Issue No. 166, February Impressions

Transcription

1 Issue No. 166, February 2012 Impressions

2 Palestinian Women in Resistance... 4 Impressions of Gaza... 8 Peripeteia A Café for All Nations A Foreigner in Palestine What Doesn t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger Public Health and Personal Impressions Multicultural Impressions from the Village The Palestinian Circus School Hard to Describe Reflections after a Bomb Attack Valentine in Palestine In the Limelight Reviews Events Listings Maps The Last Word Picturesque Palestine The month of February is the shortest of the year, and this year it has 29 days, which makes 2012 a leap year in the Gregorian calendar. The theme of this issue is Impressions, which refers to perspectives and personal experiences that have left a mark on us in one way or another. We hope you ll enjoy the wide array of topics and viewpoints from Palestinians as well as internationals. Among the articles in this issue, you will find Palestinian Women in Resistance, written by the eloquent Dr. Cairo Arafat; Public Health and Personal Impressions, by Rima Khalidi, a Palestinian health care professional based in Amman, Jordan, who gives us a regional outlook on public health in the Arab countries; the impressions of A Foreigner in Palestine, written by Kris Justice; and Coffee for All Nations, written by Marco Espvall, a moving story about determination and the strength of will. First impressions are only the beginning, however. You will find much more when you dig deeper. For example, what does a young Palestinian student from Gaza encounter when she meets her compatriots from the West Bank for the first time in Egypt? Yasmeen el-khoudary tells her story. Another special occasion in February is Valentine s Day. Besan Staity, a young teenager from Jenin, gives her impressions of the attitudes towards this day in Palestine. In the Limelight this month highlights a personality, a book, an artist, and an exhibition. We hope that this issue leaves you with positive impressions! And, as always, we d like to hear your thoughts, so please share them with us. Telefax: + 970/ info@turbo-design.com Printed by Studio Alpha, Al-Ram, Jerusalem Binding by Al-Asdika, Al-Ram, Jerusalem Maps: Courtesy of PalMap - GSE Theme: Impressions Cover: Dancing. Artwork by: Mahmoud Awad. Forthcoming Issues: Media and Society - March 2012 Moving Around - April 2012 Rising from the Nakba - May 2012 From the TWIP Collective Advisory Board The views presented in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Maps herein have been prepared solely for the convenience of the reader; the designations and presentation of material do not imply any expression of opinion of This Week in Palestine, its publisher, editor, or its advisory board as to the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or the authorities thereof, or as to the delimitation of boundaries or national affiliation. Hani Abu Dayyeh President, NETOURS George Al Ama Researcher Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Bethlehem Cairo Arafat Education and Research Director Nada Atrash Architect - Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Bethlehem Hussein Habbab Executive Manager, Quds Bank Sameh Masri General Manager of United Motor Trade Co. Ltd. 2 3

3 Palestinian Women in Resistance By Cairo Arafat Hana rises early each morning. She lovingly, but hurriedly awakens her young children. She prepares breakfast and sandwiches for them. She makes sure that they have properly washed up and dressed for school. They all eat a very modest breakfast and rush out the door. The youngest one is dropped off at the preschool, while her eldest son runs to his school. Hana and her two daughters hurry on to the local primary school where Hana is a mathematics teacher. After teaching all day, Hana rushes home many more chores and duties remain. She gathers up her children as they chatter about the day s events and what they have to do for homework. She will be there to feed them, to help them with their studies, to listen to them, and to provide guidance. Hana and her children still live in a temporary shack that she and her husband built when their home was demolished by the Israeli Occupation Forces. Life goes on. Hana resists the occupation by maintaining her humanity, her insistence that she and her family have the right to life, education, and health despite the challenges and violations of Israeli occupation. They remain firmly rooted in their homeland and are preparing themselves for tomorrow. Layla sits quietly by the window and gazes out at the hills around her. She stares at budding shoots of flowers and greenery that are in abundance due to the recent rains. She pulls out her little sketchbook and starts to draw them. Later on she will transfer the drawing to her book of squares. The flowers she has seen will be formed into patterns that she shares with other women who will embroider them onto dresses, tablecloths, pillows, and bookmarks. These women hope to be able to sell their handicrafts in local and international markets. The small xxxx s of the cross-stitch provide meagre income for many women, but they persist. It is a cherished traditional handicraft. The colours, the patterns, and Palestinian Women in a demonstration. Photo by Basil Maqousi. the women embroidering together, sharing their jokes and their resources, are integral to resistance. They will not be crushed. They continue to create and are creative and productive members of Palestinian society. They resist oppression by using the tools available to them to ensure their own livelihoods and the well-being of their families. Layla quietly rolls her wheelchair across the carpet and opens the door to greet her fellow embroiderers. Layla was injured while demonstrating in her village. Despite her physical injury, she continues to challenge the occupier s attempts to take away her land the source of her inspiration and being. The occupation strives to kill the spirit of our people. It cuts people off from water, land, roads, services, and one another. People in villages such as Nabi Saleh and Walajeh are prevented from accessing their own springs and wells. Women wanting to harvest olives from their trees in the hills and valleys of Nablus, Ramallah, and Khalil do so at risk of being shot at by Israeli soldiers and settlers. Each day, thousands of young children are blocked from going to school by Israeli-imposed electric gates, checkpoints, closures, and the Wall. Pregnant women have to cross Israeli-imposed roadblocks and closures in order to reach their local health clinics. Nevertheless, women refuse to give in to these challenges. They still carry water from distant sources to be used at home, and they pick the olives from their olive groves. They work hard alongside their husbands, brothers, and fathers to ensure that they can provide the basic necessities for the family. They walk their children to schools and stumble over rock and cement barriers to reach their doctors. They defy the occupier s wish that they desist in their love and steadfastness for Palestine, their homeland. This is resistance. Resistance takes many forms. Palestinian women have been at the heart of sustainable development in Palestine. Although they only represent 15 percent of the official workforce, they provide a substantial contribution to the informal labour market. In addition, they are underpaid and are not equitably compensated when they provide the same services and contributions as men. They continue to be productive members of society, however, and are slowly moving towards greater representation and participation within civil, economic, political, legal, and judicial forums. These gains have demanded much effort and perseverance on the part of women. Despite the toll, women continue to persist in their demands to be heard and to be given equal opportunities to assist in the state-building process. These efforts have taken place despite the Israeli occupation, which attempts to disempower Palestinian women, men, youth, and children, and despite the negative social and cultural norms and attitudes that seek to limit women s influence and participation within society. It is easy to belittle the day-to-day contributions of average Palestinian women. Yet it is the small details of our existence that have allowed us to continue 4 5

4 in our fight for freedom. It s the young girls heaving their heavy schoolbags onto their backs and trekking long distances to reach their school. But they are rewarded. They find a classroom and a capable teacher who is eager to educate them. They can continue to achieve their dreams of becoming future teachers, engineers, and computer programmers. It s the mother who has planted a small garden in order to provide her family with fresh vegetables to keep them strong and healthy. It s the businesswomen who contribute to vocational training and Resistance is embedded within all Palestinian women. Girls going to schools, youth going to colleges and universities, women doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, judges, farmers, caregivers, Palestinian women who are detained in Israeli prisons, those participating in demonstrations, visiting their families and loved ones imprisoned within Israel, and the infant girl born early this morning are all resistance fighters. They defy Israeli occupation by seeking life, liberty, and happiness within their homeland Palestine. Palestinian women drawing a mural. awareness-raising programmes for other women. It s the nurse and doctor who cross checkpoints to vaccinate young children living in isolated villages. It s the mother who sells her last piece of jewellery so that she can fund her child s operation. These actions have become the norms of our lives, but they are the foundations of our resistance. They are built on our humanity. 6 Cairo Arafat works at Save the Children UK and UNICEF and has numerous years of experience in establishing national programmes to safeguard the well-being of Palestinian children. She has worked as the director of the National Plan of Action for Palestinian Children as well as with the Government Media Center and the Ministry of Planning. Her work has focused on children s rights and children s psychosocial well-being.

5 Impressions of Gaza Media has done an excellent job at building a terrible image of Gaza. I can probably safely argue that the vast majority of the world has the same image of Gaza in mind: death-stricken, doomed to misery, conservatively religious, in addition to your favourite image from the last war on Gaza. Consequently, people whose knowledge of Gaza is based on what the media feeds them are often shocked when they meet a normal or ordinary person from Gaza. The questions that people from Gaza get asked are not very different from questions asked of Palestinians in general. But we get them more often, and they are usually offensive (albeit not on purpose). Here, I recall two personal experiences. Back in 2008, I was still a student at the American University in Cairo (AUC) when an American friend of mine introduced me to his other American friend. His friend asked me, Where are you from? to which I answered that I m a Palestinian from Gaza. His response? Oh, I m sorry! In May 2011, I was being introduced to a Tunisian person who asked me which university I attended. How were you able to afford AUC? I told him that my parents paid, and that I had a partial academic merit scholarship. His response? Ahh, that s the benefit of being from Gaza. Post both incidents, I was so angry, so dumbstruck that I couldn t even reply. I felt a burning hatred in my heart for media-fed ignorance and for baseless stereotypes that the world now regards us with. If you re educated, well-spoken, well-represented, and social, you surely can t be from Gaza! Unless perhaps you were born and raised outside. It s a really frustrating discussion, and I hate going into it. I hate justifying or proving that I was born, raised, and mostly educated in Gaza. At the same time, I can t simply blame the media. It By Yasmeen El Khoudary is, after all, my responsibility as a proud citizen of Gaza to revoke baseless stereotypes by being the best person I can be. Besides media bias, there s also the fact that Gaza is geographically hard to access, making it difficult for people to visit it and see for themselves, and also for people to leave and change the world s twisted perspective of Gaza. Worse still, this geographic impasse leads to a social and political division between Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, 1948, and the diaspora. It is sadly ironic that had I not been lucky enough to study in Egypt, I would have probably never met anyone from the West Bank, Jerusalem, 1948, or the diaspora. Being a citizen of Gaza limits, if not entirely rules out, any possibility of visiting the rest of Palestine, including the West Bank and Jerusalem, and vice versa. Until 2006, I had very few Palestinian friends from outside Gaza, and, quite honestly, had no idea how similar or different we were. Back to my first day at AUC: I remember that my four friends from high school in Gaza and myself were separated into different first-year orientation groups. I was alone in the group, until two guys approached me and asked, Are you from Jerusalem? judging from the Palestine headband I was wearing. Right then, I met my first friends from Ramallah, and together we listened to our favourite patriotic songs on our ipods instead of following the boring orientation speeches. Looking back at those three orientation days within the context of this issue s theme, I would say that the orientation on a personal level was more about learning about my fellow Palestinian friends than about AUC. During breaks, we found my other friends from Gaza and saw that they had met Palestinians from Nablus, Jerusalem, Egypt, and Lebanon. Until that orientation, I never really thought about how different or similar Palestinians from outside Gaza were. I probably had no reason to think that they were any different, and I was right. We share almost everything in common, and our differences are natural. We memorised the same Intifada songs, danced the same dabkat, wore the same scarves, laughed at the same jokes, and collectively missed the same foods. As our friendships developed, however, and we started to get to know and get used to each other, we noticed that some of our friends from the West Bank, Photo by Sharif Sarhan. 8 9

6 particularly Ramallah, already had a preconceived idea about Gaza, and it wasn t all that positive. I don t want to discuss it in detail because I still don t understand it myself, but what I can say is that although unjustified, stereotypes are easy to form when people are so strictly separated. Eventually, we learned how to turn our differences into jokes. Why am I even writing this article? Why am I assuming that people in the West Bank have a certain impression about Gaza and its people? I feel like this article is contributing to the problem. But denying the problem is also wrong. We have already agreed that there is a problem with the way the world regards Gaza, but would talking about impressions of Gaza from the West Bank shed light on something that might just disappear with the darkness? Until we learn how to reconcile our differences and to dissolve the stereotypes that we have formed about each other on things as dull as dialects and the acts of a few, can we ever hope to build a healthy society, let alone a country? I blame much of this nonsense on our governments, both in Gaza and in the West Bank. Their selfishness and hypocrisy is continuously resulting in a political division that s inevitably feeding into social and economic divisions between Gaza and the West Bank. Worse still, they are in no way, shape, or form helping us reconnect with the rest of our people in 1948 and outside Palestine. I d like to conclude this article by saying that the measurement of our Palestinian identity does not rely on the city we come from or the place we live. I have come to know a Palestinian who lives in Chile who is more dedicated to the cause than a Palestinian who lives in the heart of Jerusalem. Living in the West Bank or Gaza, bearing the ID or the passport does not add anything to our identity or our dedication to the cause. Some people believe that just by living in the West Bank and Gaza and enduring the suffering caused by the Israeli occupation, they re benefiting the cause. Truth is, the only thing that differentiates one Palestinian from the other is their dedication, commitment, and ability to represent the rest of Palestine as truthfully as possible. Yasmeen El Khoudary is a 21-year-old blogger and youth activist based in Gaza City, Palestine. She is a contributor to CNN, Aljazeera English, and Electronic Intifada, and is a cofounder of Diwan Ghazza. Blog: yelkhoudary. blogspot.com, Part of the Gaza Book Club group, coordinated by Diwan Ghazza and the Palestine Writing Workshop. 10

7 Peripeteia I m a Palestinian who currently lives in Palestine. I haven t always lived here; I actually moved here from the United States when I was ten years old. The age of ten may seem rather young to you, but I can assure you it s not, because by age ten, I had a lucid vision of what a community was supposed to be like you know sitting at the library reading books on different topics, meeting people and having productive conversations, attending conventions to advance humanitarian causes, organising and going to public events, volunteering and doing charity work such as having food and clothes drives or fundraisers. The things I didn t experience myself, I had seen other people, like my parents, participate in. Since I was in a private school, all activities were organised by the PTA and the school itself, which didn t receive outside help, a fact that, I believe, brought people from different countries and backgrounds together to form their own community within the community. There were Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, and African Americans who managed to work as a team to provide us with many opportunities. As for the academics, I won t get into that, but what I will get into is talking about the motivation and competition often created by extracurricular activities and teaching in such a way that stimulates thinking and looking for more answers. That was the idea of community embedded in my head. I was very excited about the move, which happened during the summer. Summer break was just fine, but when school started my excitement drained away. It was terrible because I had to memorise everything; no projects and no activities. The kids were vulgar and aggressive, always fighting and being raucous. The teacher was scary, always yelling. Nothing was appealing at school. Learning wasn t fun anymore, and I lost my thirst for knowledge. 12 By Iman Hamayel I had a very blurry background on Palestinian history but had always been proud of my hometown and loved to visit during the summer. All I knew was that the Zionists had stolen our land by force and without right and the only way to get it back was to fight for it. I must admit I was taken aback by the lack of compassion many people showed. They just got on with life as though Palestine wasn t occupied. It wasn t what I had expected at all. After living in Al-Bireh for almost a year, I remember Hamas winning the (PLC) elections in I had no clue what Fateh or Hamas was and I was surprised to find out that they were rival Palestinian political parties; how could Palestinians be rivals? It made Photo by Ramzi Hazboun. no sense! But my ultimate shock was when the conflict began, and by conflict I mean they began fighting, shooting, wounding, and killing each other To be honest, it was horrifying. I remember this going on continuously, even after the elections. I couldn t grasp what was going on because it just didn t make any sense. How could a Palestinian kill his own brother, his own flesh and blood? Weren t we supposed to be fighting the Zionists? It was wrong on so many levels, and to me it seemed barbaric. Hundreds of Palestinians were killed over such a foolish cause, slaughtering their own brothers and sisters; it s something I ll never forget or ever forgive. That was my first peripeteia. You see, as those unfortunate events took place, as my own people began turning against 13 each other, as I witnessed hate creep into us due to differing political opinions, as I listened to the nonstop bickering over this subject, as more Palestinians were getting killed while others showed no sympathy or care, I began to resent them. I kept thinking to myself that none of these people deserved Palestine. That s right, the Israelis deserved it more than we did. Look how they keep the streets clean, no meaningless graffiti on buildings, how they stand up and defend a country that isn t even rightfully theirs. I ve never heard of Israelis turning against each other, not like us. Look how much they appreciate learning and reading, look at how many books are published each year. It s the tiny details that show the true concern of a citizen towards his country. And then just look at us, the

8 exact opposite of them. Why couldn t we be like them? Well, we re not like them. Like I said, Palestine is probably better off without us anyway. I dragged deep frustration and irritation along with my newfound opinion regarding Palestine and its people for about a year. We simply weren t worthy of such a holy spot. But when Gaza was attacked in 2007, my lack of knowledge about Palestinian history, events, and places began to get in my way of comprehending what was going on. So I decided to start reading about my country s past. Just because people around me were careless didn t mean that I should be too. The first place I resorted to was the library, where I found plenty of books especially written for beginners and young readers, so this was my monthly task. By the time I finished reading the first book on Palestinian history, any thoughts still floating around in my mind telling me Israelis were better than us had completely vanished. Their crimes against Palestinians were unjustifiable and inexcusable. After reading a couple more books I realised that there was so much I didn t know about this country and these people who have been fighting and sacrificing their lives. Feeling deep shame in believing we weren t worthy of Palestine, I realised that I had been asking the wrong questions, looking for answers in the wrong places, and comparing us to the wrong things and the wrong people. Now was the time to get my facts straight, now was the time to expand my horizon. I needed to read more and I needed to become a useful part of society. Every time I left a café, I d take a copy of each of the youth magazine issues on the counter by the exit door. Reading them for the first time I was thrilled, I just couldn t believe how many things like public events went on every single day without my hearing a thing about them. I was truly overwhelmed. This Week in Palestine was the issue I stuck to reading on a regular basis, considering it my monthly guide to inspiration. For the first time I felt that I was finally in the loop, aware of events and causes around me, feeling like a part of an active, concerned society. Reading about people s stories, about important personalities and famous activists has helped and still helps me define who I am and who I d like to be, and without doubt has created an inner motivation that pushes me to raise my voice and speak my mind because I now realise that I share the opinions of others concerning many topics. I realise that there are many people and not just Palestinians doing many things for this country. And I got a glance at a different world, one that has always existed and that had been right there in front of me. I guess I was so caught up in being pessimistic about everything and everyone around me that I hadn t allowed myself to notice it. This Week in Palestine got me more enthusiastic about many things and opened my eyes to self-development opportunities within reach, for instance, the school student council. I tried out for it and ended up being vice president for a year and president the year after. I think that had the biggest possible impact on my personality and gave me a taste of society and the creative minds out there that are willing to help us as Palestinian youth. Every time I worked on a project I stumbled into a whole new web of activists, opinions, opportunity, and hope. And since then, things keep getting better. Throughout these past few years, I ve slowly comprehended what Theodore Roosevelt meant when he told us to do what we can, with what we have, where we are. That s been the story of our lives for the last 64 years under Israeli occupation, creating and designing our own opportunities as we go along. Iman Hamayel is a sixteen-year-old Palestinian originally from Al-Bireh and born in the United States. Iman currently attends the Al-Bireh Secondary Girls School. 14

