Day 18 – Jaffa, Tel Aviv, & Bethlehem (The End)

Today we would head back to Bethlehem for a farewell party, but not before driving through Tel Aviv and a short tour of Jaffa. Tel Aviv is like another world. The beaches are unbelievable, the people are so relaxed and going about their lives as if they were in LA, and the roads and buildings are modern and very well kept.

 

Jaffa, located right next to Tel Aviv, was once a very vital city of Palestine, up until 1948 when Israel was officially created. Its ports were extremely important in the past, but now it’s a dead city. A lot of the buildings remain to be as they were over 60 years ago, and Israel is just waiting to tear them down and build newer buildings without the Arab inscriptions and Quranic writings over the doorways. One of the delegates, and our friend, has family who comes from Jaffa and the tour guide stopped the bus near what used to be their house. She had a black and white photo of what it used to look like but now it is home to Israeli families. It has been changed into a garage and apartments and although you can tell that the two buildings are one and the same, that building is no longer her grandfather’s home. She knocked on the door, but no one answered.

 

 

A few hours later, we arrived in Bethlehem. We did any last minute shopping that we needed to do and got ready for our farewell party, as well as the first dinner of Ramadan. Today marks the first day of a 30-day period when Muslims all around the world fast from sunup to sunset. Not only do Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, or chewing gum during the day, but it is also a time to reflect on their lives, as well as think about morals, the way they act, and what they hope to improve within themselves. All of the Muslims on the trip, including myself, were hoping to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque for prayer, but unfortunately we’d have to leave that for another visit to Palestine.

We broke our fast together, and enjoyed our last night together with music. We also finalized a project with Aida Refugee Camp; look for a photo exhibition coming your way this upcoming year.

We go our separate ways tomorrow morning, it has been an unbelievable journey and I know we can all agree that we have gotten to know our heritage and feel that Palestine will always be our home!

Day 17 – Haifa & Akko

We started off the day with a tour of Haifa, including a beautiful church and university in Haifa. Across the street from the church is another church, but it has been transformed into a military base by the Israeli government. Our guide warned us not to take any pictures of the building because any device we use would be broken as soon as the Israelis got their hands on it… We took pictures anyways.

Haifa is absolutely gorgeous, and is home to what are known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, which are garden terraces that lie on the side of a hill. They surround a shrine and the view from the top as well as from the bottom is absolutely breathtaking.

 

We hung out with some youth during the next part of our trip and explored another Mosque and ruins in Akko. We all then walked the streets of the market until we reached the dock and got on a boat together. As we rode on the Mediterranean Sea, we danced and laughed and enjoyed the breeze from the sea. It was the first time we began to realize the trip would be ending so soon. Tomorrow would be our last day in Palestine.

     

Day 16 – Nazareth

We are almost three weeks into the trip and near the end, sadly, and so it is time to view what Palestinians who live on current Israeli territory must go through. We left Ramallah with Nazareth as our next destination, but not without a little bit of difficulty. While passing through a major checkpoint in Jerusalem to get to Nazareth, one of the girls on our trip was stopped. She is the only girl on our trip who has Palestinian ID along with an American passport. When you have a Palestinian ID, depending on the type of ID, you are not allowed to enter certain parts of Israeli territory created with regards to the 1948 and 1967 borders. Israelis have on record any person who owns a Palestinian ID and who was born in Palestinian occupied territory, and therefore our friend with the Palestinian ID did not enter Israel/Palestine using her American passport since they would have known that she owns a Palestinian ID. She entered with that ID, and received her visa in that document. Her type of ID does not allow her to enter Jerusalem or Israel technically, and she knew when she committed to the trip, that there was a possibility that she would be stopped and that she’d have to stay behind as we continued with our journey.

