This Week in Palestine`s Print Edition

Issue No. 156, April 2011
Inspirational Stories from Palestine
Introducing … TEDxRamallah........................................................................................ 4
Middle East Uprisings: What Does It Mean for Palestine?............................................. 8
Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival 2011…......................................................... 14
Learning from Leila....................................................................................................... 16
The Great Book Robbery.............................................................................................. 18
Censorship in Comedy................................................................................................. 22
Inspirational Images..................................................................................................... 26
The Dome of the Rock.................................................................................................. 28
Our Boats to Gaza........................................................................................................ 30
Mes Que Un Restaurant…........................................................................................... 36
The Story of Stories...................................................................................................... 38
Why Your Streets Are Full of Foreigners...................................................................... 40
Al Manara Theatre Days 2011...................................................................................... 42
Dreams Unleashed....................................................................................................... 44
The Sharp End of Hebron............................................................................................. 48
A Message to the Japanese People............................................................................. 52
What a Beautiful Mourning........................................................................................... 54
In the Limelight............................................................................................................. 58
Reviews........................................................................................................................ 64
Events........................................................................................................................... 66
Listings....................................................................................................................70-90
Maps........................................................................................................................91-97
The Last Word.............................................................................................................. 98
Picturesque Palestine .................................................................................................. 99
As always, the months have flown by since the New Year to find us rapidly
approaching Good Friday. So on behalf of all of us at This Week in Palestine,
we wish our readers a Happy Easter. At a time of celebrating sacrifice and
rebirth we must again salute the brave men and women of neighbouring Arab
states who are now entering a fourth month of struggle for a better future.
We are heartened to hear that the Middle East’s most severe case of
state repression, Gaza, has not been overlooked at this critical time. A new
freedom flotilla, comprised of 15 ships that represent dozens of nations, will
soon depart from Turkey to arrive in late May. No one will have forgotten the
sacrifices made by activists on the previous flotilla, when nine were killed by
the Israeli navy last May. Their relentless efforts to liberate Gaza from the
inhuman siege are truly inspirational.
This issue, devoted to Inspirational Stories from Palestine, seeks to honour
actions and characters such as these. In the following pages you will find
Huwaida Arraf, a founder of the flotilla campaign, telling its complete story
from the first boat until now; the adventures and wisdom of Leila Khaled;
an international effort to reclaim stolen literature; and a look at how comedy
can break boundaries. It has been humbling to document the courageous
deeds of so many of our compatriots who have exemplified the ennobling
effects of struggle. This is a collection of stories to entertain and inspire.
On that note we must tip our hats to our friends at TEDxRamallah, without
whom we could not have produced such a rich and varied issue. They
have worked tirelessly ahead of the April 16 conference to give Palestine
the historic event it deserves. We strongly urge you to register your free
attendance and be dazzled by the stellar line-up of speakers, many of whom
have contributed to this issue. Read on, enjoy, and have a lovely Easter.
Telefax: + 970/2-2-2951262
e-mail: [email protected]
www.thisweekinpalestine.com
From the TWIP collective
Printed by Studio Alpha, Al-Ram, Jerusalem
Binding by Al-Asdika’, Al-Ram, Jerusalem
Maps: Courtesy of PalMap - GSE
Distributed by
Forthcoming Issues:
•Al-Quds: A Living History - May 2011
Theme: Inspirational Stories from Palestine
Cover: headline cap style: The New Face of Politics in the Middle East.
Photo by Ahmad Mesleh.
•Colours - June 2011
•Municipalities and Councils - July 2011
This issue of This Week in Palestine was produced in partnership with TEDxRamallah
Advisory Board
Jane Masri
Lana Abu Hijleh
Director of Communications - Zoom Advertising
Country Director – CHF International, Palestine
Rev. Mitri Raheb
Razan Kaloti
The views presented in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
Maps herein have been prepared solely for the convenience of the reader; the designations and presentation
of material do not imply any expression of opinion of This Week in Palestine, its publisher, editor, or its
advisory board as to the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area, or the authorities thereof, or as to
the delimitation of boundaries or national affiliation.
2
President - Diyar Consortium
Marketing and Communications Manager – British Council
Issa Kassissieh
Office of the President
3
Introducing … TEDxRamallah
4 cities, 20 countries, 14 Palestine
stories, 30 blogs, 35,458 e-mails
a dozen personalities, 3 coaches, 64
Skype calls, 233 chat hours.
One passion.
A big hello from the TEDxRamallah
team
To all of you. We are writing this to share
with you the hard work we have been
doing, to share with you the soul of who
we are, and to give you a taste of our
delight in the personal growth this journey
has brought.
Over a year of commitment is close to
giving way to six hours of spoken words,
delivered by almost two dozen inspiring
people of Palestine.
Who are people of Palestine? We
are “Génération Palestine,” as Code
Rouge and Emel Mathlouthi state in their
staggering song and video Horizon. I
am Pakistani, and I am American, and
I am Brazilian, and I am Lebanese, and
I am Tunisian, and I am Emirati, and
I am Saudi, and Qatari, and Syrian,
and Bangladeshi, and Icelandic, and
Swedish, and Palestinian.… So what
4
holds you all together? People. What
people? The people who, because of
oppression and deprivation of basic
human rights, have a power in them that
is only matched by another scattered
and normalcy-deprived people. A drive, a
determination to hold on to all they hold
by the thinnest of threads.
Perhaps it is only when you have little
to lose that you can explore your full self.
The realisation of potential becomes
an obsession. Potential is the subject
for over 100 figures who have been
puzzled. She looked back and said, Spell
it. Tell me it. P, I said again, anticipating
listing the eight other letters at once.
She seemed oblivious. P like passion,
she asked? Or like protection? the boy
sitting on the doorstep asked. How
about, umm … P like possibilities? Or
P like present? P like persistence. I was
amazed, the P brought a gang of kids
around that doorstep. What next? she
asked. I snapped back from this maze of
words and said A. She asked: Again? Tell
me it, I tell you. I said A, like adoption, or
A like action, or even like anticipation or
aspiration; and L, well, L like lasting, or L
like living, or like leaping. There was no
celebrate. A year of work, of moving
from city to city, of building partnerships,
of raising awareness, of introducing
Palestine to minds that had no grasp
of it. TEDxRamallah. Ramallah, x,
TED. Where is the starting point?
Palestine. Palestine, we say. What’s
the x? Oh, that’s just a way to say that
we’re independent, that our thoughts
are independent, that our actions are
independent. Independent from what?
From TED. Ow. Then why have TED?
Well, TED has tens of thousands, millions
of viewers. Wow. And you’re independent
from that? Why would you be? Well, we’re
not really. We’re here to bring all that we
nominated to speak at TEDxRamallah,
fulfilling the theme of “inspiring stories of
Palestine.” That makes more than five
TEDxRamallah events, a speaker line-up
for five years to come! TEDxRamallah,
a single word that has brought together
three cities in partnership, holding live
speakers and a collective audience of
those who can and those who cannot
access Palestine, four cities to hustle
and bustle to make it happen, and 20+
cities to say we’re here to know what we
missed seeing.
Palestine.
Spell it, she said.
P, I said. And she looked away. I was
stopping me now, so I went on. And E for
existence, exaltation; S for satisfaction,
sensation, sanity; T for tenacity, trust,
tactility; I for independence, inspiration,
intuitiveness, interest, involvement;
N for nesting, narrating; and E, well,
emanating.
The lady stood up and asked while
moving away from me: What was it
you’ve lost?*
TEDxRamallah. A brand name
composed of TED, x, and Ramallah.
Some people stop at the word TED
(Technology, Entertainment, Design)
and say wow, and then read on and
say, in Palestine? That’s something to
have built momentum towards, back to
the tens of thousands, the millions of
viewers. So we hope.
TEDxRamallah, “The Event,” 16 April
TEDxRamallah is an event that follows
the format of other TEDx events in large
part. It is a one-day event with speakers
talking for up to 18 minutes each in front
of up to 1,000 people. The programme
also features live performances and
former TED talks. It will be broadcast to
the world via www.tedxramallah.com.
Talks will be in English and Arabic, with
translation facilities available for both.
This conference is unique in that it
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and other areas, we are raising the
technical standards not only for the
event but also for subsequent use by the
community at large.
A driver of thought: Through partnerships
with institutions such as universities we
are curating thought-provoking sessions
and discussions.
Photo courtesy of William Saito.
TED speaker Bill Gates at the
California conference in 2010.
Photo courtesy of James Duncan
Davidson/TED.
a simple idea of an event to a movement
and awareness campaign that instigates
partnerships and initiatives collectively
working towards common aims, noted
below. We have, for a year and in four
cities, built up and executed the following:
An independent brand for our
inspirational stories: Palestine Stories.
This becomes an independent brand that
collects the inspirational stories garnered
through the TEDxRamallah network and
takes them beyond the event taking place
on 16 April.
A communication platform: Through
media partnerships that we established
in Ramallah (TWIP), Lebanon (Hibr), and
the UAE (Brownbook), we are building
awareness of Palestine and telling its
stories, building a basis of trust and
interest between Palestinians and their
host countries
A knowledge transfer hub: Through
partnerships with experts delivering
workshops in social media, photography,
runs simultaneously with two other TEDx
conferences, in Beirut and Amman, which
will be streamed live into Palestine and
vice-versa via satellite.
Many of the team members of
TEDxRamallah are dispersed around
the region, and a good portion are barred
or restricted from entering Palestine
based on the ID that they hold. This is
representative of the situation of over
five million Palestinians dispersed around
the world. Due to the restrictions on
entry, we have gone to great lengths to
accommodate those who cannot access
Palestine, to take part in the event
through the partner venues in Beirut
and Amman.
TEDxRamallah, “The Initiative”
While TED provides a license to a person
to carry out a specific TEDx event, in this
case TEDxRamallah, we have nurtured
the momentum beyond the single-day
event. The energy started growing from
6
of operation is the delivery of all
aspects of our work at the highest
standard. We believe that we are
inherently capable of producing
content and communicating it at the
highest intellectual, technical, and
visual standards that put us at par
with, if not ahead of, what today’s
knowledgeable and exposed global
community expects. By that, we aim
to attract attention not only to our
collective inspiration but also to our
skills, expertise, and unrestrained
potential.
What we aim to achieve
There are many inspiring stories
of individuals within and outside
Palestine that are overshadowed
by the political situation and the
occupation. We don’t want them to
go unnoticed.
We believe that by bringing individual
stories of inspiration in various fields
to the wider Palestinian community,
more people will realise that it is within
them to overcome daily hardships
with constructive attitudes that leave
behind the sense of hopelessness
and resignation. We also find that
while energies are spent addressing
specific issues, such as water scarcity
and healthcare obstacles, more
attention will garner more input and
solutions with the aim of driving more
local and international attention.
We want to participate in the efforts
to build bridges between native and
diaspora Palestinians.
We have found that there exist
major communication gaps between
the Palestinian communities and
their homeland. These gaps nurture,
at times, mistaken conceptions and
project the “fear of the other,” building
a virtual social wall. It is thus one
of our primary goals to actively
engage with organisations that work
on bridging those gaps as well as
to directly reach out, through our
network, to individuals within these
communities.
We aspire to setting a standard
whereby the world associates
Palestine with high quality
performance.
In addition, embedded in our mode
What we have achieved to date
Through the team and a globally spread
network, the initiative has planted a seed
to raise awareness about the common
Palestinian. To other Palestinians around
the world, to non-Palestinians around
the world, to Palestinians in refugee
camps, to Lebanese within Lebanon, to
Jordanians and Palestinians in Jordan,
to Palestinians in the West Bank, from
Palestinians in Gaza, to Palestinians
in Gaza, from Palestinians in Palestine
48, and the story goes on. The drive
and momentum that have grown around
TEDxRamallah have, within the span of
a year, taken a handful of active youth
from being told about Palestine or just
touching the surface of it, to actually
being engaged with Palestine in a way
that has altered our identity, giving us
the right today to say, I am Palestinian,
regardless of my ID colour.
Counting down the hours and days
towards the event, we tirelessly work
towards meeting the expectations that
it will be the most phenomenal TEDx
event yet.
TEDxRamallah is an independently
organised TED event. It is the collective
effort of numerous people working from
Ramallah, Beirut, Amman, and Dubai.
The event, to be held on 16 April, is the
first TEDxRamallah event and the first
TEDx event with a focus on Palestine.
Courtesy of the TEDxRamallah team.
* “Losing my Palestine” by Joumana al Jabri.
7
Middle East Uprisings
What Does It Mean for Palestine?
We couldn’t have an Inspirational Stories issue themed issue without paying
tribute to the historic wave of revolutions which have been rocking the Middle East.
If you’re anything like us you have been glued to a screen cheering on the heroes
of Tunis, Benghazi, and Cairo. But what does it mean for us? Well, read on and find
out from two expert analysts who represent opposite ends of the political spectrum.
a shared slogan: freedom. However, a
feeling of insecurity within some official
circles restricted attempts to express that
identification for some time. Support for the
Palestinian cause and ending the Israeli
Occupation is a matter of consensus among
the public opinion in Egypt and in the rest of
the Arab countries.
However, different Palestinians read
differently the ongoing developments in
the Arab world. Hamas believes that these
changes will bring about more support for
it and less for Fateh. Hamas also believes
that the wave of change might also affect
the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank
because of its ties to those same Arab
governments that have been changed or
are facing difficulties. One of the immediate
outcomes of this is additional Hamas
reluctance to come to reconciliation with
Fateh.
Others think that the revolution in Arab
countries has been undermining traditional
opposition parties, including the Muslim
By Ghassan Khatib
The wave of protests demanding social
and political change in the Arab world started
in Tunis but took its most inspiring nature in
Egypt. This movement, after spreading in a
growing number of countries, marks a new
era in the recent history of the Arab world. It
is not a coincidence that Egypt has taken the
lead in its revolution for political and social
development. It comes half a century after
Egypt took the lead in an Arab liberation
movement that succeeded in ending direct
colonial control over the region.
Most Palestinians believe that we are in a
win-win situation. A democratic, reformed,
free, and developed Arab world is more
useful and more capable of serving Arab
causes, including ours. In addition, this
movement will ensure that the political
behaviour of future governments will have
to be more responsive to their people on
all issues, including the Arab-Israel conflict.
The Palestinian people identified quickly
and easily with the upheaval thanks to
Brotherhood movement that birthed Hamas,
as much as it is undermining the regimes.
They argue that the new Arab world will
continue to support the just Palestinian
cause and maintain its relations with the PLO
leadership, not necessarily on the basis of
its factional composition.
It is no surprise to anybody that the
most worried reaction has come from Tel
Aviv. Israel has established unbalanced
relations with some Arab governments,
with little or no approval of their peoples,
and should be worried. Future democratic
Arab governments, while they might remain
committed to signed agreements with Israel,
might not be able or willing to maintain the
same dependency.
From now onward, if Israel wants to
maintain or develop its relations with any
Arab country, it has to work on the public
opinion of that country. Satisfying the
government will no longer be enough.
The recent Israeli leak about a possible
political initiative has followed close behind
the ongoing revolutions in neighbouring
countries. It might also be motivated by
dissatisfaction with the United States on the
part of its Arab allies after and because of
its veto of a draft United Nations resolution
criticising illegal Israeli settlement activities.
With these ongoing important
developments in the Arab world, friends of
Israel – including the United States – need to
explain to the Israeli government and public
that it is too late for any initiative that falls
short of promising an end to the Occupation
and allowing for implementation of the twostate solution based on the borders of 1967.
In addition, Palestinians long ago stopped
“learning about” Israeli positions by listening
to Israeli statements – the gap between what
Israelis say and do is too great. Without a
halt in settlement expansion, nothing that
Israeli leaders say will be taken with much
credibility.
For all these reasons, the vast majority
of the Palestinian people are supportive of
the revolutions taking place in many Arab
countries. However, there are differences
with respect to the possible effects of
this new atmosphere on both the internal
situation and the conflict. Some are trying
to use the momentum in order to push
for Palestinian unity and reconciliation.
Others believe that our main problem is the
Occupation, and this is what our revolutions
should focus on.
The last few weeks witnessed active
debates and plans in the virtual sphere,
including Facebook. Most of these have
been inspired by the Arab revolutions.
Traditional factions, threatened by this
phenomenon, are trying to either co-opt it,
or ride on it. The change will require more
than intentions and plans.
Dr. Ghassan Khatib is director of the
Government Media Center for the
Palestinian Authority.
Popular protests in Cairo. Photo from Palestine Image Bank/Gabrielle Bonneville.
8
9
that made the majority of Palestinians
realise that the existing situation cannot
go on, has also impeded the momentum.
The situation is complex; the revolution
might not happen now since we’ve only
just begun. We have a long history
of division starting from the Nakba
in 1948 to the 1967 War to the Oslo
Agreement in 1993 and the elections
of 2006. These stages in our history
have created a challenging reality for
youth and have brought about a new
Palestinian narrative, specifically after
the Oslo Agreement. Top priority for
Palestinians is bringing an end to the
Israeli Occupation. Due to our complicity
in the situation, however, we need to deal
with the division, which means that Gaza
youth have to deal with Hamas authority,
and the youth in the West Bank have to
deal with the PA. Overcoming this division
will still leave Israel to be dealt with.
After the Middle East uprising and the
slogans that emerged in Egypt, the first
slogan that was spontaneously uttered
in Palestine addressed the people’s
desire to end the division. Many young
Palestinians soon realised, however,
that this is not our top priority since we
could end this division and it would not
change or improve our reality. If anything,
it might make it worse. Neither can we
end the Occupation while the PA security
forces are acting as security guards for
the Occupation.
Today, activists are calling for
Palestinian National Committee
elections to create a democratic body
that represents Palestinian people all
around the world in order to take political
stands and determine the way to end
the Occupation. This demand led to
harassment of the independent youth
movement and, unfortunately, due to our
reality and the division-culture embossed
in our brains, there were many attempts
by Fateh and the PA in the West Bank to
co-opt events and by Hamas in Gaza to
arrest the organisers and suppress any
attempt to protest.
The youth movement is now expanding
Popular protests in Palestine. Photo by Ahmad Mesleh.
our reality and take matters into our own
hands.
Why now?
Now more than ever young people
believe they can. The uprisings in the
Middle East have inspired youth to take
responsibility in determining the future of
Palestine and have given us hope that we
have a significant role to play. The new
social media facilitates the spreading of
this message and connects Palestinians
to each other.
Day by day we are getting closer to
the 20-year anniversary of the peace
process. Twenty years of negotiating
for the sake of negotiations, while the
cake has been almost eaten. This
process has caused more division
By Najwan Beredkar
Will there be a revolution in Palestine?
Yes.
Will it be anytime soon? I wouldn’t
count on it.
Is that bad? It might just be for the best.
The last two months have revealed that
the Middle East uprising has generated
a youth movement in Palestine that has
increased youth activism and involvement
in the political sphere.
The many demonstrations held in the
West Bank and Gaza and the great
number of Facebook groups send a
very important message: It is now time
for us to be the change we wish for. It is
now time for us young people to change
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among the Palestinians and excluded the
Palestinians of 1948 and turned them into
an Israeli internal matter.
Twenty years of: an increase in human
rights violations, more settlements,
the Wall, the second Intifada, the war
on Gaza, more land confiscation,
home demolitions, the Judaisation of
Jerusalem.
And the list goes on.
This approach has failed, and now it
is time to look for a new approach. Most
Palestinians do not want September
to bring us a recognised, backward,
dependent, and conditioned state.
The present lack of faith in the
leadership, particularly after the division
11
Popular protests in Palestine. Photo by Ahmad Mesleh.
The leadership of Palestine, whether in
the West Bank or Gaza, the areas of 1948
or the diaspora, should recognise that
this is every Palestinian’s struggle and
support this initiative, putting aside their
political party’s agendas and interests.
They no longer have to think, strategise,
or act alone. Today they have a popular
community base that recognises its
responsibility to participate in formulating
and achieving the national goals of
Palestine and Palestinians all around
the world.
in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the areas of
1948, and the diaspora despite the many
attempts of political parties to contain this
movement. Youth are now alert to these
attempts and can immediately recognise
the intentions of any side. However, as
we want to combine our efforts and unite
our voices, we welcome any honest
intention of cooperation. We should work
cautiously and be careful not to exclude
any side.
Today we cannot give up what we
started; our situation needs evaluation,
criticism, and analysis in order to
overcome all challenges. But it will also
require time, patience, tolerance, and
great efforts to plan and act to implement
our national goals. We as activists and
as Palestinians want to emphasise and
achieve the principles of freedom, justice,
and the right of return.
Najwan Beredkar works with several
youth organisations inside 1948 Palestine
and was an active member in the
Association for Arab Youth-Baladna.
She is now working as the advocacy
programme manager at Sharek Youth
Forum-Ramallah and as a regional
debate consultant.
12
Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival 2011
of the American CityDance Ensemble. The
workshops will produce documentaries on the
festival, to be shown at the French-German
Cultural Center in Ramallah on 10 May.
As usual, the festival will celebrate
International Dance Day on 29 April,
featuring popular dance troupes as well
as fashion shows, food, handicrafts, and
popular children’s games. This day aims to
disseminate Palestinian popular heritage,
celebrate Palestinian cultural heritage, and
introduce Palestinian popular dance to the
international troupes.
Among the most important events is
the Dance Conference (28 April to 1 May)
entitled “Dance and Social Change,” featuring
Palestinian, Arab, and foreign speakers.
The RCDF was launched in 2006. In 2007,
Masahat Contemporary Dance Network was
established with the membership of Sareyyet
Ramallah (Palestine), Maqamat Dance
Theater (Lebanon), Tanween Dance Theater
(Syria), and the National Center for Culture
and Performing Arts (Jordan). Since then,
contemporary dance festivals are coordinated
annually in all four countries.
In 2008, RCDF won the A.M. Qattan Award
for Distinguished Cultural Works, reflecting
its continued excellence and improvement.
Today the festival has global renown and
prestige with which to attract international
troupes. It now works throughout the year
with a growing list of partners. The most
recent joint production was “Naji Al-Ali” with
Sareyyet Ramallah Dance Troupe and the
Italian Botega Dance Company which was
performed at the Italian Bolzano Festival in
July 2010. In its first workshop abroad, two
dancers from Sareyyet Ramallah assisted an
event at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
The RCDF sixth round is funded by the EU,
the Ramallah Municipality, the A.M. Qattan
Foundation, the Swiss Cultural Foundation
– Pro Helvitia, the French Consulate General
in Jerusalem, the Goethe Institute, the British
Council, the Spanish Cooperation, the
Portuguese Representative Office, and the
Australian Representative Office.
From 14 April to 5 May, the sixth Ramallah
Contemporary Dance Festival (RCDF) will
take place in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and
Bethlehem. Twenty performances will be
organised by Sareyyet Ramallah – First
Ramallah Group in association with 15
spectacular Arab and international troupes.
RCDF promotes cultural exchange
between Palestinians and internationals,
exposing local performers to a diverse range
of contemporary dance to develop their
capacities. The festival targets the whole
Palestinian public but especially youth.
Among the most outstanding troupes is the
highly sought after Akram Khan Company
from Britain. The Algerian Hervé Koubi will
perform the opening ceremony, and William
Forsythe, a prominent German troupe named
after the famed choreographer, will also be
appearing. Other notable participants are
Suzanne Miller and Allan Paivio Productions
from Canada, Tok’Art from Portugal, Chunky
Move from Australia, Linga from Switzerland,
Pockemon from France, Panta Rei from
Norway, Nats Nus Dansa from Spain, Anania
from Morocco, and Chatha from Tunisia.
Palestine will be represented by three
troupes, with new works including “6 Seconds
in Ramallah” from El-Funoun Dance Troupe,
together with the Japanese Choreographer
Yoshiko Chuma. The Hard Knocks School
and Allaz Theater from Acre will perform
“Here and Now,” and the Sareyyet Ramallah
Troupe will present “Sandwishet Labaneh.”
The great Palestinian poet Mahmoud
Darwish will have a special presence
through two performances. “Coffee” from
the Tunisian Chatha Troupe and “Here and
Now” from Allaz Theater both use his poetry
as a framework.
The festival will host nine contemporary
dance workshops for local dancers and
troupes, including “Dance on Camera”
techniques. The workshops will run
for a month, supervised by the French
choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker
Ludovic Jolivet, the Chilean director Francisco
Campos-Lopez, and Paul Emerson, director
14
Learning from Leila
By Ahmed Moor
rich children of the Middle East and a
social club for the colonial elite of the
Arab world. Student government was
banned and the university was run like
an American corporation. Students
whose fees were not paid in full were
often forbidden to attend classes. The
only permissible activities on campus
were dances, parties, and plays. No open
political clubs were allowed. There were
no demonstrations, no political rallies, no
guest speakers.”
By 1969, Khaled was ready to participate
in the PFLP’s militant operations. In
August of that year, she was one member
of a team that hijacked TWA Flight
840. The airplane, which was en route
from Rome to Athens, was diverted to
Damascus where the hostages were
freed. During the flight, Khaled famously
instructed the pilot to fly over Haifa so that
she could see it.
According to her autobiography, the
purpose that underpinned the hijackings
was to free political prisoners and raise
awareness of the Palestinian national
cause. She wrote: “Our minimum
objective was the inscription of the name
of Palestine on the memory of mankind
and on the mind of every self-respecting
libertarian who believes in the right of
the subjugated to self-determination.…
We were out to strike at the heart of the
oppressor.”
