Ayn/Ein Silwan:
The spring of Silwan.
Ayn/Ein also means eye.
:The Silwan, it springs south of the walled city of pain, providing the only natural water source to the holy mountain and her inhabitants. Mentioned in the bible and Quran as a sacred spring, Jesus healed a blind man by its waters. Around the spring a village arose, carrying its name.
Ayn Silwan. Late 1920’s.
It was by the spring that he first set eyes on her. He did not approach, did not say a word, but sat on a rock nearby and let his shibbabeh do the talking. She averted her eyes but swayed her head ever so slightly, filling her ears instead of the water jug. Love at first sight -or rather first tune. It was their fate to meet. Fetching water was her older sister’s chore, but she was ill that day, and the girl who would become my grandma was filling in. As for grandfather, he was not even supposed to be in the vicinity of the spring. He had skipped al-kuttaab/school and bribed the shepherds with bread (which his mother had made for the Kuttab sheikh) to take him along roaming and teach him to play the shibbabeh. Grandfather - then just a boy - started finding reasons to frequent the spring every possible day, preferably without the shepherds around. He would always find her there, which he simply viewed as a miracle. He did not know that she would be watching from her house on the hill. As soon as she would see him in the distance, a sudden need to fetch water would arise – a chore she had volunteered to do even after her sister became well. (Excerpt B.I.)
[Audio] Roots, ownership, alternatives…
Silwan * سلوان
Silwan (Arabic): Salu (the root)
Sulwan (noun): consolation, comfort, solace
Salla (verb): lifted the spirit, entertained
Salwa: Honey, or Quail
Sulwaan: a drink that alleviates sadness
Sulu: forgetfulness.
Shiloh - from shalah (Aramaic): tranquil.1
Silwan: An ancient dwelling, inhabited for more than 5,000 years. Fertile and abundant, overlooking the golden dome, known as the food basket of Jerusalem up until the fifties. Hence the folk saying:
جاي تبيع السِّلِق على أهل سلوان
It’s hard to translate sayings, but I’ll try - per audio:
They grew grains, beans, grapes… pomegranate, figs and olives. Not to mention the wild weeds. My grandmother was a master in cooking those.
Nothing to harvest anymore, grandma. May you rest in peace. Silwan today is pretty much stones and concrete. And lots of problems.
Lamentation
Many people have been evicted from their homes, grandma. Many houses have been demolished; much land has been fenced away. The ‘clean-up’ that started in 1967 has only gained momentum, worsening in the last months. They want to erase the Arab face of Silwan... and the entirety of the holy land. Pray they do not succeed téta. Pray with the dead, for the living are blinded. (In the footnotes are excerpts of reports and links to culprits and numbers. There’s lots on-line, enough to break the heart in all cases.)2
Silwan is no longer a village, grandma, but an overcrowded mess. Prohibited to acquire new land, the Palestinians build floors on top of their old homes, to house the next generation and the next. They are not allowed to make any renovations. Permits are submitted and never granted. Penalties are applied when extensions are made and when renovations are not made. People have no options. Every once and a while, the military arrives to a home and evacuates its residents, replacing them with settlers that quickly hang their flag between a clan of surveillance cameras and meters of barbwire. I can’t imagine it being a nice way to live - on either side of the wire.
Grandmother, may you rest in peace. Shall I tell you all of what’s happening, or do you see enough from your grave against Baab al-Rahma, the gate of Mercy?
As for Gaza, no. I will not tell you. Let your last memory be of your beloved son Ibrahim squeezing you and Abu Abdallah into his white VW bug, driving you to see the sea for the first time (and making grandpa pay for the gas - as he usually did.) No, I will not tell you of the geno-… No. Let you memories be of life.
I will tell you this though ya sitti, and it’s good news. Your house in Silwan is still standing. Some cousins I don’t know have moved in, it’s not well kept, but it’s housing your offspring nonetheless. It has not suffered from the digging Israel is doing between Silwan and al-Aqssa… tunnels under the holy mountain and under homes and graves. Cracks are showing on the walls. Palestinians refuse to leave in spite of the threat of collapse. They’ll eventually be evicted. Al-Bustan and Wadi Hilweh have faced the worst fate. Israel calls the work Archaeology; the Arabs call it wanting to fabricate history and implant evidence of ownership. No piece of paper and no artefact can justify the atrocities taking place. If there’s anything to be found down there, it’s a statue of Ishtar, an Asherah. But no one wants to tell her-story.
