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.
Friday, 13 February 2009
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!
DAY 1
Hi, this is Philth.
So first day - getting there.
Many people ask how to get to Palestine. It is simpler than you think to go into a 'conflict zone'. You can just get on a plane to Tel Aviv, then get a bus or taxi to the checkpoint near Gilo, between Jerusalem & Bethlehem, and blam - you're in the West Bank.
But whilst the physical transportation may be easy, the experience can be anything but.
It was late 2007 I was last in Palestine. On my first visit I knew nothing of the Israel Palestine conflict save that there was one. I certainly didn't think that I would receive 3 1/2 hours of interregation and threats by the Israeli authorities for simply wanting to visit.
To activists, the fact that I straight up (when asked at passport control) told the Israeli aiport authorities that I was visiting the West Bank to pick olives with Palestinians, is the funniest thing they've ever heard.
No-one tells the truth!
Why? I was soon to discover.
Israel & Palestine are not two countries at war, as the uninitiated may think. Israel illegally & militarily occupies the Palestinian territories of Gaza & the West Bank. The aim? In Israeli president Ehud Olmert's words: to achieve "maximum jews, minimum arabs." Literally forcing out or killing the native Palestinians, and making life hell for those who refuse to leave.
So why do you get a hard time at Tel Aviv airport for saying you want to visit this place? Simple - they do not want you to bear witness.
Before I became a witness to the daily human rights abuses caused by the occupation, I couldn't understand why me, a British citizen couldn't just go where I please and meet whomever I choose. Why would Israel care what I do? I repeat: because they do not want you to see what it going on - they do not want you to see what they are doing.
And from the moment I stood in front of the separation wall - the 9m concrete barrier that surrounds Palestinian towns and villages - I understood why. From that moment, I became an activist."
Hugs and ball-clutching thankeries to Ashwin for setting up the blog, and kicking things off in style.
I'll write first person now, so he doesn't have to cut and paste my texts any more!
So first day - getting there.
Many people ask how to get to Palestine. It is simpler than you think to go into a 'conflict zone'. You can just get on a plane to Tel Aviv, then get a bus or taxi to the checkpoint near Gilo, between Jerusalem & Bethlehem, and blam - you're in the West Bank.
But whilst the physical transportation may be easy, the experience can be anything but.
It was late 2007 I was last in Palestine. On my first visit I knew nothing of the Israel Palestine conflict save that there was one. I certainly didn't think that I would receive 3 1/2 hours of interregation and threats by the Israeli authorities for simply wanting to visit.
To activists, the fact that I straight up (when asked at passport control) told the Israeli aiport authorities that I was visiting the West Bank to pick olives with Palestinians, is the funniest thing they've ever heard.
No-one tells the truth!
Why? I was soon to discover.
Israel & Palestine are not two countries at war, as the uninitiated may think. Israel illegally & militarily occupies the Palestinian territories of Gaza & the West Bank. The aim? In Israeli president Ehud Olmert's words: to achieve "maximum jews, minimum arabs." Literally forcing out or killing the native Palestinians, and making life hell for those who refuse to leave.
So why do you get a hard time at Tel Aviv airport for saying you want to visit this place? Simple - they do not want you to bear witness.
Before I became a witness to the daily human rights abuses caused by the occupation, I couldn't understand why me, a British citizen couldn't just go where I please and meet whomever I choose. Why would Israel care what I do? I repeat: because they do not want you to see what it going on - they do not want you to see what they are doing.
And from the moment I stood in front of the separation wall - the 9m concrete barrier that surrounds Palestinian towns and villages - I understood why. From that moment, I became an activist."
Saturday, 7 February 2009
He's alright!
Phil calls 03/2/09:
So he's low on cash, somewhere in North West Israel, near the sea...hopping between small backwater towns, eating just one falafel a day...glamourous...
He tells me it's all very pretty out here...but utterly understandable why most Israelis aren't against the war - they're simply so far removed from it...The newspapers don't say anything, nor does the TV...It's like in England during the 80's...places like Northumberia, Devon, Suffolk...they were so far removed from any violence from the IRA...no bombs, nothing...
It's a case of ignorance, leading to apathy...there are billboards all over the countryside showing prosepective government ministers as forward thinking visionaries - the new moses, promoting a strong Israel...no mention of the territories at all...
Later that day after the meeting with the Amnesty London heads, I get a text off phil:
"All good now! Lovely French couple cooked me dinner and now i'm chilling with a rather nice swiss girl!"
eyes on the prize mate...
Anywho, today i'm dropping off fliers with M at Queen Mary's Uni, with Lawyer for his distribution company and at the ExCel House where Scott Cooke and Khamsa are playing an anti-arms trade music protest!
Fun times!!0
So he's low on cash, somewhere in North West Israel, near the sea...hopping between small backwater towns, eating just one falafel a day...glamourous...
He tells me it's all very pretty out here...but utterly understandable why most Israelis aren't against the war - they're simply so far removed from it...The newspapers don't say anything, nor does the TV...It's like in England during the 80's...places like Northumberia, Devon, Suffolk...they were so far removed from any violence from the IRA...no bombs, nothing...
It's a case of ignorance, leading to apathy...there are billboards all over the countryside showing prosepective government ministers as forward thinking visionaries - the new moses, promoting a strong Israel...no mention of the territories at all...
Later that day after the meeting with the Amnesty London heads, I get a text off phil:
"All good now! Lovely French couple cooked me dinner and now i'm chilling with a rather nice swiss girl!"
eyes on the prize mate...
Anywho, today i'm dropping off fliers with M at Queen Mary's Uni, with Lawyer for his distribution company and at the ExCel House where Scott Cooke and Khamsa are playing an anti-arms trade music protest!
Fun times!!0
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