My trip to Palestine

My trip to Palestine            

I begin in the name of Allah (God), The Most Merciful, the Most Gracious. May He send His peace and blessings upon the final messenger, Muhammad (PBUH).

I praise Him and thank Him alone who gave me the ability to travel for the first time to my homeland Palestine. I thank Him for what He has made me see and learn, and I pray that He accepts this trip as an act of worship to Him.

It was such an exciting feeling when I first had the thought to visit Palestine, I always wanted to visit this great place, to meet the local Palestinian people and to learn about the struggle by seeing it with my own eyes. I booked my flight in the beginning of December and arranged to visit the country by joining a 6 day educational programme with an organisation. The programme included tours and lectures around the different cities, seminars and meetings with academic, authors, journalists and activists.

28^th December 2011

My older brother was very kind to drop me and my friend Tariq (a Jamaican British born convert to Islam) off at Gatwick airport, we were also going to meet around 15 other people from different countries such as Denmark, Germany and Italy in Palestine. On the way to the airport we were discussing what exactly we should say to the Israeli authority when we reach Palestine as we heard from so many people how extreme their security is, we also heard that there is a risk of being "refused entry". Although we were going for educational reasons we couldn't obviously tell them that so we just stuck to the story that we are visiting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as tourists and did not mention going to the west bank. I thanked my brother for dropping us off and for his advice on the way and made dua (prayers) to Allah (God) for him.   

After we entered the airport and finished checking in, we waited for the gate to open and had a coffee in one of the coffee shops inside the airport. While we were drinking coffee we saw 4 -5 armed police officers with large guns and a German shepherd dog walking around. A few minutes later they approached us out of everyone else. I was very co-operative and relaxed with them, the only part I didn’t like is the attention that was drawn to us, as other people might suspect us of having done something wrong. They took our details and checked our names; they then asked us “why are you travelling to Israel”. After finishing with the officers we went rushing to our gate only to be stopped again by non uniformed officers who also wanted to ask us questions about our trip. I was surprised why it was becoming an issue, as in my past travels I never had such problems. As soon as I entered the plane and was the last person to enter it, I walked past so many people who gave me funny looks, many on them looked Israeli. The plane was going to Frankfurt (Germany) and then from there we were going to take another plane to Tel-Aviv. During the short journey between Gatwick to Frankfurt I read for a little while, had a conversation with a German person next to me and wrote “my aims and objectives of the trip”.

Aims:

·         To increase my relationship with Allah (God)

·         To learn more about the topic of Palestine

·         To give dawah to the people around me.

·         To be inspired to work more for the Palestinian cause

·         To read the Quran 3 – 5 times a day

·         To try meet good people

·         To read 7 pages of Riyadh ul saleehin every day, 5 pages of al Jumuah magazine

Objectives:

·         By doing daily athkaars (remembrance), reciting Quran, istikhfaar (repentance)

·         By being an active participant and listener in the lectures and tours

·         By showing a good character, patience, politeness and generosity to those around me

·         By trying to act upon what I learn and to do the best to my ability to help

·         By reading portions of the Quran after each 5 prayers

·         By socialising and befriending the people around me, especially my group

·         By making time before my sleep for a small reading session.

 After leaving the plane and arriving in Germany I was very amazed to see how advanced the country is. The airport was nicely designed and the services it provided looked very professional. As soon as you arrive in the airport you can download an “app” on your phone which will show you all the places that you are looking for and what the airport has to offer, this is done in an easy and sophisticated way. Tariq and I had around 8 hours until our plane was to leave so we thought about going downtown to see Germany for a bit. While we went to exchange our money into Euros from Pounds we met an Iranian Christian who we had quite a long discussion with about religion. After the discussion we decided to just stay in the airport as we felt tired. We had some dinner in a fast food restaurant and then started having very big discussions with each other, after that we found a quiet place with seats and decided to sleep. We woke up for Fajr (dawn) prayers, performed ablution and prayed, then we read Quran and then got ready to catch our plane. The gate that we had to go through was extra secure, some people said that this was because it is going to “Israel” and they are advised to check people very well. Alhamdullillah (Praise be to God), after being searched really well we entered the plane and were on our way to Palestine.

29^th December 2011

The plane journey seemed faster than expected, the food was also nice (Kosher meal), it is strange because usually if I see an Israeli in London (and they are hard to find) I will be very surprised, so it felt quite strange to be on a plane with nearly all Israelis and soon going to a land ruled and occupied by them, I knew it will be a very big experience for me. As soon as we arrived safely Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God) and left the plane to the airport, the first people we bumped into was two security or police officers who asked us to follow them. We were the only ones who got out of the plane and was stopped, it was as if they were waiting for us. They separated me and Tariq and asked us some questions; “how do you two know each other?”, “why are you visiting Israel?”, “You are Muslim and there is no religious holy days at this time, why now?” and much more. After telling them that we are only here as tourists and that the reason why we are coming now is because we have winter breaks from university and work, they allowed us to go to the passport control. As soon as we walked up to the passport control, myself and Tariq started laughing about how much hassle we are getting already for this travel and we still didnt even enter the country yet. There was a big queue in the controls and because we were stopped near the plane we were in the end of the line, another Israeli soldier saw us and asked us to follow him, at first we thought that he is helping us to get a shortcut but he took us to a lady in one of the controls that had no lines, after asking us similar questions to the first guards she asked us to go to the “waiting area” to wait to be questioned by the main officers. After waiting for around an hour I was called in, the officer took some details from me and asked me again more and less the same questions. He then asked me for my father’s name and then he found it in his computer system “your father left here in 1963” he states, he then asked for my mother’s family name and then he found her father’s details. He then asked me to go back to the waiting room. After a few hours of waiting we became the first people in the room and the last people. My facebook was deactivated at that time as we heard they check information on you from there, not that I have anything to hide but anything small can be made to something big and controversial these days. After more waiting, the sun set and the airport become nearly empty, we prayed Maghrib in the airport and kept waiting, we were called in and out for more questions so many times. I spent most of my time reading my book, texting my family and reciting Quran. There was one moment where I felt like making dua (prayers), so I closed my eyes, raised my hands and starting making prayer to God, I asked Him to make me enter Palestine and ease my journey, I was making dua for around 5 minutes. Without me knowing, the main decision maker and head of security in the airport came in the room, he sat right next to me and was watching me finish my prayers. As soon as I finished my prayers and opened my eyes, I look to my left and find the isreali officer with his fist under his cheeck watching me, after he noticed I just saw him and that he was waiting for a long time, he says to me "FIINISH?", I said "yes", he then said "COOME". I then followed him to his office, just before I came in I put my trust in God and had felt much more comfortable and relaxed. It became late and we missed the second day of the programme. After hours of more waiting and answering questions, our passports were returned to us and we were happy to enter Palestine. While walking out the controls and entering the shopping side of the airport it felt weird having looks from so many people, you truly feel hated by the people who make it clear to you that you are not welcome. Out of a crowd of so many Israelis I spotted a Muslim brother with a beard and a thobe from far, I was very happy and excited to see him. I then walked up to him to give him salam (greetings), after a moment I see four other brothers like him following him. He mentioned that they are part of the dawah (outreach) group (tablighis) – it was a pleasure and a surprise to meet them. The brothers helped us to find out what bus to take for our location. We then found our mini bus and rode it for a 1 hour trip to Bethlehem in the West Bank Palestinian side. It was so strange looking out from the window and seeing a land with all Israeli Jews, Israeli shops, cars, and hardly any Palestinians, it just made me wonder how a country in around 60 years can be transformed so quick and giving to a new nation.  

