So, the complex on the other side of the valley is a Syrian military outpost. On many instances, individuals come as close to the border as they can and use megaphones to communicate with one another. They do this on special occasions like funerals, weddings, birthdays, etc. However, they are unable to get any closer than this picture indicates because the Israelis built a fence in front of a land mine that has claimed many Syrian lives. Moreover, if one is lucky enough to avoid the landmines then they have to deal with the snipers firing from the Israeli military outpost that is situated firmly in the middle of the village…
Israelis have demonized the Palestinians in Gaza for using human shields when firing their rockets into Israel. However, the Israelis are using the same tactics to dissuade the Syrians from firing on people they identify as Syrian citizens.
Moreover, if you look back at the previous picture, just to the left of the picture is a large mountain that is supposed to be hallowed out in order to store the Israelis nuclear weapon arsenal. Of course, this is just a rumor but supposedly the Israelis will detonate one of the bombs if the Syrians ever come into control of Golan, again. That seems a bit far-fetched to me, but the people living in the village are legitimately concerned of that possibility.
Ok, time to change gears completely, no transition needed.
I have read some other participants’ blogs and have spoken with our director and I feel comfortable using some names of local Palestinians here. My host niece, or sister, is named Loudra and we celebrated her birthday last week. Rob, my roommate, and I bought her a yellow polka-dotted dress for her second birthday. Her mom also got her a special dress and shoes for her party. They put her new clothes on her and we went to pick up her cake an hour or so before the party with my host dad and host cousin. Loudra was exhausted so she was sleeping on her cousin in the back seat, right next to me. All of a sudden, Loudra sits up and throws up all over her cousin. I tried to pick her up from behind because I knew she was going to throw up again. However, my host dad was still driving and my only options were to let her face me and throw up on me or throw up on her cousin again. (I considered holding her out the window) So, obviously she threw up on her cousin again. When we got home she needed a new dress to wear for her party. Since Rob and I bought her a dress we were pretty proud of our choice. She wore the dress for about half an hour before she came out of the bedroom wearing a different dress. Our host mom had changed her clothes while we weren’t looking, oh well; it’s the thought that counts, right? Here’s a picture of Loudra freaked out by the crazy candles…
Today was my last day volunteering at Al Khader. The kids basically line up and take turns doing handshakes with me. I’ve learned some pretty cool ones, although I can’t quite make out the songs that go with them. Also, there was a young girl who was helping run the camp. She gave me some stuff as a thank you present from the whole staff, or so I thought when she gave it to me. When I opened it there was a bottle of perfume, incense with a heart shaped stand, and a ceramic sculpture of two bears kissing with a heart in the middle. I’m not sure what to make of it, but I love it.
I’ll be going to Jericho this weekend with my group. Then, on Monday a few participants are going to spend a couple of days in Tel Aviv before I fly out on Wednesday at 11. One participant was blacklisted by the IDF at the airport because he was caught with Palestinian paraphernalia. I am going to send all of that stuff home through the mail but I am still a little nervous how the interrogation process will go. Many participants have been strip searched, questioned for multiple hours and threatened. So, if you think of it, pray that my experience will go smooth and more importantly that I won’t be blacklisted so I can come back in the future.
