Imagining, Un Occupying

What would it look like? Can we imagine the landscape without settlements? Roads without checkpoints? Travel without military permission?

As I sit here, in a third floor cafe, looking out over the center of Ramallah, I am absorbed in the bustle of this awkward city. It is a village that was forced to host people and a "government" when both were systematically denied access to other places.
A traffic circle centers the city, which branches into six roads. People weave in and out of the cars. Boys loiter. Every once in a while the white skin and western dress of an international catches my eye. Shops are open, with people walking in and out, carrying bags. The energy of a stifled people, a stifled city, a stifled nation permeates the air.

What would Ramallah be like if Jerusalem were restored to her people? The capital would be declared, the government buildings moved, the people permitted access to pray. I love Ramallah, but it is bursting at its seams under the weight of occupation, and I want to imagine a new Ramallah because this center cannot hold. 60 years is just too long.