From the Other Side

From here on out everything is different. No matter how many stories I have heard describing the the conditions of the west bank, I could not believe what was happening to millions of Palestinians. This week we crossed the check point from Jerusalem into the west bank. I am seeing this with my own eyes for the first time. There is no way that the state of Israel can claim to be working towards peace.

I do not support propaganda. I do not support one-sided stories. What I have seen the past two days are lived experiences of people living in a refugee camp 15 minutes outside of Jerusalem, people of Bethlehem, and those living in Hebron. I am staying with a family who was displaced from a village outside of Hebron. They have 4 children, mother, father. They gave two of us a bedroom and little mermaid comforters.

Major Point of Reference: For much of the region of the West Bank, check points do not guard the border between Palestine and Israel. The check points are actually located in the Israeli wall that are located on West Bank land according to the Oslo Peace Treaty of 1967. To get from East Jerusalem to Bethlehem, we entered the west bank 10 minutes before we were stopped to go through. We didn't even have to flash our passports; as Americans, we were let through instantly. Meanwhile, one of our host mothers at teh refugee camp had to wait at the point for 3 hours crouched in the pouring rain. She was ill and returning from seeing the doctor. If she stood up, the soldiers threatened to let off tear gas.


What I can tell you is that there is no going back to the reality I inhabited. I have no idea how to reconcile the reality here with that of people living within the state of Israel. I'm soaking it in and trying to figure out the next step.

I am a human faucet.
-NL