8: Two sets of students
By Skip Schiel

Photos: Children at the YWCA center in Jalazoon refugee camp near Ramallah, and students at the installation, "Stateless Nation," at Birzeit University , October 2004

Two sets of Palestinian students, about 15-20 years apart in age, magnitudes apart in sophistication and maturity, but all living under Occupation.

The two sets mark a kind of demarcation for me personally: ending my work at Birzeit and beginning my work with other organizations such as the Ecumenical Accompaniers.

The latter, thanks to my South African friend, Jeremy Routledge, and his colleagues also from South Africa , Emily Mnisi and Sipho Mthetwa , brought me to Jalazoon. We toured the camp, in tow of the director, a vivacious spunky woman who resists retiring from her 50 plus years with the YWCA. She is devoted, energetic, effective, loving, and a model of life under Occupation. To work is to resist, she claimed, and her demeanor and voice gave evidence for that strength. Perhaps some of the children will absorb her spirit. In this photo they sing for us. I sang back the Thank You song (soon to translate it into Arabic, not hard: "Thank you very much, so and so, thank you very much, thank you very very much…")

The other photo, showing students in silhouette, is from an installation, "Stateless Nation," at Birzeit about boundaries, citizenship, identity, constraints, all effects and ramifications and issues pertaining to the Occupation.

My colleagues at Birzeit alerted me to the installation, saying, "Hey, Skip, you might want to see this, it's opening today." And when I arrived I bumped into Yasser Darwich, my beloved Yasser, fellow photographer. "Skip," he implored, "my batteries just ran out. Think you could fill in while I find a new set. My camera eats batteries."

"Stateless Nation," art installation at Birzeit University--

http://www.statelessnation.org /

The YWCA in Jalazoon refugee camp--

http://www.ywca-palestine.org/Centers.htm

More photos from Jalazoon refugee camp--

http://teeksaphoto.org/Levant2004DF/index.htm