Words from Palestine

Today we accompanied villagers to their land the Wadi Qana valley. Our intention was to reach an area that Palestinians lived in up until 1967, when homes there were demolished by the Israeli Occupation Forces. As I have noted in previous posts, the Wadi Qana valley is the largest aquifer in the West Bank. Fresh water springs bubble up out of the ground and the many small caverns that dot the region. Traditionally the Palestinians have used this land for their olive groves, citrus trees and grazing animals. The villagers were given “permission” to access their land today, however, soldiers denied us access.
We then walked for 3 hours over the toughest terrain I have ever traversed to return to a road that was accessible to Palestinians. Tough exercise, but a beautiful, priceless experience. There were a few times when I did not think I could continue on, but of course there wasn’t a choice, and the experience was invaluable. The steep hills and valleys of the Wadi Qana are pristine.
Though this is the dry season and the wildflowers I have made a photo album and a photo slideshow of have withered away for the summer, sage, mint, carob and other edible flora are abundant.
Sadly, the entire area is being illegally expropriated by Zionist settlers and it is fast becoming a dumping ground for the sewage and trash of the illegal settlements that line the hilltops of the valley.
I have said it before but I will say it again. The settlers build their illegal colonies with fear. They know they are living on stolen land and thieves live in fear. So they surround their settlements with barbed wire electric fences, security cameras and flood lights . Though they are occupiers, they live in self made prisons. They have both the military and private security watching over them , and many carry machine guns around with them.
It is a sorrowful sickness that has pervaded this land. Quoting my husband, “ it isn’t a land of milk and honey, it a land of tears and bloodshed.”