Seeking Peace With Wind Turbines
by Stef and Mary Krieger
During the BJ trip to Israel in July, 2007, we traveled to the West Bank and visited the Palestinian community of Susya in the South Hebron Hills along with seven other members of the tour. We were struck by the deep poverty in which the 150 residents live. In contrast to the prosperous Israeli settlement on the hill overlooking Susya, these families live in caves and tents, have no electricity, and rely on cisterns for water. Our hosts told us that in 2001, the Israeli army destroyed the caves in which they lived and the community’s water cisterns and evicted them from their land. We also heard disturbing stories of harassment by Israeli settlers, including attacks on children on their way to school, the assault on an old man, the theft of olives at harvest time, and the failure of the army to protect Palestinians from such attacks. We felt frustrated that there was little we could do to address the problems faced by these families.
It was thus encouraging to learn this year about the work of Elad Orian. He is an Israeli physicist who has been working with Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills on renewable energy projects. His group has worked with people in the community to set up solar panels in individual homes and to build a large wind turbine to power a community utility center which will provide enough energy to run a butter-making machine and refrigerate the butter so that it can be stored and marketed.
From his army service, Elad told us, he came to realize that he, as an individual, could foster the peace process in a bottom way up by working on projects with Palestinians.
Stef, a law professor at Hofstra University, and Mary, a teacher of the hearing impaired for Nassau BOCES, have been members of BJ since 2004.
The “Focus on Israel” column is edited by Robin Fleischner, a Vice President of BJ’s Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of BJ’s Israel Steering Committee.
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