Jerusalem Smell Tour – Khawla Matar

The story started out like a joke and soon turned into a conversation about the details of departure, how to enter and arrival, and the moment and words kept rolling as he said to her, “Decide now, if you want to. You must send your information quickly on this trip with the Peace Society, otherwise you will not go and they will not register you.”

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She rushed as usual without knowing all the details, especially since this trip involved a lot of risks and violated some laws between countries. She filled out the forms to perfection, and between one question after another, she stumbled to contact the friend again to make sure she didn’t create anything that could become another obstacle. She ran to her private library and dug out books until she found the novels of Ghassan Kanafani, or even all the works of Mahmoud Darwish. , The Story of Palestine and its Maps.

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After only a few days she received a reply, it was a Japanese association, they Japanese are famous for their precision, keenness to time and details, accuracy of organization, etc. She was happy that they accepted. They were happy with her request before they closed the door to registration, because she was Arab and many Arabs did not register, because the trip was like a year on a big ship passing through the ports of many cities and countries that were in turmoil, war or occupation, as was the case in Palestine.

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After the intoxication, the idea came to her, and she realized, as they say, that it was in her passport at that time – unlike now! Anyone who violates these rules can be punished by the law of hostility to the occupying power and refuses to establish any relations, even to visit Palestine and visit friends there, from the first olive tree to friends there. She quickly called her friend as if it was the first time she told him, although he knew all this, and he told her that they would not stamp their passports, but only give them visas. On a piece of paper!!! She told him, “But what will the Palestinians think of our visit?” He assured her that they wanted them there, and this was a few years before they “rushed” to Tel Aviv.

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She had many thoughts, anxieties and tensions before she arrived at the port of a neighboring Arab country, where she saw the participants of the association and many young people who believed in spreading the idea of ​​peace and taking peaceful approaches to resolving disputes, internal conflicts, external wars. Those years, similar to the ideas carried by this group of enthusiastic young people from all over the world, were a time like a happy dream, with their speed and continuity of events.

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The ship left that port and it was only one night or less before her friend shouted to her: “Look at Palestine.” She ran to the highest level of the big ship and stood there watching the coast of Palestine getting closer and closer, and the buildings around it. It looked smaller and smaller, then bigger and bigger, until they stopped and touched Palestine. She answered her friend, “This is Palestine right??” Palestine makes sense? He smiled and said, “Yes, yes, why don’t you believe it? Let’s see what the Zionist officials will do when they see an Arab girl in this port. Gulf??!!” All the passengers, including peace advocates, non-violent associations and others, got off and passed through various checkpoints and procedures until it was their turn. Suddenly, the man who had been watching them as they entered the port said to them: immigration office and others, “Where are you Arabs from?” They submitted their papers and he became more focused on her friend, telling him: “My family is from your country and they still remember it with love”! After a polite conversation he turned his head away without much taste, it was obvious that my friend wanted to get out of the situation as soon as possible, while the other wanted to prolong the conversation, and we were released as soon as we left the port. , we received the wonderful Palestinian friend and his wife with hugs and great joy and started here… Palestine from the north to the south, from the east to the west, from the sea of ​​Jaffa to the flowers of Haifa and then the alleys of Old Jerusalem… She went to find the highest point of Jerusalem, the Palestinian friend kept talking and explaining, offering Moussakan, Makruba and falafel and of course Nabulsi Kunafa and the conversations of the women, from grandmothers to mothers and sisters, these girls and beloved women have a different style of conversation than all Arab women, who have mastered the art of loving this land, giving it passion and sacrifice until the last drop of sweat and blood, so that they will not leave or be abandoned.

There are still many details of the story that have not been finished, the smell of the alleys of Jerusalem still lingers in the memory, not just on the clothes… but also in the evening breeze overlooking the ancient streets.