The Aida refugee camp is located in the West Bank, north of Bethlehem, and has been the site of past conflicts with Israeli authorities. Its youth, along with their parents, have suffered from severe limitations of opportunity – and of human rights in general – under occupation. Many young people have experienced arrests and detention, and, reportedly, several have been killed in recent years.

The Freedom Summer project offers the youth of the camp a range of cultural and educational activities designed to enhance their creativity and leadership abilities in their community. Artistic and cultural training includes photography, music and dance, theater, and creative writing activities “to reveal the true image” of the Palestinian community in its struggle for human rights. Among other things, the young people will be involved in documentation of the impact of the separation wall on residents of the camp, and will coordinate their activities with others in the community opposing the wall.

For some, this project and its goals are evocative of the Freedom Summer civil rights project in the U.S. more than 50 years ago. Volunteers with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) worked with young people in southern “Freedom Schools” to register Black voters across Mississippi. The youth used a combination of educational tools and creative and other activities during the project to advance their goals of equality and liberation.