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Antoinette
Knesivich, member of AEI’s women’s group, will
tell about her life in a two-weekly column. She
lives near the Wall surrounding Rachel's Tomb.
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I love music and this accordeon
accompanied me
since I bought it when I was 17
years. |
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June 14, 2008:
Checkpoint
memory
The following
story came back to me when I passed the
checkpoint from Bethlehem to Haifa. Soldiers
were making life difficult for me and my
companions.
Once, in 1979, a
pastor of the Anglican Church, Odeh Rantisi,
called on me to join a group of Palestinians
traveling to Germany. I asked him how could I go
when my husband had passed away just 11 months
before that. He said that he needed me so I went
with the group. We made our way from south to
north in Germany, town by town, from Munich,
through Winsbach, Karlsbad, and Kuttingen. We
were giving talks about our problems as
Palestinians. When we arrived in Kuttingen we
had meetings with the mayor of the municipality
in that area, a large district. We went to him,
showed him respect, and entered the
municipality.
“As a
Palestinian group, what would you like from us?
What do you need?” he enquired. A woman named
Linda Nasser, the mother of the former president
of Birzeit University who was expelled by the
Israelis to Amman, was part of the group. She
said: “Before 1948 we were all Palestinians –
Moslem, Christian, Jewish. We were sharing,
eating together, and respecting each other, and
living together in peace. After the Nakba, the
Haganna threw us out, and we became refugees.
She said: “Since we want to live in peace, let
us return to our homes, and we will have peace.”
The group consisted of 15 people. The mayor was
listening earnestly to hear what we had to say
as Palestinians. He said: “As I am Jewish, I
will help you.” We looked at each other and a
bit of fear came into our hearts, but we admired
that he was a mayor and Jewish in Germany. Upon
our return through Israel we were afraid because
we had told our Palestinian stories everywhere.
Would they not create problems at the border for
us?
But no, we got a
VIP treatment at the border leaving from
Germany. Apparently, the mayor of Kuttingen had
arranged this. Nowadays, when traveling, there
is no VIP treatment, to the contrary. Problems
and humiliation are the rule. It is 60 years
since the Nakba and we are more closed in than
ever as the wall separates us from Jerusalem.
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May 10, 2008:
Why does a vase
of flowers give me a sad feeling?
A Dutch social
worker, Janny, came last week at the Arab
Educational Institute to give workshops for some
of the women of our group. We talked about how
to deal with our children under stressful
circumstances.
Of course
people here go through a lot of stress. The
women in the workshop told stories about
soldiers who entered the home and pointed their
gun on children, or demolished furniture. They
talked about images of killed civilians on TV.
One of our group even explained that her house
was demolished after her son was taken by the
Israeli army. Still another said that a few
months ago she and her children could not sleep
because the house of somebody living close to
her was demolished during the night.
What can you do
for the children in such situations?
Here at home it
was scary outside when there were shootings in
the last Intifada, in 2001-2. It happened that
I played the accordion with the children on the
veranda so as not to keep them afraid about the
shootings over our house. I let them make
drawings. When the shooting was heavy we used to
go into the cellar of the house and then I also
encouraged the children to draw and make music.
Not all stress
is related to the political circumstances. Janny
was surprised to hear how much homework children
have to do here, already from the age of seven
years on. The homework for the children adds to
the other problems they feel. I also sometimes
help the children in the extended family with
their homework. It’s true: the homework for the
children is often a burden for the parents and
especially for the mothers.
The women have
to be strong to cope with all the stress. You
need to have sumud, steadfastness or
resilience.
Janny asked us
to choose a card from a package she had. We had
to choose a card which gave a good feeling and
one which gave a bad feeling. A nice game to
learn about each other and yourself.
I chose the
card with a ladder, as the negative card. It’s
simply risky for me to stand on a ladder at my
age… As you can guess, a card with music notes
was my positive card. I love music and love to
play the piano.
Afterwards I
discovered another card, with a vase of flowers.
For me that card gave a negative feeling. A
negative feeling? - you will ask. Why so?
Flowers are beautiful after all.
However, in the
past I took care of the flowers in the Anglican
church in Jerusalem. But since the building of
the Wall I cannot anymore go to Jerusalem and to
the church there. So flowers now make me sad.
Can you imagine?
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April 19,
2008:
MUSIC BRIDGES, THE WALL SEPARATES
My house is full of musical instruments……
The first instrument I learned was the
mandolin. I played many hours together with
my music teacher at St Joseph School, who
played the piano. Later on I played with her
beautiful classical pieces together on the
piano, with four hands.
