Check points- more than 400 check points in the West Bank,
Half of the 80% of Jews are of Arab descent.
65%-85% unemployment in the West Bank, the region largely relies on tourism but obviously that industry has been hit hard due to the check points and stigmas about the region. There are many people that cant find work there and they and special permits to enter and work in Jerusalem which are given out very sparingly. Bethlehem has been described as the biggest prison on earth with some of the people there not allowed to leave at all. I felt completely safe there. We talked to Palestinians there and they talked about how Americans aren’t informed about what is going on in Palestine. I find this to be true, why is why I am here. www.PalestineRemembered.com
“The Wall”: The dividing barrier that Israel built to separate the Palestinian regions from the Israeli regions intended to diminish suicide bombings. This barrier is about 15% actually brick wall and the rest is actually a large fence or layers of fences with security towers, cameras and barbed wire. Israelis say that the fence has a reduced the number of terrorists attacks by 90%. One Palestinian asked if the wall is actually about security then why would it run through Palestinian villages, dividing them in two. Why is one side of the village safe and the other not. Palestinians see the wall as an “apartheid” wall (apartheid as in segregation) to cause such strife in the lives of Palestinians that they leave the country. This is what is thought of the check points as well since check points aren’t just between Israeli city’s and Palestinian cities but between neighboring Palestinian city’s. They also argue that the wall cuts into Palestinian land as way of Israel slowly pushing the Palestinians back. There is also the opinion that the wall is illegal.
These Palestinians were optimistic about a solution, thought they differed on whether it should be a 2 state or one state solution.
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