friends at Beit Safafa

We had a couple of free days at the end of our walk. Spent one walking around Bethlehem and arranged to visit our friend Hashim's family in Beit Safafa the next. BS is a Palestinian village in East Jerusalem, but inside the wall so checkpoints have to be negotiated. They came to fetch us but there were a few heart-stopping moments when the soldiers realised we had no visa stamps. Our passports were handed back but R's identification papers not. A few minutes later they let us through.

What a welcome! All the family were there to greet us - three generations - and more arrived during the afternoon. We were treated to a wonderful feast and their warmth was indescribable. Some of the younger members had never met their uncle, including one in her 20s, as he's not able to visit them nor return home at all. H's sisters saw him 4 years ago when they all met in Jordan. Such are the trials Palestinian exiles are forced to endure.

The family house and garden is now bordered on one side by a settler-only road and on another by Gilo settlement, a veritable blot on the landscape. Palestinians such as these are under constant pressure to sell up. We toured the old village and saw houses blocked up and derelict (Israel will not allow Palestinians to build or rebuild). We were also shown other houses taken over by settlers. It was a moving and extraordinary day, one we shall never forget.