Today is all about interviews. Having spent last night working on questions to ask the farmers we will meet the first job is to get them printed off so we can refer to them while interviewing.
A taxi takes us to Bethlehem because all of the car pool cars are in use. It manages to get the whole way there without passing through a checkpoint. The one checkpoint we do pass through is unmanned. This is not to say that movement is free. There are many cars and people not even allowed to travel the roads we take, and tunnels we go under to get there.
We arrive a quickly head to the mountain where we meet to farmers, cousins, and their families. These families have both helped rebuild their own huts following support from World Vision. As I'm about to spend the night transcribing the conversations we had there, I won't go into them. The land and their work as farmers is simple. But just up the road from their farms life gets very complicated. Most of the farmers have already had land confiscated by Israel for the building of a road and tunnel, their fear is that the rest of it will be taken to build and Israeli settlement.
Aside from this there is the issue of the wall. Currently we can pass freely between Beit Jala and the mountain because there is one checkpoint and the wall is not complete. However the completed wall will completely sever the people from their land.
Most of the farmers live in Beit Jala town centre but rely on the farm land more and more as a source of food to sustain their family and some secondary income.
We spend the afternoon walking between farms, and visiting different castles, in total we meet with three different families one of which is preparing to celebrate a wedding. The Palestinian girl is marrying a man she met whilst working in Germany and once the wedding is over she will move back to Germany with him. It is common for young people to leave the area seeking a better life.
One of the things she tells us is that she is most sorry for her mother, who grew up in occupation, and will die in occupation, and who never in her whole life experienced freedom, as she had in Germany.
These interviews are interesting and we take photos, afterwards, their generosity and hospitality is amazing and we are made to feel completely at home, and completely relaxed.
After taking pages and pages of notes we return to the Mount of Olives where I write this. This evening we will play volleyball and eat and drink in a cafe which is within the grounds of the place we are staying in.
We have many notes to transcribe and I envisage a late night. Tomorrow morning is free- and it looks like we'll need it!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Day 2- Tuesday
We have slept 13 hours, but I still sleep in and am very nearly late for our first full day.
I stuff two peices of bread with Nuttella on them into my cool bag, insert that to my bigger back pack and head to the office for the days briefing.
Soon we are off to Bethlehem where we meet the members of the office there, including Civil Engineers who are doing all the re-design work for the area, sponsorship people, and the area directors.
After some sweet Arabic Coffee and a lot of questions from me and Camilla we head out in a car to visit the Al Markour Mountain area of Beit Jala ( a village near Bethlehem) where we will be working. I loose all sense of direction once we get into the winding streets of Bethlehem but or Translator (who also happens to manage the project) guides us surely through.
Once there we visit a few of the rennovated Castles. These castles (they're more like stones huts for temporary accomodation of animals and people) are used by the farmers to cultivate the land more efficiently during key seasons. Oncce the wall is completed they won't be able to visit the land as readily and an ability to stay overnight will be invaluable.
We also travel along some of the new roads others of which are in dire state of repair.
It is a boiling 35 degrees, but the cool air trapped inside the various castles we visit is a great felief. An eduring memory is standing within the simple living accomodation and staring out over the rows and rows of trees. The farmers must be very proud, and feel lucky to farm this land.
We meet one such farmer I'll call him Emad. We share freshly picked almonds with him and listen to his story. Hearing him talk gives us some really clear gudiance as to what questions we will ask over the next few days.
His castle is quite well off, it already has electricity and a bathroom, more advanced than the other that the project is helping. Tomorrow we will interview him in more detail and his family as well, for now we sit drinking sweet tea and over look the beautifull scenery of the Mountain.
We stop for falafel in a small on the road side restaraunt, it is my first of the trip and is deliciously filling, and full of good things. I love falafel and it really picks me up!
We pay a quick visit to the Church of the Nativity (where Christ is said to hav been born), which is a nice building but filled with very pious tourists and less than pious flash cameras at every turn. I'm also put off slightly by the tour guides who are uncomfortable not because they are aggressive, but because they are desperate.
