Today was the highest point of my time in the beautiful West Bank. People laugh when I say that. The West Bank - beautiful? Isn't it all bullet holes and bombing?
No. It definitely is not. Today, on the olive fields, I look around at perfect middle eastern valley, with almond trees in blossom against a deep blue sky.
But this is not the most uplifting thing on display: It is lunchtime, and volunteers from Norway, UK, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, America, Switzerland, Armenia, France and Finland are together, sitting in the sunshine eating and talking (not to mention a bit of impromptue dancing) with our Palestinian hosts with whom we have spent the morning planting trees.
I find it very difficult not to get emotional at the sight. It is perfectly... human.
We watch the farmers' kids running around playing, and the old farmer's wife boiling up yet more Arabic tea.
Robert, one of the other volunteers from the UK turns to me, but I don't see a smile on his face, as on everyone else's.
"How can they put these people in cages?"
I don't have an answer for him.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Hebron
Go to this link to read an account of the Olive Tree Planting Programme. I'm even interviewed on one day.
http://www.jai-pal.org/content.php?page=803
But for my 2 cents, read on:
Yesterday was a strange day. Hebron. A town to the south of Bethlehem. Also a historical and Biblical town. I have been here once before, but a lot can change around here in one short year, so a lot seems new.
We walk through the streets - ideological settlers in confiscated buildings are above us. As are the nets, put over the Palestinian market stalls on the street, to catch the rubbish thrown at them from the settlers.
But that wasn't new.
We arrive at a checkpoint. Metal detectors, soldiers, guns, gates, lines of people just wanting to walk from one end of their high street to the other, passing one by one through the bars and the stares of the IDF.
But this, also, is not new.
We continue our tour to a part of town where a junction leads to nothing but a blocked off road. A road with Palestinian shops and homes on it. But Palestinians are no longer allowed on this road. This is for Jewish settlers only.
This is new.
New, that is, to my eyes, and new for that road in that town. But this is an occupation. This is apartheid. And this is happening all across the West Bank on a daily basis. The confiscation and destruction of their homes, land and livelihoods is not new to Palestinians.
Undeterred, we, the 'internationals' stop a police van on patrol.
"We're not Palestinian - we want to walk here.'
"You cannot."
"Why?"
"Security. You cannot go there."
"Why?"
"It is not good for you to go there."
Before we can ask why again, they drive off. But we know the answer - the evidence is all around us: the injured kids, the damage to buildings, the hebrew graffiti... Palestinians who try to get back to their street, their shop, their homes have been attacked by the Israeli settlers time and time again.
The police didn't want us to go there because they know we might be attacked too. And that wouldn't be good for PR.
But there is hope. A rehabilitation centre, where local Palestinians work to renovate properties in Hebron helps to ensure people have a safe place to live, and importantly, not to be scared into leaving & letting the zionists win. Their work, supported by governments & NGOs across the world, aids their peaceful resistance to a racist state that wants to 'cleanse' Palestine of Palestinians.
I leave Hebron feeling deeply saddened and yet, inspired by the rehabilitation centre workers, I feel motivated and ready for the day of olive tree planting ahead...
http://www.jai-pal.org/content.php?page=803
But for my 2 cents, read on:
Yesterday was a strange day. Hebron. A town to the south of Bethlehem. Also a historical and Biblical town. I have been here once before, but a lot can change around here in one short year, so a lot seems new.
We walk through the streets - ideological settlers in confiscated buildings are above us. As are the nets, put over the Palestinian market stalls on the street, to catch the rubbish thrown at them from the settlers.
But that wasn't new.
We arrive at a checkpoint. Metal detectors, soldiers, guns, gates, lines of people just wanting to walk from one end of their high street to the other, passing one by one through the bars and the stares of the IDF.
But this, also, is not new.
We continue our tour to a part of town where a junction leads to nothing but a blocked off road. A road with Palestinian shops and homes on it. But Palestinians are no longer allowed on this road. This is for Jewish settlers only.
This is new.
New, that is, to my eyes, and new for that road in that town. But this is an occupation. This is apartheid. And this is happening all across the West Bank on a daily basis. The confiscation and destruction of their homes, land and livelihoods is not new to Palestinians.
Undeterred, we, the 'internationals' stop a police van on patrol.
"We're not Palestinian - we want to walk here.'
"You cannot."
"Why?"
"Security. You cannot go there."
"Why?"
"It is not good for you to go there."
Before we can ask why again, they drive off. But we know the answer - the evidence is all around us: the injured kids, the damage to buildings, the hebrew graffiti... Palestinians who try to get back to their street, their shop, their homes have been attacked by the Israeli settlers time and time again.
