“Tourists,” spoke our tour guide and driver, Sharif, “these are tourists, coming from Israel.”

“Continue,” allowed the Palestinian border policeman, “next!”

Once the road condition started worsening, I knew that we were in Palestine. The landscape was what you would expect in an average Middle Eastern country. Almost desert-like, and the only green you would see were some bushes, and a handful of brown trees.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at some identical rectangular buildings surrounded by a large fence.

“Israeli settlements,” answered Sharif, “it’s where the Jewish Israelis live in Palestine.”

At the time, I was 10, and I didn’t really understand what that meant. I didn’t know that there were complexes where only Israelis could live, inside Palestinian land. I also didn’t know that these settlements were built without the Palestinian government and peoples’ consent and permission.

When we entered Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank, my mood changed completely. I didn’t need to understand anything to recognize the poverty and struggle of the people there. On a sidewalk near the city centre in Ramallah, I saw a poor Palestinian woman, holding a baby and crying. Like her, I saw about eight other mothers, holding their crying infants in one hand, while begging for money with the other.

On the way to the restaurant where that we were going to eat lunch, we saw a tank pull out of an alleyway on the side. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Following the tank came three armored military vehicles, full of soldiers.

“Is that normal?” I asked Sharif, humorously, not understanding how serious the situation was.

“Everyday there are more soldiers.” Sharif answered disappointedly.

The West Bank is a landlocked territory in the Middle East, bordering Jordan and Israel. The people in the West Bank identify as Palestinian Arabs, with a predominantly Muslim population. The West Bank, however, is not the only place where Palestinians live. They also live in another small territory bordering Egypt and Israel, named the Gaza Strip, not counting the many who have emigrated.
Although many people may refer to these two territories as “The State of Palestine,”, neither of these territories are recognised by all the countries of the world. Most importantly, the State of Palestine is not recognized by the United States and Israel.

Currently, the West Bank is administrated by the Palestinian Authority, but it is still under Israeli occupation. That means that while there is a ruling government in the West Bank, that government is not recognised by Israel ("What Are Israel And Palestine? Why Are They Fighting?"). This means that the West Bank continuously faces many problems. For example, recently, the West Bank has been facing a water crisis. During the summer, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians suffer a severe shortage in water accessibility for consumption, cleaning, livestock, etc. The reason for this shortage is that Israel controls the water system in the West Bank. According to Israel’s water authorities, Palestinians use “too much” water and steal pipes (Estrin).

Furthermore, in the West Bank, more and more Israeli settlements are built. These settlements are gated communities established by Israel in Palestinian lands. Only Israelis can live inside the settlements. However, the settlements are built without Palestinian permission, so that means that Israel is basically taking Palestinian land. The building of these settlements has continued, even though the United Nations and the Obama administration showed their frustration and disappointment with the continuation (Schultz). Only if Palestinian institutions accept and approve settlement plans, will Israeli institutions work to improve the water system.

In Gaza, however, the situation is even worse. Until 2006, the Gaza Strip was administered by the Palestinian Authority. In the elections of 2006, however, a Palestinian Islamic organization named Hamas won 76 out of 132 seats in the Palestinian Parliament ("BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Hamas Sweeps To Election Victory"). Hamas doesn’t recognize the Israeli state, and it calls for its destruction (Sigan). After the 2006 election, violence escalated between Hamas and Fatah (the opposing political organization) in the Gaza Strip. The conflict ended with Hamas victorious, and in control of Gaza, but not the West Bank (Alsaafin and Tahhan). From 2007 to 2014, there have been many military conflicts between Hamas in Gaza and Israel. In the 2008 Gaza War, Israel sent military planes into Gaza, after a temporary truce was broken (Percival). During the 22-day war, a total of 1,100-1,400 innocent Palestinians died ("Gaza Crisis: Toll Of Operations In Gaza"). In 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, about 2,100 innocent Gazans died, after Israel launched deadly aerial attacks on them ("Gaza Crisis: Toll Of Operations In Gaza").

Palestine is an oppressed nation. From the formation of the state of Israel and on, they have been killed, and their rightful land has been taken from them. All this while, they haven’t had a voice in the international community, as their complaints have always been muted by Israel and its supporters. Just a few weeks ago, on May 7, during a protest about the US embassy in Jerusalem, 55 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,400 were wounded (Alsaafin). Having been to Palestine myself, I have seen the suffering of the Palestinian people first-hand. Although there is many cultural and political reasons behind this conflict, one thing that we must absolutely do is to allow the Palestinians to be freed, and to live their lives like everyone else in the world.