Stories from Jerusalem / Al Quds

In the Palestinian refugee camp 'Aida' in Bethlehem a group of women with children with a disability came together to support each other. It started as simple as collecting money to be able to buy cheaper nappies in bulk so they would save money. The mother's group grew out into the Noor (which means light in Arabic) Women Empowerment Group (WEG).

In this episode you can learn more about the Palestinian refugee camps in general and Aida camp in Bethlehem in particular. I speak with Rua who runs the Noor Rehabilitation Center, a project by the Noor Women Empowerment Group. They support people with disabilities in different ways, with physical therapy, psychological support and by offering classes for children with learning problems and autism.

As the Center is completely dependent on charity, donations are highly appreciated. They also offer (online) cooking classes that you can sign up for and donate towards!

For the Society for Disabled go to: https://noorsocietyfordisabled.wordpress.com

For Noor Women Empowerment Group and cooking classes: https://noorweg.wordpress.com

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The 9th month of the Islamic Hijri calendar is the month of Ramadan in which Muslims are fasting from dawn to dusk. This is one of the five pillars of Islam. In this episode you can learn more about the month of Ramadan, why the fasting is happening in this particular month and why the month of Ramadan is never in the same period of time. You can also virtually join the preparations of a big iftar family meal and hear the call for prayer from the mosque and the sounds of breaking the fasting. 

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This is the second part of the interview with Ramy Sayyegh, history teacher and tour guide in Jaffa. It is the continuation of episode 9. In the first part we heard about the history of Jaffa from the ancient times until the Ottoman era. In this episode we speak about the big changes that happened to the city of Jaffa and for the residents of Jaffa with the arrival of the European colonial powers, the Zionist immigrants and the United Nations Partition Plan.

Ramy describes the response of the Jaffa residents to the coming of the British Mandate and the Zionist militias. We talk about the year 1948 in which the State of Israel was created, Jaffa was depopulated and most of its residents became refugees. And of course Ramy tells us about Jaffa today. Who lives in Jaffa, what do tourists visit when they come to Jaffa and who benefits from the tourism to Jaffa?!

You can contact Ramy on instagram if you want to organize a tour in Jaffa.

https://instagram.com/Ramysa78

To listen to the podcast that Ramy produces (in Arabic)

Apple:https://apple.co/34KAO7W 

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3kJG1mK

Podbean: https://bit.ly/2IRNanu

Google pod: https://did.li/Almadi-Alhader-2

Instagram: https://instagram.com/podcast.yaffayouth

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. You can find all the links in the linktree:
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Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Until my first visit to Palestine in 2006 I was not really aware of the fact that there were Christian Palestinians. Which is quite ridiculous if you have only a little understanding of where Christianity came from! Of course there are Christians in the land where Jesus was born, preached his message, was crucified and resurrected, according to the Bible. 

In this episode I speak with three students of the Bethlehem Bible College tour guide program, about the history of Christianity, Christians in Palestine, the Easter story according to the Bible, the theological meaning of the crucifixion and some of the local traditions of Easter in Jerusalem. 

This episode was created for the final assignment of our New Testament course at the Bethlehem Bible College. 

The music in this episode are snippets of Easter related songs by Fayrouz. 

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In part 2 of the virtual podcast tour in Battir, Hassan takes us to the area of the Railway that used to connect Jaffa with Jerusalem. The railway station has been demolished after the creation of the State of Israel. The villagers of Battir, led by Hassan Mustafa, managed with a very creative trick to keep out the Zionist militias and unlike most surrounding villages they were not expelled. In a special agreement the people of Battir kept access to their lands that are now inside Israel. We cross the Green Line, the armistice line of 1948 and walk about a hundred meters on the Israeli side of the railway before going back to Battir. There we pass by the boys school, the old lime kiln, the artisan shop of artist Sultan, the Dar Abu Hassan Guesthouse with Vivien Sansour's Heirloom Seed Library (listen to episode 1 of season 1 !!) and in the Seven Widow's quarter we hear the famous stories about Hassan Mustafa.

If you want to connect to Hassan to ask him about Battir, to organize a hike or a visit to Battir, to reserve a lunch at The Terraces Cafe or at the Dar Abu Hassan guesthouse (where you can also stay in the beautiful guesthouse) then you can find him on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Battir.GuestHouse

Click here to follow the Terraces Cafe on Facebook

Click here to follow the Terraces Cafe on Instagram

Click here to go straight to the BONUS content about UNESCO inscription of BATTIR

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
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The music of this podcast is composed and played by Zaid Hilal.  You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Sound Cloud. 