When we were at the Jerusalem checkpoint on the way to Nazareth, the soldiers on duty at the time entered the bus asking to see everyone’s passport and she held up her American passport in order to get through. However, unlike our luck entering Jerusalem earlier in the trip, the soldiers actually looked through each person’s passport searching for the visas we received at the Israeli-Jordanian borders. She did not have one like the rest of us and so they began to question her on where her visa was. She played dumb and showed her US driver’s license and made sure to speak in an American accent. They called her off the bus and refused to let anybody accompany her as six to seven soldiers surrounded her interrogating her for a full 15-20 minutes. Our leaders felt helpless and we just sat in the bus nervously waiting what would happen next.

They refused to let her through. They held on to her passport until the bus turned around and exited the checkpoint.

Our leaders, however, refused to let this be the only and final attempt out of the West Bank and told the bus driver to take us through another checkpoint. We drove through this checkpoint without even a soldier entering the bus. It was that simple and we finally realized that it truly is all about luck. We can only pray and hope that no one stops us while we are in Israeli territory with somebody in our group owning Palestinian ID, just like we had to pray and hope to get through to the other side.

As we began to make our way into former Palestinian territory, we began to notice a huge difference in the way the roads and land is taken care of. The streets were no longer bumpy, the sidewalks were clearly defined, and there was no trash on the sides of the streets. Things were much better taken care of on this side, and it was sad to think that it is not the same in the West Bank.

We arrived to Nazareth, an unbelievably gorgeous city in-between mountains north of the West Bank. Nazareth is one of the largest cities in terms of population, and although it is technically under Israeli rule, the majority of people living there are originally Palestinian.  However, like I said, the infrastructure is much more advanced in these areas as opposed to the Palestinian occupied territory. It is amazing to see how these people refused to move when the Israelis initially came in to occupy the land. They held their stance and continue to live where all their ancestors lived, even though they cannot call this land theirs.

We visited a couple holy sites before heading out to hang out with some youth who came in from the West Bank. There were some encouraging talks, as well as another Debke show by the youth, and we all had dinner together outside in the beautiful weather of Nazareth.

Day 14 & 15 – Nablus & Tulkarem

We started off the day visiting another couple holy sights, including Joseph’s tomb and Jacob’s well which are located in Nablus. Joseph’s Tomb is an extremely holy site for Jews as it is the site of the final resting place of Joseph and his two sons, and while it is currently under the control of the Palestinian National Authority, Israel is fighting hard for this site and we were warned that this might be the last time we’d be able to visit this place before it would be under Israeli authority.

We then had a short lecture from the Palestinian Stock Exchange, which was another excellent example of how Palestinians are succeeding even under occupation. They also show how Palestine is moving into becoming a thriving economy, where hopefully foreigners will be interested in buying property and products from Palestine, as well as most of the Palestinians who now live as Diaspora.

Once we finished our meetings, it was time to separate from one another for a full 24 hours. Time for our home stays! If you had family, you went to stay with them for the night, and otherwise a family will host you. My brother and I got picked up by our grandmother’s sister and headed to her place in Nablus, where the entire Hajji family awaited us with Milokhia (Arab dish with rice and spinach… Very delicious I swear). I began practicing my Arabic, which needs a lot of work but just having heard it for the past couple weeks has made such a difference in terms of vocabulary and understanding conversations. I was just getting comfortable and keeping conversation with these unbelievably sweet ladies, when my grandfather’s siblings arrived to take us to Tulkarem to spend time at their home. Tulkarem is a good half hour and checkpoint away from Nablus. A car had been stopped on the side of the road with Israeli cops surrounding the man and his vehicle as we made our way, and the whole car went silent as we passed. Everyone was praying that we wouldn’t be stopped. Thank god, we made it all the way to my grandfather’s hometown.

The family Barkawi is orginally from a village in between Tulkarem and Nablus called Burka. However, my great grandfather moved to Tulkarem a long time ago for work and just never left, so now anyone remotely closely related to me lives in Tulkarem even though all of Burka has my last name.