The TWA hijacking elevated Khaled to
icon status in the Palestinian cities and
refugee camps which led her to decide
to alter her appearance to regain her
anonymity. Six plastic surgeries helped
her to achieve her goal but only served
to enhance her legendary reputation
amongst Palestinians.
The plastic surgeries permitted the
revolutionary to attempt a second
hijacking. In 1970, Khaled hijacked a
second airplane flying from Amsterdam to
New York. Israeli air marshals were on El
Leila Khaled has led one of the most
storied lives in modern Palestinian history,
one that has caused her to become a
living symbol for anti-colonial resistance
the world over. Her time as a freedom
fighter in her youth and unyielding
dedication to the Palestinian national
cause over the course of her life have
been inspirational to generations of
Palestinian fighters and activists.
As a child, Leila Khaled bore direct
witness to the seminal event in Palestinian
history – the Nakba – or Catastrophe in
English. She was only four when Zionist
forces ethnically cleansed Palestine in
order to create the Jewish state. Like
many of the 750,000 to 800,000 other
refugees, her family fled north from the
coastal city of Haifa to Tyre in Lebanon.
Khaled, along with many of her generation
spent their formative years in the squalor
of a Palestinian refugee camp. The
realities of refugee life instilled a deep
political awareness in Khaled at a young
age.
When she was fifteen, Khaled joined
the Arab Nationalist Movement which
was founded by George Habash in 1953.
Several branches of the secular, socialist
movement sprung up in various countries
in the Arab world, one of which would
later become the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in 1967.
By 1968 the PFLP had trained one to
three thousand guerrillas; Leila was one
of these. Prior to engaging in the Palestinian
revolutionary movement full-time, Khaled
attended the American University of Beirut
(AUB) where she clashed with the nonactivist administration. She only remained
at the university for one year. In her
autobiography she issued a resounding
critique that would be echoed by many
activists in the following decades:
“AUB was an intellectual graveyard
for me. It was a ‘finishing’ school for the
16
Al Flight 219, however, and they managed to capture the young revolutionary.
The flight was rerouted to London where Khaled was arrested by British
authorities. She was later released in a prisoner exchange, and the
PFLP abandoned airplane hijackings as a tactic.
The decades following Khaled’s military efforts on behalf
of the PFLP saw her develop into a heroic figure for
many young Palestinians. Her example has inspired
many thousands of revolutionaries over the years.
Today, she remains active in Palestinian national
life and continues to be a prominent PFLP leader
and critic of Palestinian divisions. In an interview
with This Week in Palestine, Khaled expressed
the view that the so-called peace process is only
a scheme designed to undermine Palestinian
national goals. “Now, there is no process in search
of a settlement. The entire process was never about
peace. It’s a political process that allowed the Israeli
side to implement what it wanted in the West Bank:
settlements, land confiscation in Jerusalem... Because of
that, the Palestinians and Israelis will not reach a solution
that guarantees the rights of the Palestinian people.”
“First of all, the Palestinian Authority is an outgrowth
of the Oslo Process which we object to. We object to the
process because it doesn’t address the core issues that the
Palestinians are suffering from. Therefore, I don’t regard
the Palestinian Authority as being representative of the
Palestinian people,” she said. “It is an arm of the PLO
designed to administer the welfare of the people, but
practically, after operating for eighteen years, it
has become evident that it is not a sovereign
authority. It only administers the residents
of the occupied lands. It cannot protect the
people.”
The Palestinians have suffered a great
number of hardships and setbacks during the
past sixty years. But resilient and steadfast
Palestinians like Leila Khaled have refused
to bow under overwhelming pressure to
relinquish their rights. In the aftermath of the
Palestine Papers, young Palestinians can
look to her legacy for a model of legitimate
and dignified struggle in the face of adversity.
Her revolutionary past and her present-day
insistence on Palestinian rights continue to
inspire young activists in both Palestine and
the diaspora.
Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American
activist and journalist based in Cairo. He
has contributed to Al Jazeera English, the
Guardian, the Boston Review, and other
news media.
17
The Great Book Robbery
“The Great Book Robbery” team aims
to build on Amit’s discovery through a
documentary, a database of the missing
books, and legal action on behalf of the
victims. They are confident of success.
“Since we started this project new
information has come to light,” El Fassed
told us. “We interviewed Nasser Eddin
Nashashibi, who witnessed the looting
of his uncle’s priceless library. His own
books were looted too, among them, a
book he received from its Egyptian author
with a personal inscription. His book was
found in the National Library and the
handwritten inscription fitted to the last
comma of Nashashibi’s recollection of it.
We spoke with witnesses, both Israelis
and Palestinians, including someone who
worked on the cataloguing of the books.
We also spoke with a former employee of
the National Library, who described how
librarians removed signs of Palestinian
ownership from most of the books.”
Of the books which did not end up
at the National Library, around 26,000
Arjan El Fassed* – the DutchPalestinian MP – has found room on his
crowded plate to address a little-known
scandal. Along with an Israeli-Dutch
filmmaker and an international alliance
of conscience-led individuals, El Fassed
is digging up the bones of 1948, or rather
the pages. Amid the chaos and tragedy
of Al-Nakba, an act of common theft
went under the radar, albeit theft on a
grand scale that was to provide a model
of Israeli policy ever since; to deny and
erase Palestinian heritage from the
history books.
In 1948, the Israeli army looted 70,000
books from private Palestinian collections
in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Nazareth, and other
Arab cities. Many of these can now be
found in Israel’s National Library bearing
the insincere label “AP – Abandoned
Property.” The story only came to light
recently when Israeli PhD student Gish
Amit began to analyse the labels and
concluded that they represented mass
cultural pillaging.
18
‘Absentee Property’ in Israel’s National Library.
policy discussions when it comes to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict start with
1967, but it is my belief that sharing a
collective past and reconciling with the
truth is a must for any peace process to
be successful in the long term.
These truths do, of course, reflect badly
on the Israeli establishment, and for such
a high-profile figure as MP El Fassed,
nailing his Palestinian colours to the
mast is not without risk. In Europe, the
Palestine-Israel question is an extremely
sensitive topic, and challenging Israeli
mythology is controversial. El Fassed
is not worried; “I’ve got a lot of positive
responses to this project. It’s a human
endeavour … and we want to open
access to that cultural heritage for all
who live in this region and beyond.
Reconciliation starts by recognising the
past and not by hiding it.”
The project fits neatly with a career
spent “promoting and enhancing respect
for human rights.” El Fassed began his
professional life in the aid sector, based
in trouble-spots across Africa and the
Middle East, where he worked with
downtrodden communities suffering
from a lack of representation. The
experiences inspired his later political
were sold as “paper waste,” because the
librarians found them unsuitable as they
contained “inciting material against the
State [of Israel].” El Fassed pinpoints the
main aim of the project: “to tell the story of
these books and to open access to them.
This is collective cultural heritage which
debunks myths about Palestinians and
life before the Nakba.”
El Fassed believes that greater
understanding of 1948, and subsequent
appropriation of Palestinian heritage,
is a vital step towards righting the
injustices which continue to plague
Palestinians today. “Palestinian cultural
life before 1948 is not widely known.
Focusing on one aspect – these books,
which also have a universal value – will
serve to highlight this aspect. In most
countries which have seen dramatic
human rights abuses, establishing truth
is a prerequisite to reconciliation and
peace. I believe that establishing what
has happened in the past and what the
late Edward Said called, ‘the permission
to narrate,’ is essential for reconciliation.
“The year 1948 is a reference point
but we hardly know the details. For
policymakers it’s easier to talk about 1967
and thereafter than to go back to 1948. All
19
Although he lives mainly in Holland, El
Fassed remains deeply connected to his
Palestinian roots, and “The Great Book
Robbery” is a personal as well as principled
campaign. Born to a Nabulsi father, his
relatives suffered the consequences of
1948, with many forced to abandon their
homes. In 1968, his grandfather was killed
during an Israeli aerial bombing in Jordan,
while another relative and former mayor of
Nablus, Bassam Shaka’a, was severely
maimed by a bomb planted by Zionist
terror group Gush Emunim. The “child of
two cultures” has not escaped the struggle
for human rights in Palestine, nor does he
seek to. His crusade to restore Palestinian
heritage via a public investigation is
guaranteed to shed light on dark secrets
of 1948, and provide fresh challenges to
Israel’s oppression.
While he has great faith in the campaign,
it will stand or fall on winning favour with
the wider public. “On an individual basis
and during various aspects of our work
we have participation, but it’s not enough,”
says El Fassed. “We could still use the
help of anyone who is willing to contribute,
share stories, help with translations, find
eyewitnesses, and anything else that brings
this story to life. We have tried to get this
story out to a wide audience, and we think
that with the completion of the documentary
we will finally draw more participation.”
He is keen to stress the literary, rather
than symbolic, value of the stolen books.
“We are showing how rich cultural life was in
Jaffa, Haifa, Tiberias, and other places. The
richness of Palestinian literature has been
widely recognised, but it is also dependent
on a nation that reads and shares stories.”
Now El Fassed hopes Palestinians will
share his, perhaps in the form of a tweet.
For more information, visit
www.thegreatbookrobbery.org or
twitter@bookrobbery.
Text prepared by the TWIP team.
Article photos courtesy of Arjan El Fassed.
and literary work, appealing to popular
conscience with a variety of creative
methods.
He is a fervent believer in the
empowering qualities of social media
and quickly became one of the most
popular Dutch Twitter users, with almost
300,000 followers. Having seen the
effects of such tools during the Middle
East uprisings, El Fassed convincingly
argues that they have become essential
for proper understanding of a story. “To
effectively assist and protect ordinary
men and women, we need to learn how
to listen to social media. The voices
you hear and the faces you see on
your television screens – the militiamen
and political leaders – do not form the
majority in Afghanistan. Neither do
pirates in Somalia. What we hardly see
are huge numbers of ordinary people
who do not subscribe to the policies
of the governors or the militiamen,
and who are, in fact, quiet dissidents.
People like you and me. If we listen to
social media for a prolonged period,
we would find not only pirates but also
ordinary Somalis struggling on a daily
basis to survive in one of the world’s
biggest humanitarian crises, not only
Taliban fighters or international troops
and their policymakers in Afghanistan,
but ordinary Afghans who want their kids
to go to school.”
Inadequate media coverage of global
issues has long frustrated El Fassed, a
frustration which led to his co-founding
the popular news website Electronic
Intifada in 2001. Now one of the most
respected sources on the PalestineIsrael conflict, EI is often credited with
helping restore balance to the debate.
El Fassed feels that the mainstream
media remain weak on the issue and
that only through careful discretion can
consumers hope to get an accurate and
complete picture.
* Arjan El Fassed is a member of parliament in the Netherlands. He is the son of a Palestinian father and Dutch mother.
He was interim head of humanitarian campaigns at an international development organisation and has worked for several
human rights organisations in Palestine. El Fassed is the author of Niet iedereen kan stenen gooien, about the history of
the Palestinian side of his family, and has initiated several successful social media initiatives, He is also a co-founder of
The Electronic Intifada.
20
Censorship in Comedy
Fighting the Good Fight One Joke at a Time
By Maysoon Zayid
Some people say that I’m the first person to
ever perform stand-up comedy in Palestine.
I’m not one of those people. I always believed
that someone else did it first even if we never
heard of them. The first time I did stand-up
comedy in Palestine was in Bethlehem in
2002. Sadly there is no video record of this
show. All I have to show for it is a blurb in
the November 2002 issue of This Week in
Palestine. I was volunteering at Ibdaa in
Dheisheh Refugee Camp, and everyone
kept asking me what I did in my real life, to
which I would respond, “I tell jokes.” No one
believed me. So one day while sitting with my
girlfriends Paola Handal and Carol Sansour,
who happened to work at Dar Annadwa, we
decided: Why not do a show?
I performed to a pretty packed house of
the who’s who of Bethlehem as well as a
handful of refugees who had ventured out.
They laughed, I had a blast, and I had no
idea I was doing something so different.
A couple of months later, I partnered with
A.M. Qattan Foundation to do my second
show. This was publicised. This wasn’t just
friends. This was the middle of the Intifada
and in the middle of on-and-off curfews.
We held the show at Ashtar Theatre in
Ramallah. It was so packed, people sat on
the floor. From the safety of Ashtar Theatre
I made fun of President Yasser Arafat, who
at the exact same time was under siege at
his nearby compound. I had no idea I was
being risqué or saying anything that would
get me in trouble. See, that’s part of the job
for a comic. We talk about things no one else
does. Nothing is off limits. So it didn’t occur to
me that I couldn’t talk about the government
or that I shouldn’t use words like, sharmuta.
I performed completely uncensored because
the idea that there would be censorship never
occurred to me. At the end of the show I got
a standing ovation. As I was leaving, one
guy walked up to me and said, “You know
they’re gonna have you killed for saying
that.” I asked him, “Who?” and he laughed.
I thought he was kidding.
Comedian Maysoon Zayid. Photo by Johnny Faraj.
Two years later Dean Obeidallah joined
me for a huge outdoor show at the Qattan
Foundation. This time there were reporters.
They asked us what the biggest difference
was between doing comedy in New York City
and doing comedy in Ramallah. I said, “Well in
New York people get stuck in traffic, whereas
here people get stuck at the checkpoint.” The
issue of censorship never came up because
it was simply not an issue.
In August 2008, Dean and I did our
first major show in Amman, Jordan. I had
performed there before but I guess I had been
under the radar. We did our first show to a
sold-out crowd. And at the end of the show
the censors descended upon us mercilessly.
22
We were told we could not joke about the
government (even though the prince himself
said I could). We could not talk about
Palestinians being the majority, and we could
not under any circumstances say the word
sharmuta. I was shocked. At first I refused
until I was informed that that meant I would
not perform. I went along with it because this
is a job and you don’t always have to love it.
Censorship did not stop in Jordan. It
became standard. And nowhere was it
worse than in Egypt. While doing a show
there in 2009 I was physically attacked by
the Minister of Tourism (a woman by the
way) and banned from ever performing in
the country again. Why? What was my big
transgression? I did a joke about Egypt Air
being so filthy that my lice got fleas. That’s
it. Banned for Life. Every time we would be
told by the censors the list of what we could
and couldn’t say, I would tell the comics,
“You’ve got to come to Palestine, there’s
no censorship there. You can say whatever
you want.” And they never believed me. Until
one by one they performed here and saw
for themselves.
It was a matter of pride for me when
being interviewed by American reporters
who would say, “You could never say these
things in front of Arabs, they would kill
you,” and I would say, “Not in Palestine. In
Palestine you can say anything, and I have.”
23
But suddenly, freedom of speech has
come under siege in the Holy Land.
Article after article was popping up on
Facebook about journalists and visual
artists being censored, shut down, and
even arrested by the PA or Hamas. I
became more adamant than ever to
prove that Palestine still was the one
place comics could perform completely
uncensored.
I was given the unique opportunity to
introduce stand-up to my generation in
Palestine. And because of that there
was never any censorship because it
was my show. No one ever told me what
to do and they certainly weren’t going
to start now. What was the point of all
these revolutions if we would have less
freedom?
On Valentine’s weekend I came and
performed four shows for the Freedom of
Comedy Tour with Eman and Adi Khalefa.
We performed our first show in Ramallah
at the Friends School. It was a soldout fundraiser for the Maysoon’s Kids/
Friends’ Inclusive Scholarship Program
where we provide K–12 full scholarships
to disabled children in financial need.
At that show all the jokes were halal.
Not because someone told us to do so,
but because as comics sometimes we
choose to self-censor depending on the
audience. This was obviously a family
show and we wanted them to have fun.
The second show was held at Andreen
Pub, also in Ramallah. But this was a
totally different show. Nothing was off
limits. Not Saeb Ereket, not sharmutot.
We said everything we wanted and
more. And I was thrilled that comedy in
Palestine remained uncensored.
If comedy in an un-free Palestine can
remain uncensored, imagine how much
fun we’ll have once we’re free.
Maysoon Zayid is an actress, writer,
and comedian from Deir Debwan. She
is Executive Producer of the New York
Arab American Comedy Festival, founder
of Maysoon’s Kids, and owner of a cat
named Lucy. For more information, visit
www.Maysoon.com.
24
Inspirational Images
The Palestinian national football team played its
first competitive home fixture on March 9. They
defeated Thailand 1–0 in a qualifying match for
the 2012 London Olympics but went on to lose
a penalty shoot-out 6–5. Photos courtesy of
Palestine Football Association.
Protest images from Bil’in and Jenin,
courtesy of Mo’nes Qatami (left), Ayman
Muqbil, and Jihad Fadda.
Eyad Sabah (left), Shareef
Sarhan, and Omar Shla’ s
images of fishermen in Gaza.
Their vital profession has become
increasingly dangerous as a result
of Israeli naval restrictions. Three
were shot dead on 17 February.
Photos by Walaa Abu Saed (12) (left),
Shahd Zeitoon (11), Mohammed Alewi
(13), from Tomorrow’s Youth Organisation
in Nablus. TYO’s precocious young
artists produced their first exhibition
in November, which travelled to many
Palestinian cities.
26
27
The Dome of the Rock
By Sudqi Motawee
The Israeli Occupation authorities arrested me in 1998, and I was sentenced to four
years in jail. While in jail, I had the idea of creating a model of the Dome of Rock that
would be an exact and accurate replica of the Islamic holy shrine. I started work on
it in 1999, and the material was provided to me
through family visits and the Red Cross.
The making of the model was an enjoyable
experience. I drew measurements for it and
then built it using cardboard. I used 415
pieces of cardboard and formed
them into geometric pieces
of various sizes. I built the
skeleton of the Rock and
its surrounding perimeters,
and I then covered the
entire structure, gluing to
it 9 kilograms of colourful
glass beads, around
550,000 pieces.
Each day I worked for
4 to 5 hours, spending
a total of 3,200 hours
on it. After twenty
months of meticulous
and concentrated work,
I managed to complete 70
percent of the entire work. My
project was temporarily interrupted
because I was transferred to another
jail. Later, however, I was released and had plenty of time to complete it.
I have been trying to display this model of the Dome of the Rock in Europe and the
Gulf countries for some time, to no avail. I also tried to contact Guinness World Records,
in the hope that my feat would be noted for the record-breaking and superlative use
of beads. In any case, my work has been on display in several exhibits in Ramallah,
but unfortunately it has not been adopted by any official institution. A special report
about the Dome of the Rock replica was published in Al-Quds Arabic daily, and I was
interviewed by Al-Jazeera.net and Palestine.net.
Sudqi Motawee’s model of the Dome
of the Rock used 550,000 beads and
took 3,200 hours to complete.
28
Our Boats to Gaza
By Huwaida Arraf
and professional backgrounds, ranging in
age from 21 to 81, including a Catholic
nun, a Greek parliamentarian, an Israeli
professor, and the sister-in-law of Tony
Blair – did not constitute a threat to Israel.
If Israel stopped us, it would not be for
security reasons, but rather to enforce the
isolation and strangulation of the people
in Gaza.
Before voyaging into the Mediterranean
we reviewed and prepared for every
scenario we could think of, including being
sunk, shot at, blockaded, and arrested. We
realised full well that our undertaking was a
In the early morning hours of 31 May
2010, the Freedom Flotilla, a civilian
convoy comprised of six ships carrying
approximately 10,000 tonnes of aid and
nearly 700 people from 35 countries
headed to the Gaza Strip, came under
lethal attack by Israeli forces. Although we
were intent on delivering the supplies we
were carrying, which consisted primarily
of reconstruction supplies, educational
material, and medical equipment that Israel
bans from entering Gaza, we were more
concerned with ending the illegal closure
policy that has left Palestinians in Gaza in
need of this kind of humanitarian aid. The
Freedom Flotilla did not represent our first
attempt to confront and challenge Israel’s
naval blockade and overall closure of
Gaza, and it will not be our last.
The effort started on a much smaller
scale a few years prior, when a handful of
people, dismayed at the lack of action by
states to force Israel to end its deliberate
persecution of Palestinians in Gaza, began
discussing what average civilians could
do about this. “Let’s sail a boat to Gaza,”
suggested a fellow International Solidarity
Movement activist from Australia. At first the
idea seemed rather ridiculous, as not only
did one of the most powerful militaries in the
world have a naval blockade on Gaza, but
we did not have a boat, the money to get
a boat, or know the first thing about boats!
However, optimism and perhaps a little bit
of naiveté won out and discussions began
as to how we could make this happen. A
year and a half later, on 22 August 2008, 44
people from 17 different countries boarded
two small fishing boats in Cyprus and
set sail for Gaza. Realistically speaking,
none of us expected to reach Gaza. What
we did expect to do, however, is expose
Israel’s closure policy as not being about
security, as Israeli leaders claim. Our
Greek-registered fishing boats – leaving
from Cyprus, checked by Cypriot port
authorities, carrying hearing aids, balloons,
and people from various religious, cultural,
repeat our sail again and again, until we
effectively opened a sea route to Gaza.
That is what we promised the people of
Gaza that we would do.
From October to December 2008, the
Free Gaza Movement, as we decided
to call ourselves, organised four more
successful sea voyages to Gaza, taking in
doctors, lawyers, journalists, professors,
parliamentarians, a Nobel peace laureate,
and others who could not enter Gaza
any other way. We also took out of Gaza
dozens of Palestinians who needed to
travel for medical purposes or to take
up educational opportunities in foreign
countries, but were prevented from doing
so by Israel. On our boats, for the first time
Palestinians were able to exit and enter
their homeland freely. It was beginning to
dangerous one. None of us wanted to be a
hero; no one wanted to die; but at the same
time, we believed in the necessity and the
power of what we were doing.
On 23 August 2008, after about 32
hours at sea and over 30 sick passengers,
including our resident doctor and two
nurses, our two small boats became the
first to reach the shores of Gaza in over
41 years. Tens of thousands of elated
Palestinians rushed to the port to welcome
us in a humbling show of excitement,
honour, and gratitude; all for something
that we … that the world should have
done years before. The mantra became,
we “broke the siege.” But we did not break
the siege. We overcame the blockade,
once. We knew that to really end Israel’s
stranglehold on Gaza, we would have to
Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire and friends
aboard the Rachel Corrie (2010).
Photo courtesy of www.freegaza.org.
30
31
three attempts to reach Gaza by sea,
we decided that we needed a change of
strategy. Some began questioning the
utility of continuing to send boats to Gaza,
but for us, giving up was not an option. We
refused to give in to the notion that military
might and violence are stronger than the
rights we are fighting for. But to overcome
Israel’s apparent determination to put an
end to our efforts, we had to make the
look like we had indeed opened a sea route
to Gaza, though unfortunately, we were the
only ones using it. We had not yet managed
to convince larger entities, particularly
states or international NGOs with more
resources than we had, to join us.
Two days after Israel launched massive
air strikes commencing its deadly 22-day
assault on the Gaza Strip, the Free Gaza
Movement organised an emergency
mission to Gaza. On the small, 22-metre
yacht we called the Dignity, we loaded
three tonnes of medical supplies and
16 volunteers, including four doctors, a
Cypriot member of parliament, a former US
congresswoman, and journalists from CNN
and Al Jazeera. On 30 December 2008, in
the dark of night and still 90 miles from the
coast of Gaza, an Israeli warship rammed
our small vessel three times and left it to
sink. With the help of the Lebanese Coast
Guard, our captain was able to manoeuvre
the Dignity safely to the southern Lebanese
port of Tyre. Two weeks later we managed
to obtain another boat, a converted ferry
that we named the Spirit of Humanity,
and load it with more medical supplies
and volunteers. Again, Israeli warships
confronted us in the middle of the night
in international waters. This time instead
of directly ramming our boat, they nearly
caused it to capsize, making it impossible
to continue. On 29 June 2009 we launched
our eighth mission to Gaza. Twenty-one
human rights campaigners carrying nine
tonnes of supplies, primarily rebuilding
supplies, school supplies, medicine,
and toys for kids. On 30 June, we were
surrounded by Israeli naval forces that
demanded (over the VHF radio) we return
to Larnaca, Cyprus, or they would open
fire. We did not turn back. We remained on
course to Gaza, all the while asserting over
and over that we are unarmed civilians, and
that Israeli forces should not use violence
against us. After shadowing our small
vessel for hours, disabling our navigation
system throughout the night, and interfering
with our communication capabilities, armed
and masked Israeli commandos forcefully
boarded and commandeered our boat.
