Ramalah an Island of Palestinian Peace

[Behind the Aegis]

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Mohammed Kilani, a computer technician, hits the gym every other day to swim laps and lift weights. Umm Hussein, whose husband sells BMWs, takes her kids to the mall to shop, eat in the food court and play video games.

Despite the crippling poverty and frequent violence in the Palestinian territories, the city of Ramallah, the unofficial capital of the West Bank, holds out as an island of middle class existence.

The Islamic militant Hamas is largely absent from this city of 57,000, meaning that Ramallah could provide the best glimpse of what a Palestinian state could look like without Israeli occupation, with its trade and travel bans - if moderate President Mahmoud Abbas' secular agenda prevails.

While armed militias rule the streets of Nablus, and Gazans largely survive on U.N. food handouts, residents of Ramallah take yoga and Salsa dance classes or sip cappuccinos and beer in mixed groups - behavior that could get them killed 10 miles away.

But even in bourgeois Ramallah, Israel's military occupation is always near - drivers have to pass army checkpoints to get in and out of town, and troops occasionally raid the city to snatch wanted militants.

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[CJCRANE]

1. Ramallah - the "Other Palestine".

Interesting article.

[pelsar]

2. radio station..

for those interested there is an english radio station

http://www.ramfm.net/

based in jerusalem, where many of the callers call in from Ramallah....funny thing is that in many cases i find myself far more in agreement with them then the american/israeli callers (who usually have a religious "twing" to their views).

[Tom Joad]

3. I know people around Ramallah. Like a young University student

who just finished his studies in Engineering. he drives a taxi. no jobs, no future. such is life under occupation.

[pelsar]

4. i believe gaza is "free'

perhaps you should ask him what his preference is....gazas freedom of israeli occupation or ramalla with israeli occupation?

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Sounds like any number of places. n/t

[pelsar]

6. shhhsh

dont confuse the issue.......unemployment in ramallah has to be israels fault...it really ruins the narrative if its not