Summer 2009

Handala is a 10-year-old boy dressed in rags,

Between the 19th and the 23rd of July,
representing the age al-Ali was when he and his
some 60 youth joined us in Nordia youth
family were exiled from their land in 1948 to live
center (near Netanya) for our annual youth
in refuge in Jordan. By the artistic choice of al-Ali,
summer campaign. With the theme, “Era-
Handala always has his back facing the viewer.
sure of Palestinian history and culture
This is because Handala is looking upon Palestine,
from mainstream society,” the youth were
witnessing the suffering of his people on his land.
invited to take part in workshops with days
Until the viewer can understand and see what he is
devoted to Education, Palestinian history,
seeing, Handala will forever have his back turned,
and culture. The youth chose from 4 focus
his hands clasped behind him in an act that rep-
groups: Activism, Art, Media, and Leader-
resents his refusal to give in to the ways both the
ship which provided useful techniques for
Arab and Israeli governments are dealing with the
becoming active and advocating the impor-
conflict. Handala appears in many of al-Ali’s draw-
tance of including Palestinian history and
ings, in many different situations and contexts. Even
culture in today’s discourse, whether this
after al-Ali’s death in 1987, Handala is still a pow-
is in their schools, with their families, or in
erful symbol of Palestinian identity and resistance.
society. The newsletter presents the cam-
Sixteen year old Palestinian youth Khabir Sedawir
paign’s various activities.
had this to say about the workshop: “Learning about
Handala’s story was perfect because I didn’t get an

Handala Workshop opportunity to learn about him in school.”

During the day devoted to Palestinian culture, a

workshop was held on the power of caricatures as
a medium for creating social and political change.
The youth were introduced to the great work of
Palestinian political cartoonist Naji al-Ali. After
reading about al-Ali’s life, his political work, and
eventually his assassination in London, they were
given the opportunity to create their own political
cartoons and writings reflecting on how they view
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, the most
powerful portion of the workshop was learning
about al-Ali’s most famous caricature Handala.
2
A heart-warming moment in the workshop was
when the Palestinians were helping the Jewish
youth understand the political cartoons whose
captions were in Arabic. In working together to
help one another understand and challenge the
histories they previously knew about the conflict,
these Palestinian and Israeli youth weren’t just
displaying some idealized coexistence, but rather
taking a step towards creating real and honest
partnerships.
Education Day
During the day dedicated to examining the edu-
cational system, youth were engaging in critical
thinking about what the formal education system
in Israel does and does not teach them. There
was a panel on the subject, guest speakers intro-
duced youth to ideas of military culture and how
from an early age the image of the soldier is glori-
fied. They also discussed the inequalities between
Arab and Jewish schools, from lack of resources
to statistics on who passes exams and moves on
to higher education.
"What we must learn are the
things that the Ministry of Edua-
tion tells us we must not learn."
Eighteen-year-old Jewish youth, Netta Elsner,
provided great insight after the panel in stating:
“What we must learn are the things that the Min-
istry of Education tells us we must not learn.” The
panel was a perfect introduction for what came
next – a simulation. The simulation required the
youth to develop a campaign within their respec-
tive Arab or Jewish schools. These campaigns
were directed towards getting the youth excited
about implementing programs that foster toler-
ance and political awareness. The staff played the
roles of the principal, assistant, teacher, education
coordinator, and janitor. There was no teacher in
the Arab school, a way to draw attention to the
lack of resources and inequalities within Arab
schools. The Jewish youth planned a campaign
around learning spoken Arabic starting in the 3rd
grade, a seemingly far too ambitious goal to be
implemented in a Jewish school, while the Pales-
tinian youth focused on bringing in more programs
that teach Palestinian culture and history.
 3
Overall the simulation was a success and made
a huge impact on the youth. The atmosphere pro-
vided an air of reality, as if the youth were facing
their actual schools and the education system, with
its many prejudices and problems. In the end, the
youth developed a project they wanted to be imple-
mented in their school and then experimented with
ways to go about doing it…creating this change.
These youth were actively using activist theory and
tactics they had learned during the camp. One of
the Palestinian groups of students even created a
As the simulation played out, more challenges
petition and other helpful tools used in campaign-
arose for the youth. Some of the bureaucratic bar-
ing. While the Jewish youth seemed less motivated
riers the youth faced were when the Jewish youth
resulting in their campaign not passing, the Pales-
asked their teacher for help, she would artificially
tinian youth were able to get their campaign pass
act interested, passing them off to the principal.
in their school. Sixteen year-old Palestinian Rasha
The Palestinian youth, on the other hand, went
Mansour said that the simulation was her favorite
straight to the principal but were told that she was
activity of the summer camp because, “it gave me
busy.
hope that something can be done to change soci-
"It gave me hope that something ety.” She also said, “I learned that as a student I
can be done to change society. I can affect my school and that I have the right to
learned that as a student I can affect speak up for what I believe in.” Beyond providing
my school and that I have the right to a better understanding of how the education sys-
speak up for what I believe in." tem works, this simulation inspired youth, showing
them that as students they have leverage in their
Aside from these hierarchies and bureaucracy
schools to take action and create real change.
within the school system, an announcement from
the government was made in which Lieberman
passed a law forbidding the commemoration of
the Nakba on Israeli Independence Day. Thus, this
announcement created a tougher political climate
in the midst of the youths’ attempts to get their
campaigns passed. Other obstacles that arose
were that some of the staff that helped the youth
got fired, and some of the youth that acted out
against these firings were suspended. It was excit-
ing to see the youth getting involved politically; the
Palestinian youth at one point marched out of their
classroom cheering and demonstrating.
4

