Trips

Wed., 2/8/23 - Ramallah, Taybeh, and Jericho

It rained all day until we arrived in Jericho.
Ramallah is the “de facto” capital of Palestine. It is in an A region and no Israeli Jews are allowed in the city. All of the rich, corrupt Palestinian Authority leaders and their families have lovely, large, single homes here. We stopped to look at Yasser Arafat’s national memorial and tomb. The Arafat Museum is housed in the large modern buildins behind the memorial. Arafat died in France, perhaps from plutonium poisoning. Palestinians in general revere him but do not like his wife and daughter who still live in France with a Palestinian salary of $120,000 US a year. Mahmoud Abbas, now the PA leader, is corrupt, according to Ahmad.

 

Israel's border wall separating it from Palestine	Israel's border wall separating it from Palestine
On the way to Ramallah	On the way to Ramallah - Countryside from the bus
	Ramallah - Lion Fountain in Al-Manara Square
Yasser Arafat Mausoleum	Yasser Arafat Mausoleum
Yasser Arafat Museum	Ramallah is also full of trash and piles of rubbish lay on the streets. We walked through a market in the pouring rain. It was full of beautiful fruits and vegetables grown locally.
Market in Ramallah	Bakery
Assorted meats
Brooms	Olives
We tasted a Palestinian “pizza” with za’atar (thyme). Then we stopped for ice cream - another “world’s best.” It was “stretchy” not crystalized.	Pizza stop - For Palestinian “pizza” with za’atar (thyme)
Pizza stop - For Palestinian “pizza” with za’atar (thyme)	Pizza stop - For Palestinian “pizza” with za’atar (thyme)
A favorite kind of stop	Lots of choices
On the way down to Jericho (Bethlehem and Taybeh are at 2,000 feet elevation and Jericho is 850 feet below sea level) we saw a double full rainbow. There is a lot of farming around Jericho. Medjool dates are grown in Jericho on farms belonging to Israelis in C territories of Palestine. The EU and the US boycott any dates labeled from Israel but will buy and import them if marked “from Palesine” - a country that isn’t a country.	Residence in Ramallah
Residence in Ramallah	Lunch - Kofta with Tahini
From the bus - double rainbow	Jericho
Jericho	Our first stop was at the archeological site of Old Jericho. The area, Tell es-Sultan, covers 60 acres and is estimated to have been continuously inhabited for over 10,500 years - first in caves and later in walled cities. At this dig, 23 layers of cities have been discovered, so not much has been reconstructed. (Uncovering one city would destroy other layers.) Ahmad recited the story (fable) of people walking around the city walls and then screaming (or blowing trumpets according to Biblical lore) which made the walls fall down. However, the Bible story and the archeology do not match. Joshua was here in 1,500 BCE, not in 1,400 BCE when archeologists say the walls collapsed. We looked at a Bronze Age kitchen, a 3,000-year- old mud brick wall, two more later walls, and a watch tower with large stone foundation stones and mud brick above them. Really fascinating!
Site map of the Jericho ruins
Tell Es-Sultan - Tower	Tell Es-Sultan - Early Roman wine press
Tell Es-Sultan - Bronze Age dwellings	Tell Es-Sultan - Bronze Age dwellings
Tell Es-Sultan	Tell Es-Sultan
Tell Es-Sultan	Tell Es-Sultan
Tell Es-Sultan - Layers	Tell Es-Sultan

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