The Lowell - Visit to peace center in war zone brings hope

Visit to peace center in war zone brings hope

Written by Noey Neumark and Lucy Taylor
Monday, 15 October 2007
Ketusha rockets flew overhead, many Israeli families fled from the north to the south, but one Lowell teacher remained unfazed in the place she calls home. English teacher Benefsha Gest arrived in Israel on July 10, two days before fighting erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese guerilla group. While Israel bombed southern Lebanon, Hezbollah responded with sustained bombing in the north of Israel. Israeli families that could not make their way to the south retreated to bomb shelters for safety. Ketusha rockets flew overhead, many Israeli families fled from the north to the south, but one Lowell teacher remained unfazed in the place she calls home. English teacher Benefsha Gest arrived in Israel on July 10, two days before fighting erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese guerilla group. While Israel bombed southern Lebanon, Hezbollah responded with sustained bombing in the north of Israel. Israeli families that could not make their way to the south retreated to bomb shelters for safety. In Haifa, a northern Israeli city, Gest stayed to read to women and children seeking relief in these bomb shelters. “The children were traumatized,” Gest said. “The reserves had been called, and most of the fathers were absent.” When the bombing temporarily subsided, Gest took the opportunity to travel to Jerusalem, a place very close to her heart. “Jerusalem is so full of love and joy; people celebrate their lives war or no war,” Gest said. “The most profound thing was the positivity. People just wanted to live their lives.” While in Jerusalem, Gest visited a peace center that she had developed single-handedly in the early 1970s. She was thrilled to see that it continues to thrive. “I was so happy that I had planted all of these seeds,” she said. “The center is flourishing.” Two Israelis and one Palestinian now facilitate the center, which is devoted to bringing Arabs and Jews together through “art, music, dance and other projects that are uplifting,” Gest said. In affiliation with the peace center Gest organized a peace camp that hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis attended, as well as a peace walk from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. “It was the most profound and loving experience,” she said. Something especially painful for Gest to witness, however, was the destruction of the land, a consequence of the bombings. “All the beautiful forests and fabulous agriculture are gone and will take at least 50 years to grow back,” she said. “This really hurt me personally.” Gest added that people do not realize how gorgeous Israel is. “People think that it is all desert when in reality it looks just like Marin County,” she said. As an appreciator of both the land and culture of Israel, Gest has invested a lot of heart and work in it, forming many lasting connections with locals. “Everywhere I went I was accepted as family,” she said. “There was so much respect from both Palestinian Israelis and Israeli Jews.” Gest went on her month-long excursion to Israel for several reasons. After a decade-long absence she wanted to see old friends and check on the progress of her peace center. She also wanted to pursue a school-related project. Last year one of Gest’s ninth-grade English students, sophomore Elton Chung, wrote a moving essay on Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust narrative Night. Impressed with the maturity of the essay, Gest wanted to show Israelis how a “Chinese-American student could relate to the Holocaust so authentically” by getting the essay published, she said. However, the two publishers she planned to meet with in Israel were called to duty. Despite this obstacle, the essay is being shared via e-mail among English teachers throughout Israel. Gest hopes Chung’s poignant essay will reach the hearts of many Jews and non-Jews worldwide. While Gest’s connections to her friends and the land of Israel date back many years, so does the conflict between Arabs and Israelis and its neighbors. When Israel became a country in 1948, hostility grew amongst the Middle Eastern countries. Israel has engaged in several wars with its surrounding countries, and because of its elite military it was successful in many. Although a ceasefire was called between Israel and Lebanon on Aug. 13, according to the ABC News Web site (abc.net), many people are still unsure of the future of this conflict. Despite the issues that remain Gest values her time spent there and continues to consider it home, “I was happy there,” she concluded. Share this article:

< Prev		Next >

[ Back ]