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My time in Palestine (requested post)

TheFuser

TheFuser

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So a while ago I was asked to create this post, but I procrastinated. I spent a few weeks in Palestine (there is no such thing as Israel, land wise) and it changed my life. I went with a delegation of artists/activists/educators. And I’ll start at the beginning. Warning, Colin didn’t approve this, so I’ll try to break this down by city I was in. If you see me say “Israel” know that I mean the government and not the land.

So there was nine of us, all youngish and black and brown, and we had to stagger into the country for fear that the Israeli government wouldn’t let us in. They don’t need a reason to not let you in. It’s totally subjective and arbitrary (I'm telling you, Israel is what the USA wants to be so bad. Difference is, we have a Constitution to stick to [sorta] and they don't). Some of us had straight flights from JFK to Tel Aviv, but on different flights. Some of us went from JFK to Moscow to Tel Aviv. Some of us went from JFK to Azerbaijan to Tel Aviv. I arrived a day before everyone else.

When I got to Ben Gurion Airport I was greeted on the jetway by an IDF soldier with a machine gun. Like, not IN the terminal, on the jetway as soon as I stepped foot off the plane. She couldn’t have been anymore than 19 years old and just looked at me said, “Come on over here” like, “Nigga, you know what it is.” There was only one other black person on my flight (my layover was in Moscow -- sidenote, NEVER fly Aeroflot) and the other IDF soldier on the jetway detained her. She asked me a series of questions including if I knew the sista who was also detained. She asked me that like 5 times. Totally didn’t believe me.

When I got in the terminal walking toward immigration, I got stopped by another soldier who checked my passport and asked me the same series of questions the first girl did. At immigration, the same series of questions. They inspected my passport like crazy to see where else I’d been. (side note, one of the people in our delegation got detained for a few hours because he’d been to Egypt). Israel does what the US wants to do. The US is still sneaky (relatively) with their profiling, but Israel is blatant and gives NO FUCKS.

I took a taxi from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It was an hour and some change ride. The landscape is beautiful, but humbling seeing so many settlements that shouldn’t be there. There’s a fence on both sides of the highway connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. My Palestinian cab driver, whose lineage stretches back CENTURIES in the land, is not allowed on the other side of those fences. Just on the highway to drive.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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Jerusalem

I stayed at the Holy Land Hotel, right next to the Old City, my first night. Hella basic, but it was only for the night, and it was in the mix. It’s right across the street from Herod’s Gate into the Old City. Dropped my bags off, and went right outside. Whenever I travel, I like to be amongst the people so I hit the streets. Not gonna lie, I was hesitant at first because of all the propaganda we get in the States, but fuck that. Right in that area, there are hella shops. Lots to eat. Lots of places to buy food and regular every day shit as well. Hella Palestinians gave me nods and greets just walking about. Lots of kids ran up to me, measuring themselves to me (I’m 6’7) so that was fun and funny.

Walked up and down Sultan Suleiman Street just exploring. Went up Salah e-Din St and had the best Falafel Sandwich of my life. Was some random stand on the left hand side walking up the block. Saw a bunch of Palestinians in line so I figured I’d cop. Bruh! Shit was everything. Stopped in Sharbain's Bookshop and was greeted well by the owners and workers. Then I walked back down to the Old City.

The Old City was weird initially because there were armed IDF sentries outside the gates with Submachine Guns. Just seemed out of place in such a Holy space, but whatever. Didn’t spend much time there THAT NIGHT because it was getting late and I had no idea where I was going.

Next day, a few from the delegation got there around lunch. We linked up and went to the Old City to have lunch at a spot the organizer knew. He goes frequently so he knows hella people. We ate lunch on Via Dolorosa where Jesus walked and watched IDF Soldiers profile and detain a Palestinian man just going from point A to B. Checked his papers (Palestinians from The West Bank need a permit to visit Jerusalem) and when they checked out they still kept him there, hands against the wall, for over 20 minutes. No reason. Just to fuck with him. To have him on display. Keep in mind, these IDF soldiers are basically fucking kids. 18-19 year olds for the most part. And that basically set the tone for the entire trip. Palestinians have to constantly prove they belong wherever they are. IN THEIR OWN FUCKING LAND.

I was hela disgusted, but felt a bit better when we went to an Afro Palestinian Cafe and Bookstore called Bassem’s Gallery. Homie was hella cool, and the place is DOPE AF. Make sure you check that place out if you’re ever in Jerusalem. It’s on Via Dolorosa so you can’t miss it.

