the fence from the Palestinian side

How do I even start describing the strangeness of it all? As a born and bred Jerusalemite I have never been to one of the largest cities near Jerusalem, which is only 15 minutes away from my house. As a Couch Surfer I have hosted many tourists and it was always such an absurdity that they were traveling so close to my house in a place I have never been too. Fear (based on images from the lynch of 2 Israeli soldiers that got lost in Ramallah in 2000) and the fact that it isn’t exactly legal for Israeli’s to go beyond the fence have always kept me away.

Famous graffiti on the fence

I don’t want to go into a political debates on whether the fence is needed for Israel security or the details of the geography of the wall which did annex 8.5% of the west bank and made some of the village’s life extremely difficult. It is an important debate but my blog is meant for anthropological experiences so I just want to try and describe the feeling of falling through the looking glass.

Almost but not Jerusalem…

I thought I’d feel scared but I wasn’t. Maybe because I was with friends or maybe because it was so close and seemed so familiar. You see, Ramallah all is built with the same type of ‘Jerusalem’ stone, as we call it here in Jerusalem, which immediately makes everything feel familiar. It almost looks like some new and expensive neighborhood in Jerusalem with all the white gleaming houses. Except then, you notice the houses seem to be ‘planted’ with little or no order, the Roads and sidewalks are sort of a mess and there are not signs in Hebrew only Arabic and English.Another thing I noticed was that a lot of the houses were empty. It turns out that while the fence was being built a lot of those that had a choice preferred to stay on the Israeli side of the fence and a lot of investors suffered a great loss as new houses were left empty.

They even have a lion like the Jerusalem city symbol

Ramallah, historically created by Christians (although now the majority is Muslim), seemed ready for Christmas with huge decorated trees which for me gave added an extra twist.

They don’t give a DAM

The trigger for my visit was a concert by DAM an Israeili/Palastinian band which I love and are brave enough to sing against so called “honer killings” of arab women. My cover story if asked where I was from was to say “From all over” and smile. It seemed to work but I did find myself ‘slipping’ a few times and starting to speak to my friends in Hebrew or saying Israel instead of Palestine. My blending in skills seem to need some practice.

Look at all those buttons!

Both Israeli’s and Palestinians seem to share at least one trait, tardiness! The show started an hour and a half after the supposed time but it was worth it. The music was great and the energy in the club, which was super modern, was amazing.

A lot people at the event were internationals. In fact, even the most touristic places in Jerusalem don’t get so many tourists. Strangely enough (or not), even some of the Arabs I spoke to were eager to say they too weren’t from Palestine or that they were leaving soon. It seems the good people on both sides just want to get away!

where’s the no smoking sign?

The only real downside of this little trip was that nobody is even considering a ‘no smoking indoors’ law. I came out smelling like an ash tray my eyes tearing. Is it possible that their eyes are somehow hardened by the tear gas at demonstrations?