MOVING! A Letter from the Residents of "Aida Refugee Camp to His Holiness,Pope Benedict XIV

May 13, 2009

A Letter from the Residents of "Aida Refugee Camp to His Holiness,Pope Benedict XIV

Your Holiness,

It is with great pride that we welcome you to our camp. We take great pride in the fact that our camp is one of the many symbols across Palestine for the love shared between the Muslims and Christians of Palestine: when we, our parents, and grandparents, themselves Muslims and Christians, were expelled from our villages in the 1948 Nakba, they came across a Christian Palestinian woman who helped them find shelter in the area that is now the camp. Her name was 'Aida, a name that means 'the one who returns,' and it is after her that the camp is named, and in her honor that the church in the camp was built.

We wish, however, that we would be able to welcome you in our real homes; in Beit Nattif, al-Maliha, Ras Abu Ammar, 'Allar, Ajjur or any one of the 27 villages from which were displaced in the Nakba. This camp is only our temporary home until we or our children return to our real homes. Even in this temporary home, the state of Israel has not allowed us the most fundamental rights. As you have seen, Israel's wall has been built as a cage almost completely encircling our homes, the ever-watchful eyes of their soldiers' sniper towers monitoring every movement, their bullets still lodged in the doors and walls of our houses, our school and the bodies of the injured and the dead. This very school that you have graced today, is one that has been attacked several times by Israel 's soldiers, two of its students, aged 9 and 11 years, were injured as they sought shelter in their classrooms.

Much can be done, however, to ease the daily pain of our community. Our students suffer from over-crowded classrooms, and even those who excel are unable to continue their studies at universities, water is always scarce and badly distributed to our homes, our children have no space to play in the overcrowded alleys of the camp.

It is for these reasons that we approach you, your Holiness, on the occasion of your historic visit, to request that you help us in making the lives of our children more bearable, more fruitful, more normal. We approach you asking your help in providing:

· More classrooms for our students. These students study in small classrooms into which over 40 students are squeezed, and our exhausted teachers work double shifts in order to teach everyone;

· Scholarships and financial support for those students who wish to continue their studies in Palestine and abroad, and who are unable to because of financial difficulties and travel restrictions;

· Rehabilitation for our water network in the camp which has decayed over the years resulting in a poor and inconsistent water supply;

· A playground for our children.

We thank you, your Holiness, for honoring us with your visit.

In the Spirit of Love and Justice Shared by all Religions,

The Residents of 'Aida Refugee Camp, Palestine

May 13, 2009