Augustine Lama, a noted pianist and organist
at churches in Jerusalem, influenced me
greatly. He used to listen and critique my
playing. He helped me a great deal in the
1970s. He came from Jerusalem to Beit Jala
to give lessons to seminarians in the
Catholic Convent here. Then I brought him
with my car to Rachel’s Tomb where he waited
for the bus to Jerusalem.
I used to teach students songs, recitals and
the dabkeh dance. I also taught them
various instruments, including percussion,
flutes, xylophone, and the accordion. I
encouraged them to form music groups and to
participate at festivals at UNRWA schools.
I like to see and hear music around me.
Among my pupils have been my niece and
nephew, and the last has even become an
excellent pianist. Once I made the music for
a nationalist song at a school in Beit
Sahour, and the Israeli occupation
authorities forbade it…. Imagine!
Music is a language which all the people in
the world can enjoy and read. With music I
give my pupils joy and life.
The Wall next to my house divides people.
Music bring people together.
These days I am in contact with the Dutch
musical composer Merlijn Twaalfhoven. In his
music project “carried by the wind” for 17
April, at sunset, he wants to bridge
differences between styles and cultures. He
is doing so by playing music from across the
roofs of the Rachel’s Tomb area. I wish him
all success!
About “Carried by the Wind”
On Thursday April 17 at sunset (18:00-19:00)
, the music event “Carried by the Wind” by
composer Merlijn Twaalfhoven will traverse
the walls that separate inhabitants of
Bethlehem from each other. About fifty
singers, percussion and wind players of all
ages are placed on rooftops near the
separation wall at Rachel’s Tomb. “Carried
by the Wind” symbolizes the freedom of the
creative mind that cannot be obstructed by a
fence or wall. The involvement of children
opens the perspective on the future.
This project is a collaboration of Khalil
Sakakini Cultural Centre, Sabreen for
Artistic Development, Al Ruwwad, La Vie sur
Terre and Arab Education Institute Open
Windows and is supported by Netherlands Fund
for Performing Arts.
Guests are invited to take a drink at the
Sumud Peace House, on 200 meter from the
foot passenger’s exit of the
Jerusalem-Bethlehem checkpoint on the Hebron
road, opposite the gate towards Rachel’s
Tomb (palm tree in garden).
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More information for the press: Gina Asfour:
0522 908012
www.arabica.nu, www.twaalfhoven.net
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March
29, 2008:
LIGHT IN MY
HEART BUT A WALL IN FRONT OF MEE
Let me introduce
myself. I am a Palestinian and was born in Beit
Jala in 1934. My family originates from Austria
and came to Palestine in 1885. My husband, Henry
Knesivich, was born in Gaza and was son of
Alexander Antonio Knesevich, the first British
consul in Gaza during the British occupation.
Henry was the director for the Hebron and
Jerusalem areas of the United Nations Relief and
Work Agency (UNRWA) in the 1950s and he built
his home next to Rachel’s Tomb, close to the
main road. For 20 years I served as a music and
art teacher with UNRWA in Aida refugee camp,
close to my home.
At the time of
the passing away of my husband, in 1978, I took
a close look at myself and where I was in life.
My husband’s passing away turned my life upside
down. Physically my body became sick. My life
followed my husband into the grave. Then I began
to think how I wished to continue in life. My
two sisters in law were aged 96 and 82. I was
42. I felt responsible for their care because I
had promised to take care of them. My thoughts
were many. After a time, I switched my thoughts.
I have faith in G-d. All my life I had turned
the mirror to let darkness be light. I continued
my responsibility lovingly and unconditionally
and gave love to my sisters in law until they
passed away. I discarded all the darkness from
my life, all the clouds in my thought. I
instilled in my inner self light, the light of
happiness, working as a volunteer. In my mind I
said, if I give them – all the old people, the
handicapped, a small smile, it will return to me
in their smiling back at me. They return the
happiness to me.
Following the
first Intifada at the end of the 1980s, I came
to the Talitha Kumi school in Beit Jala as an
arts teacher. I also served as a volunteer in
the Arab Society for the Handicapped, the
Bethlehem Family Planning Society and the St
Nicholas Home for the Elderly in Beit Jala. I am
a member of the Anglican Church and was active
in the St Georges’ Cathedral in Jerusalem, and a
board member of the Dar al-Awlaad school in
Jerusalem. However, I cannot go there now
because of the Wall which is next to our house.
Now there is a
Wall in my heart. I am a dying lady. All
Palestinians feel like they are dying. All of us
are in prison. But still, like many, I keep this
inner light. In the coming columns I tell you
more about my life and that of my family. |
