One Two Three Four We Won't Take it Any More

So I've been thinking about this blog post for well over a week, ever since I went to the town of Ni'lin to witness/participate in their weekly demonstration against the wall Israel is building which is cutting through their land. The demonstrations are a symptom of a much larger cause which is this wall that Israel is building. You can't talk about one without the other yet the issue of the wall is so large that it would require a blog post all it's own. And so I have felt leery about writing about what I was up to at all because I knew that to simply discuss what I had done would not be enough. I felt like you needed to know not only what I was doing there, but why others were there. It's a daunting overwhelming task that I guess I will just try and dive into.

Ni'lin is a city in the West Bank about two hours south west from where I am living. Situated only a few kilometers away from the internationally recognized Green Line, Ni'lin has systematically lost more and more land to Israel and its ever expanding settlements. In total roughly 491 acres, 13% of their land, has been taken away from the Palestinian residents of Ni'lin for Israeli settlements since 1967, without receiving any form of compensation for their loss of property.

Then in 2002 Israel began construction on the separation barrier between itself and the West Bank, which is considered illegal by the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. In 2007/2008 construction on the segment of barrier near Ni'lin began. Once/if finished this wall will take away an additional 625 acres, roughly 20% percent of their land.

Doesn't seem fair does it? The people of Ni'lin don't seem to think so which is why they have organized themselves into doing weekly demonstrations against Israel's actions. Every Friday between 50-150+ people (Palestinians, Israelis, Internationals) come together to tell/show Israel what they are doing is not okay and they will fight for what is theirs.

Upon hearing about what was going on here, both by Israel and Palestinians I decided that I wanted to see for myself what was what. Friday morning, myself along with four other volunteers headed out to Ni'lin. Because there were five of us in total we forced ourselves to squish into one taxi. It was totally Benin all over again. Four anyone who has done PC Benin, you know that four people in the back seat is totally doable, yet with three others who don't know what it means to pousser it can be a challenge. The taxi we hired to take us stopped about half way and put us in another taxi. He said it was because the other taxi was bigger but we think it was more likely he didn't want to take us all the way over there, but change taxis we did and after a rather uncomfortable trip we arrived in our destination.

The taxi let us off at the outskirts of Ni'lin leaving us to walk through the town to where we were all to gather. The streets were lined with paintings of the Palestinian flag and Arabic writing. Asking a fellow volunteer what some of the writing said, I wish I could remember the translation she gave me, but basically it was something along the lines of they will continue to resist, they will continue to struggle against what they consider the unfair occupation of their land. As I write this I don't want to give the impression that this was done in a threatening or violent way. It wasn't, I feel, written as a threat but more as encouragement for each other.

Prior to the demonstration we all gathered so that we could walk in an organized procession towards the wall. Which is where I will leave off and let my pictures do the talking.

Before the demonstration protesters come together to listen to a speaker and pray.

This video is of the beginning of the procession from where we gathered to walking to where the wall is being built.

This is a snap shot of the opening procession.

The procession ended at where the wall is being built.

This is where we walked to. From this angle all you can see is the chain link fence and not the wall that has already been built.

These are a few of who were waiting for us on the other side of the road.

This is left over tear gas canister from one of the previous demonstrations. They litter the ground here. Unfortunately, tear gas is not the only ammunition soldiers have been known to use on the demonstrators. Besides tear gas, soldiers have used rubber bullets, metal bullets covered in rubber and live ammunition. It would be easy for me to leave out that the there was a group of Palestinian youth throwing stones across the road at the soldiers. But I want to try and be as far and honest in what I share with all of you as possible. So yes, kids were chucking some rocks, nothing more. I would be greatly surprised if any of those rocks actually hit anyone. It never appeared to happen, but it is a possibility. So for the first hour or so of the demonstration nothing happened really. After we marched down to the fence and the people made their speech we all just kind of stood around. Well at least that's what it felt like to me, but I was kind of in the back. People closer to the front I am sure were saying things and there were the kids throwing stones. And then the tear gas started. It wasn't constant. It was more like a few here, a few there and then they'd pause for a bit and then just pummel the area with them. The tear gas was a horrible experience but what was more dangers was the fact that the ground was uneven and completely covered with loose uneven rocks so when you run away from the tear gas there is a very good chance you are going to hurt yourself, especially when you can't see due to the gas.

