The Wall near Rachael's Tomb

For the forth day, some participants started their day early in the morning by standing in vigil at the site of the construction of the Israeli Separation Wall near Rachael's Tomb. The participants were shocked at the speed in which the Wall is being built at that area. The Wall left some Palestinian houses in the area shut in, with a narrow foot path between the Wall and the boarders of their houses. One of those houses is now bordered by the Wall from two sides and an Israeli military quarter from a third side. While there, some participants were taking photographs and others were talking to Palestinians who live in the area.

At the checkpoint

The olive picking trip of Day 6 started with waiting for more than half an hour in the bus in a queue of traffic a the Beit Jala DCO (District Coordination Office) Israeli checkpoint.
One participant from North Carolina, USA, took the opportunity to have a chat with the 15 year-olds school girls from the Good Shepherd's Swedish school, who joined the olive picking for the day, through the EEC. He started by telling them about his grandchildren who are of the same age of the girls on the bus. The girls pointed out the similarities between the interests of the participant's grandchildren and their own, with the exceptions that young people in Palestine do not usually have the opportunities to work in summer or to move freely to see friends and families in other parts of Palestine.
At some point, one of the girls inquired innocently, "How do you expect us to understand what you [the USA military] do in Iraq, killing children?". The participant, taken aback by the question, tried to explain how many Americans support peace and how they work for peace as a compromise. He told the girls about his solidarity with both Christians and Muslims in the area and how painful it is when you see a lady holding her baby child in her arms on a checkpoint, comparing that with the Nativity scene in his church. Later, the rest of the participants mingled with the school girls on the bus and had lovely conversations.

Picking Olives in Battir

Upon arrival to the village, the participants were told that the road to the field of the farmer, Ghassan Olayan, 40s, is blocked by the Israeli railway project. Olayan's field is located in the West Valley of Battir near the 'Green Line' – of the 1948 boarders between Israel and the West Bank – on which the railway is built. The participants and the school girls had a lovely walk for half an hour on the hills of Battir to get to the farmer's field.

After two hours of picking olives, the participants walked back along the railway route and hiked the breath-taking hills towards the bus that took them to the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) in Beit Sahour. On the way, the bus had to pass through the Beit Jala DCO Israeli Checkpoint again, where the passports and IDs of the participants were checked.

Presentation at the ATG

After lunch, the participants met with Dr. Samer Rishmawi, board director and founder of the ATG centre. Dr. Rishmawi spoke about different aspects of daily life of the Palestinians in the area. He told the participants about the importance of being optimistic for a Palestinian and how Palestinians want to lead a normal life, yet how there is no such thing as a normal life in Palestine. He spoke about the movement restrictions and the lack of freedom of speech imposed on Palestinians by the Israeli government. In addition, Dr. Rishmawi spoke about the history of non-violent resistance in Beit Sahour and the area as well as the different Palestinian Intifadas and their significance in the Palestine and the Palestinian Authority history.

The participants had lots of enquires about the situation of Palestine and the Palestinians nowadays, then had a debate about the 'effective' international solidarity and the role of internationals in the Middle East. The participants left the centre back to Paradise Hotel, carrying lots of impressions and thoughts to be shared later over dinner.