Small Things

Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They will change their tune.
Zechariah 4:10

The past two Saturdays, I have watched children’s soccer games. The first game was near Harrisburg, NC where B.J. and I watched our grandson, Connor, play on a team with a number of his schoolmates. The second was next to Mitzpe Yair, a Jewish outpost located in the West Bank. The experiences were quite similar including beautiful spring weather, watching children either compete in the game or play on the sideline, and having casual adult conversations.

Let me back up.

A Palestinian man, Achmed (not his real name), owns rural land in the South Hebron Hills area of the West Bank. It is a scenic hilltop property located it what is known as Area C which is under Israeli civil and military authority. A few Jewish families decided they would like to live there and established an outpost community which are different from settlements in that they are unauthorized by the Israeli government. There are about 100 outpost communities throughout Area C according to the UN. (These are in addition to more than 120 government sanctioned settlements. Both outposts and settlements are illegal under international law.) Even though Achmed has legal documents of ownership and the Mitzpe Yair outpost is unauthorized, the Israeli authorities did not prevent it from being developed and now protect it (don’t ask me why).

So every Saturday, Achmed invites friends and family to his land for a picnic and a friendly soccer game. Mitzpe Yair residents call the authorities and ask for military protection which is routinely dispatched for the event. The routine is almost comical if it wasn’t for the soldiers being armed with automatic weapons. Children playing soccer hardly pose a security threat. Summoning the military is more about intimidating Palestinians.

The wonderful aspect of the Palestinian Saturday soccer game is that it is creative resistance. By participating in a picnic and playing soccer, Palestinians are refusing to let the Israeli occupation impact their lives. It may seem to be inconsequential in the scheme of world events but then Zechariah’s scripture says otherwise.

From MC blog