We arrived in Jerusalem in April 2019 and this week, after three and a bit years, we will leave. A lot has happened but how much has changed? Nothing is better, so is it all worse? On a personal level, the past three years have been some of the most interesting, exciting and privileged of … Continue reading The parting shot
A sombre atmosphere has fallen over Jerusalem and the West Bank today as people woke to the news that the much-loved Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh had been shot and killed in Jenin this morning. Shireen was on duty reporting on an Israeli arrest operation in the Jenin refugee camp. She was wearing a … Continue reading A beloved journalist
‘You can’t imagine what we are going through’, said Adam Manasra, referring to the pain inflicted on the small community of Wadi Foquin, in the wake of two recent killings by Israeli forces and a backdrop of demolitions, environmental poisoning and continued encroachment on the village lands. It was a Tuesday evening in Palestine and … Continue reading News from Wadi Foquin
When Putin decided to invade Ukraine with zero grounds or provocation it was the natural order for the international community to ‘Stand with Ukraine’ and start isolating Russia through sanctions and other measures. People around the world were appalled and they expected to see immediate action taken to defend innocent people. Not all aggressors use … Continue reading Is Israel guilty of apartheid?
‘Soap, knafeh, cafes...that’s Nablus’, said our tour guide for the day, teeing up the places he would take us. It was a rainy Saturday in January and we had come with several other families for an insider’s tour around Nablus. In keeping with the generous spirit of Nablus, our guide was actually not one but … Continue reading Why I love Nablus
Around 3am this morning the police returned and forcibly removed the Salhiya family from their house in Sheikh Jarrah and demolished the structure. There are reports that the family, including a young child and elderly relatives were beaten before being arrested and taken away. It's not clear where the family are currently being held and … Continue reading They came for them
As I write this, there are only a few hours left of 2021, and what to say about it? My reflections are a blur of Covid, Covid, Sheikh Jarrah and then more Covid. Perhaps ‘uncertainty’ has been the keyword of the year with many days spent scrolling the newsfeeds and saying, ‘we’ll know more tomorrow’. … Continue reading The 2021 Review
Arriving in the small West Bank town of Aboud, with zero expectations about what we might find, I was unaware that I was about to be charmed by this historically rich Christian town. It might surprise you to hear that despite being called the Holy Land on account of Jesus’ birth, life and death in … Continue reading The Saints of Aboud
It’s olive picking season again and that means that many people take to the fields in a rush to pick their olives in the narrow window after the first rains but before the cold weather sets in. Olive picking is a deep-rooted part of Palestinian society that has been part of the annual calendar for … Continue reading Olive Highs and Lows
Last weekend we were thirsty for a Palestinian adventure, and we headed off into the West Bank with the intention of tracking down a new and bizarre landmark alongside a 1970’s retro experience. Our travels took us past Nablus to a café that has opened inside a Boeing-747 and to the area of Al-Bidhan for … Continue reading Swimming in Al-Bidhan
On our way to Zabuba, the most Northern village in Palestine, I vowed that we would never return. We were already running late before we got lost following the woefully bad navigation app, we scratched the car turning an impossibly tight corner through narrow streets and we were bickering and in a bad mood. Then … Continue reading Tobacco picking in Zabuba
One of the most surprising things that has happened in Israel over the past few months has been the unrest that has occurred across the country in solidarity with Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. Is this tension new or was it there all along? Nourooz lives in the Northern town … Continue reading The girl from Tarshiha
Sadness, anger, frustration, and perhaps a small flicker of hope. These are the emotions that a lot of people are carrying into the new week across Israel and Palestine. A cease fire came into effect from Friday at 2am which has stopped Israel’s bombing of Gaza and Hamas firing rockets out of Gaza into Israel. … Continue reading Insanity is not breaking the cycle
Many people around the world already know that Israel’s line that it is merely defending itself from Palestinian militants is wearing thin even with their American friends. You would have to go back thousands of years in history to decide who started it, when it started or who is to blame, so let’s park those … Continue reading Playing War Fair
The view from Sheikh Jarrah - an update on a week of violence around Jerusalem, Israel and Palestine.