After reaching Bethlehem we had to go through the main checkpoint. As it was late there was not much security guards. There was a big board saying “Palestinian Authority – No Israeli citizens allowed” (see oslo agreement for more details). I was quite surprised and partly happy to know that the Palestinians have at least their own part to live without the Israeli authority, however it turned out to be untrue with hundreds of Israeli checkpoints in the area. We went through what seemed to look like a big maze with lots of metal everywhere, after a good few minutes of walking we finally reached the other side. After leaving the gates we saw lots of Palestinian yellow taxis and people waiting outside the borders, it was strange to hear the loud Palestinians voices and their accents for the first time in Palestine. An Italian lady called Ika from the organisation and a Palestinian volunteer picked us up. We reached the centre of the organisation only to find it quite packed with around 10 people who are sitting in the cafe area having what looked like a good time. The centre looked nice and friendly, in the ground floor they converted it into a “chill out” place, everyone seemed friendly and comfortable with each other – it is like a hub in a cave style place with lights. We sat down in their circle and introduced ourselves to each other. We then went upstairs where they provided some dinner for us; Ika was very kind and gave us a quick catch up presentation on some of the things we missed. It was very informative; it made me look forward to the other presentations and lectures coming up in the programme. We then got dropped off to the guesthouse where we were staying (our base). The house was in the hill and you get to see some beautiful views, as soon as we arrived to the house it was very late and quiet. A quick glance to the view from the mountains gives you a strange feeling, as soon as I looked at the view I saw Palestine, Palestine as if it’s a person, a beautiful pious person with so much history and richness, at the same time it looked sad and in pain, it was as if there was something wrong and she is deciding to stay quiet and patient about it. After some pondering, Tariq and I both said at the same time “mashallah, that is beautiful”, the Palestinian volunteer who at that time was helping us with our luggage was looking at the view, he then said with a smile “it is not beautiful”. We then both asked him “why”, he replied with his broken up English and Palestinian accent “what you are looking at here is an Israeli settlement, I remember when I was young I used to look at the same place and used to see a beautiful forest where we used to go play in, I used to see it as beautiful, now I don’t!”. He then showed us our room and then we thanked him for making us feel comfortable and for his help, we asked him for the time of fajr salah but he seemed unsure. I did realise that people in Palestine might not be as religious as I thought, nonetheless he was a good person.

30^th December 2011

We woke up early the next day, after getting ready we went to the living room and we found our breakfast ready. We then met some of our group mates, they were very welcoming and happy to meet us. I was looking forward to spending the next days with them. After our breakfast we walked down the hill to attend our first lecture in the centre (which is around 7minutes walk).

Bethlehem is a beautiful city with nice views and people in it, it is a mixed Christian and Muslim area and the people look like they are very close together. As soon as we arrived in the centre we went to the seminar room, Tariq and I were asked to introduce ourselves to the whole group and they too introduced themselves to us. We had a lecture about the place we were going to visit “Hebron” or Al Khalil in Arabic. I was very surprised with the figures that the speaker was mentioning. At that point, I realised how ignorant I was and possibly many others like me about the Palestine situation. One thing that shocked me was the way the Israelis deprive the Palestinians from any basic rights, not only did they take most of Palestine and leave the Palestinians all living in two small area’s called West Bank and Gaza, but one of the only lands remaining is mostly run and administrated by the Israelis, moreover they invite “Israeli settlers” to kick out Palestinians from their homes and build houses for them to live, each settlement is like a mini village with around 500,000 Israelis and still growing. Another shocking reality was the way the water is distributed in the West bank, the Israelis give 80% of the water to the Israelis and only 20% to the Palestinians, can you imagine? 3 million Palestinians get 20% of water while only 500,000 Israeli have the right to 80%? After the lecture, we went on the bus to drive to Hebron (Al khalil), as it was Friday, the group organizer arranged for myself and Tariq to pray in the Abrahimi mosque (one of the holy mosques in Palestine). As we were walking towards the mosque we met some local young Palestinians who were also going to the mosque and offered their help to lead us in direction, we passed through  a big market place and just before the mosque we had to go through two checkpoints, one is a metal one (like the airport).

 As I was getting ready for prayers, lots of young Palestinian children kept asking me to buy some things like key rings from them; I bought a few small things and got ready for prayer. As the mosque inside was full, we prayed outside. The sermon was very good and it really inspired me, it is very different to hear verses of the Quran about unity, brotherhood, challenging oppression when you are in Palestine compared to the UK. The sermon was talking about the victory of Allah, unity and brotherhood and the promise that God will give to the believers. He was also reminding the people how we should fear Allah and be true believers. Although the khutba (sermon) was great I was a bit disappointed, this is because it seemed like the people who was praying was not taking heed or listening attentively, I hardly saw any brothers with a beard, some smoking cigarettes and some playing with their phones. I was disappointed that the Palestinians, the people who are in need to be close to Allah don’t seem to be too close after all.  After the prayer, we went back and found our group waiting for us; we went through the market place and met a Palestinian woman in her shop who was telling us about her projects. Her shop had some beautiful handcrafts of clothing’s, bags, carpets and more made from good quality wool in the traditional Palestinian way. Her job helps many other Palestinian women who are employed to make the products. On top of the market place there is quite a few Israeli settlers and homes, many of them throw rubbish, urine and stones down at the Palestinians, there has been many incidents where Palestinians have been seriously injured and when reporting it to the courts many times it gets ignored. After we left from the women’s shop, we visited some nearby homes; many roofs of the Palestinian houses have military soldier’s offices occupying it. I met one young Palestinian who’s story really shocked me, he told me that he is the oldest brother with 11 other siblings living in a small house with two rooms, he said to me that the Israelis once came inside his house and burnt two of his younger sisters and they died. When I asked why did they do this? He replied by stating that it is because the Israelis wanted to take their house for an Israeli settler. As we were walking around the town and being lectured by one of our guest speakers, the young children kept on following us so we can buy some bracelets from them, many of their cute big eyes on their faces makes it very hard to not buy from them. Although to some tourists or people they can be annoying, I was happy to see these children selling to people instead of stealing or begging, although they are in a very poor situation. We then went to a Palestinian restaurant and the whole group enjoyed a nice meal called “mansaaf” (Bedouin dish).

 The group then got on the bus and got ready for a trip to the desert where they were going to have a night BBQ. Although the idea sounded great me and Tariq kindly excused ourselves and stayed in Bethlehem, after a small rest, we went downtown in Bethlehem and saw the church where it is believed Isa (Jesus) is born. While I was walking around downtown I was speaking to a few local Palestinians. There was a young taxi driver aged around 22 who I was having a deep conversation with. I said to him, I am living in London and I see the Muslim community there very strong in their faith, very learnt of their religion and very practising, this is Palestine why are so much of the youths not really religious, not educated or practising. I said to him while I was walking, I saw two young Hijabi Palestinian girls with two young Palestinian boys, I see unproductive youths, rude children swearing at each other, many people smoking, is that normal here? He said to me that I am right and people are not as religious as we think, he said all of this is some of the signs of Judgement day. When he said that I truly believed him and just taking another look around where I was gave me more certainty. I asked him if he has been to Al Aqsa mosque before, he said that he was not allowed to go by the Israili authority, anyone living in the west bank cannot leave it even though Al Quds (Jerusulem) is only a few Killometres away. I then thanked him for the conversation we had, and prayed for him. When we got back to the guesthouse the house was quiet as most people were in the BBQ, I went outside to the balcony and had a nice view of the city from the hill, I started reciting Quran and felt a bit spiritual. I then started thinking about making it one of my aims in life to be from the people who bring help and victory to the Palestinians. I started thinking about God and how I should start with purifying myself first if I really want Allah (God) to make me achieve this aim.

