The west bank: Stories behind the wall

NB! This lecture is in Norwegian
The longing for answers to these questions led Frida to spend a month in Palestine, on the West Bank, in the autumn of 2022. A concrete answer to these questions she did not find. What she did find, however, were encounters with a number of people she now wishes to tell about.

She tells of Tamara, who has only ever felt free in Saudi Arabia. Of Abu Azzam, who has spent his entire life fighting against a wall that only keeps getting higher. Of Mohammed, who is only three years older than her, yet has lived a longer life than she ever will. Of all the young boys in Nablus who throw yet another stone each time their prospects for the future are dimmed a little more. Of the women in Tulkarm. Of the wall that grows in step with the deprivation of the Palestinians’ land, freedom, and future.
Of all the people who have lost their lives there, and all those who share their fate.

Now she returns to her questions and tells of a West Bank marked by occupation, aggressive settlement policies, and overcrowded refugee camps. At the same time, she describes how enriching the encounter with Palestinian culture, food, and people has been — and how, dressed in her own Norwegian privileges, she came face to face with herself when confronted with the injustices of others.