The start of Ramadan brings ‘no joy’ for Palestinians in the West Bank
Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank welcome Ramadan with little cheer. Amid Israel’s continued attacks in Gaza and increasing violence in the West Bank, the festive decorations and festive atmosphere of the holy month are being replaced by feelings of helplessness and despair.
“There is no joy,” said Hana Karameh, a mother of five from the city of Hebron.
Ramadan will be “incomplete” this year, she said. Normally on the night before the first fast of Ramadan began, they would pray with their neighbors and gather for suhoor – the pre-dawn meal – as children shot off fireworks.
On Sunday evening, when the holy month arrived, she said, “None of that was the case.”
Even before Ramadan, Ms. Karameh said she found it difficult to sit down to meals knowing that many people in Gaza were starving. “I keep asking myself, have they eaten? Have they been drinking? ” she said.
Mrs. Karameh said her husband usually took their youngest children to the market to buy sweets and stock up on food the night before Ramadan started. Later, he took them to the mosque to pray Taraweeh, a daily night prayer in Ramadan. But this year, she said, the family couldn’t do those things.
“Normally there would be seven people at our iftar table,” she said, referring to the evening meal that breaks the fast. “But this year there are five of us.”
Ms Karameh’s husband, Jamal, 55, and her daughter Baraah, 19, were detained by Israeli forces more than three months ago and are being held in administrative detention without charge or trial. They are among more than 7,500 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem who have been detained by Israeli forces since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks, according to the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over the West Bank.
Palestinians in the West Bank are also less likely to host elaborate iftar meals this year as their economic situation has deteriorated over the past five months. Israeli restrictions and closures in the West Bank have left businesses struggling since October 7.
“It’s a very different feeling compared to previous years,” said Bassam Abu al-Rub, a journalist from the West Bank city of Jenin who lives in Nablus. “I went to the supermarket and bought only basic ingredients because when we sit down to eat after seeing the scenes in Gaza, we feel heartbroken.”
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah, increasing violence and regular Israeli raids in the West Bank have killed more than 425 people since October 7. The Israeli military has said the raids are part of its counter-terrorism efforts against members of Hamas in the West Bank.
“In addition to the war in Gaza, the West Bank is also experiencing a war since 2021,” he said, referring to the year when Israeli raids, detentions and settler violence in the occupied territory began to increase sharply. “Imagine living in this emotional state of daily raids, sounds of gunfire and gas bombs and regular arrests,” Mr Abu al-Rub said in a telephone conversation. “Of course you will fear further escalation” during the holy month, he added.
Mr Abu al-Rub said he would look forward to it every year if Israel granted him a permit to visit Jerusalem and pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam. But this year he didn’t have much hope of going.
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Al Aqsa, which is located on a site revered by Jews as the site of two ancient temples, has long been a point of contention, and in recent years Israel has exerted tighter control over it. On Monday, the Israeli agency will monitor policy for the Palestinian territories posted on Facebook that only men over 55 years old, women over 50 years old and children under 10 years old would be allowed to enter Israel from the West Bank to pray at Al Aqsa during Ramadan.