Personal reflections of the recent women's visit to Palestine

I have recently returned from a visit to Palestine. It was both shocking and enlightening. The trip was organised by CADFA (Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association) to strengthen links and build understanding between women living in the UK and Palestine. It involved going to different parts of the West Bank and meeting with women’s groups involved in different aspects of Palestinian life and we met many inspiring people.

For three months in 2009 I was a volunteer in Abu Dis working with women’s groups and teaching in some of the schools. It was a great shock to see how life for Palestinians had deteriorated in the intervening years.

Abu Dis is a university town which had previously been a suburb of Jerusalem but since 2001 it was divided by a 8 metre concrete wall thus separating its inhabitants from close family, work and hospital healthcare. Jerusalem is no longer a short walk away but involves special permits and a circuitous route passing through an Israeli army check point. In recent years Al Quds University as well as schools have been constantly bombarded by the Israeli army who shoot tear gas and rubber bullets indiscriminately and make random arrests at night time of boys as young as fourteen years old. This kind of harassment has intensified since I was there eight years ago.

Some of the tear gas and rubber bullet canisters collected in Abu Did

I was deeply upset by the takeover of property within the cities of Hebron and Jerusalem. The number of road closures in Hebron has so increased that life for Palestinians in the old city has become near impossible. The army presence is everywhere and I learned that, for “security”, there are twelve soldiers for every Israeli settler in this city.

 

Streets closed to Palestinians in Hebron

The number of settlements in the West Bank is greatly increasing. Jewish people from all over the world are lured by the gift of a new house and  Israeli support to settle in this area.

We met with a Bedouin community who had purchased some land to build a settled environment for themselves only to find later that Israeli settlers moved onto their land to build their own homes with the support of their government. Not only were the settlers building houses but they had also established a chicken farm factory on the land. If the Bedouins even built a small house it was immediately bulldozed. The settlement had electricity and water supply whereas the Bedouins were denied these basic services.

 Bedouin homes next to a new Israeli settlement

I left very confused. This land was all part of the “West Bank” and therefore Palestinian land. However the West Bank is divided into areas A, B and C; A being under the Palestinian Authority control; B controlled by Israeli military and C designated as “empty Land”. The Bedouins had bought and therefore owned their land in Area C and yet the settlers claimed the right to build on their land. This does not make sense!

I left Palestine with a sad heart but at the same time with a warm glow lit by the positivity of the people I met, particularly the young, who still have hope for their future lives in a free society which can only be achieved with the support of the international community.

Annika Miller Jones