Sawt Falasteen - West Bank 'plane chalet' helps aviation dreams take off

"So many kids want to come," said 27-year-old Harsha, who built the guest house in the hills of the northern West Bank, within view of the separation barrier between Israel and the Palestinian territory.

"And that's the goal: since we don't have planes or airports, people come here instead," he told AFP.

Harsha said he designed the concrete plane himself, with a master bedroom in the cockpit and a children's bedroom in the tail.

The price tag, between 1,000 and 2,000 shekels (about $300-$600) per night, is out of reach for most Palestinians, particularly as unemployment soars due to the war in Gaza.

He has nonetheless been pleased with the reactions to his chalet, having initially faced scepticism.

"I wanted to bring something unique, something new to the area and to Palestine," Harsha said of the unit, which opened a month ago.

Since its launch, his red and white concrete plane has become a local landmark, featuring in local media and on social networks.

Harsha said he originally wanted to place a Palestinian flag on his chalet and call it the "Palestinian Queen", but avoided such signs out of caution.

The guest house is located in the West Bank's Area C, which covers more than 60 percent of the territory and is under full Israeli control.

"I just made it look like a plane. I avoided politics entirely because of the hardships our people are going through," he said.

"We're a people who are constantly losing things -- our land, our rights, our lives."

- Using the land -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and frequently demolishes homes it says are built without permission in the mostly rural Area C.

Though no airport currently services the Palestinian territories, both the West Bank and Gaza once had their own terminals, in east Jerusalem and the southern Gaza city of Rafah, respectively.

Both were closed during the Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising of the early 2000s, and what remains of east Jerusalem's airport is now isolated from the rest of the West Bank by Israel's separation barrier.

Despite difficulties and threats of demolition, Harsha believes that Palestinians can find freedom and fulfilment in projects like his.

"I encourage everyone who has land to work on it and invest in it -- with creativity and ambition," he said, flanked by his two brothers who helped him build the unit.

Harsha himself has more plans for his land.

"After this aeroplane, we'll build a ship next year," he said.

"It will be something unique and beautiful," he said, pointing out that while many West Bank Palestinians have seen planes flying overhead, a large number of people from the landlocked territory have never seen a real ship at all.

C.Hamad--SF-PST