Construction, fence, military, checkpoint, refugee camp, settlement, occupation, IDF – I think these are the words that were spoken the most during our stay in Palestine (March 27-April 5, 2018).
Click on the first picture to find out why!
In the village of Essla, near Qalqilia we were hosted by the Muhammad family. Hospitality at it’s best. Staying with local people helps me understand how they live, what set of values do they have, what do they think about various issues. Some of the family members have basic English knowledge, but some of the times their facial expression, gestures and eyes tell a whole story. And there’s always the handy tool: offline and online Arabic-English-Arabic translation… We were taken to a fence located right outside the village. They told us: local farmers’ lands are over the fence which is opened only two times a day, at 6 AM and 3 PM… We didn’t dare getting closer: bullets could fly…
Almost none of the Muslims drank alcohol, except our hosts in Ramallah. Imagine us, drunk Europeans managing our way down the stairs of the Muhammad family’s house… 🙂
We had dzadr (djadr) in the evening and omelet with potatoes and other homemade tasty products
We had a stroll in the streets of the village
We even went into a school (madrasa) renovated and extended with money from the US government, and the EU…
Downtown Qalqilia…
Downtown Qalqilia…
Bianka just couldn’t resist the temptation and bought a nice dress…
Women love shopping no matter where they live and what their religion is…
They sell everything
Market street in Qalqilya
Qalqilya: punctures bike tire repaired… 🙂
Checked it
Await and see what they had inside…
… well, this… 🙂
Perspectives
Why on Earth is he taking a picture of a barber shop?!
We were curious of them, they were very interested in us
What is is holding in his hand?
Resist to exist!
We called it Times Square (Qalqilya)
Sweets
Thanks to Sameh, we were invited by Mrs. Eltisan to have lunch at her family’s… mansion. It was delicious!
Yummy
There are wealthy Palestinians, too…
We traveled in a luxurious Range Rover equipped with back seat entertainment
John the Baptist was buried here…
… but where exactly?
Our guides took us to a viewpoint above Nablus. Several lights are coming from the various Jewish settlements located around the Palestinian town. So we wondered: who’s lights are what we see?
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