Fayrouz Sharqawi

Summary

Palestinian community organizer with Grassroots Al-Quds in Jerusalem — the granddaughter of two refugees — whose East Jerusalem tours, narrating uneven infrastructure, settlement construction and tourism itself as a colonial tool, close the part of Chapter 4 of Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine read in part 3 (Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine, PDF p.150-152).

At the East Jerusalem settlement where an ICAHD guide jokes “This is where the sidewalk ends”, she narrates sarcastically: “The sidewalk is gone. Because Palestinians don’t need sidewalks” (PDF p.150).
At the Wall severing the Jericho Road she points to a roundabout built only because settlement construction up the hill required it: “Now that the settlements and their visitors need a traffic circle”, she explained, “we can have infrastructure”; from her lookout the crane ratio is always zero in the eastern part of Jerusalem and ten to twenty on the western part (PDF p.150).
On the planned cable car from the German Colony to Silwan, the Mount of Olives settlements and Ar-Tur: “They will not see the occupation and they will not spend money in our shops”, she explained. “Now Israel wins twice over” (PDF p.151).
She begins her tours by asking, like Tamar Avraham of Zochrot, how tourists know the houses are Palestinian homes, pointing to the arched windows; of the Israeli flags peppering the neighborhood in July 2019 she said: “Imagine how painful it is for me to see flags on those windows and those doors” (PDF p.152).
Kelly names her in the Acknowledgments among those whose words animate whole chapters — Fayrouz Sharqawi on Jerusalem (PDF p.10-11).

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