ABSTRACT
Loai focused the camera lens on the nearby guard tower and pressed the exposure button. He studied the digital image of the separation wall, adjusted the camera settings to accommodate the evening light, and snapped a few more pictures before heading back inside the Lajee Center. The Lajee Center is a youth center in Aida Refugee Camp, just outside Bethlehem. The eight-meter high separation wall has been constructed just across the street from the center, cutting off the community from the olive groves that have provided an income, as well as an open space, for Aida residents for nearly 60 years. The youth at Lajee have been instrumental in bringing local and international attention to the effects of the wall, as well as other issues faced by refugees, by documenting the wall in photographs and films, hosting international visitors for “alternative tours” of the camp, and participating in human rights advocacy.
