Rando

This past weekend I took a trip to the city of Hebron in the south of the West Bank. Hebron is where the Israeli occupation is felt most heavily in some ways. Soldiers completely occupy the old city in order to "protect" the 500 Jewish settlers that reside amongst the 165,000 Palestinians there. There are about 4 soldiers per settler. I put protect in quotation marks because the settlers there often harass the Palestinian shopowners, and sometimes are violent towards them. My new friend, who owns a shop in the old city, has been spat on and has had her tables overthrown by settlers who walk through the city. The soldiers do nothing to stop them. Close to 1,000 Palestinian shops have been closed due to the presence of the settlers--  whole roads have been deemed settler-only, where the shops once were. The old city of Hebron used to rival that of Jerusalem which is hard to believe after walking through the depressing streets. There is an eerie feeling there, a feeling I have not felt in most places in Palestine despite the situation. The children are desperate, harassing you to buy bracelets from them.

Because the old city falls under military rule, Palestinian police cannot operate there. This allows for Palestinian criminals to roam free. A really sad aspect of the occupation in Hebron is that people are trying to profit from it. Some Palestinians stop internationals who come to Hebron and take them on tours, for money of course, but the stories they are tell are not necessarily true/may not have happened to them. Another issue is collaborators. It is sickening what the Israelis do to recruit Palestinian spies. People do not know who to trust here; some have been betrayed by their own family members. Children are threatened or bribed to become spies and sometimes if they arrested, and they agree to become spies, they are let out early. During the first intifada, women at salons were drugged and naked pictures of them were taken-- being that HONOR is such a big deal here, some would agree to collaborate so that their pictures were not released.

I have never felt scared being in Palestine but that night as I was walking through the old city, I desperately wanted to get out of there. Luckily I found my place to stay and I slept on the rooftop that night. A soldier was across from my building guarding a different rooftop. I could see them dispersed throughout the old city on many rooftops, all because of the small settler population that illegally resides there. I spent the next day with some new friends who own a women's cooperative in the old city selling beautifully handmade embroidered goods. Because of the situation there, few sales are made. It was honestly depressing sitting there all day and seeing that no one buys anything. Internationals walk by every now and again on tours, always rushing through like they are scared though. The women who work there are absolutely hilarious and we managed to have a good time. One of them has a stick that she chases annoying kids away with. I was invited to stay with one of them in her nearby village. Her husband drove us there through the Hebron hills literally going 100 mph passing people on curves. Whatever, I'm still alive.

We went to a wedding when we got there. The girl about to get married was seriously like 15 years old and looked pretty scared I might add. I wondered if she knew what she was in for that night. At Palestinian weddings, at least one part of it, the woman and men are separated and they have their own dance parties. It was in some random old building, on a dirt floor, and hot as hell. The women were sitting in a circle and some were in the middle dancing. They forced me to dance with them. It was sooo embarassing because I cannot dance (and these women were dancing like pro belly dancers) but I did it anyways.

Afterwards, we went back to their house and smoked argilah and drank tea. Once again I slept on the roof that night because her children asked me to join them. They have a box of baby chickens up there and we had to sleep next to them too. I have 50 mosquito bites now. But, it was worth it.

Another thing I have been thinking about here: the women. Two years ago, when I first came, I honestly did not really consider the women's issues. Sure, you will find the guys at cafes smoking and drinking coffee every night, but I just figured the woman did not want to be doing that and they were just hanging out with all the other woman at home. But now things are becoming alot more clear. The cultural expectations are so strong here. Women can drive, vote, etc, but there are still alot of things that need to change, in my opinion. It's bullshit that men can have more than one wife (although its not that common) and its bullshit that men who "fool around" before marriage are absolved, yet if women were to do that, it would be a huge scandal. Honor killings still occur here, although its rare, but if they do, they still sometimes use this ridiculous old Jordanian law that basically lets men get off the hook. I, of course, am making some MASSIVE generalizations right now, but still. The town that I live in, however, is the most modern Palestinian city and these things are less common, but in some of the more traditional towns, these issues are still huge. Thankfully, the organization I work for seems to be doing alot for women's issues here in Palestine, and I feel like the generation of people my age are more progressive regarding women's rights, but only time will tell.