The Strength to Remember Our Message

Dov Avital

Dov Avital is the Secretary of Metzer, a 500-person kibbutz not much more than a stone’s throw away from the Green Line northeast of Tulkarm. In his capacity of Secretary, he deals with government bureaucracy, factory production & agricultural, and budget management. We also find him to be a principled man who thinks deeply about the tensions between personal and communal life, and the role of borders and bridges. He gives us a 3-hour private tour without a hint  of hurriedness.

Metzer sits in a lovely green area with panoramic views. There is a dairy farm, organic avocado & fruit export business, and successful irrigation-plastics factory. Founded in 1953 by leftwing Argentinians, Metzer is doing well at a time when many other kibbutzim are struggling. We see the residential area with its small white homes and blossoming flowers, have lunch in the cafeteria, and visit a stone garden dedicated to 5 members of the kibbutz murdered by a gunman from the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade in 2002 – a tragedy that brought Avital into a leadership position with the death of the former Secretary. Of the murders, he is quoted as saying: “we need the strength to remember our message”.

The message? That co-existence is possible.

Memorial to five Kibbutz members murdered in November 2002.  The inscription reads: We are all one living, human tapestry And if one of us goes away from us Something dies in us and something stays with him In Memoriam: Itzik Dori Tirza Damari Revital and Matan Ohayun Who were killed in a terrorist attack at Metzcer 2002

Fence being constructed between Kibbutz Metzer & Palestinian village of Qafin

WHAT CO-EXISTENCE LOOKS LIKE
When Metzer was founded, it was one of two kibbutzim on the far-flung border agreed upon between Israel, Jordan, and Iraq. Villagers in the Arab village of Meiser and in the surrounding area stayed, and the two “sides” decided to cooperate despite their clear differences. In the 1950s, Meiser shared its well with the kibbutz, necessary without a natural source of water, and Metzer loaned a nurse to Meiser. By the 1970s, the 2 towns formed a soccer team – the members of which were beaten up in Jewish and Arab venues for daring to play together.

The last few years have been difficult ones. Relations between Metzer and Meiser were strained as a result of the second intifada, although many Meiser residents work in the kibbutz’ industries and some joint projects continue.

Avital takes us past the fields and up a hill to see the Green Line – simply a line of boulders with an occasional cement marker and some wire. In 2002,  Metzer & the Palestinian village of Qafin (on the other side of the Green Line) coordinated their opposition to the proposed route of the separation fence. Metzer & Qafin both agreed to give up some of their land to ensure that the Palestinians would not be completely cut off from their fields as was planned.  A meeting scheduled for November 11 of that year never took place – the gunman fired off his shots on November 10.

White stones marking the green line

The wall – actually two rows of steel fence, ditches, and roads – was built as originally planned, leaving the Qafin farmers cut off from well over half their land, unemployment at 80%, and a total of 17,000 Palestinians stuck in a maze of checkpoints and roads. Now the kibbutz and village leadership is working on the creation of an organic spices & olive oil cooperative financed by Canada and Japan and marketed by Metzer. “We will market our products as if there is no war,” says Avital, matter-of-factly about this project.

He is also clear about the future: if the Israelis don’t do anything to solve the economic and social problems of the occupation, Hamas will step in. If the Palestinians cannot support their children, they will fight. The Israeli bureaucrats are not paying attention – why would you build a security fence in a valley instead of up on a hill (near the Green Line) where you can protect it and your soldiers?

In our last few moments together, Dov Avital tells us that he believes Metzer is a prototype for all Israel. “We must go around them,” he tells us, “and we will go around them. It is imperative to have a diplomatic approach. There is no other solution.....”