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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…
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H1/H2 By Summer Awad

The Rising Phoenix Review

June 14

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 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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