Tag Archives: medical aid for paliestine

What I learned when I cycled through Palestine

By Anonymous Lib Dem | Fri 30th October 2015 - 8:37 am

Rosina Credit Rugfoot PhotographyJust as tensions began to rise in Israel and the West Bank, I undertook a cycle and study tour of Palestine organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). We covered around 200km in five days in 40oC heat – at the time if it felt like the cycling version of the Sahara’s ‘marathon des sables’. I’ve read a lot about the situation in Palestine over the years but nothing could really prepare me for what I saw and experienced in that single week.

Over five days, the sponsored ride took us from Nablus in the North to the enclave town of Qalquilya then on to Ramallah. We then swept down into the Jordan Valley to Jericho and the Dead Sea, 300m below sea level to then climb the next day up to Hebron and back on the final day through Bethlehem to Jerusalem. We were never far from the tensions with Ramallah city going into ‘lock down’ with roads closed not long after we left and one of our group getting trapped in the Al-Aqsa mosque as violence grew in Jerusalem.

What we saw was the suffocating pressure faced by Palestinians in every part of their existence and the resolve needed just to do the day-to-day things we take for granted. The general sense of unease was apparent walking around Jerusalem where there was a heavy military presence and the Jewish civilian settlers were openly carrying hand guns in the street.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Nigel Jones
    I like the idea of development bonds, but can we not also put into the mix of ways of helping developing countries, Fair Trade (or what some supermarkets now ca...
  • David Murray
    In the above, it should have said $100 billion EACH YEAR from 2009....
  • David Murray
    Something like International Development Bonds will be needed (with safeguards) to fill the vacuum left by cuts in foreign aid. Back in 2009, developed countrie...
  • tom arms
    Alan Jeffs, I don't have an exhaustive, but out of the following countries: Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Senegal, Tanzania...
  • Simon R
    Interesting idea. It would though effectively amount to loans, which would therefore place developing countries even more in debt - and there are still ongoing...