Letters About Tours

Hello Pitzi and Judith,

First of all thank you very much for the fascinating tour in the territories,  I think you are doing a sacred job. 

Unfortunately I was slightly disappointed that even I, who are not young, was among the youngsters who took the tour. My impression is that we are creating (because of the separation wall) a young generation of Palestinians that knows Jews only through their encounters with IDF and the settlers, and on the other hand a whole generation of young people on our side of the wall knows no Palestinians at all. 

Besides knowing the other side, diminishing the fear and creating the possibility of a connection, it is extremely important that the public becomes aware of what's going on behind the wall. I suppose, Pitzi, that as a manager you probably organized tours to Poland. In our attitude to the Holocaust (although vastly different) we are angry with the German public who claimed they knew nothing about the Holocaust. We ask ourselves how is it possible that so many people did not know what was going on, about the extermination machine? The answer is simple, they simply did not want to know. On the other hand (again: vastly different) the wall enables many Israelis to say they know nothing about what's going on in the territories. I believe, as a descendant of a people who suffered persecution while the world stood by, we cannot "not know". Some might claim that the price the Palestinians are paying is justified, but at least they have to hear what they say before passing judgment.

Thank you again for exposing a little of what's happening in our neighboring planet. 

Shabbat Shalom.

Ehud Pazy

On behalf of Nurit and myself, I want to thank you very much for the Mahsomwatch Tour that was so well organised and informative that I have only good things to say, so I hope the positive feedback is useful.

One of the best aspects of the tour was the kind of variety of experiences:  seeing the wall and its impact on the Palestinian communities, observing an active checkpoint and seeing how it works, the lecture in Nebi Elias gave us a very clear picture of how the policy towards the Palestinians (security zones, settlements, bypass roads) can close in on a community and destroy the livelihood of people, the visit to Kafr Kaddum and the lone house at the end gave us insight into how the Occupation and arbitrary decisions make life so difficult for people, and the driving tour through the heart of the West Bank enabled us to actually see the places we so often hear about in the news and to see the reality on the ground with our own eyes.  

IN any case, exposure to this very broad “sample” of the Occupation was more than I expected and very informative – as well as very disturbing.

The explanations you gave on the bus were also very interesting and useful.  You did an excellent job.  We also appreciated your honesty and precise description of your positions and those of MahsomWatch.

The organisations was excellent.  Things were on time and we went according to schedule.  The bus was comfortable.  We felt secure.

We are happy to recommend the tour to our Israeli friends and to visitors from abroad.

Please let us know if there are ways to be involved.  We’re both fluent in Hebrew and English and I speak a passable Arabic.

Nurit and Victor Friedman

Dear Daniela

The tour was very professionally organised and conducted, your briefings were enormously profound and thus interesting. Thank you so very much! I wish you and all your colleagues good luck with your endeauvors!

All the very best – shabat shalom

Simon

Hi Daniela and Alix,

I want to say thank you again !

It was a great moment in my life … a day with you [ the tour in the West Bank], for understanding your reality ( the reality of the world ).

You are so brave …

Continue …

Valerie 

Dear Daniela

We just wish to let you know how much we enjoyed and appreciated the West Bank Tour on 21 December.

Without feeling bombarded by information overload, we learned a great deal about the current situation and we were most impressed with all your hard work, careful organisation, and perseverance in arranging for the people whom we met in the West Bank to speak to our group.

Your knowledge is encyclopaedic, and we feel strongly that both Israelis and visitors should all experience your West Bank tour.

Your dedication to the cause of reconciliation and peaceful co-existence should be an inspiration to everyone.

With all good wishes,

Nina-Anne Kaye and John Stevens.

Dear Daniella,

I would like to thank you for the interesting, comprehensive and meaningful tour you led on Oct 14.
Every site we visited introduced us to a new and important aspect of the effect of the Israeli occupation on the lives of Palestinians. Your knowledge, professionalism and the clarity of your presentation were all outstanding!

Even though I’ve lived in Israel for 40 years and consider myself a “news addict”, I still learned a lot from the tour about the methods and effects of the creeping annexation of the West Bank by Israeli settlers. 

Our face-to-face meetings with various Palestinians allowed for free discussion of all the difficult issues.  

I would like to explore what possibilities there may be for me to volunteer for Machsom Watch.  Perhaps I could talk to one of your active volunteer?

All the best,

Ilana B.

Hi Daniella,

The tour along the fence in the West Bank was interesting and depressing. The organization of the tour was perfect, the explanations were excellent, you showed a deep knowledge and your English, by the way, is excellent, I wish I had your fluency.   

The Palestinian we met were very welcoming and spoke to us with openness and sincerity. The feeling was that they really want peace. Hence the depression. How long can they endure the suffering we cause them, how close is the breaking-point, the despair, and then the deluge…

What happened to the basic notion proclaiming that each human has the right of self determination, freedom of movement and of freedom of choice? 

Where did the hubris that we are better and more justified, and of course more moral, stem from? 

I am sorry that there are only few Israelis who are exposed to the reality behind the fence. How convenient and pleasant to ignore that behind it people are living through hell and to believe that the fence has only one meaning: to enable us to be safe in Raanna, Ramat Hashron and Kefar-Saba. Oh, what a sweet delusion. 

Thank you, Daniella for enlightening us. 

Ruthi and Ian. 

Dear Daniela and Alix,
I wanted to thank you again for the way you organized and managed the tour last Sunday (18 th (It was very interesting, I learned a lot. From France I had a very different view of what is really happening regarding settlements. It is always difficultto criticize the israelian policy without being qualified of antisemitism!!!! which, of course, has nothing to do…
Your explanations were very clear,  I will recommand it to my friends and relatives visiting Israel, for sure.

I wish the best for your actions. I renew my offer to make a french translation of some of your articles.

Best regards,

Sophie Boiré
Paris- France

Dear Pizi,

First of all I want to thank you for your guidance during the tour. I believe that things said from the heart reaches the heart directly, and your words, throughout the whole tour, penetrated deep into my heart.

The way you coped during the “ordered” moments deeply impressed me, your patience, gentleness, relaxed ton of voice. I have a long way to learn and advance. 

John Lennon Sings: “Living is easy with eyes closed” my eyes were never closed but now they are wide open with huge amazement at the way we live with the immense injustice we are responsible for. 

I am not the same person after this tour. I don’t want to come up with big declarations since acts speak louder than words. Meanwhile I collect clothes to pass on to the people of  Jayus with Eli”s help. 

“One has to do for others and not turn a blind eye. If one sees a fire he must try and extinguish it, if he doesn’t have a bucket of water, he may use a cup, if one has no cup, he has a tablespoon, and if he doesn’t have a tablespoon – then he has a teaspoon.” Amos Oz.

With love and great admiration,

A”K

Hi Daniela,

I decided to email you straight away while everything is still fresh in my head (and before I get even busier…).

I thought the tour was excellent. The introduction you gave on the tour bus was one of the best concise overviews of the conflict I've heard, and the use of maps brought the talk out of abstraction and gave us something concrete to pair the information with. The variety of locations and timing our arrival to see a checkpoint 'in action' was a particularly important part of the trip, and being able to walk around Huwwara and engage with the village at the end was also a highlight. I was also grateful to be able to see Kaddum for myself after its unfortunate appearance in the news recently, following the death of a villager from tear gas.

Many thanks for such a well-run and educational tour, and I hope to join you on another one soon.

All the best,

Natasha