Some random photos from that day:

Upon leaving, someone left one of their signs on the wall itself.

This kid just seemed to be chillin'.


I thought this post was beautiful so I took a picture of it. I asked one of the other volunteers if she recognized it. She said no, but that the writing on it was about national independence.
The houses in the background belong to one of the settlements circling Ni'lin

A guy with a really large flag.

The flag kept making appearances in different areas of the field we were demonstrating in.

At the end of the demonstration a rainbow appeared in the sky. It's kinda light in this picture, but it's there. Maybe a sign of hope?
The area around Ni'lin is beautiful.

learning new social cues

I hate to say it but the two years I lived in Benin I only found a handful of men who were nice because they were nice people and not nice because they wanted something. It never seemed to fail that I would think I had found a new friend and then suddenly they were in love with me and not only that but convenently enough they loved America as well and wouldn't it be wonderful if they went back there with me. If I had accepted every marriage proposal I received while I was there I would probably have over 1000 husbands by now. I would like to say that this didn't change my attitude towards people, that I was able to keep a fresh and open attitude during my entire two years. But after awhile I couldn't help but become cautious and suspicious. You get bitten enough times you should learn your lesson, right? I mean isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. It would have been insanity for me to keep putting myself out there for the local men without the slightest bit of reservation about them.

Unfortunately, this is the frame of mind I have come to Palestine with. I want to make friends with everyone I meet but I know that this is a complicated issue for a number of reasons. One of which being Palestine, like my village in Benin, is a Muslim country so it is difficult for men and women to be friends. Things are thought of you if you are seen alone in the company of a man or a group of men. It is something that can't be helped. But as I said earlier my own frame of mind now regarding men colors any given situation as well. Which is how I found myself in an uncomfortable situation yesterday and today.

Sunday through Wednesday I have three classes a day, 12-1, 2-3, 5:30 -6:30 and it was at the end of my second class that three of my students hung back. I didn't really think much of it at the time. As I was leaving the room they approached me and basically started going on about how good of teach I was and that they really appreciated me teaching them English. Then they asked what could they give me to show their appreciation for my teaching them. I didn't want them giving me anything I said. But they kept on so I said if they wanted to do something for me they could just show up to class every day, that would make me happy. They didn't really like that response. I was a little panicked by this. Was this appropriate? These students are young men, university students. The same rules don't apply for them that apply for say women and/or children. And in Benin you could never accept a gift from a man like this either because to do so would indicate that you are interested in them as well. I didn't want to give these guys the wrong impression but I also didn't understand what this gift would signify.

Then today at the end of the class the same students hung back again and I thought to myself "oh shit, I'm going to really have to deal with this now". They presented me with two gifts, one a bracelet made in the colors of the Palestinian flag and the other was a strand of prayer beads. Very nice, but again I panicked and told them they should give them to their mothers. But they kept on so eventually I gave in and accepted them because I also didn't want to be rude. But what was I saying by taking their gifts?

After they left I went over to the Project Hope office and spoke with the English Program Officer and she assured me that due to the nature of the gifts that it was okay that I accepted these gifts. However, if this kind of stuff continues that then it will become inappropriate. Learning/understanding the culture and social cues for another culture while interesting and fun can also be stressful.

Better Late Than Never, I Guess

You'd think that with constant internet access I would be better about updating this journal. Sorry. I am back to having a real schedule for the first time in over 2 years. So I've been in Nablus for little over a week now and I'm sure most of you are wondering what the heck am I up to. As I wrote in my previous blog I arrived in the pouring rain and was swept up in paper work and a city tour. Since then things have begun to settle down a bit and I guess I'm beginning to find my feet.