9 A Café for All Nations By Marco Espvall A shattering loudspeaker voice greets me as I step out of the car at the historical site of Al Walajeh i village. It echoes from an Israeli checkpoint some hundred meters below, on the road between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Four Israeli settlements are built on the surrounding mountains. This was once a Palestinian village famous for its olives, almonds, and peaches. Al Walajeh is still green in contrast to the bare and stony landscapes of the neighbourhoods around it. Abed is feeding his chickens when I come down the slope. For the past ten years Abed Rabbeh has lived alone in a 4,000-year-old cave. This is my home, my everything, says Abed. We drink coffee on the terrace that the Israeli peace activists from FODfest built for him. 16 Abed Rabbeh is a 51-year-old olive farmer who owns around 20 dunams ii (2 hectares) of land in the village of Al Walajeh that has been with his family for more than four generations, approximately two hundred years. I have papers that prove that my father, my grandfather, and their fathers before them were born here in Al Walajeh. But now I m the only one left here, Abed says and lights a cigarette. In 1948 his family was forced to move from Walajeh to Dheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem. Now Abed s land has been separated from Al Walajah, following the Israeli cabinet s 2002 decision to construct a physical barrier to separate Israel from the West Bank. The International Court of Justice, the UN Security Council, and the UN General Assembly have all condemned Abed Rabbeh. Israeli army buldozing the land to build the Wall. Photo courtesy of Arij. the Wall as illegal under international law. But Israel has proceeded with the construction of the Wall, confiscating whatever land is in its way. In 2006, the Israeli cabinet approved a revised route for the Wall near Jerusalem, annexing land belonging to many Palestinian villages, including Al Walajeh. Abed is one of many farmers who are suffering from land confiscations because of the Wall. Despite being expelled from his village, Abed was determined to come back; he insists on living in his village to preserve ownership of his land even under very trying conditions. Attempting to remain on his land, Abed built a small one-room home with wood and sheets of metal 15 years ago. It was demolished by the Israelis. Ten years ago, Abed discovered a cave on his property and managed to convert it into a small house. He created a space for his bed and a small living area, and hung his kitchen utensils on the cave walls. His wife refused to move in with him and live without water and electricity, so he left her and their eight children: I can understand my family, but for me it s impossible to live as a refugee in Dheisheh, when I can live here on my own land. 17 While living alone in his cave, Abed came up with a fabulous idea to open a coffee shop for all nations on his land. Although Abed s land is surrounded in all directions by Israeli settlements, the spot he envisioned for the coffee shop lies in an area that can be reached by all people: Palestinians, Israelis, and foreigners. With his coffee shop idea, Abed turned his own tragic story into a positive and transformative project. The coffee shop encourages people from all nations to visit Abed. It allows him and the visitors to exchange stories and creates a livelihood for him with which he can support his family. Abed is a one-man resistance movement. If he had not fought for his land, it would be occupied as well. As a child he came here with his grandparents and learned to love this piece of land. I m like a fish in the sea here, says Abed. If you take me out of the water I will die. Al Walajeh is only one of many villages that have been drastically affected by the Israeli policies in Palestine. The creation of the Israeli Wall, a settler bypass road, checkpoints, and the neighbouring Israeli settlements have all

10 Top: Non-violent demostration by the people of Walajeh. Left: The Wall around Al Walajeh. Photo courtesy of Arij. contributed to the continued decrease of Al Walajeh s population since its initial reduction in size in The revised route of the Wall encircles the village, turning it into an enclave whose only possible access is through a future Israeli-controlled checkpoint near Har Gilo settlement. The Jerusalem-Jaffa railway once made daily stops in Al Walajeh to pick up produce grown by the villagers for sale in Jerusalem. But that was before the war of On the night of October 21, the Zionist Etzioni Brigade iii attacked and captured the village; 75 percent of its land was taken. Then in 1967, after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government expanded the Jerusalem municipal boundary to include lands from nearby villages. From what had remained of Al Walajeh after 1948, 48 percent was annexed to the state of Israel. When Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Agreement in 1995, the West Bank was classified into three areas of control. Area A was defined in the agreement as places from which the Israeli military was supposed to withdraw. In Area B, the Palestinian Authority was to have full control over civil administration while Israel was to have overriding responsibility for security. Places in Area C are under full Israeli administrative and security control. Under the agreement, parts of the land of Al Walajeh were designated as Area B, while the rest of the village fell under the category of Area C. In February 2006, Al Walajeh checkpoint was transformed into a border passage, taking away an additional 40 dunams (4 hectares) of land from the already diminished village lands. Today, what s left of the village continues to be threatened with military confiscation and demolition orders. Since Abed opened his Café for All Nations, people have come from all over the world to support him. The walls of the small cave are covered with newspaper clippings about Abed. Several guest books are filled with messages of solidarity in many different languages. Even though he doesn t speak any language other than Arabic, and he learned only basic reading and writing during the four years he went to school, Abed loves to look through the books. It s obvious that he is very proud of them. When US President Barack Obama was visiting Israel, Abed invited him to have coffee in the cave, but the US Consulate in Jerusalem sent a brief note of regret saying this could not be arranged. If he would have shown up, I would have told him that I believe in peace even if the Israelis have stolen our land, Abed says. I want Muslims, Jews, and Christians to live here in peace. But the state of Israel does not want peace. And the young generation is angry and impatient. Extremists on both sides are gaining influence. The Israelis might have to pay a high price if they continue to refuse us basic human rights. Marco Espvall is a Swedish-born journalist who lives and works in Ramallah. i Al Walajeh is located 8.5 kilometres southwest of Jerusalem and 4 kilometres northwest of Bethlehem. ii The dunam is a unit of land measurement dating back to the Ottoman Empire. One dunam equals 1,000 square meters or 0.25 acres. iii The Etzioni Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Haganah and Israel Defense Forces in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War

11 A Foreigner in Palestine By Kris Justice My first visit to Palestine was in 2005 at the invitation of some Israeli anarchists whom I had met in Amsterdam. At that time I wasn t very well informed about Palestinian history or the current situation of Palestinians. On arrival the landscape and smells gave me a strong feeling of coming home. That was an unexpected experience but it didn t yet have a deeper meaning. During those first two weeks we visited Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Akka, and Haifa. Only later did I realise that I was in historical Palestine. Even in 2005 there was some awareness of the conflict, as I would refer to it back then. The Israeli activists I met were involved in the campaigns against the Wall, but when I asked them about Palestinians and visiting the West Bank they frowned and discouraged me from visiting the West Bank on my own. It was not safe for me to go there and I should at least find some other internationals to travel with. But I didn t. Back home I felt so bad about not having made more effort to visit the West Bank that I started to look for information on how to travel there in a more organised way. On the website of the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA of East Jerusalem and the YWCA of Palestine I found the Olive Tree Campaign and the upcoming olive-picking programme. In addition to helping farmers in the olive harvest and giving protective presence, we would make several excursions to understand the geopolitical situation and life under occupation in Palestine. I immediately signed up. Even though I considered myself a leftist, with an activist background and a very multicultural group of friends back home, it turned out that I had very stereotypical ideas of Palestine and the Palestinians. Did they really have more modern mobile phones than I did? And Internet at home! When did these Palestinian Christians convert? Are there actually universities in the West Bank? And how come most people here speak English?! The olive-picking programme was intense and filled with many meetings and excursions. During the evenings my host family in Beit Sahour, one of the many Rishmawis, gave me the feeling of being part of their family. And I fell in love. With the landscape, the people, the music, the dance, the food, the language, the way of life, the traditions, the family life, the culture of hospitality, and the friendships. So I decided to stay. Volunteers planting a tree. Photo by Melanie Van der Voort. Picking olives with the local. Together with some friends we started an alternative political café at the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour where we organised lectures, film screenings, and cultural events. In my free time I learnt a lot about Palestinian culture and traditions. The mothers of friends taught me how to cook maqloube, warek dawali, and mahshee. I attended tens of weddings from very traditional Muslim weddings in villages to Christian weddings with people dancing drunk on tables and women wearing less than I would ever wear back home. During the past five years I have spent nearly two years in the West Bank and travelling around the 1948 areas. Friends often say that I probably know Palestine better than most Palestinians. From the Golan Heights to the Negev and from Jaffa to Jericho, it is all familiar to me. And every time it strikes me that as a foreigner I am able to go where most Palestinians can t go. One of my Palestinian friends 20 21

12 An ancient olive tree. Photo by Emile Ashrawi. in the diaspora, whose family got killed in the Shatila massacre, once told me: I can see Palestine through your eyes and it makes me cry... People are usually surprised when I speak so positively about Palestine and when I mention the dignity and courage, the steadfastness and kindness of Palestinians. Does that mean I don t see anything negative here? O hell, I do. Don t think I will ever get used to the gossip and negative attitudes people can have towards each other, the lack of trust, and sometimes the jealousy. The taxi drivers are making me crazy with their attempts to flirt, and if they are unsuccessful they raise the price! I have big problems with the oppression and lack of freedom caused by conservative elements in society, and I hate the corruption. Down with the NGO business and people abusing the situation of occupation for their own benefits. It makes me sick to see Palestinian police with their toy guns, not present in the streets to protect the Palestinians but there to police the Palestinians on behalf 22 of the Israeli occupier. And it is getting worse now with threats to people and artists who express their criticism of the Palestinian Authority. It is an absolute shame. But corruption is everywhere in the world. Conservative elements are also taking over in Europe. I dislike authorities anywhere, and taxi drivers are generally annoying, wherever they are. So, yes, I love Palestine. Sometimes it feels as if I lived here in a previous life. When seeing the olive trees, the houses, the stones, the earth, when smelling the air of Palestine, I am happy and calm. I have been living between the Netherlands and Palestine for five years now, and there is no doubt that I d rather live here. Beit Sahour has warmly welcomed me and I feel accepted as a foreign inhabitant. I will always be the foreigner, but that doesn t make me feel uncomfortable. My foreign background gives me some privileges and more freedom. Of course, the eyes of the locals are on Planting a tree. Photo by Melanie Van der Voort. me, especially those of my neighbours, and yes, Beit Sahour is well known for its gossips, but honestly speaking, I love gossiping myself, so I totally blend in! The fact that my Arabic is getting better and better makes me feel more independent. It also helps me to better understand the culture and traditions. I love how people greet each other in the street and how they wish each other a morning of light and flowers, good health, and much prosperity. Another great thing here is that you don t have to make appointments in advance with families or friends. You can always expect at least one member of the family to be at home and while you are drinking a cup of tea the others will arrive, including some other relatives and neighbours. Never a dull moment. Since my last arrival in October I started teaching zumba dance classes at the YMCA in Beit Sahour. It was a great surprise to see how much the women enjoy this physical workout a mixture of African, Arabic, Latin American, and Indian styles of music. We started with 30 women during the first trial lesson and right now almost 60 women attend the zumba classes. Through my current job with the Olive Tree Campaign I manage to be part of the ongoing struggle for justice in an effective and positive way. And despite the hardships, I feel blessed to be part of this society of strong and wonderful people. Palestine has given me opportunities to start initiatives such as the political café and the zumba classes, which I would have never had in the Netherlands, with all its rules and regulations. Palestine has given me much love and friendship and the feeling of being home. But I realise, I enjoy the privileges of a foreigner in Palestine... 23

13 What Doesn t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger 24 By Najah Osaily Our country is in need of all its potential capabilities: building the new state of Palestine is the duty of every Palestinian, and men and women must work together to make this dream come true. But the uncertain situations, the insecure environment, the lack of sovereignty, and all the hardships that Palestinians live and experience lead to the emergence of two possible scenarios: the first is that they lose hope and faith in themselves, becoming prisoners of despair; the second is that they confront the challenges of their reality head-on and think positively. As Nietzsche once said: What doesn t kill us makes us stronger. Most Palestinians have chosen the second scenario and committed themselves wholeheartedly to investing in education and in entrepreneurship; they feel that this is the way to build and develop their lives, the way to make their dreams a reality, the way to attain the right to a decent and normal life. Palestinians believe that being productive will lead to an improvement of their day-to-day lives; by creating jobs and contributing to raising the standard of living they will be more able to ensure a better life and a more promising future for their families. This is the spirit in which I was raised; as a Palestinian woman who lives in Palestine, in Hebron City, I ve learned that in order to create a better future and to contribute to state building, we must first work on ourselves. Good education, clear goals, and high hopes will greatly enrich our lives. Assuming more responsibility and taking on greater challenges will lead to increased productivity. I ve learned that when you do something, you have to do it with conviction and persistence being proactive rather than reactive empowers a person. Many friends who live abroad tell me that a conservative society like that of Hebron would be a barrier for an ambitious woman. What they don t know is that in a conservative society, a persevering, enthusiastic, hard-working, ambitious woman will discover opportunities even when they seem to be hidden. When a woman accepts a difficult challenge she usually finds more support than she ever imagined, and often in unlikely places! It s all in her hands. In a conservative society, you will gain respect and credibility through your behaviour, values, commitments, and achievements, regardless of your gender. The rules of good business apply here: opportunities will not appear as long as you simply sit and wait for them. You have to work hard to seek out opportunities and be wise enough to know which ones are the most appropriate for you. Many Palestinian women are highly educated and often travel to other countries to study. But the percentage of women joining the workforce is still very low (15.5 percent, according to 2010 Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics [PCBS] figures), most probably due to the limited opportunities in Palestine and the high rate of unemployment among both men and women (23.7 percent, PCBS 2010). Most people cannot imagine that there could be opportunities available even within the miserable context of military occupation. The secret is that it s up to us to create 25 Photo by Sharif Sarhan.

14 Women in fashion design business. our own opportunities. Even in the midst of a crisis, opportunities can be found. As Marsha Sinetar reminds us, Life s ups and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want. It s our responsibility to dig deep and look for those opportunities. First we must identify the needs of our country. What capabilities do we have? What are the strengths that we need to maintain, and what are the weaknesses that we need to work on? Let s put our goals into practice; let s work towards helping the whole society to function at its best. Women are needed most to contribute to the economy both directly and indirectly, to raise the new generation on values such as commitment, honesty, equality, diversity, and most importantly, to raise them to be real Palestinians who are loyal to their country. A woman s role does not finish here. Women must be empowered to contribute directly to society and to the economy, to make use of 26 what they have learned. But, alas, women still have a long way to go. They need to take the lead and change the facts on the ground. Everyone is needed; diversity is complementary. We need teachers, farmers, doctors, lawyers, and, most definitely, entrepreneurs. Let s not forget the powerful lady who was the first international trader in Islam: Khadijah, Prophet Mohammed s wife. Now is the time for all of us to work hard so that the labels on our domestic and exported products read: PROUDLY MADE IN PALESTINE. Our country needs everything and everyone. It s a potential market for many investors, and our duty as Palestinian businesswomen is to spread awareness in our society about how important the contributions of women can be. If they are motivated to get out and try to join the workforce but find that there are no desirable positions, then let s create them. Everyone knows that Palestinians are entrepreneurs in spirit. Palestinian women are persistent, creative, and flexible characteristics developed through the challenges of day-to-day life under occupation. Engendering a positive attitude will enable women to have a profound impact on the surrounding environment, thus contributing significantly to building a good life for all. After all, we have a country that needs our united efforts. So hand in hand, both men and women, let s make our dreams come true. Najah Zuhair Osaily lives in Hebron and is the administrative and financial manager at Osaily Trading Contracting Company. She earned a master s degree in business administration in the United Kingdom and is one of the founders of the Palestinian Businesswomen s Forum. She can be reached at najah@osaily.com.

15 Solidarity Concert in Palestine featuring John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain Hosted by Al Mada for Arts-Based Community Development in partnership with UNRWA All funds raised by the concert will be used directly to implement collaborative programmes between Al Mada and UNRWA. Al Mada has worked with UNRWA as a key partner since the establishment of the music therapy centre in Through a series of child protection and psychosocial programmes, Al Mada has trained more than 100 UNRWA staff from the health department, under the supervision of Dr. Umaiyeh Khammash, director of the department. It has been John s longstanding wish to play a concert in Palestine to which he is bringing some of India s most respected and innovative musicians, including Zakir Hussain, the world s foremost tabla player. Born in Britain, John began to learn to play the guitar at the age of 11 and moved to New York in the late 1960s where he recorded his first album, Extrapolation, and started to play with two of the architects of early jazz fusion, Tony Williams and the late, great Miles Davis, who named a song on his album Bitches Brew after him. His innovative spirit led him to set up the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1971, a group whose hallmark was a technically difficult and complex style of music that fused electric jazz and rock with Eastern and Indian influences. John is featured in some of the most influential jazz-fusion albums of all time, including recordings with Jaco Pastorius, Gil Evans, Al Di Meola, Paco de Lucia, and Carlos Santana. What began in the 1960s as a mixture of jazz improvisation and the rhythms, timbres, and energy of rock music, jazz fusion is a style of music refined by Miles Davis which evolved to incorporate a number of musical styles and instruments. John s switch from electric to acoustic guitar and his exceptional improvisational abilities marked a profound influence on the genre to which he added hints of Eastern/Indian influences to create a new sound now widely regarded as a forerunner of world music. Art for Life The new year in Palestine kicks off on a decidedly positive note with a visit by some of the world s finest musicians to the Ramallah Cultural Palace to play a solidarity concert. World-renowned jazz guitarist John McLaughlin, named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top 100 guitarists of all time, will play together with legendary tabla player Zakir Hussain and the members of fusion jazz group Remember Shakti. This event has been organised by Al Mada Association for Arts-Based Community Development in Ramallah, which holds Palestine s only music therapy centre. It was this initiative that first captured the attention of Grammy-award-winning guitarist John McLaughlin in 2010 when he donated the entire cash prize he was awarded at the prestigious Jazzahead Festival in Germany to support Al Mada s music therapy centre project. He continued to explore his interest in oriental culture through the formation of the group Shakti, in 1975, which pioneered a ground-breaking and highly influential East-meets-West collaborative approach. Original members John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain come together on the band s 35th anniversary with their Remember Shakti band members U. Srinivas (mandolin), V. Selvaganesh (kanjira), and singer Shankar Mahadevan for the concert in Palestine, which follows an India tour in February Remember Shakti is truly a musical marvel like no other, blending elaborate Indian elements with the finest spontaneity of true jazz for a head-spinning encounter with both musical cultures. John s complexity and incredible virtuosity are matched only by that of his fellow group members. Zakir Hussain is a classical virtuoso whose dexterity simply beggars belief. Zakir uses every surface of the tabla, and every surface of the palms of his hands (fingertips, sides of his fingers, the heels of his hands) to get an incredible range of music from his instrument.

16 The Palestine concert is an amazing opportunity to witness outstanding musicians perform a thoroughly unique event. Their performance is both an act of solidarity with Palestine, which also highlights Al Mada s work with UNRWA, and a symbol of Palestine s enduring social, cultural, and political relevance. The concert can and should act as an indication that heavily policed borders can neither isolate a culture from the world nor prevent the cultures of the world from engaging with it. For a look at some of Shakti and Remember Shakti s work, please follow these links: Dear Friends, I d like to inform you that after several years of pursuing the opportunity of playing in Palestine, we finally have arrived at a real possibility of achieving this dream in February next year. There is a very important association in Palestine called Al Mada. Their work is healing traumatised kids and people using several means, but primarily art and music. Thanks to the determination of the great people in Ramallah, and with the help of UNRWA, the group Shakti will play a free concert of solidarity for the wonderful work they are doing in helping victims of conflict. Have a wonderful holiday season, John December 15, 2011 Working for a more just and more peaceful world We are very proud that Al-Mada has the unique opportunity to host John McLaughlin for this solidarity event that will send a strong signal of solidarity to people here and abroad. It is significant that this world-famous musician has decided to perform solely in Ramallah, a fact that could be taken as an example for other artists. We hope that we will be able to accompany Al-Mada during the next years and cooperate with them in a future where they will implement their programmes in a free and independent society. Weltfriedensdienst e.v. (WFD) WFD, the main partner of Al-Mada in establishing the first Palestinian music therapy centre, was founded in 1959 in Berlin, Germany, as a response to the horrendous experiences of World War II. The WFD supports initiatives and projects in which people work towards improving their own living standards and environmental conditions in an active and self-determined manner.

