Jenin

We woke up particularly early this Saturday morning. Even though this had been planned for a couple weeks, an 8 AM alarm is never welcomed in my eyes. This trip to the Northern district of the West Bank was as much touristic and educational, as it was celebratory. Two volunteers were leaving Project Hope the following morning.

With my Nutella sandwhich in hand, I met up with the possy of international volunteers as we walked to the bus station. We hoped on the next bus to Jenin. The bus took us past small villages, a myriad of speed bumps and countless olive fields. By the time we got to Jenin it was around 10:30 and our Project Hope guide met us near the city centre. Our first stop was to Palestine's only fair trade office (http://www.palestinefairtrade.org/). Organized in 2004 by a Palestinian graduate of the University of Wisconsin, the office now has 1200 members, more than 45 fully organic, sustainable, and fair trade farms, and a bright future. Our discussion with the officers was centred around the occupation.

How has the association of farmers dealt with land grabs by settlements? 
A: In fact, there was not much they could do. Ownership papers have had to be changed 4 different times in the last century -first, the Ottomans, then the British, then the Jordanians, the Israelis and the Authority. In fact, ownership was marked by mutual understandings and brick-layed plots. But many Iraeli authorities use the lack of paperwork as a legal way of expropriating land in the West Bank. Furthermore, once the Israeli army attached any plot of land to the security umbrella, there was nothing that could be done.
 Who was in charge of filing petitions for farmers who lost land to the Israeli "security barrier", also known as the apartheid wall? 
A: According to Mahmoud (whose last name was Abbas, like the PA's President), once the wall cut through your land there was no court or waiver that could save your crop. Farmers have already lost a few harvests due to that wall. So far, the Israeli security machine has been toying with the farmers. Once the wall was erected, an owner could return to his land with his family and his workers. Eventually, this changed to allowing only the owner and his son. More recently, it became only the owner and, even then, you needed a permit. Mohamed, one of the farmers present at our discussion, told us that he had already applied three times for the permit and has been declined every time. He has already lost last year's harvest of olives and fears he may never see his plants again. 
What were some of the costs of occupation on your product and pricing mechanism?
Simply put, occupation means higher tariffs and higher transportation costs for all Palestinian products in combination with longer wait times at the port -with fruits and vegetables, this is disastrous.

After our round-table discussion, we taxied to Canaan (https://www.canaanfairtrade.com/%29 The company, also created by the doctor from the U of W, was the exporting and marketing machine for the Palestinian Fair Trade network. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Having taken classes on Agriculture and sustainable development and graduated from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, this experience was far beyond impressing. Canaan was booming! New machines for bottling and extracting olive oil were being installed and the director's passion was vividly living through his large smile. I can't wait to connect my school and program to this amazing project.

The next stop was the Jenin Cultural Center (http://orgs.tigweb.org/19381). We listened as the director treaded on and off his cell phone explaining life in Jenin during the second intifada. Jenin was at the epicenter of Israeli bombardments and attacks. We saw pictures of squashed ambulances, burnt UN schools,  and crumbled neighbourhoods - the director described the city as resembling the aftermath of an earthquake or a tsunami. In the refugee camp, there was not a building or a home that had not been damaged or destroyed. Some couches were marked with stars of david and mirrors had been gratified in Hebrew. Homes were piles of dust and neighbourhoods had literally been flattened. The city had been under permanent curfew for 40 days and the siege was non-stop.

Jenin was resilient though. The director, in a speech I caught on video, personified Palestine as a woman, maybe a mother or a wife. Hurt and tearful, she continued to live through occupation and humiliation after her husband and sons had martyred their lives for her. Although she remembers and mourns their sacrifice, she must also raise her kids, and feed them, and nurture them. She must find a way to pay for her home and her children's education. You see, he said, Palestine must give birth by herself and as she delivers her baby she must also be her midwife, her husband and her doctor. "She is the strongest woman -they are the strongest women."

As we left the maktab (aka. office in Arabic), we climbed two flights of stairs to get to the roof of the creative cultural centre. From here we could see the refugee camp, we saw the canal, before it was re-routed, and, in the distance, we could see the green line that seperated the West Bank from Israel. Israeli cities that were just beyond that, tinkering in the darkness, laughing at the misery.

Having our eyes opened wide all day ensured that the ride back to Nablus was pretty quiet. We sat at the back of the bus, as teenage boys giggled and took long looks at our group of international volunteers (well, mostly at the girls). I took a nap and when I woke up we had already arrived in the bustling city centre. Even though I have only been here a week and a half, I was relieved to be home again.