31^st December 2011

I woke up early again today, got ready, had breakfast and made my way to the centre. My third day started with a really thought provoking lecture by the director of the organisation. He is a journalist who has an educational background in Sociology and International development, he has authored 6 books and is an active Palestinian, (one which I bought and started reading). His main argument of the lecture was that this situation was not a religious conflict as Muslims fundamentally would not attack jews and they never did in any Islamic history (except once when the Jews broke the treaty at the time of the prophet (saw) – though it was not an attack but an eviction). He said it is a colonial-economic and political conflict. He also mentioned and explained how the Israelis are successful to paint a picture to the west that they are “protecting the human rights values against backwards, undeveloped, extreme, undemocratic people”. This made sense as the Palestinians existed in that land from 10,000 years ago (see Jericho for more details). After the lecture, the whole group went to have a tour to see the Israeli settlements in what is meant to be Palestinian west bank. We met a really inspirational local and educated women who explained to us the evil situation the settlement has caused to Palestinians living around that area, many people are losing their homes having not much choice but to leave, even the roads around the house are not allowed to be used unless it is for Israelis, many of the Palestinians tries to apply “democratically” for their cases in the court but of course they are never fair to the Palestinians. Each settlement is covered by a very large wall protected by Israeli soldiers. Many of the children have to take a different path or way to get to their school as they are not allowed to come near the settlements for “security reasons”. Because of the new wall and security, the schoolchildren have to walk for a much longer time compared to before just to reach their school. After seeing what I saw I felt very sad and frustrated, I started thinking to myself this is not fair, how can a group of people steal a land from people then gain massive support from the west, they put all the people to live in 2 very small cities under a lot of hardship, they then control and govern the west bank, establish settlements for around 500,000 Israeli (many are illegal according to their own law) and on top of that when the Palestinians goes to appeal for their rights it gets rejected. I would never forgive any country or people who will support such actions. Shereen then mentioned something that I will not forget, she said a Palestinian independent state is the biggest threat according to Israelis and they will never let it happen, she then said “The Israel state did not create a military, but the military created the state of Israel”.

Outside a settlement

We then went back to the centre to listen to a lecture titled “the role of women in Palestinian society” by a political activist I’tedal. When I’tedal saw me she said to me with a small smile “are you from hamas or Jihadi, because you have a beard”, I replied to her with a smile stating “the Prophet (saw) had a beard and he was not from Hamas”. I then asked her “are you a Christian? She said “no”, “Muslim?”  she replied  “I don’t like speaking about this issue”. I then realised she was a Marxist or communist and is probably ignorant of Islam as do so many secular people who often have a wrong image of Islam. Although Karl Marx had a bit of good points in his theory regarding economics it is wrong to put Islam under his criticism of religions. Although I am respectful to people with different views I am very against secular parties in Palestine, this is because they believe they can give rights to people when they don’t even give rights to their creator, they wish to follow limited misguided systems when they have a perfect unlimited system from their creator – the same system that brought a lot of justice and success to the world for over 1,000 years. I’tedal spoke about women in the political sphere as well as women who have to trade because their husbands are usually imprisoned or not allowed to work for “political reasons”.  After the lecture we had some lunch and I got into a conversation with I’tedal, I tried to clear the misconceptions she had about practising Muslims. After lunch there was another lecture by the director which I enjoyed so much, it was very stimulating, informative and inspiring. The talk was about Political Palestinian parties, the talk discussed all the main parties in the modern Palestinian history, their roots, ideologies and implications. The lecture was really interesting as it showed me what some groups of people done in response to what happened to Palestine; it highlighted some of their mistakes and some of their achievements. After the political party seminar, I went back to the guesthouse and had a small 30 -40 minutes nap. Tariq and I planned to visit Jerusalem to go pray in Al Aqsa Mosque, this was something that we were very excited about. I wanted to go there with a different mood, a spiritual mood, I wanted to focus on my relationship with Allah during that trip. I then went had a shower, wore one of the best thobes I had, put some expensive ooode (perfume), wore my Muslim cap and waited for our taxi to arrive to drop us to downtown so we can go on the bus. There was an old German lady in our group who I asked if she would like to come with us, she was very excited and happily agreed. She said to me “but I am not a Muslim, can I still come?” I said “yes of course, as Muslims we will welcome you to the mosque but the Israelis will not let you in if they know you are not a Muslim. She then wanted to wear a headscarf and dress up as Muslim women so she can join us in this beautiful trip. When she wore a headscarf, she was so happy and wanted me to take a picture of her so she can show it to her grandchildren. When we went on the bus on the way to Jerusalem, I started to speak to Gertruude about Islam, we were talking about the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and how he first became a prophet when he received revelations in the cave, how Islam is not a religion that came to contradict the religion of Jesus but rather it is the same religion. She was very happy to have a discussion with me and she mentioned how she wishes she knew all these things about Islam before. On the way to Jerusalem when we wanted to cross the checkpoint Israeli soldiers came in the bus, they were very harsh and aggressive to the Palestinian passengers. There were two young Palestinian ladies in the front who was asked very rudely to get out of the bus. They were also two young polite Palestinian teenagers who were also asked to wait outside. When the soldiers came to me and Tariq they could not keep their gazes starring at us and we sensed a bit of fear from them. We showed them our passports and they were not really happy that we can go. What really annoyed me is the way they treat Palestinians, you can tell that they hate them and they want them all to not-exist. They want this country all to themselves and it is as if they enjoy bullying and watching the Palestinians suffer. When the soldiers rudely asked me for the passport I did not accept them speaking to me in a disrespectful way, neither did Tariq. I would totally co-operate with anyone if they are polite and respectful but I will never throw away my principle to accept to be humiliated even if I will suffer from it. I noticed however that for the rest of the people it is something that they have accepted now, the only way for them to live is to be treated in that way, something that is sad but the reality. On the way to Jerusalem, I called a hotel that someone from the organisation gave me the number for. When someone picked up the line I realised that it was an Israeli hotel, I then asked him for 1 double room and 1 single room and for the price. The price was not very cheap but as we believed it is near the mosque and we don’t really have much option to look elsewhere we booked it. I then asked him if they can give us any discounts, he said there is no discount, I then said to him in a friendly way “come on, many of the Arab hotels give us discounts, especially when they know we are from abroad”. He then replied “if you do not want it, we will give it to someone else”. We arrived in Jerusulem around 8.30pm (night time), we immediately made our way from the bus station to Al Aqsa mosque. The streets and the area was alive with lots of people (mostly arabs), there was many small shops, some selling coffee, some selling mobile phones and unfortunately one shop was a cigarette shop. We asked a few people where “Al Aqsa mosque is”, a lot of the Arabs is very helpful when it comes to directions. The city was very beautiful, the stones used for the building looks very ancient but at the same time you see the Islamic history in them, you can imagine living in that city at the same time when Umar Ibn Khutab and other noble Khalifas ruled it. It was a very different experience walking there; you have mixed people from orthodox Jews with black suits and black hats, Armenian Christians and Palestinian Arabs. We then walked through the market place; it was one of the biggest market places I have ever visited in my life. As it was dark, most of the market place was closed except a few grocery shops. We carried on walking for around 15 minutes to reach the Al Aqsa mosque. At the end of the market we saw a checkpoint with around 4 security guards. I then asked him if he can let us through so we can see al aqsa mosque, he then told me that it is closed after isha time (last prayer 6.30pm), I then asked him if we can still go just to take some pictures. The main soldier speaking to me spoke fluent Palestinian Arabic and tried to show us that he is helpful to us, at first I did not trust him but then I found out from some locals that he is a Palestinian Muslim.

