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2007 Palestine Tour Journal
So what’s it like in the West Bank? The world, the government of the US, the
government of Israel and the government of Palestine have all failed miserably
for nearly sixty years to help the Palestinian people. But children are being
saved by music and circus and acting and computers, and they in turn will
save more children and so on. These are people on the ground doing the hard
work. What is it I do? I show them that music exists and can be experienced,
played by one human for another human, live, in a room together. And if that
is possible anything is possible.
Dobbs
for Bach With Verse
government of Israel and the government of Palestine have all failed miserably
for nearly sixty years to help the Palestinian people. But children are being
saved by music and circus and acting and computers, and they in turn will
save more children and so on. These are people on the ground doing the hard
work. What is it I do? I show them that music exists and can be experienced,
played by one human for another human, live, in a room together. And if that
is possible anything is possible.
Dobbs
for Bach With Verse
In October, I spent three great weeks in the West Bank again. Saw old friends. Played
a slew of concerts for a whole lot of wonderful children. And played some more
Arabic music with some fantastic musicians both for kids and adults. Back in the US,
people often ask me what I think of the situation. Unfortunately, it is really different to
experience it from "the other" side of the wall. I say unfortunately because the world
doesn't get to see it that way. We don't get to see the normal everyday Palestinians
struggling to get by under the harsh conditions of the occupation, and believe me they
are harsh.
a slew of concerts for a whole lot of wonderful children. And played some more
Arabic music with some fantastic musicians both for kids and adults. Back in the US,
people often ask me what I think of the situation. Unfortunately, it is really different to
experience it from "the other" side of the wall. I say unfortunately because the world
doesn't get to see it that way. We don't get to see the normal everyday Palestinians
struggling to get by under the harsh conditions of the occupation, and believe me they
are harsh.
The people that I talked to have given up hope for peace and are just trying to
ignore the situation. This remarkably resilient people has been under
occupation since the Turks of the Ottoman empire. Then the British, the
Jordanians and finally the Israelis. The conflict is played out between a tiny
percentage of the two populations: the terrorist/freedom fighters on one side
and soldiers in the Israeli army on the other. The civilians on both sides, more
or less, sympathize with their fighting group without participating and the
civilians on both sides take the majority of the deaths. That being said, three
Palestinians die for every one Israeli.
ignore the situation. This remarkably resilient people has been under
occupation since the Turks of the Ottoman empire. Then the British, the
Jordanians and finally the Israelis. The conflict is played out between a tiny
percentage of the two populations: the terrorist/freedom fighters on one side
and soldiers in the Israeli army on the other. The civilians on both sides, more
or less, sympathize with their fighting group without participating and the
civilians on both sides take the majority of the deaths. That being said, three
Palestinians die for every one Israeli.
| The wall of separation |
It is probably this situation of hopelessness that causes some people to do great
things. Ramzi Aburedwan, the founder and driving force behind Al Kamandjati
music center, was born in a refugee camp himself. He decided that he couldn’t
wait for the situation to change. He had to do what he could now to help as
many children as he could. His organization gives free music lesson to children
from refugee camps all around the West Bank. Now in their third year, kids are
learning music and little islands of sanity are being created. Three new teachers
arrived in September from Italy, France, and the US. Also in residence was a
Danish violin maker both repairing instruments and teaching students to do the
work. A Finnish piano technician was working on pianos and also teaching
students to tune. A dynamic new center has opened in Jenin and teachers from
Ramallah are traveling there every week. (It’s not far but there are many
checkpoints so it’s a serious journey.)
things. Ramzi Aburedwan, the founder and driving force behind Al Kamandjati
music center, was born in a refugee camp himself. He decided that he couldn’t
wait for the situation to change. He had to do what he could now to help as
many children as he could. His organization gives free music lesson to children
from refugee camps all around the West Bank. Now in their third year, kids are
learning music and little islands of sanity are being created. Three new teachers
arrived in September from Italy, France, and the US. Also in residence was a
Danish violin maker both repairing instruments and teaching students to do the
work. A Finnish piano technician was working on pianos and also teaching
students to tune. A dynamic new center has opened in Jenin and teachers from
Ramallah are traveling there every week. (It’s not far but there are many
checkpoints so it’s a serious journey.)
| The Al Kamandjati Center |
Everywhere I went I was supporting this program. In three years, I’ve played for thousands of children.
Sometimes I will find children who have heard me before and they always ask for the story they know.
But mostly, with Saed, my trusty sidekick and translator, I’ve played for new audiences. This year Jessie
from France, who plays lute and recorder and sings in Arabic, came along sometimes.
Sometimes I will find children who have heard me before and they always ask for the story they know.
But mostly, with Saed, my trusty sidekick and translator, I’ve played for new audiences. This year Jessie
from France, who plays lute and recorder and sings in Arabic, came along sometimes.
