After our brisk hour's walk in the desert surrounding my town, the women's march for at-risk children (see previous post) reached the end point, Meitar amphitheater.
Bottles of water were waiting for us.
And arcticim (popsicles) were distributed.
Then the invigorating music started and two Zumba instructors got the girls up and dancing.
The Jewish youth (in white march T shirts) lasted for a song or two.
But the school group in orange were full of energy and enthusiasm and danced on and on, into the night!
Their shirts say Hura Local Council, so I assume they are from Hura, the Bedouin town close to Meitar.
At one point the Zumba teacher took the microphone and told "the wonderful girls in orange who were so nice to join the march" that she had a song especially for them; it was Arabic music and words.
It was heart-warming for me to see the mix of the two Israeli "sectors" having fun together, or at least next to one another.
It made me glad I moved to the Negev.
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I was so impressed by these Bedouin schoolgirls--so well-behaved, pretty, and full of life. And they had only two adult women (teachers?) with them. A group of Jewish kids that size would have been all over the place.
ReplyDeleteInteresting what Wikipedia says in the article on Hura:
"Education opportunities:
There are 8 schools in the village (December 2009), among them "Amal", "Atid al-Nur" and others. Members of different families study in separate schools due to conflicts between families.
Village members have an opportunity for a post-secondary education at an "Ahad" school that gives preparation for academic studies in the university.
Girls living in Hura and studying at local schools show excellent results - a very large number of them pass school graduation exams successfully."
Wonderful shots, Dina!
ReplyDeleteSome still use 'Bedouin' as a derogatory term, but I see how they are wrong...
ReplyDeleteVP, oi, I had no idea that some use Bedouin as a derogatory name!
ReplyDeleteIn Israel it is simply what our Bedouin citizens are called.
One has to mix to survive - orange and white.
ReplyDeletePS Thank you for the comment - he will be 21 months tomorrow :-) - and six days ago he got two brothers ...