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Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Join us for a lively virtual podcast tour in the beautiful town of Battir, south of Jerusalem, right on the Green Line, the demarcation line between Israel and the Westbank. With Hassan Mu'amer we explore the history and cultural landscape of Battir. He explains us how an ancient water system, that brings the spring water to the eight families of Battir, is the reason that Battir exclusively has eight-days a week. You will hear the water throughout the walk, you will understand how this agricultural community made it to UNESCO's world heritage list. And this is only episode 1. Because we will continue with more interesting and inspiring stories in episode 2.

If you want to connect to Hassan to ask him about Battir, to organize a hike or a visit to Battir, to reserve a lunch at The Terraces Cafe or at the Dar Abu Hassan guesthouse (where you can also stay in the beautiful guesthouse) then you can find him on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Battir.GuestHouse

Click here to follow the Terraces Cafe on Facebook

Click here to follow the Terraces Cafe on Instagram


Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

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Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

This is the third part of a Trilogy from Jerusalem to Jaffa, a guided virtual podcast tour. In this episode we learn about the history of Jaffa and its main historic sites from Ramy Sayegh, a resident of Jaffa and history teacher. The continuation of the history of the Nakba of 1948 for the residents of Jaffa will be published in the next episode.

Ramy has a history podcast in Arabic that you can find here:

Apple:https://apple.co/34KAO7W 

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3kJG1mK

Podbean: https://bit.ly/2IRNanu

Google pod: https://did.li/Almadi-Alhader-2

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

It is spring time and Palestine is full of greens that are very healthy and that are part of the traditional Palestinian cuisine. Food foraging was always an important part of the heritage of Palestinians. Izzeldin Bukhari, founder of Sacred Cuisine, looks for the stories behind the food. In this episode we talk about greens like hwerna, khobeza and mlukhiya. Where do the names come from, what are interesting facts and how do you prepare these greens?

We also talk about the origin of falafel! and the fact that rice was introduced in Palestine on large scale only after the Nakba in 1948 as food aid by the United Nations.

If you want to know more about Sacred Cuisine or order spices, tahina, dibis or bamboo cutlery sets in the online shop you can go to https://sacred-cuisine.com/

For a special 10% discount use the promo code: PMHFPH88


Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
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Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

In the second part of this virtual bus tour we will learn about Abu Ghosh, also called the 'humus capital' and named after the Abu Ghosh family that originates from the Caucasus. There are two important churches in Abu Ghosh, one connected to the Bible story of the Ark of the Covenant that stayed in Kiriyat Jearim for 20 years. The other one connected to the Bible story of the two people that walked to Emmaus and met Jesus after his crucifixion and resurrection. The town also has the second largest mosque in Palestine.

Then we continue to Lod, the city that had one of the oldest first airports in Palestine, the Lod airport was later named Ben Gurion airport. Lod is famous for the resting place of Saint George, known in Palestine also as Al Khader. An interesting mix of Christian and Muslim traditions. Many Palestinians are named George and Khader.

Lod was the capital of Jund Falastin, one of the provinces under the Muslim dynasties. But it had to give this title to Ramla when it was built by Suleiman ibn AbdelMalik who built a city in the sandy coastal area, where nobody had settled before, hence the name Ramle, meaning 'sand' in Arabic.

This and much more you can hear in this podcast episode!

For the photos that go with this episode you can go to the Ko-fi page, the platform where I can also receive donations, that is very welcome and highly appreciated. That's where I post unique content that you don't find on other social media. Check it out!
https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

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Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

The motto of this social running group in Palestine is "We run to tell a different story". The group started in 2012 when Palestinians tried to organize a marathon in the city of Bethlehem but they could not find a stretch of 42 kilometers without being limited by the Israeli segregation wall, the settlements, checkpoints and Israeli bypass roads that circle around the Palestinian city. The Palestinian organizers were once again confronted with the limitations in movement caused by the Israeli restrictions. This resulted in an initiative or a movement that quickly spread among young Palestinians throughout the Westbank, Gaza, Jerusalem and other Palestinian cities in Israel.

In this episode George Zeidan, one of the founders and motors behind the Right to Movement explains how they are trying to raise awareness about their right to movement, but also how they encourage Palestinians to run, especially women. This episode also includes soundbites and short interviews with runners after one of their early morning runs in Bethlehem.

If you want to support the Right to Movement and order your own t-shirt you can contact George Zeidan directly at : [email protected]

For the SPECIAL photo that photographer Anne Pak took of me during the marathon in 2019 right in front of the Israeli military checkpoint go to https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

You can also do a donation to the podcast there, which is highly appreciated.

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine