Embedded Files
The people we met on this trip exemplified how resilient, self-determined, and truly creative the Palestinian people are.
We met with a community of Bedouins who built their homes literally from the ground up, using raw materials and tires as foundation.
They told us the story of how they built the elementary school, shown in the photos to the right and above.
Once they finished building, they told the residents in the neighboring settlement, hoping that this would circumvent attempts to tear it down.
Shortly after, the settlers sent military officials to do just that, forcing the village to rebuild the school.
In Ramallah, the creatives of Disarming Design from Palestine are creating clothing, jewlery, and art that display their personal stories and connections to the land.
Utilizing different aspects of their culture and what they've had to endure in the occupation, they are creating works that are challenging traditional narratives about Palestine and giving local artists inside 48, the West Bank and Gaza the opportunity to share their craft with the world.
This is activist Janna Jihad, a young self-made journalist living in Nabi Saleh, a small village outside of Nablus. She's been reporting on the occupation since she was seven-years old.
This is a collection of tear gas canisters that Janna and people from her village have collected
Janna believes that it is her right to report the truth of the occupation and to document what is happening to her people.
When talking to our delegation, she charmed us by calling us "Original Tan" and telling us how much it means to her that we are spreading the message of resistance to the occupation.
She hopes to attend Harvard University and to work at CNN, in order to represent and report about Palestine to the world.
We were also given the opportunity to meet with Arab Barghouti, son of political prisoner Marwan Barghouti.
Marwan was a leader in the first and second Intifadas and has been consistently imprisoned by Israeli authorities since he was 16-years old.
He was arrested in 2002, and was conviceted of five counts of murder and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences.
This past summer, he lead a Hunger Strike in opposition to the treatment and mass incarceration of Palestinians by the Israeli authorities.
Marwan is seen as a leader in the fight for Palestinian rights, justice, and equality.
In Lod, we met with the Palestinian Godfather of Hip-hop, Tamer Nafar, co-founder of the group DAM.
He is a Palestinian citizen of Israel. His music reflects his experiences as a Palestinian living inside Israel.
Along with being an artist ,he is also an actor and screenwriter. Tamer co-wrote and starred in the independent film Junction 48 which can be viewed on Netflix. The film is loosely based on his experiences as a hip-hop artist from Lod.
Google Sites
Report abuse