The banner

Here is the beautiful banner that the women in Dar Assadaqa have made

Evictions, demolitions and settlements

I am feeling incredibly depressed (and angry)by the blatant acts of inhumanity and ruthlessness being carried out by Israeli government. There are so many incidents of homes literally being stolen in the dead of night and families being turned out of their houses onto the streets. All with the long term view of pushing Palestinians out of Jerusalem - a form of ethnic cleansing. There is also the longer term plan to expand the settlements around Jerusalem and to divide the West Bank physically into two separate pieces.

On Friday I had intended to go on an alternative tour of the activities taking place in East Jerusalem. Unfortunately I missed out on this but I met up with my co-volunteer Jennifer. The day before she had witnessed how settlers had broken into an upstairs flat in the old city by actually breaking down the wall. The owner was not present as he had been in the process of renovating it and had been staying with his mother when the incident happened. When Jennifer arrived at the scene along with other international volunteer observers soldiers were actually present to protect the intruders!

We went to another area in Sheikh Jarrah, where I think 27 houses have been served with demolition orders. Although residents have lived there for 55 years ownership of the land is disputed as newly arrived settlers are claiming rights and there are plans to build a large settlement and a park. One family has already been evicted with the consequence of the husband dying of a heart attack and she now lives in a tent that has been erected in an adjacent piece of land. The tent acts as a community centre for the neighbourhood committee as well as a campaign headquarters. We visited another home where the family is awaiting imminent eviction. This usually happens at night so a member of the International Solidarity Movement usually sleeps over with the family to witness such an occurance. This is just one area where Palestinians are being forced out of their homes. Its happening all over East Jerusalem. In the Salwan district another 200 families are facing demolition of their homes - the excuse being that they did not have planning permission to build extensions on to their houses. Planning permission is a long and convoluted process and is rarely granted to Palestinians. For Israelis on the other hand it seems to be a fairly simple, straight forward process judging by the rate of settlement growth!


The group of teachers from Camden arrived yesterday - Its a British Council funded trip and they are staying in a hotel in Jerusalem but will be spending time in various schools here. There are 4 schools in Abu ~Dis that are twinned with schools in Camden so this visit will strengthen these links. As usual I think CADFA have produced an intense and very useful programme. We met up with them yesterday for an introductory meeting and a meal. They were all pretty weary having arrived at 5.30am at the airport. I believe they visited Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramullah today!!

This a time of wind-down and separation for me - a time for saying good-bye. My arabic is still next to nothing - so difficult to retain new words. When I think I can count easily up to 10 one day, the next day it has completely gone. Old age ?? I must take lessons before I come again and also organise some while I am here.

I think thats all for now. Will see many of you soon!! Probably another blog before I go!

A visit to Hebron, Mother's Day and gender roles

I spent a very relaxing weekend with Asmaa's family in Hebron. I had met Asmaa in London when she, Beesan and Summa had come to London as representatives of their particular towns for the Twinning Network visit to UK last November and they had stayed with me at Ampton Street. She has recently graduated from university and is currently trying to find a scholarship to further study in UK. She is the eldest of six, two girls and four boys. Such a charming family particularly the two younger boys who totally won my heart.

Fridays are like our Sundays used to be - a family day with all shops and public places closed. We did, however, go to a "children's party" - at least that is how they described it when they asked if I wanted to go.Well it turned out to be quite a formal occasion with political and civic dignitaries making long speeches followed by a karate display by the local sports club. As I have never actually watched a karate contest I found this bit quite interesting. The family also watched a fair amount of TV in the evening - mostly drama from ~Egypt and Syria.


On Saturday morning Asmaa and I went to the old city and to Abraham mosque. The mosque is very ancient and contains the tombs of Abraham and Isaac as well as Adam and Eve! The building is divided into two - half for Moslem worshippers and half for Jews. Because of these religious connections there is a Jewish settlement actually within the city and to ensure their safety there are many more soldiers than there are settlers. Their presence is very intrusive and they even control the entrance to the mosque itself. A neighbouring house to Asmaa's was recently forcibly taken over and the occupiers turned out by the Israelis for use as an army headquarters. I find it incredible that these actions are accountable to no one or no law - just the law of the gun!


