Abu Dis then and now

I visited Abu Dis with CADFA five years ago on a week long visit to the town, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Like most people who visit, I left angry at the human rights abuses embedded in the Occupation but deeply impressed by the resilience of the Palestinians and their love of Palestine.

So, now I’m back through the medium of Zoom and today we had our first taste of life in the West Bank in 2020. Nandita, Abed and the assembled speakers did a fine job introducing our temporary ‘home’. It was good to hear the latest news from Al Quds University. I remember two visits to the Uni with fine modern buildings and the bright, energetic young people. It was a celebration day and we saw Dabke and the Occupation museum amidst a relaxed atmosphere. Today, it was unsurprising to learn that the IDF invasions of the campus continue. Five years ago we heard that the invasions were often timed to coincide with exams, so that students had to wait months for the chance to resit.

In Abu Dis today, as is taking place across the West Bank, the Israeli authorities and the settlers on their own initiative, continue to steal Palestinian land and burn olive trees. We heard about the new settlement being constructed to the West of Abu Dis and the threatened E1 project which would cut off Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Of course, Trump has come on the scene since I was in Abu Dis, and perhaps even more crucially, David Friedman, Trump’s Ambassador to Israel, who for many years has been the leader of a settlement support charity. Jeremy Ben-Ami, co-founder of J Street, the progressive US Jewish NGO, opposed to the Occupation, sees Friedman as the architect for most of the damaging steps that the Trump government has introduced. We heard first hand from the Mayor and the Doctor of the impact of US funding cuts as part of the attempt to pressure the Palestinian Authority to accept the unacceptable: school and other Abu Dis projects put on hold and the already badly stretched medical facilities unable to pay regular salaries or buy essential medical equipment. While Biden if elected won’t wave a magic wand to improve matters, there must be hope that the vicious funding cuts will be restored and the threat of de jure annexation put on indefinite hold.

My partner visits rural Palestinian villages each year to pick olives and provide a protective presence and she tells me that every year the situation is worse. My initial view of Abu Dis today paints the same picture of the poor situation from five years ago, significantly worse today.

'Palestine is burning' face mask