Palestinian restauranteur speaks from Bethlehem, where food stalls are sparse as farmlands are under attack
Oranges and watermelons for sale at a market stall in Bethlehem. ‘There should be piles of aubergines and courgettes,’ says Kattan.Oranges and watermelons for sale at a market stall in Bethlehem. ‘There should be piles of aubergines and courgettes,’ says Kattan.looked forlornly at the stalls inside the Bethlehem vegetable market bearing small quantities of oranges, watermelons and cauliflowers. “This stall should be heaped with products, he said.
“The long-term impact will take years to recover from, but the impact on human beings will be even longer,” said Kattan. “People think the Palestinians have the tools to deal with this, but they shouldn’t be required to.”Israeli checkpoints and an Israeli-built wall cut into Bethlehem, while dozens of Israeli settlements surround it in three directions. “These are expanding every day,” Kattan said. “The settlers are attacking villages around the town, the army is here practically every night.
As Kattan scours the market for ingredients and greets familiar faces, he encounters more stories of loss. A visit to a local baker means consoling him about his son, 27-year-old Hazem Nabil Danna, who suffocated to death inside a bakery in a nearby village after Israeli soldiers raided the area.
“There is systematic destruction of heritage happening in Gaza … I really feel we are disappearing,” he said. Across the West Bank, he added, “the lands are disappearing and the farmlands are being attacked.
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