15 days in the Middle East

Short 4-second video: Whitewashed West Bank: village of Al Ma’asara



After my 15 days in The Middle East, I am coming back up for air again, and I need to use this time to explain a few things that I had not prepared myself for, and I think I am not alone. The oppression that the Palestinians are dealing with every day of their lives can so easily be ignored. Some people might think, “ah, well the plight of the Palestinians might be bad, but I myself can barely keep afloat here in America! There isn’t much I can do for a horrendously tumultuous area on the other side of the world. Let me get things in order in my own life, and then I can maybe look outside.” And even if you have been there, and agree with me that simple, every day human rights are being walked on, you might counter with the fact that human rights are being violated in many parts of the globe. I agree on that. Witnessing how others live makes one quite wealthy, because knowledge is key. If you know how it is there (meaning anywhere besides where you’re located), you are giving the universe an immense gift. I am back from Palestine, and my strongest desire now is to show and tell others what I saw.

It makes no sense at all to ignore the political lobbying power of Israel in the United States. Mainstream media has instilled the idea that the Middle East is a mess and has always been so. Refuting that is a formidable task -- we have been socialized to believe this to be true from a young age and we find it the easy thing to continue believing because of our cultural differences. I am a US citizen; I am the offspring of two established, New England families and grew up hearing the stories of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I know all about the Statue of Liberty and Neil Armstrong. I know “Oh Say Can You See” and how the New England forest smells in the fall. I also of course love a good Fourth of July, complete with juicy watermelon and exciting fireworks thrown across a deep, rich, black sky.

Likewise, my trip to Palestine has taught me some simple, extremely basic facts about the people there. As I was born in the US, there is not one reason I need to worry about another continent. Everything I need America offers, so why do I care? Even natural beauty; the US has the Rockies, the Atlantic and Pacific, and a breathtaking sky that the Middle East is without, curiously enough…but more about that when we get to the pictures. I lost the first ten days’ worth of photos, but I can at least show the last 4-5 days, including one demo, and I am going back once more this year. Then I will open additional windows to this part of the world, inshallah.