This little piece, with pictures, is really meant for the participants of the West Bank trip we did beginning of this month, as a little digital reunion. Most of the group where Irish, with some Americans thrown in, led by Elaine, and a small group was Dutch, led by Christine de Vos.


(Elaine)

(Christine)

For some it was the first time they visited Palestine, that is, the West Bank: Hebron, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Bil’in, Ramallah, Nablus. I had been there before, but I’m more familiar with Gaza. Even though I know Palestine/Israel for 15 years now, it was really worthwhile to go, for several reasons:

First it was very well organised – we got to meet many really interesting people and organisations, with important stories to tell. For some of the new ones it must sometimes have felt as an overdose of information, since all these people we met, both Israeli and Palestinian, are so dedicated to tell the real story to the world.

Second, it was wonderful to sit in the bus between lectures to watch the landscape, that would have been so beautiful without checkpoints and settlements. Especially in Nablus, it was a treat to visit Balata camp, the university and the old city, and be able to talk to many Nabulsi’s.

And third, you get to know some really nice and interesting people in the group, since this is not your average ’tourists in a bus’ thing. For instance, it was really fun to talk to an Irishman and discover we read most of the same books. Or to meet a filmmaker, a translator, and many people who can work together in te future.

(Ra’fat)

We had wonderful guides, like Ra’fat, who studied theology and could tell us a lot about the historical places, and about the people who had liverd there for centuries, sometimes going back to historical Cana’an. Generally Palestinians are very helpful and kind to visitors, and the proverbial hospitality is not a myth. Apart from that Palestinians realize how important it is to be part of the world, to be able to tell western people their stories and show them the reality of life under occupation. It is not only really a heartwarming and very informative experience (and for some new people really shocking) , it is also an act of solidarity to go there, to show that we are interested and that we care.

Which is to say: I can really recommend everybody to go on one of the next trips. There is no way one would ever be able to collect so much information in such a short time going there alone, and the organizers have taken care that with a simple but clean and neat hotel en good meals it really is cheap and worth your money.

So: lots of thanks to Elaine and Christine and greetings to everyone else.

I have written some pieces about our trip, most of you will not be able to read the Dutch, but you’ll recognize the pictures. There are still two coming up: about the old city of Nablus and our visit to Ramallah.
Here they are:

Pictures of Bethlehem checkpoint, here.
Bethlehem: checkpoint, Machsom Watch, B’Tselem, here.
Bethlehem: Sabeel and ICAHD, here.
Talk with Nasser Rishrami, here.
Balata camp, Nablus, here.
Visit to Bil’in, here.
Nablus: the university, here.
Nablus: the cemetery, here
Westbank, the landscape, here.

And some more coming up.

(Coffee on the bus)

And more pictures by Anne Paxton, here.