Day Three - Ramallah

Tuesday began with a bus journey from Beit Sahour to Ramallah. There is only one road the Palestinians are allowed to take to Ramallah which winds through the mountains and is particularly steep and treacherous. All traffic needs to pass along this road including trucks and coaches and, we were told, there are many fatalities in winter when the road is icy. The other road was closed by the Israelis some years back. We caught sight of the other road and could see the huge boulders placed across it by Israeli bulldozers. The road passes alongside what looks like a stream but it is in fact an open sewer carrying the waste of the surounding Israeli settlements. This runs right through Palestinian farmland and we could smell it from inside the bus.

Further along the road we saw acres of fields with nothing but tree stumps in them. Our guide explained that these had once been thriving Olive groves but had been chopped down by the Israeli authorities citing 'security reasons'. Another Palestinian family's livelihood destroyed.

When we arrived in Ramallah we were greeted by the board at Al-Quds Open University. Goldsmiths University is twinned with Al-Quds. The meeting had a live video link to the Al-Quds campus in Gaza. The Vice Chancellor in Gaza addressed us with a powerful speech about the way Israeli troops had deliberately targeted the university campus (parts of which were only recently built with international funds). We had a tour of the University and got to see their 'video lecture' facilities that allow students to view lectures on Youtube. This kind of learning is essential given freedom of movement is so restricted and students can often not reach the campus. We met many of the students and exchanged emails.

Ramallah is a busy commercial centre and is also close to the major interchange between Jerusalem and as such is home to many internationals and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

It is in Ramallah that Yasser Arafat was laid siege to by the Israeli forces in 2002. Arafat was holed up in his compound for several days. He died in 2004 and rumours abound that he was poisoned by Israeli agents. The doctors who treated him in Paris said it was a 'mystery illness' that caused multiple organ failure.


We visited his tomb at the site of the siege. His body is held in a stone coffin in a tomb with water beneath it. This is symbolic because it represents the temporary nature of the resting place. He was supposed to be buried in Jerusalem but the Israeli authorities would not allow it. The tomb in Ramallah for a time had a laser beam directed towards Jerusalem. The Israelis banned this also.