Blogs from West Bank, Israel, Middle East - page 13

Tout récapituler dans l'amitié Palestinienne Une semaine de disponibilité avant la fin de notre voyage, une rencontre providentielle avec un ancien élève de St Bonnet (où nous nous sommes rencontrés) et nous avons pu saisir une belle occasion de rencontres : nous rendre dans un camp de réfugiés Palestiniens, en plein coeur des territoires occupés, pour aider à l'animation estival d'un centre de vacance pour les enfants du camp. Nous y finirons notre premier voyage au milieu d'un peuple jeune, joyeux et souffant, passant nos journées avec ces enfants joueurs et leurs animateurs dévoués, et nos soirées avec les familles du camps, tous amis de Said qui nous héberge. Ainsi s'achève le premier volet inch'Allah, dans la gratuité d'une amitié naissante, au foyer de la première leçon de ce voyage :Apprendre à recevoir ceux qui nous ... read more

Okay, auf diesen Tag habe ich mich von Anfang an gefreut: Der Mammut-Trip von Petra nach Jerusalem. Prinzipiell gibt es da zwei Varianten: 1. Die direkte, in dem man mit dem Bus zurueck nach Amman faehrt (3 Stunden), dann ein Service Taxi zur Grenze nimmt und auf der anderen Seite mit dem Bus weiter nach Jerusalem faehrt. Das kann theoretisch sehr schnell gehen, allerdings übertritt man die Grenze an der König-Hussein-Brücke (bzw. Allenby-Brücke, wie sie in Israel heißt), die direkt ins Westjordanland führt und die voll sein soll. 2. Die zweite Variante ist, mit dem Bus runter ans rote Meer (Aqaba) zu fahren (2 Stunden), von dort rüber auf die israelische Seite (Eilat) zu gurken und dann 5 1/2 Stunden mit dem Bus nach Jerusalem zu fahren (der Bus macht einen Bogen um die Westbank). ... read more

A STUDENT AT BIRZEIT UNIVERSITY ME DICE / TELLS ME THAT HE HAS TO GET UP AT 5:00AM FOR A 9:00AM LECTURE BECAUSE OF THE CHECKPOINTS. YO TOMO / I TAKE TRANSPORTAION FROM RAMALLA. WE ARRIVE BEFORE THE CHECKPOINT WHEN SOME GET OFF AND SOME STAY ON. DO I NEED TO GET OFF? I ASK THE DRIVER. HE ASKS. DO YOU HAVE A VISA? I SAY YES. HAVE YOU CROSSED BEFORE? I SAY YES, I'VE CROSSED THREE TIMES BEFORE WHILE HOLDING UP THREE FINGERS. WE WAIT AT AN AUTOMATIC GATE. A CHILD CRIES IN OUR VEHICLE. WHY IS HE CRYING? IS IT THE SIGHT OF THE ISRAELI OFFICIALS THAT MAKES HIM CRY? I WATCH OTHERS CROSSING IN THEIR CARS WITH BLUE ID'S IN THEIR HANDS. WHILE WAITING IN THE VEHICLE TO BE CLEARED A MAN IN ... read more

His panic-stricken little face lights up when he receives the information that we’ll escort him home, sending him skipping merrily down the road on an errand to buy potatoes. This is the Palestinian Authority controlled area of Hebron, and as we cross through Tel Rumeida checkpoint to the other side in order to wait for the Palestinian boy’s return, we soon discover the source of his fear. We are confronted by around 100 ultra-orthodox Jews, who are gathered in Hebron to mark ‘Hebron day’, one of whom shouts “You know that Jesus is gay?”. None of us really react to this arbitrary taunt, however it does serve to focus the crowd’s attentions squarely on our small group of human rights workers. Another shouts “What are you doing here?” “Tourists” I reply, believing this to be the ... read more

So this is sort of a blog within a blog, as it details my daytrip into Bethlehem from Jerusalem, however I figured that since my last blog dealt with Israel, and Bethlehem is clearly not an Israeli city, I should do it separately. I was somewhat nervous about going into the West Bank, given the political situation in the Palestinian territories, however the security situation was stable at the time that I was there, and given that this was probably the best chance I would ever have in my life of seeing Bethlehem, I decided to go for it. Anyway, for those not familiar with it's location, Bethlehem is in the West Bank, just south of Jerusalem. And while people's definitions may vary slightly of what constitutes the West Bank (the Old City of Jerusalem is ... read more