In the Room with Amahl Bishara
Watch our complete unedited interview with Amahl Bishara
(photo: Trent Gilliss)
Pleasure More Than Hope
July 7, 2011
Did you know that the sacred city of Bethlehem lies within the West Bank? And, inside its borders, you'll find something unexpected — a close-knit neighborhood where generations of people have created a new life for themselves. Amahl Bishara and Nidal Al-Azraq show us something rare that we don't see in the news about refugee camps — the quiet cycles of everyday life.
listen
(mp3, 46:17)
Video Interviews with Krista Tippett
In the Room with Nidal Al-Azraq
Watch our entire interview with Nidal Al-Azraq
Selected Readings
Restarting a Conversation
Part 1 of Bishara's three-part series on how foreign journalism about Palestinians informs their sense of themselves.
So Many Refugees, How Shall I Choose?
Part 2 of Bishara's three-part series on how foreign journalism about Palestinians informs their sense of themselves.
Eating Watermelon, Parsing Chaos
Part 3 of Bishara's three-part series on how foreign journalism about Palestinians informs their sense of themselves.
Our Voice
A magazine by young Palestinian refugees sharing their stories and their perspectives.
Pertinent Posts from the On Being Blog
Experiencing the "other" online. The first of a three-part series, Life Together, in which Christin Davis of the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism profiles the coexistence efforts among Palestinians and Israelis who are trying to create new ways of living with each other in the Holy Land.
On each side of the separation wall, a different narrative of protection and segregation in Lod. A guest report from USC's Robyn Carolyn Price.
A cartooned image called Handala symbolizes Palestinian resistance in the sweep of a graffiti tag.
Wondering if you're in a Jewish or Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem? Look at the sidewalks.
A nest with no babies illustrates the predicament of Israel‘s Palestinian citizens.
About the Image
Amahl Bishara, Nidal Al-Azraq, and Mohammed Al Azzeh at the Lajee Center.
(photo: Trent Gilliss)
Your Comments
Comments
Permalink Submitted by Keith Roper on Sat, 2011-07-09 11:49
"How do they do it?" is the 1st question that comes to mind. I live in relative security here in the U.S. where most of my conflict comes between my 2 ears. The courage-to-be is essential for every one of us. Isn't it mostly fear that hinders us from loving each other? respecting each other? If not fear then indifference. But I think if we can learn, as these folks have, to live with whatever life presents us, with courage, respect, even welcome, then we, each one of us, can truly live and not simply exist or co-exist.
Permalink Submitted by Vicky Wason on Mon, 2011-07-11 15:02
I listened with great interested because I am soon to be welcoming a high school exchange student from the West Bank to our city. Whenever I read anything about the West Bank it is in reference to the politics. This story helped me to think about Bethlehem as a community with gardens and people with hopes and dreams like any other place. The student who comes to live here will be another "non-elite" voice that the Americans living here will get to hear, just like the voices Dr. Amahl Bishare is attempting to listen to. I can't wait to start listening to our exchange student from the West Bank!
Permalink Submitted by Len Moskowitz on Fri, 2011-07-15 05:37
They say clearly that they choose, voluntarily, to stay in the "refugee" camps. And that if they had the resources to live elsewhere, many would leave for a better life.
How come that hasn't happened? It seems as if they're being exploited politically by their own people.
Voices on the Radio
Nidal Al-Azraq
Al-Azraq is the program coordinator for the Lajee Center in Aida Camp, Bethlehem.
Kholoud Al Ajarma
Al Ajarma is the arts and media center coordinator for the Lajee Center in Aida Camp, Bethlehem.
Production Credits
Host/Producer: Krista Tippett
Managing Producer: Kate Moos
Associate Producer: Nancy Rosenbaum
Associate Producer: Susan Leem
Technical Director/Producer: Chris Heagle
Senior Editor: Trent Gilliss
Associate Web Developer: Anne Breckbill
Like-Minded Conversations
A new show from Jerusalem with American-Israeli journalist Yossi Klein Halevi, who says Jerusalem is a place where the essential human story plays itself out with particular intensity.
Mohammad Darawshe is Arab with an Israeli passport — a Muslim Palestinian citizen of the Jewish state. Like 20 percent of Israel's population, he is, as he puts it, a child of both identities. He brings an unexpected way of seeing inside the Middle Eastern present and future.
Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they've decided to understand the other side — Israeli and Palestinian — by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace. They don't want to be right; they want to be honest.
As Israel prepares for a critical election and Hamas forms a Palestinian cabinet, we explore the difficulty of reaching resolution in a land that its inhabitants, on both sides of the conflict, consider holy. Our guests in this two-part series, Israeli and Palestinian, identify deeply with the story and suffering of their own people. They are also individuals who from across tumultuous recent history have reached out to the other side. They find themselves embittered at the failure of the Oslo peace process, reeling from recent events, and uncertain about the future. We explore their unresolved questions and despair, and probe the deep longing for peace that remains within each of them and how they are imagining a future within new political realities.
As Israel prepares for a critical election and Hamas forms a Palestinian cabinet, we explore the difficulty of reaching resolution in a land that its inhabitants, on both sides of the conflict, consider holy. Our guests in this two-part series, Israeli and Palestinian, identify deeply with the story and suffering of their own people. They are also individuals who from across tumultuous recent history have reached out to the other side. They find themselves embittered at the failure of the Oslo peace process, reeling from recent events, and uncertain about the future. We explore their unresolved questions and despair, and probe the deep longing for peace that remains within each of them and how they are imagining a future within new political realities.
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