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| Wi'am's playground is in foreground. |
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| Usama |
The name Wi'am means "harmony" or "agreement" and is what this NGO is all about, even while it embraces the struggle for Palestinian freedom from occupation. It has a lovely playgrund nestled beside the Apartheid Wall -- a scene which is a good metaphor for the work of the organization. Wi'am did not chose to put the playground and its offices next to the ugly wall , but Israel errected the wall and Wi'am did not budge. We were greeted by Usama Nicola, who gave us an hour of his time even though we did not have an appointment. But first he offered us a tiny cup of Arabic coffee.
The Wi'am brochure says, "The more cups (of coffee) we drink, the more conflicts we solve!" The Arabic traditiion is for both sides to share a cup of coffee once they have reached agreement through mediation.
Like a lot of other NGOs, this one started in 1994 as soon as the Oslo Agreement was signed and almost everyone thought that peace was at hand and they should prepare themselves for running a democratic, independent country. Workshops and trainings sprang up all over Palestine to teach civic education, the value of elections, and sustainable development. At the same time as people needed training in non-violent means of solving problems, they had alot of basic needs from years of deprivation under Israeli occupation. Wi'am tried to meet those needs in this Bethlehem community near two refugee camps, Aida and Azza.
Programs are offered to help traumatized children, programs to empower women through income-producing activities, programs to address domestic violence, environmental degradation, youth delinquency and drug abuse. "Our society is living in a constant state of uncertainty with always a risk of potential violence," states the brochure. "We are living in a pressure cooker situation. It is in this context we provide our services."
Training for trainers in many models of conflict resolution, mediation and non-violent resistance fills the rest of the center's agenda. It is a two year training for college graduates and includes mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice and civil society education. The importance given to the training comes from a spiritual committment to the belief that every human is an image of God, and that one must use the tools of justice (nonviolence) to fight injustice.
As we were talking, Usama got a phone call with the news that Israel had just confiscaated 150 dunams (about 40 acres) from two families in the greater Bethlehem area to give to the abutting Daniel settlement. His own grandfather had owned land in that area, but it was taken 10 years ago.
Wi'am identifies itself as a Christian organization, yet serves a largely Muslim community. (I was interested to learn that it is a member of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.) International volunteers help Wi'am, but if they tell the Israeli "passport control" officials in the airport that the reason for their visit is to help a Palestinian organization, they will either get deported or be given only a 10 day visa.
So we ask Usama about the current situation and how people are coping? Usama says that his people are tired and can only focus on feeding themselves. Things keep happening that destroy their hope. For example, there was an opportunity for unity between the two main parties, Hamas and Fatah, in 2006, " but nothing happened." (The lack of unity within Palestine is a big disappointment to everyone I met.)
Usama continued: Even Israel is divided, and needs a common enemy to keep it together. Thirty percent of settlers are ultra-religious and don't care about the state of Israel; they don't work, pay no taxes and don't serve in the army. Another bunch are apathetic "economic" settlers who have subsidized housing and services and do their shopping in West Bank stores that have cheaper prices than in Israel. Then there are the new immigrant settlers from India, Ethiopia, Russia, etc., many of whom are not even Jewish but say they are in order to benefit from jobs, free education and all the privileges that accrue from serving in the army. There is not much that unites the settlers to each other or to the rest of Israeli society except fear.
I ask about the Arab Spring. Usama says it is an important change but won't help Palestine because all the Arab countries in revolt are wrapped up in their own situations and not paying attention to Palestine. And the Arab world is fragmented. He thinks the protestors won't win in the end because only 30% want change, while 70% are afraid of change. The Islamists will win. The next 10-15 years will be theirs, backed by the West. So Usama and many others here refer to the popular uprisings as the "Arab Winter."
Wi'am makes a positive contribution to its immediate community and to Palestinian civil society which it guides in the direction of nonviolent resistance. In the shadow of the Bethlehem checkpoint and Aparthed Wall, it is yet another symbol of "sumud" - steadfastness.
The Wi'am brochure says, "The more cups (of coffee) we drink, the more conflicts we solve!" The Arabic traditiion is for both sides to share a cup of coffee once they have reached agreement through mediation.
Like a lot of other NGOs, this one started in 1994 as soon as the Oslo Agreement was signed and almost everyone thought that peace was at hand and they should prepare themselves for running a democratic, independent country. Workshops and trainings sprang up all over Palestine to teach civic education, the value of elections, and sustainable development. At the same time as people needed training in non-violent means of solving problems, they had alot of basic needs from years of deprivation under Israeli occupation. Wi'am tried to meet those needs in this Bethlehem community near two refugee camps, Aida and Azza.
Programs are offered to help traumatized children, programs to empower women through income-producing activities, programs to address domestic violence, environmental degradation, youth delinquency and drug abuse. "Our society is living in a constant state of uncertainty with always a risk of potential violence," states the brochure. "We are living in a pressure cooker situation. It is in this context we provide our services."
Training for trainers in many models of conflict resolution, mediation and non-violent resistance fills the rest of the center's agenda. It is a two year training for college graduates and includes mediation, conflict resolution, restorative justice and civil society education. The importance given to the training comes from a spiritual committment to the belief that every human is an image of God, and that one must use the tools of justice (nonviolence) to fight injustice.
As we were talking, Usama got a phone call with the news that Israel had just confiscaated 150 dunams (about 40 acres) from two families in the greater Bethlehem area to give to the abutting Daniel settlement. His own grandfather had owned land in that area, but it was taken 10 years ago.
Wi'am identifies itself as a Christian organization, yet serves a largely Muslim community. (I was interested to learn that it is a member of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation.) International volunteers help Wi'am, but if they tell the Israeli "passport control" officials in the airport that the reason for their visit is to help a Palestinian organization, they will either get deported or be given only a 10 day visa.
So we ask Usama about the current situation and how people are coping? Usama says that his people are tired and can only focus on feeding themselves. Things keep happening that destroy their hope. For example, there was an opportunity for unity between the two main parties, Hamas and Fatah, in 2006, " but nothing happened." (The lack of unity within Palestine is a big disappointment to everyone I met.)
Usama continued: Even Israel is divided, and needs a common enemy to keep it together. Thirty percent of settlers are ultra-religious and don't care about the state of Israel; they don't work, pay no taxes and don't serve in the army. Another bunch are apathetic "economic" settlers who have subsidized housing and services and do their shopping in West Bank stores that have cheaper prices than in Israel. Then there are the new immigrant settlers from India, Ethiopia, Russia, etc., many of whom are not even Jewish but say they are in order to benefit from jobs, free education and all the privileges that accrue from serving in the army. There is not much that unites the settlers to each other or to the rest of Israeli society except fear.
I ask about the Arab Spring. Usama says it is an important change but won't help Palestine because all the Arab countries in revolt are wrapped up in their own situations and not paying attention to Palestine. And the Arab world is fragmented. He thinks the protestors won't win in the end because only 30% want change, while 70% are afraid of change. The Islamists will win. The next 10-15 years will be theirs, backed by the West. So Usama and many others here refer to the popular uprisings as the "Arab Winter."
Wi'am makes a positive contribution to its immediate community and to Palestinian civil society which it guides in the direction of nonviolent resistance. In the shadow of the Bethlehem checkpoint and Aparthed Wall, it is yet another symbol of "sumud" - steadfastness.
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