As for the pool of Silwan, I’m sorry to tell you that it is now enclosed in a visitor Center to The City of King David, courtesy of Elad. A great boost to tourism apparently. You need to buy a ticket to see the spring, thus denying the possibility of two fellaheen meeting and falling in love by the singing waters. But at least, your story survives ya sitti.
Who has the right to Silwan?
Arab families have lived in Silwan for decades, thus Palestinians claim Silwan as Arab and as their own. According to Jewish tradition, King David conquered the area c. 1000 BCE, and since Jews are presumed descendants, they say it belongs to them. However, the village predates both Arabia and Judea and any notion of their subsequent metamorphosis. Before King David’s camp, it was the Jebusites who lived there. The original inhabitants: A pagan Canaanite peoples, with Baal and Ishtar amongst the main deities. Baal became El /god/Allah, and Ishtar was buried by the Abrahamic trinity (We have to bring her back. The severed face of god.) The bible describes the Jebusites as ‘wicked’ and of course it would. We need to demonise the other to justify oppressing them, taking their possessions, and killing them if need be.
Arab Palestinians claim to be descendants of the Jebusites, and thus the aboriginals. Possible…the peasants especially, the fellaheen. The land of Felasteen was always for peasantry. Easy targets, they never had an army, content with picking the fruits of the earth and dancing at weddings. Simple living. The felaheen who live there today (or until they were kicked out in the last 75 years) must have a blood connection to the fellaheen who lived there before, regardless of what we call them or what religion they happened to be following.
Do we need DNA tests to grant citizenship, to claim ownership of that which we are to steward? Or do we need only the blessing of the United States (which herself was built on the bones of native Americans.)
You… Silwaneyeh?
My paternal ancestors came to Silwan from Najd over 500 years ago. My maternal ancestors, originally from Hebron, moved to Jordan a long time ago (I’m waiting to learn of exact dates from a historian before drawing any conclusions.) There’s been intermarriage in both lines ofcourse, with everything that traveled the silk road, with locals and foreigners, with felasteens, Israelites, bedouins and romans (grandma had to get her blue eyes and fair skin from somewhere.) Over the years, they would have embraced (every) religion that arose, ending with Islam. There is no such thing as ‘pure-blood’ and thank goodness, we’d all be inbred and more deranged than we already are.
Can we accept all claims of ‘rightful ownership’ as ‘truth’ or ‘lies’ and move on. We’re here now, and no one is going anywhere. What’s standing in the way of people in the holy land having descent lives (external agendas perhaps)? Religion is not the problem, but faith might be the solution. Can we mutually exist and prosper?
It’s not like it’s never happened before!
Ibrahim & Avram:
My father was born in Silwan, in 1937. His parents named him Ibrahim. Their next door neighbors had a son that same year, they named him Avram. The two Abrahams grew up playing together. Their mothers knocked on the other’s door when missing milk or eggs. Like all Israeli youth, Avram had to enlist in the army. Before he got drafted to the battle of Karamah, he asked for my grandmother’s blessings- Fatima was her name.
‘How can I bless you,’ she asked, ‘when you are going to kill our sons?’
He promised to kill no one.
‘May god protect you and bring you back safe to your mother,’ she said, patting his hair and reciting verses from the Quran. He kissed her hand. When Silwan was under blockade, Avram sent food to my grandparents, bless him. (Excerpt, B.I)
Is Avram still alive today. Did he have children of his own? Do they know about Fatima, my grandmother? Are any of them serving in the army, burning Gaza down? Or did they also promise a Palestinian mother they would not kill her sons? Did they keep their promise?
My father told me that Avram’s family left Silwan at some point. When was that and why? When did they first move to Silwan to begin with - does it matter? I heard from a Jewish friend that her family left Silwan shortly after the war as they felt safer by ‘their own’ in Haifa. Did Avram’s family feel the same way?
After the war of 1948, thousands of Palestinians were expelled or massacred and Jewish settlers occupied their homes. Anti-Jewish sentiment grew not only in Palestine but across the Arab world. An unfortunate turn of events, for Jews had lived in Arab and Islamic countries in peace and prosperity for a long time, while in Europe they were demonised and oppressed. After the war of 1967, more land was occupied, cementing the animosity.
If we never had a western colonial endeavour called Zionism, which subjects both Jews and Palestinians to tyranny, would Avram and my dad be neighbours today?
How would the holy land look like? How would the world look like?
The greater the obstacle the greater the potential light.
Can we still dream of an Ibrahim and an Avram living side by side – as equal members of one community? Can we imagine the light that would radiate?