I met cousins and great aunts that I have no memory of, and was shown my grandfather’s house and the town. My cousins were so excited as they gave us a tour of the downstairs and upstairs of where they live, and made hilarious jokes of where I stayed when I was a kid… apparently I refused to sleep anywhere but with my parents during my only visit when I was 8 years old. Last time I came, my cousin was trying to play a game with me on some steps, and she was telling me to stand up but kept saying sit down, and so I was sitting and she just kept telling me to sit down… then her friend came and told her she was saying it wrong and we both started to laugh. During my trip this time, she pointed out the stairs and we were laughing hysterically thinking about the story. We hung out on the roof and saw a refugee camp that is across the street from where my family lives and although we didn’t see it during the daytime, on top of the highest building in Tulkarem, you can see the sea on the other side of the wall in the distance.

 

The food is amazing, the welcome is full of sincerity, and the company is worth the world. There is no awkwardness, no feelings of stupidity as people try to understand each other with such a difficult language barrier… Conversation is easy, and during both visits in Nablus and Tulkarem, there were people our age to keep us company… Cousins of some sort :p

The night and day following passed by unbelievably quickly, and we were taken back to Ramallah with bags full of herbs, olives, and gifts as per usual with Arab families. I left with such an amazing feeling in my heart and with so much gratitude for the remarkable people that I got to spend time with and call my family. So much generosity and happiness in their lives regardless of the restrictions and hardships they have undergone. A simple life, but a life full of accomplishment and love.

Day 13 – Nablus

Off to Nablus today! We checked in upon arrival and then immediately went to Al-Najah University. The Youth Exchange Program Coordinator welcomed us and gave us two presentations on how living in an occupied territory has affected the college and education in general for Palestinians, along with a tour of the campus. The campus in Nablus has absolutely stunning sites as it is on top of as mountain and overlooks a valley and other mountains. The school is host to roughly 2000 students within four campuses. However, it has been difficult during the occupation. The students and faculty have been harassed, separated from getting an education, and even worse, killed. With the building of the wall, students could not make it to class and teachers would secretly visit them to catch them up, even if the student lived in Hebron, which is a good 2-3 hour drive south from Nablus. Our lecturer also wrote an excellent book that contains stories from real people and their experiences that were cause by the 1948 catastrophe. He has a free downloadable PDF version online and I definitely recommend it.

Nakba Witnesses (Downloadable PDF)

 

 

We then headed to the Old City of Nablus, where a huge bazaar/souk awaited us. We toured a soap factory; Nablus is known for their olive oil soap, which is very healthy for your skin since it is all-natural and is also known to help with pimples. We walked through the alleyways of the old city, bought spices, and did even more shopping before having lunch at a cute restaurant located in the midst of this huge souk.

   

Not only that, but we got to eat Nablus’ famous Kanafeh, one of the best sweets ever created by mankind. Not only is Nablus known for making the best Kanafeh, but is also in the Guinness Book of World Records as the location where the biggest Kanafeh was ever made.

Not wasting any time, we departed the old city and headed to a Refugee Camp called Asqa. This particular refugee camp is the most populated in such a small available land. The alleyways were so tight that we had to walk one by one. The houses towered over us and made us feel claustrophobic. The streets smelled of sewage and rotten eggs and kids were playing around in torn clothing and used-up shoes.

   

   

There was a summer camp running right outside the refugee camp, but only for kids who’s parents were martyrs. The leaders of the summer camp had them doing exercises and creating poems to share for everyone, and at certain moments they’d yell in Arabic “MY FATHER WAS A MARTYR AND DIED AS A GIFT TO PALESTINE!” It was sad to watch, and a bit worrying knowing what they have to grow up knowing about how their parents died and what that might signify in their own lives. But even though these kids don’t have much to live for, they were having the best time singing and performing and chasing the leaders who were dressed up as clowns.

 

We then visited the Samaritan community on a hill next to Nablus. One of the oldest societies still surviving, they are currently a total of 750 people and only associate among themselves. They only marry among themselves and refuse to travel or leave their mountain. Although it is a Jewish society, they remain neutral between the Israelis and Palestinians. The difference between them and Israeli Jews is that they believe in their holy mountain on which they live on as their holy site as opposed to Jerusalem. However, they have odd beliefs that are related to astronomy and told us their predictions of 2012 using their knowledge of the stars and space as their proof.

