I taught my last classes today and will be leaving tomorrow. I'll spend the night in Ramallah and go to Jerusalem the day after. Loads of pictures were taken today and I'm looking forward to receiving them by email. After my last class I met my group of uni students from Sundays and Tuesdays in the city centre. They took me to the Piano restaurant which was amazing. Everyone had a fantastic time and the present they got me was magnificent. They were the first class that I taught here and I hope I manage to stay in touch with them all. I've been given so many great things I'll be gutted if I don't manage to get them all (and myself) through security.
Tomorrow (Thursday) I will be at Al-Mustaqbal for the day. I probably won't get the chance to post a comment so this will be the last for the time being. Maybe the next one will be written in the UK.
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Not wanting to leave
I said goodbye (for now) to three of my classes. Last week I thought I was ready to go back home but now I don't want to leave. The only thing I miss from home is my family and friends. I could live without seeing my house, driving my car or going to do my job. None of these things are that important to me. A lot of the time it is very depressing here as there is little that we can do to change the situation. This week every Palestinian I have spoken to seems have told me about the nightmares that have been keeping them awake. I have never met people with so little hope for their future (to be fair why would they?). I will never forget being told, "If you want to lose all hope, come to Palestine" by one of the most amazing individuals I have ever met.
I think being away from here will be more depressing as I will feel even more detached from the situation. So there will be even less I can do. I have given my email address to my classes and hope that some of the students will stay in touch. I will do everything in my power to come back here next year and will be devastated if I can't make it.
On the way back from our weekly volunteers mean we stopped at the home where most of our fellow footballers live. We went to drink tea for the last time with them, despite there being no football today. It was good to have one of our halting french/english/arabic conversations with everyone still feeling included. One of the other volunteers summed up perfectly what we were all thinking. That our homes whether they been Manchester, Paris or London don't have the same sense of community. We don't know the families that live in our street. Here we say hello to everyone, we get involved with each others activities. People invite us to drink coffee and tea all the time.
This is far from paradise though. More like hell to be honest. For most, but especially the young people, there is nothing to do. There is no where for children to play properly, there is no where for young people to go. Part of the reason why we become familiar with the people we see is because they are always in the same place. Just sitting. Now wonder they want to get an education and leave if they can. The boredom must become immense.
Perhaps I have been here long enough though. Time back home might put things into a different kind of perspective. In my last class today, in which I asked the groups to name items in the home, I immediatley assumed that tank and hummer were of the IOF variety. Rather than a water tank and a mis-spelling of the word 'hammer'.
I think being away from here will be more depressing as I will feel even more detached from the situation. So there will be even less I can do. I have given my email address to my classes and hope that some of the students will stay in touch. I will do everything in my power to come back here next year and will be devastated if I can't make it.
On the way back from our weekly volunteers mean we stopped at the home where most of our fellow footballers live. We went to drink tea for the last time with them, despite there being no football today. It was good to have one of our halting french/english/arabic conversations with everyone still feeling included. One of the other volunteers summed up perfectly what we were all thinking. That our homes whether they been Manchester, Paris or London don't have the same sense of community. We don't know the families that live in our street. Here we say hello to everyone, we get involved with each others activities. People invite us to drink coffee and tea all the time.
This is far from paradise though. More like hell to be honest. For most, but especially the young people, there is nothing to do. There is no where for children to play properly, there is no where for young people to go. Part of the reason why we become familiar with the people we see is because they are always in the same place. Just sitting. Now wonder they want to get an education and leave if they can. The boredom must become immense.
Perhaps I have been here long enough though. Time back home might put things into a different kind of perspective. In my last class today, in which I asked the groups to name items in the home, I immediatley assumed that tank and hummer were of the IOF variety. Rather than a water tank and a mis-spelling of the word 'hammer'.
Goodbye from the kids at MCRC
I've taught these kids for the past 5 weeks and see them in the street on the days that I don't teach them. Compared to my usual one lesson a wek with classes at home I feel that I know these children much better. I will definitely miss not teaching them next week.
Monday, 18 August 2008
Two classes and a family dinner
Today was quite easy as I only had two classes. I still amazes me every time I go to New Askhar refugee camp how well turned out the girls always are. They live in what looks like a rubbish tip but they are always immaculately presented. I will hopefully be able to take some pictures of them on Wednesday if they let me so I can show you all how beautiful they are.
Tomorrow will be different as it will be the last lesson with each of the three classes I will be teaching. So mainly an assessment of the previous 5 weeks worth of lessons and saying goodbyes.
The main thing I was looking forward to today was going to the home of one of my students to eat dinner with her family. I stayed for a good four hours and had some fantastic food. The mother of the household had prepared a special cake of which I was given two slices instead of just one like everybody else. I also had tea, coffee, cola, a different kind of cake, fruit I can't pronounce, water melon, chocolate and much more. That I managed to walk out of the house is a miracle.
It was nice to meet her family though she herself had quite a hard time of it translating for us all. She said she wants to be a translator the first time I met her so tonight she definitely had some practice. From tonights dinner I could see how tough it must be for her having two brothers and living in this society. For example she wanted to show me some places near her home but couldn't because no one was able to chaperone. The whole time I was there we had someone sat with us. I have no problem with the concept of this but being watched for four hours was still a little disconcerting. My friend knew this would be the case but still didn't like it.
I'm hoping anyone reading this will realise why I never name names (as in the last paragraph). Though I would like to as these people are my friends, and it bothers me that I can't acknowledge them properly, it's just better all round if I don't.
Tomorrow will be different as it will be the last lesson with each of the three classes I will be teaching. So mainly an assessment of the previous 5 weeks worth of lessons and saying goodbyes.
The main thing I was looking forward to today was going to the home of one of my students to eat dinner with her family. I stayed for a good four hours and had some fantastic food. The mother of the household had prepared a special cake of which I was given two slices instead of just one like everybody else. I also had tea, coffee, cola, a different kind of cake, fruit I can't pronounce, water melon, chocolate and much more. That I managed to walk out of the house is a miracle.
It was nice to meet her family though she herself had quite a hard time of it translating for us all. She said she wants to be a translator the first time I met her so tonight she definitely had some practice. From tonights dinner I could see how tough it must be for her having two brothers and living in this society. For example she wanted to show me some places near her home but couldn't because no one was able to chaperone. The whole time I was there we had someone sat with us. I have no problem with the concept of this but being watched for four hours was still a little disconcerting. My friend knew this would be the case but still didn't like it.
I'm hoping anyone reading this will realise why I never name names (as in the last paragraph). Though I would like to as these people are my friends, and it bothers me that I can't acknowledge them properly, it's just better all round if I don't.
What I've learnt
That though cultures may be different that people are essentially the same-
and that this makes the concept of human rights all the more important
That because of the last point school children are school children wherever they are in the world
That I'm pretty good at sign langauge when I'm trying to explain things
That the situation here is complex but I now have a much better understanding of it
That my previous 2weeks wasn't enough time to gain an insight into life here
That my attempts at Arabic are priceless but I need to learn much more
That 'people' and their 'governments' are not the same thing
That power and control are more important than people (to governments)
That what happens in the world often isn't what the majority want
That the reality of the world is different from my previously idealistic view but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to make it better. However little we can achieve we can still improve it.
That because people live under tough circumstances or in less developed countries it doesn't follow that their minds will reflect this
That the UK isn't the centre of the world
Much of this I knew before but being here has reinforced the ideas. To most intelligent people many of these truisms wil be self evident. To most people in the UK they won't be.
Also...
Fairuz in the morning, Um Kulthuum in the afternoon
That instant coffee isn't really coffee
That I should travel more
That I need to go to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan...
and of course come back to Palestine.
and that this makes the concept of human rights all the more important
That because of the last point school children are school children wherever they are in the world
That I'm pretty good at sign langauge when I'm trying to explain things
That the situation here is complex but I now have a much better understanding of it
That my previous 2weeks wasn't enough time to gain an insight into life here
That my attempts at Arabic are priceless but I need to learn much more
That 'people' and their 'governments' are not the same thing
That power and control are more important than people (to governments)
That what happens in the world often isn't what the majority want
That the reality of the world is different from my previously idealistic view but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to make it better. However little we can achieve we can still improve it.
That because people live under tough circumstances or in less developed countries it doesn't follow that their minds will reflect this
That the UK isn't the centre of the world
Much of this I knew before but being here has reinforced the ideas. To most intelligent people many of these truisms wil be self evident. To most people in the UK they won't be.
Also...