 I was shocked when I knew that as I thought this will never happen, when I asked more locals they said this is not unknown, it is becoming common (many refer to them as traitors). We then decided to go to our hotel and visit the mosque for fajr salah (Dawn prayers) the next day. The hotel which we thought is a few minutes’ walk from the mosque turned out to be around 15-20 minutes’ walk. We then decided to take a taxi, before we left the market to go to the high street to look for a taxi I saw a shop that was selling anti-Palestinian t-shirts with controversial messages. A t-shirt saying “don’t worry America we are behind you” with an Israeli aeroplane, another t-shirt saying “Someone who loves me bought me this t-shirt from Israel” which Tariq joked saying “you mean some who “hates me” bought me this t-shirt. I then looked at the shopkeeper and judged him as one of those racist anti Palestinian Israeli. I then spoke to him in Arabic “do you speak Arabic?” he said “yes”, I said to him “why do you sell these t-shirts”, he said “it is a problem isn’t it?” I said “yes, I do think so”. I then asked him “are you Arab?” he said “yes” (at that point I thought maybe he is an Arab Jew), then I asked him “Muslim?” he said yes. I was shocked and I said “May Allah guide you, how can you sell these things”, he said “it doesn’t mean anything, these people who buy it, it doesn’t mean anything, what is going to happen if they buy it?, it is useless”. Not convinced with his argument we left to stop a taxi. One taxi was waiting outside, I then asked him how much it will cost to the hotel, I also asked Tariq to ask another taxi not too far away for how much he will charge for the same place without the first taxi noticing, this is so I will have an estimate if the driver is cheating me or not. The one I asked said 60 shekils (around £12), while the other one said to me 50 shekils (around £10), the first driver tried to convince me that 60 shekil is the discount price, and that it is worth much more, I then said to him “but the taxi opposite us is saying only 50?”, very surprised with what I said he then said “ok I will do it for 50”. He was very annoyed to find out the other taxi said this, he then said “this guy he will do it for 20 just so he can take my customers!”, I then find out soon that in fact they were both overpricing us as the hotel was not too far off by car. On the way to the hotel I got into a discussion with the driver. He told me that the Jews will not ride his taxi if they know he is an Arab, they also don’t go to shops if they know the shopkeeper is Arabic and they will only support Israelis. This then explained to me why the Arab Muslim shopkeeper I just spoke to was selling pro-Israeli products as he needs to make a living. When we reached the hotel it was New Year night and many people were misbehaving and not acting mature. I then made payment in the reception and took our keys. They also had an internet cafe; I then went on it for around 30 minutes and sent an email to my family. After that I went to sleep to wake up the next day with the help from God to pray in the al Aqsa mosque.

1^st January 2012

We woke up for fajr, performed wuda and immediately left the hotel to walk up to al aqsa mosque. It was quicker than we thought and the way was not too hard to find. We walked for around 15 minutes, it was such a nice walk, and especially that it was so quiet and empty. As we got closer to the mosque and walked through the big market we heard the athaan (call to prayer) being called. It sounded so peaceful, there was such a strange feeling I got while being in this particular city, a feeling how this land will one day speak up and become a witness against the people who lived on it, how this sacred land that is mentioned in the Qura'an will will day speak out, it will tell God who supported and helped and it will tell Him who turnt their backs on it. I also started thinking and picturing how it will look like before the day of judgement and felt like the time I am in now feels like the few stages before that time. We walked through the dark market place again and reached the big door where behind it is Al Aqsa mosque. Walking in the streets of Palestine while most post people are sleeping, the area is quiet, the sky is dark and the call to prayer to our creator is being called is certainly one of the most spiritual and memorable feeling I have ever had. I felt fearful, not because of people or because it was dark, I felt fearful because I felt close to Allah (God). I felt like God is remembering me and watching every footstep I am taking. I felt His signs everywhere.

When we reached the big gates where behind it is "Al Aqsa mosque" there was Israeli security guards who are there 24 hours a day guarding it, they do not allow anyone to go through. The guards then asked Tariq if he was a Muslim, he said yes, the guard then asked him to read surat al fatiha (the opening chapter of the Quran) to proof it, Tariq agreed unwillingly and recited it, half way before he finished the guard said “ok go”. When walking through the big gate, the athaan was called. It was so amazing to hear the azaan near the Al Aqsa mosque, even the athaan makes you have deep ghusooh (fear), the athaan also gives you a feeling in your heart, it sounds like it is calling the true believers to wake up, to come to guidance as this is what God wants and this is how you wil  help them, it is saying wake up and be from those who Allah will favour and choose to give help to the oppressed and week. As I walked closer, I looked to my left and I saw the dome of rock above the stairs, it was so beutiful, I could not believe what my eyes are seeing. I saw the place before through pictures but to see it with your own eyes is very different. I felt happy that I am in this sacred land and I pictured how I will remember this day in the day of Judgement. I then looked to my right and saw al aqsa mosque. I then saw a big sign that I will find hard to describe and only Allah will truly understand. I saw Muslim brothers walking down the stairs from the dome of rock and walking towards Al Aqsa, they were in a small crowd, they had beutiful faces with light in it, there beards were beutiful aswell, they looked like pious believers. I then pictured the time where rightous believers will come from different parts of the world to the same direction to give victory to Allah’s religion and to the believers and to liberate Masjid Al Aqsa. "Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah." (Holy Qur'aan). I then entered this great place and prayed two rukats (two units of prayers) and waited for the iqaama (the call to the congregation prayer).

