A Hodgepodge of Palestine May 24-25, 2011

I have a hodgepodge to share with you after a couple of days of doing business in Bethlehem and Ramallah. It does not all connnect, but that is life...

Janice with a fruit vendor at the Ramallah outdoor market. 
Many young Palestinians ask tourists to take their pictures.

Roof top water tanks
Yesterday Dr. Adel Yahya from the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) was bringing an American activist on a tour of Bethlehem and Hebron.  I was able to hitch a ride with them from El Bireh to Beit Sahour in order to do business.  Adel has a wealth of information about Palestine, its culture, its history, its economy, and its politics to share.  On top of that, he is an archaeologist, so he can explain all the archaeological features as we drive.  On the drive out of Ramallah, he gave us a lesson on the water tanks that you see on the roofs of the buildings throughout Palestine.

Black water tanks adorn most roofs in Palestine

I found a great explanation of why these tanks exist, which matches Adal's explanation. It is from Israel and the West Bank: Initial Thoughts on My Meetings With Key Media, Business and Political Leaders written on May 10th, 2011 by Jeff Pozmantier.

It is a [Palestinian] desire... to not depend on Israel to supply and control your water. That water is now delivered only at specified times and then stored by Palestinian families in their roof top water tanks, always hopeful that their limited supply lasts until the next distribution date. Water scarcity is one of the reasons why toilet paper is customarily deposited in a trash receptacle and not flushed. It’s why ice is rarely supplied with drinks. It’s why anyone selling yard supplies would go bankrupt. And it’s also why several officials and individuals told us that the next uprising in the West Bank may be over an Israeli plan to further limit the frequency of water distribution this summer.

The roof top water tanks will hold either 1000 or 2000 liters.  The water in them is delivered in a truck and then pumped up to the roof top tank.  The water must be filtered before using.

If you are not a city dweller and own property, Israel still controls your water use by telling you how deep you can dig your well and how much water you are permitted to take from your well.  Israel puts a meter on your well, gives you a quota of water you are permitted to use, and will close the well if you go over your quota.  This applies to Palestinians (not to settlers) in all areas of Palestine, even in the areas which are supposedly under Palestinian Authority control.

On the other hand, Israelis don't face the same sort of restrictions and Israel has dug very deep wells in the Judean desert to bring water up for the desert settlements, which flaunt grass and pools - amenities which are not possible under the water restrictions faced by Palestinians.


International Aid: Making it look good

"Our priorities are your priorities" 

There is a public relations war on now between USAID and the EU.  USAID erects prominent signs on their projects around the West Bank.  Now when you enter Ramallah you see several  different EU billboards advertizing their good deeds and intentions.  Palestinians, who have a long history of dealings with aid organizations, remain cynical and question whether these governments are spending more on the billboards then on their projects.  In any case, much USAID money is now being spent to improve the infamous Wadi al Nar road which snakes through the Judean desert from the Ramallah to Bethlehem districts, on the east side of Jerusalem.  This is the road that Palestinians must take to travel between the north and south West Bank.  "Wadi al Nar" means "The Valley of Fire".  It was so named because in ancient times garbage was thrown here and burned, so looking from a distance one would see a valley of fire.  The bible claims that sinners will be thrown in Wadi al Nar and the good will go to Wadi Artas (paradise), which is a beautiful and lush area south of Bethlehem where King David wrote psalms.

Now, road improvements usually sound good, however,the improvement of the Wadi al Nar road  is a continuation of US policy.  The US has given billiions of dollars to building and improving roads that help to sustain the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.  Palestinians, in the early 1990s, used to take a major road straight from Ramallah to Bethlehem.   It was a much shorter, safer, and  faster road than the Wadi al Nar road.  Then Israel, with US financial support created separate networks of roads through the West Bank: one set of roads for Israelis, one for Palestinians.  Needless to say, the Israelis got the better end of that deal, and USAID money helped to build many excellent roads to bring settlers to their homes in illegal settlements in the West Bank, and out to their jobs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Palestinians were left with the Wadi Al Nar road to take them between the lower West Bank and the upper West Bank, and an inferior set of roads to take them from Palestinian city to city and village to village.  So yes, the USAID money is now being spent on a road that is used by the Palestinians (the Wadi al Nar road), however, the Palestinians don't want this long, windy and dangerous detour - the Wadi al Nar road - to be part of their "permanent status".

Right of Return

"Right of Return" key in Manara Square, Ramallah

Walking around Ramallah today I spotted reminders of the demonstrations that took place on  May 15th of this year  to commemorate 63 years of the Nakbah.    This is the Palestinian remembrance of the 1948 war which ended with 3/4 of the Palestinian population having been expelled or escaping war, never to be allowed to return to their homes in what is now Israel.  One of the symbols of this loss is the key, since many of them carried the old key from their homes with them when they fled, intending to return when the fighting ended.

"The Right of Return is Never Outdated", Ramallah

ATMs: Shekels, Dollars, Euros, or Dinars?
Wouldn't it be interesting if ATMs in the United States gave you an option of currencies?  Well, that is what you get at ATM machines in Ramallah.  I just put my Bank of America debit card into an ATM here and withdrew $600 in nice crisp $100 bills.  Shoot, if I want to get just $5000 in $100 bills  in Concord, Massachusetts I have to notify my Bank of America branch three days ahead so that they can get a supply of $100 bills.  My only other option is to take the $5000 in $20 bills.