Life As A Palestinian In An Occupied Territory

As I traveled through various areas of the West Bank, I started to get a feel for what life must be like as a Palestinian living in an occupied territory.  While driving on the roads leaving Jerusalem, Palestinian villages were easily visible.  I quickly noticed large black containers located on the roofs of Palestinian houses.  I found out these large black containers were filled with water.  Israel controls the vast majority of the water supply to the West Bank.  As such, Israel siphons more of this water toward the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  Palestinians have limited access to water, sometimes just a couple of days a week.  These water containers allow the Palestinians to have a water supply even in spite of Israel’s unfair distribution.

Next, there is the issue of checkpoints.  While passing back from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, I got the experience of passing through a checkpoint.  It certainly is not a quick process.  We waited in line for probably at least a half hour waiting to have our passport and documents checked by armed Israeli guards.  What makes this so frustrating is that Bethlehem and East Jerusalem are by international law, Palestinian cities.  People who are Palestinian residents cannot freely pass within their own territories due to the illegal occupation by Israel.

 

Besides setting up these check points, Israel has illegally constructed highways through the West Bank that are accessible only for residents of Israel.  If any vehicle with a Palestinian license plate is found driving on one of these highways, the car is usually stopped by Israeli police within minutes.  On the sides of these highways, Israel has constructed large fences with barbed wire for security reasons.    If this measure is deemed necessary by Israel, you have to question why they would build the road in the first place, placing its citizens in danger.

 

The unfortunate part of these highways and checkpoints is that it is a huge inconvenience and detriment to daily life for Palestinians.  On the sides of these highways, there are exits that lead to Palestinian villages. Palestinians who work and need to access these roads are not allowed to by Israel.  In fact, the only way Palestinians can drive on these roads is by getting picked up on the side of the road by a vehicle with an Israel license plate.  In addition, a simple thirty minute drive from one Palestinian village to another may taken several hours and may not even be possible because of the many checkpoints that are encountered in the West Bank.  Israel can decide not to allow Palestinians to pass through checkpoints for no reason.

 

Even more disgusting are the illegal Israeli settlements constructed on Palestinian land.  Israel has bulldozed and acquired Palestinian land without any consent from the Palestinian owners. Often times, Palestinian farm land, rich with olive trees, cannot even be accessed by its owners because of the settlements that have been constructed.  As I traveled through the West Bank, it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth toward the Israeli government.  I understand the plight of the Jewish people however their past history gives them no right for their current treatment of the Palestinians.  Apparently, Israel has not learned from history.  You would think a people with such a tragic history would have a little more respect for fellow human beings but Israel does not.  I was aware of these issues prior to my travels to the region because of reading I had done.  But to see this treatment first hand gave me more insight into this region of the world.  I would encourage everyone to read the book ” Fast Time in Palestine” by Pam Olson.  It is an excellent read for anybody looking for more information.  You quickly start to see why there is hatred toward Israel in the Muslim community and why U.S. support of Israel is so strongly condemned throughout much of the world.