A walk around Ramallah

Today was a crisp sunny day in Ramallah, a small hilly city the color of sand under a bright blue sky. The call to prayer rang out from the center of town and people bustled from shop to shop. I climbed the steep streets into the old quarter of the city, searching for a vista out over the terraced hills surrounding town.

Unfortunately, there has been a lot of violence in Gaza in recent days and today it was closed to all movement of goods or people. Among other things, that means no food or health supplies can go in. While West Bank (Ramallah in particular) with its neatly tended quiet streets feels like it couldn't be more different than Gaza, it seems impossible that life can continue as is in either place.