A few years ago I spent a couple months in Israel and the West Bank. For one of those months I volunteered in the city of Nablus for a month, teaching English and participating in other community projects. Living in the region was an invaluable way to understand the current events in the region and also gain an appreciation to the incredibly long and complex history of the Holy Lands.

The photos I have collected here are from Nablus, a Palestinian city of commerce and culture located about 40 miles north of Jerusalem. It’s predominantly Muslim, but has a minority of Christians and Samaritans living nearby. Nablus has a two thousand year history and a fascinating old town. In recent times, Nablus has seen clashes between Israeli Defense Forces and Palestinian militant groups, but remains safe for travelers.

Read more about opportunities to volunteer in the West Bank: Volunteering in the West Bank

Check out more of my photos from the West Bank on Flickr.

Text and photos by Stephen Bugno

Stephen Bugno has been working, volunteering, and and traveling abroad for the past 10 years. Now he’s blogging about it. Read more at http://bohemiantraveler.com

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The streets of the old city in Nablus.

Martyr posters in the old city i n Nablus.

More martyr posters.

An olive oil plant that has been bombed out and closed down.

Children with toy guns in Nablus.

Palestinian youth in Nablus.

A child walking past a medical clinic in the old city of Nablus.

Spices for sale at the market.

Roasting and preparing nuts to be sold.

The Greek Orthodox St Photina Church at Bir Ya qub, or Jacobs Well.

Inside  St Photina Church at Jacobs Well.

Outside St. Photina’s Church.

Jesus drinks at Jacob’s Well.

Nablus at night.

By Stephen Bugno

An American nurse volunteer and a Palestinian woman

There is no better way to experience Palestinian culture and get an inside look at life under the Israeli occupation then to go to the West Bank as a volunteer. I was in the midst of a six-month Istanbul to Cairo overland trip when I got an invitation to stay for a month. I couldn’t say no. The warmth and hospitality of the Palestinian people made it an easy choice for me.

It’s important to try to make contact with any of Palestinian NGOs in your home country before leaving. Talk to anyone who has been there. They may be able to guide you into the best program. After you arrive, you may want to change organizations based on your preferences and what skills you bring. But Project Hope is a good place to start.

Project Hope

At Project Hope, volunteers are able to carry out a diverse range of projects. I taught English to university-level students, but there are plenty of opportunities to go into the refugee camps to teach children not only English, but French as well. International volunteers come from Canada, the U.S., the U.K., France, and there were even two Norwegians there with us. About half-way through my month stay, two nurses from New York came to lead CPR and basic health seminars in the outlying villages. Others conducted art, music, or drama projects. Social justice and human rights is another sphere that is welcomed as well as workshops in photography or circus.

Project Hope is an established local NGO in Nablus with connections to almost all other NGOs in town and the rest of the West Bank. This allows you to offer your skills to reach the specific groups that would be most in need. Project Hope is managed by Palestinians who raise their own funds and engage local community members who volunteer to assist the international volunteers. They also offer free Arabic language classes to help your immersion into life in Nablus.

Project Hope is a volunteer driven organization and because of their limited funding, ask volunteers to donate $100 towards materials and equipment.  500 NIS per month (US $135) per month is requested for accommodation costs which include a shared room in a secure house. The time commitment for volunteering is at least one month, preferably three months, unless you have a specific project that lasts a lesser amount of time. Living expenses in the West Bank are low: about $5 per day should be enough to cover food and transportation. Contact: projecthope [at] projecthope [dot] ps for more information.

Freedom Theatre

The Freedom Theatre is a great place to volunteer for projects in the arts: performance photography and videography. Located in Jenin, in the north of the West Bank, The Freedom Theatre uses the arts as a model for social change. It is currently developing the only professional venue for theater and arts in the north of the occupied Palestinian Territories. The aim of this project is to empower and give voice to the children of Jenin Refugee Camp through a unique program of workshops and activities in theater, supporting arts and multi-media: ranging in their emphasis from largely therapeutic and healing, to the presentation of high-quality artistic products.