The police didn't want us to go there because they know we might be attacked too. And that wouldn't be good for PR.
But there is hope. A rehabilitation centre, where local Palestinians work to renovate properties in Hebron helps to ensure people have a safe place to live, and importantly, not to be scared into leaving & letting the zionists win. Their work, supported by governments & NGOs across the world, aids their peaceful resistance to a racist state that wants to 'cleanse' Palestine of Palestinians.
I leave Hebron feeling deeply saddened and yet, inspired by the rehabilitation centre workers, I feel motivated and ready for the day of olive tree planting ahead...
After two days planting...
Today was our second day of tree planting - it's hard work, but the group is excellent and works well so we finish quickly. They have only had 3 days of rain here since the beginning of October (and this is meant to be the wet season here) so things have been very tough - when it comes to planting and growing trees for one. But secondly when it comes to us having running water here. Palestinians here often rely on rainwater collectors for their water (as the water pumping plants for the natural aquifers are under Israeli control, and most of the water is diverted to settlements or into Israel proper.) Also, electricity here is very expensive (like London now I guess!!) so the house we're staying in gets hot water from the sun heating the system through the day. So, in short, I've been having very short very cold showers each morning!
There is new graffiti on the Separation Wall. Blu (I think he's a Spanish writer - did a real world stop motion animation vid around a city which you should check out) - he's done a new piece in Aida refugee camp. The famous Banksy pieces are still in tact, but with many additions. But just two weeks ago, some nutter American got a roller and blue paint and painted a line the entire length of the wall - going over all the artwork and writing on the wall, inc. the banksy pieces. I asked a local - apparently he was very angry and was shouting 'fuck the wall' as he went. We were told he wanted to cancel out the art - I guess he may have a point - some people see the art and forget the reality of a 9m concrete wall that's creating ghettos for palestinians.
There is new graffiti on the Separation Wall. Blu (I think he's a Spanish writer - did a real world stop motion animation vid around a city which you should check out) - he's done a new piece in Aida refugee camp. The famous Banksy pieces are still in tact, but with many additions. But just two weeks ago, some nutter American got a roller and blue paint and painted a line the entire length of the wall - going over all the artwork and writing on the wall, inc. the banksy pieces. I asked a local - apparently he was very angry and was shouting 'fuck the wall' as he went. We were told he wanted to cancel out the art - I guess he may have a point - some people see the art and forget the reality of a 9m concrete wall that's creating ghettos for palestinians.
Friday, 13 February 2009
In the West Bank.
I hopped on the bus from Jerusalem, to the Bethlehem border - the separation wall at Gilo. From there, I went to Manger Sq, the place of the Church of the Nativity...The West Bank.
It was good to be back. Since the recent Gaza atrocities the tourists here have been thin on the ground, so I made a lot of friends in the first 10 minutes of being there. Tour guides telling me all about the current mood there, as well as souvenir shop owners inviting me in for tea. No really, I'm serious - not to buy stuff (though I'm sure they'd want that), but inviting me for arabic tea with the wife and a chat! This is how the Palestinians i've met are - incredibly welcoming and willing to speak about the occupation.
I bump into the olive tree planting organisers in Manger Sq by coincidence - it's ace to see them, and they are very pleased to see me too. My leisure time comes to an abrupt halt, as I'm immediately invited to meet some local farmers to find out about some settlers who have been cutting their trees and violently attacking them and their families. And this is before the Planting Programme has even begun!
I won't bore you with the details here. But in a nutshell, the settlements around this area have been expanding rapidly and as a result, so have the number of house demolitions, land confiscation and attacks on palestinians increased. It is shocking to see how it has advanced in the short year and a half since I was last here.
I'm ready to get planting.
It was good to be back. Since the recent Gaza atrocities the tourists here have been thin on the ground, so I made a lot of friends in the first 10 minutes of being there. Tour guides telling me all about the current mood there, as well as souvenir shop owners inviting me in for tea. No really, I'm serious - not to buy stuff (though I'm sure they'd want that), but inviting me for arabic tea with the wife and a chat! This is how the Palestinians i've met are - incredibly welcoming and willing to speak about the occupation.
I bump into the olive tree planting organisers in Manger Sq by coincidence - it's ace to see them, and they are very pleased to see me too. My leisure time comes to an abrupt halt, as I'm immediately invited to meet some local farmers to find out about some settlers who have been cutting their trees and violently attacking them and their families. And this is before the Planting Programme has even begun!
