For all of you water and surf lovers this probably looks like some southern location that isn’t
breaking. But actually it never really breaks because it’s the Dead Sea. The pictures are taken from
the West Bank side of the sea with the Jordan shoreline is in the distance. We’re floating because
that’s all one can do. The elevated bromine levels are responsible for that.
My daughter and I recently returned from a two-week trip to the West Bank. We stayed in
Bethlehem where my niece has been living and teaching music at a music academy. Fortunately we could
stay in her apartment and live the local life unlike the usual tourists except that there are no usual
tourists there anymore. Tourism is almost non-existent because the media has distorted our perceptions
of most if not all of the Middle East to the point that most are scared and fearful of violence and
terrorism occurring on every street corner. If you mention you’re going to Palestine many people
think you’re nuts. This was not our experience by any means. We fully enjoyed our visit in the West
Bank. The Palestinian people were warm, gracious, and welcoming. We never had feelings of insecurity.
Hopefully these pictures will give some an idea of our experience in a land where most Palestinians
cannot cross borders into other countries. Borders created by miles of oppressive concrete walls and charged fences capped with barbed wire are broken up by checkpoints crudely constructed and operated by Israeli soldiers. They’re experienced to the max with humiliation and hassling techniques. Not to mention they’re carrying some pretty heavy-duty artillery. These guys and gals are all over checkpoints and Israel for that matter always displaying arms. But in the West Bank everything was mellow. No soldiers, scattered policeman are about but nothing out of the ordinary. My niece, seventeen-year-old daughter and I walked home at 11:00 alone in Bethlehem without a care.
But, hey, I thought we were supposed to be scared to go to Palestine. That’s where the terrorists and evildoers hang out according to many here. At least that’s what some people in the US want us to think. We visited Hebron, Ramallah, Jericho, and East and West Jerusalem on multiple occasions. Nothing bad happened. We became well acquainted with Palestinian families, some able to afford music academies and university educations, as well as
those in refugee camps. Consensus among all was “we want peace”. While frustration levels are high
as civil and political rights are jeopardized there remains a strong and touching resolve to keep
going in often oppressive conditions.
In the last week since we’ve been back uprest has occurred. There has been a suicide bombing in an Israeli seaside town and security is high. It had been 5 months since the last bombing. The cease-fire was holding. Now there’s been one too many times that the Israelis have hassled and killed Palestinians in refugee camps (unbeknown to us, we only hear about the killed Israelis), restricted Palestinian travel fragmenting and disassociating families and friends, carved up crops, destroyed forests and developed the land for settlement housing – and many of the young men that cannot take it anymore. They are raging as their land dwindles and their lives are devalued and the killing continues within and without their territories.
There were a couple of time people interrogated us, briskly and rudely denying answers to our
questions and direction inquiries but it so happens this was in Israel where we took a 3 day side
trip to Haifa and the Mediterranean coast. It’s interesting to us the only time we felt hassled was
in Israel, the country the US supports.
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Comments? lisa52@cruzio.com