Fairuz in the morning, Um Kulthuum in the afternoon
That instant coffee isn't really coffee
That I should travel more
That I need to go to Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan...
and of course come back to Palestine.
What I will miss and what I won't
I will miss:
The Project Hope staff and local volunteers
The other international volunteers
The smell of coffee in a certain part of the old city
Walking to class
The students in the classes
Drinking tea in a cemetery after playing football
Walking throught the city and seeing someone I know without fail
Kanaffa, Tamrea, etc, etc.
Hearing the sound of languages other than English
Sitting down for breakfast with everyone in the office at Al-Mustaqbal
Knowing that tomorrow is going to be sunny! And the day after, and the day after...
I won't miss:
The checkpoints
Walking up and down countless stairs (Nablus is on a hill)
The squeakey bed I've slept on for the last five weeks
Not being able to have a proper shower
Running out of water
The Project Hope staff and local volunteers
The other international volunteers
The smell of coffee in a certain part of the old city
Walking to class
The students in the classes
Drinking tea in a cemetery after playing football
Walking throught the city and seeing someone I know without fail
Kanaffa, Tamrea, etc, etc.
Hearing the sound of languages other than English
Sitting down for breakfast with everyone in the office at Al-Mustaqbal
Knowing that tomorrow is going to be sunny! And the day after, and the day after...
I won't miss:
The checkpoints
Walking up and down countless stairs (Nablus is on a hill)
The squeakey bed I've slept on for the last five weeks
Not being able to have a proper shower
Running out of water
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Last week
I can see this week going by in the blink of an eye. The 4 weeks I've been here have disappeared in no time at all. At the end of the first class we had another birthday so time for more cake, wearing of daft hats and the singing of songs. There are pictures of me wearing said hat but not in my possession. Once the festivities were over we walked back to the office. On the way we met a relative of the local volunteer I was with so we stopped to have coffee. I can now politely refuse anything that I don't really want but I never refuse the coffee. Only arabic coffee derserving the title 'coffee' and anything else (instant coffee) referred to as Nescafe so as not to dilute the purity of the term.
This is perhaps the best part of being here as a volunteer and not as a tourist. Everyday I speak to people that as a tourist I would never have the opportunity to interact with on the same level. The gentleman I was talking to today owns a carpet/ rug shop in the old city. He is warm and friendly and speaks excellent Enlgish. I am somewhat surprised to learn that he has a degree in commerce from an Egyptian university but less surprised to hear his shop had previously been attacked and burnt down by the IOF.
That's another point about being here. The importance of language. Sometimes throughout this blog I have used IDF other times IOF. The changing of on letter may appear trivial but it is very important. It defines your position in relation to the occupation. It says who's side you are on. I don't see the Israeli army as a defence force anymore. The clearly take attack being the best form of defence very seriously.
This is perhaps the best part of being here as a volunteer and not as a tourist. Everyday I speak to people that as a tourist I would never have the opportunity to interact with on the same level. The gentleman I was talking to today owns a carpet/ rug shop in the old city. He is warm and friendly and speaks excellent Enlgish. I am somewhat surprised to learn that he has a degree in commerce from an Egyptian university but less surprised to hear his shop had previously been attacked and burnt down by the IOF.
That's another point about being here. The importance of language. Sometimes throughout this blog I have used IDF other times IOF. The changing of on letter may appear trivial but it is very important. It defines your position in relation to the occupation. It says who's side you are on. I don't see the Israeli army as a defence force anymore. The clearly take attack being the best form of defence very seriously.
Saturday, 16 August 2008
Social justice workshop & visit to Al-Badan
I had been asked to assist with a social justice workshop running this afternoon. Had I been doing this in English I could have thought of something to keep the class entertained for a few hours off the top of my head. Unfortunately (from my point of view) the learning that needed to take place wasn't related to the English language so the session was delivered in Arabic. After a one hour session delivered by a local teacher I showed the group the Amnesty International animated UDHR film clip. After much searching and finally giving up and contacting AI directly I managed to obtain a link to the film in Arabic. I managed to download the film onto my computer and I managed to get the film to play through the projector. When it was time for the group to watch the film the projector would no longer play the clip and we couldn't get it to work (so the same as a usual lesson back home then...) Luckily one of the Palestinian volunteers came to the rescue setting up his laptop and transferring the film from mine.
Though I obviously couldn't understand the langauge in the film I hadn't anticipated that some of the Palestinians might find it difficult to. When I spoke to the translator after the session she commented that the first few points were wasted on her as she was still trying to tune into the language. The Arabic being more Egyptian than Palestinian. The whole point was that the rights are animated so I'm hoping that I still managed to get the point across.
After the film I of course reverted to type and got the group to go through the little red riding hood activity. This was infinitely more difficult than usual as I had to go through a translator with every explanation but we seemed to get there in the end. At first the appeal from both sides was to build a wall but a big cheer went up when the mediator suggested that they learnt to get along and share resources instead. Perfect result!
After the workshop about 40 of us boarded a coach to Al-Badan. The main reason for this being the long term volunteers that are leaving tomorrow. So the group was a mixture of Project Hope staff, local volunteers and international volunteers. We had a good, chilled out afternoon sitting in the sun and eating too much food. There had been a few rumours about what the place was like and a lot of miscommunication. The 'swimming pool' turned out to be more of a pond you could paddle in at a stretch and the 'water slides' were slides on a children's playground. Highly amusing all round.
Though I obviously couldn't understand the langauge in the film I hadn't anticipated that some of the Palestinians might find it difficult to. When I spoke to the translator after the session she commented that the first few points were wasted on her as she was still trying to tune into the language. The Arabic being more Egyptian than Palestinian. The whole point was that the rights are animated so I'm hoping that I still managed to get the point across.
After the film I of course reverted to type and got the group to go through the little red riding hood activity. This was infinitely more difficult than usual as I had to go through a translator with every explanation but we seemed to get there in the end. At first the appeal from both sides was to build a wall but a big cheer went up when the mediator suggested that they learnt to get along and share resources instead. Perfect result!
After the workshop about 40 of us boarded a coach to Al-Badan. The main reason for this being the long term volunteers that are leaving tomorrow. So the group was a mixture of Project Hope staff, local volunteers and international volunteers. We had a good, chilled out afternoon sitting in the sun and eating too much food. There had been a few rumours about what the place was like and a lot of miscommunication. The 'swimming pool' turned out to be more of a pond you could paddle in at a stretch and the 'water slides' were slides on a children's playground. Highly amusing all round.
Friday, 15 August 2008
Bayt Iba
After writing an article in the morning and generally just catching up on things one of the American volunteers asked if I would like to go with him to Bayt Iba. A small town just outside of Nablus. One of the students from his English class had offered to show him around.
It turned out to be a good afternoon and it was nice to visit a place that I wouldn't have gone to otherwise. We watched a football tournament, which the team from Bayt Iba happened to win, and went on a general tour of the area. As is usual we got invited to our tour guides home to meet the family and sit down for a feast. The house was the typical austere concrete grey from the outside but the inside was magnificent with hand made furniture and golden pictures. The house had a balcony with a fantastic view that once again included land that was forbidden to enter for Palestinians and a road demarcating the boundary. Indeed our guide had been imprisoned for 3 weeks as a 15yr old for setting foot on the road. After being shot at he and has friends decided it would be better to surrender. His parents weren't informed of his incarceration and he was dumped at the checkpoint nearest to his home and forced to walk back home in the middle of the night.
Last time I was here I didn't appreciate the extent of the amount of people who have spent time in Israeli prisons. Everyone knows someone who has spent time inside one whether they be a friend or relative. Most people still know someone who is still inside one. The amount of people surprises me but also discovering that many people that I know have spent a very long time in prison. One guy I know for ten years.
No one here can simply ignore the occupation. It infiltrates every part of their lives.
It turned out to be a good afternoon and it was nice to visit a place that I wouldn't have gone to otherwise. We watched a football tournament, which the team from Bayt Iba happened to win, and went on a general tour of the area. As is usual we got invited to our tour guides home to meet the family and sit down for a feast. The house was the typical austere concrete grey from the outside but the inside was magnificent with hand made furniture and golden pictures. The house had a balcony with a fantastic view that once again included land that was forbidden to enter for Palestinians and a road demarcating the boundary. Indeed our guide had been imprisoned for 3 weeks as a 15yr old for setting foot on the road. After being shot at he and has friends decided it would be better to surrender. His parents weren't informed of his incarceration and he was dumped at the checkpoint nearest to his home and forced to walk back home in the middle of the night.
