As I read one depressing message after the other, the faces around me would go blank. These occasional gatherings - meant to distract us from the suffocation of living in a pandemic and an occupation - often sink into the generally sombre mood dominating the Palestinian experience.
Although we do not know what will happen next, we are terribly afraid that it is going to be perilous. Every now and then, we would ask each other, "Do you think we will survive what is coming?"
We know some of us will not. We are constantly reminded of that. On June 23, 27-year-old Ahmed Erakat, was executed at an Israeli checkpoint near Bethlehem. Two weeks later, 29-year-old Ibrahim Abu Yacoub was also shot and killed by Israeli forces north of Salfit in the West Bank. In a trigger-happy occupation, none of us is safe.
As international media is abuzz with speculation about Israel's intent to formally annex parts of the West Bank, and as world governments prepare to issue their n-th statements of empty words against Israel, we in Palestine wonder how much more annexation we can survive.
Decades-long annexation
For decades, before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his formal call to annex Palestinian lands, we have been experiencing persistent annexation. Illegal Israeli settlements spring up so quickly, you would think they were built overnight. And just as quickly, they continue to expand, creeping ever closer towards our villages and towns.
"When was this settlement so close? I can see the insides of the houses!" has become a common refrain across the occupied and colonised West Bank.
"They never built the settlements in a temporary fashion," a friend from Jerusalem once told me.
In parallel, Israeli checkpoints have also proliferated throughout the West Bank to provide security for colonisation activities. "Flying checkpoints" manned by Israeli soldiers in armoured vehicles would sporadically appear and disappear, obstructing Palestinian movement at every step, causing millions of dollars of damage to the Palestinian economy. The 25km trip between Ramallah and Bethlehem, for example, can take a Palestinian hours.
There are also the more permanent checkpoints, such as the infamous Qalandia, which separates Jerusalem from the West Bank and through which Palestinians can enter the rest of historic Palestine (present-day Israel), if they have permits. In 2019, the Israelis added a massive structure to the checkpoint. Shortly after, I went through Qalandia checkpoint for the first time. My jaw dropped when I saw it. It looked like an airport terminal, rather than a checkpoint.
I recalled how not that long ago we were protesting in front of its scattered concrete structures and metal barriers, getting shot at with live ammunition.
What I saw in 2019 was a massive building with electronic doors, surveillance cameras and Israeli soldiers sitting behind large glass windows, barking orders: "Move further, come closer, you can enter, you cannot, you need to be checked!"
Beyond taking our freedom to move within the West Bank, Israel has also annexed our freedom to leave. Allenby bridge, connecting the West Bank with Jordan, was once meant to be an interim humanitarian crossing. Today it is the only port of entry/exit for West Bank Palestinians and it is operated by the Israeli Airport Authority, which can deny Palestinian travellers the right to leave.
Mariam Barghouti
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/annexation-palestinians-survive-200709183543893.html
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