Erstellt am: 2. 7. 2009 - 13:15 Uhr
Fighting the Bulldozers
The New York Times has dubbed him the "Robin Hood of Hebron" in recognition of his humanitarian work, but Ezra Nawi says he is simply an ordinary man trying to help those who no-one else seems able or prepared to help. Nawi spends much of his time and resources supporting the Palestinian Bedouins who try to etch out a living from farming the dusty land of the West Bank, often living without running water or electricity.
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But Nawi is an Israeli and co-operation across the dividing lines of the Middle East is highly controversial. He dreams of uniting two peoples in common humanity, but has divided opinion in his own state where he is seen by many as a traitor.
"We are all human"
Nawi’s ideology, which he communicated to me for FM4 Reality Check via a mobile phone line from the Hebron Hills, is simple: We are all human and we should be treated humanely. And that, Nawi says, has not been the case in the West Bank.
He described how he has seen Israeli settlers harassing the Palestinian farmers. He said he had witnessed settlers poisoning the farmer's land and water supplies and even claimed that he had caught them poisoning the impoverished farmer’s donkeys. The law he says won’t come to the aid of the poor farmers and that’s why he helps in every way he can – whether it is via practical help, solidarity by demonstrations or standing in front of bulldozers.
The Lessons of Discrimination
From an Iraqi Jewish family, Nawi is a fluent Arabic speaker. That probably helped him gain the trust of the Palestinian farmers in a world where dividing lines are strictly drawn. He says he and his team are welcomed with open arms in villages where it has always been considered too dangerous for Israelis to enter.
Ezra Nawi is also gay and says he has faced discrimination his whole life. That, he says, has helped him understand the plight of the poor Bedouins who farm the rocky land near Hebron amid encroachments by the Israeli settlers.
Physical Barriers, Mental Barriers
It seems clear to anyone outside the Middle East that intercultural and interfaith cooperation is a key step on the road to peace. Yet it is equally obvious that the constantly reopening wounds on both sides inside the region run deep. The plumber seems to accept that the hard-line settlers are bound to abhor him for his work, but it is also true that many ordinary Israelis resent his solidarity with the Palestinians.
The years after the 2000 Palestinian uprising, with the long months of suicide bombings and rocket attacks have created mental barriers as tough to broach as the infamous West Bank barrier.
But Nawi says that since he believes in his work, he is unaffected by being called a traitor. “In the end, we are all the same,” he says.
Facing Jail
Ezra Nawi says he is shadowed by the Israeli security services and told me that he had been arrested 5 times in the past month alone. More seriously he has been convicted in an Israeli court for assaulting an Israeli police officer during a military operation to bulldoze Palestinian homes. He now faces a lengthy jail sentence.
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Nawi claims he is an advocate of non-violence, that the charges were trumped-up and that the court case was biased.
He cites, as an example of discrimination, the fact that the court asked for an Arabic translator, seemingly forgetting that Nawi is a Hebrew-speaking Israeli citizen.
Nawi’s supporters, including the Israeli academic Neve Gordon say the conviction had nothing to do with justice and everything to do with ideology. I asked the plumber how he felt about the prospect of a lengthy sentence.
“I am not afraid of jail," he says. "Not at all.”