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Ramallah: Palestinian center of Government

©David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D.,
Professor of Biology and Chemistry
University of Cincinnati Clermont College,
Batavia OH 45103
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This page has been accessed  Counter times since 13 July 2006. 
***DATES REVISED
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Ramallah Ramallah, just a few kilometers north of Jerusalem, is the center for the Palestinian government, such as it is. One immediately notices that the infrastructure in Palestinian-controlled towns is significantly degraded compared to that controlled by Israel.  We visited the Friends Boys School, perhaps the highese quality elementary and secondary education facility in all of Palestine (graduates attend MIT, Harvad, Stanford, Earlham, etc).  We were shown the new gym, given a lecture on the functioning of the school, even during Israeli incursions and air raids.



Community service is a significant component of FBS activities.This young woman organized students into a group which collected images and sounds from the heritage of dispossesed Palestinians to give them increased sense of the value of their past history.


We also attended a meeting with local Friends and Palestinians working with the American Friends Service Committee:


Ramallah itself is a vibrant Palestinian city, rich in culture, and irrepressible economic power.  We noted everywhere in Palestine and Israel that all homes made use of solar hot water heat.:


Bier Zeit University, a few kilometers south of  Ramallah, strives intrepidly to offer higher education to Palestinian students.  This in spite of  Israeli road blocks which required that students, to traverse from Ramallah to Beir Zeit, were required to take a cab to the check point, walk across the check point, and take a second cab to the university.  A trip which should take 15-20 minutes takes 1.5 -2 hours!


WE had a wonderful dinner that evening:  meses before the main course were a wonderful sampling of Palestinian appetizers:
 

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