Palestinian Girls Diaries

yesterday , Sunday 12.2.2017 

our second meet up of 13 girls at Dar Alsadaqa 

At another productive meet up of the women’s club at Dar Al-sdaqa 

many topics were discussed between the girls 

from simple to complicated , the conversation between was always on 

Our main discussion was upon the “ Identity of the the Palestinian” 

and how that definition varies from on Palestinian to another 

our discussion touched on many aspects of the identity and what that means to each an everyone of us .

How the occupation is working on our mentality and how we think and feel towards each other, by deciding us geographically and naming us as “GAZA” , “JERUSALEM”. “WEST BANK”, “ FORTY EIGHT” , “REFUGEES” , and so on. 

on the same context  they are able to change how one from jerusalem can feel towards another from the west bank or Gaza , and vice versa . 

It’s ironic and sad at the same time how the occupation is now able to control or manipulate with our feelings , where on a simple note such as falling in love , can never be easy if you are a Palestinian .

because if you and the one you love come from different parts of Palestine , then you already know what the consciousness of your relationship can be , where if you get engaged he might never be able to come to his own engagement simply because he is from the west bank - let’s say- and you are from jerusalem , and that alone is forbidden why? simple because he doesn’t have the piece of paper called ”Tasreeh” , which is a permission paper , that the occupation have decided for some Palestinian to ought to have it if they want to move freely in their own country .

on the other hand , the girls went on to discuss dimple ideas such as coming with a name to the group , that can be affective in Arabic as it can be in English .

Moreover we talked about IDEAS for upcoming projects of short films and videos that we would love to distribute on different social media platforms.

The meet up was truly productive and each and everyone of us had a good time in TAKING PART OF IT 

CADFA International Women's Day event will be on 5th March...

we tell our story (Women's first meet up )

Sunday. 4:00- 5:00 

Feb 5 2017 

الأحد- ٤:٠٠- ٥:٠٠ 

٥ شباط ٢٠١٧ 

Today Was the first contributive meet up for young females at CADFA Abudis 

our meeting today that included ten girls from different places of Palestine , some from Jerusalem and some from different places of the west bank along with the new CADFA Volunteer in Palestine from the Uk " Sam" 

touched upon different aspects of the Palestinians lifestyle .

we came up with different ideas and aspects of life to talk about .

اليوم كان اللقاء الاول التفاعلي لنادي السيدات في مؤسسة دار الصداقة - ابوديس

اللقاء الذي حضره ١٠ من الفتيات من مختلف مناطق القدس والضفة الغربية ومتطوع التوأمة الجديد "سام" من بريطانيا"   ناقش العديد من المواضيع المتعلقة بالقضايا الوطنية والمشاكل التي تواجهها الفتيات في الحياة اليومية الفلسطينية 

اضافة الي الحديث عن مختلف النشاطات التي سيعمل عليها النادي في اللقاءات القادمة 

Each one of us told her background story , where one of us shared the story of here being the only child to her parents and how that is very rare to find in an Arab Palestinian Family , to her struggles of going everyday to college at birzeit , while she is living in Jerusalem , and due to the fact of facing many checkpoints on the way , her daily struggles that may continue for up to 4 hours on the road.

where some others shared their dreams and hopes for the future .

Moreover , another discussion raised with " Sam" the new volunteer from the UK , upon the Palestinian  issue and how is it in reality in contrary with what the western media portrays  as well as what it's shown in the different media outlets abroad. 

تحدثت الفتيات عن قصصهن اليومية وما يميز كل واحدة منهن على حدى

 حيث تحدثت احداهن عن انها هي الابنة الوحيدة في عائلتها وانه لمن امر غريب ان ترى ذلك من مجتمع عربي فلسطيني ، اضافة للحديث عن المشاكل التي تواجهها الفتيات في حياتهن اليومية الجامعية والعملية 

كما تم الحديث عن الاحلام والطموحات التي يأملن بتحقيقها في ظل الصعوبات التي يواجهنها يوميا 

اضافة الى مشاركة من المتطوع " سام " في نقاش حول القضية الفلسطينية بين الواقع وما يبثه الاعلام الغربي .

حيث اثرى هذا الموضوع النقاش بين الفتيات 

Our book club discussion for this week was upon 

Amer zahr ’s new book ( Being Palestinian makes me smile ) 

(في نقاشنا الأول حول كتاب( لأني فلسطيني ابتسم 

In todays’s session we touched upon the name of the book , and what it meant to each and everyone of us  and why do we think the writer choose these words to be the title of the book ? 

