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.

Bara'a photo story - Adyah Refugee Camp

A painted photograph on the wall in Adyah Camp of the guy holding a refugee ID
Entrance of a house and at the entrance some beautiful roses were found in it.

two different photographs for trees around the houses