by Silvia Margia, Director, Young Leaders Program
Thirty-three young women and adults met in a restaurant in Beit Hannin, East Jerusalem, an Arab neighborhood. For most of these girls it was a difficult journey, both physically and emotionally. The girls from Gaza only received their travel permits the night before at 11:30. For some of the Jewish girls it was their first time visiting Palestinian East Jerusalem. The girls met for many hours over hamburgers and pizza.
We all got on the bus, ready to go to our magnificent challenge, with some hesitation and fear about traveling “over there” to Beit Hannin, East Jerusalem, especially now because of the Hamas being in charge. But the excitement got the better of us.
Later we picked up Shoshan and Hawad from Yashowa Village. We are doing everything we can to have each girl come . . .
Sylivia, Anael and Hazar have their cell phones glued to their ears. Rula and her mother joined the group. Her mother thanked us for this important gathering. Later on the way to Wadi Ara Road we picked up Diana, Fatina, Amal, Hanan and Fairoz.
In Jerusalem Daphna and Sivan were waiting for us. Ameera, her mother and little sister were already in Ramalah. They were very exhausted because they left their home in Jenin at 4:00 a.m. to make this meeting possible.
Manal, her father Paul and Samya were stuck in traffic on their way to Calandia checkpoint. Sireen, Lara, Tala and Rand were angry standing outside in the rain at the Calandia checkpoint, They almost gave up and wanted to go back home.
Our hearts were with them! They had been walking through puddles and they all got so wet, they got really tired and mad, and it was still raining…
Suddenly they called us “We passed the checkpoint!”. Sylvi shouted in a loud voice “YES THEY PASSED THE CHECKPOINT!”. Everybody was really happy.
Sabreen and her mother are already in the restaurant with Besan, Dalal and Shada. So the Gaza girls are here! Sireen joked with them by saying, “You guys in Gaza are independent now”.
The bus is getting closer to the restaurant where the Gaza, Jenin and the Ramallah girls are waiting. We arrived and we had a very exciting moment, full of hugs, kisses and crying. In other words, it was a joyful moment; energy of love was going all around.
Today we made an important statement, even though its difficult for both sides to pass over from one side to the other- the statement is - we will still come to your side. We will never give up on you. Amazing event of good well, especially learning more about the “power of love”.
Sivan, May and Corrine took me aside and want to plan a birthday surprise for Lara - they want to go to her home, to Ramallah. All of a sudden all the walls of fear, hesitations and the voices that say “no” are broken and a new dream was created. - a dream for all of us to live together.
The time goes by fast, the girls are sharing experiences of studying, dreams, difficulties and especially missing each other.
The restaurant owner was asked, “What happened here today?” He answered by saying, “Its peace war”. It is. War and peace are living together side by side in our common day-to-day experiences, meetings and our usual lives.
On our way back home there was an unusual atmosphere that is hard to describe. Nelly says, “I had all the feelings in the world today – happiness, laughs, tears, sadness, and love.” She shared with us that now she, Shir and Lara are planning a youth meeting day for Israeli and Palestinian girls. They took the work one step further. They would like all the world to experience the amazing meeting we had.
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