After Israel violently intercepted our last
were very supportive of our work. Our
biggest problem was securing the funding
we needed to do this. It is understandable
that one might feel better giving money
to humanitarian relief, rather than to
the political action and work we were
engaged in. For, while we were certainly
planning to carry supplies for Gaza on our
ships, ours was not a humanitarian aid
mission. Palestinians do not want to live
On 30 May 2010, six vessels met in
the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and
started en route to Gaza. A seventh vessel,
a cargo ship we named the Rachel Corrie,
had fallen five days behind due to attempts
at sabotage. In the middle of the night the
Israeli navy radioed us and demanded
that we turn around. We responded
that we had every intention of reaching
Gaza; that we are unarmed civilians,
carrying only humanitarian aid; and that
we constituted no threat to Israel; so “don’t
use force against us.” What happened next
was witnessed across the globe. Israel
launched a full-scale military assault on
the Freedom Flotilla while we were still
in international waters. Masked, armed
commandos came at us from the air and
sea, using sound grenades, tasers, attack
dogs, and bullets to raid and overtake
all six vessels. The first thing that the
soldiers went after was our communication
equipment. Our satellite capabilities were
jammed, and our phones and cameras
all taken away. Then everyone was held
almost incommunicado for days, ensuring
that the Israelis dominated the news with
their version of the events. Nine of our
colleagues were shot dead and 50 others
were injured that night; Israel tried to tell the
world that we had weapons on our boats
and that Israeli soldiers only engaged in
self-defence. At the same time, Israel
never returned our footage and refused
to cooperate with an independent Fact
Finding Mission (FFM) commissioned
by the UN Human Rights Council to
investigate the flotilla raid. The FFM’s final
report contradicts all of Israel’s claims,
even finding enough evidence to pursue
prosecution for wilful killing, torture, and
“Spirit of Humanity” leaving Larnaca 2009-FreeGaza.
Photo courtesy of www.freegaza.org.
cost of stopping our boats much bigger for
Israel. Therefore, instead of sending one
small boat with a few dozen people and a
symbolic amount of supplies to Gaza, we
would need to send a flotilla.
From July 2009 to May 2010 we set to
work on building this flotilla. Our efforts
entailed not only procuring vessels and
cargo, but also building mass support
and involvement around the world. From
Chile to South Africa, India to the United
States, we met with groups, unions,
parliamentarians, journalists, and other
individuals to support our nonviolent, directaction efforts to end Israel’s strangulation
of Gaza. On a grassroots level, people
32
on handouts, and we are not interested in
perpetuating a cycle of aid dependency that
Israel is surely content with. Our goal is to
confront the policies that leave Palestinians
in need of humanitarian aid.
We had hoped to launch the flotilla within
two months of the attack on the Spirit of
Humanity, but six months later we still
did not have the financial resources to
get the ships that we needed. Then the
Turkish NGO, Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH)
pledged ships to our flotilla. Weeks later,
the European Campaign to End the Siege
of Gaza, Ship to Gaza Greece, and Ship
to Gaza Sweden also joined our effort. By
May 2010, we had our flotilla.
33
Wreckage of “Dignity” boat after being rammed at sea by the Israeli navy. Photo courtesy of www.freegaza.org.
people have joined our efforts. We sail
not just for Gaza, as what’s happening
in Gaza is not separate from the human
rights abuses, racist laws, and oppressive
policies perpetrated by Israel in the West
Bank, Jerusalem, and even inside the 1948
borders. We sail to confront and challenge
an entire apartheid regime that must be
dismantled through citizen action.
Sailing, marching, boycotting, divesting
… our individual and collective actions
are a powerful force that even the most
oppressive regime cannot stand up to.
Therefore, every single day, let us ask
ourselves, “What am I doing to create the
world that I want to live in, and that I want
my children to live in?” And just like the two
small fishing boats that took on the Israeli
navy, let us believe that we can do it.
wilfully causing great bodily harm.
We did not make it to Gaza that night,
but the world finally saw Israel’s violence
and irrationality, as well as the need for
the closure on Gaza to end. Worldwide
condemnation of Israel’s actions as well
as strong demands coming from Europe
forced Israel to ease its closure on Gaza.
Even though the easing of the closure
has only been cosmetic, the fact that
this civilian action created the necessary
pressure on Israel to compel that change
is significant.
If Israeli authorities thought that their
attack would break our momentum and
scare us away, they were wrong. The
brutality of the assault on our flotilla has
led to an increase of support for our kind
of nonviolent, direct action. We are now
organising Freedom Flotilla 2, scheduled
to set sail in late May 2011, with twice as
many vessels as we had last year. We
are bigger and stronger now as dozens
of new organisations and thousands more
Huwaida Arraf is a human rights activist
and lawyer. She is a co-founder of
the International Solidarity Movement
and currently chairs the Free Gaza
Movement.
34
Mes Que Un Restaurant
To riff on FC Barcelona’s famous
motto (which translates to: “more
than a club”), Hosh al-Elleeya
Restaurant, in the heart of Birzeit’s
Old City, wants to do far more with
the community than just feed it. As
the great Catalan institution prides
itself on providing a focal point for
its population, restaurant proprietor
Mazen Saadeh wants to make
Hosh al-Elleeya the vanguard of
revival in a city he feels was “dead
and empty” just months ago.
In a converted church that has
stood since 1852, Saadeh has
crafted a haven in his own image.
A well-travelled free spirit and
artist by trade, whose murals
proudly adorn the Prime Minister’s
office, Saadeh has synthesized
his passions even when they
would appear contradictory. Hosh
al-Elleeya means traditional fare
in a liberal milieu. It means local
prosperity through socialist values.
Nothing better illustrates the mix
than his old-style arak machine – a
dose of harram with a side dish of
Palestinian heritage. The machine
– like every table, dish, and
fireplace – has been painstakingly
hand-crafted, in most cases by
Mazen himself. He planned this
space to be “more of a home than
a restaurant,” and has succeeded
to the extent that this writer would
have felt more comfortable visiting
in slippers.
When the Municipality
approached the Dutch Consulate
for support in regenerating Birzeit,
Mazen was able to secure funding
for his project. In August 2010 the
work began in earnest, but was
initially viewed with suspicion.
“People said I wanted to build a
casino,” he recalls, still astounded
by the accusation. He was plagued
by vandalism during those testing
moments, but the tide quickly turned. “The
father of the boy who smashed my cameras
came to drink arak with me. I said this
project is not Mazen’s. It is Birzeit’s.”
Saadeh’s commitment to his community
goes beyond lip-service. He buys from local
groceries over cheaper wholesalers. He has
employed seven people from the local area,
and serves food at prices that normal people
can afford. “We have students here because
some dishes are only NIS 20,” he says.
our food includes nine times more
chemicals than safety standards allow.”
Yet this is no puritanical venture.
Hosh al-Elleeya is still a church, but
today it preaches social, aesthetic, and
culinary pleasure. Almost every night
has a cultural dedication; to films, live
music, or on Mondays – arak. Soon it
will moonlight as an exhibition space
for international artists on one-month
residencies who will live upstairs.
Fine dining in the most welcoming
of atmospheres, Mazen’s project is a
gleaming symbol of Birzeit’s revival.
A cosy evening in Hosh al-Elleeya.
Hiking in the wild valleys.
“In Ramallah, restaurants are expensive
because they only want foreign customers.”
He takes pride in serving the best-kept
secrets of Palestinian cuisine. New to the
menu is the akub plant, which grows just one
month of the year and takes a whole day to
clean. All the dishes are notable for their use
of organic ingredients and hunger-stretching
waiting times, embodying the philosophy of
quality rather than profit. Mazen is quick to
stress that this is no stylistic gimmick; “In the
Middle East 30 percent of people die from
cancer, and the biggest cause is not smoking
or drinking, but food. In Israel and Palestine
Hiking to Zarb
Holding the restaurant to its principle of
serving the community, Suhail Hijazi uses
it as a base to launch walking tours for
anybody and everybody with an interest
in natural beauty and healthy exercise. He
acknowledges that even the best of us can
need a little motivation to walk all day in
unpredictable conditions though, so Hiking to
Zarb provides you with professional guides
with every shred of local knowledge, an
opportunity to make new friends and, best
of all, a traditional feast coming out of the
ground to reward you at the finish.
36
His first group on 20 February numbered
12 hardy souls who struck out in fearsome
weather. “They still enjoyed it,” Suhail told
us, “even a five-year-old boy who walked all
day.” Bookings have increased since, but
Suhail will always find a place for enthusiasts
and recommends you get in touch. As for
routes: “We picked Birzeit, Jifna, and Ein
Sina to look at historic sites and wild nature,”
he says, with plenty more lined up.
Hikes are the start of what Suhail hopes
will be a wide range of exciting outdoor
pursuits, including a venerable Arabian
tradition. “We can introduce camping and
horse-riding when we have insurance,” he
says. “For people who are a little worried, we
take them to see horses and be around them
in a controlled environment first.”
Besides the thrill of the outdoors, Suhail
is passionate about the programme’s social
value. “We all like to meet new people;
that’s why there are 500 million people on
Facebook! This is a much better way,” he
claims. We at TWIP could not agree more.
Walks are currently running on Fridays,
Saturdays, and Sundays.
Courtesy of the TWIP team.
37
The Story of Stories
By Suad Amiry
Dr. Suad Amiry and her publications.
I only came back to Palestine in 1981, so
I have lived through storytelling from older
generations.
Suad Amiry’s stories have captivated
readers across the world, so much so that
her books have been translated into 19
languages. Whether by dressing up as a
man to accompany Palestinian labourers
breaking into Jerusalem, or spending 42
claustrophobic days with her mother-inlaw, an involving, deeply human style has
won her a dedicated following at home
and abroad. During an informal interview
with TWIP, she gave us her take on a
uniquely Palestinian tradition.
How I became a storyteller
When I was little I liked to tell stories and
jokes. I always wanted to be the one
telling the stories so my friends would
encourage me. Storytelling is all about
thinking how to get a message across,
and it helped me when I became a
lecturer. I never made the connection with
writing. When we were in school it was all
tests and very serious academic writing.
I became a writer by accident (when a
series of e-mails became Sharon and
My Mother-in-Law). It wasn’t intended as
a book; I never realised that this kind of
writing – familiar and personable – could
be the basis for a book. And that is how I
discovered the close connection between
storytelling and writing
The place of storytelling in
Palestinian society
There are different forms of storytelling.
The tradition of the Hakawati, for
example. Telling stories for an audience
in coffee shops. Some people say there
is no theatre or stand-up comedy here,
but Hakawati includes everything. Then
there is the grandmother telling her little
ones fairytales at bedtime. Oral history
plays an important role in the diaspora.
In Syria, Lebanon, or the United States,
elders commonly tell the same stories,
keeping the tradition and history strong.
My father used to tell me about his old
house in Jaffa; he would describe to me
how, every morning, he would put on
his swimming suit, throw a towel on his
shoulder, simply cross the road, and take
a dip in the sea. I was born after 1948, so
I’ve never seen it, but it was described so
vividly that I swear I witnessed it. I had to
learn to be in a place without being there.
Freedom in writing
When I was a little kid in school we
always felt that writing should be a
formal, serious matter. Using complex
or sophisticated words and ambiguous
phrases in what they called isha, or
composition, made it almost impossible
to discover that, actually, it is about telling
a story. If you know what the story is, you
can write. But if you don’t know what the
story is, you will have difficulty writing.
Obviously this type of writing is very
different from academic writing, which is
38
why your pre-publishing readers/advisers
should not be academics.
It’s even okay to exaggerate a little. I
like to laugh at myself and others, and to
be a Hakawati you have to take liberties
with things like privacy issues. In my
experience, people only get upset when
they are not mentioned; some ask me
why they are not in my stories.
humour has been important. Funny
books with stories about dogs holding
Jerusalem permits have helped people
understand Palestine. This situation is
so unreal and absurd it certainly calls
for a Kafkaesque approach, or what I
like to say: Nothing makes sense, so
why should I?
People’s history is written in all
forms: words, photographs. All human
activities tell a story. You can learn
much about a nation by studying its
food, architecture, and archaeology.
You can see who was there and
whether they were rich, poor, urban,
feudal, etc. One of my main hobbies is
to watch the landscape; you can read
its story.
Fantasy
When I was young I was sceptical,
so superpowers were a stretch of my
imagination. In my last book I wanted
to write from an animal’s point of view.
It was totally triggered by the Wall.
Nothing made me as sad as seeing
olive trees being uprooted: not one,
not two, not ten, but one and a half
million. One day someone should be
taken to court for this crime.
In any case, I wanted to write the
book from nature’s point of view, to
see what it means for a deer, a wild
boar, a fox, a hyena, or a snake to
wake up one day and find that they
can’t run or move freely as they did
before because of this insane eightmetre-high cement Wall. Because I
would have needed to do much more
research, I stopped short of writing a
whole book from the animals’ point
of view. But I ended up writing one
chapter in my new book, Nothing to
Lose but Your Life.
Literature in Palestine today
The younger generation have cut the
cord, which is good news not only for
writers. Our artists and musicians are
also changing from collective to personal
stories. Our creativity is becoming more
original and more specific.
My next story…
I am obsessed with how we are so cut
off from the rest of the Arab world. The
majority of Palestinians under 25 have
never met anyone from Lebanon or Syria.
I want to look at this topic.
Suad Amiry is an architect and a writer.
She is the founding director of Riwaq:
Centre for Architectural Conservation in
Ramallah, Palestine (www.riwaq.org),
and has taught architecture at Birzeit
University and the University of Jordan.
She is presently the vice-president of the
board of trustees of Birzeit University. Her
bestseller Sharon and My Mother-in-Law
has been translated into 17 languages
and won the prestigious Italian literary
prize, Viareggio, in 2004. Her latest
book, Nothing to Lose but Your Life,
has recently been published in Arabic
under the title Mura Murad (Bloomsbury
Qatar Foundation 2011). Amiry also
made political history as the only female
member of the Palestinian Delegation
to the Washington Peace Talks (1991–
1993).
Representing Palestine in literature
The most important thing is to stay
away from cliché. Palestinians have
been hurt by talking about the collective
cause and forgetting the personal
aspects. We talk about being expelled
in masses; “800,000 thrown out of
their homes,” but very few have really
shared with us the personal stories or
personal details of how their families
left/were kicked out/were thrown out
of their homes, towns, and villages.
In other words, we have very little
information about that very moment.
People relate to personal stories not
statistics. In my case, a sense of
39
Why Your Streets Are Full of Foreigners
By Kieron Monks
the thugs behind it. Instead answers are
coming from the growing community of
expatriates living in Palestine. A short
walk down Rukab Street in Ramallah
tells you all you need to know about the
city’s cosmopolitan makeup, and many
visitors who come for weeks stay for
years. Education, relief efforts, and media
are swelling as a result, making obvious
injustice more obvious, taking away
the fig-leaf excuse of “it’s complicated,”
and pressuring international leaders to
acknowledge what they already know.
While the vast majority of ex-pats
living here genuinely believe in the
cause of liberation, it is far from the only
reason for our mass invasion. Since the
International Solidarity Movement was
established in 2001, over 200 NGOs have
sprung up in the West Bank and Gaza.
Their presence is proof of how favourable
Palestinian conditions have become.
“Palestine is the best-kept secret in
the aid industry,” I am told by Emily
Williams, an American project manager
at a medical NGO. “People need field
experience and Palestine sounds cool
and dangerous because it can be
described as a war zone, but in reality it’s
quite safe and has all the comforts that
internationals want. Quality of life here
is so much higher than somewhere like
Afghanistan, but we don’t tell anyone so
that we are not replaced or reassigned.”
That quality of life is becoming rapidly
more apparent in the “A” areas. In cities
like Ramallah and Nablus, expensive
restaurants and high-powered financial
institutions are common now. Nightlife
and entertainment is expanding to cater
for international tastes.
At times these tastes sit uneasily with
local values. More than once I’ve heard
the fear voiced that our influence will
damage the traditions of Palestinian
society. Most internationals at least
attempt to be culturally sensitive, but
Ala’adin from Al-Bireh used to greet
new foreign arrivals to Palestine with
a cheerful, “So you’re here to save my
country too?” He was fond of mocking
good intentions.
Still it’s fair to say that most international
visitors to Palestine, particularly those
in relief or activism campaigns, do so
at least partly out of conscience. In
Britain, and I daresay most of Europe,
Palestinian liberation is widely seen as a
“good” cause. While many Palestinians
feel abandoned by the international
community, surely Egypt has taught us
not to confuse a nation’s rulers with its
population.
In London, where I grew up, this conflict
was a “red-line” topic. If you took the
wrong position on Palestine-Israel, it was
as bad as supporting the death penalty, or
liking Margaret Thatcher, and you would
be considered the devil incarnate. As I
overheard at a Kensington dinner party:
“You cannot be a good person if you think
the Occupation is okay.”
Coming to Palestine from a relatively
carefree background abroad often leads
to a kind of awakening. Any preconceived
ideas tend to fade at the first checkpoint.
For the first time we, with our privileges
and passports, become cattle, barked at
and processed with disdain. I had never
been treated this way before.
There are more terrible crimes being
perpetrated in the world today. Massacres
in Sudan continue, and the Chinese
Muslim population was almost wiped out
last year. What makes the human rights
abuses here so shocking, apart from their
duration, is that they are so flagrant, so
routine and there for all the world to see.
Such obvious injustice is a provocation to
any witness with a conscience. It says,
in the best tradition of bar-brawl rhetoric,
“What are you going to do about it?”
Fortunately for Israel, President Obama
has not dared to address the question or
40
Even rural communities have become accustomed to visits from internationals.
our differences can be striking. I can
only imagine how West Bankers feel to
see us breezing over to Jerusalem or
even Tel Aviv, but these trips have an
allure to visitors from the West, who can
be somewhere more like home just half
an hour away. In my experience, these
guilty pleasures are also popular among
young Palestinians with the necessary ID.
It is no coincidence that a rise in the
number of international visitors here
coincides with economic downturn in the
West and a shrinking jobs market. With
the proliferation of NGOs, the degrees
that were just paper back home entitle
us to prominent positions in growth
industries.
For media professionals, there is a
wealth of material to be uncovered here,
along with the experience of working
on such a major issue. Palestine has
been a reliable source of news stories
since the conflict began, and it receives
forensic, albeit often misguided, analysis
across the world. For Western students,
Arabic language skills are becoming
increasingly desirable and many English
universities now arrange placements in
exchange for volunteer work. Throw in
a warmer climate, Palestine’s natural
wonders and holy sites, lower crime
rates, and a preposterously welcoming
host population, and it’s little wonder that
Bi’lin resembles a model United Nations
on a Friday morning.
Yes it’s easy to be cynical about
Western influence in Palestine, but
no one should doubt the strength
of feeling that exists around the
world for this threatened land. That’s
why the last flotilla to Gaza carried
representatives of 40 states. It’s why
Viva Palestina has bases in Malaysia,
Turkey, Italy, Canada, the United
States, and Britain. It’s why hundreds
of thousands marched for Gaza in
Copenhagen, Istanbul, and London,
and why the boycott movement has
grown powerful enough to shame and
discourage collaboration with Israel. All
these are grassroots campaigns with
no state support.
Campaigners such as Rachel Corrie,
Furkan Dogan, Tom Hurndall, and
others have died taking action when
their governments would not. Many
more have taken their place.
Injustice can be inspirational when
it appeals to conscience and drives
people to prove their belief in liberty,
equality, and basic human rights.
Outside of parliament buildings, there
is a huge, growing, and global coalition
of ordinary people who believe in
liberation for Palestine, and until it
happens, you’ll just have to get used
to us.
Kieron Monks is a reporter and content
manager for This Week in Palestine.
41
Al Manara Theatre Days 2011
We were promised that Tunisia would be with us for this session of the festival. Tunisia
– the country that had such a strong presence in our days ... the days of Al Manara
Theatre Festival. We shared a mutual love that didn’t need a contract. We knew that
we needed each other. Our love was consummated during the festival sessions. All we
could do was surrender to its presence... The presence of Tunisia meant the presence
of all the Arabs; this is how things used to be. This session was supposed to celebrate
that presence, and arrangements were made so that Tunisia would be represented
by a large number of artists and five theatre plays to honour both Tunisia and us. But
Tunisia broke its promise to us, making an appointment with another cause, another
festival. We’ve heard some say that it ran away with the sun; someone else said that
he had seen it in Egypt; and another said that he had seen it in Yemen, Libya... and an
old man sitting in front of his shop had even sworn to me that he saw it moving from
one house to another. So we said that it might have gone mad. Its reply? Isn’t art about
the mechanism of playing into and out of the area of madness? It did not apologise ...
and so we understood and saw how our country is becoming more beautiful. And now
we apologise to ourselves for your beautiful absence which will make a difference in
our days to come. So thank you, Tunisia.
We, on the other hand, hesitated in the beginning. Should we attend the festival or
not? But we finally decided to be with us ... with our Palestinian theatre groups, here in
Palestine. There’s no problem in making the festival fully Palestinian this time as “we
have work to do in our land,” just as the lord of speech, Mahmoud Darwish, once said.
Courtesy of Al-Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque.
42
Dreams Unleashed
At the Women’s Society in Burqa,
a village of about 6,000 residents 30
minutes northwest of Nablus, women
greeted us with three kisses – right cheek,
then left cheek, and then right again. We
sat down to talk with Amira, Nadia, and
Zeinab, the three women from Burqa who
work in our “Women Supporting Women”
programme. We were eight months into
a nine-month project to build women’s
capacity to lead social change in five
villages, but, for a variety of reasons,
the planned activities hadn’t started yet.
Still, something magical was happening
and we wanted their help to understand
what it was.
The first couple of months of the project
had gone smoothly. We developed
relationships in the village and established
our credibility by being sincere – a rare
commodity in today’s opportunistic
culture. Then in each of five villages,
between four and ten women nominated
themselves or were nominated by others
to represent the village in our project.
Three women from each village were
elected through a completely transparent
process. Then we met several times
with the 15 women leaders to discuss
the women’s ideas, capacities, assets,
and priorities.
But after that, the women got stuck.
Every time Saeeda, our community
organiser, came back from the field, she
reported two-hours of a 15-voice chorus
singing in harmony, “There is no money.
There is nothing we can do.”
But we kept going back and asking:
“What are your priorities? What do you
want to make happen for your villages?”
The answer was always the same:
“There’s nothing we can do.”
We kept going back.
After four months of “There is nothing
we can do,” Saeeda was out of ideas.
Our project committee was out of ideas.
Everyone seemed convinced that, in fact,
“there is nothing we can do.” It seemed
Burqa leaders (Zeinab on right).
that the project might fail.
According to our analysis, part of the
problem was the post-Oslo “development”
industry that undermines small-scale
voluntary work and discourages use
of local resources. So we divided the
women into three small groups and asked
them to choose a project that we would
fund up to $2,000 for each dollar’s worth
of local resources they could mobilize.
In a mini-revolt, they insisted, “We’re
stronger as a group. And we want to
build a park.”
A park? With $6,000?
But we kept on going. We kept taking
that nearly two-hour trip in taxis driven by
suicidal drivers with fellow passengers
who either blew smoke in our faces or
fell asleep on us. We kept going past
major intersections that we knew lead
to important Palestinian cities, but
are marked only with Hebrew signs
identifying Israeli settlements. We passed
through checkpoints with twenty-yearold soldiers holding automatic weapons
pointed at our heads.
The task was difficult, but we believed
in these women. So we found a planner
44
poverty, sexism, factional politics, and the
international community held them back.
Maybe they dared to dream because they
knew their dreams were impossible to
realise. You can’t build a park for $6,000!
It was just a game – a game they played
beautifully.
But when the planner and his team of
volunteer architecture students returned
with the first design of the park, the
women were shocked.
“We did that?” they asked in disbelief.
The park was beautiful. It was a place
where human beings could be human.
Where children could have fun and learn,
where families could relax together,
where important cultural events could
take place. The women saw what they
had created, and they hungered for
it. They began to sing a new chorus,
a chorus of “How can we make this
happen?”
Soon, local donors and volunteers
were everywhere. The women realised
that people wanted to give. That it didn’t
matter anymore how much money they
had or didn’t have. What mattered is
that they could get resources simply by
from Nablus who was not only willing to
work for a pittance, but who passionately
wanted to be part of such an exciting
initiative. In a brainstorming session, he
challenged the women.
“Dream!” he said.
The women were uncomfortable at first.
Then, as if a dam had broken, so did the
women’s resistance.
“I want a swimming pool,” one of them
called out, giggling and covering her
mouth, embarrassed at sharing such a
ridiculously impossible idea.
“I want an outdoor theatre,” said
another, looking around to see if others
were laughing.
And the list went on:
“A children’s playground.”
“A picnic area.”
“A wedding hall.”
“A fountain.”
“A cable car!”
Who knows what allowed these women
to finally dream and overcome the
“there-is-nothing-we-can-do” mentality.
They knew that military occupation,
45
the success of the project is crystal-clear.
Fifteen women supported one another to
figure out how to do “impossible” things
for themselves and their communities
because the deserve it. That’s social
change that cannot be reversed.
***
Author’s note: In every group of
Palestinian women I meet, there is always
one I can’t stop looking at. In Burqa it was
Zeinab. Zeinab’s mysterious smile made
her look as if she were trying to hold herself
back from breaking into song. Watching
her made me want to break into song.
Listening to her speak was like listening
to a song! Zeinab said, “We were stuck
for four months thinking there was nothing
we could do because we didn’t have any
money. We need open space for kids to
play, a playground, a place for picnics and
weddings, with a pool, and amusement
rides. From the first day the idea of a park
surfaced, I dreamed of an outdoor theatre
that would host international events like
they have in Jerash, Jordan.” She paused
thoughtfully. “Now I can see it happening.”
Burqa leaders.
networking strategically. The energy was
multiplying exponentially.
Since then, the offers of land and
financial and in-kind support have gotten
held up, but nobody is worried. The
dreams that have been unleashed in
five villages north of Nablus cannot be
denied. Even if Dalia Association quit the
project now (we won’t), it would continue
without us in some form or another. The
success of the park is not assured, but
Article and photos, courtesy of Dalia
Association.