As I sat down in this peaceful place I started reading quran, as I was reading Quran there was a sheikh that sat next to me. As soon as I looked at him I could tell that he was a learnt person. We ended up speaking to each other quietly and we introduced ourselves to each other. He told me that after the prayer we will go to “My office” and speak. He turned out to be one of the teachers of Al Aqsa mosque.  Just before I was praying I remembered the great virtue of praying in Al Aqsa mosque and I was so happy that Allah gave me this opportunity to now have visited the three most sacred mosques in the world (alhamdallah). The iqaama (final call to prayer) was called and the imam walked in, the imam looked beautiful. While I was praying there, I was listening to the verses of the Quran, there is a different feeling when you hear the same verses of the Quran in that place, your iman (faith) and Yaqeen (certainty) feels stronger, it feels so great to hear verses of the Quran being recited and knowing your enemies can hear and bear witness to the truth. After the salah (prayer) finished the sheikh that was praying next to me stood up in the front and gave an unexpected reminder, he spoke loud with a passion and was warning the Muslims about not falling into celebrating false festivals, to remain strong upon the truth and to please their creator and not to fall weak to their enemies. The speech was strong and I was pleased to see someone being confident to speak the truth even though there is Israeli soldier’s right outside. The imam was sitting on the same place he was leading the prayer in but facing the people, he then spotted me and after looking at me, I smiled at him, he then gave me a really nice smile back. The sheikh (that was praying next to me) then called me and then we walked to the right of the mosque to have a chat. On the way to sit down a few people came up to the sheikh to ask him a question and thank him for the reminder. After he finished from them we sat down with each other and asked him a few questions, his presence was felt, he was blessed with wisdom and knowledge. The sheikh was so happy to see Tariq, a Jamaican convert from the UK was something very pleasant to him, Tariq also was extremely happy to meet him and he told me that this is his best time of the whole trip. The sheikh started talking to us about masjid al aqsa, he said this mosque is an amanah ( a trust) that Allah will ask us about, this is the 3^rd holiest place and the second mosque build in earth (40 years after the Kaaba [ibn abbas]). The sheikh then told us that the Israelis vision is to take Palestine with no Palestinians in it, they want it for themselves. For this reason they are trying every way to kick out the Palestinians, they do this by making it hard for them to live, he then explained how the Israelis will raise unreasonable taxes to Palestinian shopkeepers. He mentioned an example, “if a Palestinian makes 100Shekils a day, and after paying for his costs makes 10shekil profit, the Israelis will then enforce a 150 shekil tax, the Palestinian will beg to the authority asking them “how can I pay this tax, I don’t have the money for it, I am not making enough money for it”, they will then suggest to him “its easy, you sell your shop, have a bit of money and go live somewhere else, you have so many Arabic countries to live in; Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, we only have “Israel”.” He said this tactic has worked with so many palestinains, they have no option but t0 leave the country so they can bring some money to their families; many of them plan to travel to work and come back occasionally to visit their families but they return with a “refused entry”. Many Palestinians before travelling get an agreement by the Israelis that they can return to their homes if they travel but then when they return they realised that they were fooled and are banned from entering. After the sheikh gave us a reminder he introduced us to some of the locals who were very happy to meet us. We then prayed two rakat (units) duha (dawn) prayers (an optional prayer that has great virtue - whoever stays up after fajr remembering Allah (God) and then waits until the sun rises and prays two rakats (units of prayer) Allah (God) will write for him the reward of an accepted Hajj). We made long supplications and prayers and then got ready to leave. The sheikh then asked us if we will like to come to his house for tea, we said to him we will love to but we have to run back to the hotel because we promised geertrude (the german lady) that we will meet her early. He then insisted for us to come even if it is just for 10 minutes. Tariq and I agreed, his house was just a few minutes’ walk from the mosque, in fact his house is right next to the mosque but because of an order from the Israeli authority he has to take another route which makes him go all the way round to enter his house and takes much longer time. The day was beutiful, the wind felt cool and the weather was nice, the atmosphere was good, it was such a nice feeling to stay up until sunrise, to enter the masjid while the sky was dark and to leave the mosque and see the day full of light. The sheikhs house was extremely small and even looks like a cave, but for some reason we liked it a lot. The sheikh made us some nice tea and gave us some sweet bakery; he then showed us some of his pictures giving a lecture in one of the mosques and showed us a project he is working on to build an orphanage house for the orphans in Gaza.

(pictures of the dome of rock, the sheikh in the masjid, and in the sheikhs house)

