A VOICE ACROSS - NEWSLETTER FOM THE DANISH HOUSE

A YEAR FURTHER FROM PEACE

Within my first year as director for the Danish House in Palestine 185 primarily young Palestinians and 26 Israelis have lost their life in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and Israel. More than 15.000 Palestinians and more than 100 Israelis have been wounded. 834 Palestinian properties have been demolished and thousands have been displaced and imprisoned.
These grave statistics does not provoke optimism but as I enter my second year in Palestine I am still convinced that the potential of the Palestinian people will carry change. We have seen been fortunate to present remarkable events at the Danish House – film screenings, concerts and debates. We have seen the impact of our projects – Journalist Exchange, Merging Music, Design in Context, Photo Marathon and Living History. While it is hard to be an optimist in a political context as the one in Palestine it is hard to be a pessimist surrounded by the talent, competence and creativity that defines Palestinians.
I remain hopeful that the context will change but I can guarantee that the Danish House in Palestine will contribute however we can to support the Palestinian people regardless of how things develop.

Lone Bildsøe Lassen, director for the Danish House in Palestine

DHIP VISITING BEIT JALA & BETHLEHEM

Matias, Tore and Sebastian are physiotherapy students from UCC in Hillerød. The three students are volunteering at the Community Based Rehabilitation program (CBR) in Bethlehem. DHIP’s two interns Julie and Mikala followed the volunteers for a day, when they went to visit families in the village Beit Jala and Jemina Organization for Mentally Handicapped Children. The volunteers found their stay in Bethlehem interesting and educative, and they were happy about the collaboration with the physiotherapists and ergo therapists from the CBR team.

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VOLUTEERING AS A NURSE

Karoline is a nurse from Denmark. She is currently working as a volunteer in the Palestine Medical Complex at the Ramallah Government Hospital until the end of March. We paid a visit to Karoline at the hospital and she introduced us to the staff, the unit and her daily work as a nurse at the hospital.

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DHIP EVENT - MOVIE SCREENING

The turnout of the screening of ’The Wanted 18’ at the Danish House on Thursday the 18th of February exceeded our expectations as well as the capacity of our venue. We managed to host a large audience engaging in an interesting dialogue with the Palestinian Director Amer Shomali during an intense Q and A session after the movie. We thank the large crowd showing up and Amer Shomali for letting us present his Oscar nominated movie.

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JOURNALIST EXCHANGE

In late April 2016, the eight Palestinian journalists from the Journalist Exchange Project will travel to Copenhagen. The journalist were matched in teams of two, a Danish and a Palestinian, to work together and research and produce stories from Denmark and Palestine, later published by their own media outlets. The journalist hosting will facilitate through advice and practical help – while the journalist visiting will choose the angle, research and produce the history. The project aims to provide new perspectives on Denmark and Palestine, let journalists learn from each other through concrete cooperation and to create a professional network across the two countries.

SEE MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT ON OUR WEBSITE

PALESTINE PHOTO MARATHON

This year’s Photo Marathon will be held Saturday May 7^th in several cities in Palestine. DHIP will start registering participants next week from March 20^th. Follow Palestine Photo Marathon’s Facebook for updates and further information: Palestine Photo Marathon.

We are looking forward to an amazing day!

Samer Hamed won last years 24 hour Photo Marathon event.

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LOTS OF MUSIC

The Danish musicians from the Merging Music project played a concert with their Palestinian colleagues in East Jerusalem and Ramallah on March 4^th and 5^th.

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Haderslev Cathedral’s Girls’ Choir gave concerts on March 6^th and 9^th in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Their trip was co-funded by The Danish House in Palestine.

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DESIGN IN CONTEXT

In the last months of 2015 the women from our Design in Context project have been participating in design and business workshops, learning business planning, market analysis and marketing. In January it was time to show what they had been working on, when exhibitions with their products were held in Ramallah and Bethlehem. Many people showed up to admire and shop the beautiful products.
“I learned how to make the traditional embroidery from my family, but at the design workshops I learned some more difficult things. I learned that I could use the traditional embroidery for new scarfs, shirts, and accessories. In the business workshop I learned how to evaluate my own products and how to bookkeep everything I sell and buy. I didn’t know that this was necessary before. My dream is that there will be a market for my products in the future – either locally or internationally.” Yusra Qazaz, participant in Design in Context.

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IN THE WORDS OF A PALESTINIAN - INTERVIEW MARAH SOUFAN

Palestinian reality is debated across the globe. However, often by international academics, journalists and politicians. The Danish House in Palestine has invited a number of Palestinians representing different outlooks and areas of expertise to share their perspectives.

Marah Soufan will turn 20 years in July, she is an Honors Student and Undergraduate in Accounting from Birzeit University.

I live in Ramallah so I don’t face the same everyday challenges as my fellow students from Jerusalem who has to pass borders and check points. Some days there are problems at the border and they cannot get to the university. It is a difficult situation, but coming to the college and studying here is a kind of resistance to the occupation. We are challenged but we are trying to face the challenge every day. Even the 3 years old kid in Palestine needs to be strong. The way I see it, our study is a natural part of the resistance. You can’t fight the occupation if you don’t have any educational background. You need your education. Studying at a University and getting our certificates contribute to the Palestinian cause.

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