|
Friends United Meeting |
 |
March 1999
Visit to a Refugee Camp
By Nancy Maeder
"What makes you reluctant to want to go on a visit to a refugee camp?"
This was one of the questions asked of students in Christian Religion class at the Friends Schools in Ramallah before a class visit to Jalazone refugee camp. One of the students responded by saying, "I am afraid that the camp won't be fun, that it will be boring, and that the people won't be friendly. I am also afraid that I will not do a good job of helping them. They are not the type of people I meet in my everyday life. I don't know what to expect there. I mean, I always meet people from my level. Honestly, I am not interested to become friends with them, because they are not like me. I always like to meet people who have a good education, good background, money, and are respected by the social community. These people are not this kind, so I really am reluctant to meet them."
In an effort to draw connections between the teachings of Jesus and the lives of my students here in Palestine today, I decided that it would be interesting for our classes to go on a visit to one of the refugee camps just outside of Ramallah. I was hoping that a service project would begin to help them see that the words and commands of Jesus to serve others and reach out to those who are forgotten and discarded by society were not just meant to benefit those who are in need, but those who offer the service as well. I wanted them to know a piece of the joy that St. Francis and Jesus said would come to those who were willing to follow God with their whole beings, giving up the worries of status and possessions which keep us from being totally free to serve and share. It sounds a bit ambitious I know, but we all have to start somewhere!
The Palestinian refugee situation is one of the key issues that needs to be dealt with in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. As is the case with other key issues, discussions about it are being saved until the final stages of the process. There are presently more than three and a half million Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. They live in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Just over one million of them live in refugee camps, much like the one that our classes visited.
UNRWA defines a refugee as "a person whose normal residence was Palestine for at least two years prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and who lost his home and livelihood as a result of the conflict." There were United Nations resolutions passed in 1948 saying that these refugees should be compensated for their losses or allowed to return to their homes and land. UNRWA was established in 1949 to deal with the refugees until these resolutions were fulfilled and carried out. UNRWA is still operating today because these resolutions have never been honored.
An interesting piece of this issue that surfaced in our classes was the perceived status of the refugees within the Palestinian society itself. While refugees are known and somewhat respected as those who have suffered the most from the losses incurred during the Palestinian-Israeli war of 1948, and the continuing oppression of the Israeli occupation, they are also forgotten or ignored by many and treated with disgust by others. The range of attitudes came across clearly in responses to another question that was asked of students before going to a camp.
"How do people living outside the camps view refugees?" A student who had never been to a camp before said, "I think people outside the camps view refugees in a bad way. They are people like us but without homes and food. We don't really talk about the refugee camps so I think that nobody even cares. Two girls from our class live in the Jalazone and that's fine with me. But after they told us, I think people were talking about it. The girls are very nice and I'm glad they are in our class."
Another student who had been to two camps before our visit said this, "People see the refugees as hard workers and simple. Most of the people respect the refugees because they are hardworking and nice people that are willing to share their last shekel with their neighbors or with anyone who needs it more than they do."
On one of my trips to the Friends Play Center at the Amari Refugee Camp early in the school year, I met a man who works for UNRWA. Mohammad Sarhan is from a refugee family. In addition to working for UNRWA, he leads group tours that help to make the plight of the refugees more widely known and understood. As I talked with him about the idea of taking classes on a visit to one of the camps, excitement for the project began to grow.
We decided that smaller groups would be more manageable and less intrusive, so I split six classes into groups that visited the Jalazone refugee camp on three different Sundays. The Jalazone camp is located about fifteen minutes from the Friends Schools. Right across the highway is an Israeli settlement, which was first established over twenty years ago. Just up the road is the Israeli Military Administration Headquarters for the West Bank. Needless to say, Jalazone, like many other camps, has a reputation of being a place of high political and social tension. In addition to this tension, it is also typical in its physical realities. There is a gate at the entrance, a chain link fence all around its borders for easy containment and closure, houses are crowded together with basically no space between them, roads are narrow and rough, and overspill from the sewage runs in the streets. Most of the residents struggle to provide necessary food and clothing for their families. Those who are able and have the skills often work long hours in common labor jobs outside of the camps. Those who are elderly and unskilled rely on meager assistance from those around them and programs administered by UNRWA.
Our visit to Jalazone began by watching a video about the history of the refugee situation and the work of UNRWA. This helped us to understand the harsh realities of what the refugees experienced in 1948 as they were driven from their homes, losing land and possessions. We also saw how refugee camps were established and how they have evolved over the years from temporary tent towns, to more permanent cement block villages.
After watching the video, we took a walking tour of the camp. We visited a plastic factory, a cooperative bakery, a kindergarten run by the center for disabled people, and an elderly woman's home. Our tour also included an explanation of the inadequacies of the sewage and water systems which we could easily see and smell, as well as a visit to a house that had been demolished because one of the sons was suspected of political involvement.
As we finished our tour we headed back to the kindergarten and the home of another elderly woman. In these places, we offered some simple, yet meaningful service. At the kindergarten we played with the children and painted bright pictures and murals on the walls of the classroom. At the elderly woman's house we painted doors and window frames. In both places, we quickly learned that our presence and conversation was worth more than what we were able to offer with the work of our hands. We learned much from those who generously welcomed us into their lives and homes.
In closing, I share with you some of the thoughts of the students after our visit. "The thing that I still can't forget is the house which consists of one room, 2.5 by 2.5 meters. That house was really able to reflect the seriousness of the refugees' case and the fact that these refugees are still suffering even after the peace process was signed. I think that this house is still in my mind because when I saw it, a strange feeling passed through my mind which made me feel guilty for a while. I think that this feeling came because I tried to imagine the way these people lived before they became refugees. Then I thought about the way they are living now and compared it to the way I live."
We asked, "Imagine what your life would be like if you were born to refugee parents and had lived your entire life in one of the camps. How would your life be different today?" "My life would be very different. First, I would never have been to the Friends School, spoken English very well, or even lived in Ramallah. Everything would be different in my life. It is very easy to imagine myself living in a refugee camp, because my father was a refugee. This was one of the first things I thought of on our visit. I asked my father why he went to Jericho when he was moved out of Beir Shiva instead of going to one of the refugee camps. He told me it was because we had money and were able to buy a house. I really felt sad about how others didn't have money and how they have had to live in this ugly place. But I am certain that if I was a refugee teen, I would learn to appreciate anything that God gives us, which is something I have to learn."
The best result of the visits in my mind was that we were able to see that those who we first looked at as outcasts, or different from ourselves became unexplainably similar to us once we were able to meet them face to face. Our fears of rejection and not being welcomed were greatly relieved. And, while our discomfort with the unsanitary and inadequate conditions of the camp didn't completely leave us, they did become less of an obstacle for us as we experienced the openness, hospitality and humanness of those we had the opportunity to meet.
It would be untrue to say that all of the students returned from the visit with changed viewpoints and perceptions. Most of them, however, expressed that they were glad they had gone and that they felt a sense of happiness at being able to offer something of themselves in service and friendship. Some even asked if it would be possible to return for a larger and more substantial service project later in the school year. The task of bringing the teachings of Jesus to life for these students has only just begun.
Nancy Maeder teaches Christianity at the Ramallah Friends School and is a member of Woolson Friends, Iowa Yearly Meeting.
Copyright (c) 1999 Friends United Meeting