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We made this building here. It’s the centre to help people make projects and to help the visitors. We have maps to give them and we have a number for emergencies. They can take any information from here for free and they can drink coffee for free. When they buy something, they buy it from the maker. It’s not like a souvenir shop. There is no one taking commission. We have 25 [ladies’] projects here. And this is what I want to say: I ask them not to take any help from any [organisation]. Maybe four months ago, the ladies gave me money to buy a garbage bin for the village, and signs [for directions]. They didn’t take any [help], they have money, and now they are helping the village. I mean, some people come to Battir, to the Arab side, to the West Bank, and they feel we are dangerous people. And Israel puts the red signs that we’re dangerous.

A year ago, a professor from Japan came to visit me. And this professor made a study and he said to me [that there have been] zero accidents for any tourists since ‘67 in the West Bank. Why do you warn people? [There have been] hundreds of accidents in Israel for tourists, hundreds. Why do you say “dangerous area”? [It’s a] safe area! It’s just about the money. This professor sent me a team to make a study, and I asked them to ask the Israeli government to take this red sign down. The Israeli government puts two signs: there is one when you want to go to Bethlehem and one when you want to come to Battir. Of course, I asked the Japanese team to ask the Israeli government to destroy all of them. [But] two weeks ago, the same guy came, and he said that the Israeli government took a decision to remove the one coming to Battir. – Sultan