Arab Educational Institute (AEI-Open Windows) 9 February 2008   Summer Research 2008 STORIES OF PALESTINE Arab Educational Institute (AEI-Open Windows) Bethlehem-Palestine AEI-Open Windows/School of Communication will organize this summer for the first time a research program in which international volunteers are invited to come and conduct interviews with Palestinians in Bethlehem and Palestine. This program is motivated by the need to collect stories of common Palestinians and to make them available for a broad international audience which is often uninformed about Palestinian reality and identity but interested to learn more. In advance of the summer AEI staff will contact some dozens of Palestinian youth, families, women and NGOs to ask if they are available for an interview. During the program, AEI will make individual arrangements for each of the interviewers, and facilitate mutual exchanges between the researchers. We do not ask specific academic qualifications from the interviewers; rather, we expect them to be sensitive to the Palestinian situation, to people’s loss and pain, as well as to their moments of joy and celebration. Most importantly, the interviewers are asked to register people’s stories in a reliable manner, taking care of detail. The program will focus on the months July and August. It will encourage interviews on the following topics: life stories memories of the Nakbeh (1948 war) the religious and spiritual heritage of Palestine: experiences with celebrations, feast days, sources of spiritual inspiration, sources of hope and sumud (steadfastness) relations between Moslems and Christians: stories of living together a day in the life of… (including a photo or video story) stories related to objects in the house and the environment, especially objects which carry a precious memory. Stories of civilians affected by the building of the Wall in the neighborhood of Rachel’s Tomb. §         AEI will especially look for those interviewees who are able to express themselves in English; if not, an interpreter will be sought. We ask the interviewers to upload their items (stories, photos, audio etc.) on AEI’s website and www.palestine-family.net, a website devoted to Palestinian culture and history. Interviews can also be worked out also when the interviewers are back in their homeland. Due to shortage of funding, all costs, including accommodation and traveling, have to be covered by the interviewers themselves. However, they can expect a welcoming attitude and cooperation and feedback from our staff and groups about the interviews. There will be the possibility to stay with hosting families. For more information: Toine van Teeffelen Director Development Arab Educational Institute (AEI-Open Windows) Bethlehem Palestine +972-2-2744030 (office) +972-2-2776573 (home) +972-522-789156 (mobile) +972-2-2777554 (fax) tvant@p-ol.com / aei@p-ol.com www.aeicenter.org www.palestine-family.net Arab Educational Institute - Open Windows fosters educational opportunities for Palestinian communities and youth to share and communicate to others the daily life reality of Palestine, including human rights issues and the rich diversity of cultural and religious identities.  ______________________________________________ AEI-Open Windows Milk Grotto Street 96 Bethlehem (five minutes’ walk from the Church of the Nativity) Palestine via Israel Tel. +972-2-2744030 Fax: +972-2-2777554 Email: aei@p-ol.com Website: www.aeicenter.org If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" to aei@p-ol.com Don't hesitate to forward this newsletter to persons who might be interested. And… we always like to receive reactions!