We were welcomed by the public affairs committee of the refugee camp next to the place where we're staying.
They welcomed us to the camp and told us that people living here came from 84 different villages in the part of Palestine now called Israel and that the children are all aware of the places their families were from and answer the questions "Where are you from?" with the name of that village or town of origin.
They impressed upon us the British responsibility for the Nakba disaster that befell Palestine, and as it turned out that there were people in the room who hadn't heard of the Balfour Declaration, they explained how the British government had promised a land that wasn't theirs to a people who didn't live in it, and showed that this promise had been a major a influence on the process of Palestinian disposession, from which they are still suffering.
They said that UK teachers have a special responsibility to take their message back to people in Britain and work to make sure (1) that people know about the impact of the Balfour Declaration, (2) that our government doesn't keep taking the wrong position in the UN Security Council, (3) make sure that people know that the Palestinian people love peace and have the right to resist the occupation and (4) that the UK government who had started the problem should join other countries in recognising a Palestinian state.
A political argument ensued in Arabic but the UK teachers were particularly impressed by the input of a local headmistress who said very strongly that "education is our only weapon". She emphasised that, despite high graduate unemployment, young people from the amp work very hard for a good grade in school, a place at university and even for higher degrees.
