For the full transcript of this podcast click the transcript tab next to the show notes tab or go to the website:  https://storiesfrompalestine.info/2022/04/08/south-hebron-hills/

Sami Huraini is a young Palestinian activist from the village of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. His village, just as many other Palestinian villages in that region, is in area C, which is under full Israeli military control. Settlers and Israeli military are making life very hard for the villagers, in order to persuade them to move away into towns and cities under Palestinian Authority. But Sami is very clear: we are not leaving. This is our village, this is our land. We will defend and protect ourselves in a non violent way.

Many of the villages in the South Hebron Hills are not connected to water or electricity. The people suffer from continuous attacks by settlers who set fire to their properties, steal their tools and even their life stock, violently attack shepherds, villagers and even children.

The Israeli military is often present but does nothing to prevent the settlers from attacking Palestinians.

In At-Tuwani the youth organized themselves in an initiative called Youth of Sumud. Sami is one of the community leaders and he was arrested in the beginning of this year. Originally without any charges, later soldiers made up some claims against him. He was given an award for human rights defenders who are at high risk. This has helped in getting more media attention and more diplomats to visit At-Tuwani.

Recently they opened a guesthouse where visitors can stay. They are welcome to join for a tour around the South Hebron Hills, to spend some time in solidarity with the villagers, to be protective presence and accompany farmers, shepherds and children.

If you want to know more you can check out their facebook group Youth of Sumud

You can e-mail them : [email protected]

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The month of Ramadan 2022 started in Palestine on the second of April. Between sunrise and sunset Muslims refrain from eating. When they break their fasting, they usually start by eating a date. They do this because according to the tradition prophet Mohamad used to break his fasting by eating a date.

Dates have many health benefits and they are a healthy replacement for refined sugar.

In Palestine date palm trees mainly grow in the Jordan valley, where the oxygen level is high due to the fact that the Jordan rift valley is about 300 meters below sea level. The climate is warm and dry. A perfect environment for the date trees.

Jamileh Dajani is the only female Palestinian date farm owner in the Jordan valley. Her husband works abroad and she runs this business by herself, with the help of some workers who take care of pollination and harvesting. Jamileh produces for the local market and prepares special Jamileh delights, dates dipped in chocolate and covered with crunchy nuts and coconut. Especially around Christmas and Ramadan she is very busy.

But still she found time to talk to me about the origins of the date palm trees, their specifics, the different kinds of dates, the health benefits, the challenges that Palestinian date farmers have and the difference between the dates from the Israeli settlements and the Palestinian producers.

You can find Jamileh dates on Instagram @jamilehdates

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Masada comes from the Hebrew word Metzad and this means fortress. It is basically a fortress that was built on top of a rock plateau. It is located very close to the Dead Sea and it is a bit south of the Westbank, so it is not accessible to Palestinians from the Westbank currently.

The fortress was built in the time of Herod the Great who prepared it to be able to withstand a long siege. The rock plateau had palaces, water cisterns, storage halls, workshops, residencies for generals and barracks for soldiers and even a Roman bathhouse.

The most famous story about Masada is that of the Roman siege in 73 AD when a group of Jewish Zealots who rebelled against the Romans, had taken the mount and decided that in case the Romans would take Masada, they would commit suicide.

This story is only known from one written account, by the Jewish apologist Flavius Josephus.

New research has shown that the ramp that the Romans started building, never reached the top of Masada. This really challenges the common understanding of HOW the Roman siege of Masada ended. Nevertheless, this is the story that is told by tour guides to the large amounts of visitors that visit Masada.

If you want to watch the film 'Avenge but one of my two eyes" by Avi Moghrabi who made parallels between the bravery of the Jewish Zealots who are praised by the Israeli narrative and the Palestinian freedom fighters who are put aside as terrorists, then go to this YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Iy-IapIdY

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This episode was recorded in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, during our visit to Aida Youth Center where the director, Anas, spoke to us about the history of the refugee problem and life in the refugee camp.

There are 19 refugee camps in the Westbank, three of them are located in Bethlehem. Aida refugee camp is the most teargassed place in the world. There is an Israeli army base right next to the camp and the Israeli separation wall has been built just on the edge of the camp. There is literally no space for the Palestinians who live in Aida camp.

The camp was established by UNRWA in 1950 and families were given a tent to stay in. In 1956 they replaced the tents with rooms. One room for each six family members. There were no bathrooms and kitchens, only shared ones. These rooms have been replaced over time by houses built by the residents of Aida camp. And as there is no space to built outside of the camp area, they are building up, several floors. The camp has very narrow streets. 

