Hebron: Enlightening, Inspiring, Amazing

Hello, dear readers!  Time to finally post about my incredible trip to Hebron in the West Bank last weekend.  Let me preface this by reminding you:  I consider myself relatively uneducated on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  I have been doing my best to listen and try to understand and form my own opinion.  But to be honest, these nine hours in Hebron were the single most eye-opening experience I've had.

In the morning, I met three sleepy friends at the student village (Steph, Arielle, and Charlotte) and we hailed a cab to the Notre Dame hotel, where we were to meet our ride to the West Bank.  We hopped in a van and drove into Bethlehem, where we would meet our tour guide and the rest of our party.  Despite being tired, the ride in was fascinating; our tour guide explained to us the three areas of Palestine (area A, under total Palestinian control, mostly major cities; area B, under Palestinian civilian control and under Israeli military control, the surrounding areas; and area C, under total Israeli control).  He also began introducing us to the idea of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  These are settlements of Israeli citizens that are considered illegal by the Israeli government, but are still protected by the Israeli Defense Forces and often disrupt Palestinians' way of life.

Our first stop was the Abraham mosque, the location of the tombs of the patriarchs.  We saw Sarah...

 ...Rebecca...

 ...Isaac...

 ...and Abraham.

In 1994, a shooter entered the mosque during Ramadan and killed 29 people and injured 125.  Since then, the holy site has been divided into two sections, one for Muslims, and one for Jews.  Our tour guide informed us that whether or not we're actually Christian, for the purposes of visiting, we were Christian -- Muslims could not visit the Jewish side and vice versa.  The Muslim side had enormous security to get in; the Jewish side had none.  Sadly, because it was Shabbat, we could only enter the Muslim side; only Jews are allowed in the Jewish side on Shabbat and holidays.  Unfortunately, this also meant we missed seeing Jacob and Leah!  Oh well.

To get into the Muslim side, all the women were required to wear extremely fashionable hooded cloaks to cover themselves.  We decided we looked like hobbits.  Then we all claimed a hobbit!

From right to left, we are Merry (Steph), Sam (Arielle), Pippin (me), and Frodo (Charlotte).

After that, we sat and had coffee at one of the few shops that is still open.  Dozens of shops have been closed because Israeli settlers have moved to the area and need "safe passage" to the tombs of the patriarchs.  Our guide was not allowed to walk down the street with us because he is Palestinian.  One of the people in our group asked him, "Does it make you nervous, being here?"  "Yes," he replied, "I am always scared."  There is a red line in many parts of the city showing where Palestinians cannot cross.

So he sent us by ourselves to walk down the deserted street.  All the doors had been welded shut by the IDF, and several of the closed shop fronts had been defaced by settlers.

After that we walked into the Old City of Hebron.  There are a few settler families who live above the main street of the Old City, so they've installed a chain link fence over the top of the walkway so that the settlers can't assault the Palestinians.

While we were in the Old City, lots of children and young men followed us and tried to sell us things.  As hard as it was for all of us, especially when faced with such poverty, it was best not to engage with them.  We then went up to the roof of the Old City, and some of them followed us.  One of them tapped me, and gestured to a water tank next to us.

"This used to be my family's water," he told me.  "But the soldier ruined it.  It used to be enough water for 20 people."  Then he gestured out into the city. 

"Those water tanks are for the settlers.  There's more than enough for them, but not enough for us," he explained.  To be honest, speaking with that young man and hearing his personal story was probably one of the most powerful, touching experiences of the trip for me.  I gave him all the change I had, and he gave me a Palestine keychain.  (I'm hesitant to display it until I can have someone translate the Arabic for me!)

We headed over to where we would have lunch in the home of a Palestinian family, and on the way, our guide pointed out a school taken over by Israelis that was turned into a yeshiva.

Then we headed up to meet the family who was opening their home to us.  We came in the back door because, due to settlers, their front door has been welded shut.  Fortunately there were stairs up to a separate door at their home; in other places, people have had to affix ladders to back windows to get out of their houses.

The family we met had three ADORABLE children!  I only got a shot of the middle child because my camera started saying low battery and I wanted to preserve it...but he is SO adorable!  All of the children were just darling.

While we were there, we watched a video, which was basically documentary footage.  It showed the IDF coming in to the area we had just walked through, about ten months ago, and kicking out the shop owners and welding their doors shut.  The Palestinians were not allowed to retrieve their goods from the shops, and many of them were harassed by the soldiers.  The wife of the woman who made us lunch was one of the men affected.  The shop owners appealed to the Israeli high courts, and a month or two ago, the decision was reversed, and the shops were opened again.

