The majority of the participants were people from Palestine, many of them from Jericho itself, and quite a lot of them had never walked through this landscape in their lives. The context gave people of all ages and gender the chance to perceive their living environment differently through this clear and safe framework.

During the walk, we stopped twice for water and bio breaks. This time, too, was spent in silence. Some people wrote down things that were buzzing about in their heads. Walking in the dark sharpens other senses of perception: smell, hearing, and bodily senses. The verbal silence between people allows one to listen to what is going on around, but also to become aware of our own inner ‘noise’.

At the final location, the Arab Development Society, we broke our silence and a 1,5 hour reflection process started. People exchanged on their perceptions, feelings and thoughts. I knew, from the many times I had stayed in this place, that for the majority of Palestinians, the occupation is impacting highly / has a massive impact on their experience of their living environment. People travel through the various administration zones – A, B and C – by car, by bus, or not at all. Historically, however, Palestinians were deeply connected with their agricultural land, walking across it, herding animals across the mountains, harvesting crops. In art and literature there is an extensive wealth of expressions for the beauty of the land and of nature. The Palestinians’ souls are deeply rooted in this landscape. The fact that the space cannot be experienced anymore, has created a division that takes multiple forms: the origin of materials and food is unknown; the localisation of family origins is no longer relevant; respect for nature and landscape occurs only from the perspective of distance. 

Walking together in silence does not appear to be an unusually creative act. Two aspects made this walk an artistic and participatory act: Walking as a collective, in a silent line through a politically impassable landscape, made people aware of their empowering qualities as one civic body. Some participants started walking together after this; others incorporated the possibility of going for walks at all into their consciousness for the first time. I myself had the unique opportunity of a nocturnal experience of Palestine under safe conditions. Here are some translated notes from the walk:

• Why was I created as Palestinian?

• A good feeling, walking in the moonlight, the natural surroundings, the sound of water.

• When Nature speaks, man should listen. Relativity in size between man and place, different proportions. Difference between high and low land sensed through air movement and temperature. I heard crickets and water. I heard people talking and arguing. The moon started its journey with us; we saw it during the hike.

• A walk through the geography of the place, essaying the unknown. Human memory flows through the sounds and scents of the place. Like a dream. Flows together with the water, like the flowing of blood. Migration to the south.

• The best thing about the walk is the silence. I could hear each person’s movement and saw some ruins.

• The sound of water was strong and sweet, and the smell of damp grass and earth was so sweet.