It is already dark night when we arrive at the house of the land owner that has asked for international help, known as “Abu A.”, “Father of A.”. It is frequent that people change their name when they have their first male child, to a name like “father of..” and then the name of the first child. A. receives us with a copious dinner that we all needed, and we ask him what the situation is like in here. “You want to know what the situation is here? I will tell you what is the situation here, in a moment”.
Sexism in Palestine
M. tells us that there is a huge respect in Palestine and other countries for “internationals” like us, who, M. says, leave “the comforts from your homes, your education, your work, your families, to come here and suffer with us”. He also says that he feels a lot of respect for all the martyrs, but that he feels a very special respect for Rachel [Corrie, the girl from the USA that was killed while trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home by Israeli bulldozers] and Tom [Hurndall, the boy from the UK who was killed while he was trying to protect some small Palestinian girls]. M. looks away and I get the impression that he got to know them both.
When I am a grown-up I want to be a martyr
The original idea was to go to Jerusalem but for different reasons, some of us change our minds. A. is coming and I will like to see him again, this time in occupied Palestine. In any case we take the day off and we decide to go shopping in the main street to support the local economy. I am advised to buy soap, hand made with olive oil.
Friendly settler with machine gun
Today we go to place that is much harder to reach. Besides, only four internationals remain with me in this village now, because there is some important demonstrations that needs to be supported somewhere else and they have all gone there. Of those four, two are finishing their stay in the country today and they are going back to their countries, and the rest need a rest. We are considering going back to Jerusalem, because in this flat we are asked not to have showers, because the water pipes are so bad. We have had soil stuck to our clothes and our clothes stuck to our skin for a few days now; it has been boiling hot every day and it seems like a good idea to go back to Jerusalem to have a good shower, a good rest and a good drink.
Olive picking III. Five years later
Today we go to a different place to pick up olives. We are joined in the taxi by a few journalists. Two of them happen to be doctors, and one of these speaks Arabic. When we arrive to a little village, a Palestinian gets on the taxi and gives instructions to the driver. The taxi driver sets off, goes around the village and then stops and asks us to get off.
Olive picking II. Oasis of peace
Today we come back to the place where we were yesterday. We learn that this family lives from the produce of their trees alone, they do not have any other source of income. We ask them about the price of the olive oil. Last year the price paid to the peasant per kilo was 10 NIS, (New Israeli Shekels), about US$2.20. Some farmers were better off just saving and using the oil, because with that price they would have lost money on the transaction. I guess that, like all raw materials producers, specially food, they are at the mercy of the fluctuations in the international markets. They can sell very little to Israel, we are told, because the Israeli state is blocking the entry of Palestinian products into Israel; it is also another way to squeeze them further. And, on top, there is the internal political situation.
Olive picking I
Today we go to help out with the olive harvest. The whole family, probably the whole city, will bury yesterday’s body, but if we go to the funeral instead of helping out in the fields, some other family will not be able to harvest their olives.
Nablus
We get up soon and, after packing quickly, we set off to a city where help is needed to pick up olives. I learn the hard way that packing in a hurry is definitely a very, very bad thing. You forget necessary things.
Palestine Apartheid
I get to an information session on the situation of Palestine and this is what I feel is worth highlighting here: the legal system.
There are three legal systems, completely separated; the civil system, the military system and the Ministry of Interior.
Jerusalem to Ramallah
According to international treaties West Jerusalem is Israeli and East Jerusalem is Palestinian. In reality, there is no border for Israeli citizens between West and East Jerusalem. For Palestinians it is altogether different. Most of them have not citizenship whatsoever; they may have a Palestinian passport but if they want to use it to travel to Israel or abroad, they need a special permission from the Israeli authorities, and these may grant it or not, arbitrarily. They also have to ask for a special permission to travel to East Jerusalem, the part of Jerusalem that the international community in their treaties granted to a future state of Palestine. When the Israeli authorities give this permission, it needs to be renewed periodically if the Palestinian person in question wants to travel to Jerusalem again after the permission expires.
