I gave a talk on Palestine today. To remind myself of some details of the airport, I re-read the start of a journal about my time there. It has rekindled memories of an arrival over four months ago, but I remember the details like it was yesterday, re-reading this. I never finished it for every day, unfortunately, but here is the piece I began writing as soon as we arrived to our home for the night, following the airport. It was written when I was exhausted, so forgive the mistakes. I may post more from this journal in the future, but unfortunately I didn't keep up with it as I should have. I hope it proves interesting, though.
Day 1: ‘Arrival’
Writing commences 2350 on 29/03/15
We have
arrived in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. After a slightly nervous
morning, being dropped off for an unreal feeling flight at London Gatwick, we
are here.
The morning
was full of excitement as bags were repeatedly weighed and paranoia about
excess charges took precedence to nerves of landing in Israel. A start full of
hope from a group of young people committed to changing the world.
Gatwick was
as Gatwick always is. The usual hubbub of an airport, slightly soulless yet
full of wonder all the same; a place to marvel at the number of destinations
the mass of people around you are heading. The emotions among them are mixed:
happiness and joy from some, others impatient and terse, children and adults
alike.
The only
hitch on this end was the delay in the flight. We took off one hour and twenty
five minutes late. I’m already thinking better late than never after just a few
hours out of Ben Gurion airport. We were what you might expect from a group of
people under the age of twenty-five on such a programme. We were full of
laughter and excitable chatter, finding amusement in getting to know more about
each other, learning how our senses of humour blended.
But there
was already a note of tension. For six hours, sitting in a small metal tube
with hundreds of other people, we were wary of a word. One word which could
mean suspicion directed towards us. For this reason we did not speak of the
reason we came in any explicit terms, if at all: Palestine. The name itself
remained taboo to us, even though we come as supporters of this oppressed
state. I would hope to say it was just to prevent us from running into any
difficulties from the Israeli authorities. I doubt our fellow passengers would
report us, but we were scared of the ramifications a name could have for us.
The flight
was turbulent in places, but which flight isn’t? Through the hubbub, frequent
glances out of the window past sleeping members of our party revealed tops of
mountains thrusting snowy peaks through the cloud, in contrast to the heat we
expect of our destination. We see the Mediterranean bathed in a glorious
sunset. You’d think from our reactions that we’d never before seen the sun
dwindle from the sky as the Earth keeps turning. However, this image of beauty
feels like something to cling to now, and an inspiration to look for the
beautiful in our surroundings.
There is
always the eager moment on a flight, as you start to descend, where faces press
to windows in the hope of stealing a glimpse of light from your destination.
Diving down through the cloud, Tel Aviv spread before us, looking for all the
world like any other city. Even so, the excitement grew again. Energy was high.
We were all ready in our own way to face the challenge of the airport.
We had been
briefed about the airport. We had our letters, and our open hearts and honesty.
Even so, we knew that some of us were not going to have an easy time getting
through. As soon as we left the plane, there were security officials at the top
of the stairs. It seems the majority of flyers were able to walk on by without
a care, oblivious to the beginnings of knots in this young group’s stomachs,
waiting to see what barriers were put in our way.
I never
blend in, and I was called upon by the very first official to present my
passport and rationalize my being in Israel. I gave the answers I had been
running in my head, being honest but not direct. The response was simply a
friendly smile and a thanks for my co-operation. It seemed so simple.
Following
this was the walk through the shining, modern looking Ben Gurion airport. Signs
in Hebrew abound, with no hint of Arabic until you get to immigration. There it
is a simple ‘ahlan wa sahlan’,
‘welcome’ amongst the typical French and English and of course Hebrew. We file
into lines, Brits left a little agog at the lack of completely structured
queues. There are orthodox Jews rubbing shoulders with tourists, and all manner
of others in between. Except I saw no headscarves. It felt as if any Islamic
presence in that crowd were trying to hide itself, to blend in a get through
without any issue. Probably a vain hope, and I hope my suspicions were wrong,
and that people remain proud of their identity, even in that difficult context.
I saw first
one, then another of my colleagues taken aside, to sit and wait, detained from
getting their visas. They are still there now, as far as we are aware. It would
not be a surprise if they do not arrive with us, where they belong and deserve
to be, until the morning. Then I approached immigration control. I gave the
same answers to the same questions previously asked. This time the woman was
tougher. More details required. I only told one lie: that I would not be
working with Paelstinians. I showed her my letters. Two phonecalls later to her
superiors and I too was led away. I suppose in my bearded, long-haired and Iron
Maiden t-shirt wearing ways I was singled out as a potential activist. Someone
to look into a little further.
