Saturday, the 2nd of August.

Below is an account of our trip on Saturday, the 2nd of August. (Jane)

We all set off in the mini-bus at 7:oo a.m. for Nablus.
It took us three attempts to get through checkpoints to enter the city. (At the first two, we were not allowed entry, 'mamnouh' ) - this represented 70 extra k. and a couple more hours driving.

We eventually arrived at the offices of the PGFTU .
The topics talked about were :-
Suffering and bad treatment of the city. Nablus is one of the main places of Palistinian resistance. A lot of people have died at checkpoints as a result of bad treatment from Israelis
Yasar Arafat said he wanted it to be the economic capital, but since 2002, Israeli soldiers visit and attack nightly to stop any economic development.
A month ago Israel decreed that all NGO's should close permanently.

The city is divided into six parts. Those in the north can't go south and vice versa. Unfortunatly, residents have become accostomed to the situation and it's part of their life.

Workers:-
There are 13 different Unions and 22% of the workers belong to unions. The PGFTU has 2600 members. There are 965000 members of the Labour party, of which 14% are women.

The number of unemployed is greater than those employed, and unemployment here, is the highest in the West Bank.

The United Nations provide some useful channels of information and try to help create some funds for social security, as over time, people have less and less money.
The average wage is 1,400shekels a month (about £233 pm). People sometimes have two jobs, if they can find them, as there are no pensions.
There is equal pay for women in the public sector, (not in the private sector).

Employment:-
People work 45 hours a day, and 5 or 6 days a week.
There are very limited opportuniities for women to work.
Before 2004 there were some pension agreements but this has dried up due to the World Bank.

The most important campaign is trying to address rising prices. There are some agreements between Iaraeli and Palestinian unions and also with unions from abroad.
Although there's a right to strike, and they do so, Palistinians are reluctant to strike because they feel they loose more than they gain.

25% of the income of the Palistinian Authority comes from the West Bank.

Ramble through the old town
We visited two soap factories and then visited a pancake cafe of local type - cream cheese and sugar--delicious !!

After another difficult checkpoint we visited a village, Beit Fourik and had an excellent lunch. The women only members of our group visited the home of the President of the Womens Association.
We discussed duties for women, which were, farming, olive harvest and also domestic; looking after her ten children. All of these jobs were shared with her husband.
The Womens Association in the village ran five classes for women funded by Oxfam.They were taught once a week for each subject which were:- Arabic, maths, English, IT, needlework.
We looked at their 'taboun' oven, which was housed in an outside shed. This is a type of permanent oven which is kept hot 24 hours a day by covering it with earth. It is used for cooking a very special and delicious form of bread.

Bellatah Refugee Camp

This is the biggest refugee camp on the West Bank. It's for victims of the war since 1948.
During the war, the villagers ran away from the war zone leaving everything. Between 1948 and 1952 the refugees were all over the place, (in churches, mosques, farm buildings, anywhere)

In the beginning the camp had, from the UN, 1 sq km of land to establish tents for 5000 people. Between 1952 and 1959 they added a bathroom for women.

In the 1960's the UN decided to make the buildings in brick so they expanded, and in the 1970's they added sewage, electricity etc. Buildings grew up.
In 2008 the camp now houses more than 25,000 people. still in 1 sq km.

There are 6000 children. There is a two tier system at primary level, half in the morning and half in the afternoon. The secondary school is so overcrowded it's leading to health problems.

Every night the Israeli army enter the camp after midnight and they always arrest someone.They don't knock at the door, they blast the door open and do the house over.

Children are the worst sufferers. They see their parents killed infront of their eyes. They develop many psychological problems such as depression or aggressive behaviour and many others. They need councelling and social workers.

Life is not simple. Many people are detained in prison. (all for political, not criminal reasons) It's so common it's part of life.

At the camp they are trying to campaign on the 'Right to Return'. They have two main rogrammes :-
1 The rights of refugees
2 Fun programmes for children --

to play / library / art and craft activities / music / sports / IT games / dancing / theatre

They have a summer camp with 100 kids a day.
Their funding comes from charities e.g. 'Hoping Project' in London and many others.

This camp is in section 'A' and officially run by the UN.

After a very sobering walk around the refugee camp our group left and went to a hotel for the night.