Aida camp is named after a Palestinian woman who had a coffee shop in this area and who was a support for the first refugees that came to Bethlehem. The inhabitants of the camp come from different towns and villages that used to be situated between Hebron and Jerusalem. They locked their homes and took their keys hoping that they would return after the attacks were over. But they were never allowed, despite the UN resolution 194 that states that all Palestinians have the right to return to their homes.

If you want to follow Aid Youth Center on social media, here are some links:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZl2BVF0J8O_k4zcWL4AwHQ

https://www.aidacenter.org/

https://www.facebook.com/aidacenter.org

https://www.instagram.com/aida_youth_center

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The Mount of Olives is situated to the East of the old city of Jerusalem. The Mount plays an important role in the Bible. It is the place where Jesus taught his disciples to pray. It is the place from where Jesus looked at Jerusalem and wept for its future destruction. It is also from here that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey and was welcomed by a crowd covering the street with palm branches. And of course it is the place where Jesus spent the last night before he was crucified, in the garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed to God asking if this cup could pass him.

The Mount of Olives and the Kidron and Hinnom valley are the location where according to all three monotheistic religions the final day of judgment will take place.

There are many churches, mosques and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

In this episode I try to give a good impression of what you can see and of the history of these sites. It is absolutely not a complete description but rather an introduction. Hopefully you will come to visit the Mount of Olives for yourself one day!

If you make a donation to the podcast on Ko-fi the I will send you the link to the Mount of Olives video. When you make the donation on Ko-fi please refer to the video and send me your e-mail address!

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Five years ago, in 2017, the Walled Off Hotel opened its doors in Bethlehem. After a period of two years closure because of the Covid pandemic, the hotel has recently reopened.

The hotel is marketed as the hotel with the worst view, as it is located only a few meters from the eight meters high concrete wall that Israel built to carve out Rachel's tomb and a parking lot from Bethlehem for the exclusive visit of Israeli and foreign visitors to the site that is considered holy in all three monotheistic religions.

There is also an Israeli military army base in that area, right on the spot that used to be the ancient entrance to Bethlehem and which was a commercially busy street until it was blocked off by the Wall.

The Hotel's name is also a play on the famous and expensive high class Waldorf Hotels.
There are eight rooms in the hotel that are designed by Banksy and other artists. The Hotel also has a museum that highlights the political reality for the Palestinians and gives an introduction to the geo-political history.

There is a lot of art to be seen in the Hotel. Both in the lobby and the bar as well as in the gallery upstairs. You can see work by Banksy himself and art work by more than sixty Palestinian artists. The work in the art gallery is also for sale.

Check out the website : https://walledoffhotel.com

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Tel megiddo is an archaeological site in the Jezreel valley (Marj bin Amer in Arabic) where they found 25 layers of civilizations. Megiddo is mentioned several times in the Bible and it is associated with Armageddon, mentioned in the book of Revelations, the last book of the New Testament of the Bible, as the location for a final battle. 

It is not for no reason that the writer of the book of Revelations chose to stage this battle at Har Megiddo (the mount of Megiddo, from which Armageddon is a corruption).  This is the site of many ancient battles because of its very strategic location. If you controlled Megiddo, you controlled the most important trade route of that time, the Via Maris.

The most famous battle is the battle of Tuthmose III, the Egyptian Pharaoh, who led his army through the very arrow Aruna pass (Wadi Ara) to surprise the Canaanite vasal kings who were preparing for a rebellion. 

In the 20th century the British army general Allenby, who read the stories of Tuthmose III, used the same strategy in World War I and he defeated the Turkish army at the same location, by coming through the same narrow pass.

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This is a special episode in Dutch for the Dutch foundation 'Plant an olive tree'
If you want to learn more about olive tree planting in Palestine you can listen to episode 6 of season 5 (20 February 2022) in English.

Dit is een speciale aflevering in het Nederlands gemaakt op verzoek van Stichting Plant een Olijfboom. In deze aflevering spreek ik met Esther over het werk van de Stichting.

Plant een Olijfboom ondersteunt geweldloos verzet van Palestijnse boeren tegen landconfiscatie door het aanplanten van gesponsorde olijfbomen. En promoot reizen om de situatie met eigen ogen te zien en de boeren te helpen.

