Four Nursing Students

Palestine under Occupation

        Our friend Q invited Doris and me to have a light supper with him and four nursing students who were staying 3 nights in the same guest house as he.  The young women greeted us a bit shyly,  but complied with our request for introductions, revealing a good mastery of the English language.  The students, Ayat, Malak, Nardeen and Safa, all 20 year old Palestisnians and sharing a desire to help others, met each other when they started nursing school at An-Najah University in Nablus, West Bank. They are in their 3rd year of a 4 year program and have traveled to Beit Sahour to fulfill a practicum in mental health.

   None of the students are from the same village, and, surprisingly, two of them are from Inside Israel, near the cities of Haifa and Akko.  We asked why they chose to go to school in the West Bank instead of Israel, where they are citizens and resources are surely better.  We learned that they did not want to wait two years post high school to start nursing school, but Israel would have demanded they wait while Jewish Israeli students took those 2 years to do their compulsory military service. So-called “Arab Israelis” do not serve in the Israeli army.

   So here were Palestinian youth from both sides of the Green Line.  Was there any difference in how they lived or saw the world?  Just one: the customs and culture in the West Bank are more conservative than in Israel.  Boys and girls go to separate high schools and don’t hold hands in public, not even to do folk dancing.  But these differences melted away quickly as the students had much more in common - their studies and their dreams of helping others and being productive members of society.

   We had many questions for them.  Where would they would look for work when they graduated?  The two from Israel would chose Israel because that is were their families are. Likewise the two from the West Bank - not that they have any choice-  hope to work near their families. 

    What is the hardest thing they face now?  “We are away from home, and we are afraid for our families, and they are afraid for us.”

  One of the young women, in addition to being an athlete, mentioned that she liked art. Asked if she had any examples with her, she pulled out her i-phone and displayed an amazing variety of drawings that showed real talent. I asked her to send me one of those that had a political message. Above is the image she sent me. Half of a coquettish face is black - the occupation. The other half is veined with life-giving water. I think the top hat is just Malak's creative imagination.  The suggestion of a torso is rooted in the land.