Eh-hum # 169
To experience or gain knowledge of a different culture, one does a lot of traveling. But if there is no opportunity to do so, the next best thing is to do a lot of reading. It could be just as exciting, but not as expensive.
After breakfast (and greeting every dad a happy Father's Day), I proceeded to read all sorts of online articles; international and local news, commentaries and even entertainment bits. Then I visited Oh My News' website (an excellent site, will discuss this in a separate post later on), which was a treat because I was introduced to an unfamiliar subject: African Palestinians.
I have never heard of African Palestinians, and that's the truth. I know of course that a significant number of African countries uphold the Musliam faith, but I did not know a portion of their population reside in Palestine and interestingly, have lived there for generations.
Christopher Brown, an Oh My News reporter, interviewed photographer Andrew Courtney who has documented the lives of African Palestinians. Brown's first question as well as the answer of Courtney:
OhmyNews: Andrew can you talk about the origins of African Palestinians, How did they end up in Palestine?
Andrew Courtney: That of course was one of my first queries meeting the African Palestinians I did bump into, about 15 years ago during the first intifada.
So the answers that I have gotten from most of my African Palestinian friends is that possibly up to 100 years ago or more, African peoples coming to the Holy city (Jerusalem) on a pilgrimage trek, would find themselves coming from places like Chad, Sudan, Niger and those areas of Africa. Making their holy treks to the Holy city of Jerusalem.
This was some journey, especially overland, without vehicles and so-forth; so what happened was that they got to Jerusalem and said, "I think we'll stay." So these families began to settle in.
If you want to read the whole thing, please click this link. Though its short, it gives a background about the Africans in Palestine. Its amazing how much you can learn by just logging on and surfing the web. Granted, of course, you know where to look. :)
After breakfast (and greeting every dad a happy Father's Day), I proceeded to read all sorts of online articles; international and local news, commentaries and even entertainment bits. Then I visited Oh My News' website (an excellent site, will discuss this in a separate post later on), which was a treat because I was introduced to an unfamiliar subject: African Palestinians.
I have never heard of African Palestinians, and that's the truth. I know of course that a significant number of African countries uphold the Musliam faith, but I did not know a portion of their population reside in Palestine and interestingly, have lived there for generations.
Christopher Brown, an Oh My News reporter, interviewed photographer Andrew Courtney who has documented the lives of African Palestinians. Brown's first question as well as the answer of Courtney:
OhmyNews: Andrew can you talk about the origins of African Palestinians, How did they end up in Palestine?
Andrew Courtney: That of course was one of my first queries meeting the African Palestinians I did bump into, about 15 years ago during the first intifada.
So the answers that I have gotten from most of my African Palestinian friends is that possibly up to 100 years ago or more, African peoples coming to the Holy city (Jerusalem) on a pilgrimage trek, would find themselves coming from places like Chad, Sudan, Niger and those areas of Africa. Making their holy treks to the Holy city of Jerusalem.
This was some journey, especially overland, without vehicles and so-forth; so what happened was that they got to Jerusalem and said, "I think we'll stay." So these families began to settle in.
If you want to read the whole thing, please click this link. Though its short, it gives a background about the Africans in Palestine. Its amazing how much you can learn by just logging on and surfing the web. Granted, of course, you know where to look. :)
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