Contributed by Toine Van Teeffelen on 27.04.2019:
Toine van TeeffelenThe taxi driver is obviously nervous and suddenly brakes when a car passes by he doesn’t see. Throughout the journey he keeps talking. “It’s state terrorism,” he says about the killing of Ahmed Manasreh the previous night by the Israeli army. “It is the elections in Israel. They want to show who is the ruler here.” And: “Unbelievable, the racist treatment of taxi driver(...)
Contributed by This Week In Palestine on 07.02.2012:
By Cairo Arafat
TWIP, February 2012
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 t(...)
Contributed by Toine Van Teeffelen on 08.12.2011:
The following is the story of Mary van Teeffelen-Morcos as recorded by Toine van Teeffelen on 10 April 2007:
I went to the checkpoint with Yara and Tamer, after getting my Easter permit at the parish. As always, the rings and jewelry had to be put in the basket. Yara, too, took off her bracelet. She went in and out of the X ray each time putting off something new but the machine stayed(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 25.11.2011:
Violette Lama: "We are a strong nation. That will never change!"
Sytske van Bruggen,
January 2009
"Do you know any nation that has been occupied for the last 500 years?" Violette starts her story. Violette, who used to be a social worker for blind people in the Bethlehem area, is a small, clever woman in her fifties. Nothing around her escapes to her attention. We are sit(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 25.11.2011:
“It hurts my heart that Holy Cities are separated by an 8-meter high Wall”
Talal Barham, 44, 4 children
Interview by Sytske van Bruggen, January 2009
“There are thousands of interviews done about the situation here,” opens Talal Barham. Talal is a sophisticated, well-dressed man in the beginning of his forties, speaking fluent English.
“One thing that is underestim(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 25.11.2011:
Nicola (34), restaurant owner at Rachel’s Tomb
“Do you think I will stay at home? Never!”
By Sytske van Bruggen
Nicola’s restaurant is located in a strange spot near Rachel’s Tomb. When you enter the street, you immediately see the massive grey blocks of the Separation Wall in front of you. Although the street is quite broad, there hardly is anyone there. There are plenty(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 12.11.2011:
Michael: "Even if I would be the last, I will stay here!"
Interview by Sytske van Bruggen, February 2009
"Our family lives in Bethlehem since at least 300 or 400 years," opens Michael Costa Halabi the conversation. "And there are more than seven generations documented." His house is along a wide road with many other houses.
Michael, a short man in his fifties, used to wor(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 11.11.2011:
“I say loudly that our peace is based on justice”
Written July 2010
Bethlehem
I remember my early childhood. I was playing and having fun while watching hundreds of people carrying their properties on trucks. These scenes happened nearby my house which was located near the Latin Convent and Rosary Sisters monastery in Beit Jala, Palestinian refugees entered the Sisters' C(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 19.10.2011:
Anne Gough
"This land is the skin on my bones" – Mahmoud Darwish
Life in Beit Sahour
Jaela Andoni’s Story
Beit Sahour, 2007
Nakba
I was born on May 12, 1948 in Beit Sahour. My farther came from Jerusalem that day, where he was working, and there had been many clashes around the city. The British army was withdrawing and the Israelis were taking over(...)
Contributed by Arab Educational Institute on 19.10.2011:
By Sytske van Bruggen and Rania Murra
2009
Alexander Qamar is retired. He used to live together with his wife in Katamon, now a Jewish quarter in Jerusalem.
We have one son and one daughter. My sister lived with us as well. We worked 18 years in a factory in Jerusalem, and had also a souvenir shop there. But after the war of 1948, the Israelis didn’t allow us anymore to w(...)