Ramallah and Taybeh

August 7

Sunday was Nick's last day, and we had decided to take the opportunity to explore the West Bank. From a bus station in East Jerusalem by the Damascus Gate, we caught a shared taxi to Ramallah. Located only 15 km north of Jerusalem, Ramallah is a rather liberal urban center in the West Bank and home to the offices of the PLO. Ramadan had begun August 1, but we found many shops and restaurants to still be open during the day. While many were fasting and we got some looks when Nick ate a fruit outside in the market, cafes were not empty, and we were not the only ones to order the interestingly stretchy Palestinian gum-based ice cream from a local shop.

View from the hills of Ramallah of the city

and the surrounding hills

After walking around the area, noting the brand-mocking Stars and Bucks Cafe and stopping inside a hilltop mosque, we caught a taxi to the Taybeh Brewery. After a solid 15 minutes of negotiating, we settled on a price with our friendly albeit passionate driver, Adeeb Abu Rahma. He was quick to pull two pictures from his glove compartment when introducing himself. Adeeb lives in the village of Bil'in, west of Ramallah and adjacent to the West Bank Wall. The Israeli wall that had been constructed overstretched the border into his village's land, cutting off 60% of their farm land. They protested every week, drawing widespread support and even a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court that the wall's placement was unjustified and must be moved by the IDF. There has yet to be any change in the policing and placement of the wall. During protests, Adeeb had been shot four times, twice in each leg. He was also arrested and jailed for 18 months by Israel. He spoke of nonviolent protest and from his youtube(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-St2hn_qPwE) presence he appears to be a leader of Bil'in's protests and an advocate of nonviolence.

Taybeh is the only beer producer in Palestine, and they are proud of it. The brewery unfortunately does not operate on Sunday, so we were not able to see the machines running, but the Greek wife of one of the founders (who also happens to be the mayor of the town of Taybeh) was able to give us a tour and talk about the company's history. The challenges of operating under the constraints in the Palestinian Territories is clear. Taybeh ships their beer to Jerusalem, where they are forced to drive it up north and around due to restrictions on where shipments can cross the border. With the risk of Hamas taking control in 2006, Taybeh introduced a non-alcoholic beer, in case an Islamist government would outlaw alcohol. They used to deliver that brew to Gaza, before it was sealed off. They had even tried shipping their beer to Europe, to be sold in Germany, where the economic challenges and delays fueled the decision to share the recipe and brand with a local brewer instead. The beer was tasty, and the company slogan inspiring: "Taste the Revolution" (and funny, listening to the owner's wife try to unpoliticize its message).

The brewery is named after the town where it is located.

Taybeh means "delicious" in Arabic.

We returned to Ramallah and caught a bus back to Jerusalem, not of course without an extended stop at the border of the West Bank. We waited in line through metal bar fences at the edge of the 8 meter concrete barrier wall (taller and longer than the Berlin Wall). Our movements were directed by Israeli soldiers sitting behind thick plastic bulletproof windows, who flicked switches to lock and unlock revolving doors between passengers. The woman crossing in front of me lived in East Jerusalem and worked in Ramallah, braving the dehumanizing, hour-plus border crossing every day.

Back in Jerusalem with a few hours to kill before Nick's flight back to Germany, we kicked back and shared some beer and nargeelah at the nearby Zolli's Bar, watching a group of vacationing American Birthrighters make fools of themselves, drinking in a foreign land.

Hearing the stories and seeing only some of the challenges faced by Palestinians was an experience that I will not forget. I wish I had visited sooner, so that I had time to go back. It takes resilience to live under Israel's restrictive oversight, and history creates a divisive, opinionated debate of what should be done here. With such a stark contrast over the short distance from Ramallah to Jerusalem, I have a hard time finding much sympathy for the Israeli protesters complaining of high living costs, while their government has much further restricted their Palestinian neighbors. While it seems little progress is ever made in resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, I hope some day soon a compromise will be found. But it can only happen if both sides are willing to make real sacrifices...like any trust-building act.