Dalia Association is a community foundation driven by a vision to realise our
rights as Palestinians to control our resources and sustain our own development
for generations to come. Our mission is to mobilise and properly utilise resources
necessary to empower a vibrant, independent, and accountable civil society.
To this end, we:
• Make grants to support inspirational and relevant civil society initiatives,
especially grassroots efforts. Community-controlled grant making increases the
transparency, accountability, and professionalism of local initiatives.
• Link resources by introducing people with expertise, ideas, contacts, equipment,
and other assets to community activists who can use them to serve their
communities. Effectively utilising resources that already exist in our community
helps decrease our dependence on outside resources.
• Encourage giving by local people, companies, and refugee and diaspora
Palestinians. We revive local traditions of philanthropy and volunteerism and
create new systems that make giving easier, safer, and more trustworthy.
• Advocate for systemic change in the international aid system so that it respects
Palestinian rights and responds to local priorities.
For more information, visit www.Dalia.ps. To get involved, contact Dalia Association
at +970-2-298-9121 or [email protected].
46
The Sharp End of Hebron
By Issa Amro
Hebron’s problems began after 1967.
The Israeli army worked hard to create the
Kiryat Arba settlement, and after that the
settlers and soldiers started living inside
Hebron, transforming it into an occupied
city. We started to feel it when they created
settlements in the heart of the city. In the
early 1980s settlers started to come from
all over the world, moving into our houses
and markets. They treated Palestinians as
slaves and animals, fourth-class humans,
only there to be taken advantage of.
All this was not so obvious until 1994 and
the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, when a
fanatic settler killed 29 Muslims. After that
we were punished. The apartheid policy
was employed more obviously, with the
closure of Shuhada Street and many local
businesses. The army divided Ibrahimi
Mosque and confiscated the gardens.
My resistance efforts began in 2003. The
army had closed Hebron University when
I was a student there. They locked the
gates and told us to “go to the streets. You
will have no future here.” This made my
decision. I would struggle, in a nonviolent
way.
I was fortunate to be guided by a specialist
in activism. With him I discussed strategic
planning and a methodology for how to reopen our university. One day we just broke
in, opened the doors, started the classes
and began to study by ourselves. The army
arrived shortly after, so we camped out in
a sit-in tent that we had bought. We called
our international friends and media. We
explained to everybody the importance of
our university to us. After six months, it was
finally re-opened.
That has given me the encouragement
to continue ever since. I understand when
Palestinians feel that resistance is hopeless.
The Israeli army does not distinguish
between unarmed demonstrators and
armed enemies. They have one law, which
is against protest in every form. To oppose
them is to provoke a killing machine.
I do not criticise any form of resistance.
It is our right. I follow the nonviolent path
for two main reasons. Firstly, I want
our community to remain peaceful.
As Ghandi said, using violence to
be rid of an oppressor “establishes a
pattern of violence.” This is not our way.
Secondly, through nonviolence we can
achieve massive participation from whole
communities rather than individuals.
Nonviolence is dangerous for the
occupation. How do I know? Between
April 2010 and now, I have been arrested
no less than ten times. This tells me that
our methods are working. The army is
not trained to deal with nonviolence, as
the Egyptian authorities were unable to
handle the youth movements. It is only
a matter of time, and will, before we see
a similar result here. When I am arrested
they try to paint me as a terrorist. I have
been accused of attacking policemen
and settlers, of stealing guns, and of
other crimes which fit their image of
Palestinians. I am never discouraged by
being arrested, but it is very difficult for
my wife and family. We all know that my
safety is endangered by my activities.
The army has a new crime to accuse
us of: “incitement.” It is such a vague
term that it can be applied to anything,
especially protest. It carries the threat
of prison time and was used to jail Bi’lin
organiser Abdallah Abu Rahmah in 2009.
The creation of this law implicates the
highest Israeli authorities and the legal
system in allowing, even promoting,
institutional racism. The law itself is
racist. If incitement means anything,
why not use it against Israeli Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who talks
about killing people, rather than me,
for exercising my right to peaceful
demonstration? We see racist laws
every day in Hebron, where we are under
Martial Law, and our settler neighbours
are under Israeli Civic Law.
48
We look to international leaders to help
our struggle against settlements, and we
were shocked by the recent American veto
(of a UN resolution condemning them). US
leaders announce that they are against
them, but when they are tested we find
that they are still blindly supporting Israel.
So we must do it ourselves. I represent
the Youth Against Settlements group in
Hebron, which includes the Tel Rumeida
project, empowering families to deal
with the daily effects of settlers. Our
work is preventing the quiet transfer of
Palestinians from their homes and is a
barrier against the beatings, theft, and
rights abuses so common here.
Yet we face a complex and determined
opposition. The Israeli government is
clever in using settlers. They are trying to
say that Hebron is important for religious
history, but what I hear from settlers is
that it is a step towards taking Nablus,
Ramallah, and the entire West Bank.
Hebron is a frontline. If they succeed
here in their campaign of ethnic cleansing
under the banner of religion, they will
move on to new goals.
But I am very optimistic about the future.
Our Open Shuhada Street demonstrations
attract thousands. Our movement is
growing, and we will soon have a new
Youth Against Settlements branch in
Ramallah. We need Palestinians from
all towns and villages to come and lend
us their support. On the settlement
issue we are all united and our youth
activism movements are developing.
International boycott campaigns against
settlements must continue as they are
already effective.
It is only a matter of time before we see
our own mass nonviolent uprising, as in
the other Arab countries. A new generation
is coming together to reject the violence
and injustice of settlements. I believe it will
happen next year.
Issa Amro is a lifelong Hebron resident.
He is an electrical engineer, human
rights activist and community leaders.
He has founded several youth projects
and initiatives
Settler trash has disfigured the Old City. Photo courtesy of
Palestine Monitor.
49
A Message to the Japanese People
By Dr. Ali Qleibo
problem is thirst. Go there and wait for
me.” He then added. “It will take me seven
hours on foot from work to you. There
will be no telephones. Just wait and I will
come and take care of you.”
I am sure all mothers, fathers, sons,
daughters have made these plans so
that when the dreaded moment came
they would be prepared. The current
earthquake plus tsunami is the daily
nightmare come true. Forever they have
been living at the precipice. It is a culture
that has refined beauty to an extreme and
that has full awareness of the fact that
death is imminent.
Sakura, the cherry blossom, is a
metaphor of their view of life. The cherry
blossom, a glorious white, tinged with a
shade of rose, is extremely beautiful, but
it barely lasts a few days. Life is beautiful
like sakura ... but alas, also too short.
The self-control, the high etiquette that
surrounds the highly ritualised daily life
is the aspect that imparts great beauty
to Japanese life.
The photos we now see of Japan
show the other side lying beyond the
usual wistful melancholy. Today we see
grief. In the fear lurking in the eyes we
glimpse the trauma of Hiroshima as the
Japanese face the domestic meltdown
that escalates into a major threat.
Tokyo streets in Asakusa, Shinjuku,
Shibuya and my once suburban Kichijoji
living quarter are now deserted ...
Tragedy has struck ... The self-composure
remains ... The dreaded encounter with
grief has rocked the harmonious life that
for centuries has been cultivated betwixt
and between the deathly earthquake and
the joy of sakura.
In the midst of the almost apocalyptic
catastrophe, the Japanese continue to
show a stoic face. As they stand in the
long lines waiting for drinking water, for
food, for examination for radiation ...
there is a calm surrender in their attitude.
Even as they trudge in the muddy water,
in the debris of the ruined houses, with
the stench of sewage, death, and decay
around them they remain stolid and
betray no signs of panic. We look with
feelings of great admiration and great
compassion at these great people;
despite the chaos there is neither looting
nor riots nor petty thievery. The Japanese
are admirable for their upright manners,
but their emotional self-restraint is
unparalleled. There is no indulgence in
puerile drama as they pick up the pieces
and try to resume their life.
The Japanese attitude toward
earthquakes is remarkable. The
Japanese have always been prepared
for this crisis. When I lived in Tokyo, the
turning point of a good friendship was
the moment when my Japanese friend,
Michihito, pulled me aside and confided
to me the Japanese fear of the upcoming
major earthquake. Mind you barely a
single day passes without a few tremors
… enough to stir the water in the cup and
rattle the glass on the shelves.
Michihito took me to Zen Pukuji Park
near my house in Kishijoji. “After the
earthquake all the familiar landmarks
will change. Everything falls down. When
you leave the house turn first to the right
then to the left and continue straight,”
he stressed. “The park has a freshwater
spring and after earthquakes the big
Dr. Ali Qleibo is an anthropologist, author,
and artist. A visiting professor in Tokyo
University for three years he now lectures
at Al-Quds University. He can be reached
at [email protected].
52
What a Beautiful Mourning
stance and people liked that, but my
main concern is that the work carry
the cause rather than the cause
carry the work; therefore, I really
concentrated on avoiding clichés so
that the collection could be valued for
its quality and worthiness of process
in terms of thought and production.
TWIP: What is the main idea behind
the show?
OmarJoseph: Mourning. With the
Nakba in 1948 came the death of
many things, so this collection is
mourning the martyrdom of everything
that Palestine has lost since 1948;
humans, heritage, style, freedom,
costume, identity, the homeland, etc.
The work is a rejection of this reality,
it’s a protest that says, “Since we are
not allowed to own anything, then
we’ll own our death.” It’s basically
giving the Occupation the V-sign.
It is also a celebration of Palestinian
culture and an attempt at highlighting
the breadth, variety, intricacy, and
quality of the older Palestinian
Fashion designer OmarJoseph
Nasser-Khoury has little love for the
fashion industry. “The people at the
top are not shallow, they’re evil,” he
told us. Neither does the 23-year-old
Jerusalemite care much for being
known as a “fashion designer”; but
he’s becoming rather well-known in
this field thanks to the Silk Thread
Martyrs, a 22-piece collection which
was shown at the Mosaic Rooms
Gallery in London this February/
March during London Fashion Week.
Hotly tipped as a rising star, NasserKhoury’s designs invoke tragedy,
allegory, and nostalgia. He told us
more from London.
This Week in Palestine: Hello,
OmarJoseph. So what kind of reaction
has your show been getting?
OmarJoseph: There’s been a very
positive reaction to the fact that it’s
Palestinian, but not enough fashion
feedback, which worries me. To
be honest I did project a political
Costumes from OmarJoseph Nasser-Khoury’s recent exhibition in London.
54
garments.
This was basically done
through the employment
of the “traditional” manual
techniques of dressmaking, like
stitching, embroidering, fabric
manipulation, dying, etc. The
point, however, was not to
differentiate between the older
and the contemporary in terms of
traditional versus modern, rather
to prove that Palestinian fashion
is a continuous flow of innovation
and reflection of reality.
TWIP: These clothes are pretty
avant-garde. Are they for wearing
or for looking at?
OmarJoseph: The aim was to
create a collection that would
initiate a discussion about the
expression of identity through
fashion. The garments are
indeed physically wearable
and comfortable, despite being
extreme. However, they are
garments that have been
conceived to push the limits of
what is usually perceived as
typical Palestinian fashion, and
to stimulate that discourse.
I’d like to make Palestinians
more aware of the existing
fashions we have and to take
pride in them. During my
internship in 2009 in Beirut with
INAASH (Association for the
Development of Palestinian
Camps), a lady walked into their
shop and noticed a detailed photo
of a Galilee coat in Shelagh Weir’s
book, Palestinian Costume; she
assumed it was Indian and didn’t
have the slightest clue that it
was actually Palestinian. Many
people, including Palestinians,
don’t realise how rich Palestinian
crafts are. The point is rather than
sanctify these crafts they ought to
be included and enjoyed in daily
55
life. We ought to celebrate this part
of our identity as we celebrate our
cuisine, our music, and our literature
– it’s quite pointless to limit these
monumental garments merely to silly
wedding celebrations.
TWIP: Why are these traditions
fading?
OmarJoseph: The Occupation.
Israel controls all aspects of the
Palestinian economy; the movement
of capital, labour, investment, and
products. For example, as an indirect
result of the Occupation as well as the
changes in the global economy, there
are no more weavers in Palestine
making the traditional dress fabrics.
Moreover, fashion is a luxury and
those traditions were an expression
mainly of wealth, status, and skill.
In these dire times, the cheap mass
imports from China and Turkey
have killed off the prospect of a
mass revival or creation of a fashion
industry.
TWIP: So what do you make of the
industry in London?
OmarJoseph: I wouldn’t like the
British model to come here. Fashion
has become disposable in the West.
People sell lifestyle through fashion
and dress; it is immorally cheap and
mass-produced. The majority of
Savile Row’s tailors in London have
long been out of business; investment
in craftsmanship and quality work is
going down. It’s basically commodity
fetishism on crack! People want as
much disposable variety as possible
without bearing the consequences.
I’m not advocating uniformity; rather I
support small-scale, quality-oriented,
slow fashion, in an industry with a
strong emphasis on environmental
and ethical sustainability. Our pre1948 system works far better than
anything I have found in the West
so far.
TWIP: Why do you think the
fashion industry is often perceived
as shallow?
OmarJoseph: I do not think the
fashion industry is as shallow as it
is perceived. There is shallowness
around it and the media contributes to
this by creating a celebrity culture out
of fashion which seems to brainwash
people. At the end of the day designing
is a mere career.
All the same people at the top are
not shallow, they are evil. They have to
know what is happening politically and
economically in the world to maintain
themselves on top. You cannot afford
to be shallow, but you need shallow
people around you to survive as a
designer.
TWIP: So you’re not even a little
excited to be mingling with the elite at
London Fashion Week?
OmarJoseph: The glamour is
seductive. The drinks, the press,
and the attention: it’s all wonderful.
But will it make life better? No. It’s
bullshit; a fashion show is merely a
trade show where buyers come to
see the clothes and purchase them.
I have encountered some celebrities,
but most have been boring and too
self-involved.
TWIP: We hear that one of your
mother’s shawls was the inspiration.
Was she shocked at the outcome?
OmarJoseph: I’ve been encouraged
from day one with all my creative
endeavours, and yes, my mother’s
shawl did get me interested in working
with Palestinian embroidery. She
likes some of the Silk Thread Martyrs
pieces, but she’s not so fond of the
death theme and joked that I should
see a psychiatrist, especially after
seeing the concept film shown with
the collection!
OmarJoseph Nasser-Khoury was
born in Jerusalem in 1988, where
he lives and works today. He studied
fashion design and technology at
London College of Fashion (2007–
2010).
Article photos by Tarek Moukaddem.
56
Personality of the Month
he says. “Because of the Occupation here
it’s more important. Art is not a selfish,
single idea; it’s about the collective not the
individual.”
He recognises the difficulty of extracting
professional quality from volunteers but does
not let that interfere with his high standards.
Khatab cheerfully concedes to a demanding
approach with his troupe, “They don’t like
me sometimes, but I say, ‘In class we’re not
friends.’ ” His personal motto, “If you are a
soldier who doesn’t dream to be a general
then you are failing,” speaks of the limitless
ambition that has delivered so much success.
He has toured extensively with both groups,
bringing performances to audiences in
countries such as the Spain, Portugal, China,
Egypt, Lebanon, UAE, and many more.
Through the “international language of art,”
Khatab transmits “our dreams, our situation,
and our lives” to new friends the world over.
In 2008, Wishah received the Cultural Medal
and Silver Insignia for their shows in Portugal,
which the Culture Department described
as a “reinforcement of friendship between
Palestinian and Portuguese people. We
will forever preserve the elements of visual
force, artistic quality, tradition performed in
modernity, youth strength, and happiness
from this brilliant performance.”
Khatab’s shows are rooted in personal
experience, but even where they include
tragic elements he aims to make them
entertaining through beautiful sound and
visuals. Beyond entertainment he thinks
deeply about how to connect his ideas with an
audience. “You are always afraid to present
something new in case the audience does
not accept it. You cannot be on the tenth
step if they are on the first, always the artist
must be on the second or third leading them
by the hand.”
He is proud of his legacy. The success of
El-Funoun paved the way for the numerous
dabke groups that operate in Palestine today,
and few have done more to bring Palestinian
stories to a global audience. But Khatab
is a rare example of ruthless ambition and
stellar achievement without a shred of ego
to attend it. His successes are not individual,
but collective.
Mohamad Ata
Khatab
Our personality this month has made one of
the single greatest contributions to the grand
tradition of dabke in Palestine. Mohamad
Khatab is a founding member of El-Funoun,
the largest and most famous troupe in the
country, which he served for 25 distinguished
years. Rather than grow comfortable at the
success story he helped to create, Khatab
sought a fresh challenge as director and
choreographer of the new Wishah Popular
Dance Troupe in 2003, which has been
rapidly progressing to international renown
ever since.
He has always seen his artistic endeavours
as a way to serve the community, what he
calls “social work.” Khatab founded El-Funoun
in 1979 with a group of four men and four
women, all working on a voluntary basis. At
the time very few dance groups existed, and
the founding group recognised the social
benefits they could provide, particularly in
Al-Bireh, with its strong traditions of dabke.
They were so well received that word spread
and El-Funoun quickly outgrew the locality,
so that by 1986 they were invited on a tour
of 11 US cities. Despite this quick success
the volunteer ethos remained intact. It was
1996 before any member received payment
for their efforts.
“Volunteering is important to prove you
care about the social and political struggle,”
58
Artist of the Month
appreciation of all styles. “I love to try
new things,” he says. “I like to use all
technology, and I keep updating myself. I
learn from the process not the outcome.”
Yet he acknowledges that technology
can never be the main attraction.
“Audiences want to see a good story. It
doesn’t matter which format, these are
just tools. What matters is a good story.”
Habash believes that since the first use
of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in
1993 for Jurassic Park, many filmmakers
have lost sight of this. “A lot of Hollywood
movies don’t use technology wisely.
They just want to show their software.”
As a teacher at the Palestine Art
Academy, he emphasises to his students
the importance of observation to create
stories. “Watching people’s movements,
how they eat and talk, can give you
inspiration,” he says. In a further tip to
aspiring creative professionals, Habash
notes that “the best way to succeed is to
break boundaries and be brave. In the
Middle East there is some conservative
culture so it’s not easy, but creative
people need a free imagination.”
His work at the Academy may be
coming to a close. Ramallah has been
home since 1999, but Habash will soon
be leaving for an as-yet-undisclosed
destination. Having previously lived
in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Russia, and
Tunisia, among other countries, he “can’t
stay anywhere for too long.” While the
future may remain a mystery, Habash
has already proved that a passion for
new horizons, in life as in art, can go
a long way.
Ahmad Habash
Ahmad Habash doesn’t have a TV.
Instead he watches movies in his
dreams. “I get a lot of my ideas from
dreams,” the animator/filmmaker told us.
“I remember them completely and then
sketch them when I wake up.”
He attributes his latest film The Well
to nocturnal visions, having “dreamt it
from beginning to end.” That a 1948-set
fantasy drama about fugitives told from
the perspective of “nature” could leap
into Habash’s head fully-formed speaks
volumes of the animator/filmmaker’s gift
of imagination. Such gifts have earned
him five international prizes to date.
While The Well is live action, Habash
has devoted much of his studies and
career to animation. As a student of
film directing at the Institute of Cinema
and Video in Cairo, he would sneak into
animation courses that would inform
much of his later career.
He made his first animated film,
Coming Back, in 2003, which received
the Special
Notification Jury prize at the Biennale
del Cinema per la Pace in Pisa, Italy. He
has been experimenting with different
forms ever since. From the use of
sand for Flee (2006), to the computergenerated 3D animation of Red Feather
(2007), Habash’s work makes plain his
60
Book of the Month
restaurant during the day (“you get a
meal there, you know”) and composed
at night. But eventually he ran out of
money and returned to Beirut. Since a
degree in music was not offered there, he
majored in physics. After 1966, there was
a long hiatus in composing (largely due
to his involvement with duties at Birzeit
University), but not in listening to music
or playing the piano. Ramzi returned to
composing in 2005.
When asked about composers who
had influenced him, Ramzi mentions
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and
Petoushka. Generally, he feels drawn
to Romantic-era Russian composers
“because they were not stuck in the
German tradition; they made their own
style,” citing also Rimsky-Korsakov’s
Scheherazade. Chopin, Liszt, Ravel,
and Scarlatti were also influential. “Bach
came much later.” He regrets having
been “dragged into the fashion of ‘modern
music,’ Webern, Boulez, Stockhausen.
That was a big mistake and a waste of
time. That music is not mine. I have lots
of sketches in that style that I will burn
someday.”
Ramzi’s style? He feels drawn to minor
keys, the octatonic scale, and the Maqam
Hijaz-Kar. Only three of the pieces in the
book start in major, but they soon move to
minor. For Ramzi, music “sings, dances,
and weeps, but never talks.” One of the
piano pieces published is based on a
Palestinian song.
Ramzi’s understanding of the process of
learning is reflected in how he perceives
his own creative process. First, we must
internalise a matter, then we are able to
produce – clearly to be differentiated from
re-producing. “My strong feeling: music
creates its rules rather than abides by
the rules dictated to it. I learned music
from listening and some playing, not by
[studying] the rules. I started ‘analysing’
my old music recently and found that,
indeed, it embodies rules that I did
not know at the time. I never analyse
the music while composing it, only
afterwards, and sometimes never.”
Twelve Pieces for Piano
By Ramzi Rihan
Edward Said National Conservatory of
Music in Palestine, Publication Unit,
Birzeit University, 2010, NIS 20
This book makes available in printed
form Ramzi Rihan’s compositions
for piano. While the pieces require
rather advanced playing skills, with this
publication the ESNCM not only targets
its own piano students, or wishes to
make available works by a Palestinian
composer to musicians and music
historians worldwide, it also hopes to
inspire young Palestinians to pursue
composition.
Ramzi received very little formal training
in music. His mother taught him to read
the treble clef. A neighbour gave him
some piano lessons. But after taking a
class in music appreciation he started to
“listen to music all the time.” There was
an aborted endeavour to major in music
at UCLA where he got “fed up with all the
rules they were teaching us.” However,
there were frequent opportunities for
exploration. As a teacher at the Friends
Boys School in Ramallah in 1955, Ramzi
had access to the piano in the hall and
“fooled around” a bit. In California he lived
with a family who owned a piano but was
never home, so he had “the freedom to
compose.” Shortly afterwards, Ramzi
bought a cheap piano and worked in a
62
Website of the Month
http://www.imm.ps/
By Abed A. Khooli
Review date: 18 March 2011
and e-mail. The last menu item (Arabi)
leads to an orphaned page that displays
the three units and the dreadful “coming
soon …” note.
The first part of the main content area is
split into two parts. On the left side, there
is an explanation of the Institute’s mandate
and links to its three units: Al-Quds
Educational TV, Media Department, and
Community Services. A graphic illustration
of Al-Quds TV leads to a live broadcast.
This apparently needs high bandwidth
and Internet Explorer (or Media Player).
The rest of the page is divided into three
columns: the first lists news and events
with summaries, thumbnails, and links
to details. On the right, the visitor can
review the schedule of Cinema Fayrouz
(for children) and featured programmes.
Finally, there is an odd column with links to
three IMM projects: Palestinian Folklore,
Share’ Simsem, and Peace Education
through Media.
The page concludes with a tagline, a
double stripe reflecting the top menu
colours, a copyright note, and the site
designer.
IMM’s website looks promising and
has an outreach potential. It requires a
number of design touches for the sake
of user-friendliness, a functioning Arabic
interface to address its primary audience,
and full alignment of content with the
Palestinian agenda as opposed to that of
certain “donors.”
The Institute of Modern Media (IMM)
is the “media arm” of Al-Quds University.
IMM aims to improve communication
and educational skills as well as promote
values and well-being in Palestine. The
site is currently available in English with
a “coming soon” page linked from the
Arabic-language switch.
The layout of the IMM website is based
on the traditional three columns between
a header and footer, but also adds a fourth
off-design column on the main page to
announce some projects.
The header section starts with the
Institute’s logo and name to the left of a
graphic from the Dome of the Rock and
continues into a colourful menu stripe:
Home, About Us, Activities, Projects,
Contact Us, and Arabi.
Home is the link to the main page from
any other location. About Us talks about
the philosophy and scope of work of the
Institute, with sample work areas, and lists
its three units (also listed on several other
pages as rounded, coloured squares).
It should be noted here that the use of
block capitals with low contrast is not
very helpful for screen reading (white on
yellow and grey). Activities reports on
events taking place within various projects
and includes related pictures. Four major
projects are explained and linked to their
respective sub-sites under the Projects
menu. These are Peace Education,
Women’s Rights, Palestinian Folklore,
and Share’ Simsem (Arabic for Sesame
Street). A Web mail form is available
under Contact Us with postal address
and ways to contact IMM via phone, fax,
Abed A. Khooli is an IT and knowledge
management specialist. He can be
reached at [email protected].
64
Note: Please make sure to contact the venue to check whether the programme is still running.
