My first experience of Israeli occupation was in 2016, when I found myself squatting on my luggage, without food or water for eight hours, after crossing the King Hussein Bridge from Jordan into the West Bank. Fear ran down my spine as I saw other Palestinian Arabs entering in long queues. The Israeli authorities brutally frisked them and seized or threw away their luggage. After Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, this border crossing has been closed by the Israelis. As Palestinians in Gaza face genocide, the silent annexation of the West Bank receives less attention. Since October 7, reportedly 114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, and 1,200 arrests and rapid raids have taken place.
The situation in West Bank
I wonder if those I knew in the West Bank are still alive. I remember Hami Amer’s house in Mas’ha village in Qalqilya district. The house was located between the West Bank fence (apartheid wall) and the Jewish settlements. I remember the young Palestinian children who had never met their mothers because they were never given the permit to travel within the West Bank. Thousands of Palestinians never get a chance to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem. Today, West Bank is facing another Al Nakba (exodus). In the worst-hit cities and refugee camps such as Jenin, Aqabat Jaber, Qalqilya, and Qalandiya, smaller Bedouin communities are being evacuated, land is being grabbed, and farms are being vandalised.
