We decided to hitchhike. After a not-as-early-as-planned start, we got a bus from the centre to the outskirts of Jerusalem. I recognised the area as being where the bus from Ramallah passes through when it enters the city. We stopped in a layby to hitch, and we weren’t alone. We decided not to join the [...]
Archive for March, 2010
Day 64-65: The Dead Sea
March 24, 2010
Day 67: Lockdown
March 24, 2010
Last week, during the lockdown, the Israeli army shot some Birzeit students protesting at nearby ‘Attara (the checkpoint that doesn’t exist). Three of the ten were shot with live ammunition, according to the hospital. This trend continued later in the week, with four young men killed in the West Bank. (See also on Ma’an.)
Day 71: How to go to Jerusalem II: During clashes and closures
March 19, 2010
Recently there have been confrontations around Palestine between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians protesting against home demolitions and the restriction of access to important mosques in East Jerusalem. I posted this about travelling to Jerusalem from Ramallah, though it’s a bit different at the moment. Step 1: Check the news and ask friends to try and [...]
Day 62: Strike at Birzeit University
March 9, 2010
Today saw the latest in a series of strikes at Birzeit University. This was a teaching staff strike (from which my course was exempt), though over the past few weeks there have been general and student strikes too. This morning I arrived at the servees station a normally-dangerous five minutes late, expecting to see the [...]
Day 61: Potty International Women’s Day
March 8, 2010
Happy International Women’s Day to all of you. To celebrate this important and joyous event, my university saw it fit to issue female staff with cooking pots:
Day 60: Arabic learning
March 8, 2010
The time I spend in Ramallah has some kind of rhythm to it, dictated mainly by my studies. This time is punctuated by massive three-day weekends during which I travel and there is no normality. I still enjoy my course at PAS (the Palestine and Arabic Studies programme at Birzeit University). My teacher is good, [...]
