This weekend I talked and shared food with four Palestinian families who live near the wall that snakes in and around Jerusalem. Because of the wall two of the four families have been forced to close their businesses, two have been forced to move from their homes, and one of the families fears losing their Jerusalem IDs. I will write more, later, about the wall and how it is affecting people. And how it felt to see it for the first time.

I did not record anyone in these past two days. I was meeting friends of friends and I wanted to be in their company without recording equipment. Also, I am discovering how different it is to wear headphones and hold a microphone than to paint someone’s portrait while hearing them tell their stories. I will be going to Hebron tomorrow and meeting with folks who expect to be recorded. And I will also be bringing watercolor paper and paints and hope there will be time for painting.

This is a picture of an old overpass that forms part of the the wall around the small town of Jaba. For some time the only entrance and exit to Jaba was this tunnel, blocked by the IOF as a form of collective punishment. The sign in blue says “Jaba Welcomes You.”