Woody in Gaza and the West Bank
My first experience of the long Israeli Palestinian conflict took place in Jerusalem while I was walking around the Al Aqsa Mosque. As I walked up the steps to the beautiful blue construction with its gold dome a group of Palestinian youths came rushing past with a Palestinian flag. Moments later two Israeli soldiers followed behind, running swiftly with machine guns strapped over their shoulders and holding wooden clubs. Days later I experienced another conflict in one of the narrow alleys of East Jerusalem when I stumbled across a large group of Palestinian youths hurling stones in the direction they were facing. A shot rang out and something whizzed about eight feet over my head. The Palestinian youths retreated back past me and disappeared into the distance with occasional cries of ‘Allah Akhbar!’ Within seconds a group of armed Israeli soldiers ran past me while another beckoned me and other bystanders to move quickly ahead.
Wherever I went in Israel I became acutely aware of a military presence and an atmosphere of conflict. In Bethlehem armed soldiers stood on street corners. Road blocks existed on almost every road. In Ein Geddi near Masada I was moved off the beach by two Israeli soldiers who also checked my identification after I had been bathing in the Dead Sea.
The most dangerous situation arose in Hebron where a confrontation occurred over Abraham’s Tomb, a revered holy spot in both Judaism and Islam. This has always been in dispute on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides. I was told about this while I was based in Jerusalem but three Palestinians took me by car into the city and avoided the Israeli road blocks. Upon arrival outside the tomb I saw a line of heavily armed Israeli soldiers standing in a line across the road and a large gathering of Palestinians in front of them. Comments were shouted from both sides and the atmosphere became tense. This continued for about thirty minutes until the Israeli soldiers began to advance towards the Palestinians. A hail of stones then reigned down upon the soldiers who gathered speed and ran straight at their foes who turned and ran. A potentially very dangerous situation quickly ended and I was able to enter the tomb to look around.
Wherever I went one couldn’t help noticing the vast differences between the way Israelis and Palestinians lived. It resembled an apartheid society with separate public toilets for Jews and Arabs, separate buses and separate districts where they lived. The Israeli parts of the city consisted of new villas and apartment blocks while the Palestinian districts were disheveled and shabby with poorly maintained roads.
The clearest sign of the plight of the Palestinians was to be found in the refugee camps. I visited one of these in Jericho. Accompanied by an Arabic speaker I met the only surviving family in the camp. They informed me via my interpreter that the Israeli army had regularly visited the camp over a long period, usually at night, had gathered most of the families, drove them to the Jordanian border and after confiscating their ID and papers had forced them across the border never to be allowed back. Israel had followed this policy for many years. Only one family inhabited this vast run down camp which resembled a gigantic prison camp.
I travelled to Gaza by bus and was horrified by what I saw. Many roads were pitted with holes, rubble littered some of the almost deserted streets on which small children played. Israeli army posts flying the blue and white Israeli flag and surrounded with sandbags and barbed wire were located on the corner of some streets. The atmosphere was quiet but tense. I headed towards the nearby refugee camp where open sewage formed large lakes. Women dressed in black abayas and wearing headscarves rushed around doing various chores and children played. As I wandered around the camp taking photos people began gesticulating and shouting comments. Within minutes a group of youths appeared and began hurling stones and other missiles at me. I ran out of the camp and got struck several times in the back but I ran into the road where a passing Palestinian spoke to me in English. After I had informed him of my nationality he told the youths to stop and after conversing with them and various other people told me that they were sorry and would like to apologize because they thought I was a Jewish photographer. I spent the next hour answering questions via the English speaking Palestinian man about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict about which they were very open and willing to speak.
I continued my journey into Nazareth and Ramallah which were typical Arab towns with people hanging around the streets and vendors selling various goods. An Arab man came walking down the hill in Nazareth pushing a lorry wheel while people driving horses and carts periodically passed by. These towns were completely peaceful compared to the towns I had visited earlier.
Back to Israeli West Jerusalem and the open air cafes, gift shops and well stocked stores, it was a different world compared to that of the Palestinians. It reminded me of several years earlier when I had visited Berlin and had noticed the great differences between the eastern and western parts of the city. Jerusalem was similar. Two totally different peoples lived side by side with different cultures, languages and religion. The differences were vast and it was difficult to comprehend how the two societies could ever be reconciled in such an environment.