One of the most problematic things I learned about is the residency rules for Palestinians in the Old City. At any given moment, Israeli officials can raid a Palestinian’s house in the Old City to make sure you’re living there most of the time. How they do that is, they check the trash to make sure it’s sufficient trash in the can… check your hamper to make sure you’re taking off your clothes there… check your refrigerator to make sure you have hella groceries. It’s done to try to take your house from you and give it to Israeli settlers. It’s also done to keep “48” Palestinias separate from West Bank Palestinians. There’s no real rubric. It’s completely illegal according to international law, but the world turns its back.

We spent time with a Palestinian elder in the African Quarter of the Old City who was our tour guide. Yes, there is an African Quarter in the Old City. The maps have erased it, but it exists. His family has been in Jerusalem for a few centuries and trace back to West Africa.

Jerusalem really is a tale of two cities. The East side, and the West side. The West side is the Jewish side. It looks like most European cities. There are no Palestinians that live on that side. It’s hella stores, hella buses and trams. Then there’s the East side. ZERO development. It’s supposed to be, according to international law, all Palestinian. But there are hella Israeli settle compounds on the East side. And they’re on different energy grids. And they’re on different water grids. You can tell a settler house from a Palestinian house by the giant black water tanks on the top of Palestinian houses. Whenever Israel gets pissed at Palestinians, they cut their water supply off. So Palestinians buy these giant tanks as water reserves. According to the people I talked to, the cut off could be a couple hours. It could be a couple days.

The roads on the West side were immaculately paved. The East side, not even close. Tiny. Nowhere to park. And dumpsters in the middle of the block since trash collection is few and far between. The stark difference from both sides, which is supposed to be run by the same municipal government, can be seen when you’re up high on a hill. On one side, the West side, you can see DOZENS of cranes on the horizon for all the development being done. On the East side, NOT ONE SINGLE CRANE. No development.

We happened to be in the Old City during the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. Hella Muslims from all over came to the Old City to pray at Al Aqsa. The passages were PACKED. Could barely move. Was complete slow motion. And then a few Jewish settles started barreling through the crowd. Bumping into women. Pushing children. Knocking into strollers. And the Palestinian men tries to check them, but there wasn’t much they could do because IDF soldiers were right there protecting the arrogant settles. The settlers only stopped once I took out my phone and he saw me filming him over the crowd (I’m hella tall). They got real chill then.

One night, walking back from this dope ass restaurant, half the group took cabs, the other half of us walked back. We got lost on the West side. None of the Jews would help us. We went into gas stations and got cussed at. Me and this old fuck got into it and the host had to get me to chill. Dead ass, we only asked for directions, and this dickhead said, “Use your GPS. Don’t ask me anything.” So I responded, “Pussy, who the fuck are you talking to?” He was about to call the cops but they dragged me out. Fucking bitch.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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The Dead Sea
Was only there for a few hours, but it was dope as fuck. Hella Pilgrims there. The water felt like silk. One of the things that took me aback was it’s a small portion of beach cut out for people to visit. Then there’s barbed wire and hell signs that warn you of land mines on the other side of it. Kinda sobering.


Jericho
It’s interesting traveling around Palestine. Our organizer warned us about the lack of communication in certain parts of the land, and he was right. Our van had wifi, and it went out as soon as we got to Jericho, and all the other West Bank cities. Jericho was cool as fuck because we met hella Afro Palestinians there. They’ve been there for so long that there is no trace back. They just are Palestinians. We asked there if there is any racism amongst Arab Palestinians and Afro Palestinians and they let us know that it wasn’t really a thing. Only sometimes when it comes to marriage. And as we stood at the foot of Mount Temptation, staring up at the Monastery of the Temptation, a car zoomed past us, with JUST MARRIED written in Arabic, the man, Black, the woman, Arab.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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Ramallah
Ramallah was my favorite place while I was there. It’s located in the West Bank and you have to go through the checkpoints to get there. Keep in mind, there are two types of checkpoints. The regular ones, that you know you’re gonna have to go through. They separate The West Bank from 48. And then there are the floating Checkpoints. IDF soldiers can just set up shop anywhere and start running peoples’ papers.

Ramallah was our base for most of the time we spent in Palestine. It’s the city that’s being most developed, but parts of it still look like a warzone. The schools for the children there are run by NATO and the curriculum is chosen by the EU and the United States. So trash.

