International Day of the Woman

On this International Day of the Woman, this post is made in honor of all the strong, fiercely loving women that I have met and admired so far during my time here,
- The Bedouin women of Khan Al Ahmar, working to save their Tyre school and village from mass demolition orders,
- The young Muslim medical student who travels every morning through the humiliating and dangerous checkpoint at Qalandia,
- The Palestinian community center leader in Wadi Hilweh trying to keep 600 children in her care safe from detention and arrest,
- The women of Silwan whose homes are crumbling away from structural damage from an improperly managed and politicized archaeology project,
- The Jahalin grandmother weeping at the destruction of her caravan home as her small grandchildren play on the remains,
- The teenagers who laugh as they try to teach me some Arabic,
- The Israeli women who strongly denounce the conditions of this occupation and give their time to non-violent protest and advocacy,
- The Palestinian mother who awoke at 5am by bulldozers coming to tear down the house in which her five teenage sons live,
- The Palestinian Christians ladies at the Roman Catholic Arabic-Italian Church, Mary of the Sacred Heart, as they share laughter, plates of sweets and small strong cups of coffee at coffee hour,
- The teachers of Waft schools who teach Palestinian culture as educational authorities attempt to repress their voice...

Please enjoy this video, "The Palestine I Know" by Rafeef Ziadah from the album We Teach Life. Performed live at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin May 2016. Music by Phil Monsour.