View of Ramallah from its tallest building
View of Ramallah’s tallest building
Al Manara Square – The center of Ramallah
One of the Lions in Al Manara representing one of the original founding families of Ramallah. No idea why he’s wearing a wrist watch.
Neither Stars nor Bucks, but decent coffee 🙂
No, this is not a gentlemen’s club… It’s a hair salon. “Saloon” means “salon” in Arablish
Yummy green olive pizza and Italian chicken sandwiches
Pronto – The Italian restaurant where I spend entirely too much time
Inside Pronto. Mmmmmm red wine…
Pronto looks out over the Ramallah Municipality Park
Zan, the bar where everybody knows your name
(I took this pic on a weekday – weekend nights, it’s hoppin’)
All the artwork on the walls is done by the owner
Palestine’s lovely beer, Taybeh. Taste the Revolution.
Snobar outdoor cafe and public pool on a long, lazy summer Sunday
My friend John’s wedding in a church in Ramallah
A pretty corner in this lovely church
Poster for Circus Behind the Wall
Palestinian Circus School – adult training session
Concert at the French Cultural Center by a mixed Palestinian and international group
Jawwal, Palestine’s cell phone company, has a swanky new headquarters
Plaza Mall in Al Bireh just north of Ramallah
Bir Zeit University, the most prestigious university in Palestine, a few miles north of Ramallah
Acqua Viva – A fun park north of Ramallah
The Freedom Theater in Jenin Refugee Camp
Harvesting olives in Salem village, near Nablus
All the land in the photograph (except the most distant mountains) belongs to Salem, but Israeli settlers have built an Israeli-only road as well as an enormous trench through it and taken control of huge areas of it
While shepherds watched their flocks by night…
View of Salem village from the fields
Harvesting those dusty dark lavender fruits
These pictures are from a trip to Palestine in 2007. Click here to view pictures from my next trip, which took place in 2009.
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17 comments
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November 24, 2009 at 6:33 am
Matty A.
Your pictures are awesome, they bring back memories of my last visit there. Your writings are fantastic from what i’ve read on the site. Keep spreading the word and maybe someday there will be justice. It’s not religious extremist that will liberate Palestine, but ordinary people such as yourself who go the extra mile to shed light on the subject.
Much Love,
Mahdi
February 18, 2010 at 7:07 am
Molly
I really enjoyed these pictures. Best of luck with the publication of your book! I will definitely be a reader.
June 13, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Chuck R
Pam,
Great photos and I love the book. That’s an amazing story. Hopefully it will open enough people’s eyes and help lay the groundwork for some change.
Chuck
June 13, 2011 at 4:31 pm
fasttimesinpalestine
Thanks, Chuck! I hope the same. 🙂 Little by little, Americans are starting to wake up. If I can speed that process in any way, I’ll be happy. Hope you’re doing well!
June 17, 2011 at 6:58 am
Alex Bell
Thank you for your marvellous book, to which I gave a 5 star review on Smashwords.
June 22, 2011 at 5:42 pm
Hakim Jararah
Loved the book. You captured the essence of life in Palestine. It is inquisitive and adventurous souls like you who make the world a better place when most feel a just cause is lost.
Thanks again.
Hakim
June 26, 2011 at 8:41 pm
fasttimesinpalestine
Thanks for reading, Alex and Hakim. I’m really glad you enjoyed it…
November 9, 2011 at 7:46 am
sahir jayyousi
very nice …
with my best weshes
December 17, 2011 at 11:17 am
Joy Cornelius Klein
I picked up your book because my Mom grew up in Stigler, OK, but it has really offered me a new way to look at the Middle East. Thank you for sharing the Palestinian human perspective. Too bad the news and politics covers up the human needs of the citizens. Thanks to you, I will look at all cultures affected by war much more compassionately and I will question the media more than I already do.
April 7, 2013 at 1:24 pm
Fast Times in Palestine by Pamela Olson | JoV's Book Pyramid
[…] Pamela Olson’s website, blog and photos of Palestine […]
December 26, 2013 at 4:56 am
yisraelmedad
This – “Saloon” means “salon” in Arablish – I don’t think is Arabish buit simply misspelled English. In Israel, we have loads of such examples, some silly and some, well, even more silly.
December 26, 2013 at 7:37 pm
fasttimesinpalestine
“Arablish” is just a word I made up to mean “the particular ways Arabic speakers tend to misspell English words, usually due to transliterating transliterations.”
See also: Chinglish (“The particular way Chinese speakers tend to mistranslate Chinese words to English”)
June 17, 2014 at 10:46 pm
Diane R.
Wow Santa in Downtown Ramallah I love it.
July 22, 2014 at 2:31 am
mybrightlife
Very Insightful. So glad I stumbled across your blog.
August 25, 2015 at 9:00 pm
Martin Doris
Hi Pam, thanks for giving me an honest insight into life in Palestine under the Israeli occupation. Your book makes me want to visit that wonderful place and its people. After the massacre in Gaza last year I have read a lot about Gaza and the West Bank your book is a welcome addition to my collection . I will be recommending it to my friends
November 25, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Fatmeh Amori
Salaam Pam. I chose your book for my book club. I absolutely loved every bit of it. I was born in Shauffat, East Jerusalem, but I live in Orlando, Florida. My extended family still lives there. I haven’t been back since the 80’s, and reading your book just made me feel as if I was there in person traveling with you through every checkpoint, and adventure you took. Thank you for helping bring awareness to the difficult situation in Palestine. May God bless you and your family.
November 26, 2016 at 9:02 pm
fasttimesinpalestine
Dearest Fatmeh, thanks so much for getting in touch, and for reading and recommending my book. There is no place in the world like Palestine, and it was a privilege to spend two years of my life there. It’s an honor if anyone — especially a Palestinian — finds value in my writings.
Peace and hope for better days.