Revisiting Palestinian Hospitality - and Food!

I have been describing my recent (October 2014) trip to Palestine/Israel as a “spiritual and culinary journey.”  The spiritual part came from my fellow travelers, guided by a clergywoman who provided inspiration and understanding as we dealt with the minefields of viewing the Occupation through the lense of Christianity and humanity.

Makloubah (photo by Diana Fisher)

The culinary part came from the outstanding hospitality we experienced (nothing new to those of us who’d been there before – see, for example, “Food – Glorious Food” - February 22, 2013) and, for me at least, particularly from Easmat in Tulkarm, and then from Lorette in Bethlehem.

Easmat is the wife of Muawya, who was the taxi-drive/translator for my EAPPI team when we were in Tulkarm in the spring of 2013.  She is the mother of four young boys, and was a charming and gracious hostess to our team – welcoming us to their home for traditional Palestinian meals, and cake and coffee visits.  On this, my first trip back since leaving in late April, 2013, I returned to Tulkarm for a visit with Muawya and Easmat and their family.

Palestinian Market (photo by Diana Fisher)

It was a day during which everyone in our travel group of six had made her own plans – and, for me, those plans were to take the bus to Tulkarm (via Ramallah) for lunch with Muawya’s family.  Upon my arrival in Tulkarm, I found Muawya at the taxi stand, and he drove me to his home where I visited with Easmat as she prepared our lunch.  It was the first time I’d seen her without her hijab (on previous visits there were always men present) and she reminded me of my daughters and daughters-in-law, as she bustled around the kitchen, juggling cooking and child care.  I was much impressed that she remembered the names and ages of my children and grandchildren – especially considering how many internationals had been in and out of her home in the past several years.

As we visited in her cozy kitchen, I sipped mint tea and perched on a chair, while Easmat prepared a delicious chicken and rice dish (she wouldn’t let me help).   The boys wandered in and out of the kitchen, looking for a snack, wanting help with their homework, curious about the foreigner in their home but polite and respectful of the adults.  The oldest boy even asked me for help with his English homework!  It was a delightful day – and one I will long remember!

Lorette (photo by Diana Fisher)

In Bethlehem, our small group stayed in an apartment in a “family compound” owned by Lorette and her husband, Nicola .  Other family members lived nearby; their three sons and their families lived in a building a short distance away that Lorette and Nicola had built for them.  Family is important – and they have done everything they can to keep theirs close.

Lorette prepared all of our breakfasts and dinners while we were in Bethlehem – sometimes we were a group of eight (our travel group of six, plus Lorette and Nicola); at other times, the table expanded to include other family members, friends, acquaintances and “drop ins!”  There was always plenty of food to go around!

During our time there, Lorette gave us cooking lessons (the “culinary” part of the trip) in her spacious kitchen.  We accompanied her to the local market in Bethlehem (just one street over from the “tourist market” off Manger Square) and watched her select the foods that would end up in our dinner. 

Then it was back to the kitchen, where she set us to task – one chopping veggies, one frying cauliflower, another chopping garlic (a LOT of garlic goes into Middle-Eastern cuisine!).  The camaraderie of group cooking was wonderful – and the results made for mighty tasty eating!

In Lorette's kitchen in Bethlehem (photo by Diana Fisher)

Palestine “By The Numbers”

I’ve never been a “math person.”  Numbers intimidate me – I’m much more comfortable with words.  I’ve always thought it was a right-brain/left brain “thing,” but my math professor friend tells me I’m wrong – anyone can grasp math concepts!  Not sure I totally agree, but looking at the situation in Palestine “by the numbers,” here are a few to muse upon:

Historic Palestine

67% - Percentage of “Arabs” (Christians and Muslims) making up the total population of historic Palestine before 1948

33% -  Percentage of Jews in the total population of historic Palestine before 1948

78% - Percentage of land that was allocated to the Jews in the 1947 UN “Partition Plan”

22% - Percentage of land allocated to “Arabs” in the 1947 Partition Plan

537 -  Number of Palestinian villages destroyed in the “Nakbah” (disaster) of 1948

750,000:  Number of Palestinians made refugees by the 1948 Nakbah

Berlin Wall/Israeli "Separation Barrier" - a comparison

2/1:  Ration of the length of the Wall (“Separation Barrier”) to the length of the internationally recognized “Green Line” or border between Israel and the West Bank.

