Camel meat

These are kestrels, which the PWLS does extensive research and projects on. I took a picture of these at a street shop in a small town right outside of Hebron. They are illegal to own as pets- otherwise Jiries said he would have bought them.


Yesterday I worked at the Wildlife Society in the morning, then Jiries picked me up and we traveled south to Hebron to go shopping. He needs new curtains for his dining room and more chairs for the outside hangout place because his wife and son are flying from Madrid today to stay for a few weeks, and the ENTIRE extended family is coming to see them tomorrow for a massive lunch (of my favorite food here- cousa mashey- stuff zucchini). Hebron was hot and crowded, but it had lots of neat stores and a fascinating cultural atmosphere. The road there was lined with settlements and refugee camps, which I believe represents the overarching conflict in a nutshell.

The city of Hebron itself is divided in the middle by an illegal settlement with 400 inhabitants that are protected by the Israeli military. On the way home we stopped and picked up some camel meat for dinner. Yes, I said it, camel meat. It was DELICIOUS! I hope after reading this you don't think differently of me. When Jiries and I visit a town in Israel on the Mediterranean I am going to try alligator and shark meat. Mmmm

The road to Hebron:


According to Al Jazeera, illegal settlements are occupying 42% of the West Bank land.




A huge refugee camp, Al Arov, is also on the way to Hebron. There is only one entrance/exit, and it is guarded by the watchtower you can see in this picture as well as patrolling soldiers.




Israeli watchtowers are scattered everywhere throughout the West Bank.




Southern Palestine is populated predominantly by very conservative Muslims


It is pretty devastating to see the shiny new Israeli settlements across the hilltops in contrast with the tightly crowded and controlled refugee camp, filled with people who have been expelled from their homes to make way for the settlers who believe they have a biblical right to be there. Biblical or not, this is a blatant violation of human rights anyone with a conscience should be able to see that. I don't like to take a high moral ground, but this is a no-brainer. Eventually I hope to interview a settler, as well as a Palestinian living in one of the camps, in order to learn more about their lives and hopefully shed some light on their perspectives.


Soon enough we made it to Hebron, where we visited lots of shops and a huge marketplace.

The marketplace


This is the settler's bypass road that Palestinians are not allowed to use, the wall tilts towards the pavement to protect the settlers from rocks thrown by Palestinians

This is the bypass road tunnel: