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Friday, June 14, 2024
H1/H2 By Summer Awad
H1/H2 Hebron, which is the only major population center inside of which there are Israeli settlements, is a category unto itself. 80% of Hebron is considered H1 (under Palestinian control) and 20%--including most of the Old City of Hebron, which used…
Hebron, which is the only major population center inside of which there are Israeli settlements, is a category unto itself. 80% of Hebron is considered H1 (under Palestinian control) and 20%--including most of the Old City of Hebron, which used to be the city's commercial center-is considered H2, and under Israeli military control. There are checkpoints/turnstiles controlled by the Israeli military between those areas, greatly constricting and limiting movement of Palestinians who reside in H2. -JustVision.org
In al-Khalil* I copy Valentina, split off from the group for a fresh mango sliced into cubes, handheld and succulent. I have to run uphill to catch up, kuffiyah tied around my waist, the one with the flags ironed on, authentic from Hirbawi's, the last real kuffiyah factory, they say. I don't think anything of the flags on these crowded Palestinian streets, where my broken Arabic finally feels useful. But that's because I don't yet know that checkpoints aren't just between but are within, carving up the city like the fruit vendor's knife. We push through the turnstile, flash our American passports to the window like we are FBI. An old man with a beard and a dishdasha shuffles among us ajaanib, asks where we're from, and I reply, my American naivete accustomed to freedom of speech. My conversation invites sharp scolding from my cohort. Oh. Stuff my Arabic consonants back in my throat, my kuffiyah back in my backpack, be Western, be tourist, be clueless. Palestinians are not allowed to do what you do. The white-passing features you resent will carry you through the checkpoint. Be quiet and stay together. See those burned olive trees? See the blue and white flags? See the graffiti that says Gas the Arabs? Hold on, our tour guide is calling. They did not let him through.
*al-Khalil is the Arabic, pre-Zionist name for Hebron.
By Summer Awad
Biography:
Summer Awad calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to unconditional US support for Israel. Summer is a Palestinian-American poet, essayist, and playwright from Knoxville, Tennessee. She is a third-year MFA candidate in Creative Writing and Environment at Iowa State University. She received a 2023 LANDO Grant for migration and immigration writing from the de Groot Foundation. Her poems have most recently appeared in Adi Magazine and her nonfiction in J Journal.
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