I won't bore you with the details here. But in a nutshell, the settlements around this area have been expanding rapidly and as a result, so have the number of house demolitions, land confiscation and attacks on palestinians increased. It is shocking to see how it has advanced in the short year and a half since I was last here.
I'm ready to get planting.
Travelling through Israel
Last visit, I spent all my time in the West Bank.
This time I wanted to see more of Israel proper and meet some people.
So, I spend a few days in Tel Aviv - meet great people in the hostel. Other travellers - many who have come from the West Bank. We swap stories of border police & Israeli army encounters. Others who don't want to go to the West Bank, who think it's bad to go, or scary there. It's filled with terrorists don't you know.
I meet fantastic locals who teach me Hebrew and answer my questions about their opinions of Palestinians and the Occupied Territories. I have Shabbat meal with them.
It's really good - I have great food and great company. One can ask for no more.
At the time - I'm just meeting people. And for me, People is People. I wasn't brought up to divide those I meet into this or that, but in hindsight, as I write this, I think it was important for me...
It's easy to demonise Israel & all Israelis for what their government is doing in the West Bank & Gaza, but after Iraq we can all relate to having shit that we don't agree with carried out in our name.
This is not to say that ordinary Israelis don't have a responsibility to oppose the Occupation. I believe they do. But it's critical to know the context and the reasons why most of them don't, without simply hating on them.
Anyways, I'll probably get into that in a later post.
I bus around Israel for 8 days seeing the sights in the major towns & cities.
It's a small place though. You could do it in 4.
With the exception of Jerusalem, which is amazing and worth the trip alone, there's no other outstandingly nice place to go in Israel, as far as a secular tourist can say.
I did manage to find a couple of sweet record shops in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Bought some fine Israeli hip hop. I hope to get some fine Palestinian hip hop in Ramalla next week.
Overall though, the country is pretty strange. Most cities are rather messy and dirty and as for the conflict is concerned, especially the gaza bombing, it may as well be 1000s of miles away. On the streets there is no sign of protest. And of course the news is never about a brutal occupation, but a simple war between hamas and the jewish population of a country.
In Haifa, I read Haaretz (the Israeli liberal daily) in which it speaks of a "measured response" to Hamas rockets when writing about the Gaza bombing. It is a plainly noticeable difference to the coverage in the UK, which talks of "Carnage in Gaza" and outrage and the numbers killed.
It's election time here to, and there are posters and billboards EVERYWHERE!
They are delightfully old-school as well. They have almost soviet style imagery of political leaders looking strong but wistfully off into the distance with big flags fluttering in the background, their name in bold type with some accompanying slogan. I don't think that marketing style would work too well in the UK!
I visited Sderot, a town just 18km from the Gaza Strip. There were Israel flags everywhere - like a nationalist graffiti writer had gone mad and tagged every single empty surface. I went expecting perhaps a ghost town, or to see lots of damage. But it was a very normal town with people out in the sun doing their shopping. I did see a Qassam shell on the ground, but no damage that wasn't being repaired.
I felt pleased that the people here were able to get on with their lives despite the terror of rocket attacks, but felt that if this town is the self-confessed 'frontline' of Israel's casualties, then people would more likely be mourning the loss of broken air conditioners, than dead children.
My time is up. It's off to the West Bank to start planting olive trees.
This time I wanted to see more of Israel proper and meet some people.
So, I spend a few days in Tel Aviv - meet great people in the hostel. Other travellers - many who have come from the West Bank. We swap stories of border police & Israeli army encounters. Others who don't want to go to the West Bank, who think it's bad to go, or scary there. It's filled with terrorists don't you know.
I meet fantastic locals who teach me Hebrew and answer my questions about their opinions of Palestinians and the Occupied Territories. I have Shabbat meal with them.
It's really good - I have great food and great company. One can ask for no more.
At the time - I'm just meeting people. And for me, People is People. I wasn't brought up to divide those I meet into this or that, but in hindsight, as I write this, I think it was important for me...
It's easy to demonise Israel & all Israelis for what their government is doing in the West Bank & Gaza, but after Iraq we can all relate to having shit that we don't agree with carried out in our name.
This is not to say that ordinary Israelis don't have a responsibility to oppose the Occupation. I believe they do. But it's critical to know the context and the reasons why most of them don't, without simply hating on them.
Anyways, I'll probably get into that in a later post.
I bus around Israel for 8 days seeing the sights in the major towns & cities.
It's a small place though. You could do it in 4.
With the exception of Jerusalem, which is amazing and worth the trip alone, there's no other outstandingly nice place to go in Israel, as far as a secular tourist can say.
I did manage to find a couple of sweet record shops in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Bought some fine Israeli hip hop. I hope to get some fine Palestinian hip hop in Ramalla next week.
