Palestinian children live a remarkably fragile existence. At each juncture, they must make sense of themselves, the crumbling, chaotic world around them and their broken families. A beautiful calendar of their art now describes some of their lives, writes Nina Butler.
On Tuesday was International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, marking the date in 1947 when the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning then mandated Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. On the same day in 2012, the State of Palestine joined the UN as a non-member observer state and is now recognised by 136 countries
When asked about the curious presence of two enormous yellow circles in the drawing he had just completed, Ahmed Dawabsheh exclaimed forcefully from his hospital bed: “This is my picture and it needs to be very sunny and bright. That’s how I like it - with two suns!”
You may recall the incident that was the cause of his year-long hospitalisation.
His family home was fire-bombed during the night by Israeli settlers, killing both his parents and his baby brother. Ahmed was badly burnt during the incident and has already undergone multiple surgeries as a result of the attack. These medical procedures will continue to order the passing of his adolescent years.
His life has been irrevocably marred by violence in a multiplicity of ways, many of which are not foreseeable or measurable.
The gravity of suffering and hardship Palestinian children have endured over what is coming up for 50 years of Israeli occupation weighs down on the conscience of us all.
As long as Palestinian children continue to be woken in the night by attacks and house invasions, torn from their dreams and warm beds into a circumstance of sharp-edged and horrifying reality, we should not sleep easily, anywhere.
Ahmed’s story and his artwork is one of 13 that comprise a 2017 calendar released to commemorate 50 years of Israeli occupation in Palestine. Each month covers a child’s story and an original painting or drawing, all of which was documented in the first part of this year.
In addition, each story is set against an article of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child that serve - in theory - to protect them, yet all too commonly fail to.
Shamsaan (meaning “two suns”) is a collaborative project between South African and Palestinian partners and all proceeds are collected for the Aqwaf SA Palestine Children’s Endowment Fund.
The first print run is in English, and Arabic, Turkish and Italian editions are in the making.
Through the children’s eyes, we are given a poignant snapshot of everyday life under occupation.
There are recurring themes one can draw from these 13 life stories. What is most striking is how Palestinian children live a remarkably precarious and fragile existence. Many are on the move, in a state of flux, between homes, destroyed homes, temporary shelter and new homes.
At each juncture, they must make sense of themselves, the crumbling, chaotic, world around them and their broken families. All are touched by tragedy and loss in some way.
Over the course of their short lives, every child has been imminently contingent to death and violence. The presence of tanks, guns, barbed wire, tear gas and imprisonment are peppered throughout the everyday. Spaces and times of play cannot be viewed without the looming threat of military interruption.
Many have been thrown in jail, beaten up, and had their familial nucleus torn apart by the Israeli army or police. Many encounter armed military personal on their way to school and see physical checkpoints and legal obstructions to their dreams and paths to the ocean, the mountains, their ancestral homes and their future aspirations.
On Universal Children’s Day last year, more than 400 Palestinian minors were in Israeli prisons.
At this time, Gi’von prison in the West Bank had just opened a temporary wing to accommodate a burgeoning number of minors and facilitate for the arrest of more.
Indeed, on average, about 1 000 Palestinian children are arrested annually in the West Bank. Those who are 12 years and above can be tried in military courts.
The vast majority are arrested for throwing stones.
A Unicef report on Palestinian minors in detention details overcrowding, lack of communication with guardians, humiliating treatment, beatings and solitary confinement as punishment for disobeying prison guards or complaining about conditions.
These shocking and unacceptable facts about child imprisonment reflect the larger predicament that Palestinians are an incarcerated nation. Since June 1967, about 760 000 Palestinian men, women and children have been detained in Israeli prisons, according to UN sources.
This life under violent oppression has been endured with the, at times, overt and, at times, indirect or covert complicity of Palestinian authorities, be it through poor leadership, corruption and self-enrichment or ineptitude.
Imprisonment has dire consequences on the sustainability of a child’s education. There are frequent interruptions in a Palestinian schoolgoer’s life in addition to this, due to inhibited freedom of movement at Israeli checkpoints/road closures, school and house demolitions, forced expulsions of families and or school closure due to conflict.
It is little wonder then that the incidence of child labour in Gaza has doubled over the past five years. Yet so many of these children are committed to their studies, most particularly Muhammad from Sussya, whose mature disposition tells of a life experience beyond his 12 years.
His artwork is of a plan for the school he envisions for his community. He desires classrooms dedicated to specific subjects; the school is currently muddled in a cramped and haphazard temporary arrangement. The whole of his village of about 60 people in the South Hebron Hills are forced to live in tents after falling victim to waves of forced expulsions and demolitions. He, and many of the children interviewed for the calendar, remain adamant, however, that they will be educated professionals one day. This leads one to recognise that these children have the most astoundingly strong spirits.
They have a will to live, to succeed, to travel and enjoy free and dignified lives. There is little trace of bitterness or bigotry, but rather the desire to realise complex notions of universal rights, national ideals and laws. Many are already involved in social activism and are participants in unions and organisations in their communities. They are leaders and trailblazers in their own right, such as Ahmad Azza, a Youth Against Settlements leader in Hebron, and Jana Jihad Tamimi, a budding journalist and activist from Nabi Saleh. It is outrageous, therefore, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should address the UN General Assembly recently with the insinuation that Palestinian mothers teach their children to hate; that Palestinian children are haters.
This calendar resists such crass essentialisations, instead allowing for a layered perception of these children in all their vibrancy, colour, complexity, strength and fragility. Children of conflict are all too often seen but not heard.
Their stories in Shamsaan call upon us to all be patient and perceptive enough to listen to a child’s voice. Through listening carefully, we play a part in resisting the normalisation of occupation, and give these children the space to begin the fraught processes of healing. In turn, may these children inspire us to read and learn more about the Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation.
* Dr Nina Butler is an independent writer, researcher and yoga instructor. She is writing a book on Palestinian and Israeli historiography drawn from her PhD research . Calendars can be ordered at www.shamsaan.org. For more information, write to [email protected] or go to [email protected]
The Star