I spent two nights in a hotel in Ramallah this week. Most of my friends were shocked and couldn’t believe it. They wondered if I would be safe. They wondered if I was staying in a nice hotel. Would I walk the streets at night? To quickly answer the questions, yes I was safe. Yes, the hotel was nice and the room was huge. Yes, we walked to and from dinner and a number of friends walked to go out to a club at night.

As I have previously written, Ramallah is a very modern city. Construction is spectacular. The buildings and architecture is beautiful. Downtown Ramallah is bustling with many businesses, restaurants, cafes, and shops. I never felt scared or uncomfortable. I didn’t advertise I was Jewish, covering up any symbols of Judaism while I was there. It may have felt different if I was publicly Jewish but I had no desire or need to do that while in Ramallah.

We left Ramallah to head to Jerusalem. Ramallah is only 10-15 km (6-9 miles) from Jerusalem. We were heading to East Jerusalem so it was close. That doesn’t mean it only takes 10-15 minutes to get there. We were going through the Calandia checkpoint, which I have heard about but never gone through. It’s one of the major checkpoints that Palestinians use to get into Israel. The traffic was terrible as the checkpoint was backed up. As we got close, we were told to have our passports out, which I have gotten used to when going through the checkpoints. Usually a few IDF soldiers board the bus, look around, and sometimes check passports. Usually it’s not a big deal. This was different.

We were told that we would all have to get off the bus and get our luggage to go through the checkpoint. We unloaded the bus, took our luggage and got in line. Then, like everybody going through the checkpoint, we waited. And we waited. And we waited. The line moved very slowly. We let a family with a young daughter go ahead of us so they wouldn’t have to wait as long. When we finally got to the checkpoint, there was a turnstile to get through. It wasn’t easy with our luggage and after every few people, it would lock in place. One of our group actually got locked in for a few minutes and we joked that he was in jail.

When we finally got through the turnstile, we put our luggage on the x-ray machine and finally cleared the checkpoint. It took us 30-45 minutes to get through the checkpoint. The night before, during dinner, I was speaking with Palestinian doctors who work in Israeli hospitals. They told me they spend 3 hours getting through the checkpoints each day, each way. The head of the Oncology department at Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem leaves at 5 am every day so he can get through the checkpoint by 8 am. A friend who is a pediatric ICU doctor doing a fellowship at Sheba Hospital intended to leave at 3 am the next day to get through the checkpoint and get to work on time. Would you want your oncologist to be up at 5 am and spending 3 hours in line at a checkpoint before treating you? Would you want your child’s ICU doctor to be up at 3 am to spend 3 hours at a checkpoint and then commute to the hospital before treating your very sick child?

Standing in line at the Calandia checkpoint.

I found myself wondering why Israel can’t create a system for these physicians to make it easy for them to cross. In the US we have TSA Pre and Clear that change the experience of getting through security. I would think Israel could use fingerprints and background checks like TSA Pre and biometrics like CLEAR to make the process easier for physicians working in Israeli hospitals. Even if they had to update it annually instead of every five years, there has to be a solution.

Once clear of the checkpoint, we headed to Augusta Victoria Hospital. I have heard of the hospital but have never been there. We stood outside a beautiful hospital building and heard from their head of nursing and learned about the work of the hospital. Approximately 25% of their patients are from East Jerusalem and 75% from the West Bank. One of their specialties is dialysis and they have a large pediatric program. As a result, many children come five days a week, through the checkpoints, to get dialysis. Rozana has a program that provides a van that takes them directly to and from the hospital at no cost to the family. We met the woman who runs the program and then had a chance to hear from the father of an 18-month-old child who comes daily. Without the bus, it would take him 3 1/2 hours with his 18-month-old, sick child, through four buses and multiple cities to get there. Dialysis is four hours. Then take the four buses through multiple cities, over 3 1/2 hours to get home. It’s an 11-hour day, done every day. Because of the shuttle bus, it takes him 45 minutes each way with no transfers.

From Augusta Victoria Hospital we drove to Al Makassad Hospital, also in East Jerusalem. We got a great briefing on the work of Al Makassad and the partnership we have with them. They also have approximately 25% of their patients from East Jerusalem and 75% from the West Bank. They have a big cardiac department and women’s health program. They are building a brand new facility for women’s health.