17 Public Health and Personal Impressions Since opening my eyes to the world, I remember my father telling me, You are Palestinian, and our family is from Jerusalem. Despite my young age, I knew this was important somehow and could sense the pride and solemnity in his voice. I have never forgotten, and his words continue to define who I am today. Many years later and nearing my high school graduation, we had many heated discussions about what I should study; my interest in helping people sounded, to his engineer-trained mind, very close to basket weaving and almost as marketable. We finally agreed on a major in health services administration, which I completed and then went on to postgraduate school for a master s in public health. It was during my graduate studies, and after meeting students from different countries in Africa, Asia, and South America, that I began to understand the politics of international health and how global inequities necessarily impacted both societal and individual levels of health. I learned that massive health budgets do not necessarily translate into a healthier population if those resources are squandered on expensive tertiary care services, instead of focusing on the obvious preventive and primary levels of health interventions that build the knowledge, attitude, and skills needed to maintain good health and make sound lifestyle choices. I learned about the barefoot doctors of China and the midwives of Sri Lanka, who safely delivered countless mothers (despite limited national resources) by using sterile and inexpensive equipment and medically accepted procedures. Most importantly, I learned that an empowered and mobilised population is the most valuable resource a country can have. My fledgling career began in rural 32 By Rima Khalidi Jordan where I was part of a humanitarian agency s growth-monitoring team, and every day we would drive 40 minutes to the hills of south Jordan where scattered Bedouin communities lived in harsh conditions; scorching heat in the summer, bitter cold in the winter. For the next few hours, with local girls we were training as health scouts, we would visit Umm Hamzeh and Umm Faris and the many other mothers, both young and old, who had children under two. I was always impressed with how some mothers managed to keep their children healthy (in spite of the harsh conditions) and their tiny homes impeccably clean. As I got to know them better, I realised that many of these women differed from their peers because they had had been allowed to complete secondary school; they were curious, asked questions, took notes, and attended our monthly meetings with children in tow. In fact, it is well known in the health sector that an educated mother is arguably the highest predictor of child health, more significant even than socio-economic status. After completing my stint as a wazaneh (literally one who weighs, as coined by the local children), I worked in various health organisations until I was lucky enough to secure a UN consultancy that 33 turned into a full-time job. For the first few years, our focus was on reducing child and maternal mortality, increasing access to clean water, and the banning of breast-milk substitutes, the bread and butter of international health. In the early 1990s, however, cases of HIV/AIDS began to appear across the Arab world, though most countries were still in denial, and the stigma attached to the disease was fierce. While the disease patterns differed somewhat in that heterosexual transmission and infected blood transfusions were the primary causes of infection in the Arab world (as opposed to the West, where homosexual transmission and IV-drug use were the Dense cluster of homes in a Gaza refugee camp.

18 main modes of infection), the age group was the same. Globally, young people of both genders were found to be at highest risk of getting infected. After many years of experimenting with various interventions, a few success stories emerged; not surprisingly, researchers learned that the most effective means of reaching young people was through other young people, and countries began to invest in the peer-topeer approach, which involved training youth to be educators and active agents of change in their communities. The fact that our region is a young one, with almost 60 percent of the population under the age of 24, posed both a challenge and an opportunity for national AIDS programmes, and youth networks from Tunis to Sana a were established to share information and resources, and to provide support to a generation that finds itself suspended between childhood and adulthood and largely marginalised from meaningful engagement in civic life. In many Arab countries today, youth-led initiatives that work in collaboration with religious leaders and national entities continue to be among the most innovative and effective in reaching/engaging young people not only in the prevention of HIV/AIDS but in the formation of their futures. My interest in working with youth continued to grow, not only because they are our largest age group and the future belongs to them but because their energy and passion so inspired me. I began to seek work opportunities that focused on youth empowerment and engagement in all its shapes and forms. One of the most interesting of these was managing the Jordanian- Danish Youth Dialogue Center in Amman (established in the wake of the caricature crisis), to promote Home to 21 individuals. cross-cultural dialogue between Danish and Muslim youth in Arab countries. I saw myself as a facilitator more than a manager, however, and all centre activities and initiatives were planned and implemented in a wholly participatory manner. So, other than crosscultural dialogue, what were their priorities, interests, and concerns? In no particular order: employment and marriage eventually, finding interesting ways to spend their time (as Jordan lacks an adequate infrastructure for youth to engage in sports, community service, etc.), and social problems such as the honour crimes that continue to plague our society. Also mentioned repeatedly was the wasta system whereby individuals are promoted not because of their own merits but because of who they know. In a country where youth unemployment is high, this can be a major obstacle to getting a job, much less the right one. Many of the young people, especially the young men, also expressed their concerns about discrimination against Jordanians of Palestinian origin, and a disturbing rise in sectarianism as well. The issue of identity and belonging had clearly been a common theme in their lives since birth. We began to plan activities for each area of concern; this ranged from bringing in expert speakers on honour crimes to conducting creativity workshops where participants were encouraged to think outside the box, in stark opposition to the national curriculum where rote learning is the norm. We visited disadvantaged areas in Jordan, including several Palestinian refugee camps, and spoke to their residents and local NGO spokespersons to identify possible areas of contribution and cooperation for the benefit of these communities. The highlight of my time with these young people was during a visit by 50 Danish Muslims to our centre. Their main interest was to visit Palestinian refugee camps this was communicated from Copenhagen and meet with the people there. Working closely with colleagues at UNRWA and the Department of Palestinian Affairs, we planned two days of activities for our visitors. Upon their arrival and after initial discussions, it became clear that they believed Palestinian refugees were still living in tents, so they were quite surprised to see the sprawling mass of quasi-houses that constitute lodging in the camps. We visited several camps, some with well-developed social programmes for their residents and youth, some in states of bare subsistence. Discussions became political and we had to be careful as our movements were monitored; but since many of our gatherings took place in people s homes, we were also treated to exceptional hospitality by our friends at the camps who were eager to get their stories out so many unheard stories and they defied stereotypes with their very beings, warm and engaging, gracious in allowing us into their simple homes and rich life stories. The younger Danes wanted to hear about the experience of Palestinian youth in the refugee camps, and several young people spoke about their experience growing up and living in the camps. Young Palestinians living in the camps feel exceptionally marginalised, and even after securing university degrees, often don t have the right to work in fields of their choice. Yet they are exceptionally resourceful and eager to learn, taking advantage of every opportunity to better themselves. One young woman secured an EU grant to start a roof-top garden project in one of the biggest refugee camps. Participating women were given the materials and basic instructions on how to care for their plants and within a month, parsley, mint, coriander, sage, and other greens covered these formerly dull and lifeless roofs. Her stated goal was to add life and green space to the camp environment, but she did much more than that. She mobilised the camp community to conduct clean-up campaigns of their neighbourhoods and began to organise camp meetings among the women to discuss how best to improve the quality of camp life, even while praying all the while that their children would never grow up there. The finale of our Danish visitor s tour was a workshop on identity ; around 150 young Jordanians, Palestinians, and Danes participated in a lively discussion of what constitutes identity and how we define it; we explored the reciprocal prejudices and stereotypes each group had about the other and 34 35

19 I will not remain a refugee!. de-constructed them, agreeing to disagree sometimes and often underscoring our commonalities in the process. We hadn t intended it to be a peace camp, but the young people came away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the different cultures and the problems faced by each. I believe most will not forget those lessons and the friendships that were formed in that short period. I left the centre soon after that to explore free-lance consulting, both for the professional freedom and space it allows and to explore regional dimensions in youth and sociocultural development. As I had now become convinced that sustained social change and political reform would only come about by engaging and empowering our youth and civic society, I was naturally drawn to regional initiatives that supported diverse youth-led programmes. One of the most effective and innovative among these is the Naseej Community Youth Development network (see link below) that extends to youth across the Arab world from Ramallah to Alexandria. Regional foundations such as Naseej can help prepare our young people for the future by empowering them with the competencies and life skills needed for success in life and the workplace. The pivotal role of young people, and especially of young women in the Arab Spring, has proven their potential to be powerful and positive agents of change. I will end my story where I began, with Palestine, and would like to pay special tribute to the millions of Palestinian youth, who despite the occupation, despite the checkpoints and harassment, despite being refugees, despite everything they endure, persevere and resist their annihilation as a people by setting the highest standards for themselves and excelling in their respective fields, and by continuing to resist the silencing of their voices by expressing themselves not only through organised non-violent resistance but also through the mediums of art, music, and theatre. They are the ultimate survivors and deserve our full support and respect. More power to them! Rima Khalidi is a Palestinian health care professional who works as a free-lance health consultant in Amman, Jordan. Rima has worked with both international NGOs and grass-roots organisations to improve population health status and to build local capacity and momentum through empowering youth and civil society organisations to become positive agents for change and social reform in their communities. She can be reached at rimakhalidi@ gmail.com. Article photos courtesy of the author. References studyingyouth_report.pdf

20 Multicultural Impressions from the Village By Dr. Maria C. Khoury Trying to create a German tradition of Oktoberfest in Palestine during the last seven years has not been an easy task, especially when you are not even of German descent. Trying to make a good impression as a foreign daughterin-law has been the greatest challenge of my life. No matter how many hours you spend in the kitchen, you simply can never measure up to the nice Palestinian girls from Ramallah! All of this modern stuff that might include rap music does not sit very well with longestablished, old-fashioned ways in a closed community. This energy is bundled up in a liberal package of trying to make a good impression on the international community when you are the mayor s wife in a tiny village. I must admit that no matter what impression the Taybeh Oktoberfest has made on people, it has surely enriched my life with talented musicians, generous sponsors, and good friends who are always offering advice. It s difficult to implement new ideas in a little village that has a rich history and behind closed doors. Well, the doors are actually open, twenty-four hours a day, because the mayor s house is the first stop when someone has a crisis. People always get the wrong impression when you tell them at seven in the morning and at midnight that the mayor is not available. And it s really frustrating when they don t believe you. Because, truthfully speaking, I cannot believe it myself when my husband, the mayor, is not home at midnight. But the local Palestinian security station is open twenty-four hours a day, so I know where to find David Canaan Khoury when he s helping to solve others problems. Being in the forefront of Taybeh leadership has led to many opportunities in making great impressions on people who wish to know a different face of Palestine. The world is surprised to get an unusual picture that reflects the fact that some of us in Palestine are normal, regular people who wish to have prosperity and a future for our children like all other people around the world. Wow! Panoramic view of Taybeh village. Photo courtesy of Riwaq. Taybeh Oktoberfest, Palestine West Bank tours, Taybeh Oktoberfest, ancient roots in Palestine going back more than five thousand years, even before the birth of Christ. First impressions are always deceiving, so when visitors come to Taybeh and see the great success behind a hard-working family business they literally miss out on all the screaming and yelling that goes on 38 Even Palestinians want to celebrate life. That is amazing under oppression! Working on making a positive impression on the international community, however, requires total self-commitment; almost giving up your regular life so that you can work on showing what it means to be Palestinian when you are not Palestinian in blood but in spirit and faith. We try to live day-to-day life with inner peace a significant non-violent action under the harsh conditions imposed by Israel. We endeavour to have an open house for special visitors, run a small business with a big name, boost the economy, schedule community events, and put a smile on that different face of Palestine. It s a daily struggle to keep hope alive. The mayor is usually dressed in his professional suit and brand-name tie as he goes off to the local municipality, but during the olive-picking season the usual impression becomes cloudy since this man simply does not look like himself. At 7:30 a.m., he is not at home because he has departed at 5:30 a.m., even before the sunrise, to show the workers exactly which olives to pick. Even when he gives 39 up his normal work day to be in the olive groves with the workers to make sure that they know which groves to work in, he still needs to get away to check on the office staff. In the meantime his first cousin accuses him of picking olives from five of his personal olive trees. I simply give up when it comes to the But he said then I said type of mentality. Can you get up any earlier than 5:30 a.m. to reflect your commitment, dedication, and loyalty to the land? Not in my Greek book! Impressions of land and ownership take on a deep meaning in Palestine. In other places, if you say the word land, it means nothing that would signify any emotional, spiritual, or psychological consequences. But when you come to Taybeh and you see three illegal Israeli settlements closing in on a tiny

21 Kids event, Taybeh. Photo courtesy of Riwaq. village, you should count on some loyal local residents who are committed to keeping their centuries-old values and traditions and by all means hold on to their property. Some of these residents, such as Nadim Khoury, the famous brew master of Taybeh, even suggest clever schemes to boost the economy since he has attended so many Oktoberfest celebrations worldwide. It was his dream come true to see the very first Germanstyle festival happen in Taybeh before the olive-picking season. It s been a great challenge to seek sponsors and raise money to help the municipality host the annual Taybeh Oktoberfest since Sufficient funds are needed in order to allow all the local women s cooperatives and small businesses to keep 100 percent of the proceeds from sales. The municipality covers the running costs of the festival, including musicians, booth setup, media, etc. I have personally come to understand that not all the local people believe in this idea of promoting a modern, moderate, liberal, and free Palestine. Thus, I always ask myself whether I am doing the right thing, since most times I am simply lost among the multicultural rules and just trying to make a good impression. The hope that the world will see a Palestine in need of basic human rights for all is what gives me inner peace. It is the multicultural Palestine that can include ancient traditions and modern ones as well, where I, as a Greek married to a Palestinian, can feel at home. The impression that has been engraved on my soul during these past twenty years of living in Palestine is that all human beings, no matter what their past or future might hold, are worthy of celebrating life with freedom, liberty, justice, peace, and happiness. I am truly blessed to be in an environment where more than twenty thousand people of diverse nationalities, religions, and cultures attended the Taybeh Oktoberfest last year to confirm this outlook. I hope Taybeh will continue to be the flame of peace, as some people have called it, and keep the Taybeh Oktoberfest as the highlight of Palestine, as all its advertisements claim. I believe that the community in Taybeh will continue to make diverse impressions and inspire people to travel to Palestine even beyond the Oktoberfest season. Dr. Maria C. Khoury is organising the 8 th Taybeh Oktoberfest, scheduled to take place in Taybeh, Palestine, on October 6 and 7, At present we are seeking sponsorship for this distinctive event. For more information, contact Dr. Khoury at khourymaria@hotmail.com. 40

22 The Palestinian Circus School Hanging on the wall in the new office of the Palestinian Circus School is a quote from Seth Godin: Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things you would rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, tunnel under that barrier, drive through the other barrier and after you ve done that, to do it again the next day. The idea of embracing risk is what has driven the Palestinian Circus School since it was founded five years ago. The performers themselves take risks every time they practice. The circus school teaches contemporary circus. Unlike traditional circus, there are no animals involved, no elephants, monkeys, or tigers. Instead the circus performers act out a story using clowning, juggling, acrobatics, trapeze, and other circus arts. They push the laws of gravity, doing flips, By Jane French standing on each other s shoulders, flying through the air. The goal is to make the audience laugh and to give them a sense of wonder. The moves themselves are risky, especially at the advanced levels. But even before that, the students must be prepared to drop the juggling balls, to fall on their faces, to make fools of themselves. They have to feel safe doing things they might fail at, says executive director Jessika Devlieghere, because in the beginning, you fail more than you succeed. But for the students, these risks have their rewards. The school, which trains children and youth, ages 10 to 20, has attracted a devoted group of students who have now performed for more than 50,000 people in the West Bank and abroad. In January, circus performers from Palestine participated in an international social circus festival in Italy. And just a few weeks ago, a show in Jenin was so packed that they had to have a second performance in order to accommodate more than 900 children who came to watch. This level of success and recognition is somewhat new for the founders of the school. Creating the school was itself an exercise in risk. The school was started by Devlieghere and Shadi Zmorrod. They began working with just a few volunteers. They had no training space, so they often practiced in the street. Instead of juggling balls, they bought toilet brushes from the corner store to use. Because there is no tradition of circus in Palestine, or even in the Middle East, many people were confused by what they were doing. But the school caught on. The staff trains more than 180 students a week in locations around the West Bank, including Birzeit, Jenin, Al Fara, and Hebron. The school recently moved from a rented basement office into its own building in Birzeit. The new offices are in a beautiful 150-year-old house that was recently donated by Hanna Nasir of Birzeit University and renovated with funds from the Belgian government. The students are able to do some of their Photo by Milan Szypura. Photo by Lucia Ahmad. Photo by Lucia Ahmad training inside the house, but for most of their work, they use the dirt lot outside. The school is currently raising funds to build a training structure that would adjoin the house and give the students the space to practice the more difficult circus skills safely. Circus needs a lot of height, Devlieghere says. Someone doing moves three meters off the ground is completely uninteresting for the audience and for the performer. In addition to providing training space, the circus school s vision is to turn its new building into a hub for artists all around the West Bank. It will be an affordable performance space that artists of all kinds can use. The future building will also be the school s first step to becoming an internationally recognised institution that will attract students from outside of Palestine as well.

23 Part of the reason that the circus has done so well is that it s much more than just a distraction from the harsh realities of living in Palestine. The Palestinian circus comes from a long tradition of social circus that started in the United States in the 1920s. The purpose of this kind of circus is to create social change. The circus in Palestine gives students a chance to work together, to overcome challenges, and to express their ideas. The students create the shows themselves, and they often address problems they see in their everyday lives, such as trash in the streets or men harassing women on the street. Over the long term, the circus has had a strong effect on its students, teaching them confidence and focus. One of the best students would drop his sister off at class and wait outside because he was too shy to participate. Today, he comfortably performs in front of thousands of people. Devlieghere believes these are skills that students can use for the rest of their lives. And for some of the students, circus has become their lives. All the circus school trainers were originally students themselves. Some of the trainers come from refugee camps or have had tough backgrounds, so they know how to work with kids who are dealing with the stress of life under Occupation. They know how difficult they were as kids, so they know what these kids need, Devlieghere says laughing. And even more than teaching the kids, these trainers have become role models for them, inspiring a new generation of students to embrace risk. After the shows, the kids always want to meet the performers. At first they assume that they must be foreign. But when they find out they are Palestinian, they are very proud. They say, If these guys are Palestinian, then we can do this too. Photo by Lucia Ahmad. 44

24 Hard to Describe The Freedom Theatre Honours Palestinian Political Prisoners with Live Performance The house lights dim around me and I settle into my seat. The theatre hushes. Two pools of white light flood onto the stage and the performance begins. It s Wednesday in Jenin and The Freedom Theatre is packed. Journalists, international peace workers, and locals from the refugee camp fill the wooden benches. Today s Playback Theatre performance, Midnight Raid, is the second in a series of creative responses to the Israeli military s recent incursions and arrests in the camp. Thank you again for joining us, says Ben Rivers, Playback Theatre practitioner at The Freedom Theatre. He stands onstage before a line of actors, aged 19 to 25. They are dressed in black. Today we will honour your stories. Amongst the actors onstage is Faisal Abu-Alheja, one of the many Palestinians arrested last week. Today he stands, hands by his side, alert and attentive. According to Addameer, a Palestinian civil institution that focuses on human rights and prisoner support, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians have been detained by the Israeli military since This constitutes 20 percent of the population of the Occupied Territories. As of last September, there were 6,257 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention; 280 of them are children. Nearly 800 are serving life sentences. In the last month alone the Jenin Refugee Camp has suffered more than 50 arrests. Please, Ben says, raise your hand if you have ever been a political prisoner in an Israeli jail. A dozen hands reach up from the audience. Ben begins asking the audience questions: What is your name? How long were you imprisoned? How did you 46 By Christine Baniewicz feel when you were released? It was amazing, actually, shares one audience member. When I was in prison, I met my neighbour. I had not seen him in years, and we became very close. Lutfi is slim, maybe 25 years old, and shy. He speaks quietly into a handheld microphone. So, Ben echoes from the stage, you had a feeling of connection, and friendship, Faisal Abu AlHeja introduces a Playback Theatre performance to the local crowd. even when you were in prison? Lutfi nods. It helped me survive. Ben turns to the actors. Lutfi s experience of friendship, despite being imprisoned: Khaleena enshouf let s watch. And like magic, without speaking, the actors fly into a fluid sculpture of Lutfi s feeling. Beside them, a musician accompanies with twanging, resonant harmony on the oud. They stack their bodies together, swaying gently, looking out into the audience. They freeze. The event continues, flowing from simple experiences to full stories. The microphone travels from hand to hand. Men and women tell stories about demonstrations and tear gas; years spent behind bars and joyous reunions with their relatives. Midway through the show, Loai Tafesh raises his hand. I have a story. He takes the stage, sitting in the Teller s chair beside Ben. Not everything about the prisons is happy, he says. We laugh a little. Until now, the stories had been coloured with hope and resistance and joy. But Loai s story is different. The way they interrogate you, and bother your mind this can be difficult. When Loai was first imprisoned, he spent a week in solitary confinement. But it was strange. They fed me amazing meals, and gave me a pack of cigarettes every day. My room was very nice. The bizarre luxury ended when interrogation began. After the first week an official took me into a room with a table. Said they were keeping me in order that I apologise. I said, apologise for what? And they said, apologise for making us enter your home yesterday and martyr your sister, your mother, and your father. Loai couldn t be sure if he was telling the truth. 47 But then he showed pictures. The Israeli official threw photos onto the table before Loai photos of dead women, their faces and bodies covered by Palestinian flags. This is your mother, he said. Your sister! Look! Look at the photos. Loai looked at the photos. He didn t know what to think. It wasn t until six months later, when I saw my mother in court, that I learned it was a lie. Normally I wouldn t tell this story for a bunch of actors to perform, Loai says. Because it s a serious story. It was very sad. But I am here, so I figured I would share. Acting School student Motaz Malhees leaps into an enactment during the Dec. 21, 2011 performance. Thank you, Loai. Ben takes the microphone and turns to the actors. Loai s story: Khaleena enshouf. Faisal Abu-Alheja and Ahhmad Al-Rokh, both graduates of The Freedom Theatre s Acting School, take the stage. They breathe together, absorbing Loai s story, and launch into improvisation. The oud shudders. Rokh takes a few solemn steps downstage and sinks onto his knees. Faisal steps behind him and forces his head down, oppression made manifest. My eyes dart to Loai. He is rapt. The improvisation continues. Faisal, as

