemaking professionals are part of a Bloomington-based Indiana delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The group's members are traveling extensively from Jerusalem, Israel, to Hebron, Palestine, in the next two weeks in an effort to better familiarize themselves with the ancient conflict between the two neighbors and subsequently promote peace in the area.

From this they hope to return with a firsthand view of the conflict. That they will share with the state's congressional delegation to influence foreign policy in a direction that might more successfully promote peace. Additionally, they will speak locally about their experiences.

"I thought I would just see for myself and see if I could make a difference," said Djoko Wirosoetisno, one of eight Bloomington citizens in a nine-person group. (Jason Jones, of Indianapolis, is the sole non-Bloomington member.)

Having grown up in Indonesia and then lived in Europe and Canada before moving to the United States, Wirosoetisno says he has a relatively high tolerance for danger. But he hopes such a tolerance will not be tested, thanks to a three-month ongoing Israeli/Palestinian cease-fire, which was called in June.

He and others in the group say they hope to get past images of figureheads such as U.S. President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and mainstream media pictures to the undersimplified heart of the matter.

" We should know that the U.S. is supporting Israel to the tune of $3 billion a year" — $2 billion in military money, Wirosoetisno said.

Because of this, and what many in the group see as a tendency for mainstream media and the U.S. government to tell the story from an Israeli point of view, a sizable chunk of the trip will be spent in the Palestinian territories. The hope is to build symbolic bridges between the two countries with stories told by regular working families on both sides of the Gaza Strip.

Speaking from East Jerusalem, where he was currently finalizing the group's itinerary, Bret Davis Earthheart, who has been to the Middle East three times since the beginning of 2002, said he simply wants to more fully understand the nature of the conflict and the concerns of those involved.

His purpose in being there: "To be a witness of what's going on ... (tell) that story with people," he said.

For Earthheart, who was part of the Chicago-based peace group Voices in the Wilderness that went to Iraq recently, being a firsthand witness means identifying with those most affected by conflict.

" The Arab culture is an extremely welcoming one," he said of his previous experiences. Since he arrived in East Jerusalem on Aug. 6, Eartheart said, he has spent time getting to know the area. His favorite place: Gethsemane, the olive garden where the Bible says Jesus prayed with his disciples the night before his crucifixion and where more than 10 olive trees, each more than 2000 years old, still remain.

Indiana University history major and world traveler Lance Thurner, 23, who has already traveled to 18 countries outside the United States, says that he too, is searching for a perspective that will educate him.

" (I want to know) what that reality looks like on the ground, in flesh and blood," Thurner said of what is otherwise relegated to the television set.

With all of the political coverage, suicide bombers and wall-building talk, Thurner said, it's easy to lose sight of those everyday people who — just like most in the United States. — are just trying to do the best they can and provide for their families.

"We forget that these people ('regular families') need resolution right now," he said.

" I think that it's time we as American citizens have a look at what's going on," concurred Gretchen Clearwater, an IU employee and mother of three.

The activist said that while her family worries about her, they are supportive.

Similarly, despite leaving behind a new grandson, something which he says is difficult, Unitarian Universalist minister Bill Breeden said that he, too, feels a responsibility to do his part. Nationwide, the Unitarian Universalist Church has called on its churches and members to educate themselves about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It follows then that the minister, who was once handcuffed and taken into Nicaraguan mountains for three days while involved in a peace mission during the war involving the Contra rebels, would step forward to better educate himself.

" I just want to see and hear and experience life in Palestine," he said.

Reporter Michael Schroeder can be reached at 331-4371 or by e-mail at mschroeder@heraldt.com.