Yes, I spent the best 10 days of my life in Palestine! This is why I didn’t blog in a while :)

So much to write about, and so many things in my mind! Palestine is magnificent! I can’t write enough about the beauty of the occupied territories of Palestine.

In Palestine, everything is different. The trees, the stones, the smell, the wind, the food, the people, the buildings…I can go on forever! It’s a shame that war is taken place there.

So much to say about the beauty of Palestine. And of course, so much to say about the Israeli occupation, stupid interrogations in the Allenby Bridge, screwed up check points scattered all over the West Bank, and of course Fateh vs. Hamas insanity.

Well, let’s start with the beauty of Palestine. I visited : Ramallah, Tulkarem, Jenin, and many villages in between. With Ramallah being the most modernized city in the west bank, Jenin is more like a big village. Tulkarem is something in between. Since beauty is best sensed through the eye, I took photographs of almost everything!

I finally bought a flickr pro account so I can upload as much photos as I want, here are the photos organized in sets according to the cities they were taken in:

1) ‘Arrabeh (3arrabeh) [ Our old roots belongs here].
2) Ya’bad (ya3bad) [ Ya'bad is the village my family belongs to].
3) Zabda [ Small village, belongs to the family].
4) Ramallah

and yes I didn’t take photos of all the cities, I forgot to take the camera to Jenin and Tulkarem :P

Almost everywhere you wander in Palestine, you will see pictures of martyrs. Pictures are hung on traffic lights, houses, walls, …
They’re silent pictures immortalizing the struggle of the Palestinians against the occupation. Almost every family have lost a child or two in the last Palestinian uprising (intifada), including our family.

The Israelis interrogated me in the crossing bridge between Jordan and Palestine because I haven’t visited Palestine in years! As funny and stupid as it may sound but it’s a routine measurement! The interrogation went smoothly. A 20s something guy with a Lebanese Arabic accent (a Durzi maybe) asked me few questions. What’s you name? Where have you been? when are you getting married? How is life in Jordan? Are there hot girls in Jordan ?
with questions like these, I didn’t know whether I should laugh or keep my mouth shut. I answered formally without even smiling. Perhaps it’s my lack of experience, but I was very anxious. Anyway, the journey was pretty safe.

Inside Palestine, there are check points almost everywhere just to make the Palestinian life even harder. What bugged us most is the stupid rule they’re imposing on every creature living in Jenin! if your haweyyeh (Israeli ID) is issued in Jenin, then you’re not allowed to leave Jenin!! They allow you to enter Jenin, but leaving Jenin would require you to take different roads or to rely on the mood of the Israeli soldiers.

Everybody in Palestine have a story to tell about the check points. Ranging from the most humiliating encounter you could ever imagine to the funniest one. I heard many stories about Israeli soldiers asking men to take off their pants in the street (what’s so interesting about naked men ?). Some got arrested for no reason. Some were beaten up savagely. Some were asked to start a party in the middle of the street while others were asked to belly dance in the street (again, what’s so interesting in dancing men?). I’ve been asked about my age. In Ramallah I’ve been asked about my job, and when my answer was “fresh graduate”, both soldiers exchanged weird glances let me pass so I can get married. Rookh ettjawwaz (go get married, in a distorted Arabic accent). I don’t know why the Israeli soldiers are very concerned about my single hood.

Almost everybody in Palestine is talking about Fateh and Hamas. People are split, with the majority in the west bank supporting Fateh. Everybody in Palestine is a politician, and everybody in Palestine have a better vision than all the political leaders. Specially those who spend most of the day in cafes smoking and drinking coffee. It’s the new issue to talk about, and people in Palestine have distinguished ways of having fun.

One more thing I noticed in some Palestinian villages is that many people are making their living by stealing things from illegal Israeli settlement! It’s a win-win job! The Israelis intentionally make it very easy for Palestinians to steal their goods (especially cars and motor cycles) so that Israelis can get paid by Israeli insurance companies. Many Palestinians in Ya’bad (my village) have Israeli friends from the nearby Israeli settlement who make deals by trade Israeli cars to Palestinians for low prices, and fool the Israeli insurance companies. Many Palestinians are comfortable with stealing from Israelis as a pay back because Israelis stole Palestinian lands. Since when theft is ok ??

I’ve got many stories to tell, but enough said for now.

I missed Palestine already.