Sunday 17
20:00 Cecile Salvant and Jazz Group, Peace
Center
AlHoash, tel: 627 3501; Palestinian National
Theatre (PNT), tel: 628 0957; Centre for
Jerusalem Studies (CJS), tel: 628 7517
DANCE
Friday 15
ART
19:00 Dance show with Cie Herve, Dar Annadwa
19:00 “El Din: ce que le jour doit à la nuit” by
Hervé Koubi Company, Dar Annadwa
Thursday 28
19:00 A retrospective exhibition of pioneer
Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour, al Hoash
10.00 Art exhibition, paintings by Raed Issa, CCF
Wednesday 27
19:00 “UPdown” by Suzanne Miller and Allan
Paivio Productions, Dar Annadwa
CONCERTS
Saturday 2
LITERATURE
20:00 Lamees Odeh and Wafa Zaghal, YMCA
Friday 15
Thursday 7
09.00 Palestine Festival of Literature, Lajee
Centre, Aida Camp
20:00 Ramzi Suliman, YMCA
Thursday 14
PLAYS
20:00 ESNCM Orchestra, YMCA
Friday 1
Saturday 16
11:00 Confinement,YMCA
Friday 15
Wednesday 13
20:00 Jasmine Festival: ESNCM Orchestra,
Lutheran Church
18:00 Documentaries about Middle East Cycle
“Goal Dreams,” FGCC
Monday 18
Sunday 17
19:00 ESNCM, Rima Tarazi and Tania Nasir,
Friends School
18:00 Dance film: “One Flat thing, reproduced,”
FGCC
Wednesday 20
Tuesday 19
15:00 ESNCM, Rima Tarazi and Tania Nasir,
Birzeit University
18:00 Dance film: “Just dancing around,” FGCC
Tuesday 26
CONFERENCE
18:00 Last screening of this series, “Métisse” with
the movie “Délices Paloma,” FGCC
Saturday 30
SPECIAL EVENTS
Saturday 23, Sunday 24
19:00 “UPdown” by Suzanne Miller and Allan
Paivio Productions, Al Kasaba
Saturday 30
19:00 “Second Souffle” by Company Pockemon
Crew, PNT
20.00 Palestine Festival of Literature, Palestine
National Orchestra, Friends Meeting House
Tuesday 19
20:00 Palestine Festival of Literature,The Khalil
Sakakini Cultral Centre
Wednesday 20
18:00 The monthly Café Littéraire, FGCC
Thursday 21
Sunday 24
19:00 “MILK”, “LAKE”, “MADE INTIME” dance
by TokArt, Al Kasaba
13:00 Special Easter Day for the whole family,
Jacir Palace
19:00 “Glow” by Chunky Move, Al Kasaba
19:00 Backgammon Tournaments, Jacir Palace
Monday 15
Monday 18
DANCE
Thursaday 28, Friday 29, Saturday 30
17:00 Louz Akhdar the youth literature forum,
organised by Jeel Publishing, Khalil Sakakini
Cultural Centre
19:00 International Dance Festival: “Chamber
Works,” Al Kasaba
Wednesday 20 19:00 “UPdown” by Suzanne Miller and Allan
Paivio Productions, PNT
Thursday 21
Saturday 16
10:30 Yalla Burhan, Phoenix Center
Thursday 21
18:00 The French international event of spring
with Palestinian poets, FGCC
19:00 Opening performance by the FrenchAlgerian Dance Company Hervé Koubi, Ramallah
Cultural Palace 19:00 Concert with Music for Choir and Organ,
Ascension Church
19:00 “Kawa, Solo for Two” by Chatha Company,
PNT
Tuesday 5
Thursday 14
19:00 “Kawa, Solo for Two” by Chatha Company,
Al Kasaba
20:00 Easter Party with Garo and Mega DJ,
Jacir Palace
LITERATURE
Contemporary Dance Festival is organised by
Sareyyet Ramallah
Wednesday 6
Tuesday 19
18:00 “Einladung zum Tanz,” FGCC
DANCE
Wednesday 27
20:00 Cecile Salvant and Jazz Group, YMCA
Wednesday 27
9:00 “Dance and Society,” Sareyyet Ramallah
PLAYS
Monday 4
19:00 Al-Kasaba Theater
Monday 25
SPECIAL EVENTS
Monday11
Tuesday 26
18:00 Meeting with native German speakers
and learners of German language, Café la Vie
19:00 “Falling Grace” by Linga Company, Al
Kasaba
Saturday 16
Wednesday 27
LITERATURE
French German Cultural Centre( FGCC), tel: 298
1922; ESNCM, tel: 295 9070; Sareyyet Ramallah,
tel: 295 2690; Ramallah Cultural Palace, tel:
298 4704; AlKasaba, tel: 296 5292/3; The Khalil
Sakakini Cultural Centre, tel: 298 7374
Friday 15
19:30 Palestine Festival of Literature, African
Community Centre
TOURS
ART
Saturday 2
Thursday 7
09:45 Lifta, meeting point Ambassador Hotel,
CJS
Tuesday 5
18:40 Old City Tunnels, meeting point CJS, CJS
17:00 Dance workshop by Chunky Move,
Sareyyet Ramallah
19:00 “Pokemon Crew” by the French Hip Hop
Company, Ramallah Cultural Palace
Monday 25
10:00 Dance Workshop by Linga Company,
Sareyyet Ramallah
Saturday 30
19:00 “Maps” by Nats Nus Dansa Company,
Al Kasaba
Monday 18
FILMS
Tuesday 26
15:00 Dance workshop by Company Pockemon
Crew, Sareyyet Ramallah
Thursday 28
Sunday 3
Dar Annadwa, tel: 277 0047; Peace Centre, tel:
276 6677; Jacir Palace, tel: 276 6777;
CONCERT
18:00 Bulgaria evening: “Le monde est grand et
le salut nous guette partout,” FGCC
CONCERTS
Friday 1
Monday 4
Saturday 2
20:00 Jasmine Festival: Sapphire Trio, ESNCM
Hall
18:00 A Polish evening: “Persona non grata,”
FGCC
20:00 Ramzi Suliman, Peace Center
Thursday 7
Wednesday 6
Friday 8
20:00 Jasmine Festival: Dozan and Awtar,
Lutheran Church
18:00 “Der andere Körper,” FGCC
19:00 SVF-Music group, Dar Annadwa 20:00 Dozan and Awtar, Terra Sancta Hall
Saturday 23
Thursday 28
18:00 A photography exhibition by Ghneim
Zarour hosted by FGCC
18:00 Exhibition by Chimene Denneulin, French
German Cultural Center
16:00 Dance workshop by Hervé Koubi Company,
Sareyyet Ramallah
19:00 “6 Seconds in Ramallah” by Yoshiko
Chuma and School of Hard Knocks, Ramallah
Cultural Palace
15:00 Dance workshop with Taoufiq Izzediou
Company Anania, Sareyyet Ramallah
Friday 29
14:00 Celebrating the International Dance Day,
Sareyyet Ramallah
CONCERT
Saturday 2
19:00 Jasmine Festival, Sapphire Trio, ESNCM
Hall
Tuesday 12
18:00 “The friend of my friend,” FGCC
66
67
Saturday 9
19:00 Dozan and Awtar, Orthodox Hall
PLAYS
Thursday 4
Tuesday 5
19:00 Rim Banna, Al-Najah University
12:00 Jericho Stadium
TOURS
TOURS
Sunday 3
Sunday 10
9:00 Nablus, PACE Office
9:00 Jericho area, PACE Office
Sunday 24
9:00 Nablus and Sebestia, PACE Office
ART
Wednesday 20
Literature
16:00 Workshop and exhibition with “Windows
from Gaza”
Saturday 16
19:00 Palestine Festival of Literature,Sheikh
Qasem Cafe
Tuesday 26
11:00 Photography exhibition by the French
artist George Rousse, Islamic University of Gaza
Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange
(PACE), tel: 240 7611
CONCERT
CONCERT
18:00 Classical concert, School of Gaza, PRCS
Thursday 14
Saturday 9
FILMS
19:00 Rim Banna, Beit Al Tifel
Wednesday 6
Saturday 16
10:00 Projection of the French cartoon “BlackMor Island,” PRCS
19:00 ESNCM Orchestra, Beit Al Tifel
TOURS
LECTURES
Sunday 17
Wednesday 27
9:00 Hebron, PACE Office
12:00 The excavations and protection of Umm
El Amer, Islamic University of Gaza
68
Palestinian Group for the Revival of Popular
Heritage
Cinema Jenin
Telefax: 274 7945
Theatre Day Productions
Tel: 585 4513, Fax: 583 4233
[email protected], www.theatreday.org
Al-Jawal Theatre Group
Telefax: 628 0655
Turkish Cultural Centre
Alruwah Theatre
Tel: 626 2626, [email protected]
Tel: 591 0530/1, Fax: 532 3310
[email protected], www.kudusbk.com
Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art
Yabous Productions
Tel: 626 1045; Fax: 626 1372
[email protected], www.yabous.org
Tel: 628 3457, Fax: 627 2312
[email protected]
www.almamalfoundation.org
Tel: 250 2642
[email protected], www.cinemajenin.org
Relief International - Schools Online
Bethlehem Community Based-Learning &
Action Center
Hakoura Center
Tel: 277 7863
Telfax: 250 4773
[email protected], www.hakoura-jenin.ps
Sabreen Association for Artistic
Development
The Freedom Theatre/Jenin Refugee Camp
Tel: 250 3345, [email protected]
Tel: 275 0091, Fax: 275 0092
[email protected], www.sabreen.org
Tent of Nations
British Council- Al Najah University
Tel: 274 3071, Fax: 276 7446
[email protected], www.tentofnations.org
Al-Urmawi Centre for Mashreq Music
Tel: 234 2005, Fax: 234 2004
[email protected], www.urmawi.org
Al-Harah Theatre
Telefax: 276 7758, [email protected]
[email protected], www.alharah.org
Ashtar for Theatre Productions & Training
Telefax: 582 7218
[email protected], www.ashtar-theatre.org
Alliance Française de Bethléem
Telefax: 275 0777, [email protected]
British Council
Anat Palestinian Folk & Craft Center
Tel: 626 7111, Fax: 628 3021
[email protected]
www.britishcouncil.org/ps
Telefax: 277 2024, [email protected]
Arab Educational Institute (AEI)-Open
Windows
Center for Jerusalem Studies/Al-Quds University
Tel: 628 7517
[email protected], www.jerusalem-studies.alquds.edu
Tel: 274 4030, www.aeicenter.org
Community Action Centre (CAC)
Telefax: 237 5950
[email protected]
www.britishcoumcil.org/ps
The Edward Said National Conservatory of
Music
Cultural Centre for Child Development
Telefax: 274 8726
[email protected], www.birzeit.edu/music
Tel: 238 6290, Fax: 239 7518
[email protected], www.nutaleb.cjb.net
The Higher Institute of Music
Cultural Heritage Enrichment Center
Telefax: 275 2492
[email protected]
www.thehigherinstituteofmusic.ps
Tel. 237 2863, Fax. 237 8275, [email protected]
French Cultural Centre
Tel: 238 5914, Fax: 238 7593
[email protected]
Turathuna - Centre for Palestinian Heritage
(B.Uni.)
Artas Folklore Center
Tel: 274 1241, Fax: 274 4440
[email protected], www.bethlehem.edu
Badil Centre
Al Sanabl Centre for Studies and Heritage
Nablus The Culture
Tel: 233 2084, Fax: 234 5325
[email protected], www.nablusculture.ps
Tel: 276 0533, Mobile: 0599 938 0887
[email protected]
Tel: 627 3352, Fax: 627 4547
www.cac.alquds.edu
Educational Bookshop
Tel: 277 7086
Tel: 627 5858, Fax: 628 0814
[email protected], www.educationalbookshop.com
El-Hakawati Theatre Company
Beit Jala Community Based-Learning
& Action Center
French Cultural Centre
Bethlehem Academy of Music/ Bethlehem
Music Society
Tel: 277 7863
Tel: 583 8836, Mobile: 0545 835 268
[email protected], www.el-hakawati.org
Tel: 628 2451 / 626 2236, Fax: 628 4324
[email protected]
Tel: 277 7141, Fax: 277 7142
Gallery Anadiel
Tel: 276 6677, Fax: 276 4670
[email protected], www.peacenter.org
Bethlehem Peace Center
Tel: 628 2811, Fax: 626 4403
Tel: 256 0280, [email protected]
www.sanabl.org, www.sanabl.ps
Children Happiness Center
Tel: 241 3196, Fax: 241 3197
[email protected], www.al-mada.ps
Telefax: 229 9545, [email protected]
Al-Rahhalah Theatre
Tel: 627 4774, Fax: 656 2469, [email protected]
Palestinian Art Court - Al Hoash
Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation
France-Hebron Association for Cultural
Exchanges
Inad Centre for Theatre & Arts
Public Affairs Office
Tel: 628 2456, Fax: 628 2454
www.uscongen-jerusalem.org
Sabreen Association for Artistic
Development
Tel: 532 1393, Fax: 532 1394
[email protected], www.sabreen.org
Sanabel Culture & Arts Theatre
Telefax: 298 8091, [email protected]
Tel: 228 3663, [email protected], www.duramun.org
Amideast
Tel: 240 8023, Fax: 240 8017
[email protected], www.amideast.org
Tel: 222 4211, [email protected]
ArtSchool Palestine
Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC)
Tel: 295 9837
[email protected], www.artschoolpalestine.com
Tel: 222 4813, Fax: 222 0855
[email protected], www.pcac.net
Telefax: 276 6263, www.inadtheatre.org
Yes Theater
International Centre of Bethlehem-Dar
Annadwa
Telefax: 229 1559,
www.yestheatre.org, [email protected]
ITIP Center “Italian Tourist Information
Point”
Tel:222 9131, Fax: 229 0652
[email protected], www.ipyl.org
Palestinian Heritage Center
Jericho Community Centre
Tel: 277 0047, Fax: 277 0048
[email protected], www.diyar.ps
Al-Mada Music Therapy Center
Telefax: 229 3717, [email protected]
www.britsishcouncil.org.ps
Tel: 274 3277, Fax 274 2939
[email protected], www.ca-b.org
Tel: 628 0957, Fax: 627 6293, [email protected]
Tel: 296 5292/3, Fax: 296 5294
[email protected], www.alkasaba.org
British Council- Palestine Polytechnic University
Jerusalem Centre for Arabic Music
Palestinian National Theatre
Al Kasaba Theatre and Cinematheque
Telefax: 229 1559, [email protected]
Dura Cultural Martyrs Center
Tel: 276 6244, Fax: 276 6241
[email protected]
www.bethlehem2000.org/cchp
Tel: 297 3101
[email protected], www.alkamandjati.com
Beit Et Tifl Compound
Catholic Action Cultural Center
Telefax: 627 3501
[email protected], www.alhoashgallary.org
Al-Kamandjâti Association
Telefax: 222 4811
[email protected], wwww.hebron-france.org
Cardinal House
Telefax: 581 8232, [email protected]
Tel: 296 0544, Fax: 298 4886
[email protected], www.qattanfoundation.org
Association d’Echanges Culturels HebronFrance (AECHF)
Issaf Nashashibi Center for Culture &
Literature
Telefax: 276 4778
[email protected], www.cardinalhouse.org
A. M. Qattan Foundation
Ashtar for Theatre Production
Tel: 298 0037, Fax: 296 0326
[email protected], www.ashtar-theatre.org
Baladna Cultural Center
The International Palestinian Youth League
(IPYL)
Telfax: 295 8435
BirZeit Ethnographic and Art Museum
Tel. 298 2976, www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu
British Council
Telefax: 276 0411, [email protected]
Tel: 671 4338, Fax: 673 0993
[email protected]
Telefax: 274 2381, 274 2642
[email protected]
www.phc.ps
The Edward Said National
Conservatory of Music
Tel: 627 1711, Fax: 627 1710
[email protected], www.birzeit.edu/music
Palestinian Group for the Revival of Popular
Heritage
Telefax: 274 7945
70
Tel: 296 3293-6, Fax: 296 3297
[email protected]
www.britishcouncil.org/ps
Telefax: 232 5007
Carmel Cultural Foundation
Jericho Culture & Art Center
Telefax: 232 1047
Tel: 298 7375, Fax: 298 7374
Municipality Theatre
El-Funoun Dance Troupe
Tel: 240 2853, Fax: 240 2851
[email protected], www.el-funoun.org
Tel: 232 2417, Fax: 232 2604
71
Sareyyet Ramallah - First Ramallah Group (FRG)
Tel: 295 2690 - 295 2706, Fax: 298 0583
[email protected], www.sareyyet.ps
Tamer Institute for Community Education
Franco-German Cultural Centre Ramallah
The Danish House in Palestine (DHIP)
Tel: 298 6121/ 2, Fax: 298 8160
[email protected], www.tamerinst.org
Tel: 298 1922 / 7727, Fax: 298 1923
[email protected], www.ccf-goethe-ramallah.org
TeleFax: 298 8457, [email protected], www.dhip.ps
The Edward Said National Conservatory of
Music
Greek Cultural Centre - “Macedonia”
Telefax: 298 1736/ 298 0546, [email protected]
Tel: 295 9070, Fax: 295 9071
[email protected], www.birzeit.edu/music
In’ash Al-Usra Society- Center for Heritage
& Folklore Studies
The Palestinian Circus School
Tel: 240 1123 / 240 2876, Telefax: 240 1544
[email protected], www.inash.org
Tel: 0545 - 671 911, 0599 - 926 107
www.palcircus.ps, info@ palcircus.ps
Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
The Palestinian Network of Art Centres
Tel: 298 7374, Fax: 296 6820
[email protected], www.sakakini.org
Tel: 298 0036, 296 4348/9, Fax: 296 0326
[email protected]
Manar Cultural Center
Tel: 295 7937, Fax: 298 7598
The Spanish Cultural Center
Mazra’a Qibliyeh Heritage and Tourism
Centre
Young Artist Forum
Tel. 295 0893, [email protected]
Telefax: 296 7654, [email protected]
Telefax: 281 5825, [email protected]
www.geocities.com/mazraaheritage/
Palestinian Association
for Contemporary Art PACA
Al-Qattan Centre for the Child
Palestinian Association for Cultural
Exchange (PACE)
Arts & Crafts Village
Tel: 283 9929, Fax: 283 9949
[email protected]
www.qattanfoundation.org/qcc
Tel: 296 7601, fax: 295 1849
[email protected], www.pal-paca.org
Telefax: 284 6405
[email protected], www.gazavillage.org
Tel: 240 7611, Telfax: 240 7610
[email protected], www.pace.ps
Ashtar for Culture & Arts
Popular Art Center
Telefax: 283 3565, [email protected]
Tel: 240 3891, Fax: 240 2851
[email protected], www.popularartcentre.org
Fawanees Theatre Group
Telefax: 288 4403
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
(RCHRS)
Culture & Light Centre
Telefax: 286 5896, [email protected]
Tel: 241 3002
French Cultural Centre
Ramallah Cultural Palace
Tel: 286 7883, Fax: 282 8811
[email protected]
Tel: 298 4704 / 295 2105, Fax: 295 2107
[email protected]
www.ramallahculturalpalace.org
Gaza Theatre
Tel: 282 4860, Fax: 282 4870
RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural
Conservation
Global Production and Distribution
Tel: 240 6887, Fax: 240 6986
[email protected], www.riwaq.org
Telefax: 288 4399, [email protected]
Sandouq Elajab Theatre
Tel: 282 0203, Fax: 282 1602
Shashat
Tel: 281 0476, Fax: 280 8896, [email protected]
Dialogpunkt Deutsch Gaza (Goethe-Insitut)
Tel: 296 5638, 295 3206, [email protected]
Holst Cultural Centre
Tel: 297 3336, Fax: 297 3338
[email protected], www.shashat.org
Theatre Day Productions
Sharek Youth Forum
Windows from Gaza For Contemporary Art Telefax: 283 6766, [email protected]
Tel: 296 7741, Fax: 296 7742
[email protected], www.sharek.ps
Mob. 0599 781 227 - 0599 415 045, [email protected]
72
Holy Land Hotel (105 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 627 2888, Fax: 628 0265
[email protected], www.holylandhotel.com
Addar Hotel (30 suites; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 626 3111, Fax: 626 0791, www.addar-hotel.com
Jerusalem Hotel (14 rooms; bf; mr; res; live music)
Tel: 628 3282, Fax: 628 3282
[email protected], www.jrshotel.com
Alcazar Hotel (38 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 1111; Fax: 628 7360
[email protected], www.jrscazar.com
Jerusalem Meridian Hotel
Ambassador Hotel (122 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
(74 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 5212, Fax: 628 5214
www.jerusalem-meridian.com
Tel: 541 2222, Fax: 582 8202
[email protected]
www.jerusalemambassador.com
Jerusalem Panorama Hotel
American Colony Hotel(84 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
(74 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 4887, Fax: 627 3699
[email protected]
www.jerusalempanoramahotel.com
Tel: 627 9777, Fax: 627 9779
[email protected], www.americancolony.com
Austrian Hospice
Hashimi Hotel
Tel: 626 5800, Fax: 627 1472
[email protected]
www.austrianhospice.com
Tel: 628 4410, Fax: 628 4667, [email protected]
Knights Palace Guesthouse (50 rooms)
Azzahra Hotel (15 rooms, res)
Tel: 628 2537, Fax: 628 2401, [email protected]
Tel: 628 2447, Fax: 628 3960
[email protected], www.azzahrahotel.com
Legacy Hotel
Tel: 627 0800, Fax: 627 7739
[email protected], www.jerusalemlegacy.com
Capitol Hotel (54 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 2561/2, Fax: 626 4352
Metropol Hotel
Christmas Hotel
Tel: 628 2507, Fax: 628 5134
Tel: 628 2588, Fax: 626 4417
[email protected], www.christmas-hotel.com
Mount of Olives Hotel (61 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 4877, Fax: 626 4427
[email protected], www.mtolives.com
Commodore Hotel (45 rooms; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 627 1414, Fax: 628 4701
Mount Scopus Hotel (65 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Gloria Hotel (94 rooms; mr; res)
Tel: 582 8891, Fax: 582 8825, [email protected]
Tel: 628 2431, Fax: 628 2401, [email protected]
National Hotel (54 rooms; bf; cr; res; cf)
Tel: 627 8880, Fax: 627 7007
www.nationalhotel-jerusalem.com
Golden Walls Hotel (112 rooms)
Tel: 627 2416, Fax: 626 4658
[email protected], www.goldenwalls.com
74
New Imperial Hotel (45 rooms)
Tel: 627 2000, Fax: 627 1530
Everest Hotel (19 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 274 2604, Fax: 274 1278
New Metropole Hotel (25 rooms; mr; res)
Grand Hotel (107 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 628 3846, Fax: 627 7485
Tel: 274 1602 - 274 1440, Fax: 274 1604
[email protected]
New Regent Hotel (24 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah (171 rooms and Su;
bf; mr; cr; res;ter; cf; gm; pf; sp)
Tel: 298 5888, Fax: 298 533
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.moevenpick-ramallah.com
Rocky Hotel (22 rooms; cf; res; ter)
Tel: 296 4470, Telefax: 296 1871
Pension Miami (12 rooms)
Telefax: 295 6808
Ramallah Hotel (22 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 295 3544, Fax: 295 5029
Retno Hotel (33 rooms & su; res; mr; gm; sp)
Telefax: 295 0022, [email protected]
www.retnohotel.com
Royal Court Suite Hotel (34 suites; res; mr; ter;
cf; pf; i)
Tel: 296 4040, Fax: 296 4047
Star Mountain Guesthouse (10 rooms; wifi; pf)
Tel: 296 2705, Telefax: 296 2715
[email protected]
Hebron Hotel
Tel: 225 4240 / 222 9385, Fax: 222 6760
[email protected]
Golden Park Resort & Hotel (Beit Sahour)
Tel: 628 4540, Fax: 626 4023, [email protected]
(54 rooms; res, bar, pool)
Tel: 277 4414
New Swedish Hostel
Tel: 627 7855, Fax: 626 4124, [email protected]
www.geocities.com/swedishhostel
House of Hope Guesthouse
Tel: 274 2325, Fax: 274 0928
[email protected]
Notre Dame Guesthouse (142 rooms, Su, bf, mr,
Al-Qaser Hotel (48 rooms; 7 regular suites, 1 royal
suite; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 2341 444, Fax: 2341 944
[email protected], www.alqaserhotel.com
Al-Yasmeen Hotel & Souq
(250 rooms; su; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6770
(30 rooms; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 233 3555 Fax: 233 3666
[email protected], www.alyasmeen.com
Asia Hotel (28 rooms, res)
Telefax: 238 6220
Chrystal Motel (12 rooms)
Telefax: 233 3281
Lutheran Guesthouse “Abu Gubran”
International Friends Guesthouse (Hostel)
Tel: 626 9900, Fax: 626 9910
[email protected]
www.jerusalemritz.com
Murad Tourist Resort
Rivoli Hotel
Nativity BELLS Hotel (65 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 274 8880, Fax: 274 8870
[email protected], www.nativitybellshotel.ps
(mr; res; ter; cf; pf)
Telfax: 238 1064
[email protected]
www.guesthouse.ps
cr, res, ter, cf, pf)
Tel: 627 9111, Fax: 627 1995
[email protected], www.notredamecenter.org
House of Peace Hostel
Tel: 276 4739
http://www.houseofpeace.hostel.com/
Petra Hostel and Hotel
Inter-Continental Hotel (Jacir Palace)
Tel: 628 6618
Pilgrims Inn Hotel (16 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 627 2416, [email protected]
