The Occupied Territories

It's easy enough to catch a bus from Jerusalem into Bethlehem and the Palestinian territories but more difficult to get back!

After a twenty minute bus ride we caught a service taxi to Hebron which has been
a flashpoint of violence between Palestinians and Jewish settlers over the years.
The city is now divided into two zones. The Palestinians control the H1 zone and the Israelis the H2. The H1 zone is like many cities in the Arab world to my mind. It seems vibrant with a lot of small businesses. In H2, where the Israelis have settled and are in control, there are lots of soldiers and checkpoints but the atmosphere is one of quiet tension. Formally Palestinian owned shops and houses lie empty; some with smashed windows. The buildings that are still inhabited have wire mesh over the windows. A total of around 400 settlers live in a handful of heavily guarded compounds. There's something like 4000 IDF (Israeli Defense Force) soldiers stationed in towers and high places to guard these people even though officially the settlements are not supported by the state!

There is a genuine policy of segregation here. Palestinians can’t go into some areas and are herded through checkpoints throughout the town. If they walk down the wrong street they have a very real fear of being fired on by the heavily armed settlers.
Our Palestinian guide told us the settlers regularly throw rubbish at Palestinians like eggs and rotten vegetables. They occupy the high ground above the Arab markets and nets have been installed to protect the locals from projectiles. I asked him if the Arabs also did such things:
'Well maybe’, he said ‘but the soldiers let them do it to us and will arrest us if we do the same'.
I saw firsthand a lot of political graffiti from both sides. Such messages as:
'Free Palestine', 'Free Israel from the Arabs' and most troubling of all 'Gas the Arabs'. This is really a sick place within an ailing land and a potential powder-keg in the ongoing conflict.

Within Hebron is the second holiest site in Israel for both Jews and Muslims known as 'The Cave of the Patriarchs'. That's the resting place of scriptural figures Abraham and Sarah. Because they both share this holy place it has been divided between a mosque and a synagogue with separate entrances to each. I visited both of these with two friends. The airport-like security is similar to everywhere in the country but you also get interrogated especially on the Jewish side. Our Chinese Canadian friend was asked if he was a Muslim. Presumably if he said yes he wouldn't be allowed in. The security is not surprising in this emotionally charged place. In 1994 a Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein walked into the mosque with an M16 and gunned down 29 unarmed worshippers. It says a lot that Goldstein became a martyr after his death and his grave a pilgrimage site to Hebron's extremist settlers.

It is all very disturbing and there is clearly a real cold war going on between the two sides. Despite all the security of the checkpoints and soldiers you feel it is only a matter of time until people have had enough and someone does something which inspires the rest to rise up against their powerful occupier.

The thing that will stay with me is my guide Ahmed's response to a question on the future. Ahmed was an intelligent, articulate young man with an even temperament but his response about what he hoped would be the solution here, not just for Hebron but the whole region was startling.
'When Fatah and Hamas join together, we will drive these people out of our country'. A bleak vision for the future.

As you return towards Jerusalem you come to the infamous dividing wall. It is a huge 8 metres high and 760 kilometres long, separating the West bank and Israel. It's a very depressing sight but it must be remembered it has reduced dramatically the incidence of terrorism in Jerusalem. International voices have spoken however and you can see the wall is covered with messages of protests and even artwork.
Some of the better ones I saw include:
'Israel have you become the violence you deplored?'
'I think God hates this wall...'
'The spirit of Palestinians will not be beaten.'
Guerilla artist 'Banksy' has also contributed his unique artwork around Bethlehem. Images of a man throwing a bouquet molotov style, a dove with a bullet proof vest and a girl patting down a soldier for weapons are now iconic symbols of protest.

Going through the main checkpoint back into Jerusalem was a nightmare. We first showed our documents and had our bags searched, then walked down a winding concourse to another checkpoint where our bags would go through x-ray security.
There was no human contact, just a voice coming over the speakers telling you to put your bag through and walk through the gates. The voice in question
came from a soldier in a secure room nearly out of sight. We waited for around an hour behind a small queue of no more than fifteen Arabs. It must be a very frustrating and demeaning process to go through each day.
I'm sure it cannot continue this way.