Bethlehem/Ramallah - Forbidden roads

Khaled has an exam at the university today. Although Ramallah is not so far from his home, just outside Bethlehem, the alarm clock rings on time at four in the morning. The sun has not risen yet, when he puts on his shoes on and takes his backpack, with few things needed for that day inside.
During the first stretch of road, Khaled repeats to himself the topics of his exam: he chose the law school, a choice that his parents did not immediately understand, and would have preferred something else, but which he is now bringing to a conclusion. Another year, and he will finally have a degree in hand, Khaled repeats, between one definition of law and another. Just another year, and I will finally have a law degree, Khaled repeats himself, between one definition and another of law.
When he arrives on the main road, the first two services (bus) pass, but they are full. Workers, students, anyone who moves at that hour, to find a service is never easy. He should have booked in advance, when the small orange van finally pulls over and picks him up.

At-Tuwani/Tuba – School Patrol

Like every morning, students walk to the school. Among the cackles Said tries to look longer to make sure that there is Israeli army, which has the duty to escort them along the road between two Israeli settlements. Said doesn’t see the flashing lights of the army jeep. That means it is late. Thirty minutes pass but no sign of the soldiers. The schoolchildren keep waiting at the meeting point. They are dangerously close to the Israeli outpost, and if the settlers wanted to attack them, they would take no time at all. At this point there are three possibilities: going back home, but they want to go to school; taking a path that winds through the hills trying to keep as far away as possible from the outpost, but they would arrive at school even later; walking the road unescorted, which seems the best choice. Said asks the volunteers of Operation Dove, with whom he has been in contact since they left home and who are waiting for them at the end of the road, to reach them so they can walk together.
Just as the mutatawain - volunteers - arrive with their cameras at hand, a car stops in front of them. A settler gets out and aggressively orders the children to turn back, threatening to call the Israeli police.

CURRENT SITUATION

SYRIA
In March, 10th anniversary of the first demonstrations in Syria has occurred along with what lately had turned into a historic massacre of human beings.
Nevertheless, on March 15th thousands of people took to the streets in Idlib singing the same slogans of ten years ago.
The war is still going on. In the middle of March, West Alep and Idlib were bombed by Russia and Syrian Army, killing civilians inside a hospital and hitting the transports of humanitarian aids and a power plant.
Apparently, the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing and the Syrian President has been infected by the virus as well. He recovered at the end of the month.
At the end of March, two important events happened internationally. The first one has been the European Conference of Donors for Syria and Syrian Refugees which was held on March 29th-30th and collected 6 billion dollars, almost half of the amount planned to receive.

“...if we keep silent, they’ll kill us, if we speak, they’ll kill us anyway. This is why we are going to speak”
(Cristina Bautista, indigenous leader killed in October 2019)

On March 23rd the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó celebrated its 24 years of life and fights. No one like the Peace Community has been able to resist and persist. Their members have transformed in hope the pain of a conflict which has been lasting for years and has been marking the bodies and souls of all these farmers.
This year, as usual, the Peace Community recalled some of the most memorable steps of its history. Their members read the Constitution of their Community, they sang their songs about resilience and sacrifice all day long, while their anthem was resonating across the hills from dawn to dusk. They listened to the words of the deceased members of the Community, which had been recorded years before in distant countries by crackling microphones. But despite the years and the crackle, you could still hear the most important words in their speeches loud and clear: justice, peace, truth.
This year, as usual, people gathered around the entrance gate grabbing in their hands and holding in their chests the pictures of the Community members who have sacrificed their lives in the name of their dream of freedom. All the Community together walked to reach the places where new innocent people had been killed even in these months. These people were not members of the Community, but they still deserved a prayer and a thought, because oblivion can kill twice.

Happy Easter to all of you
who nurture Peace
by taking care of the gifts of the Earth.
Peace to those who carry on their shoulders
even the burden of those who lack the strength
or the courage.
Peace to those who hate,
because within themselves
love and life have been uprooted.
Peace to those who laid down the arms
to hold plow and seeds to grow
in their hands.
Peace for those who turned into broken bread
and for those who are willing
to do it for us as well.