In Words and Pictures: Ramallah, Palestine

As a few of you know, I am in the midst of a six-week visit to Palestine and Israel.  This is a difficult land, full of violence and injustice, but most of this you will not see on the news.  You may have heard about the Kassam rocket attack that killed an Israeli two days ago, but it is unlikely you heard about THE ISRAELI RAID INTO RAMALLAH that same day, two blocks from my home, which left behind blood and destruction as well.  These raids are too routine too make the news.  Yet they are daily events in Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, and elsewhere.  One feels that death here in the West Bank must be too common to be newsworthy.  But it is real.  So real.

This is my eighth visit to the region, and it seems that the situation in the Palestinian Territories only grows worse.  Yet somehow life continues, people still find ways to laugh, and somehow a few even still maintain hope for a better future, even if they suspect they will not be alive to see it.

Below are pictures from Ramallah, the West Bank's cultural capital.  I offer them as a glimpse into a too-little understood world.  Folks here would love to have you visit, and if anyone reading this is interested, let me know.  I would love to help facilitate your visit.

The Israeli wall separates Ramallah from Jerusalem.  This is what you see upon first entering the West Bank at the Qalandia checkpoint.  As a foreigner, I can travel freely across the checkpoint; most Palestinians cannot.  Most have not see Jerusalem in many years, even though it is only a few miles away.  To learn more about the problematic and illegal nature of Israel's separation barrier, click on this page of BTselem's website.

Women getting off public transport at the checkpoint

In downtown Ramallah -- and throughout the West Bank -- fresh posters of Arafat are prominently displayed, having been put up last week to remember the second anniversary of his death.

The central square of Ramallah.  Two days ago, when the Israeli military launched a 20-minute raid into the center of town, my host, who was taking my mobile phone to a repair shop, found himself caught in the middle of a shootout.  The car parked behind him took several direct hits, but he was fine and even managed to get my phone fixed.  Again, if you would like to read one eyewitness account of the raid, click HERE.

When I asked these men if I could take their picture, they said "no problem."  They also told me about the difficult economic situation that has left them unemployed.  Through checkpoints, severe import and export restrictions, and more, Israel has put a stranglehold on the Palestinian economy.  I hope to do another post in the future that will describe, in detail, how Israeli policy leaves Palestinian produce rotting in storehouses, levies "fines" for reasons that Israeli exporters would never face, etc.

Shoes for sale downtown

This and the following five pictures were taken at a high school in Ramallah.  Until last week, most Palestinian schools had been closed for several months because teachers hadn't been paid since early 2006, when the West denied funds to the Palestinian Authority in the wake of Hamas' victory in a democratic election.  Palestinians, whatever their politicial affiliation, cite the Western response to this democratic election as evidence that the West isn't actually interested in genuine democracy but rather finds democracy useful only as a means to its own ends.  When it doesn't like the result, it either seeks to cripple the new government or overthrow it (e.g., see U.S. policy in Latin America throughout the 20th century).  The result, however, is generally counterproductive, only hardening the attitudes of the local populace toward the U.S.

The grave of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah

Palestinian youth at the end of a cultural performance.  They danced the debka, a high-energy and inspiring performance that ended with smiles on everyone's face.  It was a reminder that the human spirit is capable of creating beauty, even when so much else around is difficult and ugly.