Trapped in Jerusalem

I was looking for someone in the Christian quarter of Old City Jerusalem.

When I inquired with someone on the street one thing led to another and pretty soon the family invited me in for tea. The daughter is a school teacher with husband and young son, struggling economically. The mother is living with them in one room although she has her own place and would much rather be in her village near Ramallah. She needs regular medical treatment at a Jerusalem hospital. I wondered why she does not travel to her village since it is only an hour away. They explained that she could leave Jerusalem but could not come back. It takes a very special and hard-to-get permit to enter Jerusalem from the Occupied Territories. So even though she is receiving regular medical treatment at a Jerusalem hospital she could not re-enter. Her only option is to stay.

By chance I met someone else in Old Jerusalem with just the same predicament. He works selling goods in one of the small shops in the Old City. He does not own the shop but works for a daily salary of 50 sheckels (about $12.50). He was dressed in one of the white "night gowns" that we see Iraquis wearing on TV or in photos. He would like to leave Jerusalem but fears that if he leaves he will not be able to get back. As we conversed and I expressed my opposition to Bush's invasion of Iraq as well as the Israeli Occupation, he became quite talkative and said he had been to Iraq and saw the air raid shelter which was bombed in Gulf War 1, killing many hundreds of women and children. He expressed the view that all politicians become corrupt. "Governments are the problem", he said.

I had not previously noticed a boy of about 8 or 9 years of age sitting in front of the store front. The man explained that he is looking after him since his father is serving a ten year prison sentence. "For nothing" he said. Just one of the many thousands I suppose. I did not inquire about the mother but wondered about her later. Had she died? I suppose so, since Palestinian families are very close.

This seems to be the plight of many people. Israel has made it impossible or very difficult for them to move about - consequently there are tens of thousands of Palestinians trapped in Jerusalem unable to return home for fear they will never get back to where the few jobs and health services are.