Written photographs- the walk uphill

For a Palestinian to get up to Tel Rumeida, he or she must pass through a checkpoint between H1 and H2 Hebron. The walk uphill is a very steep one, and takes a good few minutes for someone who is in relatively good shape. After my first time in ISM in 2010, when I was winded every time going up this hill, I made sure to get in better shape before going last year and in this one. Seeing as my job often gives me the oppurtunity to be able to run and play sports, this hasn't been too difficult.

However, it isn't this easy for everybody.

A few weeks ago, a fellow ISMer and I were walking to our apartment, and we saw a woman with a cast on her leg, supported by her husband, making this trip. She was in obvious pain, crying out with each step. My comrade supported her by her other arm, and with the woman still crying out, they eventually made it to her house.

Like other Palestinians who make the journey up the hill, the woman and her family are not allowed to use a car.


The reason is simple... she is a Palestinian, and only Israeli settlers and military have permission to drive in this neighbourhood. It doesn't matter that she lives here, or that her family may have roots here going back centuries. Unlike her Israeli settler neighbours, who drive up and down the street in their cars, she is not allowed one. Whether she and other Palestinians in this area are young, elderly, male, female, in good health or barely able to walk; driving in their own neighbourhood is not something that is permitted. Such privileges are only bestowed upon those with the correct ethnicity, not others.

This is another ugly reality of the occupation.

The walk uphill. Relatively easy for someone in good health. Difficult for the elderly or the pregnant or sick, A hellish ordeal for someone with a broken leg.