Ritz Hotel Jerusalem (104 rooms, bf, mr)
Tel: 277 0047
Tel: 2759880, Fax:2759881, www.murad.ps
Tel: 628 4871, Fax: 627 4879
Savoy Hotel (17 rooms)
Nativity Hotel (89 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 277 0650, Fax: 274 4083
[email protected], www.nativity-hotel.com
Tel: 628 3366, Fax: 628 8040
Seven Arches Hotel (197 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 626 7777, Fax: 627 1319, [email protected]
Paradise Hotel (166 rooms;cf;bf;mr;res;su;pf)
St. Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse
“The Scottie” (17 rooms + 1 hostel)
Tel: 274 4542/3 - 274 4544, [email protected]
St. Antonio Hotel (36 rooms; mr; cf;res;pf)
Tel: 673 2401; Fax: 673 1711
[email protected], www.scothotels.co.il
Tel: 276 6221, Fax: 276 6220
Santa Maria Hotel (83 rooms; mr; res)
St. George’s Pilgrim Guest House
Tel: 276 7374/5/6, Fax: 276 7377, [email protected]
(25 rooms; bf; res)
Tel: 628 3302, Fax: 628 2253, [email protected]
Shepherd Hotel
Tel: 274 0656, Fax: 274 4888
[email protected], www.shepherdhotel.com
Strand Hotel (88 rooms; mr; res)
Tel: 628 0279, Fax: 628 4826
St. Nicholas Hotel (25 rooms; res; mr)
Victoria Hotel (50 rooms; bf; res)
Tel: 274 3040/1/2, Fax: 274 3043
Tel: 627 4466, Fax: 627 4171
Saint Vincent Guest House (36 rooms)
Tel: 276 0967/8, Fax: 276 0970
[email protected], www.saintvincentguesthouse.net
Alexander Hotel (42 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 277 0780, Fax: 277 0782
Talita Kumi Guest House (22 rooms; res; mr; cf)
Al-Salam Hotel (26 rooms; 6f; mr; cf; res)
Tel: 276 4083/4, Fax: 277 0551, [email protected]
Zaituna Tourist Village
Tel: 274 1247, Fax: 274 1847
Tel: 275 0655
Beit Al-Baraka Youth Hostel (19 rooms)
Tel: 222 9288, Fax: 222 9288
Beit Ibrahim Guesthouse
Tel: 274 2613, Fax: 274 4250
[email protected]
www.abrahams-herberge.com
Al- Zaytouna Guest House (7 rooms; bf; res; mr)
Bethlehem Hotel (209 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Hisham Palace Hotel
Telefax: 274 2016 Deir Hijleh Monastery
Tel: 994 3038, 0505 348 892
Tel: 277 0702, Fax: 277 0706, [email protected]
Bethlehem Inn (36 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 274 2424, Fax: 274 2423
Bethlehem Star Hotel (72 rooms; cf; bf; res)
Tel: 274 3249 - 277 0285, Fax: 274 1494
[email protected]
Tel: 274 3981, Fax: 274 3540
Casanova Palace Hotel (25 rooms; bf; res)
Tel: 274 2798, Fax: 274 1562
Al-Deira (11 suites; cf; mr; res; ter)
Al-A’in Hotel (24 rooms and suites; mr; cf)
Tel: 240 5925 - 240 4353 Fax: 240 4332
[email protected]
Tel: 283 8100/200/300, Fax: 283 8400
[email protected]
Al-Quds In­ter­na­tional Hotel
Aladdin Hotel
(44 rooms; 2 suites; bf; mr; res)
Telefax: 282 5181 - 282 6223 - 286 3481 - 282 2269
Tel: 240 7689, 240 7921, Fax: 240 7687
[email protected]
Al-Bireh Tourist Hotel (50 rooms; cf; res)
Telefax: 240 0803
Al-Hajal Hotel (22 rooms; bf)
Telefax: 298 7858
Al Hambra Palace (Hotel Suites and Resort)
Tel: 295 6226 - 295 0031, Fax: 295 0032
www.alhambra-palace-hotel.com
[email protected]
Al-Murouj Pension (Jifna village) (8 rooms; res)
Telefax: 281 0881
Al-Waha Hotel
Tel: 287 0880, Fax: 287 0889
Beach Hotel (25 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Telefax: 282 5492 - 284 8433
Cliff Hotel (24 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 282 3450, Fax: 282 0742
Commodore Gaza Hotel (120 rooms;su; bf)
Tel: 283 4400, Fax: 282 2623
[email protected]
Gaza International Hotel
(30 rooms; bf; cf; res; sp)
Tel: 283 0001/2/3/4, Fax: 283 0005
Al-Wihdah Hotel
Telefax: 298 0412
Grand Palace Hotel
Ankars Suites and Hotel (30 suites)
Tel: 295 2602, Fax: 295 2603
[email protected]
Best Eastern Hotel (91 rooms; cf; res)
Tel: 296 0450, Fax: 295 8452, [email protected]
Caesar Hotel (46 rooms & su, 2 mr, cr, res, cf)
Tel: 297 9400, Fax: 297 9401
City Inn Palace Hotel (47 rooms; bf; cf; res)
Tel: 240 8080, Fax: 240 8091
[email protected], www.cityinnpalace.com
(20 rooms; cr; mr; cf; res; internet)
Tel: 284 9498/6468, Fax: 284 9497
[email protected]
Hotel Sea Breeze
Tel: 283 0277 - 284 2654, Fax: 282 4231
Marna House (17 rooms; bf; mr; res)
Tel: 282 2624, Fax: 282 3322
Palestine Hotel (54 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 282 3355, Fax: 286 0056
Grand Park Hotel & Resorts
(84 rooms; 12 grand suites; bf; cf; mr; res; sp; pf)
Tel: 298 6194, Fax: 295 6950, [email protected]
Gemzo Suites
Inter-Continental Jericho
(90 executive suites; cs; mr; pf; gm; res)
Tel: 240 9729, Fax: 240 9532
[email protected], www.gemzosuites.net
Jericho Resort Village
Manarah Hotel
(60 rooms; 46 studios; bf; cf; mr; res)
Tel: 232 1255, Fax: 232 2189
[email protected], www.jerichoresorts.com
Jerusalem Hotel (22 rooms)
Tel: 232 2444, Fax: 992 3109
Casanova Hospice (60 rooms; mr; res)
Telefax: 282 3521/19
Tel: 232 2414, Fax: 232 3109
(181 rooms; su; bf; cf; mr; res; ter; tb)
Tel: 231 1200, Fax: 231 1222
Adam Hotel (76 rooms; bf; cf; mr; res)
Cinema Jenin Guesthouse (7 rooms; 2 su)
Tel: 250 2455
[email protected], www.cinemajenin.org
Haddad Hotel & Resort
Tel: 241 7010/1/2, Fax: 241 7013
[email protected]
www.haddadtourismvillage.com
Tel: 295 2122, Telefax: 295 3274
[email protected], www.manarahhotel.com.ps
Merryland Hotel (25 rooms)
Tel: 298 7176, Telefax: 298 7074
Telepherique & Sultan Tourist Center
El-Beit Guest House (beit sahour) (15 rooms)
(55 rooms)
Tel: 232 1590, Fax: 232 1598
[email protected]
TeleFax: 277 5857, [email protected], www.elbeit.org
76
Key: su = suites, bf = business facilities; mr = meeting rooms, cr = conference facilities; res = restaurant,
ter = terrace bar; tb = turkish bath, cf = coffee shop; gm = gym; pf = parking facilities, sp = swimming pool
77
Al-Diwan (Ambassador Hotel)
Middle Eastern, French, and Italian
Cuisine
Tel: 541 2213, Fax: 582 8202
Alhambra Palace Jerusalem
Restaurant & coffee shop
Conferences workshops and social
activates, Theatre and Cinema
Tel: 626 3535, Fax: 6263737
[email protected]
Al-Shuleh Grill
Shawerma and Barbecues
Tel: 627 3768
Amigo Emil
Middle Eastern, American, Indian,
and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 628 8090, Fax: 626 1457
Antonio’s (Ambassador Hotel)
Middle Eastern, French, and Italian
Cuisine
Tel: 541 2213
Arabesque, Poolside, and
Patio Restaurants (American
Four Seasons Restaurants
and Coffee Shop
Barbecues and Shawerma
Tel: 628 6061, Fax: 628 6097
Garden’s Restaurant
Tel: 581 6463
Versavee Bistro (Bar and Café)
Oriental and Western Food
Tel: 627 6160
Abu Eli Restaurant
Middle Eastern and Barbecues
Tel. 274 1897
Goodies
Fast Food
Tel: 585 3223
Abu Shanab Restaurant
Kan Zaman (Jerusalem Hotel)
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 627 1356
Lotus and Olive Garden
(Jerusalem Meridian Hotel)
Middle Eastern and Continental
Cuisine
Tel: 628 5212
Nafoura
Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 626 0034
Nakashian Gallery Café
Tel: 627 8077
La Rotisserie (Notre Dame
Barbecues
Tel: 274 2985
Afteem Restaurant
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 274 7940
Al-Areeshah Palace (Jacir
Palace – InterContinental
Bethlehem)
Middle Eastern and Barbecues
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6154
Al-Hakura Restaurant
Middle Eastern and Fast Food
Tel: 277 3335
Al- Khaymeh (Jacir Palace –
InterContinental Bethlehem)
Middle Eastern and Barbecues
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6154
Colony Hotel)
Western and Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 627 9777, Fax: 627 9779
Hotel)
Gourmet Restaurant, European
and Mediterranean Menu
Tel: 627 9114, Fax: 627 1995
Armenian Tavern
Dina Café
Armenian and Middle Eastern Food
Tel: 627 3854
Coffee and Pastry
Tel: 626 3344
Askidinya
Papa Andreas
Italian and French Cuisine
Tel: 532 4590
Barbecues
Tel: 628 4433, Fax: 627 5224
Al Makan Bar (Jacir Palace –
InterContinental Bethlehem)
Snack Bar
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6770
Az-Zahra
Pasha’s
Oriental Food
Tel: 582 5162, 532 8342
Balloons
Oriental food and Pizza
Tel: 628 2447
Borderline Restaurant Café
Patisserie Suisse
Italian and Oriental Menu
Tel: 532 8342
Fast Food and Breakfast
Tel: 628 4377
Cafَé Europe
Petra Restaurant
Drinks and Fast Food
Tel: 628 4313
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 627 7799
Cardo Restaurant
Pizza House
Coffee Shop and Continental
Cuisine
Tel: 274 0406
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 627 0827
Pizza and Oriental Pastry
Tel: 627 3970, 628 8135
Chinese Restaurant
RIO Grill and Subs
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 274 9073
Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 626 3465, Fax: 626 3471
Italian and French Cuisine
Tel: 583 5460
Coffee Bean Café
Rossini’s Restaurant Bar
Barbecues and Taboon
Tel: 274 8844, Fax: 274 8889
Sandwiches and Sushi
Tel: 627 0820
French and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 628 2964
Educational Bookshop
Books and Coffee
Shababeek Restaurant
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 274 3224
Shalizar Restaurant
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 277 0047
The Gate Café
Middle Eastern and Continental
Cuisine
Tel: 275 3678
Books and Coffee
Tel: 627 5858
El Dorada Coffee Shop and
Internet Café
Chocolates, Coffee, and Internet
Tel: 626 0993
Flavours Grill
International Cuisine with
Mediterranean Flavour
Tel: 627 4626
Mediterranean Menu
Tel: 532 2626, Fax: 532 2636
Middle Eastern, Mexican, and
Italian Cuisine
Tel: 582 9061
Fresh Juices, Coffee, and Tea
Tel: 627 4282
The Patio (Christmas Hotel)
Oriental and European Menu
Tel: 628 2588, 626 4418
78
Akkawi Café
Western Menu
Tel: 274 8447
Coffee Shop and Pizza
Tel: 275 0221, Fax: 277 7115
Beit Sahour Citadel
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 277 7771
Bonjour Restaurant and Café
Dar al-Balad
Grotto Restaurant
Golden Roof
Il’iliyeh Restaurant
La Terrasse
Layal Lounge
Snack Bar
Tel: 275 0655
Mariachi (Grand Hotel)
Seafood and Mexican Cuisine
Tel: 274 1440, 274 1602/3
Fax: 274 1604
Palmeras Gastropub
Continental Cuisine
Telefax: 275 6622
Peace Restaurant & Bar
Pasta, Seafood, Steaks & Middle
Eastern
Tel: 0595 187 622
Riwaq Courtyard (Jacir Palace
– InterContinental Bethlehem)
Coffee Shop and Sandwiches
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6754
Roots Lounge (Beit Sahour)
Tel: 0598 333 665
The Tent Restaurant
(Shepherds’ Valley Village)
Barbecues
Tel: 277 3875, Fax: 277 3876
St. George Restaurant
Fawanees
Al Falaha
Msakhan and Taboun
Tel: 290 5124
Allegro Italian Restaurant
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
Italian fine cuisine
Tel: 298 5888
Al- Riwaq All-day-dining
restaurant
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
International, Swiss and Oriental
cuisine
Tel: 298 5888
Awjan
Seafood, Breakfast, and Pizza,
Coffee Shop, Lebanese and Italian
Cuisine
Tel: 297 1776
Pastries and Fast Food
Tel: 298 7046
Hoash al-Elleeyya Resturant
(Birzeit)
Mob: 0599 963 991
K5M - Caterers
Cake and Sweets
Tel: 295 6813
Khuzama Restaurant
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 298 8289
Karaz Restaurant
French and Italian dishes
Tel: 297 3451
la vie café
Andre’s Restaurant
French and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 296 6477/8
Cann Espresso
Western Menu and Pizza
Tel: 295 6408, 298 1455
Mac Simon
Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 274 4382
Azure Restaurant and Coffee
Shop
The Square Restaurant and
Coffee Shop
Mediterranean Cuisine
Tel: 274 9844
Zaitouneh (Jacir Palace –
InterContinental Bethlehem)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 276 6777, Fax: 276 6154
Al-Nafoura Restaurant
(Jericho Resort Village)
Arabic Cuisine and Barbecues
Tel: 232 1255, Fax: 232 2189
Al-Rawda
Barbecues
Telefax: 232 2555
Green Valley Park
Oriental Cuisine and Barbecues
Tel: 232 2349
Jabal Quruntul
Continental Cuisine (Open Buffet)
Tel: 232 2614, Fax: 232 2659
Seven Trees
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 232 2781
Salim Afandi
Barbecues and Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 237 1332
Zeit Ou Zaater (Al-Yasmeen
Hotel)
Continental Cuisine and Pastries
Tel: 238 3164, Fax: 233 3666
Baladna Ice Cream
Ice Cream and Soft Drinks
Telefax: 295 6721
Birth Café
Barbecues and Fast Food
Tel: 297 6614
Caesar’s (Grand Park Hotel)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 298 6194
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 297 2088
Mr. Donuts Café
Donuts and Coffee Shop
Tel: 240 7196
Mr. Fish
Seafood
Tel: 295 9555
Mr. Pizza
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 240 3016, 240 8182
Muntaza Restaurant and
Garden
Café De La Paix
Barbecues and Sandwiches
Tel: 295 6835
French Cuisine
Tel: 298 0880
Na3Na3 Café
Chinese House Restaurant
Italian and Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 296 4606
Chinese Cuisine
Tel: 296 4081
Newz Bar
Fried Chicken and Hamburgers
Tel: 295 6661
Lounge and “Le Gourmet” pastries’
corner
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
Tel: 298 5888
Darna
Osama’s Pizza
Crispy
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 0590/1
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 295 3270
Diwan Art Coffee Shop
Orjuwan Lounge
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 296 6483
Do Re Mi Café (Royal Court)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 296 4040
Palestinian-Italian Fusion
Tel: 297 6870
Pesto Café and Restaurant
Elite Coffee House
Italian Light Food
Tel: 296 4228
Rukab’s Ice Cream
Ice Cream and Soft Drinks
Tel: 295 3467
Saba Sandwiches
Falafel and Sandwiches
Tel: 296 0116
Pizza Inn
Sangria’s
French, Italian, and Mexican
Cuisine
Tel: 295 6808
Shukeireh Restaurant
Tal El-Qamar Roof
Middle Eastern and Western Menu
Tel: 298 7905/ 6
The Vine Restaurant
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 7727
THE Q GARDEN
Roof-top garden International Cusine
Tel: 295 7727
Tomasso’s
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 240 9991/ 2
Tropicana
Mexican Cuisine, Oriental Menu,
and Zarb
Tel: 297 5661
UpTown (Ankars Suites and
Hotel)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 2602
Vatche’s Garden Restaurant
European Style
Tel: 296 5966, 296 5988
Middle Eastern and Western
Cuisine
Tel: 297 5233
Zam’n Premium Coffee
Sinatra Cafe and Cheese
Cake
Zaki Taki
Italian and American Cuisine
Tel: 297 1028
Sky Bar (Ankars Suites and
Hotel)
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 295 2602
Sparkles Bar
Cigar bar
Mövenpick Hotel Ramallah
Tel: 298 5888
Stones
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 296 6038
Tabash (Jifna Village)
Barbecues
Tel: 281 0932
Coffee Shop Style
Tel: 295 0600
Pizza and Fast Food
Tel: 298 1181/2/3
European Coffee Shop
Philadelphia Restaurant
Zam’n Premium Coffee
Masyoun
Coffee Shop Style
Tel: 298 1033
Zarour Bar BQ
Barbecues and Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 295 6767, 296 4480
Fax: 296 4357
Zeit ou Zaater
Pastries and Snacks
Tel: 295 4455
Ziryab
Barbecues, Italian, and Oriental
Cuisine
Tel: 295 9093
Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 295 1999
Express Pizza
American Pizza
Tel: 296 6566
80
Al-Andalus
Middle Eastern and Western
Cuisine
Tel: 282 1272, 283 3769
Al-Deira
Continental Cuisine
Tel: 283 8100/200/300
Al-Marsa
Seafood and Desserts
Tel: 286 3599
Al-Molouke
Shawerma and Barbecues
Tel: 286 8397
Al-Salam
Seafood
Tel: 282 2705, Telefax: 283 3188
Al-Sammak
Seafood
Tel: 286 4385
Al-Sammak Ghornata
Seafood
Tel: 284 0107
Avenue Restaurant and Café
Shop
Middle Eastern and Western Menu
Tel: 288 2100 / 288 3100
La Mirage
Sandwiches
Tel: 296 3643
Italian Cuisine
Tel: 297 0705, 297 0706
Italian and Arabic Cuisine
Tel: 296 5169
Coffee and Sweets
Tel: 2951 7031, 296 6505
Roma Café
Middle Eastern Food
Tel: 240 5338 - 240 3088
Oriental and Western Cuisine
Tel: 296 3271
Continental Cuisine
Telefax: 295 7850
Italian Cuisine
Tel: 298 7312
La Vista Café and Restaurant
Tachi Chinese
Oriental and Continental Cuisine
Tel: 274 0711, Fax: 274 1862
Pronto Resto-Café
Samer
Angelo’s
Taboo – Restaurant and Bar
Middle Eastern Menu
Tel: 295 6020, Fax: 296 4693
295 4116
Arabic and Italian Cuisine
Tel: 297 2125
Oriental Cuisine and Barbecues
Tel: 274 3780, Fax: 274 1833
Plaza Jdoudna Restaurant
and Park
81
Continental Cuisine and Seafood
Tel: 286 5128
Roots - The Club
Oriental Cuisine
Tel: 288 8666, 282 3999,
282 3777
Saleh Atya Al Shawa
Restaurant - Al-Jala
Barbecues
Tel: 282 5062
Al Quds Restaurant
Tel: 229 7773
Fax: 229 7774
East Jerusalem (02) 4M Travel Agency, Tel: 627 1414, Fax: 628 4701, [email protected], www.4m-
East Jerusalem (02) Armenian Museum, Old City,
Tel: 628 2331, Fax: 626 4861, Opening hours:
Mon.- Sat. from 9:00 - 16:30 • Dar At Tifl Museum (Dar At Tifl Association), Near the Orient House,
Tel: 628 3251, Fax: 627 3477 • Islamic Museum (The Islamic Waqf Asso­ciation), Old City, Tel: 628 3313,
Fax: 628 5561, opening hours for tourists: daily from 7:30 - 13:30 • Math Museum, Science Museum, Abu
Jihad Museum for the Palestinian Prisoners Studies - Al-Quds University, Tel: 279 9753 - 279 0606,
[email protected], opening hours Saturday - Wednesday 8:30 - 15:00 • Qalandia Camp Women’s Handicraft
Coop., Telefax: 656 9385, Fax: 585 6966, [email protected]
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Museum of Palestinian Popular Heritage - In’ash el Usra, In’ash el
Usra society, Al-Bireh, Tel: 240 2876, Fax: 240 1544, Opening hours: daily from 8:00 - 15:00 except Fridays •
Ramallah Museum, Al-Harajeh St., Across from Arab Bank, Old Town, Ramallah, Telefax: 295 9561,
open daily from 8:00 - 15:00 except friday and Saturday • The Birzeit University Ethnographic and Art
Museum Tel: 298 2976, [email protected], Opening hours: daily from 10:00 - 15:00 except for Fridays and Sundays
Bethlehem (02) Al-Balad Museum for Olive Oil Production, Tel: 274 1581, Opening hours: 8:00-14:30
Monday through Saturday • Baituna al Talhami Museum, (Folklore Museum) Arab Women’s Union,
Tel: 274 2589, Fax: 274 2431, Opening hours: daily from 8:00 - 13:00/ 14:00 - 17:00 except for Sundays and
Thursdays afternoon • Bethlehem Peace Center Museum, Tel: 276 6677, Fax: 274 1057, [email protected],
www.peacenter.org, Opening hours: daily from 10:00-18:00 except Sundays from 10:00 - 16:00 • International
Nativity Museum, TeleFax: 276 0076, [email protected], www.internationalnativitymuseum.
com • Natural History Museum, Telefax:02-276 5574, [email protected], www.eecp.org • The International
Nativity Museum, Tel: 276 6585, Fax: 274 2421 • Palestinian Ethnographic Museum,
Tel: 276 7467, Fax: 276 0533, [email protected], Opening hours: daily from 9:00 - 17:00 • Palestinian Heritage
Center, Telefax: 274 2381, [email protected], www.palestinianheritagecenter.com
Gaza (08) Al Mathaf, Tel: 285 8444, [email protected], www. almathaf.ps
East Jerusalem (02) Car Rental • Car & Drive, Tel: 656 5562/3 • Dallah Al-Barakah, Tel: 656 4150 •
Good Luck, Tel: 627 7033, Fax: 627 7688 • Green Peace Rent A Car Ltd., Telefax: 585 9756 • Jerusalem
Car Rental & Leasing ltd., Tel: 582 2179, Fax: 582 2173 • Orabi, Tel: 585 3101 • Petra, Tel: 582 0716,Taxis
Abdo,Tel: 585 8202 (Beit Hanina), Tel: 628 3281 (Damascus Gate) • Al-Eman Taxi & Lemo Service, Tel:
583 4599 - 583 5877 •Al-Rashid, Tel: 628 2220 • Al-Aqsa, Tel: 627 3003 • Beit Hanina, Tel: 585 5777 • Holy
Land, Tel: 585 5555 • Imperial, Tel: 628 2504 • Jaber - Petra, Tel: 583 7275 - 583 7276 • Khaled Al-Tahan,
Tel: 585 5777 • Mount of Olives, Tel: 627 2777 • Panorama, Tel: 628 1116 • Tourist Trans­por­tation Abdo
Tourist, Tel: 628 1866 • Jerusalem of Gold, Tel: 673 7025/6 • Kawasmi Tourist Travel Ltd., Tel: 628
4769, Fax: 628 4710 • Mount of Olives, Tel: 627 1122 • Mahfouz Tourist Travel, Tel: 628 2212, Fax: 628
4015 • Middle East Car Rental, Tel: 626 2777, Fax: 626 2203
Bethlehem (02) Car Rental Murad, Tel: 274 7092 • Nativity Rent a Car, Tel: 274 3532, Fax: 274 7053 Taxis
Asha’b, Tel: 274 2309 • Beit Jala, Tel: 274 2629 • Al Fararjeh Taxi - 24 Hours, Tel: 275 2416
Hebron (02) Car Rental Holy Land, Tel: 222 0811 • Taxis Al-Asdiqa’, Tel: 222 9436 • Al-Itihad, Tel: 222 8750
Jericho (02) Taxis Petra, Tel: 232 2525
Nablus (09) Car Rental Orabi, Tel: 238 3383 • Taxis Al-Ittimad, Tel: 237 1439 • Al-Madina, Tel: 237 3501
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Car Rental Good Luck, Tel: 234 2160 • Orabi, Tel: 240 3521 • Petra,
Tel: 295 2602 • TWINS, Tel: 296 4688 • Taxis Al-Bireh, Tel: 240 2956 • Al-Masyoun Taxi, Tel: 295 2230 •
Al-Salam, Tel: 295 5805 • Al-Wafa, Tel: 295 5444 • Al-Itihad, Tel: 295 5887 • Hinnawi Taxi, Tel: 295 6302
• Omaya, Tel: 295 6120 • SAHARA Rent a Car Co., Tel: 297 5317/8 • Shamma’ Taxi Co., Tel: 296 0957
travel.com • Abdo Tourist & Travel, Tel: 628 1865, Fax: 627 2973, [email protected] • Aeolus Tours,
Tel: 0505 635 5496, Fax: 656 5823, [email protected] • Albina Tours Ltd., Tel: 628 3397, Fax: 628 1215,
[email protected]; [email protected], www.albinatours.com • Alliance Travel Solutions, Tel: 581
7102, Fax: 581 7103, [email protected], www.alliancetravel-jrs.com • Arab Tourist Agency (ATA),
Tel: 627 7442, Fax: 628 4366,[email protected] • Atic Tours & Travel Ltd., Tel: 628 6159, Fax: 626 4023,
[email protected], www.atictour.com • Awad & Co. Tourist Agency, Tel: 628 4021, Fax: 628 7990, admin@
awad.tours.com, www.awad-tours.com • Aweidah Bros. Co., Tel: 628 2365, Fax: 628 2366, aweidah@netvision.
