Children of the Camp
© YouTube/Mondoweiss
On Thursday, January 21 children from Bethlehem's Aida and Beit Jibrin refugee camps talked to Mondoweiss about their life in the camps. We wanted to know exactly how much the children understood about the military occupation going on around them, and how normal they believed their lives were. With their parents permission, we asked five children from the streets of the two camps what they thought. All of the answers were spontaneous and unrehearsed, and as it turned out, the kids understood โ€” and have experienced โ€” quite a lot.

Many of the children talked about tear gas, soldiers, and being scared of going outside. All of the children have seen family members killed, injured and detained by Israeli forces โ€” as is the life in the occupied West Bank's many refugee camps. Still, the children have high hopes, telling Mondoweiss they want to be doctors, lawyers and engineers when they grow up.



Video: Sheren Khalel and Abed al Qaisi
Music: Bakr Khalifa
Interviews recorded: January 21, 2016
About Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi

Sheren Khalel is a freelance multimedia journalist who works out of Israel, Palestine and Jordan. She focuses on human rights, women's issues and the Palestine/Israel conflict. Khalel formerly worked for Ma'an News Agency in Bethlehem, and is currently based in Ramallah and Jerusalem. You can follow her on Twitter at @Sherenk.

Abed Al Qaisi is a freelance multimedia journalist covering conflict in the Middle East and Europe. Abed has done work for Al Jazeera English, USA Today, Vice News and more.