25 Acting School students playback a story of arrest during the January 4 th performance, Midnight Raid. Ben Rivers interviews Rhama Hijji as she tells a story of resistance at Midnight Raid. the Israeli officer, presents Rokh with three shimmering lengths of fabric. The photos. Look! Look! demands Faisal. Rokh winds them up. It s not true, he mutters. The colours gleam in the stage light. He holds them to his heart. Loai cries, discreet, at the edge of the stage. The enactment finishes and the audience erupts. Later, Loai tells Faisal how moved he felt. You must have rehearsed it before, he says. How could we? Faisal smiles. We heard your story for the first time today. Two more stories follow Loai s before the performance ends. By the final story, most of the audience has migrated to the front rows, crowding as close as possible to the stage and leaning in to hear the Teller. I leave the theatre and stand in the sunlight. Clumps of audience members, actors, and journalists hang around, chatting and laughing. I remember the same people waiting for the performance to begin hanging quietly around the olive tree, or holding insular conversations with the friends they arrived with. The performance opened something in us. Conversations are warm and free. Folks mingle. 700,000 Palestinians arrested since A musician passes his cigarettes to a released prisoner. More than 600 complaints of torture and ill treatment submitted against ISA interrogators since A Palestinian journalist asks questions and scribbles notes. 2,000 cases of torture in 2008 alone. And I drink it in with my eyes. 2,000 cases of torture. One week ago Faisal s wrists were red from zip-tie handcuffs. Now his face is red from bashfulness and praise. It s hard to describe the feeling when your father is released from prison after many years, one audience member said today. He shrugged. But I will try. I shoulder my bag and weave through the crowd, up to my desk above the theatre. It s hard to describe the feeling when you ve connected with a community over shared narratives of oppression, abuse, and resistance. It s hard to describe the beauty of an 8-year-old hushed to attention by the story of his elder. It s hard to describe my feeling of responsibility, and compassion, and joy. But I will try. Christine Baniewicz is a writer, composer, and facilitator of communityengaged theatre. She has a bachelor s degree in theatre studies and music composition from Louisiana State University, and currently coordinates Web communications for the traveling theatre-arts organisation, ImaginAction. Christine s original plays and incidental scores have been performed in the United States, Northern Ireland, and Palestine. She also gives applied theatre workshops to encourage dialogue and creative transformation centred on social justice issues. Visit her blog at www. thethingaboutthiswork.blogspot.com. Article photos courtesy of S.E.T. Playback Theatre is an interactive theatre approach used in over fifty countries as a tool for community building and community dialogue. Playback Theatre is an integral part of The Freedom Theatre s activities, not least in the upcoming project The Freedom Bus. From September 23 to October 1, 2012, an ensemble of Palestinian actors and musicians will travel in a convoy of buses to key sites of oppression and resistance within the West Bank. The ensemble will use Playback Theatre to listen to and enact the experiences of community members translating life stories into improvised text, sound, movement, music, and poetry. Performances will take place in community centres, theatres, and at site-specific locations such as checkpoints, settlements, olive groves, home demolition sites, and the separation Wall. Through video link the ride will also include Palestinians in Gaza, Israel, and the diaspora. Performances will be themed, inviting lived stories that address the daily realities of settlement expansion, land appropriation, the water crisis, freedom of movement, political imprisonment, home demolitions, the refugee experience, the separation barrier, Bedouin relocation, and the siege on Gaza. Communities will also be invited to share stories that underscore the rich Palestinian history of popular resistance and sumud (steadfastness). Actors Faisal Abu AlHeja and Ahmad Al Rokh during the January 4 th Playback Theatre performance. The Freedom Bus will respond to the fundamental human need to share one s story and have it heard, acknowledged, and honoured. The bus will also build solidarity as members from different communities join the ride to share stories, knowledge, and experiences. This will help overcome the social fragmentation that results from colonisation and military occupation. The Freedom Bus will also be a focal point for supporters around the world who wish to learn about life in Palestine and to stand in solidarity against the apartheid structures that violate the human rights and sovereignty of the Palestinian people. The ride will include photographers, filmmakers, and journalists who will create an archive of testimonies that can be used for various legal, social, political, and cultural purposes. Passengers on the ride will also include internationally renowned human rights defenders, artists, writers, intellectuals, and others who can help bring attention to the state of egregious injustice that exists in occupied Palestine. If you would like to register as a passenger on the Freedom Bus, or learn more, freedombus@thefreedomtheatre.org

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27 Reflections after a Bomb Attack Everyday life exists, even in Gaza. People have found ways to cope with the recurrent power cuts, mass unemployment, grief, and constant setbacks. The Palestinians on this tiny strip of land keep on living, with dignity, even though they are locked up in a human terrarium shattered on the inside. They can see, through television and Internet, that the world knows about their plight, yet no one intervenes. Gaza s economy is doomed to trade deficits and dependence on donor aid. The former export of olive oil, strawberries, flowers, and textiles no longer exists. More than 1,700,000 Palestinians survive on 60,000 salary cheques from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah (West Bank), 20,000 salary cheques from the authority in Gaza, and 10,000 salary cheques from the UN agency, UNRWA. Besides aid money and informal economic support from relatives and friends on the outside, these 90,000 salaries are the only fresh money that makes the economic wheels turn. Israel can strangle even this through simple administrative measures. Everything is under blockade. Scientific research, trade union struggles, yes, even progress itself is prohibited by the circumstances. Clearly there are totalitarian tendencies inside Gaza. Hamas is a force with considerable financial and organisational resources. Through isolation, Hamas has been allowed to become increasingly dominant in everyday life as engineers behind the state-like structures, as a guarantee of safety, as practitioners of threatening social and political control, as the benefactor of poor people, as the symbol of the resistance against Israel, and as the largest local employer. Hamas is leading the construction of something that resembles a state inside 52 Artwork by Sharif Sarhan. By Erik Helgeson the Gaza Strip. This means governmental review, bureaucracy, permit issuances, and taxation, which are perceived as authoritarian and intrusive by some Palestinians. In Sweden we take such structures for granted. At the same time, this is the embryo of a state without social rights, where Gaza residents do not have the right to put up any demands in case of illness, death within the family, accidents, war, or unemployment. The social safety net instead consists of Hamas charity, which puts many people in a dependent relationship vis-à-vis the movement. Hamas does not need armed, bearded fundamentalist men who assault women, journalists, and opposition figures in order to censor or control. The party dominates the whole society anyway. Whether this will lead to a complete liquidation of democracy and pluralism in Gaza will be determined by the internal struggle within the Islamic movement. But what right does the outside world have to complain about Gaza s internal political development when it refuses to confront the unfair framework: Israel s occupation and blockade? 53 Life in Gaza is all about adaptation and resistance. When denied materials for reconstruction, the people of Gaza will dig tunnels and develop technology to recycle each component of the demolished houses. If the enemy bombs the water-treatment plant, the children have to develop strong stomachs in order to withstand water that is contaminated with sewage and salt water from the sea. The night before we are about to go back to Egypt, I get the strange idea that maybe people can live like this after all. The conditions are raw and brutal, but Gaza is calm and seems to manage to recover after each battle. Children still go to school and adults still go to work. People still drink tea and coffee with their neighbours and friends; they still dance and get married. They overcome the most tragic misery with the help of ingenuity and cohesion. Therefore there is food to buy in the shops, and people still build houses, although, logically speaking, it should be impossible. In Gaza there are no Israeli soldiers or extremist settlers who destroy daily life for Palestinians like they do in the West Bank and Jerusalem through checkpoints, harassment, house demolitions, arrests, and assault. Perhaps they can continue to live like this. Faraj and I are talking in the guest room later that night. We are interrupted in the middle of a sentence by a sharp shriek and a loud bang. My whole body solidifies. I don t even have time to say one word before the next explosion. It is much stronger and makes the whole house shake. We go up to the living room. I try to at least act calm when we look out the window for any columns of smoke from the surrounding houses. One of the host family s boys, in his early teens, comes to us as we stand at the window. He points out the crash site far away on the beach. He is quite calm when he tells us that he saw the F-16 planes. This is normal. Nobody from the rest of the family seems to have woken up. I am afraid but know that I will soon leave the area. In a scarcely credible attempt to be an adult, I put my hand on the kid s shoulder. His breathing is almost as fast as mine. It

28 The Port of Gaza is located in the Rimal district of Gaza. seems it s not possible to get completely used to it after all. The next morning we learn from the media that a police station on the Gaza beach was bombed during the night. One person died and another one was seriously injured. Since the prisoner exchange with Gilad Shalit a few weeks earlier, these attacks have been rare. Even the power cuts have been rarer only a few times a week. Sporadic bombings raise very limited interest among the world s media. When we go back along the route from Rafah to Cairo, I feel ashamed. Not because I had the chance to leave while all the kids had to stay; but because, for a second, I thought that it was actually possible for people to adapt to life in Gaza. Our visit to the Gaza Strip has confirmed everything I had previously read about the structural effects of the illegal blockade. The blockade is an inhuman, paralysing collective punishment. From the perspective of the official Israeli intention to weaken Hamas, the blockade is completely counterproductive. What I take home with me from Gaza are all the personal stories from individuals about life under occupation and blockade. This is not collateral damage. Their experience is not the unfortunate consequences of an ill-considered attempt by the Israeli government to stop arms imports and undermine the fundamentalists. The oppression and humiliation are subtle, longterm, and intended to break down ordinary Palestinians. That s why the people of Gaza are not allowed to fish where the catches are; that s why they are not allowed to travel outside and tell the world about their situation or meet their loved ones. That s why thousands of adults risk their lives working in underground tunnels and every child gets used to night-time explosions in the surroundings. With a little distance, back home in Sweden, I can see it all clearly. The blockade is a low-intensity expulsion of a people not a party that refuses to give up. The situation is acute. The blockade must be lifted. Erik Helgeson is a Swedish dockworker who is active in the solidarity movement Ship to Gaza. Gaza City. Photo by Sharif Sarhan. 54

29 Valentine in Palestine 56 By Besan Staity When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. Gibran Khalil Gibran In the beginning, the story of love was the story of Valentine. Valentine was a soft-hearted priest and saint who lived in Rome in the third century AD. He used to encourage young people to get married, which infuriated Emperor Claudius who believed that married people were incapable of becoming strong warriors. The emperor believed that married men spend their time drinking and prefer to remain close to their wives and children, and hence fail to show true courage in battle. As a result, he banned marriage. St. Valentine, however, used to marry couples in secret. When Emperor Claudius discovered this, he ordered the arrest of St. Valentine. On the eve of February 15, 270 AD, which is the day when the Romans celebrated the spring holiday called Lupercalia, St. Valentine was stoned and beheaded. Following his death, Valentine was beatified, and the Church designated February 14 as the commemoration of St. Valentine. Palestine celebrates St. Valentine s Day. Streets of the cities are decorated with red lights and lovers meet. Tongues pronounce words of love and endearment, and lovers express their love for each other and for their country. In fact, Valentine s Day in Palestine is a social occasion tinged with a political flavour. In spite of the harsh political and economic circumstances, many people are not discouraged from celebrating Valentine s Day because it is immune to any political or economic conditions. In addition, gifts and parties are not necessarily true manifestations of love because love is in the heart and finds expression in simple and sweet words that lovers say to each other words that articulate true and sincere feelings, words that have a special meaning to those who say and hear them. Palestinians in cities, villages, and refugee camps celebrate Valentine s Day. All people have hearts to love, but at the same time one cannot deny that there are some people who have negative thoughts about love and about Valentine s Day. They believe that love is contrary to the teachings of religion, that it is a break from tradition and helps to spread corruption; that it invades the minds of young people and distracts them from their studies and right thinking. In fact, many parents punish their children for the most trivial reasons, including simply talking about love and about Valentine s Day. I believe that love is a religion and a tradition, and it is a good thing that we have one day during the year to express our emotions and our love for others. But there is one disturbing thing, namely deceit in love. Some people think that love is a lie and feel more inclined to break the hearts of other people. This is the kind of love that we must eliminate and fight against because the wounds of the heart do not heal easily. In addition, love is not restricted to people; one can love one s country as well. I celebrate Valentine s Day with my family, and we offer our love to our homeland Palestine. I see my father sacrificing his life for the sake of Palestine. I also look at my mother and see the tears of love in her eyes. All Palestinians long for their homeland. I raise my head proudly and say that I am Palestinian. I kneel out of respect and love for my land. Our Palestinian hearts pulsate with love. Our yearning for the other half of Palestine is strong and alive. It was taken from us long ago 57 by strangers who have exploited our love and humanity and deployed their army to control our land. But our hearts will not forget, and we will defend Palestine and celebrate with it the feast of love filled with peace prevailing on earth. Our celebration of Valentine s Day constitutes a challenge to the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. We will challenge the occupation and prove to the rest of the world that, in the words of the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, We are a people who love life. And because we have strength, love, sincerity, and good relations, we can move mountains and break walls, and nothing will stop our love for our land and our families. The more we suffer, the stronger our love becomes. St. Valentine was beheaded because of sincere love, and we will die to liberate Palestine from dictatorship. The whole world will know that we live and die for love. This is love through the lens of Palestine. Love is the water of life, the food of the spirit; it is the breath that we inhale; it is the thread of affection among friends. Love knows no disagreements. Love is peace, and with love there is cordiality and intimacy. With love the army follows the leader and the mother feeds her child. There is no meaning in life without love; and when love ends, feelings end and consciences sleep and tongues go dry. Finally, I would like to say that it is good to be open to other cultures and their traditions, and to share in their special holidays, especially as the world today has become a small village. We cannot forget any person in the world because love knows no distances. Again I offer the wisdom of Gibran Khalil Gibran: Some we love/but we do not get close to them as they are much sweeter and more precious from afar. Besan Staity is an 11 th grader who lives in Jenin and hopes to become a filmmaker someday. She can be reached at bstaity@yahoo.com.

30 They have the capacity to run a restaurant from A to Z and work on every detail that enters the dining experience. They begin with a conversation with the client, who is involved in the process every step of the way. The end result is a finely tuned management system, with a unique identity and quality food, at very reasonable and affordable rates. Moreover, the company provides exceptional education, professional training, consultations, and restaurant management courses. The passionate and successful JAGS team is composed of committed individuals who seek growth and prosperity through delivering high quality services to clients and ensuring their competitiveness in the food and beverage market. Our mission is to help clients launch their restaurant business, the owners explain. We work on adjusting their menus, training their staff, enhancing their services, and maximising their profits in an effective, timely manner. We are confident of our expertise in the field to fulfil our mission in the food and beverage service market. There are distinctive characteristics that shape the JAGS presence in the food and beverage service market. Assessment Service Provisions: JAGS performs comprehensive assessments of the food business in relation to the market in order to develop an operation strategy. Pastry Service Provisions: JAGS offers comprehensive technical assistance, including new recipes, pastry menus, design, realisation, and kitchen layout that helps create an entire new line of desserts. Mixology Service Provisions: This service is designed to develop beverage and mixology themes. Whether for a bar-only concept or for those seeking to enhance their drink menu, the team of experts will help you build custom cocktails, bar products, and libations to provide you with the most stylish beverage presentation. Training Services: JAGS provides training and development systems in all aspects of the business, including waiter and chef training that will have a remarkably positive impact on your team at work. Joseph Asfour Gourmet Services [ JAGS] was officially established in 2009, as a result of a team effort by the two owners, Executive Chef Joseph Asfour and his partner (and operations manager) Hatem Taha. With a vast, fruitful history and extensive experience in the food and beverage industry, the partnership started with providing catering services to individuals for special occasions and events, and expanded to providing academic services to culinary schools. Their pioneering enthusiasm and determination led them to enhance the Palestinian food and beverage services market as they brought the local industry to a level that is on a par with international standards Working in the food and beverage industry is truly rewarding. And as Palestinians, we have much to offer our people and our visitors from our long heritage and history in the culinary arts. Starting and maintaining a business in this highly competitive sector, however, can be a real challenge! JAGS can help you lower the risks involved in running such a business and strengthen your position in the market, which will increase your return on investment. Through consultation and concrete support, JAGS will lead you to success and give you a new taste of life ja.gourmetservices@gmail.com info@josephltd.com JAGS follows organised systems of interaction with hosts, waiters, bartenders, and other specialised people working in the catering field. What makes them distinctive in the food market is the ability of their team of experts and professionals to assess the condition of the foodservice provider, determine the needs of the business, and provide the right services in order to achieve optimal customer satisfaction.