net.il, www.aweidahtours.com • Ayoub Caravan Tours, Tel: 628 4361, Fax: 628 5804 [email protected] •
B. Peace Tours & Travel, Tel: 626 1876, Fax: 626 2065, [email protected] • Bible Land Tours,
Tel: 627 1169, Fax: 627 2218, [email protected] • Blessed Land Tours, Tel: 628 6592, Fax: 628 5812, blt@
blessedlandtours.com, www.blessedlandtours.com • Carawan Tours and Travel, Tel: 628 1244, Fax: 628 1406,
[email protected], www.carawan-tours.com • Daher Travel, Tel: 628 3235, Fax: 627 1574, dahert@netvision.
net.il, www.dahertravel.com • Dajani Palestine Tours, Tel: 626 4768, Fax: 627 6927, [email protected] •
Dakkak Tours Agency, Tel: 628 2525, Fax: 628 2526, [email protected] • Egythai Int. Tours and
Travel, Tel: 628 1184, Fax: 628 4701, [email protected] • Gates of Jerusalem Travel Agency, Tel:
234 4365, Fax: 234 3835, [email protected] • George Garabedian Co., Tel: 628 3398, Fax: 628 7896,
[email protected] • GEMM Travel, Tel: 628 2535/6, [email protected] • Good News Tours Ltd.,
Tel: 0774180091/2, Fax: 0774180093, [email protected] • Golden Dome Company for Hajj&
Umra Services, Tel: 628 0770, Fax: 628 5912 • Guiding Star Ltd., Tel: 627 3150, Fax: 627 3147, mark@
guidingstar2.com, www.guidingstarltd.com • Holy Jerusalem Tours & Travel, Tel: 540 1668; Fax: 540 0963,
[email protected], www.holyjerusalemtours.com • Holy Land Tours, Tel: 532 3232, Fax: 532 3292,
[email protected] • J. Sylvia Tours, Tel: 628 1146, Fax: 628 8277, [email protected] • Jata Travel
Ltd., Tel: 627 5001, Fax: 627 5003, [email protected] • Jiro Tours, Tel: 627 3766, Fax: 628 1020, jiro@
netvision.net.il, www.jirotours.com • Jordan Travel Agency, Tel: 628 4052, Fax: 628 7621 • Jerusalem
Orient Tourist Travel, Tel : 628 8722, Fax: 627 4589, [email protected] • JT & T, Tel: 628 9418, 628 9422,
Fax: 628 9298, [email protected], www.jttours.com • KIM’s Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 627 9725, Fax:
627 4626, [email protected], www.kimstours.com • Lawrence Tours & Travel, Tel: 628 4867, Fax: 627 1285,
[email protected] • Lions Gate Travel & Tours, Tel: 627 7829, Fax: 627 7830, Mobile: 0523 855 312,
[email protected], [email protected] • Lourdes Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 627
5332, Telefax: 627 5336, [email protected] • Mt. of Olives Tours Ltd., Tel: 627 1122, Fax: 628 5551
[email protected], www.olivetours.com • Nawas Tourist Agency Ltd., Tel: 628 2491, Fax: 628 5755
• Nazarene Tours and Travel, Tel: 627 4636, Fax: 627 7526 • Near East Tourist Agency (NET),
Tel: 532 8706, Fax: 532 8701, [email protected], www.netours.com • O.S. Hotel Services, Tel: 628
9260, Fax: 626 4979, [email protected] • Overseas Travel Bureau, Tel: 628 7090, Fax: 628 4442, otb@
netvision.net.il • Royal Orient Tours & Travel, Tel: 626 4181/2, Fax: 626 4186, [email protected] •
Safieh Tours & Travel Agency, Tel: 626 4447, Fax: 628 4430, [email protected] • Samara
Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 627 6133. Fax: 627 1956, [email protected] • Season Travel
ltd., Tel: 627 7552, Fax: 627 7564, [email protected], www.season-travel.com • Shepherds Tours
& Travel, Tel: 6284121- 6287859, Fax: 6280251, [email protected], www.shepherdstours.com
• Shweiki Tours Ltd., Tel: 673 6711, Fax: 673 6966 • Sindbad Travel Tourist Agency, Tel: 627 2165, Fax:
627 2169, [email protected], www.Sindbad-Travel.com • Siniora Star Tours, Tel: 628 6373, Fax: 628 9078,
[email protected] • Terra Sancta Tourist Co, Tel: 628 4733, Fax: 626 4472 • The Pioneer Links Travel
& Tourism Bureau, Tel: 626 1963, Fax: 628 4714, www.pioneer-links.com • Tony Tours Ltd., Tel: 244 2050,
Fax: 244 2052, [email protected] • United Travel Ltd., Tel: 583 3614, Fax: 583 6190, [email protected],
www.unitedtravelltd.com • Universal Tourist Agency, Tel: 628 4383, Fax: 626 4448, [email protected], www.
universal-jer.com • William Tours & Travel Agency, Tel: 623 1617, Fax: 624 1126, [email protected] •
Yanis Tours & Travel, Telefax: 627 5862, [email protected] • Zatarah Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel:
627 2725, Fax: 628 9873, [email protected]
Bethlehem (02) Angels Tours and Travel, Tel: 277 5813, Fax: 277 5814, [email protected], www.
angelstours.com.ps • Arab Agency Travel & Tourism, Tel: 274 1872, Fax: 274 2431, tourism@aca-palestine.
com, www.aca-palestine.com • Bethlehem Star Travel, Telefax: 277 0441, [email protected], www.bst.ps • Crown
Tours & Travel Co. Ltd., Tel: 274 0911, Fax: 274 0910, [email protected], www.crown-tours.com • Four
Seasons Co. Tourism & Travel, Tel: 277 4401, Fax: 277 4402, [email protected] • Friendship Travel
& Tourism, Tel: 277 7967, Fax: 277 7987, [email protected] • Gloria Tours & Travel, Tel: 274 0835,
Fax: 274 3021, [email protected] • Golden Gate Tours & Travel, Tel: 276 6044, Fax: 276 6045, ggtours@palnet.
com • Kukali Travel & Tours, Tel: 277 3047, Fax: 277 2034, [email protected] • Laila Tours & Travel, Tel:
277 7997, Fax: 277 7996, [email protected], www.Lailatours.com • Lama Tours International, Tel: 274 3717,
Fax: 274 3747, [email protected] • Millennium Transportation, TeleFax: 676 7727, 050-242 270 • Mousallam
Int’l Tours, Tel: 277 0054, Fax: 277 0054, [email protected] • Nativity Travel, Tel: 274 2966, Fax: 274 4546
• Sansur Travel Agency, Tel: 274 4473, Telefax: 274 4459 • Sky Lark Tours and Travel, Tel: 274 2886,
Fax: 276 4962, [email protected] • Terra Santa Tourist Co., Tel: 277 0249 Fax: 277 0250 • Voice of Faith
Tours, Tel: 275 70 50 Fax: 275 70 51, [email protected], www.gmtravel.co.il
Beit Jala (02) Guiding Star Ltd., Tel: 276 5970, Fax: 276 5971, [email protected]
Gaza Strip (08) Car Rental Al-Ahli, Tel: 282 8534 • Al-Farouq, Tel: 284 2755 • Imad, Tel: 286 4000
• Luzun, Tel: 282 2628 • Taxis Al-Nasser, Tel: 286 1844, 286 7845 • Al-Wafa, Tel: 284 9144 - 282 4465 •
Azhar, Tel: 286 8858 • Midan Filastin, Tel: 286 5242
Beit Sahour (02) Alternative Tourism Group, Tel: 277 2151, Fax: 277 2211, [email protected], www.atg.ps •
Brothers Travel & Tours, Tel: 277 5188, Fax: 277 5189, [email protected], www.brostours.com • Magi
Tours, Telefax: 277 5798, [email protected]
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Hebron (02) AL-Afaq for Travel & Umrah,
Telefax: 221 1332, [email protected] • Al Amir
Tours, Telefax: 221 2065, [email protected] • Alkiram Tourism, Tel: 225 6501/2, Fax: 225 6504,
[email protected] • Al-Haya Travel & Tourism, Tel: 229 3108, Fax: 229 7496 • Al-Salam Travel and
Tours Co., Tel: 221 5574, Fax: 223 3747 • Arab Nisr Travel & Tourism, Tel: 221 5970/1, Fax: 229 2730/1,
[email protected] • Sabeen Travel Tourism, Telefax: 229 4775, [email protected]
Ramallah (02) Al-Asmar Travel Agency, Telefax: 295 4140, 296 5775, [email protected] • Al Awdah
Tourism & Travel, Tel: 295 2597, Fax: 295 2989 • All Middle East Pilgrimage and Tourism Coordination
Office, Tel:  289 8123, Fax: 289 9174, [email protected], www.ameptco.com • Amani Tours, Telefax: 298 7013,
[email protected] • Anwar Travel Agency, Tel: 295 6388, 295 1706, [email protected] • Arab Office for
Travel & Tourism, Tel: 295 6640, Fax: 295 1331 • Arseema for Travel & Tourism, Tel: 297 5571, Fax: 297
5572, [email protected] • Atlas Tours & Travel, Tel: 295 2180, Fax: 298 6395, www.atlasavia.com • Darwish
Travel Agency, Tel: 295 6221, Fax: 295 7940 • Golden Globe Tours, Tel: 296 5111, Fax: 296 5110, gg-tours@
palnet.com • Issis & Co., Tel: 295 6250, Fax: 295 4305 • Jordan River Tourist & Travel Agency, Tel: 298
0523, Fax: 298 0524 • Kashou’ Travel Agency, Tel: 295 5229, Fax: 295 3107, [email protected] •
Mrebe Tours & Travel, Tel: 295 4671, Fax: 295 4672, [email protected] • Paltour Travel and Tourism,
Tel: 229 63662, Fax: 296 1373, [email protected] • The Pioneer Links Travel & Tourism Bureau, Tel: 240
7859, Fax: 240 7860, [email protected] • Travel House For Travel & Tourism, Tel: 295 7225, Fax:
296 2634, www.travelhouse.ps • Rahhal Tours & Travel, Tel: 242 3256, Fax: 242 9962, [email protected],
www.rahhalyours.ps • Raha Tours and Travel, Tel: 296 1780, Fax: 296 1782, www.rahatt.com, www.rahatravel.
com • Ramallah Travel Agency, Tel: 295 3692, Fax: 295 5029, [email protected], www.kaoud.org • Reem
Travel Agency, Tel: 295 3871, Fax: 295 3871 • Royal Tours, Tel: 296 6350/1, Fax: 296 6635 • Sabeen Travel
Tourism, Telefax: 240 5931, [email protected] • Salah Tours, Tel: 295 9931, Fax: 298 7206 • Shbat &
Abdul Nur, Tel: 295 6267, Fax: 295 7246 • Skyway Tourist Agency, Telefax: 296 5090
Consulates
East Jerusalem (02) Apostolic Delegation, Tel: 628 2298, Fax: 628 1880 • Belgium, Tel: 582 8263,
Fax: 581 4063, [email protected] • European Community - Delegation to the OPT, Tel: 541 5888,
Fax: 541 5848 • France, Tel: 591 4000, Fax: 582 0032 • Great Britain, Tel: 541 4100, Fax: 532 2368, britain.
[email protected], www.britishconsulate.org • Greece, Tel: 582 8316, Fax: 532 5392 • Italy, Tel: 561 8966,
Fax: 561 9190 • Spain, Tel: 582 8006, Fax: 582 8065 • Swedish Consulate General, Tel: 646 5860, Fax:
646 5861 • Turkey, Tel: 591 0555-7, Fax: 582 0214, [email protected], www.kudus.bk.mfa.gov.tr •
United States of America, Tel: 622 7230, Fax: 625 9270
Representative Offices to the PNA
1410, 238 1437, [email protected]
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Argentina Representative Office to the PA, Tel: 241 2848/9, Fax: 241
2850, [email protected] • Australia, Tel: 242 5301, Fax: 240 8290, [email protected], ausaid@palnet.
com • Austria, Tel: 240 1477, Fax: 240 0479 • Brazil, Tel: 241 3753, Fax: 241 3756, admin-office@rep-brazil.
org • Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Tel: 240 58 60/1, Fax: 2405862, representacionenpalestina@yahoo.
com, [email protected] • Canada, Tel: 297 8430, Fax: 297 8446, [email protected]
• Chile, Tel: 296 0850, Fax: 298 4768, [email protected] • Cyprus, Tel: 240 6959, Fax: 240 4897 • Czech
Republic, Tel: 296 5595, Fax: 296 5596 • Denmark, Tel: 240 2330, Fax: 240 0331 • Egypt, Tel: 297 7774, Fax:
297 7772 • Finland, Tel: 240 0340, Fax: 240 0343 • Germany, Tel: 298 4788, Fax: 298 4786, gerrprof@palnet.
com • Hungary, Tel: 240 7676, Fax: 240 7678, [email protected] • India, Tel: 290 3033, Fax: 290 3035, roi_
[email protected] • Ireland, Tel: 240 6811/2/3, Fax: 240 6816, [email protected] • Japan, Tel: 241 3120, Fax:
241 3123 • Jordan, Tel: 297 4625, Fax: 297 4624 • Mexico, Tel: 297 5592, Fax: 297 5594, ofimex-ramala@palnet.
com • Norway, Tel: 235 8600, Fax: 234 5079, [email protected] • Poland, Tel: 297 1318, Fax: 297 1319 • Portugal,
Tel: 240 7291/3, Fax: 240 7294 • Republic of Korea, Tel: 240 2846/7, Fax: 240 2848 • Russian Federation,
Tel: 240 0970, Fax: 240 0971 • South Africa, Tel: 298 7355, Fax: 298 7356, [email protected], www.sarep.org •
Sri Lanka, Telefax: 290 4271 • Switzerland, Tel: 240 8360, [email protected] • The Netherlands,
Tel: 240 6639, Fax: 240 9638 • The People’s Republic of China, Tel: 295 1222, Fax: 295 1221, chinaoffice@
palnet.com
Tulkarem (09) Faj Tours, Tel: 2672 486, Fax: 2686 070, [email protected]
Gaza Strip (08) Egypt, Tel: 282 4290, Fax: 282 0718 • Germany, Tel: 282 5584, Fax: 284 4855 • Jordan,
Jenin (04) Asia Travel Tourism, Telefax: 243 5157, www.asia-tourism.net • Al Sadeq Travel & Tourism,
Tel: 243 8055, Fax: 243 8057, email: [email protected]
Nablus (09) Almadena Tours, Tel: 239 3333, Telefax: 239 3366, [email protected], www.almadena.ps •
Dream Travel & Tourism, Tel: 233 5056, Fax: 237 2069 • Firas Tours, Tel: 234 4565, Fax: 234 7781 • Top
Tour, Tel: 238 9159, Fax: 238 1425, [email protected] • Yaish International Tours, Telefax: 238
Gaza Strip (08) Al-Muntazah Travel Agency, Tel: 282 7919 Fax: 282 4923 • Halabi Tours and Travel
Co., Tel: 282 3704, Fax: 286 6075, [email protected], www.halabitours.ps • Maxim Tours, Tel: 282 4415,
Fax: 286 7596 • National Tourist Office, Tel: 286 0616, Fax: 286 0682, [email protected] • Time Travel
Ltd., Tel: 283 6775, Fax: 283 6855, [email protected]
Air France and KLM, Tel: 02-628 2535/6 (Jerusa­lem), Tel: 08-286 0616 (Gaza) • Air Sinai – Varig, Tel:
02-627 2725 (Jerusalem), Tel: 08-282 1530 (Gaza) • Austrian Airlines Tel: 09-238 2065, Fax: 09-237 5598
(Nablus) • bmi – Nazarene Aviation, Tel: 09-238 2065, Fax: 09-237 5598 (Nablus) • British Airways, Tel:
09-238 2065, Fax: 09-237 5598 (Nablus) • Cyprus Airways, Tel: 02-240 4894 (Al-Bireh) • Delta Airlines, Tel:
02-296 7250, Telefax: 02-298 6395 (Ramallah) • Egypt Air, Tel: 02-298 6950/49 (Ramallah), Tel: 08-282 1530
(Gaza) • Emirates Airlines, Tel: 02-296 1780 (Ramallah) • Gulf Air, Tel: 09-238 6312 (Nablus), Tel: 02-295
3912/3 (Ramallah) • Iberia, Tel: 02-628 3235/7238 (Jerusalem) • Lufthansa, Tel: 09-238 2065, Fax: 09-237
5598 (Nablus) • Malev-Hungarian Airlines, Tel: 02-295 2180 (Ramallah) • Middle East Car Rental, Tel:
02-295 2602, Fax: 295 2603 • PAL AVIATION, Tel. 02-296 7250 Telefax: 02-298 6395 (Ramallah) • Palestine
Airlines, Tel: 08-282 2800 (Gaza), Tel: 08-282 9526/7 (Gaza) • Qatar Airways, Tel: 02-240 4895 (Al-Bireh),
Tel: 08-284 2303 (Gaza), Royal Jordanian Airways, Tel: 02-240 5060 (Ramallah), Tel: 08-282 5403/13 (Gaza)
• SN Brussels Airlines, Tel: 02-295 2180 (Ramallah), SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Tel: 02-628 3235/7238
(Jerusalem) • South African Airways, Tel: 02-628 6257 (Jerusalem) • Swiss International Airlines, Tel:
02-295 2180 (Ramallah) • Tunis Air, Tel: 02-298 7013 (Ramallah), Tel: 08-286 0616 (Gaza) • Turkish Airlines,
Tel: 02-277 0130 (Bethlehem)
Tel: 282 5134, Fax: 282 5124 • Morocco, Tel: 282 4264, Fax: 282 4104 • Norway, Tel: 282 4615, Fax: 282 1902
• Qatar, Tel: 282 5922, Fax: 282 5932 • South Africa, Tel: 284 1313, Fax: 284 1333 • Tunisia, Tel: 282 5018,
Fax: 282 5028
United Nations and International Organisations
FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Jerusalem (02), TeleFax: 532 2757, 532 1950,
[email protected], www.fao.org • IBRD - International Bank for Reconstruction and De­vel­opment (World
Bank), West Bank (02), Tel: 236 6500 Fax: 236 6543, Gaza (08) Tel: 282 4746 Fax: 282 4296, firstletterofsurname.
[email protected] • IMF, - International Monetary Fund, www.imf.org, Gaza (08), Tel: 282 5913; Fax:
282 5923, West Bank (02), Tel: 236 6530; Fax: 236 6543 • ILO - International Labor Organization, Jerusalem
(02), Tel: 626 0212, 628 0933, Fax: 627 6746, [email protected], Ramallah (02), Tel: 290 0022, Fax: 290
0023, Nablus (09), Tel: 237 5692 - 233 8371, Fax: 233 8370 • OHCHR - Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Gaza (08), Tel: 282 7021, Fax: 282 7321, [email protected], West Bank Office, Telefax: 02-296
5534 • UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Ramallah (02),
Tel: 295 9740, Fax: 295 9741, [email protected] • UNFPA - United Nations Population Fund, Jerusalem
(02), Tel: 581 7292, Fax: 581 7382, [email protected], www.unfpa.ps • UNICEF - United Nations Children’s
Fund, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 583 0013,4 Fax: 583 0806, Gaza (08), Tel: 286 2400, Fax: 286 2800, Jerusalem@
unicef.org • UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women, Telefax: 628 0450, Tel: 628 0661 •
UN OCHA - United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tel: 582 9962/02 - 582 5853,
Fax: 582 5841, [email protected], www.ochaopt.org • UNRWA - United Nations Relief and Works Agency,
Gaza (08), Tel: 677 7333, Fax: 677 7555, [email protected], West Bank (02), Tel: 589 0401, Fax: 532 2714,
[email protected] • UNSCO - Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East
Peace Process, Tel: 08-284 3555/02-568 7276, Fax: 08-282 0966/02-568 7288, [email protected], www.
unsco.org • UNTSO - United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 568 7222 - 568
7444, Fax: 568 7400, [email protected] • WFP - World Food Programme, Gaza (08), Tel: 282
7463, Fax: 282 7921, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 540 1340, Fax: 540 1227, [email protected] • WHO - World
Health Organization, Jerusalem (02), Tel: 540 0595, Fax: 581 0193, [email protected], Gaza (08), Tel: 282
2033, Fax: 284 5409, [email protected] • World Bank, Tel: 236 6500, Fax: 236 6543
Airport Information Gaza International Airport, Tel: 08-213 4289 • Ben Gurion Airport, Tel: 03-972 3344
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP)
4 Al-Ya’qubi Street, Jerusalem, Tel: 02 6268200, Fax: 02 6268222
E-mail: [email protected] / URL: http://www.papp.undp.org
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85
East Jerusalem (02) Hospitals Augusta Victoria, Tel: 627 9911 • Dajani Maternity, Tel: 583 3906
• Hadassah (Ein Kerem), Tel: 677 7111 • Hadassah (Mt. Scopus), Tel: 584 4111 • Maqassed, Tel: 627 0222
• Red Crescent Maternity, Tel: 628 6694 • St. John’s Opthalmic, Tel: 582 8325 • St. Joseph, Tel: 591
1911 • Clinics and Centers Arab Health Center, Tel: 628 8726 • CHS Clinics, Tel: 628 0602/0499 • Ibn
Sina Medical Center, Tel: 540 0083/9, 532 2536 • Jerusalem First Aid Clinic, Tel: 626 4055 • Medical
Relief Womens, Health Clinic, Tel: 583 3510 • Palestinian Counseling Center, Tel: 656 2272, 656
2627 • Peace Medical Center, Tel: 532 7111, 532 4259 • Red Crescent Society, Tel: 586 056 • Spafford
Children’s Clinic, Tel: 628 4875 • The Austrian Arab Commu­nity Clinic (AACC), Tel: 627 3246 • The
Jerusalem Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children, Tel: 628 3058
Bethlehem (02) Hospitals Al-Dibis Maternity, Tel: 274 4242 • Al-Hussein Government, Tel: 274
1161 • Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, Tel: 274 4049-51, Fax: 274 4053 • Caritas Baby, Tel:
275 8500, Fax: 275 8501 • Mental Health, Tel: 274 1155 • Shepherd’s Field Hospital, Tel: 277 5092 • St.