Our answers varied from each other , each one of us had different  thoughts about what it meant to her,depending on the different backgrounds we come from , as will as the type of studies we were Enrolled in or still are . 

Dania Elayyan from Jerusalem : “ I’m happy to be Palestinian , to be born a Palestinian is an enough reason to smile, I’m Palestinian and I wouldn’t have it any other way” ” 

Darin Al- Hawi from Jericho : “ I think this is the writer’s way of being sarcastic way of talking about the Palestinians lives “ 

Jamila Jaffal From Abudis : “ I think it’s due to the fact that the writer is a comedian and he wants us to smile despite the difficult situation we live in” 

Aya Abassi :" As a leader for the discussion I find it obligable to explain to you to you what it meant for the writer to choose these words to make up his Book Title , Amer the writer finds it important to use the word smile rather than proud because proud is a word you use to describe something you achieved , but in this contacts you were born Palestinian , so you didn't accomplish therefore you should smile rather than being proud, leave the proudness for yourself and the smile for everyone else to see " 

  we had a big discussion upon the Title of the book , and this small matter created a huge discussion and brought many ideas to our brains .

في حديثنا عن الكتاب الاول في نادي الكتاب لمجموعتنا ، كان نقاشنا الأول حول عنوان الكتاب وما يعنيه لكل واحدة منا 

وحول فكرة لم الكاتب اختار عبارة ابتسم وليس افتخر مع ان العادة المتبعة عند وصف الفلسطيني لفلسطينيته هي الفخر 

 تضاربت الافكار في النقاش في تحليل العنوان وما يعنيه لنا كفلسطينين 

فهنالك من قال ان الأمر يدعوا للسخرية من القدر ومنهن من رأى ان الأمر يعتمد على رؤية الامور بإيجابية 

هذا النقاش فتح المجال لنقاشات اوسع واعمق للقاءات القاددمة 

Letter from Camden women's meeting to Dar Assadaqa women's links

Hello sisters in Dar Assadaqa and beyond! 

Some of us are looking forward to seeing you in March, when the next women’s visit to Palestine will take place. 

We keep hearing horrible news, especially about the expanding settlements, in the last few days. 

We’re going to organise an event for International Women’s Day, just before the next visit, and we wondered what you think our focus might be? Should it be about opposing settlements, is there anything you would like us to present or show? Let us know what you think, and suggestions you have.

Also, we want to start work on the next newsletter, and would like to have another recipe from Palestine, and an article (possibly written in Arabic and translated into English, which we can help with). Have you got any thoughts about that?

Finally, some of us went on the Women Against Trump demonstration. While the cause of it was depressing, the atmosphere here in London was very positive and lively – there are so many of us who know what is right and just, and we can come together to show it. So, though things are so difficult in Palestine, we are thinking of you with hope in our hearts …

With love,

CADFA Women London

Brunswick Stall

This is our lovely stall in the Brunswick Centre Market Place where we have been coming every Saturday for over a year come rain or shine to sell many different products from Palestine.
We sell wonderful Zaytoun items including olive oil, soap and za’atar as well as almonds and dates from Jericho. We offer tasters of olive oil and za’atar and already many people are converted to this delicious Palestinian breakfast. Also popular are Maftoul and Freekeh as we are able to provide recipe cards introducing new ways of cooking. On the stall we also have beautiful artefacts from Palestine including pottery and embroidery.
Why do we brave the wind and cold to be here?
Our goal is to raise money to foster our Women’s Link Group. We hope to bring Palestinian women to come to the UK and for British women to visit Palestine.
A great opportunity to talk about CADFA’s work on Human Rights
CADFA’s EVS volunteers have been the backbone of our sales team over most of the year assisted by a fantastic group of CADFA volunteers. Every week we engage with the public and talk about Palestinian issues and our human rights work.

Many thanks to EVS volunteers  currently Migurl and Jean and to Stuart, Nina, Nasima, Cris, Andy, Paloma, Reba, Una, Elizabeth, Liz, Gill, Selma and myself, Annika.

Solidarity dolls

Abu Dis women have been working hard to make dolls with embroidered Palestinian dresses (thobes) to be sold in Camden between now and Christmas. Look out for them soon on the Cadfa women's links stall at the Brunswick Centre every Saturday 10 to 5 !

Ideas from the UK=Palestine women's links meeting Sept 2016