PALESTINIAN school-goers took part in an emotional ceremony at Dublin’s Mansion House last week.
The 15 students, all in their mid-teens, were visiting as part of the Schools Across Borders programme, an Irish Aid-funded project which sees schools in Ireland and Northern Ireland linked with counterparts in Jerusalem and Hebron.
Maha Mokhtar, a student from Hebron, explained how much the trip has meant to her. “It’s really given me a great opportunity to express what I am suffering,” she said. Her friend Saladin Abu Hamdiah added that the visit gave him the chance to tell Irish students what life in Palestine is like for young people.
“The media is not completely covering everything,” he said. “They only focus on the big things. So when I am here I can send a message.”
Both Maha and Saladin expressed disappointment with the global political response to the recent events in Gaza, but were happy to see that citizens of many countries had not forgotten them.
“On the streets of every country I saw there were sympathisers with us,” said Saladin. “When I see a demonstration with thousands, I think that there are people that feel with us.”
Maha agreed and expressed her gratitude for the numbers of Irish who demonstrated against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Irish students were keen to emphasise the benefits of the Schools Without Borders exchange.
“We don’t get the full story over here,” said Nicola Halloran, a student at Mount Anville in Dublin. “One of the girls told me that she can’t even visit her aunt in Jerusalem, but if I was to go there I could easily travel in and out. I think it’s not fair at all what’s going on.”
Schools Across Borders doesn’t bring students to Ireland from Israel and Palestine simultaneously, co-ordinator Darran Irvine explained.
“It’s too close to home. The Israeli students are joining the army when they’re 18 [for compulsory military service] and one of the children currently on the programme is actually starting in Hebron, searching the homes of the students we’re working with.”
Although some are not keen, Maha tells Metro Éireann that she would like to meet Israelis her age.
“Not to be friends with them, I would never be friends with them,” she says. “I want to meet them and explain to them what it’s like for us.”
Saladin, too, would favour a meeting with Israeli students so that he could understand how they feel.
“Maybe we could find some point of view in common that will help in the conflict,” he said. “I think that many don’t want the war. We are looking for peace.”