8 kilometers (about 30 feet) – height of Wall

$255,000,000 (that’s million!) cost of constructing each kilometer of the Wall

$3,2,000,000,000 (billion!) paid by US taxpayers that is sent to Israel every year (That’s more than $8,000,000/day).

101 – different types of permits that Palestinians living in the West Bank must obtain to cross into Israel for education, work, medical appoints, visits with family, etc.

50,000 – fruit-bearing trees destroyed on Palestinian farmland since 2009

A burned olive tree in Palestine

7 miles wide and 30 miles long:  size of Gaza (living in the Pacific Northwest, I think this is about the same size as the Long Beach peninsula in Washington State!)

1.8 million – population of Gaza

560,000 – Israeli settlers living in illegal settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem

99.7 – Percentage of Palestinian children (some as young as 5!) who are convicted of “crimes” like throwing stones (note: Israel just passed a law authorizing 20-year sentences for stone-throwing!)

200,000 – Current population of Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank.

500 – Approximate number of Jewish settlers living in Hebron (many in homes appropriated from Palestinians!)

1,000 – Number of Israeli soldiers stationed in Hebron to “protect” the settlers.

Shuhuda Street Today

1141 – Number of Palestinian shops closed on Shuhuda Street, Hebron, after American-born Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslim men praying in the Abraham mosque in 1994 (and wounded another 125) Yes, you read that correctly!  A right-wing Jewish extremist killed 29 Palestinian Arabs, and the Arabs were punished!

1114 – Number of Palestinian homes on Shuhuda Street closed to their owners at the same time.

0 – Number of shops on Shuhuda Street open today!

Checkpoint 300

Taybeh Checkpoint

As an EA, I spent a lot of time at checkpoints.  At agricultural gates, school gates, and at one large workers’ checkpoint, Taybeh (see "Checkpoints" - March 13, 2013), armed with notebook, camera and cell phone, I was an observer. I also went through checkpoints to get from my home in Tulkarm to Jerusalem for training and meetings. On this, my first trip back since my EA tenure 18 months ago, I spent several hours at Checkpoint 300, the pedestrian-only checkpoint from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

Because Bethlehem is now almost completely surrounded by “Greater Jerusalem,” (and with the completion of a pending section of the “Separation Barrier” will soon be completely surrounded), many workers live in Bethlehem, and work in (five miles distant).  To work “across the green line,” they need permits – another story! – and, those lucky enough to have jobs and permits need to go through the checkpoint to get to work.

Only birds can fly freely over checkpoints

The small group of women I am traveling with is trying to meet local people and listen to their stories – and to experience, in some small way, what they experience in their daily lives.  So Sunday morning, at 5 am, we board a taxi for the ride to the checkpoint.  The driver drops us off and we join the throng of (almost entirely) men heading to Jerusalem on this, the first day of their work week.

We have agreed to use the “Humanitarian” line (the special line for foreigners and those few Palestinians with the “right” kind of permit – usually for medical treatment), so as not to impede the workers.  As we work our way through the crush of workers to the gate at the head of the line, we note men all around us are pushing and shoving to get to the front (although all are respectful of us and give us space to get through).  A large number of men use various creative ways of climbing the 10 foot fence to squeeze through the narrow space at the top in order to “jump the queue” as my British friends would say!  Surprisingly, despite objections from those who were patiently waiting, they help each other over the fence and, even more surprisingly, we note no injuries while we stand there, waiting an hour for the gate to open.

Climbing the barrier (photo by Diana Fisher)

We eventually get into the checkpoint itself, where we pass through metal detectors and ID checks.  The metal detectors are constantly ringing, but people keep coming through and no one seems to care!  On the other side, we stop to pray, then engage in conversation with two human rights observers – one from EAPPI and one from Machsom Watch, a Jewish women’s organization that monitors checkpoints from the Israeli side.  We watched her speak to the soldiers in an unsuccessful attempt to get the Humanitarian gate opened. 

When, at about 7 am, we came back through the checkpoint to the Bethlehem side, the line was still long.  The EA working on that side said she though about 8,000 people would pass through that checkpoint by the end of the “rush hour.”  Mary told us that this was more than twice the number than 2 ½ years ago when she was an EA in Bethlehem. 

Checkpoints are but one of the indignities that Palestinians must endure to live their daily lives.  Over and over we hear, “Please tell people we are human beings.”  “Please tell people to come and see for themselves.”  We do – and we will continue to do so!

 

To hear a poem about the checkpoint experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUIqhxMdffE