Travelling to Palestine through Tel-Aviv

There are not many ways to reach Palestine. Either you go through Jordan or Israel. As "tourists" we decided to take the second option but we wouldn't flight with their companies. However, I've found out later than even if you book a flight with a different company, you might end up still in one of their planes as they have contracts or agreements. Pretty much like Iberia and British Airways. 

As activists we had to divide the group. Most of us would travel with their "partner"or "friend", but we also had someone travelling on her own as she was "visiting some friends there". We were aware of the fact that we might have to spend hours at the airport being interviewed or anything. While on the plane jewish people talked about poor Israel and how horrible the Palestinians are. There was a woman reading a book about Ben Gurion (first Israeli Prime Minister . You get a bit scared as this person has stated things like:

- David Ben Gurion, future Prime Minister of Israel, 1937, Ben Gurion and the Palestine Arabs, Oxford University Press, 1985: "We must expel Arabs and take their places."
- " ... we should prepare to go over to the offensive with the aim of smashing Lebanon, Trans-jordan and Syria... The weak point in the Arab coalition is Lebanon [for] the Moslem regime is artificial and easy to undermine. A Christian state should be established... When we smash the [Arab] Legions strength and bomb Amman, we will eliminate Transjordan, too, and then Syria will fall. If Egypt still dares to fight on, we shall bomb Port Said, Alexandria, and Cairo." " David Ben-Gurion, May 1948, to the General Staff. From Ben-Gurion, A Biography, by Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York 1978.
- Ben Gurion also warned in 1948 : "We must do everything to insure they ( the Palestinians) never do return." Assuring his fellow Zionists that Palestinians will never come back to their homes. "The old will die and the young will forget."

When you get to the airport in Tel-Aviv (Ben Gurion Airport), you have to go through a several security controls as anyone who is not Jewish is basically a potential terrorist. We were told we would begiven a piece of paper with a number that we must give to the person allowing people to go through or sending them to the soldiers for further interrogation. My "partner" spent less than one minute but it took me a bit longer. "What are you doing here?" Are you a tourist?" "Where are you gonna stay?" "How long?" "Are you travelling on your own?" etc. The answers are pretty easy, but bearing in mind they might ask you for your hotel details and reservation which don't exist, your heart beats faster than usual and you might struggle to look touristically calm. 

Some people in our group spent around 7h under interrogation. Their luggage and passport being taken away. Their email accounts checked. They could say they found a bomb in your bag and you would have no way to prove them wrong as you can't even be present when they do what they do. We are at their mercy when we travel there just like Palestinians are. They throw the bombs but we are the potential terrorists. Sick.

Tulkarem

We woke up around 8 o’clock.  The ones who got up earlier were unlucky and had a shower with cold water. It’s a good tool to save water but it’s not how you would like to start the day. Later we found out, thanks to the second group, that there was hot water indeed, but it heats up with the sun (don’t ask me how, it’s what I was told). I have proved that it’s not true that “the early bird gets the worm”. 

Around 10 o’clock we took one of these bus services we hired. It was Friday so therefore it’s their day-off. People are praying and there are hardly any shops open. It’s the equivalent to our Sunday. We picked up a Palestinian man who tells us the story of the area. He gave us so much information that it was impossible to keep track on everything, especially dates and historical moments during the political conflict. 

First he takes us to a random area among the houses. However, once you get there, you realize that it is not just something. It is our first story about the wall. He says that all those big piles of wreckage we see were houses. On the 5^th of April 2002, the Israeli soldiers informed the neighborhood through the loudspeakers that they should stay inside their houses without leaving for 2 weeks. They thought the 2^nd intifada had started, but they were wrong. When they went out they found bulldozers and letters left by the Israeli, explaining the construction of the wall. 

There are several ways to build a wall. You can use electrified fences. They have 3 parts: the first one consists of a normal road, another unpaved road (jeeps use it) and another one, the inner one, who has a ditch of 3m deep. The second way is using a cement wall. Why are there two types of wall? The type of wall is determined by the “security level”, in Israeli terms. If it is a Palestinian town part of the 48 territories, they will use electrified fences. Bullets can go through them and it is easier to control both sides. If it is a new Zionist settlement, they will build a cement wall, as it offers protection against bullets. There are exceptions though.

Our guide tells us later a story about the town. There was a woman talking to a friend telling her husband was in a Zionist prison and that she felt impotent for not knowing what to do or if he came back. While they speak, their children were playing together.

The prisoner’s daughter, a 12 year-old girl, had decided with her 11 year-old friend, that they should prepare her father’s come back before her mother came back home. They were walking on an area close the fenced wall, looking for the door which his father would go through. Suddenly, they heard the soldiers’ voice on the loudspeakers: stop and stay where you are. The girls, frightened, started running back home. In our guide’s words, the coldness and indifference of Israeli soldiers make them follow their target and shoot. When they went back to check what their target was, they found the 12 year-old girl with her head on a blood puddle, and behind her, crying, there was her friend. She will never be able to meet her father again. What happened after this? Well.. the family received an apology and soldiers went back to work. 

New letters were sent informing the neighbors about changes on the outline of the wall, occupying now a bigger territory. 8 houses received initially the letter. Then the other 3. It didn’t matter if you’ve been there one day, one month or one year there. Where the wall is, there can be no houses around for “security reasons”. That means that at any time, a bulldozer will come and demolish the house. How would this be in a Western country? 

When the tower twins were demolished on the 11^th of September 2003, the USA had invaded Iraq, Afghanistan and they had conflicts with other countries, killing civilians and destroying cities. However, they were the first ones to raise their voices claiming justice for their people after the terrorist attack, which was probably organized by themselves. Has anyone asked how many buildings have been demolished in Palestine? Every day the same story is repeated again, thousands and thousands of families had had to move to another city, sometimes not just once, but several times. The wall is always just around the corner.

 

Our second visit was to the chemical factory which has an Israeli owner. This factory was located on the Israeli side; however, it was closed for being highly dangerous and being a hazard for the health of the population nearby. The owner decided then to move the factory to Palestine in 1968. This is the biggest factory and the most dangerous one around. The case was taken to the International Court of Justice and it was closed for 3 months. For unknown reasons, the owner of the factory got hold of the lands that were property of the government. The factory was then re-opened and today it’s still operating. 

In Palestine the wind blows from the West to the East 320 days per year. The other 40 days, the direction changes and goes the opposite way. During these 40 days, the factory is closed as the toxic particles will reach the Zionist settlements. These toxic particles are powerful enough to damage crops. Also it affects badly the eyes and the nose, being those the most common types of cancer in that area of Palestine. The Israel court paid no attention and the labs refuse to make reports for political reasons. 

We then went with him to his lands and talked to his family. Something he said caught my attention. He and his wife got up early and work from 5 to 12 and from 3 to 7. However, she also works from 12 to 3 as she has to cook and cleans, but he didn't mention this as "work". Certain things are not so different from Western countries. Patriarchy is part of every single culture.