After we left his house, we hugged and thanked the sheikh for everything, we made prayers for him and told him not to also make prayers for us. While he was saying goodbye to us and walking us out in the street I kissed him in the forehead. This is something that I probably didnt do to anyone in my life except my mother. We quickly rushed back to the hotel to meet Gertrude. After entering the hotel, we found her waiting for us in the canteen area where we had some breakfast. Mashallah (Glory be to God) it was a nice sunny day that day and we enjoyed some toast, jam and salad. After we had our breakfast we hurried to the bus station to take a bus back to Bethlehem, we were running late so we were walking extra fast. As we were walking to the bus stop we see many Arabs sitting on chairs outside a shop, I was quite disappointed to see Arab men sitting smoking and chatting and seeming to not having anything “good” to do. We went on the bus where I took a small nap and then finally reached to Bethlehem. A taxi picked us up from the station and dropped us to the guesthouse. On that day I planned to visit Hebron (Khalil) again to meet a family. I told the organisers that I will go only for 1 hour to see the family and come back for the rest of the programme, the organisers were totally fine with it. I was looking forward to meeting this family so I wore my best clothes that I had. I quickly went back downtown and went to a mini bus station. As I was waiting for the bus to leave I went to buy an Arabic Palestinians newspaper from the local shop. I started reading it with the intentions to find out news on Palestinian politics and social issues. The bus finally left and we went on a journey for around 40 minutes. After I left the bus and reached Hebron I did not know the direction to the Ibrahimi mosque where the family was meeting me near. I was running late to my appointment and I did not have any credit to call them so I took a taxi. When I arrived to the Ibrahimi mosque I decided to pray quickly and then meet them. I went inside the first checkpoint after taking off my jacket and any metal item and went through. As soon as I went through the scanner, the guard asked me to see my i.d, I then gave him my British passport. He then said to me go inside the mosque and we will then give you back the passport. I wasn't to happy with this idea, especially the fact that I just read on the british foreign office website some advice that British citizens who travel should not give their passports to anyone, even the security officers. This is because the Israeli government has been guilty last year of misusing some British passports in connection with a murder of a member of a Palestinian political party. I said to him I will wait here until you give me back my passport.. He then (not being able to speak good English) told me to go, there was a young Israeli female soldier who after seeing me not listening shouted at me “JUST GO!”, I then stared at her with a surprised look, she then shouted again “GOOO!”, I said to her “excuse me, but I am not speaking to you so please don’t get involved”. I then noticed that I was not going to get my way so I went to pray and hoped to get my passport back when I come back. I went inside the mosque and saw it packed with people; this is the mosque that it is believed to have the graves of 6 prophets and their wife’s. After a quick tour around I decided to pray outside instead as I had some doubts about weather I should pray in a place where there is graves in it. When I came back out, I kindly asked for my passport back where he told me to wait in the corner as he is not finished with it. I then asked him what do you want from it? he said he needs to investigate the passport. I knew that there is no issue or need to investigate my passport but they are only trying to make things difficult for the sake of it. I wouldnt mind waiting for their unneccessary games but I was already around 1 hour late to meet this family and I dont want to keep them waiting. I then waited for around 25 minutes expecting him to finish checking my name on the radio which should take two minutes literally. The main guard who was giving orders kept walking pass me with his big gun trying to make me feel scared; I noticed that they were up to something. I wanted to show them that they are pathetic and cannot scare anyone even if they try hard.  I then asked him with a relaxed but firm tone “how long will this take?” he then furiously replied “stop asking too many questions, you speak a lot!” He then walked off and mumbled something in Hebrew while the rest of the guards were laughing as he walked off, I then told him to "please speak in English". After waiting for around another half hour without talking, the same young children that I bought things from in Hebron a few days before recognized me and all gathered around me, they were so cute that they managed to calm me down and make me smile, the israeli guards kept trying to get rid of them but despite them pretending to run off they keep coming back teasing the guards. The young group of children then bring their other friends and their group became bigger. They kept shouting to the guards from far "Heey, let our shiekh go free!, why are you stopping the sheikh?!" (The Palestinians seem to call anyone with a beard a shiekh) I then told one of the young children to go to one shop (where the family was expecting me) and tell them that I have been stopped by the Israelis and I don’t know when I will leave, to tell them I will visit them as soon as things are sorted. The young child after I described to him the shop quickly knew who the people I was talking about was and ran to tell them the news. The Israeli guards that were keeping me waiting deliberately and not dealing with my case finally came to me with some news, they said to me “we have issues with your passport, we believe it is not original, a police car will come and take you now so you can be questioned”. I couldn’t believe how ridiculous and stupid this is, when I tried to explain to them that I am a British citizen and there is nothing wrong with my passport they did not let me speak and kept telling me to be quiet. They wouldnt give me the chance to explain and proof how my passport was not fake. I then agreed to wait to be questioned in the station, I went and sat down on a chair that was brought for me and started reading Quran and my book waiting for the police car. The woman that I was going to visit her family immediately came and was very worried about me, I told her “please auntie, do not worry about me, just go back to your shop and I will call you after I am done”. The women did not want to go and tried her best to call my family and the organisation. Unfortunately I did not have any credit on my phone so I could not make any phone calls to let anyone from the organisation know what is happening, they thought that I will go to Hebron for an hour and come back.  The women called the organizers and then got my families number to inform them. I was expecting the police car to come within less than 10 minutes but I ended up waiting for hours, it felt soo long, not the time but the feeling of not knowing whats happening, when the police car is coming, how long will I be questioned for, what will happen in the station. I then asked the main guard “in London when someone commits a crime the police will come in less than 5 minutes”, he angrily replied “LONDON, LONDON! This is Israel!” Many tourists were walking by and looking at me, there was also some Jewish people who walked passed me and looked very pleased to see a Muslim being what seemed to look like “arrested” by Israeli soldiers, they probably thought I was a terrorist, some were mocking as they walked past. As for the European tourists, they looked very worried and concerned about me, they were questioning the soldiers and asked them “why did you stop this man”, there was even some press representative there, the Israeli soldier will change the way he speaks in front of the tourist and say nicely “he has a fake passport”, I then didnt want those Europeans who looked like they have some justice in their hearts to believe him, I was far away so the Israeli soldier thought he could lie to them behind my back. It was funny because I travelled to a lot of countries beofre and never did I have any issues with my passport. After more hours of waiting, I started praying, while I stood up to pray and prostrate to the All-powerful I felt so strong in faith. The guards were not happy that I stood up and started praying, they wanted me to stay in one place under their control. While my head was on the floor I started supplicating to Allah (God) and I thanked Him for this great test that he is making me go through, I knew that I need to be tested to be close to God again, I knew that I need a test and that this is its time. After finishing my prayers, my heart felt better and more relax. I then on the chair and started reading a book I had in my bag and waited for the police car to come, one of the Israeli guards came in front of my face and had his gun pointed at my knees, I then looked up in his face trying to work out what he wanted to do, I looked down and saw the top part of his gun touching and rubbing my knee, I knew he was trying to scare me so I slowly pushed the top part of the gun away from my direction, he then told me to stand up. Afer I stood up, he took my chair and put it in the corner facing the wall and told me to sit there.  I knew he wanted to provoke me and make an issue but I refused to listen to him and sat on the wall carrying on reading. He then said to me "if you do not take my orders then you are commiting another crime and you will be moved by force". I said to him “do what you want I am not sitting there”. I then called the main guard and said to him in a polite way “ the British embassy told me that if I have any issues in my travel to call them straight away and inform them, can I please call them just to let them know what is happening”, he stayed quiet, I then suggested “I can even call them in front of you.” He also stayed quiet but atleast he did not refuse so I took it as a yes, I then asked the women who was waiting for me to come (the women was being ordered not to speak to me) and got her to call the embassy. I then spoke to someone from the embassy and told him what happened, at that point the Israeli guard seemed a bit scared. A few moments before the phone call, this guard searched my bag and belongings and said to me “I suspect that you are from khamas [Hamas]”. The embassy just adviced me to stay calm. After the phone call, I carried on reading and waited until the car finally came. I was accompanied by two other guards with me and went inside a 4x4 police car. While they were driving, there was a young Palestinian boy playing in the street, they joked with each other and pretended to run him over by driving the car fast towards him, I got angry when I saw that and said “Don’t laugh, this boy is a courageous Palestinian boy mashallah”, they all then turnt their faces at me and angrily all told me to “shhhhh!”. We then went to the police station and waited for another few hours. I was sitting alone with the two other guards in the room.  I then saw the person who looked like the chief police who kept on coming in and out of his office; he looked very arrogant, loud and bossy. He was questioning in his office a religious Palestinian young married couple (a women with hijab and abaya), I can hear the way they were speaking with them was very harsh and rude. While I was waiting, I prayed Maghrib and isha. While I was praying in a loud voice(the first, fourth and fifth prayer has to be recited out loud, unlike the others where you have to read it in your heart) I was reciting the verses of surat al muttifefeen, it felt so good to recite verses of truth in front of your enemies, it reminds you who the real power belongs to, I knew the guards will mock me while I pray so I deliberately choose this surah “Verily, (during the worldy life) those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed. 30. And, whenever they passed by them, used to wink one to another (in mockery). 31. And when they returned to their own people, they would return jesting; 32. And when they saw them, they said: “Verily, these have indeed gone astray!” 33. But they (disbelievers, sinners) had not been sent as watchers over them (the believers). 34. But this day (the day of Resurrection) those who believe will laugh at the disbelievers 35. On (high) thrones, looking (at all things). 36. Are not the disbelievers paid (fully) for what they used to do?”. Two Israeli women then came inside the police station so they can report an incident that happened to them. I ended up speaking to them and they told me that one of them just got raped by her own brother who also beat her up. I said to them “I am so sorry to hear this”. When the chief came in to call the next person in, he looked at the Israeli women and mentioned that she is next, the women then said to him “but this person (i.e me) was here before us”, he then looked at me and said in Hebrew to the women “he is falesteeni, let him wait” and walked off. At that point, I started thinking about all those long waiting, provoking and hassling and decided to have enough of this unnecessary issue, I went to his office and told him to hurry up with my case as I don’t have time for this. He was then quite surprised that I went to his office, I then explained to him that the Israeli soldiers stopped me for no reason, they claim that I have a fake passport and that is not true. The officer then looked at the guards that was with me and asked them “what’s his issue? Why has he been sent here?” I then told him that “I am visiting here from London and this is the first time something like this happened to me, I am a student who is born and brought up in England”, I then asked him to "simply call the British embassy that may be able to confirm that I am a British citizen and that my passport is real". He was convinced with my suggestion. After trying to get there number by myself as they won’t get me the number themselves I called them but sadly they were closed as their office hours is until 5pm and it was around 6pm GMT time. I then called my family who was speaking to the embassy all day and managed to get them to call us. The embassy tried to call the police station who at first said “there is no Omar Hajaj here” but the second time they called was in front of me so they got through to us. The embassy spoke to the chief, the chief didnt seem to understand exactly what the embassy was saying but he thought they are saying that "he is ok, his passport is real" so he agreed to let me go. He then filled out a form about me and I asked him if I can please have a copy, he said to me “you don’t need one, don’t worry”. After the chief decided I can go, I was waiting for around another hour in the station so the police car will come pick me up and escort me. This is because the station was in a middle of a place where no-one can enter except military staff; there were big metal gates all around the area. I kept asking the guards that are waiting with me how long it will take and they said they don't know. It got late and I had to get back, I called the family that I was meant to meet and told them that I will be leaving soon; they said to me that they will wait for me outside the ibrahimi mosque - the same place where I was taken away, sadly I didnt know exactly when the car is coming so I didnt know what time exactly they should meet me. The Palestinian couple that was in the station was allowed to go too, the man had a brother with him, I then had no hope but to ask them if they will drop me to Khalil (hebron) as I was not sure when I will be leaving the station, they agreed (May Allah reward them), alhamdilillah (praise be to God). As we were leaving the place the Israelis made it very difficult for us to go through the gates and kept telling us to go to different routes, each route had a checkpoint that also asked us to go a different way, in the end we were escorted out by a police car. The brother who was dropping me off then explained to me that the reason why the couple was arrested was because one of them who lives in “Israel” married his spouse who is from the west bank and this is not allowed.He had to pay 9,000Shekils just to leave the station. I felt a bit sad that the Israelis even try to get involved with who a Palestinian can and cannot marry. As they were in two cars (one car with the couple and the other with myself and the brother) The man dropped me near the ibrahimi mosque as his brother lost following him and he drove back to find him, I had to make my own way to the mosque. When I left his car, I felt a bit lost as it was very late and dark with no cars and much people to ask for direction. Most of the shops were closed, I then looked up in the dark sky and saw the moon, I prayed to Allah to guide me to the way. I kept on walking to the direction that I felt was right and then I saw some security guards, as I was walking towards them they immediately stopped me and asked for my ID, I gave him my passport and hoped the same issue this time won’t happen again. I then asked him the way to the ibrahimi mosque, he then pointed straight, I walked straight until I found another security guard who was by himself, the guard was young and avoided speaking to me, I then looked to my right where I found a long road with more security guards in the end of it, I walked towards that way and had a feeling that the mosque will be near there. As I was walking towards on the road toward the end, a Israeli soldier saw me from far and came out of his base/office, he seemed like he wanted to speak to me, I carried on walking near them but not looking at them as I didnt wish for them to speak to me, however one of them in particular kept looking at me, I knew he wanted to start something with me. He was light skin, built/muscular body and was wearing army clothes, he looked at me with a devious smile and said to me “where you from?" in what sounded like an American accent, I said to him “I am visiting here from the UK”, he said “oh really, the UK? What brings you here to visit Israel!” (reinforcing that it is Israel to me and not Palestine), not bothered to go through any more trouble I said to him “just touring” and carried on walking, “touring yeah?” He asks, I then asked him “where are you from, America?” “no no Canadian” he replied, “Are you visiting?” I asked, “No No I am serving here” he replied very proudly. I then carried on walking and turned left only to see the same recognizble location, alhamdallah (praise be to God) I found the mosque! I found that there was no-one outside the mosque waiting for me as I am way too late. At that point I was not sure what to do because there were no busses to take me back to Bethlehem at that time, no phone as my battery is dead so no-one can contact me, also as it is a traditional Palestinian area I didn’t think I will find a hotel either. I then went into the market place, all the shops were closed and it was very very dark as there was hardly any light, I then found Abu Muhammad (one of the family members) walking around looking for me, I am guessing he was looking for me for a long time, I was so happy to find him and thanked Allah (God) for helping me find these good people, as soon as he saw me e took me to his house. I was so pleased that he took me to his house for the night. His house was small but very nice, you feel the blessings in it, they were sitting next to the fire keeping them warm and watching the TV. His wife made me some dinner and then got me some nice fruits and tea, she then spoke to my mum and told her everything is fine, I then spoke to my mum who was very worried when she heard the news. She was saying to me "this is why I didnt want you to come", I said to my mum "dont worry, nothing at all happened, the israeli's was just being diffucilt". I sat on the floor with Umm Muhammed and Abu Muhammed and enjoyed having a conversation with them, I was looking around the room and I found a picture of two young boys, umm muhammed then told me “this is muhammed”, “he is in prison right now”. I asked her “why”, she said “we have a shop in “Israel” and because he is not allowed to work there (Because he is from the west bank) they imprisoned him, now his younger brother is working in the shop but faces the same risk, however we have no option otherwise we hardly have any income coming.” This story really touched me and I wrote it down in my notebook straight away. After feeling a bit tired, they took me to my room and made sure everything was ok.