31 Personality of the Month Ziad Anabtawi Ziad Anabtawi was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Nablus. He pursued a bachelor s degree in electrical engineering from Tri-State University in Angola, Indiana, and a master s degree in engineering management from George Washington University in Washington, DC. Upon his graduation, he returned to Palestine to run the family business. At that time, the first Intifada had just begun. It was a difficult start, but with determination and good planning, he transformed the risks of the Intifada into opportunity. Before the Intifada, people felt paralysed by the occupation. The mood changed after the Intifada, however, and a spirit of resistance emerged. Mr. Anabtawi found his method of resistance by creating new Palestinian food brands. The Nablus-based family business, Anabtawi Group, developed new brands of vegetable oil, such as El-Khayyal and Safi, which have become leaders in the Palestinian market. These brands compete against Israeli and other imported products. Perhaps the success comes from the history of the family and their exposure to multinational imports. They had a lot of experience with premium brands, so when it came to creating their own brands, they utilised their knowledge to formulate a strategic plan and build their own signature. We wanted to do something for Palestinian agro-products, especially our exquisite olive oil, Mr. Anabtawi explains. We created another brand, Al Ard ( the earth in English), which uses Palestinian agricultural products such as olive oil, thyme, and traditional Nabulsi olive oil soap. He confirms that local (or national) Palestinian production is improving rapidly. He has been developing the family business for 25 years and has expanded the product lines and outreach. I always counted on strategic planning and the spirit of youth in my work, he says. When you have a good plan and you implement it through young people, the outcomes will be better because of the energy generated by the youth. His advice for upcoming entrepreneurs: Identify your goals and target on a yearly basis, based on a three-to-fiveyear strategic plan, then you ll succeed. The company now exports to the United States, Saudi Arabia, and GCC countries, and has an online shop for its products. Mr. Anabtawi was one of the founders of the Palestinian Businessmen s Association in Jerusalem. He is married and has three children. Aside from work, Mr. Anabtawi enjoys travelling for the exposure to life and the experience it provides. His father always encouraged him to travel as a way to learn about various cultures and peoples. His favourite city on earth is Jerusalem; he lived there for five years when he returned from his studies. The city holds a special place in his heart, and he and his wife had their first child there. He also has a special interest in the visual arts, especially photography. He supports the cultural sector through his work by sponsoring social activities, sports clubs, and environmental endeavours, as well as by donating to local organisations. As a matter of fact, Anabtawi Group was the first in the Middle East to obtain Social Accountability Certification SA8000. In addition, the group supports Palestinian farmers and is a fairtrade company. Mr. Anabtawi learned a lot from living and studying in America. Determination was part of my character, he says. In America, I was able to put it into practice. Living in a free society taught him how to operate outside the boundaries rather than allow himself to be trapped by them. Freedom is a great thing, and I hope that one day we will have ours in Palestine, he concludes. 60

32 Book of the Month Globalized Palestine The National Sell-Out of a Homeland By Khalil Nakhleh The Red Sea Press, Inc., 2012; 286 pages Order via com or An introductory comment I started working full time on the initial draft of this book, in English, about three years ago. While I was seeking a publisher for the English edition, I was determined to have it appear in Arabic first, and in Palestine, because I sought for it to generate national public discourse on our transformation and future, as a people struggling for freedom and emancipation. Indeed, the Arabic edition was published in Ramallah in May It must be mentioned with appreciation that the translation into Arabic, the publication, and the distribution to public libraries in historical Palestine were possible because of the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, and the total commitment and determination of its Ramallah staff. Why now? Over a span of twenty-five years, or since I stopped being engaged in teaching and research as an academic anthropologist, and shifted to becoming an applied anthropologist, or working in the field of so-called development, I became preoccupied with how to transform Palestinian society and people my society and people from an occupied, colonised, and fragmented society towards a liberated, productive, free, and self-generating society, not dependent on external financial aid. It was, and continues to be, a deeply reflective, agonising, and personal process of thought, analysis, and action, in which I was engaged as a genuine participant observer, through which I was aspiring to see at the end of the tunnel a society with a tightly knit social fabric empowered by coherent political, economic, and liberating human values that would rise against colonialism, oppression, and despotism. This book is, in a certain sense, a partial end result of this reflective and analytic process. Through an introduction and four chapters, and by relying on a microanalytic approach, benefiting from my personal experience as an engaged participant-observer, the book challenges and criticises the various fragmented, noncumulative, deceptive, and mythological attempts to develop Palestinian society over the span of the last thirty years. It is a study of Palestinian development : the development of the people, the society, and the political-economic system. It is about how truncated, distorted, and mythological the official claim of Palestinian development is and has become. Basically, it is about the role of an informal tri-partite coalition of Palestinian capitalists-political elite, Palestinian developmental NGOs, and transnational aid agencies in impeding, obstructing, and negating what I call, People-Centered Liberationist Development (PCLD). As argued throughout this work, PCLD is inherently a process of social and political selfdetermination and liberation; and, as such, it aims primarily at resisting and ending foreign occupation, colonialism, and hegemony, as well as internally perpetuated apartheid, be it political, economic, or social. I claim throughout this book that there is an inherent incongruence between Palestinian absolute dependence on Western transnational aid and the Palestinian official expectation that financial aid, whose primary source emanates from Western governments and/or agencies, is the avenue to developing and emancipating Palestinian people and society from the poverty and pauperisation created by the colonial system of occupation, and is supported and sustained by these same sources. I assert that aid advanced to Palestine under prolonged occupation and colonialism is political aid par excellence, advanced to my people, specifically to acquiesce and submit to an imposed political agenda and programme. Such aid shackles, mortgages, and holds hostage the entire current society and future generations in political and economic debt. It is aid that focuses on consumption and mortgaging people. It is aid that is anti-production and anti-liberation. Although this book is about Palestine, it is not exclusively so. It is also about the important lessons that we can learn from South Africa since 1994, when apartheid was transformed into a social category of control, oppression, and a system of exploitation by the people s own indigenous self-proclaimed leadership. It is also about Latin America and about many other struggling peoples, in whom the current Palestinian struggle is embedded, and cannot be but embedded, thanks to the global process of colonisation and emerging re-colonisation. Since Palestine is still effectively under the hold of Zionist settler colonialism, I benefitted from carefully re-reading and reviewing the work of Frantz Fanon about colonised countries in Africa, and countries where colonisation was formally terminated, but where developments strike an eerie resemblance to twentyfirst-century Palestine. From this vantage point, the current analysis cannot be only an analysis of Palestine today; it is an analysis of a wider scope: how the political economy of the oppressed, or the political economy of the occupied, may look in the globalised twenty-first century. I am sounding serious alarm bells for what may happen to us the Palestinian people and society if we persist on this path of zealous acquiescence to neoliberal agendas imposed on us by the United State, Israel, Western transnational aid agencies, and corporate finance. In this book, I call clearly and openly for strategic counter re-engineering measures that span our perceived collective national consciousness, our prevalent political environment since Oslo, our prevalent economic investment environment, and the abusive role of Palestinian capitalists to maximise their profits. I advocate a need for a determined and purposeful re-engineering of the prevalent environment of the tyranny of transnational aid agencies, and the function of such aid, as well as a conscious effort at re-engineering the prevalent social, cultural, and normative environment. I don t claim to offer magical recipes for our collective emancipation. I claim that together we can and should be able to harness our collective creative indigenous energies if we re determined to liberate ourselves. I hope that this book will be helpful towards this end. Khalil Nakhleh is a Palestinian anthropologist from Galilee who has been residing in this part of the homeland for the last 19 years. He may be reached at abusama@palnet.com

33 Artist of the Month Farid Fakhriddin Understanding and admiring art is the human passage that will enable you to live peacefully and cheerfully even when life is harsh and unfair. Art invites you to rise above anything that is trivial. Farid Fakhriddin Farid Fakhriddin was born in Nablus on December 29, 1958, into a family of intellectuals. Until the age of nine, he was raised on a beautiful piece of land, rich in culture, history, and inspiration. He recognised his mother s beauty and her appreciation and admiration of quality of life. It was she who educated his eyes and awakened his artistic senses at an early age. Fakhriddin left Nablus at the age of nine and settled in Amman. He graduated from his undergraduate studies in 1977, with a bachelor s degree in civil engineering from a university in the United Kingdom. He started painting while working in the southern province of Saudi Arabia in He adopted the impressionist and post-impressionist styles in his paintings, travelling between Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Syria, and Europe. Going to Italy and Yemen gave him a special insight into rural life. His paintings are influenced mostly by European style. When he lived for a short while in Japan, however, he was exposed to different cultures that influenced his creativity and instilled in him the desire to paint various themes. Following his meticulous self-education in art history, Fakhriddin read a lot about Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, and Lautrec. He started painting what his heart most cherished, and his painting Jerusalem emerged in Arab authors and artists also influenced his work, and in 1991, he painted a portrait, Unknown Woman, inspired by Gibran Khalil Gibran s description of May Ziadeh. Fakhriddin felt proud of these two paintings, and he considered having a solo exhibition to present his work. The event took place in 1992 at the Crown Hotel in Amman. At the exhibition, he sold several paintings, but he always held on to Jerusalem. Due to changing life circumstances, Fakhriddin stepped away from painting for a while. He established a graphic design and printing centre in 1994 in an effort to gain his livelihood. His work remained consistent with his passion for art, colours, and beauty. Today, Fakhriddin s paintings are admired extensively and sell on a regular basis. He uses only oil as a medium, and he has his own style using brush strokes, pallet knife, and daring colours. Painting expresses my feelings towards daily life: a scene I witness, news I read about, a song I listen to, a book I read. Mostly my inspiration comes when I have an opinion on something that I have seen, heard, or watched, he says. Fakhriddin s dream is for people to start acquiring art for the sake of art. He wants art to be taken seriously at schools and in educational institutions in order to open students minds and give them the ability to recognise, develop, and understand the concepts of life in a sophisticated manner. What is art except what one feels or what one thinks? Art is a tool in teaching our young generation how to respect and believe in democracy. Fakhriddin has developed a series of portraits of known and unknown figures. He will enter the BP Portrait Award 2012 competition, now in its thirty-third year at the National Portrait Gallery and in its twenty-third year of sponsorship by BP. This event is an annual competition that aims to encourage artists to focus upon and develop portraiture in their work. Fakhriddin will present a new piece for the competition, meanwhile working towards another solo exhibition that will take place in Jordan in April The BP Portrait Award 2012 exhibition will run at the National Portrait Gallery in London, from June 21 to September 23, ) He s Not Just a Clown, 120 x 100 cm, oil on canvas 2) In an Oriental Cafe, 50 x 40 cm, oil on canvas 3) Rehearsing, 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas 4) Crowded Lunch, 150 x 120 cm, oil on canvas 5) Heart Loves all that is Beautiful 60 x 40 cm, oil on canvas 6) Ladies Be Seated, 120 x 80 cm, oil on canvas 7) Portrait of the Artist s Wife, 103 x 75 cm, oil on canvas 64 65

34 Exhibition of the Month Contemplations Hani Zurob, Inana and the King - Siege of No. 2, 2004, Yvette and Mazen Qupty Collection. Al Hoash is organising the Fourth Collection Exhibition under the title Contemplations, in an attempt to present and examine the art collection as a cultural asset and a modest yet valuable representation of the accumulation of cultural and visual production by Palestinian artists. The exhibition seeks to open a discussion with the public about the notion of visual culture in relation to national identity. Presenting the collection comes as part of al Hoash s examination of its future development towards being a researchbased, knowledge-producing organisation in visual culture. The role of the collection in this endeavour is found through the value of the participating works of art and their 66 By Mirna Bamieh relevance to Palestinian visual production. The evaluation, study, and analysis of the artwork come in the form of a debate with the Palestinian public. The exhibition examines and highlights the representation of the female form through the works of artists Nabil Anani, Sliman Mansour, Kamel al-moughanni, Asem Abu Shaqra, Asad Azzi, and Hani Zurob, and observes as well as compares works by female artists Sophie Halabi, Samia Halabi, Rana Bishara, and Inass Yassin. The main feature depicted in the works of Nabil Anani, Sliman Mansour, and Kamel al-moughanni, particularly those produced in the 1970s and 1980s, was the representation of the female figure in a symbolic and iconic manner, referring to it in the context of nostalgic association and patriotic relevance, the woman as the mother and the land. During that time, this representation was consistent with the general Palestinian political situation and the revolutionary spirit in that era. Art then reflected the public s ambitions and pains under occupation, while it also established a visual illustration in the revolutionary context. In the works of Hani Zurob and Assad Azzi, we see the representation of the female figure taking on a new dynamic that is open to more possibilities in a universal context. The female figures in the paintings of Hani Zurob and Assad Azzi reflect the mythological face of beauty that of Aphrodite and Ashtar. In Asem Abu Shaqra s painting and Zurob s Daydreaming, the female figure is manifested in a more erotic and sensual manner, whereas Assad Azzi takes a totally different approach in his Four Faces painting, where he captures the woman s face in what seems like an anatomical examination of her facial features. Given that the representation of the female figure came through the male artist s gaze, we examined the collection artwork produced by four female artists and tried to compare them. Where the female figure was present, it was clearly a reflection of the self. This is visible in the paintings of Sophie Halaby, one of the pioneering female artists whose works go back to the 1930s. The artist Inass Yassin points more to the existential and the special, as well as to social change, in her painting Transformation. In Samia Halabi s painting we see her dealing with the olive tree symbol in an abstract manner, contrary to her male colleagues of the same generation. In her painting Untitled, artist Rana Bishara uses henna and tar, traditionally socially and politically charged substances, to compose the scene of her painting. The exhibition will be inaugurated on January 26 at al Hoash Gallery in Jerusalem, and will be open until February 29. The opening will be preceded by a series of lectures and talks that will take place during the month of February, in an attempt to put 67 the theme of the exhibition and its artwork into a more comparative and analytic light in the context of the Palestinian art scene. Sophie Halabi, 1930s, Yvette and Mazen Qupty Collection.

35 Website Review By Abed A. Khooli Review date: January 13, 2012 Welcome to Palestine 2012 is an international initiative that encourages supporters of Palestinian rights to visit Palestine at Easter 2012 and participate in a child-education project. The site is available in English only and has a simple layout with a header, two columns, and a footer. The header features a panoramic picture of Palestinian folk dance and music against a background of the separation Wall, partially overlaid over a dark grey banner that has the site title. There are a few menu sections in the left column. WtP 2012 has the Home link (back to main page), Media releases (currently has one item explaining the upcoming mission and providing contact information), Key documents (initiative summary, endorsement, and participation forms), Contact us ( s and Web forms to contact the initiative in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic), Resources (posters and leaflets, including the initiative statement in 13 languages), and Events (there is actually a full calendar interface although there are no events listed, not even the proposed Easter event). The next section covers the similar event in July Press coverage links to related articles in international media. There are two items under Articles introducing the event and documenting the experience. Videos has one item that did not function with the embedded player although its YouTube source is working. The last item in this section, WtP 2012 endorsements, relates to the 2012 event. Receive news & updates is the next menu block with a Web form to subscribe to the WtP mailing list. There is also a Facebook link to the initiative, a donation Web form (in various currencies and with several payment options) and a login form with username and password reminders. The content area starts with three relatively large buttons: WtP 2012 Endorsements lists entities that endorsed the initiative in the United Kingdom and the United States. Endorse WtP 2012 is a Web form that can be used to express support for the initiative and to indicate the type of participation desired, and Sign up for WtP 2012 is the form to use if you intend to participate in the visit. The rest of the content area has the initiative statement with the names and photos of the people who signed it. The page concludes with a dark footer that has some technical information about the site template and a link to check its validity against Web standards (failed when tested). Welcome to Palestine 2012 website serves a great cause even though the site interface and content are not up to a traditional Palestinian welcome in real space. Enhancements in content and interface are highly recommended. Abed A. Khooli is a SharePoint and Web development specialist. He can be reached at akhooli@arabic2000.com. 68

36 Note: Please make sure to contact the venue to check for the latest updates. Yabous Cultural Centre, tel: ; Educational Bookshop, tel: ; Centre for Jerusalem Studies, tel: ART Wednesday 1 10:00 The 4 th Collection Exhibition, Al Hoash Monday :00 Egypt Reloaded, Yabous Cultural Centre CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES Monday 27 10:00 Shubat Al Labbat, Yabous Cultural Centre FILMS Freedom Film Week: Thursday 9 17:00 Fallega 2012, Yabous Cultural Centre Friday 10 18:00 Green Days, Yabous Cultural Centre Saturday 11 18:00 Harragas, Yabous Cultural Centre Sunday 12 18:00 We Wont Leave, Yabous Cultural Centre Sunday 12 18:35 Al-Anfal, Fragments of Life and Death, Yabous Cultural Centre Monday 13 18:00 The Quarter of Scarecrows, Yabous Cultural Centre Tuesday 14 18:00 Cairo 678, Yabous Cultural Centre Wednesday 15 18:00 Waiting for Abu Zayd, Yabous Cultural Centre Thursday 16 18:00 Every Day is a Holiday, Yabous Cultural Centre LITERATURE Thursday 9 18:00 Book launch of The Unholy Land, Educational Bookshop, Jerusalem TOURS Saturday 4 10:00 The Holy Sepulchre, the Monument: History, Art, and Architecture as seen by European travellers, Centre for Jerusalem Studies Saturday 4 10:00 Alternative tour in the old city, Centre for Jerusalem Studies Wednesday 8 16:30 The Old City Tunnels Tour, Centre for Jerusalem Studies Saturday 11 10:00 Almond Blossom in Sebastya, meeting point Sheikh Jarrah, Centre for Jerusalem Studies Saturday 18 10:00 The Armenian Quarter, meeting point: Jaffa Gate, Centre for Jerusalem Studies Saturday 25 10:00 Moslem Medieval Theological Colleges and Arabic Neighbourhoods, meeting point: Centre for Jerusalem Studies Dar Annadwa, tel: ART Friday 24 16:00 Gallery Opening of two exhibitions Harmony by the Palestinian jewellery designer Hiam Rouhana, Dar Annadwa Wednesday 29 17:00 The opening of the new play Do You Still Love Me, Dar Annadwa FILMS Monday 6 18:00 Kebab Connection, Dar Annadwa Thursday 16 18:00 Johnny English Reborn, Dar Annadwa Sunday 26 18:00 50/50, Dar Annadwa SPECIAL EVENTS Friday 10 17:00 A Fragmented Picture, Dar Annadwa French-German Cultural Center, tel: ; Cafe La Vie, tel: ; Virtual Gallary, Birzeit University, ART Wednesday 4 10:00 Between Ebal and Gerzim, Virtual Gallary, Birzeit University Thursday 9 11:00 Exhibition of garden paintings Every book is like a garden-you can carry it in your pocket, French-German Cultural Center Friday 10 Billboard project Ehna men hon, Contact in Ramallah: Lucia Ahmad (luciechristinee@ hotmail.com) 02/12/2012 Friday 10 17:00 A Metro in Gaza, French-German Cultural Center FILMS Thursday 2 17:00 La chandeleur: Crêpes tasting session and CinéMémoires: The 2 nd of February is a Christian holiday, French-German Cultural Center Monday 6 18:00 Lila lila, In German with English subtitles, French-German Cultural Center Tuesday 14 18:00 Under the sun of Sandrine Bonnaire, French-German Cultural Center Wednesday 15 18:00 Die Tränen meiner Mutter, In German with English subtitles, French-German Cultural Center Wednesday 22 18:00 Sehnsucht, in German with English subtitles, French-German Cultural Center LITERATURE Wednesday 1 17:00 Kairos for Palestine, French-German Cultural Center Wednesday 8 18:00 Book launch of The Unholy Land, French- German Cultural Center Thursday 16 17:00 Loz Akhdar youth literature forum (Twenty one session), organised by JEEL Publishing/ Filistin Ashabab in cooperation with Khalil Al Sakakini Cultural Center, Khalil Al Sakakini Cultural Center SPECIAL EVENTS Monday 6 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Golden League, Orthodox Club Ramallah Tuesday 7 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Silver League, Orthodox Club Ramallah Monday 13 18:00 Stammtisch Deutsch, Open meeting for everybody who likes to speak German, Café La Vie Monday 13 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Golden League, Orthodox Club Ramallah Tuesday 14 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Silver League, Orthodox Club Ramallah Saturday 18 10:00 Teaching Translation - Training Translators, French-German Cultural Centre Monday 20 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Golden League, Orthodox Club Ramallah Tuesday 21 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Silver League, Orthodox Club Ramallah Monday 27 20:00 Quiz Night Winter Games - Golden League, Orthodox Club Ramallah ART Sunday 19 9:00 A tour to Nablus City and Vicinity, PACE Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE), tel: TOURS Sunday 5 9:00 A tour to Hebron City and Vicinity, PACE TOURS Sunday 26 9:00 A tour to Jericho City and Vicinity, PACE TOURS Sunday 12 9:00 A tour to Sebastia and Jenin City, PACE 70 71

