Voice of Women
Issue no. 283
February 21st, 2008
In this issue:
Um Saleem: a new chapter in the Palestinian women's struggle
Um Saleem: A New Chapter in the Palestinian Women's Struggle
By Naser Attallah
"I swear, I did myself wrong the moment I stepped out of my house!" said Um Saleem, one of the women who were enticed to leave their homes and venture into Egypt when the media announced that the political leaders had decided to allow Gazans to enter Egypt briefly in order to stock up on essential supplies. But when the sixty-year-old woman tried to travel to Egypt, she did not find any of the services or facilities which the satellite stations had reported would be available to help those traveling to Al Areesh. And so she found herself making a journey that she should not have attempted at her age and which was not worth the trouble she had to face.
As Um Saleem climbed down the Egyptian side of the wall marking the border with Gaza, she felt a sense of freedom at finally leaving the huge prison and bitter closure within which she lived in Gaza; she felt as if the darkness had finally been lifted off of her. She imagined that the spacious country ahead was full of every possibility she could imagine. A few meters ahead, she could see several groups of people getting ready to leave; the traffic was chaotic. She found this stressful but carried on, determined to go forward despite the unknowns ahead. Near the police station in Rafah, a bus driver was calling out to passengers, "To Al Areesh! To Al Areesh!" She asked some of the passengers to help her get onto the bus.
And so her journey began. Um Saleem anticipated an easy trip which her son, Haytham, had said would take no more than an hour. Smiling, she tried to take in all the new sights that were flying by. She found herself once again awed by how vast the world is, and felt proud of herself for having had the courage and good health to embark on this adventure, unlike her unadventurous neighbors. She had, for a little while, escaped the routine of daily life at home. Here she was in Egypt, a vast country with diverse people, busy streets and so many cities. It was a different world from her own. Um Saleem paid close attention to everything she saw: the houses, streets and vegetation and also the people who were walking in the streets or sitting on the cold pavements as it rained lightly.
But when Um Saleem had paid the fare of £10 as the bus departed, nothing could have prepared her for the unpleasant surprises which lie ahead.
After fifteen minutes, the bus reached the first Egyptian checkpoint. The Egyptian security guards ordered the Palestinians to go back to their country. Commotion arose on the bus and the passengers began to shout. Most of the people wanted the bus driver to find a back road around the checkpoint, and finally he agreed to try. Um Saleem did not say a word.
The back road was very dusty and steep and seemed to wind on forever. But after an hour had passed the driver had succeeded in getting around the first checkpoint. Before he had driven another 10 kilometers they encountered another checkpoint, which was even more rigorous than the first. Once again, the majority of the passengers suggested finding a back road. Um Saleem just sat and watched, as if what she was seeing was simply something she was imagining. Finally she asked why the Egyptians would not allow them to go to Al Areesh, but no one answered her.
The bus driver turned onto a desert road, looking for a way around the second checkpoint. But suddenly they found themselves on the main road again, close to the checkpoint they were trying to avoid. At this point, the passengers decided that they might fare better trying to go through the checkpoint on foot and have the bus meet them on the other side. So Um Saleem, who suffers from a heart problem, climbed off the bus and began walking along with the others, since she had no choice. She was only making this trip in order to buy her medicine.
They walked for nearly an hour. Um Saleem began to gasp for air with every step she she took. The rain was gradually getting heavier and the cold bit through their clothes, but the travelers paid no heed, intent on their destination.
But when they finally reached the other side of the checkpoint, they found their bus had abandoned them. Um Saleem was exhausted. It was still another ten kilometers to the town of Al Sheekeh Zaweed. She followed the advice of her fellow travelers and paid another £10 for a bus. The bus ride was expected to take half an hour. But before they reached Al Sheekeh Zaweed, the bus driver asked the passengers to get out and walk through the nearby hills and valleys in order to try to avoid another checkpoint. So Um Saleem was forced to get out and walk again. The desert was cold and her feet were soaking wet and exhausted from bearing her weight. Her eyes began to well up with tears. She complained to the lady walking next to her that she was hungry and had not taken her medicine. She asked if the lady had any water she could drink, but she did not.
By the time they had walked another half hour it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was beginning to set. All the other passengers were waiting up ahead for Um Saleem and the other lady, who was close to her age and had embarked on this journey to visit her older sister at Al Areesh, whom she has not seen for over nine years because of the closure of Gaza and the expense of making such a trip. Finally they reached the waiting bus and climbed aboard. They drove until they had passed Al Sheeked Zaweed, but the road ahead was still a mystery.
Fifteen minutes barely passed before the driver asked the passengers to get off the bus. Um Saleem was so weak and exhausted at this point that she could no longer make the effort to keep up with the other passengers as they continued on foot. They finally came out of the harsh desert valley into an olive grove. Um Saleem leaned against the trunk of a tree to rest a little, but the others pleaded with her to endure just a little longer, afraid that the bus driver on the other side would give up waiting for them. So she did her best, straggling along behind the others as they finally reached the main road. But the bus was not there. They had no choice but to stand there in the cold and dark as the rain continued to fall and wait for someone to pass by who would take them the rest of the way. Um Saleem sat beside of the road, silent and in pain, regretting what she had done to herself. The bitter cold did not allow her to sit for long periods of time and she would stand up and walk from time to time. One of her fellow travelers, a young man, showed great concern for her and kindly walked with her, not ignoring her discomfort as the others did. But when a bus came along the young man tried to persuade her to board it with him. But there was only room for one passenger and when Um Saleem realized that the young man's family was waiting for him in Al Areesh she insisted that he go on without her.
Um Saleem endured, moment by moment, by thinking of God and asking him to help her and rescue her from this situation and the hunger, cold, loneliness and exhaustion. As she walked down the street she suddenly saw a group of people coming from the nearby desert. They were also Palestinians and there were women and children who had also endured the harsh experience walking through the desert. One of the women told Um Saleem that when they had decided to make their journey to Al Areesh they had sworn to each other that they would all reach Al Areesh together or else they would return to Gaza together; they would not allow anything to separate them. When Um Saleem heard this she was filled with regret that she had made the mistake of trying to come to Egypt. She told them how she had been abandoned and how the bus drivers had tricked them and stolen their money. She asked them for water so that she could take her medicine. She felt she was about to die of thirst.
Um Saleem and all the others agreed to return to Gaza with the next available transportation they could find to Rafah. Waiting in the desert was not easy. It seemed that the Egyptian security personnel did not have consideration for elderly men and women or for the sick; they callously prevented the Palestinians from continuing their journey to Al Areesh without offering them any help or guidance.
With God's mercy, a bus finally arrived on its way to Rafah from Al Areesh. Um Saleem and all the others who were waiting got on board. The journey back was not as difficult as what they had experienced on the way, but Um Saleem was so exhausted from her chest pain that she fell asleep as they drove. A woman sitting next to her woke her up to tell her they had reached Rafah. Um Saleem got out of the bus and walked for half an hour until she reached the short border wall again. She climbed the ladder over the wall. Finally, she put her feet down on the soil of her own country once again. "Whoever leaves their house will lose their dignity," she said.