Overall though, the country is pretty strange. Most cities are rather messy and dirty and as for the conflict is concerned, especially the gaza bombing, it may as well be 1000s of miles away. On the streets there is no sign of protest. And of course the news is never about a brutal occupation, but a simple war between hamas and the jewish population of a country.
In Haifa, I read Haaretz (the Israeli liberal daily) in which it speaks of a "measured response" to Hamas rockets when writing about the Gaza bombing. It is a plainly noticeable difference to the coverage in the UK, which talks of "Carnage in Gaza" and outrage and the numbers killed.
It's election time here to, and there are posters and billboards EVERYWHERE!
They are delightfully old-school as well. They have almost soviet style imagery of political leaders looking strong but wistfully off into the distance with big flags fluttering in the background, their name in bold type with some accompanying slogan. I don't think that marketing style would work too well in the UK!
I visited Sderot, a town just 18km from the Gaza Strip. There were Israel flags everywhere - like a nationalist graffiti writer had gone mad and tagged every single empty surface. I went expecting perhaps a ghost town, or to see lots of damage. But it was a very normal town with people out in the sun doing their shopping. I did see a Qassam shell on the ground, but no damage that wasn't being repaired.
I felt pleased that the people here were able to get on with their lives despite the terror of rocket attacks, but felt that if this town is the self-confessed 'frontline' of Israel's casualties, then people would more likely be mourning the loss of broken air conditioners, than dead children.
My time is up. It's off to the West Bank to start planting olive trees.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Getting there - 2009!
So now it is Feb '09. My second visit to the Occupied Territories, and I'm anxious about going through the same 3 1/2 hour interregation process all over again.
This time when I got to Zurich, to catch my connection flight to Tel Aviv, I was filled with dread. How long would they hold me, interregate me, harass me?
My security checks begin in Switzerland.
"Where are you going?"
"Tel Aviv"
"And?"
"Mmmm... Haifa, the Dead Sea maybe, and Jerusalem."
"Ok, thank you sir. Have a nice flight."
What?! No strip search? No questioning? I thought it must have been luck. I sat through the whole flight thinking it'll be worse when I get to Tel Aviv.
Again though, when I got to passport control in Israel's Ben Gurion airport, it was an anticlimax - they asked me the purpose of my visit. This time I say "holiday." They asked me where I was going. I say "Tel Aviv, Dead Sea, Jerusalem."
They wave me on. 5 minutes. Wow. The relief is crazy. What a difference not mentioning the West Bank makes...
This time when I got to Zurich, to catch my connection flight to Tel Aviv, I was filled with dread. How long would they hold me, interregate me, harass me?
My security checks begin in Switzerland.
"Where are you going?"
"Tel Aviv"
"And?"
"Mmmm... Haifa, the Dead Sea maybe, and Jerusalem."
"Ok, thank you sir. Have a nice flight."
What?! No strip search? No questioning? I thought it must have been luck. I sat through the whole flight thinking it'll be worse when I get to Tel Aviv.
Again though, when I got to passport control in Israel's Ben Gurion airport, it was an anticlimax - they asked me the purpose of my visit. This time I say "holiday." They asked me where I was going. I say "Tel Aviv, Dead Sea, Jerusalem."
They wave me on. 5 minutes. Wow. The relief is crazy. What a difference not mentioning the West Bank makes...
Monday, 9 February 2009
Getting there - what happened in '07.
The last time I travelled to Israel-Palestine the nonsense began before I even got there.
I had a connection flight from Switzerland, where I would get onto my Tel Aviv-bound flight, operated by El Al. This is an Israeli airline. Cue the madness.
I take my boarding pass to the ticket guy. You know, he's the one who's supposed to take it, tear off the stub and say "Have a nice flight."
But instead, it goes like this:
"What's the purpose of your trip?"
"Holiday."
"Where are you going?"
"Palestine."
"I've never heard of a place called Palestine."
I stand there, looking a bit sheepish and confused.
As I stood there, this gentleman starts laughing with his colleague,
"I don't know this 'Palestine'!"
I feel weird. And then, bang, it hits me: This guy is exactly what it's all about - this disgusting conflict - all the hate and the racism - even here, from an Israeli El Al employee in Switzerland.
It's Swiss! Neutral for god's sake!
I feel physically queazy.
Let me explain:
I grew up in the UK. I live in London, together with people from every nation on earth. I take a liberal, open & free society for granted.
This guy, at some flippin airport gate in Geneva, really shocked me.
Vile, closed-mindedness so openly expressed.
I was not in Kansas anymore Toto!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)