Baby Steps
An incredible story is one of Shira XX, a 15-year-old Jewish youth from a religious
Moshav in the south. She explained to me her perceptions of Arabs previous to
the camp, which seemed racist and skewed due to the fact that she lives where
Kassam rockets fall, and the only images of Arabs she sees are on bias news and
media. Shira stated simply, harshly, but honestly: “This week I learned that not all
Arabs are bad.” Admitting this was not a towering feat in which prejudices were
completely overcome, but rather a begin-
ning for Shira in her educational journey.
The summer camp helped her begin this
process of informal education, one that
lasts a lifetime, in which she will constantly
be challenging what she feels and believes.
And it is these baby steps which can grow
into something great, a generation of well-
informed individuals who take direct action
for change in the future.

the camp, the group planned direct actions. For

Activism Group
Within the camp, youth were also assigned focus
groups that met regularly to reflect
on their days of workshops and
activities. The four focus groups
consisted of media, activism,
art, and leadership. These main
groups were geared towards pro-
viding youth with specific tools
as a way to become politically
involved. The Activism group
focused on tactics and approach-
es of direct action. They studied
and watched footage of different
direct action groups around the
world, including Samba, the percussion protest
group from Tel Aviv. Throughout the course of
example, its members decided to “serve” Arabic
words and phrases at dinner, to confront the issue
of Arabic being erased from the public sphere. By
the youth and staff “digesting” the
Arabic in the dining hall, the Activ-
ism group brought light to these
important issues. They dressed in
wild costumes they put together
with pieces of clothes and deco-
rations, and entered the dining
hall shouting chants such as “We
don’t want to be indifferent; we
want to learn Mahmood Darwish.”
Chants like this also brought up
the issue of the immense bias and
censorship in the school system
which denies youth the opportunity to learn about
Palestinian culture and history.
 5
“I like to feel like I accomplished Learning Media Skills
something, by learning and then
being able to apply that knowl- This year’s summer seminar was a great oppor-
edge towards achieving a goal.” tunity for youth to acquire skills related to media.
All interested could partake in a series of commu-
As the camp was nearing its end, the group pre-
nication workshops. It was the first time summer
pared one last action: a treasure hunt that would
camp participants could choose from so many
help youth learn facts about Palestinian culture and
workshops on that issue.
history. Through planning this activity, the group
learned how much effort is involved in putting on
an event; thinking of the political message, finding
ways to turn ideas into actions, flyering, putting up
posters… Netta Elsner, a Jewish member of the
group, said that planning the activity for the rest of
the camp was her favorite experience. She elabo-
rated by saying: “I like to feel like I accomplished
something, by learning and then being able to
apply that knowledge towards achieving a goal.”
Khabir Sedawir, Palestinian member, had this to
say: “The Activism group was the best group I have
ever been in; it was fun and active. I learned about
“I think it was a good opportuni-
activism and what it can accomplish.” Khabir, who
ty to work on my communication
is very shy, also explained; “…when I was in the
skills with others because nor-
Activism group, I was not afraid to speak out.” So
mally I do not get the feedback I
whether the group provided youth with an introduc-
got here.”
tion to direct action, or a space to speak openly, it
had a positive and lasting impact on the youth. The most popular workshop among the youth
was called “The X-files.” At the beginning, the
group got acquainted with articles from different
media sources, showing that facts are not always
presented with the same approach. They frowned
as they read on – initially there was a pregnant
silence, then they commented: “how is it that a
press coverage about Tel Aviv from the 40s’ says
nothing about Jaffa, despite the fact that it is one
of the oldest city in the region?” Or “why is there
no Arabic language on the replaced road signs,
if they say that the only reason for replacing the
signs is the fact that they were worn out’.
6
The workshop’s next task was more challeng-
ing: the youth were supposed to give their first TV
interview and they approached this task seriously.
Working in pairs, they briefed themselves on the
subject of the interview and then each pair had
time to answer questions. “I’m not quite sure what
was more difficult in this task,” said Hana, a Pales-
tinian youth, after her turn. “The questions came
out of the blue and it was all filmed. However, it
was helpful to overcome nervousness by speak-
ing in public.” After each pair was interviewed,
they received feedbacks from the interviewers and
from the other youth. “I think it was a good oppor-
tunity to work on my communication skills with oth-
ers because normally I do not get the feedback I
got here” a Jewish participant said. Another youth
pointed to the fact that he was being filmed: “It
was really stimulating to give a good answer, since
you never know who will see the footage.”
Nakba Revisited
The third day of the summer seminar was dedi-
cated to 1948 and the Nakba; youth were given
the opportunity to learn what is not taught at
school concerning the establishment of the state
of Israel. To help them understand the events bet-
ter, they were taken out of the camp grounds on a
tour of destroyed Palestinian villages. Two buses
took the youth to sites in the areas of Haifa and Tel
Aviv which underwent more than names changes
in 1948.
On the tour around Haifa, the youth visited plac-
es nowadays called: En Ayyala, Ofer and Kibbutz
Maabarot, which in 1948 were named: Ein Ghazal,
Ejzem and al-Tantura, typical Arab villages of the
region. In May and July of 1948, they ceased to
exist as Arab villages as they could not defend
themselves when assaulted by Israeli troops. Their
residents had to flee from their homes, leaving all
property and belongings behind to live in refuge
in the Jenin area or nearby al-Furadis. Many the
Palestinians did not survive the expulsions - the
number of lives unaccounted for was over 100
in each village. Those who survived never came
back home.
The villages were changed drastically as aban-
doned goods were looted, houses obliterated and

