On Wednesday afternoon we travelled by bus to Checkpoint 300, the entrance to Bethlehem and the route taken each day by tens of thousands of Palestinian men who have permits to travel into Jerusalem and Israel for work.
Onward by taxi alongside the Apartheid wall to stay in the Al rowwad guesthouse in Aida Refugee camp.
On Thursday morning we woke to the news that Uday Al Tamimi, a young Palestinian who was accused of killing an Israeli soldier, had been killed by the Army. A General strike had been called by the Palestinians throughout the West Bank. His funeral would take place without his body since the Israeli army had “arrested it”. ( This is a common practice by Israel – many families have never been able to claim the bodies of their loved ones after being killed by the IDF, or dying in an Israeli jail.).
The strike meant that our first performance ( due to take place in a centre for adults with learning difficulties) was cancelled. Clashes ( youth throwing stones at soldiers and heavily armed soldiers responding with tear gas, stun grenades and sometimes live fire) were expected to start at the camp entrance later that day.
We revamped our plans (Palestinian style) and set off early to walk alongside the wall to the Walled off hotel ( started by Banksy and the Palestinian hotel manager, who is also an artist) in 2015. The hotel, a piece of art, satire and political protest in its own right, became our next singing location.
