The Aida Camp Alphabet

How does a child reconcile a home community that is occupied by a foreign army, but that is also the place she knows best in the world, the place where she celebrates holidays, plays with her cousins, and enjoys her favorite meals? In Aida Refugee Camp, the Arabic letter of ghayn stands for ghaseel, the laundry hanging outside to dry and ghuyuum, the clouds above, but it also stands for ghaz, tear gas, and ghaza, Gaza. Aida Refugee Camp, near Bethlehem is home to about 5000 Palestinians from 27 villages depopulated by Zionist armies in 1948. Lajee Center, a community-based organization established in 2000 to serve the youth of Aida, is on the edge of the camp, just 100 meters from an Israeli army base and the separation wall. During the summer...