Touching the Children

Yesterday we were in Ayda Refugee Camp located in Bethlehem.  Our tour guide was a young man named Ahmed.  He was well educated, articulate, and I must say, handsome.  He walked us by his mother’s small store.  She came out to pour us a cup of Arab coffee – tasted great on a cold day.  You could see the character written on her face, the humility in her eyes.  Good person, doing her best to raise her children to be good people too.  With Ahmed, so far, so good.

He walked us around the camp, which didn’t take long as the camp is a few city blocks, into which are crammed 2000 people, ½ of them children.  The children are playing soccer (football) in the streets.  They have no playgrounds.

We ended our tour in a community building.  Someone asked Ahmed what he thought of President Bush’s visit.  He became very animated, the most we’d seen from him.  As he talked he also become more and more agitated.  He said a lot about President Bush and his visit to the region, but one thing he said stood out for me.  “You know what we saw?  We saw Mr. Bush with the Israeli Jewish children.  He was talking with them, touching them, loving them.  You know what we never saw?  We never saw Mr. Bush doing the same with Palestinian children.  Mr. Bush never saw, talked with, or touched one Palestinian child.”

I would never have noticed this, but Ahmed did.  When you stop to think about it, it says something doesn’t it?