37 Al-Jawal Theatre Group Telefax: Alruwah Theatre Tel: , Al-Ma mal Foundation for Contemporary Art Tel: , Fax: Al-Urmawi Centre for Mashreq Music Tel: , Fax: Ashtar for Theatre Productions & Training Telefax: The Bookshop at the American colony hotel Tel: , Fax: www. americancolony.com British Council Tel: , Fax: Center for Jerusalem Studies/Al-Quds University Tel: Community Action Centre (CAC) Tel: , Fax: Educational Bookshop Tel: , Fax: El-Hakawati Theatre Company Tel: , Mobile: French Cultural Centre Tel: / , Fax: ccfjeru@consulfrance-jerusalem.org Issaf Nashashibi Center for Culture & Literature Telefax: , isaaf@alqudsnet.com Jerusalem Centre for Arabic Music Tel: , Fax: , mkurd@yahoo.com Melia Art Center TeleFax: Melia@bezeqint.net Palestinian Art Court - Al Hoash Telefax: info@alhoashgallery.org, Palestinian National Theatre Tel: , Fax: , info@pnt-pal.org Public Affairs Office Tel: , Fax: Sabreen Association for Artistic Development Tel: , Fax: sabreen@sabreen.org, Sanabel Culture & Arts Theatre Tel: , Fax: sanabeltheatre@yahoo.com The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music Tel: , Fax: info@ncm.birzeit.edu, ncm.birzeit.edu The Magnificat Intstitute Tel: , Fax: magnificat@custodia.org Theatre Day Productions Tel: , Fax: tdp@theatreday.org, Turkish Cultural Centre Tel: /1, Fax: kudustur@netvision.net.il, Wujoud Museum Tel: info@wujoud.org Yabous Cultural Center Tel: ; Fax: info@yabous.org, Al-Harah Theatre Telefax: , alharahtheater@yahoo.com info@alharah.org, Alliance Française de Bethléem Telefax: , afbeth@p-ol.com Anat Palestinian Folk & Craft Center Telefax: , marie_musslam@yahoo.com Arab Educational Institute (AEI)-Open Windows Tel: , Artas Folklore Center Tel: , Mobile: artasfc@yahoo.com Badil Centre Tel: Beit Jala Community Based-Learning & Action Center Tel: Bethlehem Academy of Music/ Bethlehem Music Society Tel: , Fax: Bethlehem Peace Center Tel: , Fax: info@peacenter.org, Cardinal House Telefax: info@cardinalhouse.org, Catholic Action Cultural Center Tel: , Fax info@ca-b.org, Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation Tel: , Fax: info@cchp.ps 72

38 Inad Centre for Theatre and Arts Telefax: , International Centre of Bethlehem-Dar Annadwa Tel: , Fax: ITIP Center Italian Tourist Information Point Telefax: , Nativity Stationary Library Mob: Palestinian Heritage Center Telefax: , Palestinian Group for the Revival of Popular Heritage Telefax: Relief International - Schools Online Bethlehem Community Based-Learning & Action Center Tel: Sabreen Association for Artistic Development Tel: , Fax: sabreen@sabreen.org, Tent of Nations Tel: , Fax: tnations@p-ol.com, The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music Telefax: info@ncm.birzeit.edu, The Higher Institute of Music Telefax: highiom@hotmail.com Turathuna - Centre for Palestinian Heritage (B.Uni.) Tel: , Fax: pdaoud@bethlehem.edu, Al Sanabl Centre for Studies and Heritage Tel: , sanabelssc@yahoo.com Beit Et Tifl Compound Telefax: , tdphebron@alqudsnet.com British Council- Palestine Polytechnic University Telefax: , information@ps.britishcouncil.org Children Happiness Center Telefax: , children_hc@yahoo.com Dura Cultural Martyrs Center Tel: , nader@duramun.org, France-Hebron Association for Cultural Exchanges Tel: info@hebron-france.org, wwww.hebron-france.org Hebron Rehabilitation Committee Telfax: , /4 Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC) Tel: , Fax: pcac@hotmail.com, Yes Theater Telefax: , info@yestheatre.org The International Palestinian Youth League (IPYL) Tel: , Fax: itv@ipyl.org, Jericho Community Centre Telefax: Jericho Culture & Art Center Telefax: Municipality Theatre Tel: , Fax: Cinema Jenin Tel: , info@cinemajenin.org, Hakoura Center Telfax: center@hakoura-jenin.ps, The Freedom Theatre/Jenin Refugee Camp Tel: , info@thefreedomtheatre.org British Council- Al Najah University Telefax: information@ps.britishcouncil.org Cultural Centre for Child Development Tel: , Fax: nutaleb@hotmail.com, Cultural Heritage Enrichment Center Tel , Fax , arafatn24@yahoo.com French Cultural Centre Tel: , Fax: ccfnaplouse@consulfrance-jerusalem.org Nablus The Culture Tel: , Fax: info@nablusculture.ps, A. M. Qattan Foundation Tel: , Fax: info@qattanfoundation.org, Al-Kamandjâti Association Tel: info@alkamandjati.com, Al Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque Tel: /3, Fax: info@alkasaba.org, Al-Mada Music Therapy Center Tel: , Fax: info@al-mada.ps, Al-Rahhalah Theatre Telefax: , alrahhalah@hotmail.com Amideast Tel: , Fax: westbank-gaza@amideast.org, ArtSchool Palestine Tel: info@artschoolpalestine.com, Ashtar for Theatre Production Tel: , Fax: info@ashtar-theatre.org, Baladna Cultural Center Telfax: BirZeit Ethnographic and Art Museum Tel , British Council Tel: , Fax: information@ps.britishcouncil.org Carmel Cultural Foundation Tel: , Fax: Dauod Basha Tel: El-Funoun Dance Troupe Tel: , Fax: info@el-funoun.org, Sareyyet Ramallah - First Ramallah Group (FRG) Tel: , Fax: sareyyet@sareyyet.ps, Franco-German Cultural Centre Ramallah Tel: / 7727, Fax: info@ccf-goethe.org, Greek Cultural Centre - Macedonia Telefax: / , makdonia@palnet.com In ash Al-Usra Society- Center for Heritage & Folklore Studies Tel: / , Telefax: usra@palnet.com, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center Tel: , Fax: sakakini@sakakini.org, Manar Cultural Center Tel: , Fax: Mazra a Qibliyeh Heritage and Tourism Centre Telefax: , mazraaheritage@yahoo.com Nawa institute Tel: , info@nawainstitute.org Palestinian Association for Contemporary Art PACA Tel: , fax: paca@pal-paca.org, Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) Tel: , Telfax: pace@p-ol.com, Palestine Workshop Mob: , Palestine Writing Workshop Popular Art Center Tel: , Fax: info@popularartcentre.org, Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies (RCHRS) Tel: Ramallah Cultural Palace Tel: / , Fax: rcpevents@ramallah-city.org RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural Conservation Tel: , Fax: riwaq@palnet.com, Sandouq Elajab Theatre Tel: , , sandouqelajab@yahoo.com Shashat Tel: , Fax: info@shashat.org, Sharek Youth Forum Tel: , Fax: info@sharek.ps, Tamer Institute for Community Education Tel: / 2, Fax: tamer@palnet.com, The Danish House in Palestine (DHIP) TeleFax: , info@dhip.ps, The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music Tel: , Fax: info@ncm.birzeit.edu, The Palestinian Circus School Tel: , info@ palcircus.ps The Palestinian Network of Art Centres Tel: , /9, Fax: iman_aoun@yahoo.com The Spanish Cultural Center Tel , chp@panoramacenter.org Young Artist Forum Telefax: , yaf@palnet.com Al-Qattan Centre for the Child Tel: , Fax: reem@qcc.qattanfoundation.org Arts & Crafts Village Telefax: artvlg@palnet.com, Ashtar for Culture & Arts Telefax: , atlas9@palnet.com Fawanees Theatre Group Telefax: Culture & Light Centre Telefax: , ifarah@palnet.com French Cultural Centre Tel: , Fax: ccfgaza@consulfrance-jerusalem.org Gaza Theatre Tel: , Fax: Global Production and Distribution Telefax: , art.global@yahoo.com Dialogpunkt Deutsch Gaza (Goethe-Insitut) Tel: , Fax: Holst Cultural Centre Tel: , Fax: , mcrcg@palnet.com Theatre Day Productions Telefax: , tdpgaza@palnet.com Windows from Gaza For Contemporary Art Mob , info@artwfg.ps 74 75

39 Addar Hotel (30 suites; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: , Alcazar Hotel (38 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: ; Fax: Ambassador Hotel (122 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: American Colony Hotel (84 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Austrian Hospice Tel: , Fax: Azzahra Hotel (15 rooms, res) Tel: , Fax: Capitol Hotel (54 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: /2, Fax: Christmas Hotel Tel: , Fax: Commodore Hotel (45 rooms; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Gloria Hotel (94 rooms; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: , Golden Walls Hotel (112 rooms) Tel: , Fax: Holy Land Hotel (105 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Jerusalem Hotel (14 rooms; bf; mr; res; live music) Tel: , Fax: Jerusalem Meridian Hotel (74 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Jerusalem Panorama Hotel (74 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Hashimi Hotel Tel: , Fax: , Knights Palace Guesthouse (50 rooms) Tel: , Fax: , Legacy Hotel Tel: , Fax: Metropol Hotel Tel: , Fax: Mount of Olives Hotel (61 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Mount Scopus Hotel (65 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: , National Hotel (99 rooms; bf; cr; res; cf) Tel: , Fax: New Imperial Hotel (45 rooms) Tel: , Fax: New Metropole Hotel (25 rooms; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: New Regent Hotel (24 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: , New Swedish Hostel Tel: , Fax: , Notre Dame Guesthouse (142 rooms, Su, bf, mr, cr, res, ter, cf, pf) Tel: , Fax: org Petra Hostel and Hotel Tel: Pilgrims Inn Hotel (16 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Ritz Hotel Jerusalem (104 rooms, bf, mr) Tel: , Fax: Rivoli Hotel Tel: , Fax: Savoy Hotel (17 rooms) Tel: , Fax: Seven Arches Hotel (197 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: , St. Andrew s Scottish Guesthouse The Scottie (19 rooms +Self Catering Apartment) Tel: , Fax: standjer@netvision.net.il, St. George Landmark Hotel Tel: Fax: uraib.zalatimo@stgeorgelandmark.com St. George s Pilgrim Guest House (25 rooms; bf; res) Tel: , Fax: , sghostel@bezeqint.net St. Thomas Home Tel: , , Fax: aset@aset-future.com, Strand Hotel (88 rooms; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Victoria Hotel (50 rooms; bf; res) Tel: , Fax: Alexander Hotel (42 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Al-Salam Hotel (26 rooms; 6f; mr; cf; res) Tel: /4, Fax: , samhotel@p-ol.com Angel Hotel Beit Jala Tel: , Fax: info@angelhotel.ps, Beit Al-Baraka Youth Hostel (19 rooms) Tel: , Fax: Beit Ibrahim Guesthouse Tel: , Fax: reception@luthchurch.com Bethlehem Hotel (209 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: , bhotel@p-ol.com Bethlehem Inn (36 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Bethlehem Star Hotel (72 rooms; cf; bf; res) Tel: , Fax: htstar@palnet.com Bethlehem youth hostel Telefax: , Casanova Hospice (60 rooms; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Casanova Palace Hotel (25 rooms; bf; res) Tel: , Fax: El-Beit Guest House (beit sahour) (15 rooms) TeleFax: , info@elbeit.org, Everest Hotel (19 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Grand Hotel (107 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: info@grandhotelbethlehem.com Golden Park Resort & Hotel (Beit Sahour) (66 rooms; res, bar, pool) Tel: House of Hope Guesthouse Tel: , Fax: Guesthouse@houseofhopemd.org House of Peace Hostel Tel: , Inter-Continental Hotel (Jacir Palace) (250 rooms; su; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Lutheran Guesthouse Abu Gubran Tel: , Guesthouse@diyar.ps, Murad Tourist Resort Tel: , Fax: , Nativity Bells Hotel (65 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: nativitybells@palnet.com, Nativity Hotel (89 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: nativity@nativity-hotel.com, Olive Tree Hotel (20 rooms; 6 su; res; sp; bar; wifi-lobby) Tel: Fax: olivetreehotel@yahoo.com Facebook: olive tree tourist village 77 Paradise Hotel (166 rooms;cf;bf;mr;res;su;pf) Tel: / , paradise@p-ol.com St. Antonio Hotel (36 rooms; mr; cf;res;pf) Tel: , Fax: Santa Maria Hotel (83 rooms; mr; res) Tel: /5/6, Fax: , smaria@p-ol.com Shepherd Hotel Tel: , Fax: info@shepherdhotel.com, Shepherds House Hotel (Facilities: Restaurant and Bar, WiFi) Tel: , Fax: St. Nicholas Hotel (25 rooms; res; mr) Tel: /1/2, Fax: Saint Vincent Guest House (36 rooms) Tel: /8, Fax: svincent@p-ol.com, Talita Kumi Guest House (22 rooms; res; mr; cf) Tel: , Fax: Zaituna Tourist Village Tel: Al- Zaytouna Guest House (7 rooms; bf; res; mr) Telefax: Deir Hijleh Monastery Tel: , Hisham Palace Hotel Tel: , Fax: Inter-Continental Jericho (181 rooms; su; bf; cf; mr; res; ter; tb) Tel: , Fax: Jericho Resort Village (60 rooms; 46 studios; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: reservation@jerichoresorts.com, Jerusalem Hotel (22 rooms) Tel: , Fax: Telepherique & Sultan Tourist Center (55 rooms) Tel: , Fax: info@jericho-cablecar.com Hebron Hotel Tel: / , Fax: hebron_hotel@hotmail.com Al-Qaser Hotel (48 rooms; 7 regular suites, 1 royal suite; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: alqaser@alqaserhotel.com, Al-Yasmeen Hotel & Souq (30 rooms; cf; mr; res) Tel: Fax: yasmeen@palnet.com, Asia Hotel (28 rooms, res) Telefax: Chrystal Motel (12 rooms) Telefax:

40 International Friends Guesthouse (Hostel) (mr; res; ter; cf; pf) Telfax: Al-A in Hotel (24 rooms and suites; mr; cf) Tel: Fax: Aladdin Hotel Tel: , , Fax: Al-Bireh Tourist Hotel (50 rooms; cf; res) Telefax: Al-Hajal Hotel (22 rooms; bf) Telefax: Al Hambra Palace (Hotel Suites and Resort) Tel: , Fax: AlZahra Suites Tel: Reef Pension (Jifna village) (8 rooms; res) Telefax: , Al-Wihdah Hotel Telefax: Ankars Suites and Hotel (30 suites) Tel: , Fax: Beauty Inn Tel: , Fax: Best Eastern Hotel (91 rooms; cf; res) Tel: , Fax: , Caesar Hotel (46 rooms & su, 2 mr, cr, res, cf) Tel: , Fax: reservation@caesar-hotel.ps, City Inn Palace Hotel (47 rooms; bf; cf; res) Tel: , Fax: cityinnpalace@gmail.com, Grand Park Hotel & Resorts (84 rooms; 12 grand suites; bf; cf; mr; res; sp; pf) Tel: , Fax: , info@grandpark.com Gemzo Suites (90 executive suites; cs; mr; pf; gm; res) Tel: , Fax: gemzo@palnet.com, Manarah Hotel Tel: , Telefax: manarah@hotmail.com, Merryland Hotel (25 rooms) Tel: , Telefax: Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah (171 rooms and Su; bf; mr; cr; res;ter; cf; gm; pf; sp) Tel: , Fax: hotel.ramallah@moevenpick.com hotel.ramallah.reservation@moevenpick.com Rocky Hotel (22 rooms; cf; res; ter) Tel: , Telefax: Pension Miami (12 rooms) Telefax: Ramallah Hotel (22 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Retno Hotel (33 rooms & su; res; mr; gm; sp) Telefax: , Retno@retnohotel.com Royal Court Suite Hotel (34 suites; res; mr; ter; cf; pf; i) Tel: , Fax: Star Mountain Guesthouse (10 rooms; wifi; pf) Tel: , Telefax: starmountaincenter@gmail.com Adam Hotel (76 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Telefax: /19 Al-Deira (11 suites; cf; mr; res; ter) Tel: /200/300, Fax: ADEIRA@P-I-S.com Al Mashtal Hotel Tel: , Fax: mashtal@arcmedhotels.com Almat haf Hotel Tel: , Fax: info@almathaf.ps, Al-Quds In ter na tional Hotel (44 rooms; 2 suites; bf; mr; res) Telefax: Al-Waha Hotel Tel: , Fax: Beach Hotel (25 rooms; bf; mr; res) Telefax: Cliff Hotel (24 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Commodore Gaza Hotel (120 rooms;su; bf) Tel: , Fax: hotel@commodorgaza.com Gaza International Hotel (30 rooms; bf; cf; res; sp) Tel: /2/3/4, Fax: Grand Palace Hotel (20 rooms; cr; mr; cf; res; internet) Tel: /6468, Fax: grand_palace@p-i-s.com Hotel Sea Breeze Tel: , Fax: Marna House (17 rooms; bf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Palestine Hotel (54 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res) Tel: , Fax: Cinema Jenin Guesthouse (7 rooms; 2 su) Tel: , Mob: guesthouse@cinemajenin.org, Haddad Hotel & Resort Tel: /1/2, Fax: haddadbooking@ymail.com Key: su = suites, bf = business facilities; mr = meeting rooms, cr = conference facilities; res = restaurant, ter = terrace bar; tb = turkish bath, cf = coffee shop; gm = gym; pf = parking facilities, sp = swimming pool Al-Diwan (Ambassador Hotel) Middle Eastern, French, and Italian Cuisine Tel: , Fax: Alhambra Palace Jerusalem Restaurant & coffee shop Conferences workshops and social activates, Theatre and Cinema Tel: , Fax: info@alhambrapalacej.com Al-Shuleh Grill Shawerma and Barbecues Tel: Amigo Emil Middle Eastern, American, Indian, and Italian Cuisine Tel: , Fax: Antonio s (Ambassador Hotel) Middle Eastern, French, and Italian Cuisine Tel: Arabesque, Poolside, and Patio Restaurants (American Colony Hotel) Western and Middle Eastern Menu Tel: , Fax: Armenian Tavern Armenian and Middle Eastern Food Tel: Askidinya Italian and French Cuisine Tel: Az-Zahra Oriental food and Pizza Tel: Borderline Restaurant Café Italian and Oriental Menu Tel: Bulghourhi Armenian and Middle Eastern Tel: , Fax: Cardo Restaurant Continental Cuisine Tel: Chinese Restaurant Chinese Cuisine Tel: , Fax: Coffee Bean Café Sandwiches and Sushi Tel: Educational Bookshop Books and Coffee Books and Coffee Tel: El Dorada Coffee Shop and Internet Café Chocolates, Coffee, and Internet Tel: Flavours Grill International Cuisine with Mediterranean Flavour Tel: Four Seasons Restaurants and Coffee Shop Barbecues and Shawerma Tel: , Fax: Garden s Restaurant Tel: Goodies Fast Food Tel: Kan Zaman (Jerusalem Hotel) Mediterranean Cuisine Tel: Lotus and Olive Garden (Jerusalem Meridian Hotel) Middle Eastern and Continental Cuisine Tel: Nafoura Middle Eastern Menu Tel: Nakashian Gallery Café Tel: La Rotisserie (Notre Dame Hotel) Gourmet Restaurant, European and Mediterranean Menu Tel: , Fax: Dina Café Coffee and Pastry Tel: Panoramic Golden City Barbecues Tel: , Fax: Pasha s Oriental Food Tel: , Patisserie Suisse Fast Food and Breakfast Tel: Petra Restaurant Oriental Cuisine Tel: Pizza House Pizza and Oriental Pastry Tel: , RIO Grill and Subs Italian and French Cuisine Tel: Rossini s Restaurant Bar French and Italian Cuisine Tel: Philadelphia Restaurant Mediterranean Menu Tel: , Fax: Shalizar Restaurant Middle Eastern, Mexican, and Italian Cuisine Tel: The Gate Café Fresh Juices, Coffee, and Tea Tel: The Scots Bistro Coffee and Pastry Tel: , Fax: The Patio (Christmas Hotel) Oriental and European Menu Tel: , Versavee Bistro (Bar and Café) Oriental and Western Food Tel: Zad Rest. & Café Tel: , Restaurant (Beit-Jala) Tel: restaurant.1890@gmail.com Abu Eli Restaurant Middle Eastern and Barbecues Tel Abu Shanab Restaurant Barbecues Tel: Afteem Restaurant Oriental Cuisine Tel: Al-Areeshah Palace (Jacir Palace InterContinental Bethlehem) Middle Eastern and Barbecues Tel: , Fax: Al-Hakura Restaurant Middle Eastern and Fast Food Tel: Al- Khaymeh (Jacir Palace InterContinental Bethlehem) Middle Eastern and Barbecues Tel: , Fax: Al Makan Bar (Jacir Palace InterContinental Bethlehem) Snack Bar Tel: , Fax: Balloons Coffee Shop and Pizza Tel: , Fax: Beit Sahour Citadel Mediterranean Cuisine Tel: Bonjour Restaurant and Café Coffee Shop and Continental Cuisine Tel: Dar al-balad Continental Cuisine Tel: Grotto Restaurant Barbecues and Taboon Tel: , Fax: Golden Roof Continental Cuisine Tel: Il iliyeh Restaurant Continental Cuisine Tel:

41 La Terrasse Middle Eastern and Continental Cuisine Tel: Limoncello (Beit Jala) Tel: , Fax: Layal Lounge Snack Bar Tel: Mariachi (Grand Hotel) Seafood and Mexican Cuisine Tel: , /3 Fax: Palmeras Gastropub Continental Cuisine Telefax: Peace Restaurant & Bar Pasta, Seafood, Steaks & Middle Eastern Tel: Riwaq Courtyard (Jacir Palace InterContinental Bethlehem) Coffee Shop and Sandwiches Tel: , Fax: Roots Lounge (Beit Sahour) Tel: The Tent Restaurant (Shepherds Valley Village) Barbecues Tel: , Fax: Sima café Tel: St. George Restaurant Oriental Cuisine and Barbecues Tel: , Fax: Tachi Chinese Chinese Cuisine Tel: Taboo Restaurant and Bar Oriental and Continental Cuisine Tel: , Fax: The Square Restaurant and Coffee Shop Mediterranean Cuisine Tel: Zaitouneh (Jacir Palace InterContinental Bethlehem) Continental Cuisine Tel: , Fax: Al-Nafoura Restaurant (Jericho Resort Village) Arabic Cuisine and Barbecues Tel: , Fax: Al-Rawda Barbecues Telefax: Green Valley Park Oriental Cuisine and Barbecues Tel: Jabal Quruntul Continental Cuisine (Open Buffet) Tel: , Fax: Seven Trees Continental Cuisine Tel: Salim Afandi Barbecues and Oriental Cuisine Tel: Qasr al-jabi restaurant Tel: Zeit Ou Zaater (Al-Yasmeen Hotel) Continental Cuisine and Pastries Tel: , Fax: Café Mexican, Italian, Oriental Tel: Andareen Pub Mob: Al Falaha Msakhan and Taboun Tel: Akasha Oriental Tel: Allegro Italian Restaurant Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah Italian fine cuisine Tel: Al- Riwaq All-day-dining restaurant Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah International, Swiss and Oriental cuisine Tel: Atlantic Sea Food Sea Food and Oriental Tel: Awjan Seafood, Breakfast, and Pizza, Coffee Shop, Lebanese and Italian Cuisine Tel: Andre s Restaurant French and Italian Cuisine Tel: /8 Angelo s Western Menu and Pizza Tel: , Azure Restaurant and Coffee Shop Continental Cuisine Telefax: Baladna Ice Cream Ice Cream and Soft Drinks Telefax: Bamboo Chinese Restaurant Tel: Birth Café Barbecues and Fast Food Tel: Caesar s (Grand Park Hotel) Continental Cuisine Tel: Café De La Paix French Cuisine Tel: Castello Restaurant & Café Oriental Tel: /55 Chinese House Restaurant Chinese Cuisine Tel: Crispy Fried Chicken and Hamburgers Tel: Darna Continental Cuisine Tel: /1 Diwan Art Coffee Shop Continental Cuisine Tel: Do Re Mi Café (Royal Court) Continental Cuisine Tel: Elite Coffee House Italian and Arabic Cuisine Tel: European Coffee Shop Coffee and Sweets Tel: , Express Pizza American Pizza Tel: Fawanees Pastries and Fast Food Tel: Hoash Il iliyet Restaurant and Gallery Traditional Palestinian Cuisine (Birzeit) Mob: Jasmine Café Tel: K5M - Caterers Cake and Sweets Tel: Khuzama Restaurant Oriental Cuisine Tel: Karaz Restaurant French and Italian dishes Tel: La Vie Café Cafe, Bistro & Bar Tel: La Vista Café and Restaurant Oriental and Western Cuisine Tel: Cann Espresso Arabic and Italian Cuisine Tel: Mac Simon Pizza and Fast Food Tel: Mr. Donuts Café Donuts and Coffee Shop Tel: Mr. Fish Seafood Tel: Mr. Pizza Pizza and Fast Food Tel: , Muntaza Restaurant and Garden Barbecues and Sandwiches Tel: Na3Na3 Café Italian and Oriental Cuisine Tel: Newz Bar Lounge and Le Gourmet pastries corner Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah Tel: Osama s Pizza Pizza and Fast Food Tel: Orjuwan Lounge Palestinian-Italian Fusion Tel: Palms Lounge Resto/Bar Tel: Pesto Café and Restaurant Italian Cuisine Tel: , Pizza Inn Pizza and Fast Food Tel: /2/3 Philadelphia Restaurant Middle Eastern Menu Tel: Plaza Jdoudna Restaurant and Park Middle Eastern Menu Tel: , Fax: Pronto Resto-Café Italian Cuisine Tel: Roma Café Italian Light Food Tel: Rukab s Ice Cream Ice Cream and Soft Drinks Tel: Saba Sandwiches Falafel and Sandwiches Tel: Samer Middle Eastern Food Tel: Sangria s French, Italian, and Mexican Cuisine Tel: Shukeireh Restaurant Middle Eastern and Western Cuisine Sinatra Cafe and Cheese Cake Italian and American Cuisine Tel: Sky Bar (Ankars Suites and Hotel) Continental Cuisine Tel: Sparkles Bar Cigar bar Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah Tel: Stones Continental Cuisine Tel: Tabash (Jifna Village) Barbecues Tel: Tal El-Qamar Roof Middle Eastern and Western Menu Tel: / 6 TCHE TCHE Tel: The Vine Restaurant Continental Cuisine Tel: THE Q GARDEN Roof-top garden - International Cusine Tel: Tomasso s Pizza and Fast Food Tel: / 2 Tropicana Mexican Cuisine, Oriental Menu, and Zarb Tel: UpTown (Ankars Suites and Hotel) Continental Cuisine Tel: Values Restaurant International and Sea Food Tel: Vatche s Garden Restaurant European Style Tel: , Zam n Premium Coffee Coffee Shop Style Tel: Zaki Taki Sandwiches Tel: Zam n Premium Coffee Masyoun Coffee Shop Style Tel: Zarour Bar BQ Barbecues and Oriental Cuisine Tel: , Fax: Zeit ou Zaater Pastries and Snacks Tel: Ziryab Barbecues, Italian, and Oriental Cuisine Tel: Al-Andalus Middle Eastern and Western Cuisine Tel: , Al-Deira Continental Cuisine Tel: /200/300 Al-Marsa Seafood and Desserts Tel: Almat haf Restaurant Tel: , Fax: info@almathaf.ps, Al-Molouke Shawerma and Barbecues Tel: Al-Salam Seafood Tel: , Telefax: Al-Sammak Seafood Tel: Al-Sammak Ghornata Seafood Tel: Avenue Restaurant and Café Shop Middle Eastern and Western Menu Tel: / La Mirage Continental Cuisine and Seafood Tel: Roots - The Club Oriental Cuisine Tel: , , Saleh Atya Al Shawa Restaurant - Al-Jala Barbecues Tel: Al Quds Restaurant Tel: Fax:

42 East Jerusalem (02) Armenian Museum, Old City, Tel: , Fax: , Opening hours: Mon.- Sat. from 9:00-16:30 Dar At Tifl Museum (Dar At Tifl Association), Near the Orient House, Tel: , Fax: Islamic Museum (The Islamic Waqf Asso ciation), Old City, Tel: , Fax: , opening hours for tourists: daily from 7:30-13:30 Math Museum, Science Museum, Abu Jihad Museum for the Palestinian Prisoners Studies - Al-Quds University, Tel: , foryou@alquds.edu, opening hours Saturday - Wednesday 8:30-15:00 Qalandia Camp Women s Handicraft Coop., Telefax: , Fax: , qalandia@palnet.com WUJOUD Museum, Tel: , Fax: , info@wujoud.org, Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Museum of Palestinian Popular Heritage - In ash el Usra, In ash el Usra society, Al-Bireh, Tel: , Fax: , Opening hours: daily from 8:00-15:00 except Fridays Ramallah Museum, Al-Harajeh St., Across from Arab Bank, Old Town, Ramallah, Telefax: , open daily from 8:00-15:00 except friday and Saturday The Birzeit University Ethnographic and Art Museum Tel: , vtamari@birzeit.edu, Opening hours: daily from 10:00-15:00 except for Fridays and Sundays Bethlehem (02) Al-Balad Museum for Olive Oil Production, Tel: , Opening hours: 8:00-14:30 Monday through Saturday Baituna al Talhami Museum, (Folklore Museum) Arab Women s Union, Tel: , Fax: , Opening hours: daily from 8:00-13:00/ 14:00-17:00 except for Sundays and Thursdays afternoon Bethlehem Peace Center Museum, Tel: , Fax: , info@peacenter.org, Opening hours: daily from 10:00-18:00 except Sundays from 10:00-16:00 International Nativity Museum, Telefax: , nativitymuseum@salesianbethlehem.com, Natural History Museum, Telefax: , eec@p-ol.com, Palestinian Ethnographic Museum, Tel: , Fax: , artas_fc@yahoo.com, Opening hours: daily from 9:00-17:00 Palestinian Heritage Center, Telefax: , mahasaca@palestinianheritagecenter.com, Gaza (08) Al Mathaf, Tel: , info@almathaf.ps, www. almathaf.ps East Jerusalem (02) Car Rental Car & Drive, Tel: /3 Dallah Al-Barakah, Tel: Good Luck, Tel: , Fax: Green Peace Rent A Car Ltd., Telefax: Jerusalem Car Rental & Leasing ltd., Tel: , Fax: Orabi, Tel: Middle East Car Rental, Tel: , Fax: , mecarrental@gmail.com Taxis Abdo,Tel: (Beit Hanina), Tel: (Damascus Gate) Al-Eman Taxi & Lemo Service, Tel: Al-Rashid, Tel: Al-Aqsa, Tel: Beit Hanina, Tel: Holy Land, Tel: Imperial, Tel: Jaber - Petra, Tel: Khaled Al-Tahan, Tel: Mount of Olives, Tel: Panorama, Tel: Tourist Trans por tation Abdo Tourist, Tel: Jerusalem of Gold, Tel: /6 Kawasmi Tourist Travel Ltd., Tel: , Fax: Mount of Olives, Tel: Mahfouz Tourist Travel, Tel: , Fax: Bethlehem (02) Car Rental Murad, Tel: Nativity Rent a Car, Tel: , Fax: Taxis Asha b, Tel: Beit Jala, Tel: Al Fararjeh Taxi - 24 Hours, Tel: Hebron (02) Car Rental Holy Land, Tel: Taxis Al-Asdiqa, Tel: Al-Itihad, Tel: Jericho (02) Taxis Petra, Tel: Nablus (09) Car Rental Orabi, Tel: Taxis Al-Ittimad, Tel: Al-Madina, Tel: Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Car Rental Good Luck, Tel: Orabi, Tel: Petra, Tel: TWINS, Tel: Taxis Al-Bireh, Tel: Al-Masyoun Taxi, Tel: Al-Salam, Tel: Al-Wafa, Tel: Al-Itihad, Tel: Hinnawi Taxi, Tel: Omaya, Tel: SAHARA Rent a Car Co., Tel: /8 Shamma Taxi Co., Tel: Gaza Strip (08) Car Rental Al-Ahli, Tel: Al-Farouq, Tel: Imad, Tel: Luzun, Tel: Taxis Al-Nasser, Tel: , Al-Wafa, Tel: Azhar, Tel: Midan Filastin, Tel: East Jerusalem (02) 4M Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: , info@4m-travel.com, Abdo Tourist & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , abdotours@hotmail.com Aeolus Tours, Tel: , Fax: , aeolus@aeolus-ltd.com Albina Tours Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , albina@netvision.net.il; info@albinatours.com, Alliance Travel Solutions, Tel: , Fax: , info@alliancetravel-jrs.com, Arab Tourist Agency (ATA), Tel: , Fax: ,george@atajrs.com Atic Tours & Travel Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , info@atictour.com, Awad & Co. Tourist Agency, Tel: , Fax: , admin@ awad.tours.com, Aweidah Bros. Co., Tel: , towertours@alqudsnet.com B. Peace Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , b.peacetours@bezeqint.net Bible Land Tours, Tel: , Fax: , links@palnet.com Blessed Land Tours, Tel: , Fax: , blt@ blessedlandtours.com, Carawan Tours and Travel, Tel: , Fax: , carawan@jrol.com, Daher Travel, Tel: , Fax: , dahert@netvision. net.il, Dajani Palestine Tours, Tel: , Fax: , dajani@netvision.net.il Dakkak Tours Agency, Tel: , Fax: , dakkak@netmedia.net.il Destination Middle East, info@destination-middle-east.com George Garabedian Co., Tel: , Fax: , ggc@ggc-jer.com GEMM Travel, Tel: /6, sales@gemmtravel.com Guiding Star Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , mark@guidingstar2.com, Holy Jerusalem Tours & Travel, Tel: ; Fax: , info@holyjerusalemtours.com, Holy Land Tours, Tel: , Fax: , info@holylandtours.biz Jata Travel Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , jatatraveltd@hotmail.com Jiro Tours, Tel: , Fax: , jiro@netvision.net.il, Jordan Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: Jerusalem Orient Tourist Travel, Tel : , Fax: , hamdi@jottweb. com JT & T, Tel: , , Fax: , jtt@bezeqint.net.il, KIM s Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: , kim@shabaka.net, Lawrence Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , info@lawrence-tours.com Lions Gate Travel & Tours, Tel: , Fax: , Mobile: , info@lionsgate-travel.com Lourdes Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: , Telefax: , lourdestravel@bezeqint.net Mt. of Olives Tours Ltd., Tel: , Fax: moot@netvision.net.il, Nawas Tourist Agency Ltd., Tel: , Fax: Nazarene Tours and Travel, Tel: , Fax: Near East Tourist Agency (NET), Tel: , Fax: , Jerusalem@netours.com, O.S. Hotel Services, Tel: , Fax: , os@os-tours.com Overseas Travel Bureau, Tel: , Fax: , otb@netvision.net.il Priority Travel and Tours LTD., Tel: , Fax: Safieh Tours & Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: , safiehtours@bezeqint.net Samara Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: Fax: , info@samaratours.com Shepherds Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , info@shepherdstours.com, Shweiki Tours Ltd., Tel: , Fax: Sindbad Travel Tourist Agency, Tel: , Fax: , sindbad1@bezeqint.net, Swift Travel, Tel: , Fax: , swifttours@hotmail.com Terra Sancta Tourist Co, Tel: , Fax: Tower Tours & Travel Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , towertours@alqudsnet.com, Tony Tours Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , ihab64@012.net.il United Travel Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , unidas@bezeqint. net, Universal Tourist Agency, Tel: , Fax: , uta-j@zahav.net.il, William Tours & Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: , wiltours_n@hotmail. com Yanis Tours & Travel, Telefax: , hai_mou@yahoo.com Zatarah Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: , info@zaatarahtravel.com Bethlehem (02) Angels Tours and Travel, Tel: , Fax: , angels@p-ol.com, www. angelstours.com.ps Arab Agency Travel & Tourism, Tel: , Fax: , tourism@aca-palestine. com, Bethlehem Star Travel, Telefax: , info@bst.ps, Crown Tours & Travel Co. Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , info@crown-tours.com, Four Seasons Co. Tourism & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , fseasons@p-ol.com Gloria Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , gloria@p-ol.com Golden Gate Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , ggtours@palnet.com Kukali Travel & Tours, Tel: , Fax: , kukali@p-ol.com Laila Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , laila@lailatours.com, Lama Tours International, Tel: , Fax: , litco@p-ol.com Millennium Transportation, TeleFax: , Mousallam Int l Tours, Tel: , Fax: , Mitours@palnet.com Nativity Travel, Tel: , Fax: Sansur Travel Agency, Tel: , Telefax: Sky Lark Tours and Travel, Tel: , Fax: , skylark@palnet.com Terra Santa Tourist Co., Tel: Fax: Voice of Faith Tours, Tel: Fax: , nabil@gmtravel.co.il, Beit Jala (02) Guiding Star Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , info@guidingstar2.com Beit Sahour (02) Alternative Tourism Group, Tel: , Fax: , info@atg.ps, Brothers Travel & Tours, Tel: , Fax: , holyland@brostours.com, Magi Tours, Telefax: , magitours@spidernet.ps Hebron (02) AL-Afaq for Travel & Umrah, Telefax: , alafaqtravel@yahoo.com AlArrab Tours Tel: , info@alarrabtours.com Al-Buhaira Tours and Travel co., Telefax: , com, INFO@ALBUAIRA.com Alkiram Tourism, Tel: /2, Fax: , alkiram@hebronet.com Al-Salam Travel and Tours Co., Tel: , Fax: Sabeen Travel Tourism, Telefax: , sabeenco@yahoo.com 83