Last time I was here I didn't appreciate the extent of the amount of people who have spent time in Israeli prisons. Everyone knows someone who has spent time inside one whether they be a friend or relative. Most people still know someone who is still inside one. The amount of people surprises me but also discovering that many people that I know have spent a very long time in prison. One guy I know for ten years.
No one here can simply ignore the occupation. It infiltrates every part of their lives.
Thursday, 14 August 2008
Another teaching week finished, one left to go
I've spent 6 weeks in total in Nablus now and I'm still learning new things everyday. For example as I was walking back from class yesterday an elderly gentleman began talking to me in English. Better English than mine in fact. He is a resident of Nablus and has been all of his life. He remembers when the British were the occupiers and he also remembers when the Jordanians were. Of the three he says the Israeli's are the worst. I suppose that most volunteers here think a little like I do and can't comprehend 60 years of occupation. The Israeli army is in our here and now and as a consequence the visible face of occupation. That this gentlemen remembered so much was daunting but also reminded me that their must be very few people left how can remember a time when there was no occupation.
There are people with parents and grandparents that were born in the same refugee camps that they were. This makes the current 'peace process' and the dragging of heels feel like slow motion to me but to everyone here it is normal. One phrase that keeps cropping up in the things that I read and the words that I hear is that of 'facts on the ground'. Israeli settlements are illegal but they are still there, you can still see them. The longer the pseudo peace processes and accords and whatever else you want to name them continue the more facts on the ground there are. So land that contains settlements with thousands of inhabitants can't become part of a Palestinian state so must be annexed to Israel. The same with the land stolen by the wall or appropriated by other means. It's not in Israel's interests to find a peaceful solution at the present time, not when there is more land to be gained. If peace were in their interests I'm sure it would have been achieved.
I was slightly boosted by reading the interview with the ex-mayor of Nablus, Bassam Shaka. He thinks that international attitudes towards Palestine are changing and that as internationals present in the country we are in a position to influence sentiments back home. This has made me think, especially today, that perhaps I should be trying to make more of my time here and to use it wisely for creating an impact back home. To this end I'm going to devote some time tomorrow to writing some artices and thinking about how I can best utilise what I have learnt in my time here. As I now only have one week left this seems like the perfect time to do it.
There are people with parents and grandparents that were born in the same refugee camps that they were. This makes the current 'peace process' and the dragging of heels feel like slow motion to me but to everyone here it is normal. One phrase that keeps cropping up in the things that I read and the words that I hear is that of 'facts on the ground'. Israeli settlements are illegal but they are still there, you can still see them. The longer the pseudo peace processes and accords and whatever else you want to name them continue the more facts on the ground there are. So land that contains settlements with thousands of inhabitants can't become part of a Palestinian state so must be annexed to Israel. The same with the land stolen by the wall or appropriated by other means. It's not in Israel's interests to find a peaceful solution at the present time, not when there is more land to be gained. If peace were in their interests I'm sure it would have been achieved.
I was slightly boosted by reading the interview with the ex-mayor of Nablus, Bassam Shaka. He thinks that international attitudes towards Palestine are changing and that as internationals present in the country we are in a position to influence sentiments back home. This has made me think, especially today, that perhaps I should be trying to make more of my time here and to use it wisely for creating an impact back home. To this end I'm going to devote some time tomorrow to writing some artices and thinking about how I can best utilise what I have learnt in my time here. As I now only have one week left this seems like the perfect time to do it.
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Project Hope Volunteers interview ex-mayor of Nablus
Please find below links of an ITV with Bassam Shaka in Nablus.
Picture is by Christian Betheuil.
Here http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14071
and here http://www.imemc.org/article/56523
Best regards
Frank Barat
Picture is by Christian Betheuil.
Here http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=14071
and here http://www.imemc.org/article/56523
Best regards
Frank Barat
Andy's arm makes it onto the front page of the Maan news website
The importance of last night's events of course attacted media attention and lots of people taking pictures. As I was at the front, near the candles, and holding a banner I was caught by the camera's:
http://www.maanimages.com/ShowImage.php?photoid=52678
Well, just my arm holding the placard. That would be the one that is different to the other two! We all regard Maan News as our most important news outlet but it is still quite strange to read some of the headlines on there. Things are added as they happen and being here we are often already aware but oftentimes we read about things we had no idea about. This is mainly news about the IDF raids. Nablus at night is a different place from Nablus during the day. As most of the raids occur during the small hours, inside the refugee camps, we are rarely affected in the Project Hope apartment. For this reason we aren't out in the street after 11pm.
This change between night and day is also reflected in the policing here. During the day it is the Palestinian Authority police and at night the IDF. This is one of the many absurdities here. If the IDF have a raid they tell the police to go home and they are then without any authority. Though I have been told that Nablus is much quieter with the new PA police force from what I have seen of them they just seem to do more of the IDF's dirty work. Checking ID cards etc. People have this enough at the various checkpoints located around the city so I don't know why Palestinians are checking other Palestinians as they drive their cars around the city.
'Security' I have discovered is a favourite word of the Israeli's. It's a word that covers every eventuality. If you don't have a reason or more likely don't want to say your reason for doing something just say the reason is 'security'. They are untouchable anyway though so I don't know why they bother. As an article on the AlJazeera news website today clearly demonstrates:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/08/2008813164823716764.html
A tank crew kill a journalist by shelling his car but will face no charges. They weren't able to differentiate between him holding a camera, a mortar or a rocket launcher so they killed him. Perhaps in that case looking at the giant TV and Press stickers all over his care might have helped to clarify things.
At first I thought the situation here was Kafkaesque - mindless bureacracy that ruined and controlled peoples lives without their knowing the reason why. You want a permit to travel- Refused. Why? You don't know. They don't have to give a reason. Now I realise that the exact opposite is true. Everything has been thought out quite brilliantly. From the 'security' wall that now actually traps 200,000 Palestinians in 'Israel' because they are on the wrong side of it (so how exactly does that make you more secure?) to playing the victim when you are actually the aggressor.
It annoys me so much that the only image people have of the region is children throwing stones at tanks. Partly because no one ever seems to ask the question why they would do this and partly because what they get back is much, much worse- tear gas,sound bombs, live rounds. The same with the martyr's or suicide bombers. No one asks why someone might feel so desperate as to blow themselves up. The media has done yet another fantastic job of distorting the reality to serve political ends. How about a picture of settler children attacking a palestinian home or spitting at an old person in the street? How about a picture of their parents spurring them on and then attacking the IDF when even they find the situation too warped? Or how about showing what the Palestinian people and their culture are genuinely like. Not the extremists that don't represent the majority.
I have read a few different books in my time here that have helped me to learn as much as the sitaution here has. I've come to realise, or believe, that things don't change because everything can't be compressed into an easily digestible soundbite or slogan. This is what people want though. Easy, uncomplicated solutions. This is what people want so this is what their governments deliver. So it probably is true that people get the government they deserve. No one wants to look at the evidence or delve deeply to make reasoned decisions they want a quick fix.
http://www.maanimages.com/ShowImage.php?photoid=52678
Well, just my arm holding the placard. That would be the one that is different to the other two! We all regard Maan News as our most important news outlet but it is still quite strange to read some of the headlines on there. Things are added as they happen and being here we are often already aware but oftentimes we read about things we had no idea about. This is mainly news about the IDF raids. Nablus at night is a different place from Nablus during the day. As most of the raids occur during the small hours, inside the refugee camps, we are rarely affected in the Project Hope apartment. For this reason we aren't out in the street after 11pm.
This change between night and day is also reflected in the policing here. During the day it is the Palestinian Authority police and at night the IDF. This is one of the many absurdities here. If the IDF have a raid they tell the police to go home and they are then without any authority. Though I have been told that Nablus is much quieter with the new PA police force from what I have seen of them they just seem to do more of the IDF's dirty work. Checking ID cards etc. People have this enough at the various checkpoints located around the city so I don't know why Palestinians are checking other Palestinians as they drive their cars around the city.
'Security' I have discovered is a favourite word of the Israeli's. It's a word that covers every eventuality. If you don't have a reason or more likely don't want to say your reason for doing something just say the reason is 'security'. They are untouchable anyway though so I don't know why they bother. As an article on the AlJazeera news website today clearly demonstrates:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/08/2008813164823716764.html
A tank crew kill a journalist by shelling his car but will face no charges. They weren't able to differentiate between him holding a camera, a mortar or a rocket launcher so they killed him. Perhaps in that case looking at the giant TV and Press stickers all over his care might have helped to clarify things.
