Who are we
Our Story
“The person who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones “, says Confucius. This is exactly how we started: from scratch, and now we are moving mountains, making gardens, upcycling wood and struggling peacefully for the realization of human rights.
We are a self-organized group of women who are actively participating in “Sumud” in our village Al-Walajah. Sumud is the Arabic word for steadfastness and for us – Rweisat for Wood Art – it is a strategy of non-violent resistance against the violent policies of the Israeli occupation: “existence is resistance”. Through our work, we contribute to the economic welfare of our families, deal with environmental issues, raise the voices of women in our community and create some beauty, connectedness and meaning despite the harsh realities of life under occupation.
In 2016 we came together as a group and decided to create upcycled gardens in our village Al-Walajah. It was a small initial idea of turning our own home yards into upcycled gardens – nine gardens at the time – and later on we upcycled 19 additional gardens in Al-Walajah. We were hungry to expand our knowledge even more and received training on how to use heavy carpentry tools and machines. In 2018 we opened our own upcycling workshop, in which we produce small items and furniture from upcycled – used – wood.
Throughout the years, our voices started being heard throughout and beyond Al-Walajah. Our reputation has been steadily growing stronger inside and outside the village through our efforts to draw more attention to the continuous human rights violations committed by the Israeli occupation. We attract locals and internationals and provide “alternative tours” and are known for representing the villagers’ voices, echoing the story of Al-Walajah to visitors and decision-makers from all over the world.
The initial development of this homepage was supported by KURVE Wustrow in the framework of the Civil Peace Service with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of KURVE Wustrow and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. This applies to the version at the time of the launch of the website (14.11.2022).
Mission
We seek to improve the daily living conditions in our village through practices of self-care and sumud and embolden the voices of women in our community. We aim to influence and actively contribute to the way in which Palestine and the story of our village is communicated nationally and internationally.
Vision
Our vision it to live in our village – and all of Palestine - free from the Israeli occupation and system of apartheid as free and independent women whose voices are being heard and who are actively contributing to their society.