Palestine, being a Muslim country is different than the United States in that their weekend tends to be either Thursday/Friday or Friday/Saturday because their holy day is Friday instead of Sunday like us. So when I arrived on a Thursday afternoon I bought myself some time to get adjusted since the office was closed. Friday, the weather was still horrible and because of that and the weekend many shops were not open. However, I had no food to eat in the house and though my roommates said I could eat some of theirs I thought it best to take advantage of two of my flatmates going to one of the shops to buy toilet paper.

Nablus is situated between two Mountains, well I'd call them giant hills but anyway, Nablus lies between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim and the town itself is rather hilly so you can only imagine what it would be like to venture out in the pouring rain. Crossing the street was like trying to cross the Nile it seemed. At one point I was standing on the side walk and right in front of the curb was a fairly fast current of rain water going down the hill so I was looking around trying to find the shallow area for me to step down into. But looking across the road it soon became apparent that no such area existed. Rain was streaming across the entire road so I had better just jump in if I wanted to cross. I bounded across the street the best I could arrived on the other side with wet shoes, wet socks and making a squishy noise as I left a trail of wet foot prints behind me in the grocery store.

The store is nothing remarkable. It's a fair size with an interesting mix of Palestinian, Israeli, US and who knows where else products. It is kinda expensive, but it is nice to be able to find things all in one place and not have to make multiple stops. I bought stuff with the idea of trying to get enough of the basics that I wouldn't have to shop for them for awhile, like a bag of rice, bag of popcorn, several bags of pasta and some other odds and ends. The excursion wasn't very eventful but necessary and it made me feel like I had done something.

The following day was a Saturday. The weather was still crummy but some of the volunteers work at the local rufugee camps/town and two of them asked if I would like to go along with them observe their classes. I jumped at the opportunity because honestly at that point I was terrified. Never having taught English I had no idea what I was getting myself into. We started the day off at Askar Girls School at 8am.

Askar Refugee camp was established in 1950 and is estimated to have 14,629 residents. It's not at all what I expected. I have only walked down the main city street so my judgments/impressions at this point really mean very little. But walking down the street it seems almost like any other street in small town America. Shops line the streets, people bustle from on shop to another, shop owners linger on the side walk talking to customers/friends that they've probably known for years. The school we volunteer at was built by the United Nation and is a school just for girls. It is much bigger than I thought it would be with its four buildings built around a open gym like area that the students use for their "sports" class. My arrive caused a minor stir, first with the head mistress who was eager to recruit me to work in the school from now on and second from the students who all wanted to know my name.

Because we only meet our Saturday students on Saturdays we meet with them for two hours instead of one. I spent the first hour with the volunteer working with the younger age rang. Because Saturday school is not mandatory children are allowed to show up or not show up at will. Sometimes they will bring friends and/or family members with them. That day one of the girls had brought their little sister with her to sit in on the class. The kids were loud and active, just like children are suppose to be. You had some that wanted to pay attention and others that just wanted to hangout with their friends. At the hour mark I went and sat in on another volunteers class. This volunteer was working with older girls and was going to use me for her lesson. She knew the girls would be curious about me so she told them they could ask me questions but I would only answer said question if it was ask correctly. It was fun to see these girls in action. They are a delightful contradiction to the girls I worked with in Benin.

At 10 we left and made our way to another one of the refugee camps. This camp, Balata, is home to over 17,000 residents. However, that is only an estimate and it is possible that the number is actually much higher. Balata was built by the UN to house refugees from the city of Jafa after the war with Israel. At first these people refused the UN's offer. They wanted to return to their homes they didn't want permanent homes to be created for them. So in 1952 the accepted the UN tents.This is a picture of Balata camp early 1950's.

In 1956 these people accepted the UN's offer of building concrete houses to replace the tents they were living in. The school also built by the UN was not as nice as the school in Askar and behavior of the students was generally worse as well. I feel like life in this camp may be harder than that of Askar and perhaps this explains these differences, again I am too new here to know anything for certain.

After leaving Belata we headed to a woman's center in a different area of town. This was the first class that I observed that had both boys and girls mixed together. These were all young children that we were dealing with. It was a fun lesson filled in which we talked about direction words, played pin the tail on the donkey and bingo using pictures of animals. These kids met for only an hour.

At the end of the day I was beat and so thankful to go home.