Land of three religions

Sudha Mahalingam visits Ramallah, the beleaguered capital of Palestine


The Church of Nativity in Bethlehem

THE barbed wire fence is never out of sight. It is no more than a few metres away almost wherever you go in this town of blocked roads and spiked gates. In some patches, the spiky wire is draped around a reinforced steel and concrete wall, a foot thick. And even to the jaded Indian eye, the graffiti and posters seem excessive. Gun-totting men, many in uniform, are not an unusual sight. There is palpable tension in the air.

Yet, life goes on. There is an odd restaurant, a few furniture shops with gaudy stuff, an unusually large number of flyblown sweetmeat stalls and an overwhelming number of greasy auto repair workshops. Women, clad from head to toe in black chadors and colourful headscarves, hurry past. Taxicabs add a touch of glamour to this otherwise dreary landscape – all taxis are swanky Mercs or shiny Skodas although there are also donkey-carts and ramshackle sheruts on the streets.

We’re in Ramallah, the beleaguered and besieged capital of Palestine. Ramallah is a tiny enclave on the West Bank of the Jordan river — referred to simply as the West Bank. It is surrounded on three sides by Israel, and its now infamous wall. In fact, the wall cuts right through East Jerusalem, taking livelihood away from thousands of Arabs trapped on the Palestinian side. East Jerusalem is where all the holy sites are — the Temple Mount, Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall and the Church of Holy Sepulchre. Israel took over this land in the Six-Day war in 1967.

People in the West Bank are trapped as much by their geography as by their politics. Other than the barbed wire barricade separating them from Israel, the only border they have is with Jordan through what is called the King Hussein bridge. Palestine, like the erstwhile Pakistan, is in two bits. The other bit is the infamous Gaza Strip, virtually a strip of Mediterranean Coast adjoining Egypt and separated from the West Bank by vast stretches of Israeli territory. The third piece, Golan Heights to the north adjoining Syria, has been occupied and appropriated by Israel since 1967. Palestinians from Ramallah cannot go to Gaza and vice versa, and when they travel abroad, should use the Jordanian airport.

It so happens that we’re in Ramallah on the very day the Israelis attacked the Turkish flotilla carrying food to Gaza. Earlier in the day, we saw a silent demonstration outside the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, en route to Ramallah. Palestinian Arabs clad in black suits lined the walkway to the church holding placards in Arabic. We had asked Naif, our taxi driver about it, but he just mumbled about some attack, but did not elaborate, perhaps as to not scare us away — the odd customer that came his way on such a day.

Otherwise, Naif is as talkative as any Arab or Indian for that matter. He fills us up on his life during the eight hours we spend in his car that day – driving from Bethelhem to Ramallah and back. Life in Palestine must be harsh. "Security checks, road blocks and wire fences have become part of our everyday life. Business is bad. How long can we go on like this?" he asks. When I ask him whether he would like his children to leave Palestine to make their lives elsewhere, he is indignant. "This is our home, why should they go anywhere else?"

It is 43°C outside, but this Arab Merc’s air-conditioning doesn’t work. Outside, it is so desolate that I wonder aloud why people fight over something as barren as this. I am promptly reprimanded by my 18-year old son at whose behest I have undertaken this journey in the first place. "Amma, this is the most hallowed piece of real estate on earth. How can you say this?"

Of course, this is the land that gave birth to three major religions. And however desolate, it is the only home Palestinians ever had though the question over their right to this land remains.

We head towards the tomb of Yasser Arafat. The security is not just friendly, even somewhat deferential, when they find out we’re from India. The monument is solemn and impressive, set against the backdrop of unremarkable buildings, which constitute the Palestinian government offices. We pay our respects to the man who died for the Palestinian cause without finding a resolution, but kept the smile on his endearing face.

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