In November, Kate Sherringer and Hwyel and Christine Davies of West Wales Friends of Palestine walked 100 miles through the West Bank of Palestine from Rummanah, near Jenin, to Jordan.
The walk was organised through the human rights organisation, the Amos Trust.
Kate explained: ‘I’ve never done a lot of walking, but it seemed like a good challenge to set myself in my 70s. I’ve been interested in issues around Israel and Palestine for a while, and this is my fourth visit there.’
Throughout the walk, the three friends witnessed the constraints of the Israeli occupation as they stayed with families who ‘had to conserve every drop of water’ as the lion’s share of the local water supply goes to Israeli settlements.
They met young people with no freedom of movement who have never been to the sea, heard from Bedouin shepherds afraid to wander their traditional lands because of aggressive settlers, and saw ‘with our own eyes the super highways, open only to Israeli inhabitants of the increasing number of settlements.’
Kate concluded: ‘We returned to Wales with our boots full of Palestinian dust and our hearts full of the need for justice and equality in this wonderful land.’