At first I thought the situation here was Kafkaesque - mindless bureacracy that ruined and controlled peoples lives without their knowing the reason why. You want a permit to travel- Refused. Why? You don't know. They don't have to give a reason. Now I realise that the exact opposite is true. Everything has been thought out quite brilliantly. From the 'security' wall that now actually traps 200,000 Palestinians in 'Israel' because they are on the wrong side of it (so how exactly does that make you more secure?) to playing the victim when you are actually the aggressor.
It annoys me so much that the only image people have of the region is children throwing stones at tanks. Partly because no one ever seems to ask the question why they would do this and partly because what they get back is much, much worse- tear gas,sound bombs, live rounds. The same with the martyr's or suicide bombers. No one asks why someone might feel so desperate as to blow themselves up. The media has done yet another fantastic job of distorting the reality to serve political ends. How about a picture of settler children attacking a palestinian home or spitting at an old person in the street? How about a picture of their parents spurring them on and then attacking the IDF when even they find the situation too warped? Or how about showing what the Palestinian people and their culture are genuinely like. Not the extremists that don't represent the majority.
I have read a few different books in my time here that have helped me to learn as much as the sitaution here has. I've come to realise, or believe, that things don't change because everything can't be compressed into an easily digestible soundbite or slogan. This is what people want though. Easy, uncomplicated solutions. This is what people want so this is what their governments deliver. So it probably is true that people get the government they deserve. No one wants to look at the evidence or delve deeply to make reasoned decisions they want a quick fix.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Mahmoud Darwish
The Palestinian 'national' poet Mahmoud Darwish died a couple of days ago and will be buried in Ramallah tomorrow. To celebrate his life and work a memorial service was held in the centre of Nablus. The manager of one of the centres that I work at arranged placards and candles for people to hold. I had been informed about the service on my way to the centre this morning and the manager infromed the class during the lesson. He also invited Project Hope volunteers to come along.
I had contemplated playing football after my last class, especially since this has introduced me to the majority of young people (males) in the area but decided that going to the city centre to see something that will only happen once was a much better idea. In the end this turned out to be the case. I hadn't realised that I would be given a placard and candle and still expect things to be like they are at home. The manager was very pleased that I had turned up and endeavoured to include me in everything.
The memorial service was a combination of poetry, speeches and songs. I saw a few of the pupils that I teach as well as some of their families which was nice. Though I didnt understand most of the talking a section was set aside to thank the volunteers of Project Hope and other internationals for their solidarity. A poem was also read in English which was much appreciated. Throughout the service I was a little worried that I might cause offence by my holding the placard as I'm not Palestinian and don't know much about Darwish. As the manager had given me the placard to hold I assumed it was ok though I was still a little dubious. When the ceremony had finished two Palestinian women came to shake my hand and say thanks for giving my support. The second woman commenting that my holding the placard for so long made me more Palestinian than some Palestinian's! She left me saying that she believes me to be Palestinian in my heart. I nearly cried.
I was proud to hold the placard and I am proud to be here with the Palestinian people. On the days when it is hard I think I will be happier back home but I know that I will miss many things when I do eventually have to go back. I'm glad I came here again as the two weeks I was here before really wasn't enough time to gain a true understanding of the situation. I clearly don't understand everything now but I have learnt a great deal.
Being at a service for a poet reminded my of why I wanted to be here so much in the first place. Though the thought had crossed my mind because of the injustices I had heard about the main reason I wanted to come was because of another poet, Nathalie Handal. He words made the situation here more real than any report or document ever could. Now that I have spent the best part of six weeks in the country (this year) her words seem to ring true more than ever. From talking to people about Abdul Haleem and Umm Kulthum to the checkpoints and house demolitions her poetry seems to encapsulate Palestine. I know that when I go home I won't be able to explain what it is like here. To talk about a demolished house is not the same as drinking tea and talking to the people whose home is now gone and seeing it with your own eyes. Instead of telling people to read reports or look on activist websites perhaps I will tell them to read Darwish or Handal. Or better still listen to them.
I had contemplated playing football after my last class, especially since this has introduced me to the majority of young people (males) in the area but decided that going to the city centre to see something that will only happen once was a much better idea. In the end this turned out to be the case. I hadn't realised that I would be given a placard and candle and still expect things to be like they are at home. The manager was very pleased that I had turned up and endeavoured to include me in everything.
The memorial service was a combination of poetry, speeches and songs. I saw a few of the pupils that I teach as well as some of their families which was nice. Though I didnt understand most of the talking a section was set aside to thank the volunteers of Project Hope and other internationals for their solidarity. A poem was also read in English which was much appreciated. Throughout the service I was a little worried that I might cause offence by my holding the placard as I'm not Palestinian and don't know much about Darwish. As the manager had given me the placard to hold I assumed it was ok though I was still a little dubious. When the ceremony had finished two Palestinian women came to shake my hand and say thanks for giving my support. The second woman commenting that my holding the placard for so long made me more Palestinian than some Palestinian's! She left me saying that she believes me to be Palestinian in my heart. I nearly cried.
I was proud to hold the placard and I am proud to be here with the Palestinian people. On the days when it is hard I think I will be happier back home but I know that I will miss many things when I do eventually have to go back. I'm glad I came here again as the two weeks I was here before really wasn't enough time to gain a true understanding of the situation. I clearly don't understand everything now but I have learnt a great deal.
Being at a service for a poet reminded my of why I wanted to be here so much in the first place. Though the thought had crossed my mind because of the injustices I had heard about the main reason I wanted to come was because of another poet, Nathalie Handal. He words made the situation here more real than any report or document ever could. Now that I have spent the best part of six weeks in the country (this year) her words seem to ring true more than ever. From talking to people about Abdul Haleem and Umm Kulthum to the checkpoints and house demolitions her poetry seems to encapsulate Palestine. I know that when I go home I won't be able to explain what it is like here. To talk about a demolished house is not the same as drinking tea and talking to the people whose home is now gone and seeing it with your own eyes. Instead of telling people to read reports or look on activist websites perhaps I will tell them to read Darwish or Handal. Or better still listen to them.
Monday, 11 August 2008
OCHA
A meeting had been arranged with OCHA (Organisation for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs)for after our classes today. As they are a UN organisation separate from UNRWA (the one set up specifically to deal with Palestinian refugees) I was keen to go along. The first thing I wasn't expecting was the fact that they have just three members of staff based in Nablus responsible for a massive area within the West Bank. They have a huge range of activities but basically they monitor all of the checkpoints and settler violence (protection), they work with all of the other organisations that are delivering humanitarian aid (co-ordination) and they bring all of this information to important actors in the region such as middle east envoys- Tony Blair et al (advocacy). So we were quite lucky to get the briefing from them.
I knew that they wouldn't be immune from the frustrations in the region but yet again I didn't forsee how bad these could be. One thing I had never really thought about unitl today was the 'back to back' checkpoints were the vehicle isn't allowed through the checkpoint but must transfer its cargo from one vehichle to another. (one vehicle on one side of the checkpoint, one on the other). This doesn't sound so terrible but it doubles associated transport costs and is often the case for vehicles carrying human cargo. The last time I was in Jerusalem I saw someone being transferred from a Red Crescent ambulance on my side of the checkpoint to another on the other side. Apparently this is an improvement as up until about a year ago having a Palestinian ambulance on the other side wouldn't have been allowed!
As I had read more testimonies from the 'Breaking the Silence' booklet this morning I wasn't in the best of moods. Reading these things seems to make it so much worse when your actually here and you can quite clearly imagine the places being talked about. Whilst I was waiting for my class to turn up in Balata I was talking to the local Palestinian volunteer about an Israli settlement we could see from the balcony we were standing on. The most prominent feature of the landscape is a big hill, in front of this two roads and then Balata camp itself. The road nearest the settlement is for Israeli's only. For some reason this annoyed me much more than it ever has before. A road that only people of a certain ethnicity can use. It's absurd. It's apartheid. That I could see it only a couple of hundred metres in the distance was so frustrating and I was tempted to go and stand on the road just for the hell of it. Non of the Palestinians I was with would contemplate going near the road as they know full well that they would be arrested immediatley if they did.
