At-Tuwani Summer Camp

Do Unto Others is a bit of a downer blog. It is a blog that tells the truth. But often the truth of what is happening in Palestine, under the Israeli boot of occupation, is not easy to hear. Despite my emphasis on this blog, there actually are lots of smiles, moments of joy, and moments when I, and the Palestinians I live with, are happy to be alive. Usually I cherish being in those moments but don't necessarily bring them to this blog. I am unsure why I tend to blog about the evil grime of this place, the systematic dehumanization of an indigenous people, and neglect to write about the vibrant light and life that still shine here in the South Hebron Hills. Maybe it says something about my personality that I need to dissect a bit.

So on that note, I bring you something that will bring a smile to your face (if you have a soul). At-Tuwani is hosting it's ninth annual summer camp (il-mukhaiyem is-samoud is-iseifi it-tasa'a). Samoud is one of those words that I can never figure out to translate, I guess it means something like perserverant resistance. Samoud is the nonviolent resistance to the occupation that means walking to school despite settler attacks, taking three hours to travel one kilometer to get to work, and samoud means re-planting trees that have been uprooted. So I suppose the summer camp could be translated, "The Ninth Annual At-Tuwani Resistance Summer Camp." Why is this summer camp resistance? Well, because anything that sustains life here is resistance. It's resistance to ethnic cleansing.

Here are some photos and video from today's summer camp.