Ramallah had mad restaurants, lounges, clubs etc. And honestly, some of the finest women I’ve ever seen in my life. I know folks have this idea about Palestine and the middle east in general where the women walk eyes down in hijab, but honestly, I didn’t see many Hijabi women in Ramallah. I still don’t know how I didn’t leave with a Palestinian wife. No, seriously… The are fine AS FUCK. And super friendly.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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Hebron
This was honestly the most painful part of the trip. Hebron is a fucking mess. It’s the most OD example of blatant racism I’ve witnessed. Hebron is what the US used to be during Jim Crow, and what it aspires to be again. The city itself is beautiful, but the goings on in the Old City of Hebron is fucking disgusting. The Old City is hella historic, and known worldwide for their fabrics and scarves. The market in the Old City is where shit hit the fan. First off, any Israeli settler living there is violating international law. They give no fucks though. They’re literally living over top of the market. LIKE IN APARTMENTS OVER TOP OF IT. And they throw rocks and debris down on the Palestinians and the shoppers. So to combat that, the Hebron shopkeepers put up a fence over top of the market. So the fucking settlers started throwing down liquids instead. Including bottles of urine. And the Palestinians can do nothing. Flanked on both sides of the settles apartments are two IDF sentry posts. And they do nothing to the settlers.

Want more trash? Well, you got it. A great majority of the city is closed off to Palestinians because of the Ibrahim Mosque Massacre of 1994. A Brooklyn born Jew walked into the Mosque in 1994 and murdered 30 Palestinians, and injured another 125. The Israeli government restricted the movement of the Palestinians in response, expecting a retaliation. That’s right, the Palestinians got murdered, and then punished for getting murdered. The government closed Al-Shuhada Street to Palestinians, where hella Palestinians lived and worked, and left it exclusively to Jewish and tourist access ONLY. In other words, I was able to walk down Al-Shuhada Street, but our Hebron tour guide was not.

We walked down Al-Shuhada Street onto the Jewish side of town and were met by this asshole famous for murdering a Palestinian child years back. He’s not IDF, just a citizen. He pulled up in his van with his homies and started questioning us. He and I got into a heated argument and he was ready to pull out his gun on me, but didn’t, because he was scared since we are US Citizens.

And this is a good time to point out the privilege in that. IDF and Israelis want no smoke with that blue passport. I got into it with some IDF soldiers and they bucked for a minute, but back down. The asshole in Hebron backed down. We got followed hella closely by aggressive ass Jews in Hebron the entire time we were on that side, but they didn’t want that smoke. If we were anyone else, we may have been smoked.

Back on the Palestinian side, IDF soldiers rolled up on us and asked us hella questions. The first question they always ask is “What religion are you?” which is super odd since that’s not something people don’t ask from the rip in the States.

I took time to shop in Hebron to make sure I gave them some business. And the shopkeepers all wanted to talk. To tell us their story. They were super friendly. Like SUPER friendly. And were well versed in African American struggles. From Trayvon to Ferguson. And the only thing they asked of us was to please go back and tell their story.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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Bethlehem
Bethlehem is in the West Bank. And it’s the home to so many historical and religious monuments. It’s also the home of the wall and the Aida Refugee camp. In the land that Jesus walked, there’s a refugee camp with Palestinians living all kinds of fucked up. That shit is TRASH.

We visited the Wall first. It’s intimidating as fuck, and that’s exactly how it’s designed to be. A constant reminded of the occupation. A constant reminded to Palestinians of their otherness in their own land. Palestinians write messages on the wall, and graffiti bomb it. The wall is most famous for Banksy tagging it. In fact, the Banksy museum is adjacent to the Wall. Of note, the same people who built THAT wall, are pegged to build the Wall Trump wants to build. No. True story!

Visiting the refugee camp was awful. The stories the kids told of their everyday life. There’s even a little store where Palestinian kids sell souvenirs from the occupation. Empty tear gas cannisters and bullet casings amongst others stuff.

We did hit up the Church of the Nativity and there were mad hustlers out there. Mad Palestinian pickpockets and people selling random shit. And I know about the pickpockets because this Palestinian guy walked up to me, and I thought he was about to game me. I gave him the blank stare and grabbed my pocket. He laughed and said, “Not you brother. I wouldn’t steal from you brother. Now these white people? I’m taking their things all day.” We had hella laughs after that. He brought over some more of this homies including this little kid who had me cracking tf up. He was selling little trinkets but kept flirting with my homie Steph. All the hustlers in the area could see we weren’t on some pilgrimage shit and they left us alone. Just dapped us up.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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Haifa
We left Ramallah and spent the rest of the time in Haifa, which is in Northern Palestine, and what is considered 48. West Bank citizens can’t visit places in 48 without a permit.

