A visit to the Aida Refugee Camp
“If they come to your house to arrest your kid, you can’t ask why—in a week or so you may find out where he is.”
The main event today was a visit to the Aida Refugee Camp, located on the edge of Bethlehem. There is so much to tell that we will have to hit only the highlights for now. The camp was established in 1950 by the United Nations. Today, thousands of residents are crowded into tiny apartments. Water shortage is a constant problem; they are supposed to get water delivered once a week, but it’s usually once every three weeks, and once they didn’t get water for 73 days. To cope with the water problem, every house has a water tank on the roof for storage. Our guide said you never see that in the settlement houses because Israel sees to it that the settlements have ample water. Electricity is also controlled by Israelis and the supply is erratic in the camps.
Military “security” towers, with armed guards are all around the camp. The guide said something’s always happening. For example, two days ago, military jeeps came in and kidnapped two kids. If they come to your house to arrest your kid, you can’t ask why—in a week or so you may find out where he is.
Soldiers also sometimes come through and shoot skunk water and tear gas through the windows. Tear gas burns and makes it difficult to breathe. We watched a video documentary, available on YouTube for the world to see, depicting the utter brutality toward children as well as adults: Israeli soldiers tear-gassed the only playground for children, who ran away as fast as they could, struggling to breathe and to escape. Other times soldiers shot tear gas into the windows of the homes. Our guide said skunk water is worse than tear gas, if you can believe that, because you can’t get rid of the smell.
A special center, the Lajee Center, was donated to the Aida Camp, which is used to help the residents cope with their situation and create a better environment for the children. The guide told us of the close relationships that the families have with one another. Everyone knows everyone and this closeness means everything to them.
