Israel - West Bank

Occupied Palestinian territories

18.10.2008 - 23.10.2008 25 °C
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In the West Bank I went to Ramallah, Nablus, Betlehem, Hebron, and the Dead Sea (and arguably Jerusalem). My opinions are in the chapter The Israeli-Palestinian conflict - The palestinian point of view.
Here just some pictures:

Ramallah:

The checkpoint to enter the Palestinian Territories

The Wall of Shame

There are sniper towers along The Wall.

Ramallah, city center. A bustling town. nothing seems unusual when you are here, street life goes on. It's the capital of the West Bank (governed by the western-backed Fatah. The Hamas who won the elections retreated to the Gaza Strip).

Nablus:

The city center. Most people here can't get out of the city.

Some of Israel's fierce stone-throwing enemies.

Betlehem:

Pictures from the Church of the Nativity, where Jesus is supposed to have been born

Paintings on The Wall of Shame in Betlehem

This is a refugee camp. It started in 1948. Now it's a normal part of the city.

Hebron:

In Hebron Jewish settlers occupied some part of the city and they now live right next to Palestinains. Thus every access to the Jewish part of the city is guarded by soldiers.

To protect the Jewish settlers they had to close off some parts of the city. This used to be the Palestinian fruit and vegetables market.

They seem to have closed that part quite a while ago.

The Hebron Market. The Palestinians had to cover it with a mesh. The Jewish settlers evicted the Palestinians that used to live above and are now throwing garbage down on the market.