Irsrael/Palestine - Part 2
Today is a very relaxing day. We slept in, we might go down to the pool, we might go shopping for another bag to bring all our souvenirs home, we might eat another epic buffet meal, we might just stay in the room and nap and write postcards... The day is full of possibilities!
Or I might just sit here and write Part 2 of the Palestine/Israeli Conflict.
After hearing Assaf Gamzou, and Israeli, tell us that he was against the occupied territories before he did his army service, and even MORE against them after he had been stationed in the occupied territories as an army photographer for two years, we got to visit a Palestinian refugee camp.
Abu Mohammad was born in the Ayda Palestinian refugee camp near Bethlehem. His father was born in Bayt Mahsir, a town he's pointing to on this map. The town, about nine miles west of Jerusalem, was destroyed during the war in 1948, and all of the Palestinians who were living there became refugees. Abu Mohammad's father came to this refugee camp, where Abu Mohammad was born, and now Abu Mohammad has seen his own children born here.
To get into the camp our driver parked the van outside of an entrance in a large, concrete wall. It felt very Berlin Wall-esque. We walked through narrow "streets" (some could fit a car, but many couldn't) between simple, multi-story dwellings. There were murals all over the walls. The murals have a theme: home is on the other side of the walls.
(That's a mural of Trump on the left.)
The corner of one building had a photo of a boy and Arabic writing. He was a resident of the camp, and he was killed during Israeli bombing. (When we had visited the Western "Wailing" Wall the day before, we went through a security checkpoint, and just beyond the conveyor belt for the bag check they had the photos of two security guards who had been killed by terrorists, so there are reminders of the cost of this conflict everywhere.)
Despite the absence of any parks, playgrounds, or grassy fields, children were playing and smiling, and yelling hello to us from distant balconies. This is one of my favorite photos!!
These children were yelling, "HELLO!!" and waving and smiling.
Abu Mohammad and his wife, Um Mohammad (literally "Father of Mohammad" and Mother of Mohammad") are very active in their community. Abu Mohammad is an electrician. Um Mohammad takes care of a great many things, as founder of the
Noor Women's Empowerment Camp. Their oldest son (not surprisingly) is named Mohammad, and he was born with Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy. Having spent the first decade of Mohammad's life looking for help for him, and not being able to find any, Um Mohammad decided to create a community that could support and help children in the camp who had disabilities. The center has been running for over a decade now, and it has grown into something really special. That's why National Geographic and G Adventures had us pay them a visit.
First we were treated to a wonderful Palestinian meal in their community dining hall. Teaching people how to cook traditional meals is one of the ways they earn money to support their project. We didn't cook during our visit. The food was prepared when we arrived.
Abu and Um Mohammad.
Here's Abu Mohammad serving us more soup.
During lunch I was puzzled, so I kept asking the same question because I wasn't articulating it well, or there was a language barrier, or I just wasn't able to comprehend the answer. "Why is there a wall there?" Finally I took out my phone and pulled up Google Maps. "No, why is there a wall THERE. If the border of Israel and Palestine is way over THERE, why is there a wall right outside this building?"
Ahhhh... My question finally made sense to Abu Mohammad. I wasn't asking for the explanation of what a wall does, or why it exists between Israel and Palestine, but why it's RIGHT THERE when there's no border there. Were the Palestinian neighbors building walls between one another? Abu Mohammad and our guide, Naz, explained that these walls are separating the refugee camp from Israeli settlements.
My mind was a mess. I sat for a minute with a confused look on my face. This was difficult to comprehend, because I had to mentally un-do things that my mind has been doing for years. I've heard of Israeli settlements. We all have. Whenever I hear about them I picture a gated community of Israelis living in the West Bank. I did not understand that the Israelis had moved into Palestinian territory, and then built a gigantic concrete wall to keep the Palestinians out. I'm baffled by it, to be honest. If Americans move into Mexico we can call it an American settlement, so to speak. We could even build gates and fences around our properties, but they might be little stucco walls or wrought-iron fences or something similar. A gated community might even have a guard allowing people in and out. But we'd still be in Mexico, and still subject to the laws of Mexico. But this is like the Berlin Wall being built ten miles inside of West Berlin, rather than between East and West Berlin. The Israelis in the settlements are not subject to Palestinian law. They have brought all the rights and privileges of Israeli citizenship with them into Palestine. The settlements are illegal, the wall is imposing, it's in the wrong place, and if someone wants peace they wouldn't do this.
I finally found a map that does this issue justice. Look at how many miles and miles of Palestinian land have been "settled" (taken). Here's the link to that map, so you can get a better look.
During our visit, Abu Mohammad told us, "Groups come here and see where we live, and they tell us they have never heard of us. They didn't know there were Palestinian refugees here still. Please. Please, tell people about us. We just want freedom."
After lunch we walked down streets to the Noor center. The center was modest, well-kept and quite nice. I just looked for photos of the inside and can't find any. They had assistive parallel bars for support for those training to walk, they had exercise balls, two treatment tables, some resistance bands and other similar simple rehabilitation tools. It wasn't unlike the training rooms I've worked in over the years -- simple, but effective.
Entering the Noor Center
The expectations of those entering the Noor Center.
My mom enjoying conversation with Abu Mohammad.
We left the refugee camp wishing there was a simple solution. We definitely agreed with Assaf Gamzou, the Israeli expert, who said that the occupied territories are illegal and provocative. Seeing a concrete wall where there should be a park was so aggravating.
Later we went to a book store in East Jerusalem, to hear from Ahmad Muna, a Palestinian living in East Jerusalem. I'd love to keep writing but I have to wrap this up for now. We visited a mosque today, and bought a small carry-on suitcase for the souvenirs, and a Greek Orthodox woman at the supermarket invited us to her house for juice and Ramadan treats! Now the day is nearly over, and our trip to the airport for our flight to Frankfurt will be here in about 2 hours, so I'd better pack. I guess there will be a Part 3 of this series!