Blinding darkness
The darkest hour is just before the sun breaks. But even before the first rays appear, the early birds begin to sing to welcome the new day. There are voices that are joining to tell a new story, groups like Jewish Voices for Peace, and the grass roots Standing Together. There are many individuals who are refusing army service; they are laying down arms and opening their arms to the other. This gives me hope. But to truly begin with reconciliation, the massacre currently being committed has to end. Today, the case filed by South Africa to prevent (further) genocide in Gaza is being reviewed at the International Court of Justice. Will it make a difference? Pray that humanity awakens, that we - the people join forces to deal with the greatest of obstacles, the pea under the mattress. It won’t be easy. Only united can we end the paradigm of war. May we live to see that day.)
In the meantime, every action and every sincere human connection birthed from love moves us in the right direction.
May we be a gentle breeze that stirs the ships to safety.
May the waters of mercy heal us of blindness so that we may see with our hearts.
[*Those of you who have received the newsletter teaser on 1.1.2023: The eye of Silwan: Colonisation and the Free bees, might be wondering when the buzzing will begin. It will come, but not today, for this post is long enough as it is, and the bees deserve a full story - or two or three - one day.]
Footnotes/links
Shilo: https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7886.htm
In Silwan, the settler association Elad (City of David Foundation) is quite active (Ateret Cohanim is another one) which aim to create a Jewish majority in the old city and in East Jerusalem. They acquire homes by “buying” or - I particularly like this one - “Persuading Arab residents to voluntarily sell their homes to Jews.” Arab homes are confiscated in the name of public good, creating green areas, and adding cemeteries, or due to Arab residents not having the rights permits (LN).
On disposition and ethnic cleansing, see: https://www.palestineremembered.com
Silwan explained: How history and religion are exploited to displace Palestinians: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-silwan-explained-history-religion-exploited-displaced
Reports:
A - EUROPEAN UNON: One Year Report on Demolitions and Seizures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem Reporting Period: 1 January – 31 December 2022 OfficeoftheEuropeanUnionRepresentative(WestBankandGazaStrip,UNRWA)
”In 2022, a total of 953 structures were demolished or seized throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem - the highest number recorded since 2016. Of structures demolished, more than 80% (781) were located in Area C. In total, 1,031 individuals have been displaced and 28,446 affected as a result of demolitions. All but 35 of the structures were targeted for lacking building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain in Area C and East Jerusalem….
In East Jerusalem, the number of structures being demolished by their owners has risen significantly, from 34% in 2021 to 51% in 2022. Area C continued to experience a rise in targeted structures located in Bedouin and Herding communities. Of concern was also the seizure of structures based on Military Order 1797, which provides only a 96-hour notice and very limited grounds for legally challenging a demolition. A trend observed in Area A and B was the increase in demolitions of structures based on punitive grounds. Demolition orders and waves of demolitions in the communities of Masafer Yatta and Al Walajah were of great concern.
The 6-year high demolition number recorded in 2022 was accompanied by a spike in the scale and severity of settler violence; 849 settler incidents recorded in 2022, representing a 58% increase compared with 2021 and a 123% increase compared with 2020.”
B- Structures demolished by their owners. “During the first quarter of 2023, 32 per cent of the structures demolished in East Jerusalem (24 out of 79 structures) were destroyed by their owners following the issuance of demolition orders, compared with 27 per cent in the previous five years. The proportion of structures destroyed by their owners represents a 37 percent increase compared with the equivalent period in 2022. About one quarter of this year’s demolished homes were reported in Jabal al Mukabbir area, resulting in the displacement of three households, comprising 22 people, including 14 children. These demolitions are supported through Israeli legislation which limits the authority of Israeli courts to intervene and enables the Jerusalem Municipality to exert pressure on families to demolish their properties themselves. In one such incident, in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem, the affected family paid around 100,000NIS in fines since 2017 for building without a permit before they received a final demolition order in February 2023, following which they were forced to self-demolish their home. In addition to demolitions on grounds of lacking a permit, Silwan is one of the neighborhoods most affected by settlement activity, with at least 470 Palestinians at risk of eviction due to legal action by settler organizations, out of at least 970 Palestinians in such a situation in all of East Jerusalem.”[https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/west-bank-demolitions-and-displacement-overview-january-march-2023
C- more links about Silwan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Hilweh
https://www.meforum.org/3281/silwan
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/فضيحة-سلوان-الكارثية
https://palqura.com/village/929/سلوان-حامية-القدس