Random pictures from (and on the way to) Ramallah

Two days I ago I went to Ramallah, to help with training. Training is a very important part of ISM, everyone who enters our organization must go through it and it is very lengthy... yet for a good reason. There are many things to cover, and the job we do can at times get very unpredictable and at times dangerous, so it is important to do our best to give our new people as much information as possible before they get into the field.

With my friend Jamil, who is a security guy who works in a mall in Hebron and who I met two years ago. There is a servees station there and if you want to find out which one leads to Ramallah (or if you have any other question), this is the dude to ask.

The view as you drive into Ramallah. The "security wall", built by the Israeli government, cuts into Palestinian land in the West Bank. Most Palestinians I know call it the "annexation wall", since it annexes large parts of the West Bank, including large tracts of farmland, into Israel.  

Israeli settlements on a hilltop above the city. This settlement is one of the many surrounding the city. According to international law, they are illegal and should not be here. 

Qalandia checkpoint, which people entering and leaving Ramallah must go through. Sometimes people wait for hours as the Israeli Army or Border Police search their vehicles.

A few minutes after we drove into Ramallah, I heard that a Palestinian woman was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers. They allege she tried to attack them with a knife. It is possible she indeed tried to do that. It is also possible she did not. ISM volunteers have documented Palestinians who were unarmed being shot by soldiers and later accused of attacking them.

As a pacifist, I do not support violence against anyone even if they are occupying soldiers.

Only a few hours after this shooting, the Israeli Army destroyed eleven homes in the village of Qalandia- despite the fact that the people who built them already paid for their permits. Several families were made homeless. One of our ISM volunteers met some of them and her report can be read here: https://palsolidarity.org/2016/07/they-destroyed-the-houses-they-destroyed-our-dreams/

Again, I do not support or try to justify violence against anyone. But one could ask what would motivate some Palestinians to try to do something as hopeless and even suicidal as to try to kill an armed soldier with a knife (if it is in fact what this woman tried to do). What drives someone to undertake such an action? Could it be perhaps because they see their entire community being destroyed and stepped down on, and they see no future? 

The guy in the red suit and with the brass container on his back is selling coffee to passersby. 

This collection of fired weapons has been picked up over the years in Palestinian towns and cities and villages. Most of them are used on a regular basis in the West Bank, as the Israeli Army and Border Police confront Palestinians who are demonstrating against the occupation.

These objects are useful tools during training, to show new people some of the things they may be up against.

A kalashnikov bearing Palestinian Authority (PA) police officer checks cars in Ramallah.

The PA is corrupt and often works with the Israeli government, much to the disgust of many Palestinians I have met.

The Israeli government, PA and Hamas are very different, but one thing they share in common is condemnation by organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as some Palestinian and Israeli groups, for their human rights abuses.

This white smoke has just been sprayed from a truck that drove by, and blanketed the whole area not too far from our apartment. It smelled very much like diesel, and to my surprise I later learned that is exactly what it was. Chemically treated diesel sprayed into the street.

The point is to kill mosquitoes... a noble and worthy goal which I support, although I am not sure if these annoying insects are the only beings whose health may be affected by this.