Linda

Another homage to Catalonia: during a relaxing evening in a resort by the Dead Sea the Catalans arrange a viewing of a Channel 4 documentary about Linda, one of the Palestinians on Follow the Women. We watch on someone's laptop, and later move away from the music to ask Linda questions.

The documentary showed Linda's life in Bethlehem as her husband went in and out of prison, sometimes for years at a stretch; it took us through ups and downs of being a single mother and fighting to even see her husband, let alone the endless appeals for trials and waiting for answers and repeated knock-backs.

But here she is with us, able to fill us in with more details and even laugh at times. Linda is one of the more extreme Palestinians, vowing never to speak to an Israeli woman until there is peace; vowing never to speak Hebrew. She is an inspirational figure, not only because of the strength shown in the documentary, but her choices since her husband died. A trained nurse, she goes into schools and teaches sex education, a difficult and sometimes disapproved of job.

Palestine seems full of these very strong women, and I don't know what to think about the future for peace: the ability to carry on living and helping and building as much of a life as humanly possibly has to be weighed against the complete inflexibility of the mindsets. Is peace possible when people will not consider speaking to the people who have humiliated them? Maybe it is, but it won't be achieved with a bike ride which is only for communication.