Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A giant key is a powerful symbol among Palestinians.
Refugees are a big issue in the Holy Land. When Jews returned to their ancestral homeland
after World War II to create the modern state of Israel, they displaced hundreds of thou-
sands of Palestinians. Many of these families still live in refugee camps in the West Bank.
The biggest, with over 20,000 people, is Balata, just outside the city of Nablus.
The original ten-foot-by-ten-foot platting—marking where tents were pitched in
1948—survives. Only now the tents are gone, replaced by multistory cinderblock tene-
ments. Exploring these narrow lanes, I tried to imagine living in such tight quarters: being
a parent with children and little money…the feeling of desperation and no way out. The
density is horrible, and there's little privacy. It's a land of silent orgasms.
