Black, red, white and green!

My first experience of a protest was exactly like I imagined it. Maybe not like you would expect in London but 100 odd people walking around flashing black, red, white and green, chanting the same words!

Israeli forces plan to move 30,000 Bedouin people in the northern Negev, to Palestinian land. In doing so they have knocked down structures and claimed it was Israeli right. Some 60,000 Bedouin people will be effected overall, contributing to lives forcibly being upturned and, disrupting Romanians lives further.

Near half of the Bedouin people live in 'unrecognised' villages. Israel considers the villages as illegal as they are not registered officially on any maps ect. However, Israel law deems that a village will be recognised if there are over 300 residents or 40 families. Most Bedouin villages meet this requirement! Not only that, they have resided in the area since before the foundation of the state in 1948. Now tell me how anyone can justify uprooting these families from their homes?!

We arrived at the site where Israeli forces plan to dump the inconvenient villagers, the sun was scorching and I had to squint to see. High on the hill, people used their banners to shield their bodies and scan the area. Within 15 minutes the sites was buzzing with a flurry of people or looking for the next move. Several men stepped up and began to lead the people. A quick motivation speech followed by a gradual chant which began to boom with all the people combined. We chanted with Palestinians and Italians, from Doctors to Media students, and even a small child to the old man. The sudden burst also came from the awareness of the military arriving. People did not retreat to went right up to the soldiers, who were barely from school age.

The aim was to stop the surveyors from assessing the land. The people swarmed blocking their view from scouting and ignored the military trying to inflict fear in their eyes. At one moment I saw the sight of tear gas, glaring at me from the grasp on the military. Reassuring me, my local companion told me they don't use them at close range and they don't want to cause too much conflict on site. Relaxing, I continued on, comfortable with the knowledge neither party wanted to be violent. There may not have been violence but the people persisted, hanging Palestinian flags of the armored cars, sticking together to demonstrate their unity. These people showed they had something they believed in and we were not backing down!

I completely lost all sense of time but suddenly I saw the military retreat, taking the surveyors with them. We won! I was later told that the forces had told the surveyors that they would return and that eventually the Palestinians would back down. A negative response to such an achievement. Even as the final speech motivated people to keep returning, a small shadow of doubt, sank in and I wondered how much the rally had really done and if these people really did have a chance against Israeli forces..........

Occupation No More!

The Israeli government is trying to expand Greater Jerusalem. In order to do this, they want to build settlements on the land around Abu Dis where nomadic Bedouins currently live. They plan to move the Bedouin community onto Palestinian land. The local community of Abu Dis came together to protest against this - showing solidarity to the Bedouins and protecting their land.

Activists gathered and were met by a land surveyor accompanied by young Israeli soldiers. One of them, a girl, nervously avoided eye contact as she gripped her gun and faced the crowd. Her silk blond hair was tucked into her helmet and on her ears, pearl studs caught the sun. 

'One, two, three, four, occupation no more! Five, six, seven, eight, Israel is a fascist state!'. The Palestinians chanted and waved flags. After about an hour the soldiers and the surveyor left and the protestors celebrated their small success.

Welcome to Palestine

I met the other volunteers at the airport. We were all feeling excited but very apprehensive about the boarder crossing. One of the guys was feeling particularly nervous and stated that he was a bit worried about a book he had in his hand luggage. 'What book have you got?' 'The ethnic cleansing of Palestine'. 'Right'. Someone else then dropped in that he had 'The Politics of Genocide' in his main bag. This might get interesting.
Once we landed, we gathered together, braced ourselves and walked towards passport control. I was up first. The young Israeli woman at the desk asked me about the purpose of my stay. She wanted to know what visa I was getting and how long I'd be here. I showed her the contract and she seemed to accept it. Just as she was about to hand my passport back to me, we heard 'Abu Dis', 'Abu Dis', heads turning and a man came over to investigate. They were suspicious of us. 'Are you with her?' she asked, pointing to one of the volunteers. She held onto my passport and talked to her colleagues about what to do. My fellow volunteer showed the contract to the person at her desk and soon they agreed to let us through. The others followed soon after and we were in. In less than 10 minutes. We couldn't quite believe it. 
Yes, we really were in. We got the Nesher bus to Jerusalem Hotel. On arriving at the hotel, I was struck by the strong sweet smell of jasmine. This scent, the warm evening air and the sense of relief came together in this moment and made me feel like I had finally arrived.
Once we turned away from the glamour of the Tel Aviv roads, past Jerusalem and into dusty Palestine, we met Abed. His warmth was evident immediately and I felt instantly welcome. He talked to us about the Palestinian situation and about the struggles that the local community has faced. His wife had prepared maqluba for us (a rice and chicken dish), and we ate hungrily whilst his stories flowed. The fridge was stocked with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, hummus, cheese, eggs, pears, peaches and guavas. I was very happy.
In the early hours of the morning I was stirred from a deep sleep by the call to prayer. Surreal, exciting and almost eerie. I had arrived in the Middle East!

The world of sun and dust; my first few days in the West Bank

Touch down! Landing Tel Aviv airport drowned me in a sea of nervous anticipation. The expectation was that we would be questioned and likely spend a few hours being interrogated as to our intentions in the East. To our great pleasure we found minimal resistance and began to make our way to Abu Dis. Passing through Tel Aviv and then Jerusalem we looked out and at the bustling cars, the cafes, restaurants and stunning hotels. Not what you'd expect right? It was still the east, the building where build of a different stone, there wasn't much grass land and people still dressed differently but these where still cities and evidently maintained at a good standard. In an instant of passing into Abu Dis, things changed. A multitude of scrap cars lay ruined at the side of the road or piled on slopes. No more where there flashy hotels or well designed cafes, we had passed the check point into Palestine.