We also walked in the old city which was comparitively deserted with a few struggling tourist shops, as with the current conflict, few visitors are coming. Such a pity! We emerged into the busy market area of Hebron - everything made in China of course!

Shop selling embroidery by a Women's C0-0perative

Mothers' Day
I got back to Abu Dis just in time to attend another "party" held by the local general trade union for Mothers' Day. More speeches by dignatories, Koran glorifying the mother, poems and songs and a Dabka dance performed by our local youngsters. A good gathering but difficult if you don't understand the language!

Boys from Dar Assadaqa dancing Dabka

Women's roles
Of course women are honoured highly in this culture for the role they perform within the family and home but times must change even in Palestine. I observed in Asmaa's family how it is the girls who wait on the boys hand and foot. They pick up the cups, pour the tea, clean, wash up, cook,etc etc and nothing is expected of the boys. They both have the same educational commitment and future job aspirations, but their roles in the home is traditionally gender based. Women constitute 60% of university students. I was recently shocked by the attitude of a group of 16 year old girls who I teach when I pointed this out to them. They felt that this was absolutely as it should be; it was the role of women to look after men, men who cooked and did domestic things weren't real men. However I think their attitude will change in the future if they go on to higher education because all the uni graduates I have talked with do not think this - in fact one of them told me that if they have sons in the future they will train them do most of the chores as home rather than the girls. The times they are a-changing!

VISITING NABLUS

I've just got back from visiting my friend Beesan in Nablus, the second largest city in the West Bank. Although the journey was smooth and easy there was just a little hiccup at the end. In the shared taxi from Ramullah to Nablus I got to know a very lovely and friendly woman, Samira. There is an Israeli check-point just outside Nablus where everyone has to get out of their vehicles and walk to the other side of the barrier where they are either met by friend or family or you have to take another cab. Well, although I had talked with Bessan at the start of the journey and had agreed to talk again when I neared Nablus so she could meet me or give me instructions on where to go, when we arrived at this place the Jawal phone network was down. I did not have her address or even her family name so I would have been completely stuck if Samera had not come to my rescue! She was met by her brother and took me in their car to another brother who had an office in town. They were very reassuring and told me not to worry it would get sorted. While we were drinking tea we eventually made contact with Beesan and they drove me to meet her outside the university. Thank you Samira and your brothers! We spent the evening "out on the town" in various places - first of all we met up with some very interesting people in a very authentic old hotel/bar. There was someone who is developing projects based on learning through international relationships and at present is working on a specifice EU North/South initiative where he is hoping to bring together young people from two countries in Europe (UK and France) and 2 countries south of Europe(Palestine and Tunisia) to spend time living together and learning from each other. Getting to know and understand different cultures through personal contact is surely the way forward. We also met a lively young woman who is developing an "Education for All " UN project which will monitor how students life is disrupted by delays at check points causing students to lose the required number of hours for their courses and also often missing their final exams. There was a bunch of Edinburgh uni students as well. We went on to have a meal in another new restaurant but with traditional cuisine.

I spent Friday with Beesan's family and her best friend. She has 2 sisters and a younger brother. They are great in their own individual ways - the warrier and searcher, the artist and the spiritual seeker, and Alla, the best friend was a delight. All unconventional and working out their own way, not easy in Arab society. Beesan's mother is a an absolute fighter - a member of the Palestinian Parliament - working toward liberation and full emancipation of women within Palestinian society. Even on Friday she was out giving speeches to students. I enjoyed a splendid leisurely Palestinian breakfast with eggs, aubergine, very tasty spinach-type dish, cheese, olives, tomatoes and flat bread. Toward the end of the afternoon we went for a walk in the mountains. It only takes a short time to get out of the city and we walked up the mountain. Spring was springing all around -the tiniest, brightest poppies you ever did see and little miniature irises and cyclamen. We climbed to the top of a rock with magnificent views and watched the sun set over the sea in the distance. Of course I forgot to bring my camera but when Beesan sends me copies of hers I will insert them in here.



