2010/11/14

Title: From EFL Teacher to Peace Activist

Speaker: Anna Baltzer

A chance meeting with two young women in Lebanon desiring to practice their French proved pivotal in this EFL teacher’s life. As her network expanded, she learned of a different Palestinian story than what she heard before. Disbelieving, she traveled to Palestine to discover the truth behind the stories. Living in the West Bank, Baltzer discovered a disturbing system of segregation essentially choking the mobility of the Palestinian people. Even Palestinian ambulances can be detained or refused passage at check points and she showed a man whose son died of an asthma attack in such a case.

Baltzer explained how Israel’s illegal colonization is continuing by handsomely paying its citizens to move into the West Bank Jewish-only settlements and how the Palestinians are being forced out. Contrary to the notion that Jews and Muslims have/will never get along, the people living in this area before Zionist immigration leading up to the creation of Israel were all Palestinian people and were a very diverse group of Jews, Christians and Muslims. Many courageous Israelis are participating in co-operative endeavors and peaceful protests with Palestinians, and refusing to join the military risking prison or disownment. According to Baltzer, silence is complicity and if we do only one thing, it should be to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDSmovement.net).