Fortunately
for myself, I was not kept long. Some details were taken, but in reality it was
simple. An extra fifteen minutes of my time. I was more fortunate than those
still waiting there: our two fellows, accompanied by a third, behind me in the
press wishing entry, so I did not see him led away. Probably the only reason I
am not with them is the colour of my skin and the language of my name do not
allow the ingrained racial profiling of the Israeli security to view me as more
of a threat.
Eventually,
all bar three of our twenty-two strong party are through. In a process which
seems wrong to me, yet I know how right it is, we leave. Leaving three friends
sitting through a night in an airport, waiting for each round of basic
questions, antagonized more than any of the rest of us, solely for being born
to a disfavoured family. Disfavoured not through any harm actually done, but
because of tensions in the region.
The journey
then begins. The minibus is modern and comfortable, but UK health and safety
would have a fit if they saw the entire aisle crammed with our luggage,
jokingly referred to as the wall between left and right, an attempt at humour
as the wall we have heard so much about came into view.
After
driving down well maintained roads, reminding one of all the world for photos
of the United States, except for the increased number of exotic trees, we have
already seen the beginnings of tension. We approach a section of the road with
barriers. We drive straight through, slowly, past the bored looking young man in
military uniform with an M16 hanging over his chest. Continuing up the road, we
see flashing lights. A car which might have been in an accident, or something
stranger happening to the driver as two police vehicles watch nearby, the beams
of their headlights across the road, pointing the car which itself is askew on
the road. Our response is simple. The driver turns off the internal lights and
we drive between the problem vehicle and the police. It is not our problem. It
is not for us to see, or take any part in.
Steadily it
becomes apparent that we are following the hated wall. It looks like a sturdy
piece of engineering, fully twenty-six feet high, rearing in a vicious net of
razor-wire. The stonework is pristine and clean, just like the roads we drive
down. The journey is filled with political talk, stifled so long on the plane
and in the airport, all of us brimming with unity for those we are to work
with. A moderate noise, with only sporadic laughter heard on the bus.
‘Strictly
no entry for Israeli citizens. Enter at peril of your own life.’ This was
roughly the wording seen on the sign as we approached Qalandia checkpoint. Once
more, our lights go out inside the bus. Once more, we drive passed armed
soldiers, knowing that we are crossing from Israel into the Occupied
Palestinian territories. A silence falls over the bus as we drive through, each
lost in his or her thoughts as we glide between. All it took was a simple
vehicle crossing that patch of earth, divided by a wall. The physical crossing
seems to have no barrier. The cultural one is almost visible.
The quiet
is replaced by the vaguest of murmurs and whispering, as sickness grows in the
feeling of all those seated around me. As our eyes cast about on the
Palestinian side of the wall, it is as if the air has grown thick. Within five
seconds of crossing that threshold we see rubble heaped at the side of the
road. We look upon the reverse of the wall, splashed with graffiti: messages of
peace, calls for freedom, and angry looking murals of anonymous freedom
fighters, AK-47s in their hands and faces covered. It is instantly obvious
which side is the prison and also which side actually cares.
The journey
continues, all of us knowing that we are seeing something significant. The truth
we all knew before coming hits us in seconds, and despite the gaudy shop front
of ‘Lovely Toys’ or the remarkable sight of ‘Audi Palestine’ as we wind our way
to Ramallah, we know that we’ve stepped from a modern country into one teemed
with problems. And yet we are supposed to believe that this is all one glorious
nation, the chosen land for the chosen people.
The quiet
among us adds to the sickness we each feel. However, sitting here now,
reflecting, that initial sadness and anger are passing that one side of the
wall is so different from the other. I know that this is the daily reality I
will see here and yet I know that it will never appear normal or fair, for
which I am grateful. One thing has come out of my reflection so far, though.
While on the Israeli side of the wall, everything seemed to run smoothly, as if
every mind were running in the same direction, and all people fit the mold.
Here in Palestine it is already different. The shop fronts are unique, and
those running our hostel are all smiles. They know the situation they’re in, and
yet there is something which sets them apart from the gleaming cars and
pristine motorways seen over the wall. These people live how they can, and they
have soul.
As
mentioned above, we already have the attitude to look for the beautiful in our
surroundings. Myself and a few others have resolved to take to the roof of our
building in order to see the sunrise. We will witness the rise of the sun,
seeing the light rise on our adventure, hopefully to be joined by our three
missing friends.