Our night ended at another refugee camp with dinner and a Debke show done by the kids who live there. Such funny children, they love joking around and taking pictures!

 

 

Day 12 – Ramallah

Today was another chill day, with only half the day planned with a couple meetings and the remaining rest of the day free to explore Ramallah. Our first meeting was at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, where we had a lecture on how they help Palestine from a medical stance. Our second meeting was with Nabeel Sha’eth, a member of the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) delegation and former Prime Minister. His talk gave us a huge insight on politics in Palestine and what the PLO is hoping to accomplish in the next few months with regards to gaining a seat in the UN as a territory. If it is successful, Palestine will begin to get recognition from the rest of the world, and although people argue that gaining that seat is acknowledging Israel’s current occupation, the PLO is optimistic and hopeful. On our way to lunch, we stopped at the Presidential compound and saw Yaser Arafat’s grave.

We had lunch together and then went off into Ramallah for a day of shopping and hanging out. Ramallah is known for a particular ice-cream place called Rukab, where they use mistaka (an Arabic gum) to make the ice-cream very stretchy. So delicious!

Here are some photo’s of downtown Ramallah:

We shopped till about 8 pm and then met up together at the hotel to have dinner together outside. We decided on a restaurant on top of Caesar Hotel that overlooks all of Ramallah. We all ordered food and smoked some arguileh and then headed home so we wake up bright and early to head out to our next destination: Nablus.

Day 11 – Birzeit & Ramallah

Today began at Birzeit University with a lecture on the history of Palestine, followed by a tour of the campus. Palestinians have suffered a lot in the past 60 years, and unfortunately have a long way to go.

 

We then headed to a presentation of Paltel Group and Paltel Group Foundation… Another example of success in Palestine even though the country is currently under occupation. Currently the largest company in Palestine, Paltel Group and the Paltel Group Foundation deals with operations in Palestine, and along with Jawwal, they provide the best form of telecommunications between all the citizens. They also are partnering with HCEF to build calling centers that will be available to anyone in this region, and we were able to witness the signing of their contract.

 

They provided us with lunch and we headed back to the hotel to rest before another exciting event… Debke lessons! Debke is a cultural dance that Palestinians are known for, as well as Syrians and Lebanese people. We split up into two groups for the workshop and had so much fun learning how the pros Debke. Our group leader definitely laughed at us several times, but totally worth the humiliation. :p

We then watched a movie called “Jenin Jenin” which is a short indie film documenting what has happened in the refugee camp Jenin because of the Israeli occupation. Very good watch to see the atrocities that the people have gone through.

After the movie, we watched the professional Debke team called Al Funoun Group practice. They are currently the best Debke group in Palestine, with two teams, a younger and older team, with over 100 people involved. They joined us for dinner after their practice at a cute restaurant with seating outside and arguileh.

Today was a more chill day… Which we probably all needed after such a busy couple weeks.

Day 10 – Al-Aqsa/Dome of the Rock, Al-Rihan, & Ramallah

At 1 a.m. my roommate wakes me up telling me I need to get up and pack my bags… People found bed bugs in their rooms. Welcome to the Bilad :p our morning trip to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock was made optional but totally worth it if you forced yourself up.

Since it was initially thought that everyone would be attending, we went through the visitor’s entrance, so that the Christians would be able to enter (Muslims and Jews are able to enter through other entrances since it’s their holy site). There was quite a long line and once we got to the front we had to go through security and some questioning. The Israeli soldier questioning us took longer to evaluate us compared to the other tourists because some girls in our group were wearing hijabs, but we got through which is all that matters.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is absolutely stunning. Mosaics cover the interior with stain glass windows and gorgeous woodwork. According to Islam, the Prophet Mohammad traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem on a beast of some sort, which back then was unheard of. There the prophet ascended to heaven and a rock began moving with him until he told it to stop and it stayed suspended in the air. That rock is what is in the Dome of the Rock, which is across from Al-Aqsa Mosque. There is a story that says that a pregnant lady was walking by the floating rock and got so scared that she had a miscarriage, and because of her, people built a foundation around the rock, which is still in use now. The huge wall, what the Jews call the Wailing Wall, also marks the beast that the prophet had ridden from Mecca to Jerusalem. According to Judaism however, this wall surrounds the Jewish Temple’s courtyard and is currently a holy site for Jews to pray and achieve pilgrimage.

