One of my team members drew my attention to this video filmed by one of the CPTers at our other project in Palestine/the West Bank. I live in Hebron, and the other CPT Palestine team is in At-Tuwani, a small rural village located in the south hills of Hebron. The CPTer filmed the video with At-Tuwani kids dancing to the ring tone on his cell phone. It is great fun -- check it out!
I treasure these moments of play here in Palestine. The presence of the Israeli army and Israeli settlers here is so constant and pervasive. The daily reality of the Occupation-- going through checkpoints, being surrounded by razor wire, and interacting with soldiers -- gets tiring. Yet -- this is one of the things I love about the people I meet here -- folks still play, joke, and laugh. Not even the Israeli occupation of the West Bank/Palestine can stop that.
The other day, one of my teammates and I were walking through the market, and my teammate stopped at a shop to buy a new cane. As she was pulling canes out of their display and examining them, this lovely Palestinian man with a cane, dressed in traditional Arab garb, tapped his cane against the cane she was examining. And there, right in the middle of the souq (Arabic for "market"), they had a brief, playful "duel" with their canes. We were all laughing and enjoying the play.
Thank God for laughter and the strength of the human spirit! It gives me hope and joy.
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1 comment:
That was beautiful, J. The kids and the older man...people are really the same all over, even if they have different customs and are in different situations. There are still some things which unite us. :-)
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