Obama in Palestine

People here have been avidly following the presidential primaries in the US and Obama made big news here after his speech on June 4th at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  In his speech he said "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided."  The international community, including the US, does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  Embassies are in Tel Aviv.  The Bush administration response was that this is an incredibly sensitive issue that can only be decided through mutual agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.  Abu Mazan (President Abbas) also came out strongly against this statement by Obama.  

There was a feeling of resigned disappointment when I was discussing the elections with people today.  They thought that Obama would represent something new for America, and therefore for them.  Like me, they thought that he would take a more nuanced and honest approach to the conflict.  When I asked today whether people would prefer Obama or McCain the response was "neither".  I worry that people will look at the next 4-8 years of their and their children's lives as a continuation of the steadily deteriorating situation in which more and more land is lost and any glimmer of hope gets dimmer and dimmer.  I still plan to vote for Obama but he has been an immense disappointment for me since I fell in love with him in 2004.  I will likely never let myself love another politician again - but I guess this is probably a healthy thing.

Work is going well.  I really enjoy the women that I work with.  I visited the family of one of them tonight.  Visiting is way of life here.  It's nice.  Neighbors come by with their kids regularly for tea and chatting.  All generations together enjoying each other.  I had a great time.  The food was amazing and it just kept coming.  They have fruit trees and grape vines outside their house so the grape leaves for ورق دوالي  (stuffed grape leaves) and the fruit plate were very locally supplied.  The ride home was interesting as well.  A friend of my friend's brother drove us around the city for a while before bringing me home.  He was born in America but his Palestinian parents moved the family from Florida to Ramallah 12 years ago - not too long after the Oslo Accords.  The problem is that he has no Palestinian ID card.  He is just a Palestinian American with an expired visa.  Without the Palestinian ID he cannot pass through Israeli military checkpoints without risking being deported and separated from his family, unable to re-enter due to his Palestinianness.  With a checkpoint at both the north and south of Ramallah he is trapped here because he doesn't want to take the chance of being barred entry after he is deported for being caught without proper papers.  Because of this he has not been able to attend University.  It is just one more absurd life in this absurd situation.