Haifa is fucking BEAUTIFUL. It’s the home of the Gardens of Baha'i, which is considered the 8th wonder of the world. Our hotel was at the foot of Mount Carmel. We met some dope people in Haifa was reminded that not all Palestinians are Muslim. In fact, there are a shit ton of Palestinian Christians. And there’s also another ethnic group/religion there called Druze. We met with a few people of the Druze faith, and they were also very vocal about their opposition of the Palestinian occupation. Unlike Palestinians, the Druze are forced to serve in the IDF. A lot go to prison because they refuse.

Haifa is so fucking beautiful that I had to constantly remind myself that I was in occupied territory.

We went to the Gardens of Baha’i and the first question we were asked was about our religion by their security there. That shit started to piss me off lowkey. As we left, a car kept going around the circle at the base of the gardens and finally pulled over. Two men were in the car, hype as fuck to see us. They just kept yelling, “Bedouin! Bedouin!!!” At the time I had no fucking idea what that meant, but I would learn soon. They dapped us up. Asked about us. Told us they were happy we were there. Then they invited us to a party.

While my fellow delegation members were hella tired from all the traveling, I walked around Haifa with my homie. You could always tell who was Palestinian, and who was Israeli. Palestinians always came up and wanted to talk. Israelis would just talk shit about us under their breath.

Ok, I’m tired as fuck. I’mma type up the experiences in Acca, Jaffa, Khan al-Ahmar, back in Jerusalem, and the trip home later. Ask questions if you got them. I’m gonna be adding appropriate pics to the posts too. They’re on my phone.
 
da_monumental_1

da_monumental_1

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I visited Haifa during my Med cruise back in '94/'95. A few of us hung out with a Palestinian dude. OP isn't exaggerating either. I don't know about now, but back then, there was only one way to get up to Haifa from the pier and one way down on a bus with a road barely wide enough to travel it. I remember the cool subway trains as well. You road on them at an angle inclined.

This was our first break after the shit with Bosnia that we had to leave Toulon, France for on Thanksgiving Day. After about four weeks of chow on the ship, I needed something different. When I saw those Golden Arches, as we were almost at the top of the hill, it was on like Donkey Kong and I don't even like Mickey D's like that. A double cheese burger was higher than giraffe pussy in comparison to the states. I think my combo was close to $10 back then. But, I didn't give a fuck.
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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This is the black owned Cafe and Bookshop in Jthe Old City of Jerusalem. It's small, but the vibe is dope as fuck.
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This is the entrance to the African Quarter in the Old City. Hella Afro Palestinians live here including our guide, Ali. If you're ever looking for it, it's in the same street as the entrance to Al Aqsa. IDF soldiers sit at the bottom of that street and they'll say you need to be Muslim to go up the street, but just tell them you're going to the African Quarter
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This is Ali. Elder Afro Palestinian. He's the focus of an upcoming documentary called Black In The Holyland
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Shit was crazy during the Prohpets birthday. I'm trying to find the video of me catching the settler aftet he was being a dick to the Muslims celebrating.
20181120-124146-1.jpg
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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This is in Hebron, over the market. The fence they put up over the market is to protect themselves from the settlers (who live in those apartments above) from throwing things down on them.
20181121-132354-1.jpg


Shit that they've thrown down that the gate caught. Of note, the shopkeepers tried to put up a different solid structure to protect them from the liquids, but the Israeli government called it illegal, and demolished it. Keep in mind, this is in the West Bank... Where no settlers are supposed to be.
20181121-133305.jpg


Shuhada St. Muslims aren't allowed to walk down this street where their shops and homes are. We were though. And so are Jewish settlers
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M

Mrfreddygoodbud

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niiiicce....

but bruh you aint do the mud thing then float in the dead sea, bruh my skin was lookin radiant as a fuck after that...

also did you notice how fuckin dirty that beach in tel aviv was...

anyway Nazereth was the place I thought was the most beautiful... had some shit call st peters fish dope..

and you are right.. they really racist out there but once they know you from america they switch up, the older jewish folk couldnt tell, but the younger ones could...

I was online going into a club and this lady was takin money and stamping hands.. she looked at me with her ol racist jewish wrinkly face and shook her head no...

the club manager or some dude quickly walked over looked at me and smiled and escorted me in... then went back out and said something to the racist hag...

nice lil trip report look forward to reading the rest....
 
TheFuser

TheFuser

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Apologies about not posting more so far today. Some shit came up but I'll post more asap including mror pics.
 

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