the remaining property converted for new dwellers
to live. The villages' roadsides are to this day full
of rubbish from the demolished houses. In Ejzem,
the elementary school for boys founded in 1888 by
the Ottomans serves as synagogue today – just
another example of how many parts of Israel are
built on the ruins of pre-1948 Palestine.
“I really admire that woman. She
lives without running water or elec-
tricity that Jews living few hundred
meters away have, but she is so
serene and perseveres despite all of
these obstacles.”
7
“In my school, teachers do not speak about the
Nakba because are afraid of the consequences
if they do” said sixteen year old Palestinian youth
Rasha. “Here on the tour, we not only listen to the
truth spoken by the guide, but also see how his-
tory was covered up” she added.
For them, it was important that on these tours
they were told the facts about what happened in
1948. Lena, eighteen year old Jewish youth, said
that for her being on the tour and learning this his-
tory was not easy, but it is something she feels she
and others need to learn about and acknowledge
if they are to achieve the peaceful coexistence of

On the tour, youth also met a Palestinian woman

whose family remained in its home in 1948. They
listened to her story about struggling to live on land
whose owners had become Jewish overnight. “I
really admire that woman,” one Palestinian youth
said. “She
lives without
running water
or electricity
that Jews liv-
two people in the future. For Diran, an eighteen
ing few hun-
year old Palestinian youth, the tour was important
dred meters
for another reason. Her grandfather was among
away have,
those expelled from the village Diran, which the
but she is so
youth visited and which she was named after. “I
serene and
go to a Jewish school where I cannot share fam-
p e r s eve r e s
ily memories of what happened to my grandfather
despite all of
with my schoolmates” Diran said. She added, “On
these obsta-
this tour, I felt that there are people that do care
cles.” As the buses past through sites that used
about learning the true events of 1948.”
to be Arab villages, the youth started to acknowl-
edge what took place in 1948. They saw how little
remained of the Arab villages today. Mostly, the This newsletter was produced by our
youth noticed the rubbles on the roadsides and amazing volunteers, Susannah Nach-
the conversion of buildings for the purpose of enberg and Adam Juzwiak. We thank
those who settled in later. them for their work.