Already only four weeks left of my stay! I can't believe it! I am enjoying being here so much and not looking forward to getting back to my little flat in London. I'll be going to Hebron this coming weekend so wait for the next episode!

Women's Voices

Last Tuesday we finally managed to complete and print the magazine - Woman's Voice - ready to go to London with women from the twinning network. The women at the centre had been writing their contributions over the last few months but it was quite a task to get them all word processed, translated and ready for printing. New bits were still being added on the last day. About ten days before, I learnt that Hiba, one of the women going to England, was graduating in graphic design and I asked her to help us with the final production. She designed the beautiful cover. I felt quite delighted to see the final product. Well done to all those who put their hard work into it!

Last week I went down the valley and discovered a part of Abu Dis that I hadn't been to. A narrow lane winds down and there are many old houses dropping down the hillside. We visited one at the end of the lane which was in fact an old farm house. There were sheep and goats in the barn and some very noisy dogs greeted us. The main room of the house was about a 5 metre square with a domed roof of mud construction with very thick walls at least 1 metre and arched windows. It was so warm and comfortable without any of the heating of a modern house. Towards the evening the men of the house sit around a brazier smoking their shish and later apparently they bring the glowing embers into the house and the walls must absorb the heat and store it letting out the heat during the day. It is strange to find the old mixed up with the new - in a corner there was a computer and in another the tv. They have built a kitchen and bathroom extension on too. However cheese is still made in the traditional way and they took me to show me some of the other old tools including the hand turning mill for grain. I think the family enjoy a simple and natural way of life.

The next big event of last week was International Women's Day celebration on Saturday. We had planned it to coincide with the one at the Calthorpe Project. This was a joint event between CADFA and Calthorpe and the Palestinian women who are visiting the UK talked about their experiences as part of the very varied programme of storytelling, window box planting, pesto making, Palestinian food, singing and dance. I gather that people attending the event were deeply moved by the Palestinian stories, particularly the one from Hiba whose mother was killed by Israeli soldiers who invaded her house while she was trying to protect her grand children. Her story is told in "Woman's Voice" magazine which is available from CADFA. It was planned to have a live video link between the two centres. Unfortunately this did not quite work out as a result of some technical difficulties so we were only able to exchange live messages but we had some fun doing that as women from both places were able to send their individual messages. Over the last couple of months both organisations had been selling raffle tickets to raise money to make a garden and playspace at Dar Assadaqa. It looks like we have raised around £400 - enough to hire a bulldozer to flatten the front for a games area and hopefully some play equipment and some garden tools.

In Dar Assadaqa we also planned a garden event. The garden has been quite neglected and lots of rubbish has accumulated so we planned a "clean-up the garden day". Unfortunately this turned out to be a wintry, rainy day. So a couple of days before the celebration the women and some of the kids spent an hour or so doing a basic clearance. We invited women to come along and bring plants and seeds or young trees to plant on the day. We had quite a selection including geraniums, quite a few sedums, rose cuttings, vines, a small fig tree and a lemon tree. In contrast to the previous week the day was like a hot summer's day. When 3 o'clock arrived, the appointed starting time of the celebration there were no garden tools and only one of the committee members present. However everything turned out fine and we finally have the start of a garden.




On 8th of March I, Jennifer (the new volunteer) and Nadia went to Ramallah for an International Women's Day gathering. Many different women attended. They gathered in the main square of the city which has four lion sculptures, similar to our Trafalgar Square on a small scale!

Fathya dresses me up in a "thob" of her mother's

Haja Sharifa, one of the oldest residence of Abu Dis, remembers when it was just a short walk to Jerusalem before the wall cut off the road and she used to go there to sell her cheese in the market. She has bitter memories of both the British and the Israeli occupation but still looks forward to a free Palestine.

This is a view from the balcony of the guest house over Jerusalem at sunset.