Palestinian walks

It’s early morning in the hills of Ramallah. RH: I’m from Ramallah and I’m an author and lawyer. RH is small and unimposing. RH: We left Ramallah and are now in an area which means �Farm� or �Little forest.� RH still goes walking as often as he can in what he calls the vanishing landscape. The Israeli military calls this area �Area C� where it has full military control and Palestinians aren’t officially allowed. It’s illegal for anyone to build here, yet Israeli settlements keep growing. The other problem are the roads, military and other roads Palestinians aren’t allowed to use, and the roads cut down the space for anyone to walk. He says this is all being lost for political reasons. We walk to a cliff and on a clear day the Mediterranean is visible but coming here after dark would raise Israeli suspicions. The walk ends abruptly in this village. One car is waiting, with three settlers from up the road, who demand to see the author’s papers. The settler calls soldiers over his cell phone and speeds ahead. He knows an encounter with the Israeli Army often winds up in hours of talks and hassles with the soldiers. He goes back to his village.