Nazareth Walk

NAZARETH WALK

As I began my walk in the city of beautiful and historic Nazareth I put my imagination to work and started to think and create the beautiful city in a different view. I tried to imagine what it would be like today if it were still the Palestinians land and whether or not it would be different today or not. Keeping this somewhat far-fetched idea in my mind, I began my journey that I would call my “Sarha” throughout the streets of Nazareth today. As I looked around me towards everyway of my surroundings I found my attention being focused on all of the people roaming the town as if everything was as it should be. I was standing there trying to determine where I was and where I wanted to set off.

I began to walk down the sidewalk and found an unbelievable fascination in the perfect landscape surrounding me. When I refer to perfect, I mean the trees in the middle of the road separating the cars going back and forth. They were exactly aligned and nearly identical to one another one by one in a row all the way down the street as far as my eyes could go. In between the each tree little were plants with perfect purple colored hairs and leaves and blossoming bulbs. To the sides of me are busy storefronts with people laughing and having fun going on with their daily lives. Of course there was a little old man sitting on the corner of the building trying to grab my attention to sell me something random by screaming "hello" in a very odd Arabic accent.

I walk down the sidewalk a few blocks and saw a large sign that says "Nazareth Illit" to the right of me. By simply translating the word Illit I came up with "Elite" or in other words “VIP”. I could not resist but to explore the area to see why it could have such a name and see if the name represented it’s meaning. I would like to add that the entrance looked almost like you were walking into heaven, simply bliss. To the left and to the right of me identical trees, plants and lush green grass lining the entrance even a beautiful proportionally large fountain. The fountain caught my attention the most so I began to look at it more closely. I sat in the grass right in front of it looking deeply at the designs engraved in the stone. I noticed small rows of the Star of David accented with the color blue. I became a little nervous and stood up only to see my reflection in the water accompanied by an unusually large portrait of the Jewish flag on the floor of the fountains base. I started to reflect on what this image could mean as I looked around at my surroundings even more.

It began to look like a completely different world, a Jewish world. Raja Shehadah wrote, " Europe, and later Zionism, has endeavored to rescue the historical significance of the region in its search for ancient Israel: a search for its own cultural roots which in the process has silenced Palestinian history and relegated it topre history, paving the way for the modern state of Israel to take control not only of the land but also Palestinian time and space. (Pg. 47) I think Nazareth Illit could be considered a settlement because of its inhabitants are majority Jewish and it is designed with its landscape to praise the Jewish nation. Raja wrote " Menachem Begin, The prime minister at the time, announced: settlements [in the occupied territories] is the Soul of Zionism." (Pg. 56) The landscape absolutely looked like it was the soul of Zionism. Still standing next to the fountain at the entrance of the settlement on my left and right and in the front of me as well people were walking, some with their children and some with their companion. It was a different walking that they were doing. The difference was not the passion and the friendly vibes that I saw earlier in the day, but a more quiet and shy walk. Was it the fact of them living on someone else's land or was it the segregation that was way to obvious? Raja wrote, " I was a romantic, striving for some sort of heroic role." (Pg. 64) "I was shackled by the prevailing fear and insecurity." (Pg. 64) "The suffering was more subtle, from having to endure the shame of defeat." (Pg 64) Nazareth Illit brought much fear and insecurity to me because it was an instant feeling as if I don’t belong. The reason is because no matter where I go I can only walk so far until I have to turn around. When will this land be like this? When will it be like it once was? "A Land of the Free"

Beit Jalla Walk

BEIT JALLA

Starting off on the morning of the walk, all of our classes gathered at an agreed point in Beit Jalla where we were introduced to the schedule of the day. Beginning our journey down a narrow paved road was good for us to warm up on. We gradually drifted off course and started on a dirt trail. Along the dirt trail initially we began to look at our surroundings of all the beautiful plants and trees with names so extraordinary I am still trying to pronounce them. We then walked towards a more intense terrain, but it was well worth it. After walking for approximately thirty minutes we began to see the beauty you can only see in your dreams. The way nature develops by itself, its a wonder of the world. The hills looked just as they should, not a single tree, rock or plant in the wrong place. This was what one would call natural beauty. As the walk continued we approached a point where we were required to all climb down a steep hill. The hill was not substantially large but fairly good-sized, the difficulty was the loose rocks that were used to try and grip your foot on. After that obstacle, appearing gradually were ruins of what were once homes scattered across the valley. The way they were sitting there with the surroundings of hills and little rock fences and in some areas "wells" you could almost picture what the structures once looked like. Having that thought in my mind while we continued the walk, I automatically began visualizing all the ruins I saw as if they were just built. I tried to picture the real beauty that they once were.

In the middle of the day, we ended up in a small village near Beit Jalla where we took a break. We went inside a workshop where the owners made rock sculptures of Jesus and other religious items. We walked upstairs to the balcony where we were given coca-cola and sandwiches. Shortly after we finished and went on with our journey. I was informed that we were going to finish our walk with a tree planting activity. The walk to actually arrive to this location was the most intense and adventurous walk of the day. We went in and out of deep trenches and/or pits and walked through bushes that pricked your leg every single time you stepped on one of them. After cutting my legs of pretty nicely we began climbing, this was the most difficult part of the day. Imagine climbing up a 500 foot cement wall with mostly smooth surfaces eliminating your possibility to find something to grip on to, thats what I had to quickly learn how to do. That alone was the highlight of my day.

We were nearing the destination point of where we were going to plant the trees. Along the path leading us to it was a man made stream of water flowing right alongside of us. It was amazing how it was built and how fast the water flowed through the little tunnel. The stream of water ended at what looked to be a swimming pool or water canal/trench. It was not at all very clean water but the local kids seemed to enjoy the water on the hot day. After passing the pool, the group found a horse, unsure of who owned it, one of us, of course took the initiative to try and mount it. Suddenly running out of the bushes appears a young man whom apparently claimed to be the horses owner. He was very furious to see people especially tourist looking people, trying to ride his horse. We began talking to him and he finally agreed to let us ride the horse but only the girls rode the horse. It was a rather funny and odd experience.

We arrive to the planting grounds for our olive trees where we all sit down and catch our breath. A van arrives with the necessary tools to dig our holes and of course, our olive trees. We split into groups of two, mostly one male and one female and began digging holes to put our olive trees in. Approximately forty-five minutes later all of the groups appear to be finished with there task of planting the olive trees. The teachers come over and tell us what needs to be revised and what is good. Sure enough, a few of the teachers and myself end up having to fix almost all of the planting areas due to incorrectly planted trees. Approximately thirty-five minutes following the revisions we have finally completed the task. All of the trees looked great and we were satisfied with the outcome. We all packed up the tools and garbage and the students walked to the bus to be driven back to Beit Jalla. I end up in the van with my teacher and the film crew and the driver. Due to prior injuries to my legs I could not finish the very last bit of the walk and drove with them all the way back to Beit Jalla.