The Freedom Theatre welcomes volunteers who can contribute their expertise in theater and other art forms by presenting short, intensive workshops, or by joining them for a longer period, or by providing professional advice within your field. If you are an Arabic speaker, your help is particularly valuable.

They welcome volunteers who have professional skills mainly within the following fields: theater and drama, multi-media, music, fundraising, leadership and management, design, computers and IT. Contact them if you have any other skills you would like to share.

Freedom Theatre offers board and lodging to their volunteers. If you are interested or have any questions, contact: info [at] thefreedomtheatre [dot] org

Alrowwad

Alrowwad, initiator of the “Beautiful Non-violent Resistance”, is an independent, dynamic, community-based not-for-profit organization which strives to empower children and women by targeting behaviour, knowledge, concepts and practices through beautiful and non-violent means. It is a center for artistic, cultural, and theater training for children in Aida Camp of Bethlehem trying to provide a safe and healthy environment to help creativity and discharge of stress in the war conditions they are forced to live in.

Alrowwad welcomes volunteers with experience in artistic fields such as theater, photography and video, arts, puppetry, set design, costume design, and graphic design.

Other fields of interest are languages, health and environment, public health awareness, and administrative work. Possible projects include English/French teaching and editing, science museum design, sports for girls and women, recycling and environmental awareness, fundraising, grant writing, and organizing artistic tours with new potential partners and funders.

Alrowwad is exclusively organized and run by Palestinians in the West Bank city of Bethlehem for the Aida Refugee Camp. Email: alrowwadtheatre [at] gmail [dot] com Or contact the director Abdelfattah Abusrour at: aabusrour2 [at] gmail [dot] com

Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel

Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) provides an international presence in places where Israeli Jews and Palestinians live in close proximity by bringing internationals to the West Bank to experience life under occupation. Volunteers called Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) provide protective presence to vulnerable communities, monitor and report human rights abuses and support Palestinians and Israelis working together for peace. When they return home, many EAs campaign for a just and peaceful resolution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through an end to the occupation, respect for international law and implementation of UN resolutions.

Volunteers are organized through church organizations in the volunteer’s home country. Visit Become an Ecumenical Accompanier for your home country’s application and requirements. US EAs are responsible for their own expenses, including roundtrip travel to Jerusalem via Washington, DC. The cost of the EAPPI program is $5,100 for a minimum 3-month term. Contact: eappi@wcc-coe.org for more information.

International Solidarity Movement

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles. Founded in 2001, ISM aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with international protection and a voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming military occupation force.

International volunteers provide protection for Palestinians engaged in nonviolent resistance, an accurate message to the mainstream media, and act as personal witnesses for transmitting information back home, while providing hope for Palestinians.

The ISM is not an organization, but rather a movement which all organizations, groups and/or individuals who agree to their principles can join. Volunteers who join the ISM are responsible for paying their own way and covering all their expenses in Palestine. All volunteers attend a two-day training program where they will learn about the history of nonviolence in the Palestinian resistance and the role internationals have played over the last several years.

The Effect of the Occupation on Volunteers

Volunteering in the West Bank gives you the opportunity to get a first-hand view of the occupation and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You may soon become emotionally engaged and even disheartened when you, as most volunteers, grow more and more pessimistic about the situation moving toward a peaceful solution. While you’re there, it’s important to take opportunities to visit Israel proper and talk to Israeli Jews to give yourself the most balanced perspective of the conflict as a whole.

Educating folks back home on the reality of the situation and the injustices you witnessed may prove to be more beneficial in the long run than anything you could hope to accomplish while in the West Bank.

Is it Safe in the West Bank?

One concern I had before committing to volunteer in Nablus is the safety. As the center of Palestinian resistance, nighttime incursions by the Israeli military in Nablus are not uncommon. I fell asleep to gunfire a few of the nights. But because the missions are targeting militants in the refugee camps or old city, the violence wasn’t a threat to us in the Project Hope house, located in a safe part of town. Each organization can advise you on the safety in their locale.

