by Todd Morrow

Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. (Isaiah 1:17)

Wall art in Aida refugee camp depicts facts on the ground.

Today we visited the Aida refugee camp established in 1948 when 24,000 Palestinians were kicked out of their south Jerusalem homes. This particular camp, in Bethlehem, is adjacent to the Wi’am Center. It is also hemmed in by the wall built by the Israeli authorities in 2003. Originally the camp was just tents. Now it has apartment buildings for the approximately 4500 Palestinian refugees who call it home. It is clear their zest for life and hope for a better future is strong, despite the apartheid that controls their lives.

As we returned to the Wi’am Center, we saw Palestinian youth throwing rocks at an Israeli Defense Force-manned wall tower. Tomorrow is Naqba Day, the day Palestinians commemorate their displacement from their lands.

Israeli Defense Force-manned wall tower, immediately next to Wi’am Center

The youth, some who wore masks, stopped throwing while we walked between them and the guard tower, their target. We exchanged hellos as we passed.

We later learned that one of them was hit by a rubber bullet shot by an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) sniper and taken away by the IDF while we were inside the Center.

The injustice that envelopes these Palestinians is unbelievable. It makes me angry.

What am I doing to seek justice and correct oppression in Palestine?