What I have found in general is that the people here live their lives, as normally as humanly possible, against the backdrop of a seemingly never-ending conflict. When I ask most people about the conflict, they mostly say "I don't like to talk about politics". It is only after some pressure and persistence from me that folks I talk open up about their view on the 'question of Palestine'. Many people say something like "we don't know anything, only our leaders do" or "we let our leaders try to solve the situation because we can't do anything about it". After pressing a little bit harder, and saying something like "but you are Palestine, you should, and do, have the power to change your leaders and the course of the conflict", I am usually told that it doesn't really matter, that politics has lead nowhere, and that negotiations, no matter how seemingly successful, never solve anything.
I have gotten various different views and ideas about the way forward, or possible solutions, but one thing is certain: no one really has any optimism that a solution is forthcoming. Whether people are optimistic or not about the future of the conflict is one of the first question I ask, and literally everyone I have asked says "no". It is a very frank but very truthful answer. On the other hand, most people also follow that up with "but we hope".
One immediate answer that I have gotten several times is that the internal division between Palestinians mist be solved first before an ultimate solution with Israel can be found. The internal conflict between Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, seems not only to have crippled the power of Palestine to move forward with a two-state solution, but has also eroded the faith Palestinians hold in finding a solution to the fragile status quo of occupation.
I asked a man I met whether he thought that a two-state solution was the best way to go forward. He said that although he preferred a two-state solution, he was afraid it might never happen. He said that things were much better twelve years ago before the second intafada, when Israelis and Palestinians could freely go back and forth. Another man echoed his answer, saying that "it will take a very, very long time". Although they want their own nation, they see no hope of that happening any time in the near future, and in the meanwhile just want to live their lives.
I think all of us in the west that see the situation as hopeless, or wonder why the Israelis and Palestinians can't see that a solution is in everyone's benefit have to understand that it is an extremely raw and emotional issue. A man that I talked to who goes to the Arab American University said that although he wants to find a solution, he is not, and cannot, be willing to give up land that easily because his brother and some of his best friends died fighting during the intifada. I met a man the other day who was jailed by Israeli security forces for 10 years after the intifada, and was only recently let out of prison. These memories are emotional. They stir anger and resentment towards what most people here see as an occupying invader. The other day my roommate was showing me pictures of a day trip he and his friends took to Bethlehem. Amongst the series of happy and touristy pictures were photos of several Israeli settlements that he passed. As soon as these photos came up, I sensed a change in his demeanor. I could see his mood change. There was a pain, an anger, that one could see in his eyes and hear in his voice when he talked about the settlements. Everything about the conflict, from land to borders, is rife with anger, pain, sadness, passion, and loyalty.
At AAU I spoke to a class of English students. One of them asked me how Palestine was different from what I imagined. I said that Palestine as a whole was much more developed and built up that I had imagines, but Ramallah, which is supposed to be the cultural and economic capital of the West Bank, was much less built up than I had imagined. The teacher asked me why I thought that was, and I answered "probably because of the limitations Israel sets on goods coming in and out of Palestine". And he said "Exactly. We are not even a 'developing' country, we are stuck".
'Stuck' is a very good word to describe the state of Palestinians in the West Bank. I would not hesitate to describe the West Bank as a very big outdoor jail. And just like a big jail in the U.S., where goods come in and out and people trade cigarettes for various other commodities, the Palestinians work and trade and try to live their lives in this big jail.
Palestinians can't go to Israel. One needs to get special permission to go to Israel, which is only granted if you get a job. Even then, the Israeli authorities generally don't allow people under the age of 40 apply for work permits. Men can get a tourist visa to go to Israel if they are 60 or above, and women at 45. Palestinians are technically allowed to go to Jordan, but only with a visa, which is very hard to attain, especially for young folks. A lot of the guys I met were extremely keen on seeing my pictures from my various travels, because they can't really travel. They can't really go anywhere.
And then there is the wall. I saw it for the first time while on a bus entering Ramallah, and it was one of the most surreal things I have ever seen in my entire life. A big concrete wall that not only cuts off two people from each other, but also splits some Palestinian communities themselves. Many people have to cross checkpoints to get to work, or to go back home. From what I am told it is one of the most demeaning experiences in life. A teacher I met at AAU told me that he has to cross a checkpoint twice a day, once to get to work and once to get back home. The checkpoint opens at 7 am, and closes at 7 pm. If he ever has to work late, or is running late for whatever reason, he's fucked. Sometimes the IDF sets up random checkpoints along the road in Palestine. On my from Ramallah to Jenin, there was a random checkpoint for people going south on the road, but luckily not for people going north. Not only do Palestinians have trouble travelling outside of Palestine, but they also have trouble travelling within Palestine.
The Israeli/Palestinian conflict has become a seemingly endless series of failed negotiations, stalled peace talks, and above all, hatred and anger. I don't know what the solution is, and it seems that no one here really does either. But, as they say here, "we hope".
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