This total injustice and insanity and the fact that there's nothing that you can do about it is frustrating beyond words. This is the word that everyone who works here uses 'frustration'. Knowing that it is obvious and immoral that the things are the way they are but also knowing at the same time that nothing will change any time soon. In some ways though I was slightly boosted by the OCHA talk. The main guy giving the briefing said that he can't change everything and that it will take a very long time to effect real change but it was better to be here and doing something that not being here. Yes, lots of injustice does happen but perhaps there would be more if they weren't here. I know that that is the way I ought to be looking at things. That I can't possibly hope to make a big change but can make small differences. It's the kind of thing I always say to my classes back home ("you might not be able to save everyone in the world but the people you do help will be grateful, etc") but it's much harder to believe it being here.
I knew that they wouldn't be immune from the frustrations in the region but yet again I didn't forsee how bad these could be. One thing I had never really thought about unitl today was the 'back to back' checkpoints were the vehicle isn't allowed through the checkpoint but must transfer its cargo from one vehichle to another. (one vehicle on one side of the checkpoint, one on the other). This doesn't sound so terrible but it doubles associated transport costs and is often the case for vehicles carrying human cargo. The last time I was in Jerusalem I saw someone being transferred from a Red Crescent ambulance on my side of the checkpoint to another on the other side. Apparently this is an improvement as up until about a year ago having a Palestinian ambulance on the other side wouldn't have been allowed!
As I had read more testimonies from the 'Breaking the Silence' booklet this morning I wasn't in the best of moods. Reading these things seems to make it so much worse when your actually here and you can quite clearly imagine the places being talked about. Whilst I was waiting for my class to turn up in Balata I was talking to the local Palestinian volunteer about an Israli settlement we could see from the balcony we were standing on. The most prominent feature of the landscape is a big hill, in front of this two roads and then Balata camp itself. The road nearest the settlement is for Israeli's only. For some reason this annoyed me much more than it ever has before. A road that only people of a certain ethnicity can use. It's absurd. It's apartheid. That I could see it only a couple of hundred metres in the distance was so frustrating and I was tempted to go and stand on the road just for the hell of it. Non of the Palestinians I was with would contemplate going near the road as they know full well that they would be arrested immediatley if they did.
This total injustice and insanity and the fact that there's nothing that you can do about it is frustrating beyond words. This is the word that everyone who works here uses 'frustration'. Knowing that it is obvious and immoral that the things are the way they are but also knowing at the same time that nothing will change any time soon. In some ways though I was slightly boosted by the OCHA talk. The main guy giving the briefing said that he can't change everything and that it will take a very long time to effect real change but it was better to be here and doing something that not being here. Yes, lots of injustice does happen but perhaps there would be more if they weren't here. I know that that is the way I ought to be looking at things. That I can't possibly hope to make a big change but can make small differences. It's the kind of thing I always say to my classes back home ("you might not be able to save everyone in the world but the people you do help will be grateful, etc") but it's much harder to believe it being here.
Sunday, 10 August 2008
The apartment on Saturday
It was quite good to be in the apartment on Saturday when most of the other volunteers were away as it gave me time to think about the tour yesterday as well as the rest of my three weeks here. I read the Breaking the Silence booklets we had been given at the end of the tour. These contain testimonies from soldiers that have served in the Hebron area. A very grim read really but also quite surprising in many ways. I was expecting tales of abuse of Palestinians but I also found stories of settlers abusing the IDF as well. Some of the IDF soldiers clealy wanted to be as humane as possible but often the reality of a situation took over. They weren't in a position to influence every action in a given situation.
For example a platoon commander that fired over the heads of fleeing suspects to get them to stop inadvertantly encouraged one of his soldiers to fire directly at them by the same action. It would be easy to become polarised being here but it is often reassuring to hear Palestians say that they don't dislike or hate Jews it's the Israeli government that they have a problem with (the same with America). I know there will be many here that won't make that distinction but I suspect they would be the more extreme minority. Most people, like the farmers we met at Susya, just want to get on with their lives and looking after their families.
Though I don't condone the actions I read about in the Breaking the Silence booklets I think that I can appreciate how many of the situations may arise. Boredom leads people to creating their own entertainment and a culture of impunity for crimes committed by soldeirs will not help to reduce them. I do think that regularly attacking and disrutping the lives of innnocent people wil make them more likely to become militants if they weren't before. Precisely what the 'war on terror' is achieving. You cannot constantly terrorise a population (like the IDF do) without deeply affecting their pysche for years to come. I have always been amazed at how normal people here turn out and how nice some of the children are knowing some of the things they have witnessed. This is even more the case now I have a greater understanding and awareness of the area.
This is not to say the Palestinians are perfect. Far from it. The infighting between Hamas and Fatah must be music to the ears of the Israeli government. Whilst they squabble over power, money and control the IDF take more of their land. I can't help thinking of the film 'Lawrence of Arabia' when I hear reports about Fatah and Hamas on the news, especially the part when the clans are all arguing after reaching Aquaba and Peter O'Toole says they will remain a 'little people' a 'silly people' if they continue to tear themselves apart. Though the context here isn't the same and the future isn't determined by just the actions of the Palestinians I still think some of the sentiment rings true.
Like people anywhere there are 'good' and 'bad' people. A child today tried to steal my watch and when we go out in a big group we sometimes get stones thrown at us by the children in the street. When I was still at home I read 'Long Way Down' about Boorman and McGregor and they talked about something similar as they rode their bikes through certain villages. Being here has made me think a great deal about how individuals are influenced and shaped by the environment around them. On the first day I was here, whilst trying to sleep off my flight, I was constantly woken by 'explosions' in the street. This has become a daily phenomenon and I don't even notice them anymore. They aren't from the IDF or militants but children playing with fireworks in the street. Children that are regularly deprived of sleep because of incursions and genuine explosions entertain themselves by making loud bangs of their own. I can only guess that this is a power thing, a way of showing that you are someone.
I believe that I can see both sides of this conflict despite being firmly placed on one side. The Palestinians should have a state of their own and the Israeli's should stop stealing their land. Ideally the settlers should be removed from the West Bank though I know this will never happen. Terrorizing the civilian population and collectively punishing them, which is what happens here, is illegal under international law and is of course morally abhorent as well. The Palestinians say that their state exists inside of each of them and I can clearly see this. I doubt an actual state will come about any time soon and am much more pessimistic in this regard than I was before I arrived here.
For example a platoon commander that fired over the heads of fleeing suspects to get them to stop inadvertantly encouraged one of his soldiers to fire directly at them by the same action. It would be easy to become polarised being here but it is often reassuring to hear Palestians say that they don't dislike or hate Jews it's the Israeli government that they have a problem with (the same with America). I know there will be many here that won't make that distinction but I suspect they would be the more extreme minority. Most people, like the farmers we met at Susya, just want to get on with their lives and looking after their families.
Though I don't condone the actions I read about in the Breaking the Silence booklets I think that I can appreciate how many of the situations may arise. Boredom leads people to creating their own entertainment and a culture of impunity for crimes committed by soldeirs will not help to reduce them. I do think that regularly attacking and disrutping the lives of innnocent people wil make them more likely to become militants if they weren't before. Precisely what the 'war on terror' is achieving. You cannot constantly terrorise a population (like the IDF do) without deeply affecting their pysche for years to come. I have always been amazed at how normal people here turn out and how nice some of the children are knowing some of the things they have witnessed. This is even more the case now I have a greater understanding and awareness of the area.
This is not to say the Palestinians are perfect. Far from it. The infighting between Hamas and Fatah must be music to the ears of the Israeli government. Whilst they squabble over power, money and control the IDF take more of their land. I can't help thinking of the film 'Lawrence of Arabia' when I hear reports about Fatah and Hamas on the news, especially the part when the clans are all arguing after reaching Aquaba and Peter O'Toole says they will remain a 'little people' a 'silly people' if they continue to tear themselves apart. Though the context here isn't the same and the future isn't determined by just the actions of the Palestinians I still think some of the sentiment rings true.
Like people anywhere there are 'good' and 'bad' people. A child today tried to steal my watch and when we go out in a big group we sometimes get stones thrown at us by the children in the street. When I was still at home I read 'Long Way Down' about Boorman and McGregor and they talked about something similar as they rode their bikes through certain villages. Being here has made me think a great deal about how individuals are influenced and shaped by the environment around them. On the first day I was here, whilst trying to sleep off my flight, I was constantly woken by 'explosions' in the street. This has become a daily phenomenon and I don't even notice them anymore. They aren't from the IDF or militants but children playing with fireworks in the street. Children that are regularly deprived of sleep because of incursions and genuine explosions entertain themselves by making loud bangs of their own. I can only guess that this is a power thing, a way of showing that you are someone.
