Haji's Nonviolent Resistance Recognized and Building a House

I only have a couple more days left in Palestine – and I haven't written that many blog posts this time around – sorry about that! Blame it on the heat....this gal from Canada is not used to temperatures pushing 40 degrees Celsius :)

It's time to write about some good things that have been happening in At-Tuwani the past couple of days. First, today the village hosted the South Hebron Hills Festival of Nonviolent Resistance which has marked the end of the summer camp in At-Tuwani for the past 3 years. Memories from this day include....

• first time in all my times coming to Palestine that I've actually stood in a crowd while the Palestinian national anthem was played (I've heard kids sing it at the school or it being played over school loudspeakers in Hebron – but not at any events that I can remember being at).
• Children from At-Tuwani acting out scenes from life in the village and helping an Italian clowning group try and make a sad clown smile. Here's a photo:

• The end of the festival included recognition of groups and NGO's that have been in solidarity with Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills. And then the various villages in the South Hebron Hills were recognized, and specific individuals from some of the villages. I'm not quite sure it was proper, but several of us cheered and whistled loudly when the Haji's (female elders) from At-Tuwani were called up one by one to be recognized for their nonviolent resistance efforts. These 5 women are really quite amazing – they are in their 70's or 80's and have worked hard their whole lives in raising a family and farming. They are teaching the younger women in the village the traditional handicrafts of cross-stitching, wool spinning, dying and weaving, and making grass baskets. And any time there is a problem in the village with Israeli soldiers or settlers some of these women will often make their way to the centre of the incident – their presence in beautiful cross-stitched dresses and white flowing headscarves demanding respect – and emphasis their solution to whatever is happening (whether it be that soldiers need to leave the village, settlers need to be arrested for harassing villagers, or people from At-Tuwani needing to be firm in standing up for their rights). Their courage and fearlessness is I'm sure an example for the next generation of nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation in At-Tuwani.

Despite the heat, a couple of teammates and I have helped a young couple (K&J A for those of you who know people here) in the village in building a new house. My previous experiences in building a house include helping Mom and Dad build their new house (I remember freezing during Christmas holidays nailing plywood on the roof) and going on a work and learn Mennonite Central Committee tour to El Salvador after Hurricane Mitch and helping a community there build small pre-fab kinda houses. And now a cement and cement-block house in At-Tuwani. All 3 experiences have been different so I can't say that my knowledge of how to build a house has increased! The day that I helped we were wiring together re-bar for the flat cement roof of the house. Here's a photo:

Inshallah I will be back sometime next year to serve with CPT in At-Tuwani, but I'm not quite sure when that would be yet. But I think that it's pretty certain the villagers will be hooked up to the Palestinian electricity grid (24hrs of electricity! Yay!!) and also have access to a water filling point. These are major accomplishments for the villagers as they have been struggling to have these basic infrastructure needs met for over 10 years. It will be exciting to come back and see how the lives of the families in the village will change as a result of these improvements in their standard of living.