MEDIA REPORTS OVER the years have given us some insight into the systematic oppression faced by Palestinians at the hands of Israel. However, it was only during my recent trip to the West Bank that I fully came to understand the grim reality of life under this brutal apartheid regime. It’s an experience I won’t easily forget.

I travelled to the West Bank to see firsthand what life has been like for Palestinians since the genocide began in Gaza almost two years ago. This included a visit to Al Haq, the independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation, which was sanctioned in early September by the US government for its contribution to the International Criminal Court case against Israel. Aided and abetted by Washington, Israel is doing everything in its power to make it impossible for these human rights groups to keep functioning.

My first experience of life under apartheid involved running the gauntlet of multiple checkpoints – where we encountered lengthy queues – to get to my destination. This is par for the course for Palestinian people, with the Israeli authorities intent on making their daily lives as difficult as possible.

I travelled to the Dead Sea, on the border with Jordan, where pay-to-access beach resorts are open to Israelis and tourists, but largely out of bounds for Palestinians. Those with West Bank identifications cannot enter illegally occupied settlements, whereas those with Jerusalem IDs have more accessibility. This is just one of the many tools of apartheid creating fragmentation and hardship within Palestinian communities.

With Al Haq Executive Director, Shawan Jabarin. Patricia Stephenson Patricia Stephenson

Even before 7 October 2023, it was always highly challenging to travel for Palestinians. Families split between places like Gaza and Hebron or Ramallah and Jerusalem could simply not see one another. As the genocide escalated, almost all work and travel permits for Palestinians with West Bank IDs have been denied.

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I also travelled to Umm al-Khair, a village in the South Hebron Hills. This is the same community where........

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