Our apartment was well equipped and people were friendly, greeting us with a home cooked, traditional meal and filling our fridge - which would please any British person! Our first couple of days consisted of exploring the town and familiarizing ourselves the area, local foods and the people we would spend the next few months living and working with. We are now home!

 

Waking up in Palestine

Before Arriving

With 3 weeks to prepare, I had little time to imagine the new life I was preparing to live. The next 3 months I would be eating, sleeping, walking Palestinian life in Abu Dis, West Bank. I did not have a political stance or even know that much about the goings on. The name Gaza was a place of conflict with people I felt sorry for, for the tragic deaths and injustice of the Palestinians. But what injustice? Did I really know why I felt sorry or why people where dying? The answer is simple, no. I didn't know the history of the country I just knew the name Palestine, a name which you will not even find on a world map.

To prepare myself I read a Humans Rights book based on the changing laws in Palestine over the last 100 years. At the time after WW1 England and France divided these eastern countries between them and in WW2 called upon the Palestinians to support them in the war efforts, which was obliged. During the years more and more Jewish refugees were placed on Palestinian land as a temporary solution for those seeking safety. Not long after the war, England pulled out of their interference's in the east and it took little time for Jewish people (the Israelis) to push, taking more land for themselves and forcing the native Palestinian people to flee. In 1967 Israeli forces took control of Egypt, Jordan and Syria territory within 6 gaining massive strategic value.

Over time the Egyptian territory, Gaza, did manage to regain their position in the land and push the Israelis back. For those in Palestine however, things only got worse until all that remained truly Palestine was the West Bank and Gaza. In 2001 Israeli forces decided to mark their territory by building a 9ft high wall around the West Bank and protect it with military forces, in and out of Abu Dis. When the wall was completed in 2002 the forces then brought in green and blue cards. The simplified differentiation  is that Blue cards are for Israelis and Jerusalem residents allowing them to travel around easily. The green cards are predominantly for Palestinians, restricting their access to anywhere outside of the West Bank. This means that many people don't get to leave and also makes a 10 minute trip to the hospital, an hour's trip, if they get past the check point at all.

Hope Amongst Oppression

I planned for this first article to be an introduction to my time in Palestine, but like many things in this unique place, plans always change. So much has happened since we touched down in Tel Aviv on Saturday night and rather than rambling through the chronological events that have occurred thus far, I thought I’d keep this piece short and sweet.

As I expected, the West Bank - although marred by a visible military occupation and a shattered economy - is beautiful. The people here are so positive, warming and extremely compassionate, all traits that seem to be embedded within Palestinian personalities. The group of volunteers I’m working with are equally as kind and friendly and I’m very much looking forward to working and living with them over the next three months. 

Today we had a guided tour around our local area in Abu Dis, a relaxed but welcoming village that borders Jerusalem. The village is surrounded by the West Bank separation barrier, a euphemism for the imposing concrete wall of apartheid which can reach up to 8 metres tall. This, amongst military watchtowers and a former Israeli military camp, is just a small reminder of the oppression of human rights that Palestinians in the West Bank suffer from on a daily basis. On a brighter note, we visited the Dar Assadaqa community centre that is where we will be spending a lot of time - working with Palestinian children and teenagers - rode a camel, visited the Tomb of Lazarus and also a maths museum.

As I sit writing this in our charming guest house in Abu Dis, I am filled with excitement for my stay in Palestine. I’m hoping to get as much out as I put into this trip and although my main focus is to support the work of CADFA, I’m sure I will it will have an inspiring impact upon me as an individual.

"You're going there?!"

To get myself and the other new recruits blogging, we’ve been asked to write about how each one of us feels about going to Palestine.

The first thing that comes to mind is excitement really. Getting to spend three months in Palestine, completely immersed in a different way of life and culture, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that simply cannot be passed up. As someone who takes great interest in politics and plans to spend their working life in international development, this voluntary programme in the West Bank presents an opportunity for me to experience first-hand, one of the most pressing problems the world faces today. 

Secondly, is the feeling that no matter how small the positive impact is that you make — whether it be new friendships or the ability to understand a different way of life — only something good can happen from our work. I know from previous experience what it means to volunteer away for a long period of time, and it’s guaranteed that by the time late December is upon us I will have made some great friends, and (fingers crossed), helped build upon the work and relationships that CADFA has already created. 

To finish this off, many of my friends and family have asked me whether I’m concerned or not about travelling to such a place. Well, I’d like to say no. Due to the media frenzy surrounding the uprising of ISIS/ISIL/IS, people seem to think that I’m in danger of this despicable group. This just doesn’t worry me because people shouldn’t take things out of context. Yes, I’ll be in the Middle East and yes, I’ll be based relatively near to Syria — and by extension Iraq — but there is no danger of this threat coming to the West Bank… Israel isn’t America’s biggest recipient of foreign assistance for no reason, they have the 11th most powerful military in the entire world. But I guess this only just backs up the need to challenge western perceptions of places like the Middle East, where geography and Daily Mail headlines take precedence over context and actual facts. 

To get back on point, I feel exhilarated and enthusiastic about venturing to Palestine… Saturday can’t come quick enough.

Rob Barker. 

(I also have my own blog up and running at thewestbank.wordpress.com)