My thought provoking trip to Palestine

I have been back in the US for three weeks now.  And of course, I find myself thinking about my trip. Both in a micro way (i.e. things I don’t need or use when traveling) and a macro way. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to travel blog. So many people travel blog now, and it makes me question things like buying followers or influence.  What is the purpose of travel blogging, and how should I tell my narrative?  The narrative became a particular question, after I visited Palestine, specifically Bethlehem in the Occupied Territory of the West Bank.

Now, I don’t want to get too political in this post, but I do want to share my experiences and how it moved me.  Everyone is probably minimally familiar with the issues surrounding Israel and Palestine.  It’s complicated. Something that every U.S. president would try to tackle. Instead of trying to explain it, I found this link while researching. It offers good information on the history and what the different cities mean to the different states.

Israel & Palestine: an unclear story

Suffice it to say, there is a lot that connects the peoples on both side. Conversely, there is a lot that separates them as well.  Media largely focuses their stories on Israel by highlighting atrocities carried out by Palestinians.  However, we can all agree that media bias is a real thing. What is broadcast may not necessarily be the truth.

Also, I believe that some people cannot differentiate Israel as a sovereign state and people of the Jewish faith. Oftentimes, criticizing Israel politically brings about allegations of antisemitism.  Let’s be completely clear here and now.  I don’t care about people’s religious affiliations.  But I do care that both sides are fighting a war, which ultimately involve innocent civilians on both sides. 

Unfortunately, Israel has been expanding their reach into the Palestinian territories through the establishment of settlements and the building of walls. 

This has not gone unnoticed by international organizations:

Dec 2016: Israel’s Settlements Have No Legal Validity, Constitute Flagrant Violation of International Law, [UN] Security Council Reaffirms

July 2014: Ban [Ki-Moon] says Israel’s construction of West Bank wall violates international law, fuels Mid-East tensions

July 2004: International Court of Justice finds Israeli barrier in Palestinian territory is illegal

The topic of Israel & Palestine is a heated one indeed. Either covertly or blatantly, many people voice their opinion on it.  I remember reminding my tour guide in Jerusalem that I would be leaving the tour in Bethlehem (Palestine) and staying there. He responded, “But why would you do that?”

Or when I posted the below photo on Instagram, showing bullet holes in the door to an elementary school, in a Palestinian refugee camp.  It was merely days after the Parkland shooting in the US, and I was feeling very emotional about school shootings.

This is the first comment that I received on the photo: “Only if the Palestinians make sure not to put their children as human targets in front of them which [they’re] known to do.”

STOP RIGHT NOW.

An American woman that regularly corresponds with me on Instagram made this comment. Immediately after she commented, I deleted it and disabled commenting on the photo. It really upset me.  Keeping an open mind is so important.  This is not about the politics. THIS IS ABOUT THE INNOCENT PEOPLE.  INNOCENT CHILDREN.  You also cannot make a sweeping comment like that as if all people on one side of a war are guilty.

Below is the visual story of my experience in and around Bethlehem. I’m grateful for the experience. I thank Banksy for opening a hotel there and bringing much needed light to this situation.

{For photos of what the checkpoint at the border is like, see the end of my post on Jerusalem, here}

The Occupied Territory of the West Bank, i.e. Palestinian Territory

I first became interested in visiting the West Bank when Banksy opened a real, but tongue in cheek hotel called the Walled-Off Hotel (a pun on the Waldorf Hotel).  Famous for its proximity to the separation wall, the Walled-Off Hotel offers views of the wall that divides Jerusalem (Israel) with Bethlehem (West Bank, Palestine). The separation wall and hotel are neighbors. While I did enjoy my stay at Banky’s hotel, this post focuses on my trip to a nearby refugee camp and my walk along the separation wall itself.

To introduce the wall, here is a 9 minute YouTube video, of me walking along the wall.  The wall itself is covered in graffiti and includes guard towers every so often.  Built by Israel for the security and safety of their citizens, it is physically impossible to scale the wall.

I walked along the path below, in yellow. Strangely enough, Google Maps’ satellite version does not show the presence of a wall there.  The map’s street view, however, does.

Walking Tour of the Refugee Camp

The hotel arranges tours of a refugee camp along with a history of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.  The main takeaways are:

• While the actual border of Palestinian lands are 400 km, Israel built 700 km worth of walls.  To me, that’s not border protection.
• The symbol of the refugee camp is a key. When Israeli forces raided these villages, the Palestinians did not pack any of their belongings with them and only brought the key to their home.  Reason being, they honestly thought they would return home after a few days.  Generations later, these people are still refugees and were not able to return to their home, which is now on land occupied by the Israelis.

I’m not going to say much more in this post, save for a few explanations.  I’ll let the photos speak for itself.

Beyond the Wall

The photo above shows a Muslim cemetery, along the Palestinian side of the wall.  Israeli Defense Forces man the guard tower in the background. They regularly throw trash and bottles of piss directly into the cemetery.  How do I know?  All of the packaging of the trash, is in Hebrew, not Arabic.

This is the wall inside the refugee camp.  Almost on a daily basis, the locals will set fire to some trash beneath the guard tower to smoke out the IDF guards.  In return, the Israelis fire gunfire upon them.  About 100 feet from where I took this photo, is the school from the Instagram post earlier.

Conclusions

This is only a glimpse into what I saw around the wall and in the refugee camps.  My guide asked us to tell their story to people after we left.

I know that a lot of travel blogging and content creation is centered around the beautiful, the “instagram-worthy”…  But is that what travel blogging is meant for?  For me, I am trying to go beyond the selfies and the carefully posed photos.  I am trying to inspire people not only to see but to think.  And Palestine definitely taught me to see beyond the news and the misconceptions and to catch a glimpse of the truth.

Thank you, Banksy, for bringing me to Palestine and for opening my eyes to this.  For some parting words…

But please don’t forget to find the human in your enemy.

Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

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