Final Destination GAZA

With the situation in Gaza totally spiraling out of control and my Israeli visa expiring I was faced with a difficult dilemma. I didn't want to leave Palestine and the situation in Gaza to go play the blond tourist in Egypt... but I had to leave. That's why I decided to go Egypt and try to get to Gaza, at least as close to Gaza as I can get, which means the Egyptian city of al Arish and the border town of Rafah (Rafah in Egypt... the town has been divided into an Egyptian part and a Gazan part)

Coming from Sakhnin, where a massive demonstration for Gaza was held by 100.000 to 150.000 Palestinian Israelis (in a town of 25.000 people) I took the bus to Eilat in Haifa at eleven in the evening.
The bus ride made me feel very nervous. Surrounded by Israeli people and society it almost made me forget about Gaza and about the purpose of my trip. It was like as if I was on a school trip, but then one with fat russian ladies sitting next to you, scaring the hell out of you with their occasional loud snor every 10 to 15 minutes. At every stop we made people came up to me, curious to find out where I was from and what I was doing. It's not nice to say that you're a tourist to their lovely country now with the situation in Gaza.
Driving past Beer Sheba, I was confronted again with Gaza. It was so surreal to realize that Gaza was close, while being surrounded by Western Israeli society where live was just going on as if Gaza didn't happen. But then two trucks drove by, both carrying two army tanks on them. No-one seemed to notice except for me. I was terrified. These tanks were obviously going to Gaza and obviously not for fun or peaceful purposes... Tanks are made to kill and even though the bus ride had made me forget a little that was what Israel was doing while I was trying to get some sleep on the bus to Eilat.

We arrived in Eilat at 5 am. So there I was in the bus station, having to wait for the Egyptian embassy to open at 9, to get my visa to get the hell out of this fascist country, where guns and violence are so normal and accepted. The public transport is filled with young soldiers going home or their army bases, often carrying their (huge) guns carelessly, as if it's some sort of accesory.. like a bag or a mobile phone.

While waiting I enrolled in several conversations with other people that were waiting. One guy told me in broken English that his friends are now inside Gaza. And that he believes in God, so that he hopes they will be okay. I didn't know how to react to that, so I just nodded, feeling disgusted and lonely, because my concerns were not the concerns of the people I was surrounded by.

A little later when I was standing outside to see the sunrise I met three Israeli guys. Two of them were here to go to court, because they had been smoking hash and the other was here with his cousin, to travel back to Belgium where he was studying. We had nice, stupid conversations about nothing, life, music etc. It was not until we talked about their army experiences that I found out that the Belgium guy was a Palestinian Israeli from Nazareth. The two Jewish Israeli guys didn't seem to matter at all, they were curious but after a few questions the conversation went on.
Knowing that one of the guys was Palestinian I felt a little more comfortable to tell about what I had really been doing in the past few months. I openly talked about how I had been inside the West Bank and how I liked cities like Ramallah and Nablus. One of the Jewish guys told me how he, when he was in the army, used to go eat humus and falafel in Ramallah after his army shifts. Humus and falafel... we engaged in discussions about where the best humus of the entire country could be found. The jewish guys claiming that it was in Akko, the Palestinian that it was in Nazareth and me saying inside the West Bank. The atmosphere was pleasant and everyone seemed open to listen to what the other had to say. When the subject changed to music again, one of the jewish guys began to sing a song of Umm Katum an Arabic artist. He was a big fan of her music.
Later on the cousin of the Palestinian also came outside and there I was... with two Palestinian Israelis and two Jewish. It reminded me that the conflict is not about two people hating each other. The people get along fine, if they are willing to leave their prejudices aside. It's the political level that has manufactured this situation of complete oppression of the Palestinian people.

After 9 o' clock we said goodbye and after I got my visa I went straight to the border crossing. I was somewhat nervous, but the girl sitting behind the desk was actually smiling at me for a difference. After she made a phone call that scared the hell out of me, I was free to go and cross to the Egyptian side. There I had more difficulties... Not because they were asking me the same difficult and annoying questions as in Israel, not at all... just because my visa number was not correct: they had two number 23's... welcome to Egypt! I couldn't help but laugh at their attempts to come across as professional serious guys. Even their moustaches gave me a feeling I had ended up in some sort of comedy show.

Outside I didn't really know where to go, since I hadn't really planned this trip. A bedouin cab driver that insisted on driving me (after thorough negotiations about the price) took me to the busstation where we drank coffee and had a look at the map of Egypt. It was not possible to go Al Arish straight. He told me I had to make a huge detour and change busses several times, but that I couldn't do it today anymore, since I would arrive there at night. I agreed to let him take me to a beach camp close to Taba on the coast of the Red sea.

At the beach camp I was welcomed by a young guy that ran the joint. I didn't see anybody else. Later I found out that I was indeed the only guest. The only other people there were the two other guys working there. While we had initially agreed that I would pay 20 pounds (3 euro), they told me at dinner that they not only didn't want me to pay for the food, but that I could even stay there for free. I was amazed. I had been warned by everyone to watch out for the Egyptians always trying to get money out of Western tourists, and here I was as the only source of income in a deserted beach camp not being allowed to pay. Maybe it was because I told them about my plans to go to Al Arish, or because I spoke a little Arabic. Anyhow, I was touched by their hospitality that wasn't different from the Palestinian hospitality.
I had a great time there, being on a deserted beach, with the beautiful red sea a few metres away. At night, I sat with the guys around a camp fire on the beach, drinking tea and talking about Palestine and the Arabic world. We sat under a palm tree hut until 4 am and finally fell asleep around the camp fire, with the relaxing noise of the sea. The next day I stayed with them as well, because I had missed my six o' clock bus to Suez. It was truly a relaxing and short vacation, being completely away from the stress of life.

With a promise to come back, I finally took the bus the day after. In the evening I arrived in Al Arish after a long and exhausting trip through the entire Sinai. I was shocked to see the many Egyptian checkpoints all over the country. Great... just another fascist country, where I felt for some reason that it was better to tell that I was going to Cairo. More stories about Egypt and Al Arish to come. So far it has been great and without problems, if only the Egyptians here spoke a little English...