I caught a bus from Damascus Gate to Ramallah. It was my first time getting a good look at the separation wall. Of course, it is much more than concrete slabs that separate two territories. It is more like a complex with towers, checkpoints, roundabout lanes and separate entrances based on the license plate and type of vehicle. Since we were in a bus with Israeli plates we were not required to get out, but we still had to wait in the long lines that stifle movement in and out of the West Bank at all hours. When we crossed into Ramallah I was able to see a lot of the famous graffiti that covers this portion of the separation wall, including this Banksy piece, my first time seeing his work in person.
I wandered around Ramallah, saw a nice oud and guitar store, bought some fresh-squeezed mango and orange juice and found a cultural heritage center that was once a traditional Palestinian home, about 250 years old. I talked with the owner, who was the eighth generation of the family that used to live there and he gave me a great deal on a hand-embroidered Palestinian purse from a local woman's co-op.
I then caught a cab with a driver named Abu Muhammad who agreed to take me around the city. He was very helpful and friendly and seemed genuinely interested in my background and studies. We arrived at Yasser Arafat's tomb, where the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority are also located. I was the only visitor there, and the guards made the experience a little uneasy. The grounds of the mausoleum were immaculate and minimalist. There is one guard always watching over the tomb.
I still had to get to Taybeh that day so Abu Muhammad drove me to the bus station. As soon as I got on the bus a woman my age gave me a big smile from her seat at the front. We began talking and she immediately offered me a Snickers from her purse. She told me when and where to catch the cabs and buses in Taybeh. I am lucky she told me because I probably would have missed the last bus out of Taybeh at 6:30. My sole reason for visiting Taybeh was to go to their brewery-- the only one in Palestine and one that has an Oktober Fest every year.
The owner and his niece gave me a tour of the brewery and a few samples. The niece told me all about the brewing process and the Oktober Fest, but told me how difficult business will be this year considering the huge drop in tourism (due to people's fears about the security situation). I bought a 12-pack, half Amber and half Golden and hauled it back to Ramallah, then to Jerusalem. We crossed the border again and this time I was able to get a picture of the wall. Photographing the wall is difficult, or at least inconvenient, because most of the time you are near it you are also near Israeli checkpoints, where photography is usually a bad idea. But here is a shot I got from the bus in the evening. The wall is 26 feet tall, 430 miles long, most of it built on Palestinian land, and it is hideous:
On a normal day I look pretty foreign in Jerusalem's old city but lugging around a clanking box clearly labeled BEER in the Muslim Quarter was not helping my situation. I was so happy to finally get back to my hostel that night and relax with this delicious Palestinian drink:
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I then caught a cab with a driver named Abu Muhammad who agreed to take me around the city. He was very helpful and friendly and seemed genuinely interested in my background and studies. We arrived at Yasser Arafat's tomb, where the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority are also located. I was the only visitor there, and the guards made the experience a little uneasy. The grounds of the mausoleum were immaculate and minimalist. There is one guard always watching over the tomb.
We headed south through the city and Abu Muhammad said we had to make a stop at his office first. We walked into the office and he said said proudly to his boss, "This is Hannah. She speaks Arabic, studied it in the U.S. and lives in Amman!"His boss welcomed me and offered me a seat. Abu Muhammad went to prepare some tea while his boss and I watched the news, which was all about the fresh strikes in Gaza. We started to talk about the situation and he asked me why the U.S. supports Israel so much. He seemed pretty knowledgeable on the subject, but still did not not understand the unwavering support. At that point, Abu Muhammad came back in with some tea, adding: "Hannah says that you can't get elected as president in the U.S. unless you support Israel!"
We talked more about Israel/U.S. relations and I have found in almost all conversations there are a few points that consistently come up:
-It has to be stated multiple times that Israel is killing hundreds of women and children, even if that has already been established.
-Coming to an agreement on what term to use to refer to 'them.' Practically all of the Palestinians I talked to started the conversation using the word 'Jews,' but when I asked them if they meant 'Jews' or 'Israelis' (or 'occupiers', etc.) they would all immediately clarify that they do not mean all Jews. That would be followed by comments about how much they respect the Jewish faith and Jewish people, but not the Zionists.
-Saying that the status quo cannot continue and that major changes will happen once the U.S. loses some of its power, resulting in Israel changing its policies towards Palestinians and ending the occupation.
Abu Muhammad's boss started telling me about how the U.S. supports ISIS. This is a theory I have heard a few times now. They seem to think that it would be advantageous to Israel and American corporations if ISIS continues to destabilize Iraq and Syria, increasing the demand for weapons and military contractors. The boss asked me if I knew about Blackwater.
Abu Muhammad came back in the room with a huge dish full of chicken and potato stew. He heated up some bread and handed me a piece with a bowl full of stew. It was delicious, especially considering a group of cabdrivers had just made it in their office. We headed back out to Mahmoud Darwish's grave. Darwish is the most famous Palestinian poet and one of the most famous modern Arabic poets. This is a poignant work of his: Silence for Gaza.
I still had to get to Taybeh that day so Abu Muhammad drove me to the bus station. As soon as I got on the bus a woman my age gave me a big smile from her seat at the front. We began talking and she immediately offered me a Snickers from her purse. She told me when and where to catch the cabs and buses in Taybeh. I am lucky she told me because I probably would have missed the last bus out of Taybeh at 6:30. My sole reason for visiting Taybeh was to go to their brewery-- the only one in Palestine and one that has an Oktober Fest every year.
The owner and his niece gave me a tour of the brewery and a few samples. The niece told me all about the brewing process and the Oktober Fest, but told me how difficult business will be this year considering the huge drop in tourism (due to people's fears about the security situation). I bought a 12-pack, half Amber and half Golden and hauled it back to Ramallah, then to Jerusalem. We crossed the border again and this time I was able to get a picture of the wall. Photographing the wall is difficult, or at least inconvenient, because most of the time you are near it you are also near Israeli checkpoints, where photography is usually a bad idea. But here is a shot I got from the bus in the evening. The wall is 26 feet tall, 430 miles long, most of it built on Palestinian land, and it is hideous:
The border crossing is a much different experience when one is entering Israel. This time a soldier got on the bus with us, checked our passports, and asked some questions. The queue was especially long, but it gave me more time to look closely at some of the art on the wall. There was a large fire burning at one end of the wall and a Palestinian boy throwing rocks, but I could not see if anything serious was happening (probably not).
On a normal day I look pretty foreign in Jerusalem's old city but lugging around a clanking box clearly labeled BEER in the Muslim Quarter was not helping my situation. I was so happy to finally get back to my hostel that night and relax with this delicious Palestinian drink:
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