Life under occupation - Chaos out of nothing

Thirty young people enjoying themselves and working seriously as part of the Dar Assadaqa Winter Camp (a mid-year holiday project) -and out of the blue, an interaction with the Israeli army that left three of the kids hurt – one hit by a jeep, one hurt his leg running away, and a girl with asthma who was affected by tear gas.

In the middle of this morning, four Israeli army jeeps appeared in the middle of Abu Dis, and one stopped by the front door of Dar Assadaqa while the others went to the nearby Abu Dis Youth Club. There was no obvious reason, and they didn’t stay long - they threw many tear gas cans, including one to the shop next to Dar Assadaqa which affected the young people there, who scattered from Dar Assadaqa (and one was hit by one of the jeeps). The soldiers pointed their guns at local people and then went away. 

The first picture here is one of today's  Winter Camp groups working on some drama. 

The second picture, taken after the incident with the army happened, because when they came, there was panic and no time for photos.  You can see tear gas In the distance, as the army jeeps are heading back to the military camp, but they have given everyone the message: they come into town whenever they want to.

Life under occupation - Chaos out of nothing

Thirty young people enjoying themselves and working seriously as part of the Dar Assadaqa Winter Camp (a mid-year holiday project) -and out of the blue, an interaction with the Israeli army that left three of the young people hurt – one hit by a jeep, one hurt his leg running away, and a girl with

asthma who was affected by tear gas.
In the middle of this morning, four Israeli army jeeps appeared in the middle of Abu Dis, and one stopped by the front door of Dar Assadaqa while the others went to the nearby Abu Dis Youth Club. There was no obvious reason, and they didn’t stay long - they threw many tear gas cans, including one to the shop next to Dar Assadaqa which affected the young people there, who scattered from Dar Assadaqa (and one was hit by one of the jeeps). The soldiers pointed their guns at local people and then went away.
The first picture here is one of today's groups working on some drama. The second picture taken after the incident with the army happened, because when they came, there was panic (no time for photos). In the distance, there is tear gas and the army jeeps are heading back to the military camp, but they have given everyone the message: they come into town whenever they want to.

Great reports from the Dar Assadaqa 'Winter camp'

Young people in Abu Dis, Palestine live squashed between the Israeli security wall, vast Israeli settlements and a serious military checkpoint. Their lives are dominated by travel restrictions, army invasions to the schools, imprisonments and shootings of young people. It is terrible to see the pressure increasing on the young people - though it is also inspiring to see their continuing strength

and energy and love to laugh!
Last year, Dar Assadaqa Community Centre in Abu Dis began a project "A Voice for Young Palestinians" - a human rights media programme for young people and women, aiming to upskill young people and women in media; to enable them to describe through different media their experience of the human rights situation in Palestine and the daily violations that are happening; to help them to build international links with young people and women – using the twinning links between Camden and Abu Dis - so they can disseminate this material internationally.
Year one got off to a good start. School students and university students worked on media and human rights projects and linked with young people in Britain to tell their stories.
During the year, the pressure on the young people of Abu Dis continued to be very bad (see CADFA's human rights reports). The Israeli army frequently stopped school classes with tear gas, arrested and even wounded children - and then two youths from the town were killed.
We want to work as hard as we can for the rights of the young people of Abu Dis to live a normal life, free of daily human rights violations. We know that this work increases their optimism and brings hope - which is very important. We are seeking funding to increase resources for the young people and step these courses up this year.

المخيم الشتوي لدار الصداقة كانون ثاني 2018

  مع بدأ العطلة الشتوية لمدارس أبوديس تفرغ عدد من مشاركي مشروع معاً للعمل كمتطوعين في دار الصداقة وتحديداً مع أندية التوأمة الشبابية حيث تم وضع برنامج عمل تضمن في البداية مخيم شتوي نشاطي شمل أكثر من 40 مشارك كانوا كلهم من مدارس أبوديس الثانوية فعلى مدار العطلة الشتوية نفذت المجموعة عدة نشاطات ترفيهية وتعليمية شملت رحلات وفرز لفرق دبكة وتمثل مسرحي ودورات خاصة بصناعة الأفلام وبناء الشخصية للتحدث للجمهور، بعد العطلة وفور عودة لطلاب الى مدارسهم استمر برنامج العمل بلقاءات دورية أسبوعية وتعمل اليوم ثلاث مجموعات طلابية في نادي التوأمة بواقع ثلاث لقاءات أسبوعية. مع مدربين متخصصين في الدراما وصناعة الأفلام التسجيلية والدبكة الشعبية ويشارك قرابه 30 طالب وطالبة من مدارس أبوديس هذا بالإضافة الى جولات ترفيهية محلية والى مواقع فلسطينية مختلفة.