Arrival to Nablus

I arrived to Nablus today and took a service (shared taxi) from the checkpoint toward the city, getting out at the top of the hill above Balata Refugee Camp. I walked down the steep road from Jerusalem street, past the pungent cattle stable and made my way toward the main entrance and market. I headed straight for the restaurant of my good friend Muhamad, and our happy reunion marked the first of many throughout the day.
The most significant change I noticed in the journey from Jerusalem was the ease by which the Israeli military directs and controls the flow of Palestinian movement. This does not mean that Palestinians were free to move about, but rather that droves of Israeli soldiers, roving patrols and makeshift (bulldozed) roadblocks have been largely replaced by permanent checkpoints, the Annexation Wall and its many watchtowers. Palestinians wishing to enter Nablus walked the long, fenced corridor through Huwarra Checkpoint just south of the city unimpeded; those wishing to leave stood motionless in line.
From Nablus, men between the ages of 20-40 years are uniformly banned from exiting, save the few who are able to obtain temporary permits to enter Israel in search of work. Even then, those who are able to reach Israel must obtain a work permit through the endorsement of the trade unions there. For many who choose to leave their families in favor of employment, the decision to work within Israel is distasteful and made of desperation.
The isolation imposed on Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, and Nablus in particular, in combination with an international economic embargo has left this once thriving city in poverty. Work is extremely scarce, unemployment endemic, and hope for relief the only currency readily available.
A functioning Palestinian Authority (PA) was difficult to identify in Nablus three years ago, now it is non-existent. The militias are the only visible remnant. Men from Ktab-al Aqsa (the military wing of Fateh) and the military arm of Hamas passively patrol the streets of whichever areas they enjoy support. They provide no real public service in the traditional sense of governmental security forces. Though these militias were founded under the auspices of organized resistance to the Occupation, now they are largely biding time.
Since the beginning of the Second Intifada, Israel has been relatively successful in its efforts to dismantle organized, armed resistance. Thousands have been imprisoned or killed, and six years on, the will to fight has greatly diminished. What is left of the militias is reluctant to engage Israeli troops when they invade Palestinian areas to make arrests or destroy infrastructure. If either side expends too much of its resources in such fighting, it will be that much weaker if a dominant party emerges from the current Palestinian political crisis. In this vain, they have turned the guns on each other, and many believe the division to be so deep, that if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is successful in pushing through new elections, the result could be civil war.
Their rivalry has intensified since the international boycott of the Hamas led PA, and many feel that Abbas’ continued dealings with Israel to be nothing short of appeasement, even accusing Fateh of deliberately sabotaging Hamas’ ability to govern. In turn, critics of Hamas point to an unreasonable stubbornness and an inviable approach to democratic governance. American endorsement of Abbas is seen by some to be an attempt to stoke these tensions.
But the real pressures are largely external, led by Israel and the United States in their efforts to coerce Palestinian cooperation.
Cessation of international financial aid has devastated the Palestinian economy. In Nablus, once busy and crowded marketplaces are closed. People here are becoming ever more desperate to sustain themselves, worried they may be headed toward a situation akin to Gaza, with its humanitarian crisis of unprecedented scale in Palestine.
The lack of activity has encouraged most of the international activists to seek out new communities where they can be more effective. Groups such as the one in Bil’in near Ramallah conduct weekly demonstrations against the Annexation Wall cutting through that village’s land. In Balata Camp, I was struck by my ability to blend in. Hardly a single child came running to ask, “What’s your name?!” and I sensed the lack of an organized and consistent team of international activists here had left its mark. I plan to visit with several Nablus-based NGO’s and evaluate the situation here before I make a decision about the best location to base RJI’s activities.

From Askar Refugee Camp, Nablus, West Bank