Holy Land lost

The very words "Holy Land" evoke powerful imagery. But the scenes that come to mind are rapidly disappearing from the landscape.

The occupation of the West Bank -- a military and political reality that dominates the lives of Palestinians -- has become concretised: with massive housing projects connected by ribbons of highways; a wall and barbed wire barrier winding its way from north to south, cutting through villages, encapsulating others; and hundreds of checkpoints -- all overtaking and transforming the once open terrain.

Raja Shehadeh has described all this in vivid detail in his most recent book, Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape. A hiker from a young age, Shehadeh tells his story in a novel way. Detailing six walks he has taken in and around his home in Ramallah during the last 30 years, he invites his readers to witness the transformations that have occurred, that increasingly circumscribed his movements and marred his beloved land.

In his early years, Shehadeh set out roaming the hillsides to discover the life his parents and grandparents lived. The hills of the West Bank, once described by Western travellers as desolate and barren, come to life in Shehadeh's narrative.

Dry one season, yes, but in the spring they were covered with flowers and new life. Conforming to this rough environment, generations of Palestinian farmers adapted their lives to the seasons and mastered these hills, naming every spring, wadi (valley) and cliff, and cultivating olives, grapes and family plots. It was the world they knew and the land they loved.

As they defined the land, it, too, defined them, shaping Palestinian culture and social relations for generations.

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http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/905/op2.htm