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Tue Mar 08 12:12:00 GMT 2011 | Walking on the West Bank

Laurels

Much later, a rainstorm breaks. We run for cover to what we think is an abandoned villa on the hillside. Until 1967, the villa belonged to the Zalatimo family, well-known in Palestine as pastry-makers; after the Occupation, they were forced to leave. Outside the villa is a vast laurel tree, whose glossy bark resembles red gold.

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