Entering Israel

Israeli border control is notoriously tough. Since they are occupying the West Bank, they control movement in and out with strict checkpoints. When entering Israel, be it from Ben Gurion Airport or the Allenby Bridge border crossing (from Jordan) you’re likely to get rigorous questioning, searches and perhaps delays of a few hours. It’s important to have travel plans since they will ask you specific questions about your time in Israel. However, you can’t mention anything about volunteering in the West Bank or risk being denied entry. If the authorities allow you in, you’ll most likely be given a free three-month visa.

Stephen Bugno volunteered in the West Bank in November of 2007, stopping for a month on a six-month Middle East journey from Istanbul to Cairo. His writing has appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, and Transitions Abroad magazine. He blogs at: Blog of a Modern Nomad

By Stephen Bugno

They told me the gunfire only rings out at night. But this morning, after sunrise, I woke up to loud clashes across town in the Al Ein refugee camp and the upheaval continued until 11am. Then we checked the internet for the story: Ma’an News reported that one Israeli soldier and an 18-year-old Palestinian youth were killed.  The Israelis blocked the entrances to the camp, so the Palestinian died before an ambulance could get inside.

Children in Nablus

The day before, on the bus ride from Ramallah, I was befriended by the man in the seat behind me. He pointed out all the Israeli settlements along the way.

“That’s my land,” he shouts. Mahmood is fuming, but somehow contains his anger.

The settlements are secure, self-contained towns, built of similar looking houses, usually located on the crest of the hills. Unlike Palestinian villages, settlements have priority access over water and electricity. The settlers also have their own newly-paved highways.

For an hour and a half we crawl over the decaying old roads in our aged, beat-up bus. We navigate around terraced, olive tree covered hills, passing Palestinian villages as well. They are older, employ more natural looking building materials and blend in with the rocky dry landscape of the Holy Land.

We get held up at each checkpoint. A single file line of cars, share taxis, and buses wait. These checkpoints and settlements are what infuriate the Palestinians most. But no one gets upset today, even as we sit sweating, the hot afternoon sun beating on us through the windows.

Finally we arrive at Hawara checkpoint, the last one before Nablus. One by one we walk through metal gates and show our passports, guns pointed directly at us. We are shuffled like cattle in a slaughterhouse. This is a twice daily routine here and can add up to two or three hours to an already long commute to work.

A Palestinian village in the West Bank

Nablus is located in the northern part of the West Bank and is contained inside of a zone called Area A. Here Palestinians have the privilege of administering and policing themselves. But because the checkpoints restrict access, it is basically an open-air prison.

Once in Nablus, I meet Hakim in a share taxi. A circus clown by trade, he had been performing in Jerusalem for the past few years. He tells me he’s now blacklisted and no longer allowed to leave Area A. His distant cousin has just been identified as a rebel by Israeli intelligence.

Nablus is a center of Palestinian resistance in the Occupied Territories and given the frequency of incursions by the Israeli Defense Force it is regarded by some as a dangerous place to live. But in reality it is most dangerous for insurgents or militia men or those unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire in the refugee camps. A nighttime curfew helps to minimize casualties.

The nights in Nablus are quiet at first: a clear contrast from the typical bustle of Arab cities I witnessed in Egypt and Syria. No one here is out past midnight. I peer out from the third story window of our house. Nablus is built in a valley and stretches up onto both hills. From here I have a good vantage point to witness the stillness of night and the glow of the city under yellow street lamps.

Some nights there are incursions. When the gunfire starts, the dogs start barking, and the cocks start crowing.

Tonight I wake and rise from bed to watch the fireworks across the city: flashes startle my not-yet-adjusted eyes and tank blasts thunder my consciousness. After 15 minutes I can’t watch anymore and return to bed and lie awake.

My roommate, already here one week, has slept through the whole thing.

Stephen Bugno made his way from Istanbul to Cairo during a six-month overland trip in 2007, stopping for a month to volunteer in the West Bank. Since surviving these nights in Nablus, he has been living the life of a nomad: teaching abroad, traveling, and writing. His articles and essays have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad.