IN STEREO

There’s no encouragement; there’s no income. I mean, I grow a ton of cucumber in a greenhouse, for example, [but] I don’t know where to sell [it]. [Battir] isn’t an area that can consume a ton! And if I want to go up to Bethlehem, [there are] low prices. I mean, in this area, they talk about ‘Fuad’s vegetables’ – everyone buys and likes them. [But] we have two vegetable stores in Battir [and] they bring vegetables from outside, because Battir stopped being a vegetable area. It’s a sad thing. Of course, there’s no doubt that the Jewish-Israelis try to suppress any of our civilisation, of the Palestinians. This is why you see them ruin things. Heritage or not, they don’t care. It’s the opposite: they try to destroy it in order to abolish anything called Palestinian civilisation. I mean, yesterday or two days ago, they destroyed a very beautiful area, planted with crops.

There are homes at the end of Battir. You know, you went to Al-Makhrour. Someone brought a caravan and put it next to the street. An Arab from our area, a young man like my son, he started selling tea and coffee. What’s his impact on Israel, this one? We suddenly saw a force from the army, and they came and removed and destroyed it. I want to talk [but] what I have inside, it’s difficult to be able to express. I taught thirty years at this school [and] I was responsible for the UNESCO [programme] one year. We went to Jordan – there were representatives from all the Arab countries, and they gave us a week-long course. Even a group from all of the Arab countries, the first word they said [was], “We can’t do anything to face Israel.” – Fuad