**All the names in this post have been changed.
I went to Palestine to witness the extent of the occupation, to see how Palestinians deal with the occupation and ultimately, use their experiences to reflect on my own life, retelling their story to others. However, the truth is that for a lot of the time, I found it very difficult to think about anything other than my classes and the preparation related to it. In between teaching at the schools, our afternoon projects and visiting the wonderful locals, very little time remained for us to adequately prepare for our lessons. What’s more, all of the resources we used for the entire duration were those that we had personally bought from back home. We relied on sharing to get us through our days. Before I arrived in Palestine, I was told to ensure that my classes were fun and that the kids’ enjoyment held precedence. I may have taken this advice a little too far and I have to admit, I resorted to making my lessons 90% fun, 10% educational, largely due to my lack of preparation.
As promised, I took some photographs of my family to show the kids at school. I thought it would be a nice introduction to the lesson; a visual usually helps to engage students quickly and gives the class something to talk about. The class commenced in more or less the same way as yesterday and time crept away, leaving us little time to do something productive. The girls impatiently grabbed at the photographs; I reassured them that there were plenty to go around but they couldn’t stay in their seats as they spoke over each other in their native tongues. I encouraged them to speak in English and through much effort, they managed to voice a word or two which encompassed all their thoughts on a particular photograph. They smiled and giggled, innocently describing all that they saw as ‘beautiful’, limited by their English language, as they came to terms with the long, flowing beards decorating the men and the hijabs that adorned the women. Muslims the world over are bound by religion. On my arrival, I was just another Brit and even with my name, the locals still overlooked my affiliation with Islam. So once they knew, it was lovely to have that acknowledged connection with them. It also helped me gain the trust of the locals very quickly.
The day’s lesson focussed on going over the different parts of the body. As the level of their English was very basic, we needed to focus on vocabulary; and what better way to do this than ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes!’ One girl picked up the song quicker than the others so I put her in charge of leading the class as I used the time to display some of the work the girls had produced the day before. Then, Sara, one of the girls raised her hand. She waited for me to allow her to speak – which was not the case with all the girls. I told her to speak but she didn't say anything. She simply stood up, silencing the rest of the class. I wasn't quite prepared for what followed. She...She started to sing...angelically and in perfect English. I was taken aback. I was left standing as she graced the classroom with at least two verses of “We Shall Overcome,” a poignant song associated with the African-American Civil Rights Movement and even more apt, published in 1947. Seriously, google it if you haven’t heard it – maybe it will give you a better understanding if you hear the words of the song. The last place I’d heard it was in a movie somewhere in a similar setting and THAT nearly brought me to tears so you can only imagine! A dark cloud hung over me, the sweet melancholy of her voice embracing us as I forced a smile. The song is one of hope so I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. Maybe because it was a cruel and sudden reminder of the situation in Palestine or maybe because I had somehow convinced myself that the children were not totally aware of the atrocities going on around them. The children were quick to invalidate this false conviction over the next few weeks. I found it increasingly disturbing how one moment, the children would be laughing heartily and the next, it would become forlorn, a silent retort to the mention of ‘soldiers’ or ‘Israeel’. It was always more painful to experience this with the girls. The boys were more callous and abrupt with their views but the girls found it more difficult to vent; I feared they were letting it all build up inside them and that’s why it hurt more when the girls’ lessons took an unplanned political detour.
Today, the boys were disruptive – The End : D
After school, the nerves started to kick in again as I prepared myself for more introductions. The afternoon took me to ‘Jaamiatal Quds Maftoohah’ - the Open University situated in Hebron. It was one of the projects I had been allocated and this was a preliminary meeting to give me a better understanding regarding the level the students were working at and also gave me an opportunity to introduce myself. I was quite shy, only natural when you walk into a classroom of students where some are older than you, only to meet gazes full of expectation. A quick question and answer session helped me to divide the students into two groups and Fatima, the student coordinator really helped put me at ease with her brilliant English. She was cool and the rest of the class clearly held her in high esteem. I decided that I would teach the higher level students – a nice contrast to teaching the kids at school. The students were very excited, asking me through beaming smiles what the topics for the forthcoming sessions would be. Oh, how unprepared I was! I was set for an interesting few weeks.
I then joined a couple of the others at H2. One of the volunteers was teaching English there to a group called ‘Youth Against Settlements’, headed by a very big fish indeed, Muhammad, who was at the forefront of changing a local street name in protest of the occupation. At the time, he was having a meeting with the founder of a giant in the corporate world in regards to funding. A massive company. Collosal! One we’ve all probably used at some point in our lives. It was really exciting news and I’m dying to bare all it but I think it’s something I’d lose sleep over. More importantly, I’m aware that there are a few people from Israel that have viewed this page. It may be a coincidence that some Russians have also viewed it lol. Perhaps it’s paranoia but hey, better paranoia than (effectively) suicide.
Till my next post,
Assalamualaykum
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