(Before) Looking forward to the visit

ME

My name is Obaida Afana. I am 13 years old. I study at Abu Dis Boys School in 7^th grade. When I finish studying I want to be a doctor.

MY FAMILY

I have 4 brothers and one sister. Three of my brothers are older than me, as is my sister. I have one younger brother in 3^rd Grade.

MY SCHOOL

I study in Abu Dis Boys School. I take seven or six subject and I have in my class seven teachers and I have in my class 36 children and I love English subject and science subjects. Sometimes soldiers come to my school and the head master closes the school and we don’t take any lessons because if the soldiers find us in the school they might beat us up or arrest us.

Sometime the soldiers might stop us and give us a little bit of trouble on the way to school. I have friends who go to school in Jerusalem and it is much harder for them because of the checkpoint. School starts at 8 in the morning and they have to leave home at 6. Jerusalem is not very far from Abu Dis (before the wall it used to take15minutes) but now it can sometimes take 2hrs because they have to go through a checkpoint. The soldiers wear big M1 guns and they can sometimes give people trouble. Even the children.

Sometimes the Arabic teacher doesn’t give us any Arabic class because we misbehave in class.

ABOUT PALESTINE

I have an Aunt who lives in Jerusalem. Her children and her husband have blue I.D cards but she has a green I.D card. By Israeli law, if you live in Jerusalem you should have a blue I.D. Her children want her to take the blue I.D but she is reluctant to do so because if she does it will be very difficult for her to cross the checkpoints into Abu Dis where by grandmother and the rest of our family live.

SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO ME

My Freedom

Braveheart is one of my favourite films. In it the Scottish people fight for their freedom. This reminds me of my country. In Palestine we don’t have freedom. Many people do not even have rights. Everyone in Palestine is fighting for their freedom.

LONDON

I am going to London to talk to people about Palestine because I want people to understand the situation in Palestine, what the Zionist people do to Palestinian people and the olive trees the and what happens to the Palestinian people when they try to move around the country.

I am looking forward to seeing Big Ben, Tower Bridge and The London Eye. I am also looking forward to learning about British culture and London life.