Author: Francesco Ruggiero|Date: September 2015

Jaime-Diyar

During the month of August 2015 I attended Diyar’s 12th International Conference on the Palestinian Diaspora that was held in Bethlehem, Palestine.  It was a four-day event and there was the opportunity to meet many individuals, many of them Palestinians.  For more information on Diyar, go to the website www.diyar.ps.

Among the presenters was Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh who spoke about Arab-American activism for Palestine (Qumsiyeh directs a museum of natural history and its website is www.palestinenature.org.); Ms. Kholoud Khoury presented information about Arab and Middle Eastern Lutherans and the Disapora; Ms. Hadeel Fawadleh, who did some of her research in the San Francisco Bay Area spoke about the identity of Palestinian Christians in the US; Dr. Mahmoud Issa (his website www.Mahmoud.dk ) spoke about Religion and Memory’s Character, Function and Role in Identity Construction among descendants of dispossessed “Lubyans” in Denmark (a case study); and Professor Manzar Foroohar, who is originally from Iran, presented information about Palestinians in Central America obtained from her many travels to Honduras and other neighboring countries.  At the conference, I also met Maha Saca who has a museum of Palestinian heritage in Bethlehem (The Palestinian Heritage Center).  That center’s website is www.phc.ps.

The closing session of the conference was done in Arabic and there was English translation with headphones available.  The moderator for this section was the Reverend Mitri Raheb who is an author of many books, which include publications about the Palestinian struggle for liberation.  All of the bios and papers can be read by going to www.DropBox.com and by entering the e-mail address of Events@diyar.ps and putting in the password August2015.

During the conference, attendees were taken by bus to Dar Al-Kalima University, a college of arts and culture in Bethlehem.  We were given a tour of the campus and shown some of the artwork produced by students.  We were also shown a film produced by those studying film.  It was an excellent film that is making its rounds in Europe.  It is about the drudgery that  many Palestinians experience as they have to go through a checkpoint every day to get to work, and then have to return home only sleep for a few hours before returning to work again.  Lastly, we had the opportunity to hear and meet Faten Nastas Mitwasi, the Chairperson of the Visual Arts Department.  The website for the college is www.daralkalima.edu.ps

While I was in Palestine, several Palestinian individuals told me of the difficulties they experienced in trying to get into Palestine.  These Palestinans were for the most part coming from the United States or Europe.  I also met a man in Beit Jala who told me that he has not been allowed by the Israelis to visit his village in Israel.  It has been many years since he has been to his village which is located near the city of Ramle.  One Palestinian whom I met has a very good sense of humor and he told me that he feels that the questions that the Israelis ask at the border crossing are stupid questions.  He related that when he was once asked why he was going to Palestine, he told the woman that he was going over there to meet up with his “sharmouta.”  He said that that immigration employee’s face turned red when he told her that.

Being in the Middle East, I also travelled to Jordan and to Lebanon.  During my travels, I visited with people from four different refugee camps and I visited the Al Wahdat refugee camp in Jordan and the Borj Al Shamali refugee camp in Lebanon.  I am very grateful to Olga Ambrosanio for her assistance in Lebanon.  She is the director of an Italian-based program that brings musicians to teach music to children in the Palestinian refugee camps.  The website for her association is http://www.ulaia.org/.

On August 18, 2015 I met with Mr. Mahmoud Jouma’a who is the manager of the Borj Al Shamali Center (Beit Atfal Assumoud).  As I recall, he also oversees a branch of that center in the Rashediah refugee camp.  Both of these camps are next to the city of Tyre.  Jouma’a told me that English teachers are needed for the children the entire year.  Palestinians in Lebanon can better themselves and are more likely to find employment if they know English.  He also told me that he has asked some authorities of the city of Tyre to allow the camp to acquire beach sand for a children’s play area.  Much time has passed and still no sand has been brought in.  We then discussed the possibility of people from the camp bringing in a certain amount of sand until there is enough to make the play area safer.  Jouma’a also mentioned a generator project that he is working on.  Ambrosanio, who was referred to previously, has music programs in both the Rashediah and the Borj Al Shamali refugee camps.

En route to the Middle East, I met a Palestinian woman who lives in the United States and who has a foundation for assisting kids in need.  It is called the Andrew Ennabe Foundation and its website is www.AndrewEnnabeFoundation.org.

I was very happy to see my friends in the Middle East and to have made new acquaintances.  I communicate with some of them throughout the year.  It is my hope that the information presented in this write-up will be useful for a better understanding of the Palestinian situation and for the possibility for more individuals to connect with some of the organizations.