While we were enjoying this tremendous site, the rest of our group was packing and checking out of our emergency hotel and heading out to our next destination so we grabbed shawarmas (as per usual) and took off to meet them. We arrived at a construction site where Al Rihan Housing Project was taking place. Each residence is priced relative to what Palestinians can afford and allows for people to live much more comfortably. It is another way that Palestinians are improving their quality of life, as well as their economy. We were then given another gift, trees that we plant dedicated to us. Once the new community is fully built, these same trees will show our names to anyone who passes them.

They provided lunch and we headed back to the hotel for a break before heading out to the Latin Convent in Ramallah for dinner with local youth. They provided dinner and another DJ who played music throughout the night. Another fun night of socializing, eating, and dancing… Another amazing ending to our day.

Day 9 – Jerusalem, Ramallah, & Birzeit

Our group decided to take the morning off until 1 pm to enjoy the old city of Jerusalem before heading off to Ramallah. One of the girls in our group has an uncle who owns an amazing falafel/hummus/foul place in the souk and so we all went together to enjoy another delicious breakfast. He was unbelievably generous and refused to let us pay no matter how much we bugged… Typical arab stubbornness :p

To continue our cultural experience, two of my friends and I underwent the ultimate experience… Going to the salon! Salons located all over Falasteen, as well as the rest of the middle east, are very important icons of Arab culture (in all seriousness). We blow-dried are hair straight and grabbed shawarmas on the way back home. For those who don’t know, shawarmas are amazing sandwiches with skewered chicken or meat and typically with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and sometimes French fries.

Next stop: Abu Jihad Museum for the Prisoner’s Movement Affairs. This museum is dedicated to all the men and women who have suffered and still suffer because of the unjust treatment caused by the Israeli’s in their prisons. It is a showcase of photos that display images of torture as well as symbols of the prisoner’s movement. It is also a display of the creative bi-products of undergoing their experiences and a library for research on the top floor of the museum. My heart wept inside while reading the trauma women underwent in particular because all I could think about was my mother or grandmother having to go through the horridness. It is no longer unusual for women to give birth in prison and no communication between child and parent for years.

We then headed to the Birzeit Senior Citizen Center, where they prepared a surprise for us. Two of our group members are currently engaged and so the seniors decided to create a pretend Palestinian wedding with national dress and music. Best pretend wedding I have ever attended :p

We hung out awhile with these unbelievably experienced individuals for a bit before heading out with some of the youth from Birzeit… Birzeit by the way is gorgeous,we couldn’t help but take a few pictures in the sunset.

The youth had set up a patio overlooking the mountains of Birzeit with a stage and stereo system. Men started passing out arguilehs (hookahs) while someone began performing on stage. A debke began and before we know it, a party started outside in Birzeit. Funnest night hands down.

Day 8 – Jericho, Dead Sea, & Jerusalem

Today was a more relaxed day. We drove to Jericho and visited Hisham’s Palace, Temptation Mountian, and the Old City of Jericho. Hisham’s Palace was designed for the Umayyads at the time as their winter home, since Jericho is a warmer city in Palestine. It is the only archaeological site that contains the largest mosaic leftover after all these years. Mount of Temptation is where Jesus Christ was tempted by the Devil twice, although the exact location is not known.

We then departed to the Dead Sea and enjoyed this unique location for a couple hours before heading back to Jerusalem. It is the lowest elevation on Earth at 423 meters below sea level, and 33.7% filled with salt unlike any other body of water on this planet. Recently, however, the Dead Sea has been shrinking because water has been diverted by the Jordan River. No solution has been made just yet.

We got the rest of the night off, when we arrived back in Jerusalem, and basically roamed the streets of Jerusalem till we got tired and needed to come back… Unbelievable city!