On this trip, I also played for three other organizations doing fantastic things. I
met Shady, the Director of the Palestinian Circus, and he immediately invited me
to play for a class of kids on Friday morning. He and a group of semi-paid or
volunteer trainers teach children all over the West Bank and they have a company
that has performed in Europe. I asked him about the finances and he said, “Well,
so far I haven’t taken a salary.” “How do you live?” I asked. He smiled and said,
“I live for free with my Belgian girlfriend. When there is food at the circus, as
there often is, I eat that. I drive the circus van and my mother and my brothers
chip in for cigarettes and beer.” He was educated in Israel and became Director
of the National Circus there while still in his twenties but when the circus refused
to come and perform in Ramallah, his home town, he resigned and started the
Circus Behind the Wall.
met Shady, the Director of the Palestinian Circus, and he immediately invited me
to play for a class of kids on Friday morning. He and a group of semi-paid or
volunteer trainers teach children all over the West Bank and they have a company
that has performed in Europe. I asked him about the finances and he said, “Well,
so far I haven’t taken a salary.” “How do you live?” I asked. He smiled and said,
“I live for free with my Belgian girlfriend. When there is food at the circus, as
there often is, I eat that. I drive the circus van and my mother and my brothers
chip in for cigarettes and beer.” He was educated in Israel and became Director
of the National Circus there while still in his twenties but when the circus refused
to come and perform in Ramallah, his home town, he resigned and started the
Circus Behind the Wall.
In Jenin, I played for many of the students of the Freedom Theater. It was founded
by a well known activist woman who is no longer living. The faculty also both
perform and teach. The building was destroyed during the Israeli incursion along with
much of the city including the Palestinian police barracks. It was pointed out to me
that the missiles came from American F-16 fighter jets, which were part of our aid
package to Israel. The theater, unlike most of the other destroyed buildings, was
rebuilt. They showed us a short video in which one teenage boy said, “Before I
learned about acting I just wanted to be a martyr (suicide bomber) like all my friends
but now I have something to live for. Acting.”
by a well known activist woman who is no longer living. The faculty also both
perform and teach. The building was destroyed during the Israeli incursion along with
much of the city including the Palestinian police barracks. It was pointed out to me
that the missiles came from American F-16 fighter jets, which were part of our aid
package to Israel. The theater, unlike most of the other destroyed buildings, was
rebuilt. They showed us a short video in which one teenage boy said, “Before I
learned about acting I just wanted to be a martyr (suicide bomber) like all my friends
but now I have something to live for. Acting.”
I found out from my old friend, Mitch Resnick, about computer clubhouses, a program that came out of his group at the Media Lab
at MIT. I found out that there was one in Ramallah managed by a former intern of Mitch’s. Situated right between Al Amari camp and
Qualandia camp, this is a computer center for kids. Members pay $2 a year and do lots of activities with computers including
recording and editing music. I watched the kids come in and immediately find a free
computer and start doing things. Mahmoud showed me a project that they had done
recently. The kids divided up in groups and made a film after taking a course in
storytelling. I watched one of them in which two teenage boys and two teenage girls
talked about their dreams. They all said that growing up in sight of the wall was the
biggest influence on their lives and they all said that it made them want to help the
Palestinian people: one by being a doctor, one by being a lawyer, one by being a
writer and one by being an artist. When all the kids had gathered they all logged out
and I played for them. Afterwards, Mahmoud asked if I would be around long enough
to come and help in the recording studio. Unfortunately, I couldn’t but he told me all
the teachers are volunteers. Clubhouses are world wide and are found only in the
poorest parts of the poorest cities and one of the great things they do is talk to each
other, clubhouse to clubhouse. I look forward to more visits to clubhouses in the inner
cities of the U. S.
at MIT. I found out that there was one in Ramallah managed by a former intern of Mitch’s. Situated right between Al Amari camp and
Qualandia camp, this is a computer center for kids. Members pay $2 a year and do lots of activities with computers including
recording and editing music. I watched the kids come in and immediately find a free
computer and start doing things. Mahmoud showed me a project that they had done
recently. The kids divided up in groups and made a film after taking a course in
storytelling. I watched one of them in which two teenage boys and two teenage girls
talked about their dreams. They all said that growing up in sight of the wall was the
biggest influence on their lives and they all said that it made them want to help the
Palestinian people: one by being a doctor, one by being a lawyer, one by being a
writer and one by being an artist. When all the kids had gathered they all logged out
and I played for them. Afterwards, Mahmoud asked if I would be around long enough
to come and help in the recording studio. Unfortunately, I couldn’t but he told me all
the teachers are volunteers. Clubhouses are world wide and are found only in the
poorest parts of the poorest cities and one of the great things they do is talk to each
other, clubhouse to clubhouse. I look forward to more visits to clubhouses in the inner
cities of the U. S.
