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july 2008 This is my houseAs Israel celebrated its 60th birthday, Sultana Begum joined a procession of Palestinians commemorating the year they lost their family homes
As I prepare to end my three-month term living and working in the West Bank town of Hebron in May, Israelis begin a week of celebrations marking 60 years since the creation of the state of Israel. In contrast to the festive mood in Israel, Palestinians are facing a blanket security closure throughout the West Bank, meaning those with permits to work or enter Israel will be denied entry. This is the third such closure in the three months I have been here.
As I make numerous journeys in shared yellow taxis across the West Bank, I am struck by the sea of Israeli flags, flying high above the West Bank skyline close to blocs of Israeli settlements, such as Gush Etzion near Hebron. I witness new terracotta roofed houses being built in some of these settlement blocs, which are illegal according to international law, and an increased presence of soldiers around settlements. The mood in the West Bank is sombre. Sixty years on, the Palestinians are no closer to a state of their own. For Palestinians the day of Israel’s independence is the day of their Nakba or catastrophe.
Whilst Israel celebrates its independence and prepares to welcome important foreign dignitaries such as George Bush and others, I join a silent demonstration through the neighbourhoods of western Jerusalem. The demonstration is organised by Palestinians who lost their homes in 1948 during Israel’s war of independence.
This article is continued in the July 08 edition of Reform.
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