9th, March 2012
See more photos of trip
For the third time, students from Rønningen folk High School made their way to Palestine and Israel as part of their student trip to learn how it is, for Palestinians, to live under occupation. 11 students and one teacher spent 11 days in both Palestine and Israel, with Palestinian- and Israeli organizations to be informed about the situation and to get tools on how to help the Palestinian people in their struggle for just peace.
The program for the students arranged by the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) was versatile and showed the situation from many perspectives. The tight schedule included everything from olive tree planting, Bedouin visits and early checkpoint watch, to lectures on the history of refugees and their rights, home-stays with families and visits to historical places. They got to see cities like Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah, and Jericho where they also met with the local YMCA/YWCA branches to learn more about their work, and role in the Palestinian society.
The group had a rough start on the program and was delayed for almost 24 hours because of an airport-strike in Frankfurt. With little sleep, they hustled out on the streets of Jerusalem to get a glimpse of the city before moving on to a guided tour of East Jerusalem and a visit to the Bedouins to learn more about their situation. When the sun set, and we could not see more of the city, we moved on to Beit Sahour, Bethlehem, which would be their new hometown for the remaining 10 days.
The second day, the group was introduced to the programs of the YMCA/YWCA and the work of JAI, and after a geopolitical introduction with maps over Bethlehem area and the West Bank, it was time to visit Manger Square and the Nativity Church. At the end of the tour, we realized that it seemed like the Norwegian group had brought with them the Norwegian winter weather, and as it started snowing we hustled back on the bus, and started thinking of how we could possibly be able to plant olive trees the next morning as the schedule was saying. Who would have thought it would be snowing in march! After some creative thinking, the organizers were able to come up with an alternative schedule, and the third, firth and fifth day were spent in the cities of Jericho, Bethlehem and Ramallah. In Jericho, the group got an introduction to the programs of YWCA, as well as guided tours on the historical and religious cites. In Bethlehem they saw the political situation and the building of the fence/wall separating the West Bank from Jerusalem. In Ramallah the group was briefed on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) Campaign by the BDS National Coalition, visited Bil´iin village, and met with the Right to Education Campaign at Birzeit University.
Finally, on the sixth day, we were able to plant Olive trees. The land that was planted belongs to a farmer in Al-Khader village outside Bethlehem, and the group was able to plant about 200 trees on his land, as part of the JAI's Keep Hope Alive campaign. We also had two other days of planting olive trees; one of the fields was also in the village of Al-Khader, while the last field belonged to a farmer in the village of Beit Eskaria. All together, the group planted about 600 olive trees one these three plots of land. JAI's campaign: Keep Hope Alive helps farmers cultivate their land, which is important in the struggle against the land grabbing by Israel. Both Israeli strategy on land and settlers attack and destruction of land makes it hard for the farmers to keep their livelihood, let alone stay on their land. In the village of Beit Eskaria, the group got a face-on experience on how the Palestinian farmers struggle to survive as they are confronted by an extreme Israeli organization (Women in green), forced to stop working by the military, and later escorted by the military back to Bethlehem. Reed the report of the incidence here:
http://imemc.org/article/63126
Later we also learned that settlers destroyed one of the other fields we had planted, and all 200 trees were uprooted.
The group also spent one day in Hebron with Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) where they got to see Apartheid with their own eyes. We left our Palestinian friends, and walked on the streets that are closed for Palestinians, got an introduction to daily life with settler attacks and restrictions on movement, as well as the closures and the high presence of military. At the end of the day the group had arranged for a talk with a settler in Ephrata, one of the settlements outside Bethlehem. This gave the students a glimpse of how the settlers think, and defend what they say is their right to build on Palestinian land.
All in all, the group got experiences and tools that will help them in their work against the apartheid once they are back in Norway. They have already told their story to many Norwegian newspapers, and are excited to keep on working for just peace in Palestine.
The Norwegian article:
http://www.tv2.no/nyheter/utenriks/her-blir-norske-elever-skjelt-ut-som-nazister-paa-vestbredden-3727428.html