Email: right2edu@birzeit.edu | Phone: 0097(0)2-298-2059
STUDENT IN JENIN: ‘IT’S AS IF MY FAMILY LIVE IN A DIFFERENT COUNTRY’
“At the beginning of this year, I went home every week but now it’s become too difficult.
It makes me feel frustrated and angry because I can’t see my family in Ramallah. It’s only a short distance but it’s like they are living in another country. My sister’s graduating from high school on Sunday but it would take me too long to get there.
On the road from Jenin to Ramallah I often get trouble from the soldiers. It should take an hour if everything’s okay, but it can take up to five or six hours.
It’s easier for me because I have a Ramallah ID. Soldiers have told my friends from Jenin that they can’t pass. When they ask why, the soldiers don’t tell them. But sometimes it’s okay. Sometimes you find soldiers that are more amenable than others.
At times I laugh about the checkpoints because you need to do something to release the tension, otherwise you’d cry.”
Read more stories on how Israeli travel restrictions affect the everyday lives of Palestinians on the BBC website.
More Articles
Birzeit University rises up...
Birzeit, Occupied West Bank – National...
Related Posts
-
Prison Playground: the effects of detention upon children
By arresting children who should be in school, Israel systematically thwarts progress in Palestine.
-
Under Israeli blockade of Gaza, books are a rare, cherished...
Israel does not explicitly ban importing books to Gaza, but the blockade makes it extraordinarily difficult to do so. The shortage amounts to a kind of censorship, Gazans say.
-
British academics urge Elton John to cancel Israel concert
A group of British academics have called on singer Elton John to cancel his scheduled performance in Israel this June. In the letter, the group urged John to read the Goldstone Commission's...
Story of The Day