I believe that I can see both sides of this conflict despite being firmly placed on one side. The Palestinians should have a state of their own and the Israeli's should stop stealing their land. Ideally the settlers should be removed from the West Bank though I know this will never happen. Terrorizing the civilian population and collectively punishing them, which is what happens here, is illegal under international law and is of course morally abhorent as well. The Palestinians say that their state exists inside of each of them and I can clearly see this. I doubt an actual state will come about any time soon and am much more pessimistic in this regard than I was before I arrived here.
Friday, 8 August 2008
Jerusalem and Breaking the Silence tour in the Southern Hebron hills
As we had to meet the tour leaders at 8.30 on Friday morning we went to Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon. This took us about two and half hours but once we had sorted out the various hotels and hostels we were all staying at we went for a very nice meal. The major downside to Jerusalem is that we are used to the prices in Nablus so everything sounds obscenely expensive. It is about three times as much but for a place with such a focus on tourism it's really not that bad. Usually I can take or leave alcohol but I can honestly say the beer I had in the restaurant was without doubt the best I have ever tasted.
We stayed at a youth hostel around the corner from Damascus Gate and just had to pay for our beds for the night. This was fine but ten people in one small room and the heat meant we got little sleep. As did the fact that the noise outside became deafening from by about 6am. Despite this we still thought we were going to be late (and were) but so was the bus.
Originally the tours were conducted in the cty of Hebron by soldiers that have served there. Due to the increase in violence in the area and in particular that aimed at the tours they are now conducted in the South Hebron hills. From the last time I was in the West Bank I had been left with the impression that settlements were filled with people that couldn't afford housing in Israel proper and so were at the mercy of their governments evil machinations. I now know that this clearly isn't the case. In reality the settlers are often the most radical Zionists who often think they are above the government. They believe that all of the area of 'Israel' (including the West Bank and Gaza)should be theirs.
I read the other day that there are roughly half a million people living as settlers within the West Bank. I knew that this would make a two state solution to the problem difficult but I didn't comprehend to what extent. The setttlements themselves coupled with a variety of other underhand tricks allow Israel to continually annex more and more land. Thought the settlements are illegal under international law it hasn't stopped them continuing to be built. The settlements are what the Israeli government approve but there are also outposts which are settlements that have been constructed illegally under Israeli law. Of course the government does nothing to remove these either.
During the second intifada (uprising of Palestinians starting in September 2000) the Israeli's created 'security buffer zones' around the settlements. This allowed them to steal even more land as they declared that any Palestinians entering the zones would be immediately arrested. So land that previously belonged to a Palestinian farmer becomes part of the settlement. That there might be wells in the zone or a road that needs to be used is an irrelevance.
Each settlement also has a security officer who is financed from the defence ministry. Though as an occupying force the IDF are obliged to ensure the safety of the Palestinians... In reality the settlers are able to attack the Palestinian land owners with impunity. They poison wells, they attack old people, they destroy homes and when the IDF come to investigate they say they can proceed no further as they don't know who committed the crime. Despite the fact that they have patrols who regulary monitor the security buffer zones...
Other useful tricks include making people have permits for their homes (based on centuries old laws)and destroying them if they don't have them, stopping people gaining access to their own land cultivating it themselves and thereby 'legally' allowing it to change hands. Perhaps one of the worst was when they constructed a 41km long half a metre high concrete fence. At first I didn't understand this but I'm not a farmer or land owner. Even a low wall like this prevents tractors from working the land, stops sheep being moved from one grazing area to another, etc.
The annoying thing is I could go on and on. Until today I didn't realize the significance of land grab and what it meant, especially how it clouds the peace process so much (I'm aware that that is a somewhat ridiculous term). Israel continues to give permission for more settlements to be built. As far as I am concerned that means they do not want peace, they never will, they never have and they are systematically eradicating the Palestinians.
Yesterday settlers attacked a group of British diplomats in an armoured car. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7547373.stm
We didn't witness any violence but I really do feel for the farmers we met. They live in an Area C area (Area C- Israeli controlled security/civil admin, B- joint, A Palestinian Authority) so they are under the auspices of the IDF who don't care and because of this the PA don't care either. These people don't have any political clout so why should anyone care about them or their children?
At the end of the tour the guide said that he thinks that nothing will be done and that eventually they will lose their land and need to work in the nearest town (exactly what Israel has been trying to achieve). This was very disheartening as was his comment that it's likely that 30, 40 years or more will be needed before anything changes.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
End of the teaching week
Tomorrow I will be at Al-Mustaqbal again so today was the last teaching day of the week. I have three classes with just about enough time between them to make the journey's across the city. The first being in the old city, the second at Balata and the thrird in New Askhar. The day was the same as usual for a Wednesday. First class great, hardly any students showed up at Balata (3 this time) and the class at the end fantastic. One difference was that I had a volunteer that I hadn't met before. The guy teaches about Islam at An-Najah Univeristy and has just completed his masters degree in Islamic History. Like all students here his first degree took him 4 years (his masters degree also took 4 years!) It is normal that students spend longer to complete their degrees here than at home. This seems to be partly because on all courses the first year is a general overview of everything in a related field and then specialisation starts in the second year. Many students got to Jordan to complete degrees then return home to Nablus.
I had often wondered if the Al-Quds Open University here is the same format as the OU study I have completed at home and it is indeed the same. It was the first distance/ home study university in the arab world. I have met one person who has studied there but the majority attend An-Najah, the national university which is based in Nablus.
This weekend I will be going to Jerusalem on Thursday evening in preparation for attending a Breaking the Silence Tour on Friday morning. The tour is South of the city of Hebron and delivered by former IDF soldiers that have served in the area. I heard about this the last time I was here and everyone that has been on the tour has commented on how good it is and well worth the effort.
Next Saturday I will be assisting with a 3 hour social justice workshop that will be run from Project Hope. There will be around 30-40 children from the various camps attending, those that have had previous lessons on social justice delivered by the Project Hope co-ordinator for this subject. I was only asked to do this yesterday so I have been trying to think of ideas for the day. We have a projector and laptops so a short film is a possibility. Ideally I would like to show the Amnesty International animated UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) but so far I can't find an Arabic version. I've found it in Zulu and 10 langauges I'd never heard of but not Arabic!
I had often wondered if the Al-Quds Open University here is the same format as the OU study I have completed at home and it is indeed the same. It was the first distance/ home study university in the arab world. I have met one person who has studied there but the majority attend An-Najah, the national university which is based in Nablus.
This weekend I will be going to Jerusalem on Thursday evening in preparation for attending a Breaking the Silence Tour on Friday morning. The tour is South of the city of Hebron and delivered by former IDF soldiers that have served in the area. I heard about this the last time I was here and everyone that has been on the tour has commented on how good it is and well worth the effort.
Next Saturday I will be assisting with a 3 hour social justice workshop that will be run from Project Hope. There will be around 30-40 children from the various camps attending, those that have had previous lessons on social justice delivered by the Project Hope co-ordinator for this subject. I was only asked to do this yesterday so I have been trying to think of ideas for the day. We have a projector and laptops so a short film is a possibility. Ideally I would like to show the Amnesty International animated UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) but so far I can't find an Arabic version. I've found it in Zulu and 10 langauges I'd never heard of but not Arabic!
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
Birthday cake
One of the students from my first class of the day was 16 today. At the end of the class she asked me to stay for a while as her brother was bringing her birthday cake. Though it was her birthday I was given the first piece of the cake once it had been cut. I was expecting an Arabic song but they all sang the usual English version of 'Happy Birthday'. Well the same apart from the fact that it was repeated a second time a hundred times quicker than the first. It's nice to feel included in everything though I have only been here for a short time which makes it all the more disappointing that I wont be here for Ramadan. With it being about a month away everyone is looking forward to it and talking about it. Nablus would be an amazing place to be at this point on the Islamic calendar. I will be teaching my year 8's about Islam when I return home so I'm hoping to ask some of my more able pupils to help me plan some lessons. In return this will help them to develop their English. Or so I hope.
