Almost two and a half months after the IntraPal group members took a wonderfully beautiful trip to two of the most famous and historical cities in Palestine; Bethlehem and Hebron, and learned about their famous landmarks, cultures and of course challenges, we hit the road again. This time to yet another historical, famous and magnificent place in Palestine, Nablus.

Organised by the group’s staff; Suma Qawasmi, Khaled Tayeh, Bassam Daher, and facilitated by Tamera AbuZant (a previous Encompass alumni), the group met on a mildly hot Saturday, with members coming from their respective cities and villages to meet at the Nablus West Garage. A bus had been organised to take us on our journey, with our first stop being refugee camp of Balata; one of the most populated refugee camps in the West Bank.

Ramsis Hijazi, a member from the IntraPal programme, took the effort to be our tour guide in the camp as he and his family, being refugees themselves, reside there. Ramsis first talked a little bit about the history of the camp before taking us to a tour inside.

The camp’s streets are very narrow, meaning no cars can get inside, and in some instances it’s hard for adults to pass through. The houses are very, very close to each other, so close in fact that one can hear what their neighbours are doing and saying in their houses merely due the extremely close proximity they are from one another.

After spending about an hour and a half learning about Balata Camp and the life there, it was time to take the bus to our second stop; the Old Town of Nablus. It’s considered the highlight of the city and one of the most well known places in Palestine in general, specifically for its historic value, traditional appearance and various industries. However, it is best know for having the best sweet shops in the region.

Bassam and Ramsis both took on a tour inside the Old Town talking about the history of the various places we encountered.

We then went to a very famous shop in the town called “Breik”, that sells traditional olive oil soaps, spices, coffee, nuts, special herbs, and is highly regarded as the best supplier of these items by Nablus natives and visitors alike.

And how can you go to Nablus and not eat Kunaffa? The very famous dessert is a must-try whenever you’re in the city. This is why we stopped at a traditional and very popular Kunafa shop in the Old Town, and had a little of the sweet and cheesy dessert.

Now Bassam decided to take the lead as we decided that our third stop, for lunch, relaxation and discussion of the day would be to his family’s park in a nearby village. On the way, we stopped at a place that’s visited by those with a passion of skateboarding. People from Nablus and all over Palestine go there to practice their hobby. We found tourists there as well and one of them was more than happy to talk about skateboarding.

After that, we finally made it to Bassam’s family park, where we had lunch and a session about the trip, talking about how we felt about the places we visited, and what we learned from them. What was interesting and very sad was to hear that every person that came for this amazing day of sharing culture, history, fun and yes, great knufeh, had to go through at least one Israeli check point to get there. They shared how they had to pass soldiers with their guns at the ready and even be stopped for identity checks. All this to just to visit friends and create solidarity with another Palestinian city. Even the participants like Bassam, Adel and Bashir who are from villages of Nablus had to endure the humiliation and indignation of these thorns in the Palestinian’s sides to get into the city. Everyone agreed that the forced isolation of Nablus, due to these imposing checkpoints, was Nablus’ biggest challenge.

Written by Karen Abu Zant (Programme Coordinator/Facilitator) and Suma Qawasmi (Facilitator Trainee)