 

The night I came out of the police station

2^nd January 2012 (my last day)

I woke up for fajr and alhamdallah(praise be to God) I had a very good sleep, although I am not used to sleeping on the floor I really had a good sleep that when I woke up I forgot where I was. I forgot that I was in Palestine, in Hebron, in people that I hardly knew too well house, I forgot about the big drama that happened the night before, at the same time I felt good. I performed my ablution and prayed the fajr salah, I then went back to rest for around 30 minutes. After I woke up, I found Abu Muhammed and Umm Muhammed (Layla) in the main room making breakfast for me. The breakfast was really nice; there was a lot of food to choose from. Umm Muhammed kept watching me and kept insisting to me that I eat even though I was. I was so grateful to meet such people and I prayed to Allah to reward them for their hospitality and help. After my breakfast I thanked the family and left the house to get back to Bethlehem in hope of reaching there early. It was raining, as I was walking towards the main street I started to think deeply, I looked to my left and to my right and found people who are awake working hard although it is around 7.00am. Many of them were opening their shops, selling fruits and vegetables and others trying to make other ways of living so early. I then started wondering about those who do not have shops but sell in the streets, how difficult it must be to keep what they sell in a safe place when leaving back to their homes. As I walked closer to the main street I was surprised by the amount of people who were up, the whole street was busy with taxis, busses, running shops and people standing and walking in the streets. It made me think how serious they take work and how desperate to make a living they must be. I then started seeing young schoolchildren walking to make their way to school with their big bags on their back. The children look so innocent and beautiful but the looks in their faces says it all. One boy was sitting in the steps outside his house waiting for his bus to come very quietly, another very young girl was walking with her sister to school, her face looked like she had so much hope, it looked like she was thinking about education and how it is her hope to freedom. After seeing the faces of this young beutiful children I felt very sad and heartbroken, the thought that the Israelis will try to ruin their dreams really hurt me and I felt very sorry for these beautiful young boys and girls. [May Allah give them the best of both worlds and may they achieve their dreams .]

After reaching the high street, I finally found my bus. On the way to Bethlehem I called one of the group organizers to inform them that I am out now and nearly 10 minutes away from Bethlehem, as I didn’t have the address to the guest house I asked him to send me a taxi, the organizer refused and kindly offered to pick me up from the bus station. I was very pleased to know how helpful some people are, as soon as I arrived I found him waiting in his car, I got off the bus and went on his car where we drove up the mountain to meet the rest of the group in the house. As the car came near the house there was around 4 group members waiting outside, when they saw my face behind the window of the car they smiled and shouted “Omaaar!”, they was so happy to see me again. Geertrude (The German old lady) when she heard them, came outside and had a big smile in her face when she saw me, she came up to me and gave me a hug (although I do not usually allow women to hug me), she looked like she was very worried about me. The group members had their bags ready and I was just on time before they were leaving. One of the group organizer (Ahmed) then asked me to quickly get ready as we need to leave to make our way to Jaffa and we are running out of time. I went to my room and found Tariq there; Tariq was also worried and didn’t know what exactly happened to me. I quickly changed and went to our mini bus to make our way to visit lod and Yaffa. The group wanted to hear the whole story of what happened so on the journey I shared to them my experience. I then said to them, I am quite happy that this is what happened to me because this is not even 0.01% of what the Palestinians go through all the time, I am happy that this happened to me because it will give me more of a reason and motive to work harder for the Palestinian cause and it only proved to me that they are truly oppressive people. I also said to them, I am in fact very lucky, but if it was a Palestinian living in Palestine that was put in a similar situation then he/she would probably have been beaten, imprisoned and made to suffer, all this for a false accusation – it is only because I have a British passport that they treated me different (something that I am not proud of). The journey to Lod and Jaffa was around 1 hour, Jaffa was the place that I am originally from, and it is known to be a very rich and modern city, even at the time of the ottomans. Jaffa is one of the first cities to have been occupied and taken by the Israelis. We first stopped at Lod, a very poor city that has lots of crimes (especially drug dealing). The whole city is Arab; people’s houses were very small and undeveloped. We were giving a tour around the area; a lot of oppression has been committed to the people there. Many peoples home has been destroyed by the Israelis, mosques have been shut down, schools and much more. We met a family who is suffering from having their house destroyed by the Israelis. The Israeli’s claimed that the house they have is illegal because they are not allowed to have a house that is built in agricultural land, this was very hypocritical as the Israeli had lots of hotels around the area that is also built in a similar type of land.  

