Well who knew I was sleeping next to the local Mosque, at least in Freetown the prayers did not begin until 5:30 am…not here 4 am! I love it though you know you are not in Canada waking up to that haunting chant.
I couldn’t get back top sleep so I did a little work out in my room, & walked around the streets here. The people are so firendly, the local pita baker grabbed me by the arm, pulled me into his shop, sat me down & fed me hot fresh baked pita. They barely speak English but their hostpitality is so incredible. In Sierra Leone (beside the Kamara’s) people were also very friendly however there always seemed to be the unbderlying feeling that they wanted something & as you know more often than not the pitch was soon to follow. The need was legitimate there however so is this need. here. what they need here is freedom how do you attain freedom? I think back to the Oka crisis in Canada in the 1990’s & the people surrounding area were ready to kill the natives because they had to drive an hour more to get to there destination. Here there is no leaving. Any man under the age of 45 for instance is not allowed into Jerusalem which is in the West Bank & is supposed to be under Palestinian Authority
In Africa they need food, clothes,clean water etc. But at least you can dig for a well, pay to get water in etc. but here what they require is freedom how do you get that? The debate we had this morning is do you go about the peaceful means & turn the other cheek or do you fight back against a far superior force? Depending on the source there are roughly the same amount of Jews & Arabs here (although some sources have the Israeli population as larger by a million) or so people & is rising faster than that of the Palestinians. There is great care taken when crossing the checkpoints that as Westeners we have nothing Arabic or remotely indicating sympathy towards the Palestenians. I will let you knowif the worry was warranted.
What is ironic about the apparteid wall is the horror that was experienced by the Jewish people during the Holocaust & yet there are so many simalarities to what is happening here. What is the solution, what is the solution. Is it naive to think that the world will come to the rescue of these people? Or as they are quick to point out the Israelis have stopped fucking with Hezbollah in Lebanon because they fight back with fury. All I know is every wall here is covered with those ‘martyred’ which contrary to western propaganda does not mean by means of suicide bombing but simply means that they were killed in the struggle in the case of Qusi (the Karama boy who was killed) by an Israeli soldier
What perplexes me is that we value democracy here yet when Israel was created in 48 Jewish people only made up 30% of the population.
I am at the same smoky Internet cafe, Karama’s email is down again. Hopefully my e-mail doesn’t pull another Chris Angel on us!
I was climbing the walls this morning, I was up with the 4 am prayers & couldn’t get to sleep and you know how I am with sitting around. After a little pushup/situp workout in my room and after a morning of socializing with the children, I headed off by myself
As much as our past vacations with Ty on the lake were fun it really can not compare to the depth of being in a place that teeters on the brink.This is really what life is all about every moment is crystal clear & even amongst such discord there is beauty within their human spirit. I have to tell you I absolutely love these people! Words really can not begin to describe the absolute genuine kindness of the Palestinian people. Why is it in places on the earth like Sierra Leone or here in Palestine with every reason to be miserable & awful they seem to be the kindest most loving people. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from people who have nothing. I’ve got to tell you Christie any reservations about the safety among the people here was completely unfounded. Their kindness is authentic. At the Church of the Nativity today a guide pulled me into a souvenir shop & I felt sorry for the guy who was trying so hard to sell me some tacky Jesus stuff. I felt sorry for him for taking up his time & tried to slip him a couple sheckels & he got seriously offended. Here unlike in Mexico or where ever when the hospitality is feigned it comes from the heart here. I did a little coin trick with a couple of kids in the narrow streets that surround the church & flipped the money to them afterwards. Walking away down the street an old man in a dish-dash called me over & in as polite yet firm voice as you could imagine he politely asked me to please not do that (give money to the kids). Merchants run out of the store after you to give you the proper change.
The Apartheid Wall is one of those experiences in life that, if I were a crier, would move one to tears. The smell of death permeates all around the wall. This is not a metaphor as there are dead animal carcasses lying everywhere. When walking the wall I was looking for the grafitti poem that best captured the magnitude of how disappointed I was at that moment to be part of the human race. I mean asa species we are capable of such incredible feats…and then there is this. At any rate I would read some spray painted proverb and it would move me, that is the one only to walk a few meters down to read another more moving phrase.I am sure when I post my pictures (the net is far too slow here to upload pictures and trying uploading when all the prompts & computer text is in Arabic!) it will have the feel of bathroom wall literature as opposed to how I felt at that moment
I began speaking to these two Palestinian boys from the neighbouring Aida Refugee Camp in what little English they could muster. With a little coaxing we got a picture together and I said OK now lets take this one lifting my middle finger, I thought it would be a good one against the man! They simultaneously grabbed my arm & pushed it down saying ‘no no no’. I said ‘Cmon what are they going to do? ‘ No No No’ they insisted putting there hands together as if to get handcuffed the pointed up to the watch towers that rise above the wall every 500 meters or so.. I asked the guys back in Deische & they confirmed with a laugh, ‘no you can’t do that’. Here most of the young men have been arrested or imprisoned at one time or another.One thing you learn the Israelis don’t fuck around.
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