Ramallah 2010

I've just returned to Ramallah. It's been 2 1/2 years since my previous visit. Although it sounds trite and predictable, some things have changed, while other things have stayed the same.

The bus service from Jerusalem to Ramallah is now 1 1/2 shekels more expensive. Beit Tounia, a town you pass through when travelling from Jerusalem to Ramallah, is full of construction sites and new buildings. Tirah, another outlying district on the other side of Ramallah, has also grown rapidly. Ramallah itself now houses some new, very large and very shiny buildings, including the Movenpick - 10 years in the making apparently. I haven't yet been asked for my opinion about life in Palestine (a previously common refrain), but a number of people have already discussed moving abroad and how hard it is to get a visa.

However, many of the same shops remain much the same. I sat in one coffee shop with a friend last night and everything seemed very familiar: the card games, the tea, the arguilla (water pipes). I even remembered the owner, who lived in San Francisco for 10 years. He didn't recall me. The weather in June is still hot, but there's still a breeze that cools you down in the shade.

My first impression is that things are quiet... or at least certainly a lot quieter than during previous visits. The Kalandia checkpoint has a massive car park in front of it now, and you can't see the actual checkpoint - a cattle gate like system - from the road. I wonder if this is a microcosm of Ramallah's occupation. Covered over, hidden away but still working silently. And perhaps this is more deadly in its own way, since it's harder to deal with problems and issues that can't be seen. Some journalists have recently predicted the coming of the third intifada. If this is true, it will be like the first intifada - a surprise; something people didn't see coming. But perhaps this is just the case for Ramallah. Or perhaps it's not even the case for Ramallah, but simply my initial impression. To end with another trite cliche, first impressions are usually deceptive.