A group of children from Bethlehem have been brought to Ireland to escape the violence and deprivation they have had to endure on a daily basis at home.
Among the group of five boys and three girls is 14-year-old Rami, whose best friend died in his arms a year ago as he was attempting to drag him to cover from Israeli fire. Their crime was to throw stones at a JCB which was knocking down their homes.
The children, aged between 11 and 14, all live in the Aldesha refugee camp near Bethlehem. They have been brought to Ireland by the Galway Palestine Solidarity Group (GPSG).
Treasa Ní Cheannabháin, of the GPSG, said that the children were living in conditions of non-stop violence, curfews and constant fear, yet many people were unaware of what was happening in Palestine apart from the headline-making suicide-bombings.
She explained: "I grew up in the 1950s with the notion that there was peace and joy in Bethlehem, but this is not the case. People are actually living in stables and in refugee camps with no freedom to go less than two kilometres. It's like an open prison."
Since the children arrived in Ireland on New Year's Eve they have been to one of the Aran islands, to Connemara, the Cliffs of Moher and Ashford Castle in Cong. They were put up for a night in Ballyhaunis by a Palestinian friend of the group and have been taken shopping to buy presents for their families.
Raid Othman, a Bethlehem journalist who accompanied the children to Ireland and acted as a supervisor, explained what conditions are like for them in Palestine at the moment: "For two months they have not gone to school because of the curfew in the Bethlehem area. They have watched friends being shot and killed in front of their eyes by the Israeli army. Most live in very bad situations and families cannot go to work because of the curfew and the closed area."
The children are due to fly back to Jordan on Monday.
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