In my last post I wrote about my fear of the pain I would continue to experience-and in the two days since writing it, I have already learned many more valuable lessons, one being that pain and fear accompany discovery and growth.
We did visit the Dheisheh Refugee Camp near the city of Bethlehem-we got to see the metal gates that had been used at the single entrance to the camp up until the 1990s. Now the inhabitants in the camp are free to come and go throughout the West Bank as far as Israeli checkpoints will allow, but the state of the community and the homes was rivaled to some of the most impoverished slums in the world. We took a quick tour of the camp and had a short presentation about it-but walking the streets and seeing the homes that were just BARELY still standing definitely struck a chord within our group. Then someone mentioned that the money from just one of our American fighter planes could rebuild the entire community-this also left us in awe-we saw a side of the conflict that is NEVER shown in the U.S.....and it left us all with more questions than answers.
Thats the tough part about this trip you see, every day we are given more and more information and there is no time to process any of it, so in the end we are left with muddled ideas of whats right and wrong and whats truth and false. We have all been joking that we just need a day off, just to think through everything and everyone we've come to know and listen to and experience. But in all seriousness, I feel as if we are trying to fit a decade's worth of research and experiences in two very short weeks.
After Dheisheh, we were back in the city of Bethlehem for a while visiting the Ma'an news agency. Ma'an is an independent Palestinian News Network that is known for being one of the most objective sources in the Middle East. Earlier this spring, back in Madison, one of Ma'an's journalists, Amira Hanania, visited the UW and spoke on campus and screened her documentary "Live from Bethlehem." (Which I encourage all to see). We spoke with the general director of Ma'an and toured their news room and received VERY generous gifts, such as an agenda Ma'an produced depicting some of the photo journalism from the recent War in Gaza last December. Of course Ma'an, like all other news agenicies in the world, has its biasis, but I personally feel that is a better source for news on the conflict than most others Americans have access to.
The rest of our Monday was taken up with meeting our first host families! Myself and two other girls stayed with a wonderfully sweet Palestinian Christian couple in Beit Sahour-just outside of Bethlehem-last night. They have been opening their homes to travelers for many years, and they had a beautiful home and family. We had some great conversations, and the point of view they held as Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank was interesting to say the least. The dinner of homemade falafel wasn't to be complained about either! It was a really great night that unfortunately, thanks to all of the overwhelming-ness I referred to earlier, had to end as we were SO tired. But I must say, that when traveling, I will take sleeping at the house of a local family over a hotel anyday-no questions asked. Shamma was the mothers name, and Nemir, the father (who worked as wood carver and had a very extensive woodshop in the basement by the way!)-and their belief that everyone deserved the same hospitality that most Americans would only reward to their own family members was refreshing and inspiring. One of my roomies came out and said that she hopes to be like them one day, and just invite strangers in to her home for mutual-learning and understanding, and of course to overfeed them with delicious food! :)
The only drawback to the experience was the fact that we were only with them for one night. So this morning we had to say our goodbyes and meet up with our group once more.
Today's agenda included a trip to Wi'am, the Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center, which works on and develops programs to help Palestinians lead a more peaceful, nonviolent existence. It was an intriguing talk-AND wonderful lunch (I swear I can't come here and NOT eat more than I should, the food is just TOO good!). I decided as well that I would love to volunteer or work for a place like Wi'am sometime in the future, or some kind of crganization like it. :)
After Wi'am the group traveled to Ramullah-a self and otherwise proclaimed 'center' of the West Bank, culturally and politically. In fact, one of our group leaders was telling us that on their last Quest trip to Israel/Palestine when they were in Ramullah, and IDF( Israeli Defense Force) raid occured and they were forced to leave as rapidly as possible as it quickly became very dangerous. But don't worry, nothing that exciting happened to us ;) . Our bus fortunately, has Israeli liscense plates,(which are yellow), which allow us to use the Israeli highways that crisscross through the West Bank, which are forbidden for Palestinians (who have white plates). Because of our being able to use the Israeli rode, the ride to Ramullah was only about a half hour, while for Palestinians it takes at least two hours. We still had to go through checkpoints though, but it was EERILY(is that even a word???) scary how easy it was for us to pass through with our American passports when Palestinians have to start lining up at the 3 in the morning to get through the same checkpoint before work in the morning. But anyway, we made it to Ramullah and had a tour of the city and surrounding villages and got to see even more effects of the 'security fences' and walls. We visited one home that had been completely cut off from it's village by the separation wall.
These few short hours brought SO MANY questions to mind-I just could not stop THINKING. What if we had to go through checkpoints, much like airport security, everytime we wanted to leave our homes? What if some outside barrier completely cut myself off from the rest of my family and I was forbidden to visit them because they lived on the 'other side'? The questions are many, and burning, and very much unanswered......
But after our time in Ramullah we came to Eilat-a Jewish Israeli settlement on the West Bank. And that is now where I am sitting, upstairs in my host family's home, writing my thoughts for down. I am in a settlement-which is considered by many to be completely illegal. For me, I'm not sure what it is considered just yet, for everything I have known and believed is being challenged here. We met with our family and had dinner and again, really wonderful conversation. Coincidentally, my host father went to grad school at Madison! A fellow badger! So it was fun to connect on that level, and his three daughters are all close to my age, and we have so many experiences and opinions, both political and otherwise to exchange. I am very grateful for tonight's experience in particular because it is a point of view I had yet to encounter, and it was more interesting and rivoting than I could ever put in to words. Until now, we had mostly been meeting with and talking with Palesitnians, who I think have valid stories and horrors and their stories need hearing-but these settlers have stories too. About how their cars get shot at when they drive through the wrong neighborhoods etc....EVERYBODY here has a story, and it is so much more than one side vs. the other. There are not just 2 sides, it is so much more complex and intricate and unfathomable.
After dinner our group met at the home of one of the settlers here to view a presentation from the founder of Palestinian Media Watch-he has worked very closely with the U.S. government and in particular, Hillary Clinton, in the past as far as using Media as a window in to Palestinian society. It was an interesting presentation that spurred so many questions we were talking well past midnight, over three hours after the presentation. And I still have unanswered questions.
But for now, I guess they will have to stay unanswered, as it is very late, and I am, once again, as always, very tired. Tomorrow morning will begin bright and early, and tomorrow night we will be in Jerusalem.....I can't believe how fast the days are trickling away or how much I am getting to see and know.....
Masalaama wa Leila saiida... (Goodbye and Good night)
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