43 Ramallah (02) Al-Asmar Travel Agency, Telefax: , , All Middle East Pilgrimage and Tourism Coordination Office, Tel: , Fax: , Amani Tours, Telefax: , Anwar Travel Agency, Tel: , , Arab Office for Travel & Tourism, Tel: , Fax: Arseema for Travel & Tourism, Tel: , Fax: , Atlas Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , Darwish Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: Golden Globe Tours, Tel: , Fax: , Issis & Co., Tel: , Fax: Jordan River Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: Kashou Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: , Mrebe Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , The Pioneer Links Travel & Tourism Bureau, Tel: , Fax: , Travel House For Travel & Tourism, Tel: , Fax: , www. travelhouse.ps Rahhal Tours & Travel, Tel: , Fax: , ps Raha Tours and Travel, Tel: , Fax: , Reem Travel Agency, Tel: , Fax: Royal Tours, Tel: /1, Fax: Sabeen Travel Tourism, Telefax: , Salah Tours, Tel: , Fax: Shbat & Abdul Nur, Tel: , Fax: Jenin (04) Asia Travel Tourism, Telefax: , Al Sadeq Travel & Tourism, Tel: , Fax: , Nablus (09) Almadena Tours, Tel: , Telefax: , Dream Travel & Tourism, Tel: , Fax: Firas Tours, Tel: , Fax: Top Tour, Tel: , Fax: , Yaish International Tours, Telefax: , , Tulkarem (09) Faj Tours, Tel: , Fax: , Gaza Strip (08) Al-Muntazah Travel Agency, Tel: Fax: Halabi Tours and Travel Co., Tel: , Fax: , Maxim Tours, Tel: , Fax: National Tourist Office, Tel: , Fax: , Time Travel Ltd., Tel: , Fax: , Air France and KLM, Tel: /6 (Jerusalem), Tel: (Gaza) Air Sinai Varig, Tel: (Jerusalem), Tel: (Gaza) Austrian Airlines Tel: , Fax: (Nablus) BMI, Tel: , Fax: (Nablus) British Airways, Tel: , Telefax: , (Jerusalem) Cyprus Airways, Tel: (Al-Bireh) Delta Airlines, Tel: , Telefax: (Ramallah) Egypt Air, Tel: /49 (Ramallah), Tel: (Gaza) Emirates Airlines, Tel: (Ramallah) Gulf Air, Tel: (Nablus), Tel: /3 (Ramallah) Iberia, Tel: /7238 (Jerusalem) Lufthansa, Tel: , Fax: (Nablus) Malev-Hungarian Airlines, Tel: (Ramallah) Middle East Car Rental, Tel: , Fax: PAL AVIATION, Tel Telefax: (Ramallah) Palestine Airlines, Tel: (Gaza), Tel: /7 (Gaza) Qatar Airways, Tel: (Al-Bireh), Tel: (Gaza), Royal Jordanian Airways, Tel: (Ramallah), Tel: /13 (Gaza) SN Brussels Airlines, Tel: (Ramallah), SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Tel: /7238 (Jerusalem) South African Airways, Tel: (Jerusalem) Swiss International Airlines, Tel: (Ramallah) Tunis Air, Tel: (Ramallah), Tel: (Gaza) Turkish Airlines, Tel: (Bethlehem) Airport Information Gaza International Airport, Tel: Ben Gurion Airport, Tel: Consulates East Jerusalem (02) Apostolic Delegation, Tel: , Fax: Belgium, Tel: , Fax: , European Community - Delegation to the OPT, Tel: , Fax: France, Tel: , Fax: Great Britain, Tel: , Fax: , britain. jerusalem@fco.gov.uk, Greece, Tel: , Fax: Italy, Tel: , Fax: Spain, Tel: , Fax: Swedish Consulate General, Tel: , Fax: Turkey, Tel: , Fax: , turkcons.jerusalem@mfa.gov.tr, United States of America, Tel: , Fax: Representative Offices to the PNA Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Argentina Representative Office to the PA, Tel: /9, Fax: , repal-gov-pal@hotmail.com Australia, Tel: , Fax: , austrep@palnet.com, ausaid@palnet. com Austria, Tel: , Fax: Brazil, Tel: , Fax: , admin-office@rep-brazil. org Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Tel: /1, Fax: , representacionenpalestina@yahoo. com, representacionenpalestina@hotmail.com Canada, Tel: , Fax: , rmlah@international.gc.ca Chile, Tel: , Fax: , chileram@palnet.com Cyprus, Tel: , Fax: Czech Republic, Tel: , Fax: Denmark, Tel: , Fax: Egypt, Tel: , Fax: Finland, Tel: , Fax: Germany, Tel: , Fax: , gerrprof@palnet. com Hungary, Tel: , Fax: , humisram@palnet.com India, Tel: , Fax: , roi_ ramallah@palnet.com Ireland, Tel: /2/3, Fax: , irishrep@palnet.com Japan, Tel: , Fax: Jordan, Tel: , Fax: Mexico, Tel: , Fax: , ofimex-ramala@palnet. com Norway, Tel: , Fax: , repram@mfa.no Poland, Tel: , Fax: Portugal, Tel: /3, Fax: Republic of Korea, Tel: /7, Fax: Russian Federation, Tel: , Fax: South Africa, Tel: , Fax: , sarep@sarep.org, Sri Lanka, Telefax: Switzerland, Tel: , vertretung@rah.rep.admin.ch The Netherlands, Tel: , Fax: The People s Republic of China, Tel: , Fax: , chinaoffice@ palnet.com Gaza Strip (08) Egypt, Tel: , Fax: Germany, Tel: , Fax: Jordan, Tel: , Fax: Morocco, Tel: , Fax: Norway, Tel: , Fax: Qatar, Tel: , Fax: South Africa, Tel: , Fax: Tunisia, Tel: , Fax: United Nations and International Organisations FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Jerusalem (02), TeleFax: , , registry.fao@undp.org, IBRD - International Bank for Reconstruction and De vel opment (World Bank), West Bank (02), Tel: Fax: , Gaza (08) Tel: Fax: , firstletterofsurname. familyname@worldbank.org IMF, - International Monetary Fund, Gaza (08), Tel: ; Fax: , West Bank (02), Tel: ; Fax: ILO - International Labor Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: , , Fax: , Khaled.doudine@undp.org, Ramallah (02), Tel: , Fax: , Nablus (09), Tel: , Fax: OHCHR - Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gaza (08), Tel: , Fax: , ohchr@undp.org, West Bank Office, Telefax: UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Ramallah (02), Tel: , Fax: , unesco@palnet.com UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund, Jerusalem (02), Tel: , Fax: , unfpa.ps@undp.org, UNICEF - United Nations Children s Fund, Jerusalem (02), Tel: ,4 Fax: , Gaza (08), Tel: , Fax: , Jerusalem@ unicef.org UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women, Telefax: , Tel: UN OCHA - United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tel: / , Fax: , ochaopt@un.org, UNRWA - United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Gaza (08), Tel: , Fax: , unrwapio@unrwa.org, West Bank (02), Tel: , Fax: , firstletterofsurname.familyname@unrwa.org UNSCO - Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tel: / , Fax: / , UNSCO-Media@un.org, www. unsco.org UNTSO - United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: , Fax: , DPKO-UNTSO-admin@un.org WFP - World Food Programme, Gaza (08), Tel: , Fax: , Jerusalem (02), Tel: , Fax: , Arnold.Vercken@wfp.org WHO - World Health Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: , Fax: , who@papp.undp.org, Gaza (08), Tel: , Fax: , who@palnet.com World Bank, Tel: , Fax: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP) 4 Al-Ya qubi Street, Jerusalem, Tel: , Fax: registry.papp@undp.org / URL:

44 East Jerusalem (02) Hospitals Augusta Victoria, Tel: Dajani Maternity, Tel: Hadassah (Ein Kerem), Tel: Hadassah (Mt. Scopus), Tel: Maqassed, Tel: Red Crescent Maternity, Tel: St. John s Opthalmic, Tel: St. Joseph, Tel: Clinics and Centers Arab Health Center, Tel: CHS Clinics, Tel: /0499 Ibn Sina Medical Center, Tel: /9, Jerusalem First Aid Clinic, Tel: Medical Relief Womens, Health Clinic, Tel: Palestinian Counseling Center, Tel: , Peace Medical Center, Tel: , Red Crescent Society, Tel: Spafford Children s Clinic, Tel: The Austrian Arab Commu nity Clinic (AACC), Tel: The Jerusalem Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children, Tel: Bethlehem (02) Hospitals Al-Dibis Maternity, Tel: Al-Hussein Government, Tel: Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, Tel: , Fax: Caritas Baby, Tel: , Fax: Mental Health, Tel: Shepherd s Field Hospital, Tel: St. Mary s Maternity, Tel: The Holy Family, Tel: , Fax: Clinics and Centers Beit Sahour Medical Center, Tel: Bethlehem Dental Center, Tel: Hebron (02) Hospitals Amira Alia, Tel: Al-Ahli, Tel: Al-Meezan, Tel: /1 Al-Za tari, Tel: Mohammed Ali, Tel: /4 Shaheera, Tel: St. John s Opthalmic, Tel: The Red Crescent, Tel: Yattah Governmental Hospital, Tel: , Clinics and Centers Red Crescent Society, Tel: UPMRC, Tel: Jericho (02) Hospitals Jericho Government, Tel: /8/9 Clinics and Centers UPMRC, Tel: Nablus (09) Hospitals Al-Aqsa Hospital and Medical Center, Tel: Al-Ittihad, Tel: Al-Watani, Tel: Al-Zakat Hospital (TolKarem), Tel: Aqraba Maternity Home, Tel: Rafidia, Tel: Salfit Emergency Governmental Hospital, Tel: Specialized Arab Hospital, Tel: St. Luke s, Tel: UNRWA Qalqilia Hospital (Qalqiliya), Tel: Clinics and Centers Al-Amal Center, Tel: Arab Medical Center, Tel: Hagar (Handicapped Equipment Center), Tel: Red Crescent Society, Tel: UPMRC, Tel: Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Hospitals Arabcare Hospital, Tel: AL-Karmel Maternity Home, Tel: Al-Mustaqbal Hospital, Tel: AL-Nather Maternity Hospital, Tel: Ash-Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Tel: Birziet Maternity Home, Tel: Care Specialized Dental Center, Tel: Khaled Surgical Hospital, Tel: Ramallah Government Hospitals, Tel: /7 Red Crescent Hospital, Tel: Clinics and Centers Arab Medical Center, Tel: Arabcare Medical Center, Tel: Emergency & Trauma Center, Tel: Harb Heart Center, Tel: Modern Dental Center, Tel: National Center for Blood Diseases Hippocrates Thalessemia and Hemophilia Center, Tel: , Fax: Patients Friends Society K. Abu Raya Re ha bili tation Centre, Tel: /1 Palestinian Hemophilia Association-PHA, Telefax: Peace Medical Center, Tel: Red Crescent Society, Tel: UPMRC, Tel: , Gaza Strip (08) Hospitals Al-Ahli Al-Arabi, Tel: Dar Al-Salam, Tel: Nasser, Tel: Shifa, Tel: Clinics and Centers Arab Medical Center, Tel: Beit Hanoun Clinic, Tel: Dar Al-Shifa, Tel: Hagar (Handicapped Equipment Center), Tel: St. John s Opthalmic, Tel: UPMRC, Tel: Ramallah (02) Quds Bank (Al-Masyoon), Tel: , (El-Bireh), Tel: Al Rafah Microfinance Bank, Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank, (Al-Balad) Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank, (Al-Bireh), Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank, (Al-Manara) Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank (Masyoun Branch), Tel: Arab Land Bank, Tel: Bank of Palestine, Tel: , Fax: Bank of Palestine, (Al-Irsal) Tel: , Fax: Arab Palestinian Investment Bank, Tel: , Fax: Beit Al-Mal Holdings, Tel: , Fax: HSBC Bank Middle East, Tel: , Fax: Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: , Fax: The Center for Private Enterprise Development, Tel: , Fax: Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: , Fax: Cooperative Development Unit, Tel: , Fax: Deutsche Ausgleichsbank (DTA), Tel: , Fax: The Housing Bank, Tel: , Fax: International Islamic Arab Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan-Gulf Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan-Kuwait Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan National Bank, Tel: , Fax: Palestine International Bank (PIB), Tel: , Fax: Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: , Fax: Palestine Islamic Bank, Tel: , Fax: Union Bank, Tel: , Fax: Gaza Strip (08) Quds Bank (Al-Remal), Tel: Arab Bank, Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank (Al-Rimal), Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank, (Khan Younis) Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank (Karny), Tel: , Fax: Arab Land Bank, Tel: , Fax: Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: , Fax: Beit Al-Mal Holdings, Tel: , Fax: Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: , Fax: Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: , Fax: The Housing Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan Bank, Tel: , Fax: Palestine Development Fund, Tel: , Fax: Palestine International Bank (PIB), Tel: , Fax: Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: , Fax: Nablus (09) Quds Bank, Tel: , (Nablus Aljded), Tel: Arab Bank, Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank (Askar), Tel: , Fax: Arab Land Bank, Tel: , Fax: Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: , Fax: Bank of Palestine (Al-Misbah), Tel: , Fax: Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: , Fax: Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: , Fax: The Housing Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan-Gulf Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan-Kuwait Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan-National Bank, Tel: , Fax: Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: , Fax: Palestine International Bank, Tel: , Fax: City Fire Ambulance Police Jerusalem* CHS (Old City Jerusalem) 101 / Bethlehem / Gaza / Hebron 102/ Jericho / Jenin / Nablus / Ramallah / Child Helpline Palestine (121) free line Tulkarem / Qalqilia / East Jerusalem (02) Quds Bank (Al-Ezzarieh), Tel: Arab Bank (Al-Ezzarieh), Tel: , Fax: Arab Bank (Al-Ram), Tel: , Fax: Center for Development Consultancy (CDC), Tel: , Fax: Commer cial Bank of Palestine, Tel: , Fax: Bethlehem (02) Arab Bank, Tel: , Fax: Arab Land Bank, Tel: Cairo- Amman Bank, Tel: , Fax: Jordan National Bank, Tel: , Fax: Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: /6, Fax: Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: , Fax: Hebron (02) Quds Bank, Tel: Al-Ahli Bank, Tel: /2/3/4 Arab Bank, Tel: , Fax: Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: /2/3 Cairo-Amman Bank, (Wadi Al-Tuffah) Tel: /4/5 Cairo-Amman Bank, (Al-Balad) Tel: /4 Cairo-Amman Bank, (The Islamic Branch) Tel: Islamic Arab Bank, Tel: /7 Islamic Bank, Tel: Jordan Bank, Tel: /2/3/4 Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: /2/3/4 The Housing Bank, Tel: Telephone Services Bezeq Wake up calls 1475 Talking Clock Time around the world 1455 Vocal Information 1975 Pager Service 1705 Repeat call *41 Last call *42 Call waiting *70 Call forwarding *71 General information 199 Services 164 Corporate services 166 Paltel Wake up calls 175 Free fax service 167 Follow me (forwarding calls) 72* Phone book 144 Maintenance 166 Information 199 Internet maintenance 167 Calls from Overseas Dial access code, international country code (972) or (970), area code (without the zero), desired number Tourism and An tiq uities Police Bethlehem /1 Gaza Jericho Nablus Border Crossings Allenby Bridge Arava Border Eretz Crossing Rafah Border Sheikh Hussien

45 As Palestine continues its struggle for independence, it has already begun to acquire sovereign cyberspace recognition. A difficult three-year international debate resulted in the Occupied Palestinian Territory being officially assigned the two-letter suffix,.ps, in the ISO list for the representation of names of countries or territories. The successful struggle to attain country code 970 led the way for the Internet Corporation for Associated Names and Numbers (ICANN), the international corporation that manages the country code Top-Level Domain (cctld) system on the Internet, on 22 March 2000, to assign Palestine its unique country identifier,.ps, in line with other sovereign nations such as.fr for France and.ca for Canada. Arts and Culture: Al Rowwad Theatre Centre A.M. Qattan Foundation Ashtar Theater Al Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque Al-Ma mal Foundation for Contemporary Art org, Al Mathaf ArtSchool Palestine Baha Boukhari www. baha-cartoon.net, Educational Bookshop Family Net Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (Ramallah) Paltel Virtual Gallery (Birzeit University) Rim Banna RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural Conservation Sunbula (fair trade/crafts) The Popular Arts Centre Sumud Pal es tinian Pottery es tinianpottery.com, The International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa) The Musical Intifada www. docjazz.com, El-funoun Sabreen Association for Artistic Development org, The Virtual Gallery Business and Economy: Arab Pal es tinian In vestment Com pany Hebron Store Jawwal Massar The Palestinian Economic Council for De vel opment and Re con struction (PECDAR) Pal es tinian Securities Ex change, Ltd. Pal es tine Development and In vestment Ltd. (PADICO) com, Paltel Group. Tatweer Information Technology & Business Solutions www. progress.ps, Wataniya Palestine Directories, ISPs and Por tals: Jaffa Net Hadara Al-Quds Network Masader, the Palestinian NGO Portal Palseek com, Paleye Al Buraq The Palestinian NGO Portal Government: PLO Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD) PNA Ministry of Higher Edu cation Min is try of In dus try Ministry of Education Min is try of Health Government Computer Center www. gcc.gov.ps, Orient House Health and Mental Health: Augusta Victoria Hospital Gaza Community Mental Health Programme Ministry of Health Palestinian Counseling Center Red Crescent Society Spafford Children s Clinic UNFPA Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation Palestine Medical Council Human Rights Organisations: Al Haq Defence for Children International Palestine Section Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat in the opt ps, LAW - The Pal es tinian Society for the Pro tection of Human Rights and the Environment The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights BADIL Women s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) Research and News: Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem JMCC PASSIA MIFTAH AMIN Al Quds Al Ayyam WAFA Palestine Wildlife Society RAM FM Ramallah on line Ramattan Studios com, Palestine Family Net Palestine Mapping Centre The Palestine Monitor The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People OCHA- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Englishpal Ma an News Agency Tourism: Ministry of Tourism Arab Hotel Association com, Holy land Incoming Tour Operators Association Diyafa Hospitality Management Consultants Group Ramallah Tourist Information Center tic@ramallah. ps, visitpalestine Travel Agencies: Al ter native Tourism Group Atlas Aviation Awad Tourist Agency Aweidah Tours Blessed Land Travel www. blessedland.com, Crown Tours Daher Travel Guiding Star Halabi Tours and Travel Co. Jiro Tours Mt. of Olives Tours Pioneer Links Raha Tours com, Ramallah Travel Agency United Travel Universal Tourist Agency Universities: Birzeit University An-Najjah University Al-Quds University Al-Azhar University (Gaza) Arab American University Bethlehem University Hebron University The Islamic University (Gaza) Palestine Polytechnic 88 Map Source: PalMap - GSE Copyright to GSE and PalMap Map source, designer and publisher: GSE - Good Shepherd Engineering & Computing P.O.Box 524, 8 Jamal Abdel Nasser St., Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine Tel: / Fax: (Also +972) map@palmap.org / / 89

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50 The Last Word Dire Straits While it s encouraging to hear that This Week in Palestine has managed to instil some hope in some of our readers, it is often difficult to maintain a positive attitude and disregard reality out there. Documenting the moment is as much our mission as promoting Palestine by bringing out its best. As much as we like to remain positive, however, in dire economic times such as the ones we re all going through, we will stick to documenting Palestine! It is no secret that our government, for all practical purposes, is financially nearing bankruptcy and that funding is getting scarce for various reasons. For one, our tax money collected in Israel is frequently held ransom by the Israeli government, obviously in order to twist arms and pressure the PA into accepting terms that are not its own. European aid, on the other hand, is dwindling; I d like to think that this is so because of internal economic reasons. Come to think of it, the economies of Spain, Italy, and Ireland are not doing brilliantly, let alone that of Greece! Our rich Arab brethren are not even honouring their earlier financial commitments. I can only assume that this is because of the pressure put on them, mainly by the United States, not to come to the rescue for the same reason our tax money is being withheld. It is not beyond the United States to threaten the leaders of the rich oil states with an Arab Spring of their own or even to whisper into their ears that they will be abandoned should Iran strike. Adding insult to injury, rich Palestinians in Chile, Central America, and, indeed, all over the world are pretty much watching all this (if we re lucky enough, of course, to catch their attention) while doing almost zilch! It is truly sad to realise that one rich Palestinian businessman or businesswoman in Chile, or anywhere else, could not only bail out the government but also set the whole economy back into motion and create thousands of jobs if only he/she would invest in Palestine. All this will remain in the records and memories of the Palestinians and, sooner or later, circumstances will change and there will be accountability. Understandably, the financial crisis has a ripple effect on society, evident in a considerable number of institutions, both private and public, which are faltering. Universities, for example, are not able to raise tuition and hence they are unable to properly deliver their noble mission of educating a new generation. Naturally, the decrease in funding has hit major NGOs, some of which have been around for decades, resulting in a drastic decrease in vital service provision. Even small businesses are struggling to make ends meet. However, increasing taxes on the private sector from 15 percent to 30 percent will not solve the problem, Mr. Fayyad. As much as I hate to say this, in my opinion, it will only increase tax evasion! I don t envy your position and I know you don t have a magic wand to get us out of this mess, but there must be an alternative to putting even more pressure on the Palestinian private sector that, in fact, looks at government as its number one client! The Palestinian private sector is ready to share responsibility, but there is a limit to its ability. We took courage, not too long ago, when you put your faith in the private sector not only to invigorate the economy but also to affirm it as the most important element in building a robust economy. Palestinians have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and have always been a resilient and proud people able to survive on very little. Let s prove to the world that we are able to overcome this difficult period, and let s also take courage from the fact that there are so many good people out there willing to help; in fact, two-thirds of the people on this globe fall into that category! An Artisic photo of Gaza Sea reflecting the difficult reality in Gaza. Photo by Mohammad Harb. Sani P. Meo Publisher

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