On Monday, I wrote that I feared that people would lose their lives in the current escalation of tensions between Israel and Palestine, and they did, but not in the way that anyone expected. During Monday, thousands of Palestinians were protesting their right to pray in the Al Aqsa mosque as Israeli police stormed the … Continue reading Flash Update
There is a lot of fuel on the fire in Jerusalem at the moment and it is burning. As I write this on Monday morning, Israeli police forces are clashing with Palestinians at the Al Aqsa mosque site and in several other locations around the Old City and it is being reported that hundreds of … Continue reading #savesheikhjarrah
East Jerusalem has featured prominently in the news over the past week. On 27 April, Human Rights Watch issued a 213 page report which examines Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and concludes that there is strong evidence that Israel is committing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. This is most severe in the occupied territories … Continue reading News from East Jerusalem
As you approach Jerusalem on the main highway from Tel Aviv, Lifta stands like a ghost town on the hillside. It is a prominent reminder of the Naqba[i] which saw the residents of many Palestinian villages scared away from their homes during 1947-1948. Lifta is unique in that many of the original houses are still … Continue reading Lifta
We had heard that Wadi Fukin was a ‘nice place for a walk’ and made a few enquiries which resulted in the instruction to meet a man called Ata outside the village mosque on Saturday at 0930. We thought he might point us in the direction of the walking routes, but he was generous with … Continue reading Wadi Fukin
We met Mohammad, our guide for the day, on a busy street in Zababdeh on Sunday morning. Over half an hour later than planned, we were bordering on rude, but he smiled broadly as he jumped in the car. Zababdeh lies 15 km southeast of Jenin and is approximately a 45 minute drive from Nablus. … Continue reading Zababdeh
‘Have you had it?’, this is the question that has buzzed around Jerusalem over the past few weeks since Israel began its mass vaccination scheme a month ago. Israel has made headlines around the world for the speed and efficiency with which it is rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine. Official statistics from the Ministry of … Continue reading Vaccine Race
In June 2019, not long after arriving in Jerusalem, I started some volunteering work in the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. From there, two of the camp residents had set up an organisation called Volunteer Palestine. This invited people from around the world to come and live in the camp and bring their skills to … Continue reading Aida Camp
Music often says a lot about the culture of a place. If the bits of the local Palestinian scene I’ve picked up on are anything to go by, Palestinian musicians are really leading the way and helping test the boundaries and cultural norms of Palestinian society. And just like everyone else, everything they do is … Continue reading Sounds of Palestine
It is hiking season in Palestine and having missed the Spring season due to lockdown, we are currently maxing out on opportunities to get outdoors at the moment. There are many beautiful walks to be done across Israel and Palestine. Anyone unsure where to start should check out the Walking Palestine guidebook which you can … Continue reading The Shrinking Outdoors
The other day my three year old asked, ‘are we Palestinian?’ Sadly, for us, we are very much British, but it was sweet to see that she understood a bit about where we are. The next day she said ‘I just heard a Palestinian’ when she meant the call to prayer, so her definition was … Continue reading Locked In
One of our favourite pass times since we moved here has been what you might describe as West Bank wanderings. Before I launch into these, I need to give a bit of background as the politics have made the geography crazy complicated. Put simply the West Bank lies West of the Jordan River and it … Continue reading West Bank Wanderings
When I moved to Jerusalem last year, I had only a very sketchy understanding of the occupation. I didn’t know my 1948 from my 1967 and I wanted to get up to speed quickly. Aided both by my husband’s already creaking at the seams bookshelf and the wonderful Educational Bookshop, I started reading a mix … Continue reading Reading Palestine
Battir might be one of the only places in the world where there really are eight days in a week. There are eight main families that own the agricultural land here and our knowledgeable local guide Hassan tells us that ‘everything in Battir is divided into eight’. Battir is a small Palestinian village, just a … Continue reading Eight Days a Week
We live in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, nestled in amongst the consulates and old Palestinian elite families. It is part of East Jerusalem but not representative of East Jerusalem. What I didn’t know, was that the word ‘jarrah’ in Arabic is derived from ‘healer’ and Sheikh Jarrah was the personal physician of Salah ad-Din. … Continue reading Sheikh Jarrah
July has started and with it the second half of 2020 is underway. Days and weeks blur into one and the news headlines come and go. Elections, annexation, covid, occupation, it can be difficult to see the history being made in front of our eyes. This week, I’m taking stock of 2020 so far, a … Continue reading Half a year down
My favourite sound of Jerusalem, and one that has me excitedly running to the window, is the drilling of the Syrian Woodpecker in the trees beyond our house. If I am quiet and fairly still, I can often spot the woodpecker high up the trunk of the tree, beak poised and ready to drill. It … Continue reading Birds
East Jerusalem Diaries 