A further trip to the Shepherds field is cancelled due to closure. Another activity, a trip to a refugee camp is also cancelled because no one can get in touch with the leader there. The last cancellation is a particular disapointment, but we are learning very quickly to be flexible.
We spend some time atthe office reading all of the background information and thinking of questions before going back to jerusalem.
Here we quickly get changed out of our sweat drenched clothes and head right back out again for dinner and shopping with some friends who are taking good care of us on this trip.
Finally we're at home writing up our questions before another full day tomorrow.
The sun is sapping our strength quickly during the day, so an early night will be very important.
Still no gin and tonic.
I stuff two peices of bread with Nuttella on them into my cool bag, insert that to my bigger back pack and head to the office for the days briefing.
Soon we are off to Bethlehem where we meet the members of the office there, including Civil Engineers who are doing all the re-design work for the area, sponsorship people, and the area directors.
After some sweet Arabic Coffee and a lot of questions from me and Camilla we head out in a car to visit the Al Markour Mountain area of Beit Jala ( a village near Bethlehem) where we will be working. I loose all sense of direction once we get into the winding streets of Bethlehem but or Translator (who also happens to manage the project) guides us surely through.
Once there we visit a few of the rennovated Castles. These castles (they're more like stones huts for temporary accomodation of animals and people) are used by the farmers to cultivate the land more efficiently during key seasons. Oncce the wall is completed they won't be able to visit the land as readily and an ability to stay overnight will be invaluable.
We also travel along some of the new roads others of which are in dire state of repair.
It is a boiling 35 degrees, but the cool air trapped inside the various castles we visit is a great felief. An eduring memory is standing within the simple living accomodation and staring out over the rows and rows of trees. The farmers must be very proud, and feel lucky to farm this land.
We meet one such farmer I'll call him Emad. We share freshly picked almonds with him and listen to his story. Hearing him talk gives us some really clear gudiance as to what questions we will ask over the next few days.
His castle is quite well off, it already has electricity and a bathroom, more advanced than the other that the project is helping. Tomorrow we will interview him in more detail and his family as well, for now we sit drinking sweet tea and over look the beautifull scenery of the Mountain.
We stop for falafel in a small on the road side restaraunt, it is my first of the trip and is deliciously filling, and full of good things. I love falafel and it really picks me up!
We pay a quick visit to the Church of the Nativity (where Christ is said to hav been born), which is a nice building but filled with very pious tourists and less than pious flash cameras at every turn. I'm also put off slightly by the tour guides who are uncomfortable not because they are aggressive, but because they are desperate.
A further trip to the Shepherds field is cancelled due to closure. Another activity, a trip to a refugee camp is also cancelled because no one can get in touch with the leader there. The last cancellation is a particular disapointment, but we are learning very quickly to be flexible.
We spend some time atthe office reading all of the background information and thinking of questions before going back to jerusalem.
Here we quickly get changed out of our sweat drenched clothes and head right back out again for dinner and shopping with some friends who are taking good care of us on this trip.
Finally we're at home writing up our questions before another full day tomorrow.
The sun is sapping our strength quickly during the day, so an early night will be very important.
Still no gin and tonic.
Day 1- Monday
We spend the night travlling with little sleep. As well as being delayed as we leave Zurich the queues at the passport control of Israel are choc a bloc. We inch forward through the crowds and I keep thinking to myself how I already miss the British ability to queue.
We are questioned twice as we enter, once, cursory, at the passport control desk, and a second time, more personally as we walk toward the baggage reclaim. For reasons unknown we are pulled to one side and quizzed as to where we are going, wo we are staying with, how we know each other.
In the end we are two hours late arriving at the Hospital where we will be staying on the Mount of Olives. Oh yes, and it's very very hot- already- and it's 5 in the morning!
We are greeted by various sleepy people and luckily work out which room is our. The room is big, and the bed good. We have an en suite bathroom and are sharing with a Canadian family.
We pass out.