My second class of the day was enormously good fun. We had some intelopers at the beginning (some adults that happened to be in the centre at the time) who couldn't seem to resist joining in. This did however add to the lesson rather than detract from it. Being here I have become so used to anything happening that it doesn't surprise me when it does. I have also mastered the art of teaching English with nothing more than a pen and board to write on- no worksheets, no visuals, no textbooks, no computers and definitely no interactive whiteboard! Today I was hoping to teach the class directions: left, right, straight ahead, etc. I decided that a variation of the minefield activity (though for obvious reasons I though it best not to use the mine theme) from my Prince's Trust days would be the most fun. So after a breif explanation of the various directions I let the class guide me around the classroom full of obstacles with my eyes close. The aim being to get me from one side of the room to the other without touching anything. The main danger with this activity is that the class don't take it seriously and it just ends up being a health and safety nightmare. The opposite was of course the case and they very diligently and enthusiastically guided me across the room. Each child then had a go with their eyes closed.
Having them in a line and trying to get them to turn left and right was highly amusing. As plenty of native speakers seem to have trouble with left and right I wasn't expecting perfection. Some got it straight away whilst others were constantly piroetting on the spot. Good fun all round though.
The most challenging class that I teach is an hour and a half long conversation class held on Sunday and Tuesday. It's more difficult because it's never that easy to get people to debate or spontaneously break into conversation, even more so when it is necessary that this happens in a foreign language. Today's topic was food and this proved to be one of the easier lessons because of the scope and range of things we could talk about on this theme.
I rushed back from the class to play football again but I not sure how good an idea us continuing with this is. We won again and locals are getting more and more frustrated. Perhaps a mixed team might be better next time. I keep thinking back to footage I saw of a UN arranged match between the peacekeepers and locals in Kosovo that ended in riot. We stopped countless times today whilst a few Palestinians argued about something or other. I couldn't work out what it was and just wanted to play football.
My second class of the day was enormously good fun. We had some intelopers at the beginning (some adults that happened to be in the centre at the time) who couldn't seem to resist joining in. This did however add to the lesson rather than detract from it. Being here I have become so used to anything happening that it doesn't surprise me when it does. I have also mastered the art of teaching English with nothing more than a pen and board to write on- no worksheets, no visuals, no textbooks, no computers and definitely no interactive whiteboard! Today I was hoping to teach the class directions: left, right, straight ahead, etc. I decided that a variation of the minefield activity (though for obvious reasons I though it best not to use the mine theme) from my Prince's Trust days would be the most fun. So after a breif explanation of the various directions I let the class guide me around the classroom full of obstacles with my eyes close. The aim being to get me from one side of the room to the other without touching anything. The main danger with this activity is that the class don't take it seriously and it just ends up being a health and safety nightmare. The opposite was of course the case and they very diligently and enthusiastically guided me across the room. Each child then had a go with their eyes closed.
Having them in a line and trying to get them to turn left and right was highly amusing. As plenty of native speakers seem to have trouble with left and right I wasn't expecting perfection. Some got it straight away whilst others were constantly piroetting on the spot. Good fun all round though.
The most challenging class that I teach is an hour and a half long conversation class held on Sunday and Tuesday. It's more difficult because it's never that easy to get people to debate or spontaneously break into conversation, even more so when it is necessary that this happens in a foreign language. Today's topic was food and this proved to be one of the easier lessons because of the scope and range of things we could talk about on this theme.
I rushed back from the class to play football again but I not sure how good an idea us continuing with this is. We won again and locals are getting more and more frustrated. Perhaps a mixed team might be better next time. I keep thinking back to footage I saw of a UN arranged match between the peacekeepers and locals in Kosovo that ended in riot. We stopped countless times today whilst a few Palestinians argued about something or other. I couldn't work out what it was and just wanted to play football.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Pulling funny faces
The three classes I had today were planned to be subjected to my lesson on naming the various body parts. This had been great fun with some groups last week so I thought I would repeat it. As is turned out only two of the classes went ahead and the third just didn't happen. A class was due to start in Balata today at 12-2 but at quarter past 12 I only had one student. By 1pm the number had only increased to 2. The youngster that turned up first did his best to ring around his friends and knock on their doors to get them out of bed but with obviously little success. From his conversations with my Palestinian volunteer it became clear that the boys had been up until 5am playing computer games so English class with me wasn't going to be high up on the agenda. To be fair it is their summer holidays from school at the moment. The situation reminded me of when I used to work for the Prince's Trust and the difficulties we often had getting people to attend the session. Many of the team members were long term unemployed and doing something when you are used to doing nothing takes time. I think it will be better if they move the class to the evening so that we have a greater chance of some of the group turning up. We shall see on Wednesday anyway, when the next class is scheduled to take place...
In Askhar camp I had another fantastic lesson with the group of 8 girls that live there. They were very quick to learn the body parts that they didn't know (difficult ones like neck, chin, shin, cheeks) and I'm putting this down to my pulling my ears and cheeks etc and making them laugh. Our lessons are always fun but the girls are just as competitive as the boys. Woe betide anyone that forgets to give their team a point! They can remember exactly why they should have the point and exactly when they won it. Their level of English and the vocabularly never fails to astonish me. Most of the class take part in a master class at Project Hope called 'Bridge to the World' were they will use the computers to write blogs and compose emails. I am hoping that it will be with these children that I have taught thatI can link with my classes back at Cheadle Hulme High School.
I had a different local volunteer with me when I arrived in New Askhar today and it was a bit embarassing when I got to the centre. Kids all over the place were shouting my name and saying hello from the rooftops, in the street, on balconies and then the same again when I got inside. Like a celebrity. Foreign people are so rare (apart from Project Hope volunteers) that we are always stared at wherever we go. This isn't as unnerving as it sounds as the people here are genuinely interested in you and want to talk to you. They muster all the English they can even if it's just one word and appear to appreciate my very poor attempts at speaking Arabic. It's now very rare for me to go into the city and not see someone I know or that knows me. Whether it be one of the students I teach, someone I know quite well or just someone I have said hello to before.
A very odd thing I saw today was a man and his son trying to squeeze a goat into the boot of the car. I used to pretty strange sights here- a car pulling the shell of another car down the main street with sparks flying everywhere, pictures of martyr's plastered over the walls, children dangling other children over the edge of rooftops- but this was one of the strangest. Probably because there was no way they were going to get it to fit! Not in one piece anyway...
Tonight is a meal for all the volunteers so I'd better stop thinking about how the food here is prepared and just go and eat it.
In Askhar camp I had another fantastic lesson with the group of 8 girls that live there. They were very quick to learn the body parts that they didn't know (difficult ones like neck, chin, shin, cheeks) and I'm putting this down to my pulling my ears and cheeks etc and making them laugh. Our lessons are always fun but the girls are just as competitive as the boys. Woe betide anyone that forgets to give their team a point! They can remember exactly why they should have the point and exactly when they won it. Their level of English and the vocabularly never fails to astonish me. Most of the class take part in a master class at Project Hope called 'Bridge to the World' were they will use the computers to write blogs and compose emails. I am hoping that it will be with these children that I have taught thatI can link with my classes back at Cheadle Hulme High School.
I had a different local volunteer with me when I arrived in New Askhar today and it was a bit embarassing when I got to the centre. Kids all over the place were shouting my name and saying hello from the rooftops, in the street, on balconies and then the same again when I got inside. Like a celebrity. Foreign people are so rare (apart from Project Hope volunteers) that we are always stared at wherever we go. This isn't as unnerving as it sounds as the people here are genuinely interested in you and want to talk to you. They muster all the English they can even if it's just one word and appear to appreciate my very poor attempts at speaking Arabic. It's now very rare for me to go into the city and not see someone I know or that knows me. Whether it be one of the students I teach, someone I know quite well or just someone I have said hello to before.
A very odd thing I saw today was a man and his son trying to squeeze a goat into the boot of the car. I used to pretty strange sights here- a car pulling the shell of another car down the main street with sparks flying everywhere, pictures of martyr's plastered over the walls, children dangling other children over the edge of rooftops- but this was one of the strangest. Probably because there was no way they were going to get it to fit! Not in one piece anyway...
Tonight is a meal for all the volunteers so I'd better stop thinking about how the food here is prepared and just go and eat it.
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Football
Having walked past a school near to Project Hope countless times every day I was itching to join in with the football that seems to go on in the evenings. Having dropped enough hints about doing so the Project Hope International All Stars played their first match yesterday. As there were only small children there at first we played mixed teams (Palestinians and Internationals) but the word soon got round and scores more people turned up. The kids loved the fact that we went and joined in and chanted our names after asking what we were called the ubiquitous fifty times. Like the games we played in the school at Jenin it was great to see so many people of different backgrounds enjoying themselves.