After hearing about the work of Al Makassed, we got a brief tour. We heard from one of their cardiac physicians who did a followship at Sheba Hospital funded by Rozana. The work he is doing now is greatly enhanced and improved because of the time he spent with this fellowship. He still keeps in touch with his colleagues at Sheba and uses them for difficult cases. It’s powerful to see actual cooperation in practice and the impact that it has. We also got to see the nursery and these beautiful babies being cared for. It was a very human moment. One of the things that I love about my work is that I get to help people who are making real change on the ground. I am a part of organizations that are changing the world. When I have an opportunity to see that work in person, meet the people who are doing the work and impacted by the work, it fills me with joy and gratitude. Visiting the hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and seeing the impact gives me great hope.

One of the major challenges facing all the Palestinian hospitals is economic. We heard this from every hospital we visited and even from the Israeli Minister of Health. The Israeli government has been withholding tax dollars from the Palestinian Authority (PA) as long as they continue their ‘pay for slay’ policy. As a result, the hospitals aren’t being paid by the PA for all the public insurance claims. This is anywhere from hundreds of millions of dollars to over a billion dollars per hospital. When we met with the Israeli minister of health, he told us he was shocked that the entire Palestinian health system hadn’t collapsed. I’m not knowledgeable enough to comment on reasons for withholding the tax funds or their effectiveness. I do know that there has to be a way to ensure the health system doesn’t fail. It may require paying the doctors and nurses directly instead of through the PA. There have to be creative thinkers who can figure out a way to accomplish the goals without destroying the Palestinian health system. The collapse of the Palestinian health system would be devastating for Israel as all health care would need to be provided by Israeli hospitals. It would overwhelm the Israeli health system and the Israeli economy.

We went for lunch in the Old City of Jerusalem at a fabulous restaurant where the Israeli Minister of Health spoke to us. He discussed the shortage of doctors and nurses and how important the work of Rozana is to benefit the Israeli health system. He focused on the need for the fellowships and how much they benefit Israel both in terms of serving patients and reducing the burned on the Israeli health system when they return to their hospitals in the West Bank. When the doctors in Palestinian hospitals do fellowships in Europe or other countries, they often do not return. When they do the fellowships in the Israeli hospitals they do return, strengthening the health system. It was clear that he believed how important it is to have a strong health system for the Palestinians to reduce the burden on the Israeli health system.

Dinner was a highlight as we had many of our stakeholders including participants in Rozana programs with us to speak about the impact of these programs. It was powerful listening to them talk about their experiences and how they have changed their lives. The more time I spend with Israelis and Palestinians, the more I believe that we must find a pathway to peace. The people want it. They want to live their lives, raise their children, work and enjoy life. The current paradigm isn’t sustainable for anybody. The work I am a part of doesn’t make peace. That’s up to the politicians and leaders in both Israel and the PA. Working with the people, building bridges, building relationships and helping to understand each other is something I can be a part of it. At Al Makassed Hospital, as I looked at the newborn babies, I thought perhaps they could have a different reality. Perhaps the Israeli and Palestinian children born today won’t have to hate, won’t live with constant violence and hate. Working with the people on the ground, not the politicians, gives me hope that perhaps, maybe even in my lifetime, the reality will change. I’m proud to be a part of that. I’m proud that the work I do helps build a stronger, safer, and more secure Israel while also benefiting Palestinians, Druze, Christians, Bahai, and every religion and ethnicity in Israel and the West Bank.

It’s not easy. I was speaking with a friend of mine later that night who applauded me for doing this work and saying how it was too hard for her. I get it. I understand it. For many people the damage since 1948 has simply been too great. October 7th was a breaking point for them and they have given up hope. Immediately after October 7th I felt that way. The time I have spent with Palestinians over the past six months has shown me a different reality and the possibility for a different future. Some of my friends joke that I have become a ‘lefty’. I don’t think I have changed from who I have always been – somebody who loves Israel, wants the best for Israel, and is a staunch defender of Israel. What has changed is that I don’t believe it has to come at the expense of others. There is a way to ensure a safe, secure, and democratic Jewish state of Israel while also understanding that other people live here and want to have the same things we want. To live in peace. To raise their children. To work their land or their jobs. To be able to have freedom of movement and for many, have the opportunity to go to the beach. I refuse to think that we can’t have both. It’s not easy and it won’t be quick. It will take many steps and the building of trust that isn’t there right now. I do believe it is possible. So I will continue to do my part to make that belief into reality. No matter how long it takes.