We had a DELICIOUS lunch -- cooked rice, lentils, and onions with salat, Middle Eastern salad made of tomatoes and cucumbers.  Insanely delicious, especially on a chilly, grey, rainy day.  The weather did nothing to dampen our spirits though :)

Over lunch, we talked with our tour guide, and one of the things that came up was (naturally) the two-state solution.  To my mild surprise, he said he didn't support it -- his fear was that Israel and Palestine would both lean to the extreme and become purist states.  So, we inquired, what was the ideal solution for him?  He said he wants one state, but where it doesn't have to be a Jewish head of state of a Jewish majority in the Knesset.  Many Israelis would support a one-state solution, but would reject the idea of Muslim leadership.  And of course, if one state was created, the state would be majority Muslim.  It got me thinking...it's an impossible situation.  I still don't know what the "right" solution is; all I know is that the way it is now is NOT right.

After lunch, we continued walking.  We walked to the edge of the H2 area (under Israeli control, where Palestinians are subject to extreme restrictions) and looked into the H1 area (under full Palestinian control and bustling with activity).  The shift between the two was absolutely jarring.  After that, our guide showed us the route that had formerly been the route Palestinian children took to school, but was now blocked because of settlers.  Foreign parties contributed funds to create an alternate route, which we walked along.  On the way, we saw lots of urban art and defamatory graffiti.

There were symbols like these all over, layered with pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli sentiments:

Steph is considering getting this gorgeous design as a tattoo.  Above where it says "freedom" in English is the same in Arabic.

I was utterly shocked by this one, and disgusted that Jews would suggest using a torturous method of murder used against them by the Nazis against another group.  Especially with all I'm learning about the Holocaust this semester, it simply broke my heart.

After that, we headed to a textile factory that makes kaffiyeh, the head scarves Muslim women wear.  It was absolutely fascinating to watch them being made!

I walked away with two gorgeous kaffiyeh...one dark maroon, and one blue with a pattern that looks like tiny moustaches!

Finally we visited a glass blowing and ceramics workshop, which had unfortunately closed early due to the upcoming Muslim holiday.  Our guide showed us around and explained the process, and I bought a gorgeous mug and a little condiment bowl.  We drove back into Bethlehem, and our guide dropped us off at the bus stop to take the Arab 21 bus back to Jerusalem.  I sat and talked with Steph all the way back, and then we all split a cab back to the Kfar.  Before we all went our separate ways back to our rooms, Charlotte and I had to take one last picture.  Sisters in Vagina Monologues (she's acted in the show at American University for the last two years and is assistant directing this year, and I've directed at MHC for the last two years and am producing this year), we found amazing little purses that said "Women can do everything" on one side and "Palestine" on the other.  So we had to celebrate our fabulous purchases!  (My camera's rather old, so the quality's a bit wonky, but you get the gist!)

In sum:  I will DEFINITELY be going on more tours with Green Olives.  So far I already have relatively firm plans to visit Nablus, Sebastia, and Jenin with them next weekend, and Steph and I were discussing the tour of Bethlehem and Ramallah.  I'm hoping to send M&D on a tour of Bethlehem and Hebron with Green Olives during their visit as well!

Other recent news:  I woke up on Friday morning feeling terrible, so I wound up deciding to skip the Arad trip.  After a day in the Jordanian desert, I decided that I could live with myself if I missed a second desert trip!  (Plus I heard the hostel has a bad case of bed bugs, and that did NOT appeal to me...ick.)  Instead I've divided my weekend into two parts:  day one involved making soup (tons of chicken rice soup and corn chowder in the freezer now, yay for easy meals for Grace!) and being generally unproductive while catching up on TV; day two was devoted to doing schoolwork -- and once I finished reading for the week and my first midterm paper, more of the same :D My first midterm (now completed, woo!) is due Monday, and the last is due November 30th, so it's go time.  Fortunately, I was assigned relatively little reading this week, so I have more time to devote to Hebrew homework, take-home exams, and studying during the week.  Wish me luck as I slog through three take-home exams, two in-class exams, and one oral exam in the next 2.5 weeks!!!  I also have a field trip tomorrow to the Old City Southern Wall excavations and the Herodian villas.  Stay tuned for details soon...!