Mary’s Maternity, Tel: 274 2443 • The Holy Family, Tel: 274 1151, Fax: 274 1154 Clinics and Centers
Beit Sahour Medical Center, Tel: 277 4443 • Bethlehem Dental Center, Tel: 274 3303
Hebron (02) Hos­pi­tals Amira Alia, Tel: 222 8126 • Al-Ahli, Tel: 222 0212 • Al-Meezan, Tel: 225 7400/1
• Al-Za’tari, Tel: 222 9035 • Mohammed Ali, Tel: 225 3883/4 • Shaheera, Tel: 222 6982 • St. John’s
Opthalmic, Tel: 223 6047 • The Red Crescent, Tel: 222 8333 • Yattah Governmental Hospital, Tel:
227 1017, 227 1019 Clinics and Centers Red Crescent Society, Tel: 222 7450 • UPMRC, Tel: 222 6663
Jericho (02) Hospitals Jericho Government, Tel: 232 1967/8/9 Clinics and Centers UPMRC, Tel:
232 2148
Nablus (09) Hospitals Al-Aqsa Hospital and Medical Center, Tel: 294 7666 • Al-Ittihad, Tel: 237
1491 • Al-Watani, Tel: 238 0039 • Al-Zakat Hospital (TolKarem), Tel: 268 0680 • Aqraba Maternity
Home, Tel: 259 8550 • Rafidia, Tel: 239 0390 • Salfit Emergency Governmental Hospital, Tel: 251 5111
• Specialized Arab Hospital, Tel: 239 0390 • St. Luke’s, Tel: 238 3818 • UNRWA Qalqilia Hospital
(Qalqiliya), Tel: 294 0008 Clinics and Centers Al-Amal Center, Tel: 238 3778 • Arab Medical Center,
Tel: 237 1515 • Hagar (Handicapped Equipment Center), Tel: 239 8687 • Red Crescent Society, Tel:
238 2153 • UPMRC, Tel: 283 7178
Ramallah & Al-Bireh (02) Hospitals Arabcare Hospital, Tel: 298 6420 • AL-Karmel
Maternity Home, Tel: 247 1026 • Al-Mustaqbal Hospital, Tel: 240 4562 • AL-Nather Maternity
Hospital, Tel: 295 5295 • Ash-Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Tel: 298 8088 • Birziet Maternity Home,
Tel: 281 0616 • Care Specialized Dental Center, Tel: 297 5090 • Khaled Surgical Hospital, Tel:
295 5640 • Ramallah Government Hospitals, Tel: 298 2216/7 • Red Crescent Hospital, Tel: 240
6260 Clinics and Centers Arab Medical Center, Tel: 295 4334 • Arabcare Medical Center,
Tel: 298 6420 • Emergency & Trauma Center, Tel: 298 8088 • Harb Heart Center, Tel: 296 0336
• Modern Dental Center, Tel: 298 0630 • National Center for Blood Diseases “Hippocrates”
Thalessemia and Hemophilia Center, Tel: 296 5082, Fax: 296 5081 • Patients’ Friends Society
K. Abu Raya Re­ha­bili­tation Centre, Tel: 295 7060/1 • Palestinian Hemophilia Association-PHA,
Telefax: 297 5588 • Peace Medical Center, Tel: 295 9276 • Red Crescent Society, Tel: 240 6260 • UPMRC,
Tel: 298 4423, 296 0686
Gaza Strip (08) Hospitals Al-Ahli Al-Arabi, Tel: 286 3014 • Dar Al-Salam, Tel: 285 4240 • Nasser, Tel:
205 1244 • Shifa, Tel: 286 2765 Clinics and Centers Arab Medical Center, Tel: 286 2163 • Beit Hanoun
Clinic, Tel: 285 8065 • Dar Al-Shifa, Tel: 286 5520 • Hagar (Handicapped Equipment Center), Tel: 284
2636 • St. John’s Opthalmic, Tel: 284 8445 • UPMRC, Tel: 282 7837
Ramallah (02) Quds Bank (Al-Masyoon), Tel: 297 0014, (El-Bireh), Tel: 298 3391 • Al Rafah Microfinance
Bank, Tel: 297 8710, Fax: 297 8880 • Arab Bank, (Al-Balad) Tel: 298 6480, Fax: 298 6488 • Arab Bank,
(Al-Bireh), Tel: 295 9581, Fax: 295 9588 • Arab Bank, (Al-Manara) Tel: 295 4821, Fax: 295 4824 • Arab Bank
(Masyoun Branch), Tel: 297 8100 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 295 8421 • Bank of Palestine, Tel: 298 5921, Fax:
298 5920 • Bank of Palestine, (Al-Irsal) Tel: 296 6860, Fax: 296 6864 • Arab Palestinian Investment Bank,
Tel: 298 7126, Fax: 298 7125 • Beit Al-Mal Holdings, Tel: 298 6916, Fax: 298 6916 • HSBC Bank Middle
East, Tel: 298 7802, Fax: 298 7804 • Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: 298 3500, Fax: 295 5437 • The Center for
Private Enterprise Development, Tel: 298 6786, Fax: 298 6787 • Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel:
295 4141, Fax: 295 4145 • Cooperative Development Unit, Tel: 290 0029, Fax: 290 0029 • Deutsche
Ausgleichsbank (DTA), Tel: 298 4462, Fax: 295 2610 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 298 6270, Fax: 298 6276 •
International Islamic Arab Bank, Tel: 240 7060, Fax: 240 7065 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 295 8686, Fax: 2958684
• Jordan-Gulf Bank, Tel: 298 7680, Fax: 298 7682 • Jordan-Kuwait Bank, Tel: 240 6725, Fax: 240 6728 •
Jordan National Bank, Tel: 295 9343, Fax: 295 9341 • Palestine International Bank (PIB), Tel: 298 3300,
Fax: 298 3333 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 298 7880, Fax: 298 7881 • Palestine Islamic Bank, Tel:
295 0247, Fax: 295 7146 • Union Bank, Tel: 298 6412, Fax: 295 6416
Gaza Strip (08) Quds Bank (Al-Remal), Tel: 284 4333 • Arab Bank, Tel: 08-286 6288, Fax: 282 0704 •
Arab Bank (Al-Rimal), Tel: 282 4729, Fax: 282 4719 • Arab Bank, (Khan Younis) Tel: 205 4775, Fax: 205 4745
• Arab Bank (Karny), Tel: 280 0020, Fax: 280 0028 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 282 2046, Fax: 282 1099 • Bank
of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 282 3272, Fax: 286 5667 • Beit Al-Mal Holdings, Tel: 282 0722, Fax: 282 5786 •
Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: 282 4950, Fax: 282 4830 • Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: 282 5806, Fax:
282 5816 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 282 6322, Fax: 286 1143 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 282 0707, Fax: 282 4341 •
Palestine Development Fund, Tel: 282 4286, Fax: 282 4286 • Palestine International Bank (PIB), Tel:
284 4333, Fax: 284 4303 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 282 2105, Fax: 282 2107
Nablus (09) Quds Bank, Tel: 235 9741, (Nablus Aljded) , Tel: 239 7782 • Arab Bank, Tel: 238 2340, Fax:
238 2351 • Arab Bank (Askar), Tel: 231 1694, Fax: 234 2076 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 238 3651, Fax: 238 3650
• Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 238 2030, Fax: 238 2923 • Bank of Palestine (Al-Misbah), Tel: 231 1460, Fax:
231 1922 • Cairo-Amman Bank, Tel: 238 1301, Fax: 238 1590 • Commercial Bank of Palestine, Tel: 238
5160, Fax: 238 5169 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 238 6060, Fax: 238 6066 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 238 1120, Fax:
238 1126 • Jordan-Gulf Bank, Tel: 238 2191, Fax: 238 1953 • Jordan-Kuwait Bank, Tel: 237 7223, Fax:
237 7181 • Jordan-National Bank, Tel: 238 2280, Fax: 238 2283 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 238
5051, Fax: 238 5057 • Palestine International Bank, Tel: 239 7780, Fax: 239 7788
City
Fire
Ambulance
Police
Jerusalem*
CHS (Old City Jerusalem)
Bethlehem
Gaza
Hebron
Jericho
Jenin
Nablus
Ramallah
Child Helpline Palestine
Tulkarem
Qalqilia
02-6282222
101 / 050-319120
02-274 1123
08-2863633
102/22 28121-2-3
02-232 2658
04-250 1225
09-238 3444
02-295 6102
(121) free line
09-267 2106
09-294 0440
101
100
101 / 02-274 4222
101 / 08-2863633
101
101 / 02-232 1170
101 / 04-250 2601
101 / 09-238 0399
101 / 02-240 0666
02-274 8231
08-2863400
100
02-232 2521
04-250 1035
09-238 3518
02-295 6571
101 / 09-267 2140
101 / 09-294 0440
09-267 2161
09-294 22730
Telephone Services
East Jerusalem (02) Quds Bank (Al-Ezzarieh), Tel: 279 8803 • Arab Bank (Al-Ezzarieh), Tel: 279 6671,
Fax: 279 6677 • Arab Bank (Al-Ram), Tel: 234 8710, Fax: 234 8717 • Center for Development Consultancy
(CDC), Tel: 583 3183, Fax: 583 3185 • Commer­cial Bank of Palestine, Tel: 279 9886, Fax: 279 9258
Bethlehem (02) Arab Bank, Tel: 277 0080, Fax: 277 0088 • Arab Land Bank, Tel: 274 0861 • Cairo-
Amman Bank, Tel: 274 4971, Fax: 274 4974 • Jordan National Bank, Tel: 277 0351, Fax: 277 0354 • Bank
of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 276 5515/6, Fax: 276 5517 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 277 0888, Fax: 277 0889
Hebron (02) Quds Bank, Tel: 221 1357 • Al-Ahli Bank, Tel: 222 4801/2/3/4 • Arab Bank, Tel: 222 6410,
Fax: 222 6418 • Bank of Palestine Ltd., Tel: 225 0001/2/3 • Cairo-Amman Bank, (Wadi Al-Tuffah) Tel: 222
5353/4/5 • Cairo-Amman Bank, (Al-Balad) Tel: 222 9803/4 • Cairo-Amman Bank, (The Islamic Branch)
Tel: 222 7877 • Islamic Arab Bank, Tel: 2254156/7 • Islamic Bank, Tel: 222 6768 • Jordan Bank, Tel: 222
4351/2/3/4 • Palestine Investment Bank, Tel: 225 2701/2/3/4 • The Housing Bank, Tel: 225 0055
86
Bezeq
Wake up calls
Talking Clock
Time around the world
Vocal Information
Pager Service
Repeat call
Last call
Call waiting
Call forwarding
General information
Services
Corporate services
1475
1455
1975
1705
*41
*42
*70
*71
199
164
166
Paltel
Wake up calls
Free fax service
Follow me
(forwarding calls)
Phone book
Maintenance
Information
Internet maintenance
175
167
Tourism and An­tiq­uities
Police
72*
144
166
199
167
Border Crossings
Calls from Overseas
Dial access code, international
country code (972) or (970),
area code (without the zero),
desired number
87
Bethlehem
Gaza
Jericho
Nablus
Allenby Bridge
Arava Border
Eretz Crossing
Rafah Border
Sheikh Hussien
02-277 0750/1
08-282 9017
02-232 4011
09-385 244
02-994 2302
08-630 0555
08-674 1672
08-673 4205
04-609 3410
Persons (10 years and over) who use computers.......................................................................50.9%
Percentage of households that have a mobile phone.................................................................81.0%
Percentage of households that have a telephone.......................................................................50.8%
Percentage of households that view Palestine TV......................................................................29.9%
Population and Demography
Population (01/02/2011)
Palestinian Territory............................................................................................................ 4,118,669
West Bank (All governorates)............................................................................................... 2,552,299
Gaza Strip............................................................................................................................. 1,566,370
Jerusalem Governorate......................................................................................................... 386,274
Sex Ratio...................................................................................................................................... 103.1
Population by Sex (1/2/2009)
Male............................................................................................................................................................................................1,973,503
Female........................................................................................................................................................................................1,916,023
Fertility rate (2007)........................................................................................................................4.6%.
Average Household Size (1/12/2007)
Palestinian Territory.......................................................................................................................5.8%
West Bank.....................................................................................................................................5.5%
Gaza Strip......................................................................................................................................6.5%
Land Use and Agriculture
Palestinian Territory (PT) Area (Km2)............................................................................................ 6,020
Area of PT by Type of Use (different reference periods)
• Agricultural Land (2008)............................................................................................................25.1%
• Forest and Wooded Land (2007)................................................................................................1.6%
• Palestinian Built-up Land (2006).................................................................................................6.6%
Area of built-up land in Israeli Settlements of the total area of West Bank (2006).........................3.3%
Cultivated Area (Km2) - 2007/2008.......................................................................................... 1,854.0
Education (2007/2008)
Illiteracy rate for persons 15 years and over (2010)...................................................................5.1%
Illiteracy rate for persons 15-29 years (2010)..............................................................................0.8%
No. of schools (2010/2011) .......................................................................................................... 2,674
No. of school teachers (2010/2011)............................................................................................ 51,010
No. of school students (2010/2011)....................................................................................... 1,128,348
Students per class (schools) (2010/2011)...................................................................................38.6%.
Drop-out rate (schools 2006/2007)................................................................................................1.2%
Repetition rate (schools 2006/2007)..............................................................................................3.0%
ICT (2009)
Number of fix phone subscribers.............................................................................................. 362,416
Number of mobile phone subscribers (thousand)......................................................................... 1,800
Number of ADSL internet subscribers........................................................................................ 92,482
Health
No. of hospitals (2010) ..................................................................................................................... 76
Doctors per 1000 population (2009) ................................................................................................ 1.3
Nurses per 1000 population (2009).................................................................................................. 1.6
Beds per 1000 population (2010) .................................................................................................... 1.3
Culture (2006)
No. of mosques (in operation) ..................................................................................................... 2,228
No. of churches .............................................................................................................................. 160
No. of newspapers (in operation)...................................................................................................... 13
No. of theaters (in operation)............................................................................................................... 9
No. of museums (in operation)............................................................................................................ 8
No. of cultural centers (in operation)............................................................................................... 161
Information & Communication Technology (2006)
Availability of TV sets..................................................................................................................95.3%
Availability of satellite dish for households with TV sets..............................................................80.4%
Availability of computers at home................................................................................................32.9%
Availability of Internet at home....................................................................................................15.9%
Persons (10 years and over) who have acces to the Internet ....................................................18.4%
88
Living Standards and Humanitarian Aid (2009)
Percentage of Households below poverty line............................................................................57.3%
Number of Individuals below poverty line.............................................................................. 2,303,840
Percentage of households that lost more than half of their income during Al-Aqsa Intifada.......51.6%
Percentage of households that indicated their need for assistance (2005).................................67.0%
Average monthly per capita expenditure in the Palestinian Territory............................................ 131.1
Labour Force (4th quarter of 2010)
MalesFemales
Labour force participation rate.................................................................................. 66.2%.
15.3%
Unemployment rate in Palestinian Territory (PT)...................................................... 23.4%.
23.2%
Unemployment rate in West Bank............................................................................ 16.5%.
18.6%
Unemployment rate in Gaza Strip............................................................................ 37.0%.
40.9%
Average net daily wage for employees working in PT (US$)...................................... 21.7.
22.0
Percentage of working children (10-17 years), (4th quarter of 2010) ................5.4 %.. 1.1 %
Percentage of graduates of higher education and vocational training
of persons aged 15 years and over (End 2005)......................................................................14.5%
Percentage of graduates of high education and vocational training
who participated in labour force (End 2005)...........................................................................83.4%
Unemployment rate of graduates of high education and vocational training (End 2005) 25.4%
Economics
GDP (2010-million US$)-at constant prices (RWB and GS)**................................................... 5,728.0.
GDP Per Capita (2010- US$)-at constant prices (RWB and GS)**........................................... 1,502.4
CPI and percent change in Palestinian Terrotiry
in February 2011 Compare with January 2011.(base year 2004=100) 132.09......................0.44%
GDP per capita for the 4th Quarter 2010 in US $ at constant price (WB & GS)............................ 383.2
Quaterly GDP at constant price in millions of US $ (RWB & GS) for the 4th Quarter 2010........ 1.477.1
Number of Establishments in Operation in Private Sector and Non Governmental
Organization Sector by Economic Activity (2010)***
• Agriculture (farming of cattle and other animals)..................................................................... 6,976
• Mining and Quarrying................................................................................................................. 281
• Manufacturing........................................................................................................................ 14,792
• Electricity and Water supply........................................................................................................ 444
• Construction................................................................................................................................ 479
• Wholesale and Retail and Repairs........................................................................................ 59,110
• Transportation, storage and communication............................................................................ 1,056
• Hotels and Restaurants .......................................................................................................... 4,628
• Financial Intermediation.............................................................................................................. 848
• Real Estate, Rental and Business Activities............................................................................ 4,151
• Education................................................................................................................................. 2,342
• Health and Social work............................................................................................................ 4,206
• Other Community, Social and Personal Services ................................................................... 8,933
Imports of Goods (2009 million US$) .................................................................................... 3,600.8
Exports of Goods (2009 million US$)....................................................................................... 518.4
Hotels (2010‫)‏‬
Room occupancy rate..................................................................................................................35.4%
Bed occupancy rate.....................................................................................................................33.4%
Environment
Available quantities of water (2008 - mcm).................................................................................. 308.7
Connected households to wastewater network (2009)..........................................................52.1%
Housing Conditions (2009)
Average number of rooms in housing units...................................................................................... 3.6
Average number of persons per room (housing density)***............................................................. 1.6
(RWB and GS)=Remaining West Bank and Gaza Strip
* RWB and GS at constant prices: 1997 is the base year: revised version
** Primary Results
*** Revised Figures
89
As Palestine continues its struggle for independence, it has already begun to acquire sovereign cyberspace recognition.
A difficult three-year international debate resulted in the “Occupied Palestinian Territory” being officially assigned the
two-letter suffix, “.ps,” in the ISO 3166-1 list for the representation of names of countries or territories. The successful
struggle to attain country code 970 led the way for the Internet Corporation for Associated Names and Numbers
(ICANN), the international corporation that manages the country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) system on the
Internet, on 22 March 2000, to assign Palestine its unique country identifier, “.ps,” in line with other sovereign nations
such as .fr for France and .ca for Canada.
Arts and Culture: Al Rowwad Theatre Centre www.alrowwad.virtualactivism.net, A.M. Qattan
Foundation www.qattanfoundation.org, Ashtar Theater www.ashtar-theatre.org, Al Kasaba Theatre and
Cinematheque www.alkasaba.org, Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art www.almamalfoundation.
org, Al Mathaf www.almathaf.ps, ArtSchool Palestine www.artschoolpalestine.com, Baha Boukhari www.
baha-cartoon.net, Educational Bookshop www.educationalbookshop.com, Family Net www.palestinefamily.net, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (Ramallah) www.sakakini.org, Paltel Virtual Gallery (Birzeit
University) www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu, Rim Banna www.rimbanna.com, RIWAQ: Centre for Architectural
Conservation www.riwaq.org, Sunbula (fair trade/crafts) www.sunbula.org, The Popular Arts Centre
www.popularartcentre.org, Sumud www.sumud.net, Pal­es­tinian Pottery www.pal­es­tinianpottery.com, Palestine
Writing Workshop www.palestineworkshop.org, The International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa)
www.annadwa.org, The Musical Intifada www.docjazz.com, El-funoun www.el-funoun.org, Sabreen
Association for Artistic Development www.sabreen.org, The Virtual Gallery www.virtualgallery.birzeit.edu,
Business and Economy: Arab Pal­es­tinian In­vestment Com­pany www.apic-pal.com, Hebron Store
www.hebron-store.com, Jawwal www.jawwal.ps, Massar www.massar.com, The Palestinian Economic
Council for De­vel­opment and Re­con­struction (PECDAR) www.pecdar.org, Pal­es­tinian Securities
Ex­change, Ltd. www.p-s-e.com, Pal­es­tine Development and In­vestment Ltd. (PADICO) www.padico.
com, Paltel Group. www.paltelgroup.ps, Tatweer Information Technology & Business Solutions www.
progress.ps, Wataniya Palestine www.wataniya-palestine.com
Directories, ISPs and Por­tals: Jaffa Net www.weino.com, Hadara www.hadara.ps, Al-Quds Network
www.alqudsnet.com, Masader, the Palestinian NGO Portal www.masader.ps, Palseek www.palseek.
com, Paleye www.paleye.com, Al Buraq www.alburaq.net, The Palestinian NGO Portal www.masader.ps
Government: PLO Negotiations Affairs Department (NAD) www.nad-plo.org, PNA www.pna.gov.ps,
Ministry of Higher Edu­cation www.mohe.gov.ps, Min­is­try of In­dus­try www.industry.gov.ps, Ministry of
Education www.moe.gov.ps, Min­is­try of Health www.moh.gov.ps, Government Computer Center www.
gcc.gov.ps, Orient House www.orienthouse.org
Health and Mental Health: Augusta Victoria Hospital www.avh.org, Gaza Community Mental Health
Programme www.gcmhp.net, Ministry of Health www.moh.gov.ps, Palestinian Counseling Center
www.pcc-jer.org, Red Crescent Society www.palestinercs.org, Spafford Children’s Clinic www.spaffordjerusalem.org, UNFPA www.unfpa.ps, Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees www.upmrc.org,
Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation www.basr.org, Palestine Medical Council www.pmc.ps
Human Rights Organisations: Al Haq www.alhaq.org, Defence for Children International Palestine
Section www.dci-pal.org, Human Rights and Good Governance Secretariat in the oPt www.humanrights.
ps, LAW - The Pal­es­tinian Society for the Pro­tection of Human Rights and the Environment
www.lawsociety.org, The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights www.pchrgaza.org, BADIL www.badil.org,
Women’s Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) www.pal-watc.org; www.pcc-jer.org
Research and News: Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem www.arij.org, JMCC www.jmcc.org,
PASSIA www.passia.org, MIFTAH www.miftah.org, AMIN www.amin.org, Al Quds www.alquds.com, Al
Ayyam www.al-ayyam.com, WAFA www.wafa.pna.net, Palestine Wildlife Society www.wildlife-pal.org, 93.6
RAM FM www.ramfm.net, Ramallah on line www.ramallahonline.com, Ramattan Studios www.ramattan.
com, Palestine Family Net www.palestine-family.net, Palestine Mapping Centre www.palmap.org, The
Palestine Monitor www.palestinemonitor.org, The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between
People www.imemc.org, OCHA- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs www.ochaopt.org, Englishpal www.englishpal.ps, Ma’an News Agency www.maannews.net/en
Tourism: Ministry of Tourism www.travelpalestine.ps, Arab Hotel Association www.palestinehotels.
com, Holy land Incoming Tour Operators Association www.holylandoperators.com, Diyafa Hospitality
Management Consultants Group www.diyafa.ps, visitpalestine www.visitpalestine.ps
Travel Agencies: Al­ter­native Tourism Group www.patg.org, Atlas Aviation www.atlasavia.com, Awad
Tourist Agency www.awad-tours.com, Aweidah Tours www.aweidah.com, Blessed Land Travel www.
blessedland.com, Crown Tours www.crown-tours.com, Daher Travel www.dahertravel.com, Guiding Star
www.guidingstarltd.com, Halabi Tours and Travel Co. www.halabitours.ps, Jiro Tours www.jirotours.com, Mt.
of Olives Tours www.olivetours.com, Pioneer Links www.pioneer-links.com, Raha Tours www.rahatravel.
com, Ramallah Travel Agency www.kaoud.org, United Travel www.unitedtravelltd.com, Universal Tourist
Agency www.universal-jer.com
Universities: Birzeit University www.birzeit.edu, An-Najjah University www.najah.edu, Al-Quds
University www.alquds.edu, Al-Azhar University (Gaza) www.alazhar-gaza.edu, Arab American University
www.aauj.edu, Bethlehem University www.bethlehem.edu, Hebron University www.hebron.edu, The
Islamic University (Gaza) www.iugaza.edu, Palestine Polytechnic www.ppi.edu
90
Map Source: PalMap - GSE
© Copyright to GSE and PalMap
Map source, designer and publisher:
GSE - Good Shepherd Engineering & Computing
P.O.Box 524, 8 Jamal Abdel Nasser St.,
Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine
Tel: +970 2 2744728 / Fax: +970 2 2751204 (Also +972)
[email protected] / www.gsecc.com / www.palmap.org
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The Last Word
Inspire Me
Despite the harsh reality that faces Palestinians today, possibly even because of
it, Palestine by no means lacks inspirational stories. I believe that such stories not
only demonstrate resolve, determination, and, in fact, love of life, they also instil
hope, without which it would be difficult to carry on.
In this rich issue of This Week in Palestine, we have cooperated closely with
TEDxRamallah to publish heart-warming, inspirational stories such as the grassroots
story about a number of women who put their minds and efforts together to succeed
in building a children’s playground in their village with hardly any resources. Among
the numerous other inspirational stories is that of an influential Palestinian member
of the Dutch parliament who is investigating the heist of private Palestinian libraries
in 1948. Parallel to this issue of inspirational stories from Palestine, TEDxRamallah
and This Week in Palestine would like to invite you to experience another big dose
of inspiration – a day filled with inspiring Palestinian speakers at the Convention
Palace in Bethlehem on 16 April. You’ll find more information in this issue’s first
article, and should you decide to attend, make sure to register first through http://
www.tedxramallah.com. It seems that April is the Muses’ high season, so let’s get
charged up!
When we decided to dedicate the April issue of This Week in Palestine to
inspirational stories from Palestine, we obviously had no idea that the uprising of Arab
youth would be the inspiring story of the year, if not of the decade. The continued
success of Arab youth in their demand for change has swept through the Middle
East, and it will continue; this phenomenon has empowered people from all walks
of life, giving them back their lost dignity and pride. As importantly, Arab youth have
managed to encourage people to change the status quo, the years of stagnation
when change seemed impossible. In Palestine, the effect of the Arab youth revolts
has already sparked a nationwide Palestinian youth movement that demands to
change the abysmal four-year-old schism between Ramallah and Gaza. A newly
formed youth movement in Al-Quds is already active in improving life in the city
and communicates mostly via Facebook. People are inspired and want change,
although I believe that most Palestinians are not demanding a regime change, but
rather social justice, an end to internal Palestinian strife, and most importantly, an
end to Israeli Occupation.
The effect of what is happening in the Arab world will be felt for decades to come,
but one thing is already clear: the rules of the game have changed. No longer will
any people accept an autocratic ruler running their country as his personal farm
and adding insult to injury by appointing his son as his successor. No longer will
the notion of one political thought reign unanimously while crushing all political
opponents. Inclusion, not exclusion, will be the name of the game. On the micro
level, the fight for individual human and social rights will continue until every single
citizen is guaranteed his or her rights through the rule of law.
Very few Palestinians today are with the school of thought which says that we should
rid ourselves of Occupation first, and then we will clean our house; it is common belief
that cleaning our house first is, in fact, the fastest way to rid ourselves of Occupation.
Change for the better is good, and in light of current events in the Arab world, it is
our hope that the process of building a democratic, liberal, and secular Palestine
run by institutions and the rule of law has been accelerated.
Sani P. Meo
Publisher
Church of the Holy Sepluchre, the traditional
focal point of Easter in Jerusalem.
Photo from Palestine Image Bank.