  

After our visit to lod we went to visit my home city Jaffa, we also went to meet a Israeli Jewish pro-Palestinian activists who myself and Tariq really liked. She is hated by many Israelis for standing up with the Palestinians and fighting for their rights. We visited her in her organisation where she kindly gave us a short lecture about Jaffa, I was so amazed by what I did not know about Jaffa. It is an ancient city that dates back to over 7,000 years (bronze metal was found in jaffa), Jaffa historically was a wealthy place where a natural harbour exists as well as benefiting from very fertile land. There was a small Jewish community that used to live in Jaffa in the past but these were not Zionist Jews but rather they were Arabs. We then had lunch and I got into brief conversation with her, I told her that I am an originally from Yaffa (Jaffa) and if she heard of the hajaj family, she then said “oh yes they are a very well-known family here”. After the lecture and lunch we made our way to the city of Jaffa.

After the lecturer left, we had around 1 hour free time until we had to go back on the bus, the sun set and Ika (the Italian main group organizer) suggested that we can either go sit down near the sea together or everyone split up and come back to the bus in an hour. I then felt like this might be the last time I see these great people again and I wanted to spend some time with them, I made a suggestion and said to them “why don’t we walk around the area for around 20minutes then meet up back here and we can all go together to the sea”. They all agreed, I then walked around the shops hoping to buy some stuff for presents but found hardly anything Palestinian to bring back, I then prayed to Allah (God) and said to him please give me the ability to give dawah to these people, make me improve my character, be able to attract them to our religion and give us a good time to remember. When we met back in the meeting point and went to walk near the sea I had intentions to try my best to make this last 30 minutes a memorable time. As we were walking near the sea I said to the group that why don’t we sit down in a circle in these rocks and share experiences and stories with each other, the group agreed and all sat down. I looked around me and saw the nice dark sky, the beautiful water and the beautiful land in front of me. I felt very comfortable and kept remembering Allah, I then started sharing to them some stories that I know, the first story I mentioned had a moral regarding the importance of the mother, it was a sad story that entered many of their hearts. I felt really happy to be with the group and after the circle we walked back to the bus, a few people were asking me about Islam and God. Some of them asked me “how comes I am religious” and that opened the door to so many Islamic discussions. Alhamdallah many of them seemed like they were searching for God all their life and they believed in the creator but just did not know which path to take. In jaffa, myself and Tariq prayer maghrib near the sea and this was one of the best prayers that I will never forget in my whole life. There was a beautiful atmosphere around me, I looked up in the sky and saw a nice purple sky above me which gave me a spiritual feeling. While we were praying next to the sea we knew that there is many Israeli that will walk past us and envy us for what we are doing but I didn’t care. All I was thinking about was God, how He can see me right now and how I should focus on praying to Him and not care what the people think. I then started reciting surat Al Nasr(The help), which the translation is “1. When there comes the Help of Allah and the conquest.2. And you see that the people enter Allah’s religion (Islam) in crowds. 3. So glorify the Praises of your Lord, and ask His Forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who Ever accepts the repentance and Who forgives”.subhanallah, when I was reading these verses it really touched me, I was imagining the biggest success in the world when it happens, the dream that the believer waits for all the time, how when the victory comes people will be happy and the oppressed will be free, I then started thinking about the people “who will enter the religion in crowds, I then started wondering who will these people be?, I then thought about my group, and I said it will be these types of people, those who are with me right now, who left their country and work to spend a few time in Palestine to try their best to help oppressed people, it is these type of people that will be the first to enter Islam. These people will one day say “all that time it was Islam that was the truth, it was Islam that truly brings liberty and justice to the people, it is this way of life that brings happiness and guidance to mankind” and they will come into this beautiful religion wholeheartedly in large crowds. And so we should always glorfiy God and we should seek repentance for our mistakes because it could be our sins that is delaying the victory for coming. Also we must give thanks to Him for every success that will come and not attribute His Help to anyone else.

As soon as I arrived in the guesthouse I only had around 15minutes to pack up as we urgently needed to hurry up to go to the airport. We decided to take the taxi directly and not a bus to make sure we make it on time. We got into a conversation with the Palestinian driver about life in Palestine and politics. On the way to the airport in the checkpoint the Isreali stopped our taxi, they took us inside and searched us and our bags, we then after they did not finding anything on us allowed us to carry on driving to the airport. As soon as we went to check in I had to say goodbye to Tariq as his plane was going via Poland while mine is via Belgium a few hours before him, the Israelis wanted to search me again even though I showed them a paper that suggests I have just been searched not too long ago. After being searched many times again I finally went on thethe plane. I read some quran and made prayers, a few hours after I arrived in Belgium. There was around 13 hours left until the plane departs so I decided to take a Eurostar train, when I searched online in an internet café how to get there it seemed like the station was quite far away and the ticket was very expensive. I prayed fajr in the prayer room and cought up on some sleep in the room. The room was freezing and when I woke up it was nearly zuhr time. I went to have breakfast and orange juice in a café and then started reading and praying. After time passed, I went on my plane to London. On the plane, I met an Australian person next to me who we had long conversations. As soon as I arrived in Heathrow and went to the passport control I saw a long que, I then saw a que for “digital passports” which allowed you to go just by “touching in” as soon as I was out of the control I was looking forward to see my mother who was waiting for me. I then got stopped by 2 men and a woman who asked me for my passport. I thought it was a simple look at my passport but then they asked me to come inside for a few questions. I then said to them “How long will it take as my mother is waiting for me”, he said “it may take a while”, I said to him “and sorry, you are…?” “oh sorry” he replied “I am from the counter terrorist police”, only after I went in to the room I realised I was being detained and taken in for some long questions (A whole story itself).

My travel experience made me learn a lot of things, it made me realise the reality of the world that I live in. It made me think about the life of the prophets and the rightly guided believers, how they suffered to bring people to the truth, to try to bring people to worship their creator and not something else, how they are tested because they were trying to help people and bring justice to the world. It made me realise that for many people the path is difficult, that we should be grateful for the ease, safety and comfort that we live in. I thank God for what He made me see and learn and pray to God alone to guide those people who are working sincerely for justice to the truth and that He chooses me out of billions of mankind to make me from amongst those who helps bring justice to the world. I do not wish to give anyone reading this an impression that I had a miserable and depressing time in Palestine, I felt very happy there and I wish I could live there, even though life is hard there, the Palestinian people seemed happy by spirit and soul, many of them have had their family members imprisoned, houses stolen, parents killed, sisters raped but their happiness is inside them. I advice everyone to go and see the situation by themself. I also do not wish to over-generalise and claim that all Israelis are evil and bad people, there is a small group of them that Allah has placed a bit of humanity in and that we pray to Allah (God) that He guides them to stand up with the oppressed. Lastly I would like to mention that although the land I visited was full of Israeli people, Israeli cars, Israeli food and Israeli soldiers, the land that I visited had signs everywhere of attempts to wash away anything Palestinian and make the country only "Israel", every now and then you will find a hidden message that "this is Israel and that Palestine no longer exists" that it only takes one person to look at the land and still recognize something Palestinian about it, as soon as you enter the land you feel like you have met Palestine. The mountains around you are Palestinian, the sand that you walk on is Palestinian, the sea that you will gaze upon is Palestinian…. The land is Palestinian!

God bless you Palestine... He knows how much I love you...

     Please people do not forget them in your Dua (prayers) and also raise awareness about their situation, they have hope in us.