Ramallah

(My morning breakfast and view)

Today was pretty much all spent in Ramallah in the West Bank. We met Abu Ayed and he took us out to his sisters house. It is past the checkpoint but is still considered in Jerusalem, so thus they live their so she can keep her card to visit the city. This sister I don't know her name because she only spoke Arabic, lost her chance to live in Jerusalem because she married a man from the West Bank. She has seven children and each one of them has a different situation. For instance when a mom has children they fall under the same rights and privileges as she does. With this woman it is not the case, several of her children have cards to get into Jerusalem, and several do not. One child doesn't even have a birth certificate number, so to the government he actually doesn't exist. The hard part of this situation is she has to pay insurance on him somehow.

(Married couple)

(Looking through old family photos)

(There girls were so excited to get a picture with us and then post it to Facebook. It was a striking contrast when Aya was helping them post it on their phones because she was in very Western clothing with no Hijab "Headpiece" while they are super traditional.)

It was a very unique visit. The parents were their with two daughters and we interviewed the parents and followed them through an afternoon coffee time for the family.

The next sister of Abu Ayed's we visited has the same situation of marrying a man from the West Bank and thus losing her rights to be in Jerusalem. The unique thing with her is she was promised a passport for Jerusalem when she turned 18. Well she got engaged at that time and since she was engaged they refused to give her a passport. She still has all her original paperwork to get the passport and her verification from the Israeli government and these papers are 30 years old. It is very sad because she still believes she can one day move back to Jerusalem.

We were able to drive through some of the refugee camps and along the wall that was built to separate the West Bank and Jerusalem. It is incredible the vast difference between Jerusalem Jewish areas and Palestinian areas. The Jewish sections are very well maintained and clean, where as the Palestinian and West Bank are like a war zone. It is trashy, almost dirt roads, and disrepair buildings. There is a huge contrast.

(The wall before a checkpoint)

(Even Arabs like Chicago Cheese Steaks)

(The wall were a lot of protesting happens)

In the evening we went to dinner with Aya and her family. I tried a carrot juice with ginger and was not a fan. Finally a food I actually did not like, but everything else was delicious.

Something I have learned from my experience here is I feel that many Palestinians hold to the past. So do many Jews as well. This city is a flash to the past and the people hold strong to it. I feel this hurts and inhibits them. They cannot progress and change because they are so focused on what happened to their people in the past and so they feel deserving of something now. It is a different sentiment compared to the US where a lot of people look to the future and plan for their future, think about what is next.

A fun and interesting day.

-Enjoy the Journey

Jonny Boy