12-1-2016 We Are Orphans Here’ Life and death in East Jerusalem’s Palestinian refugee camp. By RACHEL KUSHNER New York Times Magazine

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/magazine/we-are-orphans-here.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

[Baha Nababta the writer's host and guide, a charismatic community organizer] said he was nervous. He said he'd been threatened. Also in my notes, this:  Baha says, two types  1. Those who want to help make a better life  2. Those who want to destroy everything. And in parentheses: (Arms trade. Drugs trade. Construction profits. No oversight wanted.…The next day, Baha had meetings to attend to try to solve the water problem. I spoke to Hiba about their kids. She asked me at what age [the writer's son] Remy started his piano lessons. "I want music lessons for the girls," she said. "I think it's very good for their development." As she said it, more machine-gun fire erupted from the roof of a nearby building. "I want them to know the feel, the smells, of a different environment. To be able to imagine other lives."  When I think of Hiba Nababta wanting what I want for my child, her rightful desire that her kids should have an equal chance, everything feels hopeless....


Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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