Day 111: What I saw in Palestine… - Bethlehem, Palestine

(Him: Charlie)

The Palestine/Israel conflict makes news every other day, but until being here in person, I have to admit that I am quite oblivious about the true situation. What I have witnessed here, Israel or Palestine depending on who you speak to, is a one-sided tragedy that everyone should know about…

The plot of land, bounded by Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, used to be Palestine. After the WWII, the British who controlled the area at the time, allowed Jewish people in Diaspora to settle on this land. Over the next few years, the massive immigration continued grew, and on 1948, the State of Israel was founded, within the land of Palestine, and has been here ever since. The Jewish people believe this is the “promised land” given by god, but Palestinians and the Arabic nations believe that the Jewish people stole their land.

Fast forward to a few wars later, Israel managed to triple its size, and displaced millions of Palestinians from the Israeli area. Today, Palestinians in the area mostly reside in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and even these areas are under strict controls by the Israelis.

On our trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, we witnessed a lot of unfair treatment to Palestinians. We saw the Palestinians were being yelled at while crossing the border from Jordan. We passed through numerous check-points that were set up to restrict the movement of Palestinians. We witnessed the segregation walls and electric fences between West Bank and Israel. Apparently, these fences and walls were erected well into the Palestinian territories based on the internationally recognized border. We also witnessed pockets of Israeli settlements inside the West Bank, which are fenced and secured by armed forces. Apparently, Israel has a long record of human right violations.

In talking to some Palestinians, they feel helpless about the current situation. Undoubtedly, Israel is overpowering Palestine, who is in dire poverty. It is ashamed that the Arabs lost so badly in previous wars against Israel and conceded so much land, but Palestinians these days are happy just to have a full control of the land they have, namely West Bank and Gaza Strip, and carry on with life. On the other hand, Israel doesn’t seem to keen on loosening its grip on Palestinians’ neck. To get a sense of what Israel is thinking, we bought of copy of the Jerusalem post, and we found it rife with articles about the Israel/Arabic politics and there’s even an article criticizing the two-state solution.

To me, as an outsider, the two-station solution is the best solution for the current situation for a couple of simple reasons. 1. Israel can say what they want about the “promised land”, but they took it away from the Palestinians after all. 2. Ideally, it would be nice to integrate the two communities and share the land, but given the historical problems, it would be wise to each have their own area to avoid mass displacement.