 Stichting Plant een Olijfboom werkt voor rechtvaardige vrede met gelijkwaardigheid voor alle burgers, inclusief recht op terugkeer voor Palestijnse vluchtelingen.

Iedereen die dat wil, kan een olijfboom sponsoren die in het volgende plantseizoen wordt aangeplant bij Palestijnse boeren. Daarmee help je voor hen de hoop levend te houden, toon je solidariteit en steun je hen in de strijd voor het behoud van hun land.

De Stichting werkt samen met een aantal betrouwbare Palestijnse partners. Een daarvan is de Joint Advocacy Initiative van de YMCA in Oost Jeruzalem en de YWCA van Palestina. De JAI oganiseert jaarlijks programma's waarbij buitenlandse vrijwilligers kunnen komen helpen met het werk op het land, het aanplanten van bomen en het plukken van olijven. Daarbij worden ook excursies en ontmoetingen met verschillende organisaties aangeboden.

Als je na het luisteren meer wilt weten, een olijfboom wilt sponsoren, op reis wil naar Palestina of als vrijwilliger actief wilt worden, ga dan naar de website en neem contact op!

https://www.planteenolijfboom.nl

Stories from Palestine podcast heeft elke week een nieuwe aflevering met verhalen en geschiedenis uit Palestina. Je kunt ook via social media op de hoogte blijven. Bekijk ook eens de filmpjes op YouTube en meld je aan voor de wekelijkse email!

Alle links kun je vinden via de linktree: https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

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For this episode I joined the olive tree planting in Al Khadr, organized by the Keep Hope Alive campaign that is run by the JAI. (Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine)

I interviewed several people on the field, some of the organizers and participants of the planting day. We talked about the threats that Palestinian landowners experience from expanding settlements, violent settlers and the army who are after the Palestinian land, trying to take it by force or in legal procedures. If land is not planted and exploited then it is easier for the Israeli settlers and the State to confiscate it through legal ways. That's why most Palestinians are planting olive trees. The trees do not need as much care as agriculture crops or grape vines, so even if they don't have regular access to their land due to the Israeli restrictions, walls and checkpoints, the olive trees have a larger chance to survive.

If you want to read more about the Olive Tree campaign you can follow this link:

https://www.jai-pal.org/en/campaigns/olive-tree-campaign

If you follow Stories from Palestine on social media you weekly get to see some extra information, photos and videos on Facebook and Instagram. You can also subscribe for the weekly e-mail. All the links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

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February is Black History month, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in US history. I thought it was a great moment to record an episode about the Afro Palestinian community in Jerusalem.

My friend Issam who runs Bassem's Gallery Bookshop Cafe in the Via Dolorosa helped me to connect to Mohammed Qous, a 22 year old member of the Afro Palestinian community, who grew up in the African quarter in the old city. His grandfather originates from Chad. He married seven women in his life and with a Palestinian woman from Jericho he had several children, among whom Mousa, the father of Mohammed. Mousa married a Palestinian woman from the United States and Mohammed was born and grew up in the African quarter.

In this episode he talks about the Afro Palestinian community. Most of the first generation came from Chad, Sudan, Senegal and Nigeria. They were in Jerusalem as part of a pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem. When the Zionist militias occupied Palestine in 1948 and the State of Israel was declared, they remained in the city to protect Al Aqsa mosque. And the changed political situation made it hard for them to travel back to their countries. They remained in the city and they were given a quarter to live in, close to Bab al Misjla, one of the entrances to Al Aqsa compound, in two old Ottoman prison compounds. The African quarter exists until today and is overly crowded. It is considered one of the hotspots by the Israeli forces and there is constant Israeli police presence in the quarter. 

On my way to the interview I had the incredible luck to meet Ali Jeddah, one of the icons of the Afro Palestinian community. Recently he has been spending more time with his family in Akko because he needs health treatment in the hospital in Haifa. But he loves Jerusalem and he can't stay away for long, so he came for a visit and he was sitting at his usual spot near the Damascus Gate. I was not prepared to interview him but I did record a conversation we had before I headed to the Cafe in the Via Dolorosa to meet with Mohammed. 

Website of the African Community Society in Jerusalem: https://www.afropalestinians.org/

Some videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOnL80yhiko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCsefJqkV9k

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, check out the YouTube channel, sign up for the mailinglist and support the podcast with a donation! Click the linktree:
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Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, sign up for the newsletter, read more about traveling to Palestine and if you can, please support the podcast on Ko-fi. All the links can be found here: https://linktr.ee/storiesfrompalestine

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine