"Because I refuse to live in slavery"

My final day in At Tuwani was absolutely perfect. I had set my alarm for 5:30am, hoping to possibly learn from one of the women in the village how to make bread. As soon as my alarm sounded, I groaned and turned it off…what the hell was I thinking getting up at 5:30am?! About 45 minutes later, I heard a rush of feet passing by my bed (everyone sleeps outside during the summer) and a woman screaming, “Foreigners, get up! There are settlers in the valley and young shepherd boys are there with their sheep! Get up!”

I lifted my head to see a crowd of villagers running toward the valley, including a woman who was eight months pregnant. My teammates and I stumbled around to get our stuff: running shoes and cameras. I ran up the hill with Joy and when we reached the top we noticed all of the Palestinians sitting on rocks peering down into the valley, no settlers in sight. Joy and I made our way down and asked some young shepherd boys where the settlers were.

“What are you talking about? There are no settlers here,” they replied.

So, we headed back up the hill, Joy remarking about the ridiculousness of her polar bear pajama pants that had now been introduced to the entire village. We were happy it was merely a “settler drill.”

Come to find out later, one of the woman from the other side of the village thought she had seen three settlers walking down from the settlement Ma'on toward the valley. Such a sight assures harassment and possibly even a beating, so she yelled to her neighbors who immediately dropped their morning chores and ran down, getting others to join them along the way. This is what I love about this village: they refuse to be bullied. It’s common for other villages to hide when settlers come, but At Tuwani comes out in force and lets them know they will not be intimidated. My teammates and I are often just there to document and be a witness to how they are confronting the situation. Despite all they are facing, these people will not bow their heads, and this gives me hope.

That evening, I joined my friend Tala in Ramallah, a world away from At Tuwani. I often say I feel like Ramallah is Las Vegas after coming from the village, and this night was no different. We went to the premier of a new documentary on Palestinian rappers called Slingshot Hip Hop (check out the trailer at www.slingshothiphop.com/trailer). The film introduced us to six different rap/hip hop groups, Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel Proper using their words and beats to express not only their anger and frustration, but also their refusal to let go of hope for their future. Though sitting in Ramallah, the words of these artists transported me back to At Tuwani:

My feet are the roots of the olive tree
Keep on prospering, fathering and renewing branches
Every branch
Grown for peace
Every branch
Under the pressure of occupation
Refusing to give up
So why don’t I have freedom?
Because I refuse to live in slavery.

I Don’t Have Freedom, by Dam