Tonight we were on our way out for a walk in the city. A few shops would be opening up although most remain closed all day on Friday. On our way out we ran into some family guests that were on their way out from the grandmother's house that is below our house. So we were all called back into the house for more visiting and eating. The guests were the grandmother's sister, her son, and his family. They came from Nablus. The older women sat me down and said that they wanted me to know what has happened here and what their lives are like. I spoke with the son's wife for quite some time. She is a university professor in Nablus. She wanted to know how the US can continue to let them live this way. Her family is in Gaza and it is impossible for them to see each other now. She was distraught and confused over Obama's comments about Jerusalem.
And then she started looking at her watch. She explained that because her husband is a doctor he is able to get a permit to drive his car within the West Bank rather than take taxis everywhere. But they have to go through the whole process of renewing this permit every 3 months. And then she explained the clockwatching. They are only allowed to be on the road with their car until 10pm. They need to end their visits early enough so that they can make it through all of the checkpoints and get back to Nablus and off the roads before they turn into a pumpkin at 10pm. She said, "you can see how it is always on top of us."
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