Notes from Samaria

Last Sunday, I spent some time visiting Israeli settlements in the West Bank, specifically in Samaria, the northern half of the territory. I have travelled all over the West Bank in the past. What made this visit different was that we had an Israeli settler take us on a tour. The purpose of the tour was to allow the settlers to present their version of how Israelis and Palestinians could live in the area together. The most disturbing part of the visit for me was how the settlers I met basically air-brush the Palestinians out of the picture. They did not demonize Palestinians or claim that Jews have a stronger right to the land than anyone else or present detailed ideas for how the Israelis and the Palestinians could live together. Rather, they simply ignored them – as if the Palestinians did not exist. When I raised the issue I did get honest (and hair-raising) responses, but I had to bring up the issue. I am not sure if ignoring Palestinians was a strategic choice or accurately reflects realities in the area (i.e., Israelis and Palestinians live in different worlds). A bit of both, I suspect.