It would seem that a blonde woman in Belém could only be a tourist, but in the end no. Or, at least, not in Gabriela’s case. “I’m Romanian,” she says. TSF”I married a Palestinian who was studying medicine in Romania.”
I never wanted anything else. “I’ve lived here for 35 years, so it’s already my second home,” explains this teacher who these days is trying to be a taxi driver, since she doesn’t have students, although there are also many tourists.
About 20,000 Christians live in this West Bank city, but Gabriela’s neighbors – “very good neighbors” – are Muslims. Coexistence, like the rest of daily life in Belém, is peaceful.
“When there are holidays, at our Christmas or at their Ramadan, we greet each other,” he says, and the lives of these two families are only separated in their children’s religion classes.
“They go to school together, they only separate for classes” which are mandatory, “if not, they do everything together.”
From what he knows, but also from what he has experienced over the last three and a half decades, he is sure of the worsening of the conflict: religion is not to blame for all the deaths.
“The problem is the occupation,” he identifies, “it is very old and lasts a long time.” For Gabriela, that is “the problem.”
If it weren’t for that, this West Bank city would be perfect to live in.
Source: TSF
