Aida Refugee Camp Night Raid, 7/21/14 Raw Video

The Crossing Borders Project conducted a project with those living in Aida Camp.  The violence continues not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank.  My question is, why is the IDF in Aida in Bethlehem?  Why are they still bothering these people?  The wall is up.

We share as a continuation for voice

Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem: The Crossing Borders Project

Hayatt Aida refugee Camp Bethlehem

Oli Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem: The Crossing Borders Project

Zenub Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem: The Crossing Borders Project

The Wall at Aida Camp, a video

The Apartheid Wall by Aida Refugee camp on the Northern edge of Bethlehem. On one side the crowded camp. In the other the Olive Groves stolen from Bethlehemites

Aida Refugee Camp, A documentary Film

a Documentary Film

A place to Play in Aida Refugee Camp

There is no room in Aida Camp for the children to play. The living spaces are cramped and surrounded by the new Israeli Security Wall. Most of the time, the children play in the dirt roads or at the community center. They used to play in the olive trees beyond the wall before the wall was constructed, the olive trees were once owned by an Aida citizen, before the Israeli State took the land from the family. The video was done by the organization: "Voices Beyond Walls"

Aida Refugee Camp and the necklace - video

A group of teenagers living in Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem reenact the arrest of one of their friends, who is 15 years old and being held without trial in an Israeli prison. The video was created by "Voices Beyond Walls"

To Aida Camp through Bethlehem Checkpoint

To get into Aida Camp you must first go into Bethlehem, then to Aida Camp. The process is something that can only be explained through Video. Even images do not express the difficulties that the local citizens must go through each and every day to continue to work on the Israeli side, at low wages. This video is only a small example, and you cannot view what goes on inside of the building, the continual locked gates, waiting and hearing over the loudspeaker in Hebrew what instructions to follow to get to the other side. Also, each and every time, one must provide their hand-prints going in and out of the border. The border was funded by the World Bank.

From Italy to Aida Camp: Pope Visit

A ceremony following the visit of the Aida refugee camp by Benedict XVI, near Bethlehem.

Staying Connected...Aida Camp

World March for Peace and Nonviolence in Bethlehem (Palestine) - march from Nativity Square to Aida Camp. 

The Israeli Security Wall - Photo Story

Photograph taken by Jumna from Ramallah, she lives across from the wall. Here this road used to go straight but it was cut off by the wall. Her mother lives on the other side. Now it can take her hours to go and visit her, when she used to cross the street.

The next photograph is of the wall taken by Sa'ana in Aida Refugee Camp located in Bethlehem. This tower is built across from the homes and a childrens community center.
Book Links: Ramallah:  "When the Birds Stopped Singing", by Raja Shehadeh
The Wall:  "The West Bank Wall: Unmaking Palestine", by Ray Dolphin
Bethlehem: "A Crisis in Bethlehem", by John Strohmeyr

Aida (Aydah) Camp- My photos

Environmental issues are evident, as to the sign of dying trees. This is the direct result of the water war that exists between Israel and the West Bank. Water is scarce for the Palestinians due to no access to the local wells. The wells have been included into the Israeli side of the wall for Israeli use, excluding the Palestinians. This land above is in Adyah camp, and has about 20 trees. However they are now dying, because they cannot have access to the water that was/is on their land.
This is a home in Idyah camp, the flag is that of someone who was killed by the Israelis.
An olive tree in the cemetery that is located near the wall. There is not any room for growth.
Boys playing in the camp just outside of the community center. The wall is in the background.
Bara'a and Sanaa with their children. They are holding the bags for the photos that I provided.
Bara'a, her mother and Sanna during the meeting.

Zenub 3rd roll Aida (Aydah) Refugee Camp Bethlehem

Zenub's 3rd roll shows an evolution of her creative expressions. The angle of the bridges and the lighting of the views shows that she started to become familiar with the camera.

The bridge is a location near Bet Jala, where the Palestinians cannot go, they cannot go underneath nor across to pick olives. The Israelis use the bridge to shoot from.

