The Ten years old boy, the Journey from Gaza to Birzeit to Jerusalem.... By Jamil Shawwa

The boy, now a young man, graduated from a high school in Gaza, wanted to go to law school, or actually, that was the family’s wish. I think he wanted to do political science; maybe, he was not sure. Probably, if you ask him now, he would give the same answer, not sure, can you believe it. He tried The Jordanian University, but for some reason the president of the university told him that his application was lost in the mail. That ten years old boy asked the president, he remembers this episode very well, if the school might have lost it, and the president looked at him with disgust and told him, maybe these things happen in Gaza but not in Jordan. That president of that university- Abd Elsalam Al Majali - later on became a prime minister of Jordan and later on signed on behalf of Jordan the peace treaty with Israel, best known as the Wadi Araba treaty. In Jordan, the king does not sign treaties; the prime minster does it. He – the ten years old boy-then with the help of his family went to Cairo University, but it was too late for that school year, so he enrolled for the 1984-1985 school year at the Cairo University Law school and for the 1983-1984, went to Birzeit University, about two hours drive from Gaza, maybe one hour an half, it depends on the car and the driver. The young man still the same ten years old boy, went ahead and rented an apartment with a friend from Gaza who went to the same school. The boy enrolled in the Middle Eastern studies program; political science. The two students rented an apartment in a basement in a building in that town Birzeit; the school was named after the town. Very interesting apartment that one was, to be extremely having a positive attitude, in reality it was hell on earth, horrible, the mold used to cover his shoes, imagine; mold growing on shoes. Birzeit University was a dynamic place; it was the first and main university in the Gaza Strip and the West bank, a place where Palestinian politics and parties were involved in a very active way. All the Palestinians factions had students representation there including the newcomers, the so-called religious factions, and there used to be elections for the student board. I think at that time, Fateh, the main PLO faction used to win every time. The student was not involved in politics nor was he involved in any of those student groups. He used to read Al-Quds newspaper and the rest used to read Al-Fajer. Al-Quds was the moderate and al Fajer was the pro PLO. He was different and still is, not sure, if this is good or bad but this is how it is. His professors were ok, they all had PhDs in their respective fields and one thing he noticed is that they tried to be objective. The university system was the American semester system, and not the one-year British or French system as it was at Cairo at that time. He remembers once he had some sort of dispute with another student over a very important subject, you knew it of course, not the Palestinian- Israeli issue, or anything simple like that but it was a serious subject, it was over a girl. The student, the same little ten years old boy, touched her shoulder in a much-respected way; he really did not care for that girl at all. He likes to show appreciation to the female silky skin sometimes by very gentle touches but always very respectful, on the back or shoulder. She actually had nice shoulders and that was all that she had in the little ten years old boy mind. Another student got jealous and kind of pushed him, the boy pushed back and that was it, nothing serious. When he went back to that apartment, probably the fight would have been better than going back to that hellhole, he found delegations from all the Palestinian factions at the door trying to blame each other for that incident- typical Palestinian politics, basically trying to have him on their side, probably they have done the same with the other student. I think he really did not know what was going on; he was just there until his family tells him that is it, and it is time to go to Cairo. The ten years old boy, the young man now had another interesting incident that he does not forget, that one was funny but really somewhat embarrassing, you have to have embarrassing moments in life; otherwise, life would be boring or even abnormal. The little boy, now young student, or as we say here in America, junior college student, decided to get drunk one night, maybe he did not really decide, but it happened and he did not expect it. It was a night; he made a scene, he remembers, and had to go to Jerusalem in a convoy of “will- wishers” to be treated there from the side effects, to say it mildly. Oh, that was something. It never happened before and it never happened after, so one time is not too bad, but that one was something very memorable. The whole school the next morning knew about it. Birzeit is a little town, not to say a village, and the university is the lifeline, besides, his friend- the apartment mate and other friends were so excited about that episode that they could not keep their mouth shut. He- the ten years old boy might have done the same any way if that episode happened to someone else. A third memorable incident at the school took place in one Saturday morning or Sunday, he is not sure, but there were no classes on that day. He was walking the narrow and hilly streets of Birzeit with group of friends, maybe ten, when all of a sudden one of the students yelled; the Israelis are coming, a military patrol was approaching, and those students started to run, but first looked around trying to find a hideout, and tried to pull the ten years old boy with them but he just did not run, stood there, not even kept walking, as if he wanted to be in the reception of the approaching patrol. They screamed at him run… run, but the ten years old boy said why, I did not do anything wrong. The students ran to a near by vacant store, opened the door, it was not locked and hid there. The Israeli patrol came by, stopped, an office came down and asked the ten years old boy for an identity card, the boy obliged and the officer asked him, why you did not run as the rest, we know that they ran away and we know that they are hiding there. The ten years old boy answered, why should I run, I did not do anything wrong. The officer then asked him, you are not afraid of Israel, and the boy said, no, why should I. The officer smiled, and something extraordinary happened after that, the officer stepped back a little, moved up his right hand… not to hit the boy but to salute him; he just gave the ten years old boy a military salutation and the boy returned the gesture and saluted the officer. The officer still took the identity card and told the boy to report the next morning to Bet Eil, the headquarters of the Israeli military command for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The boy went the next morning, alone, and at the gate, that officer was there, handed the boy his card and that was the end of that episode that the ten years old boy remembers very well. The student had to leave that terrible apartment, so he moved to a hotel that was owned by family friends in Jerusalem where he spent three magnificent months in that magnificent city  in a room that looked over the old town and the wall of Jerusalem. There, the little boy had a ball, actually there, where the little boy really came to realize contrary to the conventional wisdom that German girls could be the most sensual if they choose to. A Bavarian girl, from Munich, was the one that made him change his mind about Germany; he means the social feminine side of Germany. It is time to go to Cairo now, and then to Washington DC, and then Iowa, and back to his new and permanent home and country, Washington DC, The United States of America.