bethlehem

this morning i travelled to bethlehem to meet with abdul abusrour who is the director of the al-rowwad center. http://alrowwad.virtualactivism.net/ the center is located in the aida refugee camp in bethlehem, it is one of 19 camps in the west bank. the only green space or community space that was offered to the camp from the beginning (which was almost nothing) has been swallowed up by the wall. the center is for children to express themselves through theater and dance and singing, a way to express their feelings about the occupation, about fears, loves, and their culture. they call it beautiful resistance. as we walked along the street, abed pointed out the tracks in the road left by israeli tanks from the brutal invasion of 2002. the memories are vivd in the minds of all in the camp. he tells me that it is important to begin with children, as they are not only the future, but the present as well. the center is for children from 4 to 18 years old. the video on the website is beautiful, if you have a chance. it really gets into what they do here, and the beautiful creations of the children. currently there are photo-video projects done by children, photo exhibits, and dance that all travel around the world, including the US and europe. abed makes the point that how can the children who have never seen peace in their lives begin to understand peace. his goal is to help them find peace inside, and through theater and dance, the children can embrace their culture, their strengths, and their beauty. a tiny girl told abed to tell me that they want to show the world that palestinians dont only throw stones, that they sing and dance and write poetry too. she was 6.

abed wants to have two-day trainings at the center, for children with ptsd and especially in a stop-smoking campaign, as most of the youth, at least the boys, smoke, many quite heavily. abed's close friend is the head nurse in the cardiac unit at the makassed hospital in east jerusalem, and he is interested in applying the 5np in the pre-surgery settings. i showed him the austrian study about the use of acupressure in the ears of patients in ambulances who showed remarkable decreases in stress and anxiety, both pre- and post-surgery. he was fascinated, and believes that there could be a lot to learn. i left the my committment as clear as possible, reminding them that at this point it is only one person, but hopefully with their interest i can return to the states and organize people to return, perhaps even get funding for the project. abed is on the board of representatives from all refugee camps in the west bank, and he expressed great interest in holding a training, or several, for representatives of each of the refugee camps so that each camp could begin working with these tools. ahmed, the head nurse, said that maybe we should start by training professionals only, and abed was quick to suggest that the important thing is that the knowledge is out there.

a poem by AbdelFattah Abu-Srour called "Dear friends "

We are doing fine… do not worry about us…
Nothing goes far from the plans of Sharon and Bush…
Silence is international, and noise is terrorism
Thanks for all those who refuse to remain silent
Thanks for all those who fight against the silence
Thanks for all those who refuse to burry their heads in the sand
Thanks for all those who refuse to be buried alive
Thanks for all those who refuse that we are to be buried alive
Thanks for all those who shout their humanity and solidarity
Thanks for all those who remain humans

i will have lunch now, and later i have a meeting with another great man, george rishmawi, one of the founders of ISM. yalla!