Bara'a 3rd roll-Aida (Aydah) Refugee Camp, Bethlehem

By the third roll, Bara'a started to use the natural light. She chose to photograph old Palestinian buildings at sundown in order to capture the glow from the sunset. The older homes are made of stone. These homes are not in Idyah camp, and it is a dream for most of the refugees to return to a home such as this, like they used to own.

The tree is a symbol for life and food.

The photograph is a picture of the villages that were depopulated these are the villages that came to Idyah Camp. They told me that no-one feels at home in Idyah camp, with the dirt, the small roads, the wall, no green, no trees, no harvest. What they grew up on is now gone.

One woman told me that they are all depressed. Post-forced occupation, into their homes during the Intifada. They look at the wall as a reminder of a large prison. They say that this is how they feel. They feel that there is no rhyme or reason to believe anything will change or get better, but they still hold on to their dreams.

She said that when she was a child, she used to join in the olive harvest, that is the heart of Palestine and has been since the 1500's. The soil is their soul. But living in Adyah camp is to them the feeling of being temporary. They feel like their feet are not on the ground like before, the older people remember the villages and are now too scared to go and see their homes, some cannot leave Bethlehem and never have.

Hayatt 2nd roll-Aida (Aydah) Refugee Camp, Bethlehem

Hayatt also likes green. They cannot build parks of plant trees in the camp, so they can only grow the green in pots and hope that they can collect enough water to keep them alive. These are her plants outside of her home.

The street is a main road that enters into Adyah camp.
This is a store inside of Adyah camp.
This is a garden that is turning brown, outside of Adyah camp.

Zenub 2nd roll-Aida (Aydah)Refugee Camp, Bethlehem

One photograph was once a beautiful castle! It is now a hotel near the street where you enter into Adyah Camp.

The tower is Rachaels Tomb, it is walled in Bethlehem, it is not the same wall as the "security wall" but it has the the same structure inside of Bethlehem.There was a family who had a nice home in there, the Israelis told them to leave and they did not pay them anything. Then they built the wall around the home, so the Jews can visit Rachaels Tomb in safety. The cars have to drive by it daily coming into Bethlehem or leaving towards the checkpoint.

The photograph of the wall, is the view that Adyah Camp gets to see daily. They do not have view of a horizon anymore. The color is drab and ugly. They miss the olive trees on the other side, which used to belong to a local family. The took the olive trees when they built the wall. Families used to go and help with the harvest and eat and walk through the olive trees because there is not any open space in the camp. The children used to play there, because there is not any open space in the camp, nor any green.

Now the children do not have a place to play and the people cannot harvest their olives, so they do not have a way of making any money. The children play in the narrow streets on concrete.

Sana's 2nd roll-Aida (Adyah) Refugee Camp, Bethlehem

I have not been able to translate the photographs. This will happen tomorrow!

The one with the watch tower, is one of many located in Adyah camp, this tower is across from the UN building and the school. It is also down the street from the community center where we hold our meetings. When the wall was first built, the Israeli soldiers would sit inside and watch, there are also camera's everywhere overlooking the camp. The soldiers used to shoot at the children and anyone else who walked down that street from the tower.

Once the wall was finished, the soldier's left that tower, and then they built another one around the corner...they soldiers remain in the towers.

The scary looking photograph is a painting on the wall inside of the camp. It reflects the fear in the hearts of the Palestinians.

Bara'a 2nd roll-Aida (Adyah) Refugee Camp, Bethlehem

Bara'a took a photograph of her view from her home in Biet Jala. She also likes green, there is not enough green around the Camp, in fact...no green unless you are lucky enough to live in Biet Jala. The Israeli's control the amount of water the people get in the camp. They never know when the water will be shut off and for how long. I was wondering why, sometimes people smelled more of sweat than normal. The Palestinian's are normally very clean people and like to shower often. I felt that it was unusual.

She also took a photograph her neighbors home that is being re-build. It seems they spend most of their lives re-building their homes. They can only use cash and have to get permission from the Israeli government to build their homes.