Qalqilia

Today I officially began my internship with Filastiniyat.  They are a civil society organization that works on issues of youth, women, and free media.  The founder of this organization is an incredible woman.  She is active in media and political reform in Palestine and is involved in international and local women's movements.

We travelled to Qalqilia, a city further north in the West Bank to do a training with groups of youth from Jenin, Bethlehem, and Qalqilia.  With a Palestinian taxi we were riding on the shared roads.  There are other roads that only Israelis in the West Bank are allowed to use.  Driving through the West Bank you see settlements dotting the hill tops and reaching down the agricultural land on slopes of these hills.  The valleys are full of Palestinian villages.  You see Palestinians waiting for buses and across the street there are settlers waiting for buses.  You pass through checkpoints where Palestinian cars get stopped.  You see some cars with orange ribbons flying off of them.  These are the settlers who opposed the dismantling of settlements in Gaza and who oppose any effort to dismantle them in the West Bank.  The signs are in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.  People are so segregated and yet they are living amongst one another.  

Qalqilia is one of the cities that has been most impacted by the construction of walls and fences within the West Bank (rather than on the internationally recognized green line).  The economy of the city thrived on agricultural production and employment in Israel.  Now a fence has been constructed that completely encloses the city of over 50,000 people and it is extremely difficult for Palestinians to get permits to enter Israel.  There is only one way in and out of the city and it is through an Israeli army checkpoint.  This is one of the places in the West Bank where Israelis are not allowed to go.  On our way out the soldier asked us "Where are you going?"  It is just offensive.  Can you imagine that your city is surrounded like a prison and there are people with guns stopping you every time you use the one exit available to you?  And then to top it off he asks you where you are going!  This question is pointless.  Obviously you are going to one of the places that Palestinians are allowed to go to since you can't use the other roads and can't get through the checkpoints to places that are off limit.  Why do they ask this!?  Every time you want to leave your town you have to say "I am going to visit my mother-in-law in Ramallah" or "I am bringing my daughter to her university".  

The training with all of the young people was good.  As I have found in the last few days, people want to tell me their story.  They know that they are misrepresented in American media and that Americans are ignorant of the complexities of this conflict that are so openly discussed and debated within Israeli and Palestinian society.  For some reason these extremely important discussions are off limits in the American political dialogue which is terribly harmful considering the role that America plays in aid to both countries and in the peace process.  One man at the training, Osama, wakes up every morning and sees the fence which runs right by his house through what used to be his father's land.  He just received a degree in physical therapy after being held for two years in an Israeli detention center with no charges ever brought against him.  Seems to be a rite of passage with 40% of the Palestinian male population having been imprisoned.  His father is the only one in the family who has secured a work permit for Israel.  Osama keeps being rejected.

Other villages suffer a worse fate of not only being completely enclosed with only one exit but also having this gate open only from 6am until 8pm.  If you return home after 8 you are locked out of your village.  Even villages that aren't enclosed by a wall of fence face closing.  I witnessed one today on the ride back to Ramallah.  Tanks had pulled into the village entrances and blocked the ways in and out.

I knew about all of these things before I came here but they are almost unbelievable.  Seeing them with my own eyes has not lessened the disbelief.  I can't understand the motivation for this extensive system of oppression.  When will enough Israeli parents join those who are already raising their voices and demand that their children no longer be required to spend their days manning a system of oppression?

On a personal note - I am doing well.  It is a difficult city to get your bearings in and I am notorious for not even having bearings.  But I am figuring out my way around bit by bit.  The family I am staying with is great and I have a lot of fun with their kids.  It seems like this whole blog nonsense is coming off a lot more like my thoughts than actually sharing my travels.  I guess email is still best for really keeping in touch (especially since this is so one way!).  So all of you - send me an email and keep me updated on your summers!