We went back again today and actually managed to win this time! The Palestinians are ultra competitive even the tiny ones but this shows in everything they do not just the football. My last class of the day, a group of uni students, played word tennis is as if their team winning was the most important thing in the world. That there wasn't even a prize for winning was completely irrelevant. Every class has been the same. This makes for very draining lessons but it's also very rewarding because everyone gets stuck in. It also makes the time go quicker and the lessons more fun. I would like to be able to do the same back in the UK but I'm not sure I could maintain the pace for twenty lessons a week.
With today being the start of the week I can't get over how quickly the day has disappeared. When I'm teaching the time flies by. Before I know it it will be the weekend again. At the moment I feel that I am 'in the zone' when it comes to teaching the lessons. I know what the classes will find interesting and I am managing to make the sessions fun whilst educational at the same time. Seeing parents taking their children for uniforms reminded me that I only have three weeks left here, as they go back when my time is up. It's good that when my classes finish they will go back to school and not just be left with someone for one week.
The footballers were disappointed that we couldn't play tomorrow but we always have a Project Hope meal on a Monday night. After both games of football we have ended up drinking tea at a house of two brothers who always join in with the matches. They invite us in so readily and the whole family makes us feel so welcome that it would be rude not, plus the sugary tea is just what's needed after the football.
Tomorrow will be my first proper session in Balata refugee camp and the class will be for 2 hours. I think this is too long (though some volunteers have lessons for 3 hours which is completely absurd) but I will try to turn it into two with maybe a break in the middle. The group appear to be the weakest in terms of their current level of English but I'm sure this is entirely due to the fact of where they live. Schools there are much more likely to be disrupted.
I learned from one of the local volunteers today that Palestinian children start to learn English as soon as the begin school and carry on with it until they leave. That will be why they are infinitely better at languages then. They finish school at 18 not 16 so that means an extra 8 years of language learning. 13 years compared to the 5 years (of German) I received. In the UK we have made it compulsory now at primary level but that contines in secondary up until the age of 14...
Speaking to the American volunteers they too seem to have a much better system of education than we do at home.
We went back again today and actually managed to win this time! The Palestinians are ultra competitive even the tiny ones but this shows in everything they do not just the football. My last class of the day, a group of uni students, played word tennis is as if their team winning was the most important thing in the world. That there wasn't even a prize for winning was completely irrelevant. Every class has been the same. This makes for very draining lessons but it's also very rewarding because everyone gets stuck in. It also makes the time go quicker and the lessons more fun. I would like to be able to do the same back in the UK but I'm not sure I could maintain the pace for twenty lessons a week.
With today being the start of the week I can't get over how quickly the day has disappeared. When I'm teaching the time flies by. Before I know it it will be the weekend again. At the moment I feel that I am 'in the zone' when it comes to teaching the lessons. I know what the classes will find interesting and I am managing to make the sessions fun whilst educational at the same time. Seeing parents taking their children for uniforms reminded me that I only have three weeks left here, as they go back when my time is up. It's good that when my classes finish they will go back to school and not just be left with someone for one week.
The footballers were disappointed that we couldn't play tomorrow but we always have a Project Hope meal on a Monday night. After both games of football we have ended up drinking tea at a house of two brothers who always join in with the matches. They invite us in so readily and the whole family makes us feel so welcome that it would be rude not, plus the sugary tea is just what's needed after the football.
Tomorrow will be my first proper session in Balata refugee camp and the class will be for 2 hours. I think this is too long (though some volunteers have lessons for 3 hours which is completely absurd) but I will try to turn it into two with maybe a break in the middle. The group appear to be the weakest in terms of their current level of English but I'm sure this is entirely due to the fact of where they live. Schools there are much more likely to be disrupted.
I learned from one of the local volunteers today that Palestinian children start to learn English as soon as the begin school and carry on with it until they leave. That will be why they are infinitely better at languages then. They finish school at 18 not 16 so that means an extra 8 years of language learning. 13 years compared to the 5 years (of German) I received. In the UK we have made it compulsory now at primary level but that contines in secondary up until the age of 14...
Speaking to the American volunteers they too seem to have a much better system of education than we do at home.
Saturday, 2 August 2008
The Weekend
I should have know better than to plan anything to a particular time schedule even if the main activity of the day was jst to be doing my washing. On Friday morning we had no water so that soon stopped that idea, we don't seem to have any water now either. I've sort of got used to things happening on Arab time and regularly joke with the staff about classes starting in maybe five minutes, maybe ten minutes, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week.... I think they find my time keeping a little unnerving and unnatural.
Today I went to Bethlehem (pictures can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25725&l=a644d&id=801579690 ). Though it's ok to try and plan to go somewhere what time you arrive is anybody's guess. I got to Huwarra checkpoint at 8am and it took a full hour to get from one side of the check point to the other (100metres max). This was with the checkpoint being fully open the whole time! Once I was at the other side it was another half an hour wait until the bus had enough people for it to leave for Ramallah. A couple of checkpoints later and I arrive to catch another bus to Jerusalem and some more checkpoints. I really do not know how the people cope with these things everyday. They are so pointless and time consuming. Finally I caught a bus from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
There was a checkpoint going into the city but it wasn't as fortified as I was expecting it to be. The rest of the City wasn't as I expected either. I knew it wasn't going to be like it was 2000 years ago but I expected much more tourists and westeners. The streets thronged with Palestinians and children pushing trolleys of goods along the cobbled streets, not a particularly good combination. Without too much effort I managed to find my way to Manger Square. This was lucky because with the taxi ride and three buses already today I wasn't really in the mood.
Most people seemed to be drawn towards what I later found out to be the Church of the Nativity so like a sheep I followed. This only rang true outside, inside I was always walking in the opposite direction to everyone else. Like all great architecture the building instantly made you feel like you should do in such a location. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful inside despite my squeaky trainers doing their best to break the tranquility.
Back outside I wandered across Manger Square to the Peace Centre. There wasn't a great deal to see inside but the different intepretations of the nativity scene in a gallery upstairs were quite interesting to compare. My first thought was what a great lesson I could make out of this... Onto more important things I went to get some food- ordered a Shwarma and sat outside on the steps of the Mosque, just as everyone was coming out, perfectly bad timing!
I couldn't spend too long in Bethlehem as I knew it would take at least a few hours to get back. I was still glad I had made the effort to see the city though. On the way back we went through the same ridiculous amount of checkpoints. The worst was when a soldier made everyone empty all of their bags out of the hold on the bus. Most of them were bags of shopping belonging to an old lady who could not fail to feel humilated as he groped his way through each of her bags.
Today I went to Bethlehem (pictures can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25725&l=a644d&id=801579690 ). Though it's ok to try and plan to go somewhere what time you arrive is anybody's guess. I got to Huwarra checkpoint at 8am and it took a full hour to get from one side of the check point to the other (100metres max). This was with the checkpoint being fully open the whole time! Once I was at the other side it was another half an hour wait until the bus had enough people for it to leave for Ramallah. A couple of checkpoints later and I arrive to catch another bus to Jerusalem and some more checkpoints. I really do not know how the people cope with these things everyday. They are so pointless and time consuming. Finally I caught a bus from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
There was a checkpoint going into the city but it wasn't as fortified as I was expecting it to be. The rest of the City wasn't as I expected either. I knew it wasn't going to be like it was 2000 years ago but I expected much more tourists and westeners. The streets thronged with Palestinians and children pushing trolleys of goods along the cobbled streets, not a particularly good combination. Without too much effort I managed to find my way to Manger Square. This was lucky because with the taxi ride and three buses already today I wasn't really in the mood.
Most people seemed to be drawn towards what I later found out to be the Church of the Nativity so like a sheep I followed. This only rang true outside, inside I was always walking in the opposite direction to everyone else. Like all great architecture the building instantly made you feel like you should do in such a location. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful inside despite my squeaky trainers doing their best to break the tranquility.
Back outside I wandered across Manger Square to the Peace Centre. There wasn't a great deal to see inside but the different intepretations of the nativity scene in a gallery upstairs were quite interesting to compare. My first thought was what a great lesson I could make out of this... Onto more important things I went to get some food- ordered a Shwarma and sat outside on the steps of the Mosque, just as everyone was coming out, perfectly bad timing!
I couldn't spend too long in Bethlehem as I knew it would take at least a few hours to get back. I was still glad I had made the effort to see the city though. On the way back we went through the same ridiculous amount of checkpoints. The worst was when a soldier made everyone empty all of their bags out of the hold on the bus. Most of them were bags of shopping belonging to an old lady who could not fail to feel humilated as he groped his way through each of her bags.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