We wake up at 1pm for a quick induction, including security training and issuing of mobile phones etc. and a chance to meet and greet the people of the office, we also go through the project we will be covering in more detail.
We go for coffe and a sandwich at Aroma in Hebrew University. The University admits both Arab adn Israeli students, although there are a lot more Israelis than Arabs. The coffee and sandwich are delcious! (I have portobello mushroom).
Back at the flat we quickly find oursleves caught up in a Basket ball game in which Camilla and a 6ft 6 Candian guy beat three of us in three consequtive games (the shame). Camilla used to play for a team, and I get the feeling basketball will form a large part of any evening sports, although personally my ears prick up when I hear that one of the people has built a frisbee golf course (much more my style). it's very windy.
After a good game and a nice sit down and chat enjoying the spectacular views of this amazing landscape we feel thoroughly at home and ready for a bed/a drink as no one takes us up on the drink we turn in and are in bed by eight thirty for 13 hours sleep.
We are taken to a local palestinian supermarket to buy groceries and other such stuff for the time we are here. I'm confused by the choice, or lack of, but in the end settle for some basics including rice and pasta, some luxuries including Pringles and Pistachios, and some neccessities like toilet roll and water.
We are questioned twice as we enter, once, cursory, at the passport control desk, and a second time, more personally as we walk toward the baggage reclaim. For reasons unknown we are pulled to one side and quizzed as to where we are going, wo we are staying with, how we know each other.
In the end we are two hours late arriving at the Hospital where we will be staying on the Mount of Olives. Oh yes, and it's very very hot- already- and it's 5 in the morning!
We are greeted by various sleepy people and luckily work out which room is our. The room is big, and the bed good. We have an en suite bathroom and are sharing with a Canadian family.
We pass out.
We wake up at 1pm for a quick induction, including security training and issuing of mobile phones etc. and a chance to meet and greet the people of the office, we also go through the project we will be covering in more detail.
We go for coffe and a sandwich at Aroma in Hebrew University. The University admits both Arab adn Israeli students, although there are a lot more Israelis than Arabs. The coffee and sandwich are delcious! (I have portobello mushroom).
Back at the flat we quickly find oursleves caught up in a Basket ball game in which Camilla and a 6ft 6 Candian guy beat three of us in three consequtive games (the shame). Camilla used to play for a team, and I get the feeling basketball will form a large part of any evening sports, although personally my ears prick up when I hear that one of the people has built a frisbee golf course (much more my style). it's very windy.
After a good game and a nice sit down and chat enjoying the spectacular views of this amazing landscape we feel thoroughly at home and ready for a bed/a drink as no one takes us up on the drink we turn in and are in bed by eight thirty for 13 hours sleep.
We are taken to a local palestinian supermarket to buy groceries and other such stuff for the time we are here. I'm confused by the choice, or lack of, but in the end settle for some basics including rice and pasta, some luxuries including Pringles and Pistachios, and some neccessities like toilet roll and water.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Prelude- 26th July
Following a tourist visit to Jerusalem in March of 2007 where we spent time with family, myself and my fiance Camilla were given the opportunity to re-visit Jerusalem to do advocacy work for a charity.
The charity have been working on a project with the farmers of Beit Jala (a village in Bethlehem) to help them maintain and work their farm lands following the construction of an Israeli sceurity wall.
During our stay, as well as touring the area extensively we will interview a series of stakeholders in this project to assess the impact the work has had on the lives of the people affected by the building of the wall.
This blog will diarise each day we are there and will include personnal views on the experiences we have. These views are not in any way endorsed by the charity.
The charity have been working on a project with the farmers of Beit Jala (a village in Bethlehem) to help them maintain and work their farm lands following the construction of an Israeli sceurity wall.
During our stay, as well as touring the area extensively we will interview a series of stakeholders in this project to assess the impact the work has had on the lives of the people affected by the building of the wall.
This blog will diarise each day we are there and will include personnal views on the experiences we have. These views are not in any way endorsed by the charity.
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