| Girl's school in Jalazon Camp |
| Boy's school in Jalazon Camp |
| Computer Clubhouse |
| 4 girls in Jenin Camp |
| Freedom Theater (director in grey) |
Aoudist & translator Saed
I played every day sometimes 2 or 3 times and one day I
had six school concerts and an evening performance for
adults. It is engaging and stimulating and important and I
never tire of it. As always, I ask the children to tell me
what they think or feel while I play the Sarabande, this
year the hauntingly beautiful one from Bach’s fourth
Suite. At the UN refugee school at Jalazon camp one little
girl said, “I remembered when the soldiers came and
their was shooting and we got down on the floor and our
teachers kept us safe.”
had six school concerts and an evening performance for
adults. It is engaging and stimulating and important and I
never tire of it. As always, I ask the children to tell me
what they think or feel while I play the Sarabande, this
year the hauntingly beautiful one from Bach’s fourth
Suite. At the UN refugee school at Jalazon camp one little
girl said, “I remembered when the soldiers came and
their was shooting and we got down on the floor and our
teachers kept us safe.”
In the evening I played Bach and told the monkey story and along with Jessie and Saed
and Tareq on percussion and another local Aoud player played Palestinian songs to
thunderous clapping and applause. Afterwards the new director, through a translator,
told me that this was the first concert at the theater and it was also the first time many of
the men in the audience had dared to be in the same place at the same time as they are on
the Israeli death list. It’s a crazy situation but music always helps. He asked if I could
come back next week and I said that I would have left the country by then but I assured
him that the Al Kamandjati would return soon and I would be back next year.
and Tareq on percussion and another local Aoud player played Palestinian songs to
thunderous clapping and applause. Afterwards the new director, through a translator,
told me that this was the first concert at the theater and it was also the first time many of
the men in the audience had dared to be in the same place at the same time as they are on
the Israeli death list. It’s a crazy situation but music always helps. He asked if I could
come back next week and I said that I would have left the country by then but I assured
him that the Al Kamandjati would return soon and I would be back next year.
I saw a little article from the wire service the other day that seems to me to be
a kind of microcosm of the conflict. Last Thursday militants in Gaza
somehow got a Katyusha rocket (longer range than what they have had) and
fired it at the town of Ashkelon in Israel. In the article nothing is said of
a kind of microcosm of the conflict. Last Thursday militants in Gaza
somehow got a Katyusha rocket (longer range than what they have had) and
fired it at the town of Ashkelon in Israel. In the article nothing is said of
damage but clearly no citizens were injured. In retaliation, Israeli army air strikes and
ground operations into Gaza killed nine people including three civilians. It makes you want
to take these people and shake some sense into them. "Why are you firing these useless
rockets and bringing the wrath of the Israeli army down on you?" And on the other side,
"Why are you creating still more militants by retaliating so harshly?" Everyone is stuck. And
meanwhile the non-warring civilians on both sides shake their heads and try not to think
about it. Of course, the Israelis are living in a dynamic first world democracy and the
Palestinians in poverty with crumbling or non-existent infrastructure, an impotent
government, the wall, checkpoints, and settlers.
There it is, with no end in sight, and thousands of refugees and their children and
grandchildren and great grandchildren living in squalor in camps designed for months not
59 years. The rhetoric on both sides amounts to, “You stop the terror.” “No, you stop the
terror.”
ground operations into Gaza killed nine people including three civilians. It makes you want
to take these people and shake some sense into them. "Why are you firing these useless
rockets and bringing the wrath of the Israeli army down on you?" And on the other side,
"Why are you creating still more militants by retaliating so harshly?" Everyone is stuck. And
meanwhile the non-warring civilians on both sides shake their heads and try not to think
about it. Of course, the Israelis are living in a dynamic first world democracy and the
Palestinians in poverty with crumbling or non-existent infrastructure, an impotent
government, the wall, checkpoints, and settlers.
There it is, with no end in sight, and thousands of refugees and their children and
grandchildren and great grandchildren living in squalor in camps designed for months not
59 years. The rhetoric on both sides amounts to, “You stop the terror.” “No, you stop the
terror.”
| Violinist from Al Kamandjati |
Everywhere we went in schools and recreation centers in the
camps we told them that there is an organization teaching kids
just like them to play. It’s a powerful message and best of all one
of the kids occasionally would pipe up, “I play the violin and I
study with the Al Kamandjati.”
camps we told them that there is an organization teaching kids
just like them to play. It’s a powerful message and best of all one
of the kids occasionally would pipe up, “I play the violin and I
study with the Al Kamandjati.”
The Edvard Said Children's Center
| Israeli settlement hovering over Jalazon camp |
| Children say goodbye near Hebron |
Women's and Children's center near Hebron