Ibdaa Cultural CenterAddress: P.O. Box 793, Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine

Tel/Fax: +972-(0)2-277-7997Ibdaa94@yahoo.comwww.ibdaa194.org

INTRODUCTION

About Ibdaa

Ibdaa, which means 'to create something out of nothing' in Arabic, is a grassroots initiative of Dheisheh Refugee Camp. Its mission is to provide a safe environment for the camp's children, youth, and women to develop a range of skills, creatively express themselves, and build leadership through cultural, educational, and social activities that are not readily available in either the camp or occupied Palestine.   Ibdaa strives to empower participants with the confidence and knowledge to face their difficult future, while educating the international community about Palestinian refugees.

Ibdaa began in 1994 as a cultural exchange project with a French organization. Thirty children from Dheisheh

travelled to Paris and performed a dance piece that used Palestinian folkloric dance, debka , and theatrical choreography to express the plight of Palestinian refugees.   Following the success of the tour, Ibdaa initiated a few youth empowerment programs for the young dancers and then rapidly grew into a multi-program institution that serves the needs of the larger Dheisheh community.   Today, Ibdaa serves over 1,500 children, youth, and women per year. It provides income to over 100 families in the camp through employment and income-generating projects.

Social Struggle

Despite a tradition of gender segregation in Palestinian society, Ibdaa is determined to provide a progressive environment for Palestinian children by bringing girls and boys, women and men together in an open setting that emphasizes human rights, equality, and justice. Since 1994, Ibdaa programs and participants have challenged the conservative social agenda in the camp and have slowly affected not only the attitudes of families involved in Ibdaa but also the mind-set of the larger Dheisheh community.

الدهيشة مخيم فلسطين

ابداع

Ibdaa is a democratic and secular civil society organization. It has become one of the most successful, active, and popular grassroots institutions in Palestine. It is an example of effective community organizing and has played a crucial role in the community's survival and vitalization. As a result, Ibdaa has appeared in numerous articles and reports in local and international media and is the subject of at least four award winning documentary films, including "Frontiers of Dreams and Fears" (Masri, 2001) and the Academy Award nominee "Promises" (Bolero, Goldberg & Shapiro 2001).

Solidarity

Ibdaa's extraordinary achievement is attributed to the successful integration of grassroots work in Dheisheh with the solidarity work of the international community.   Ibdaa's alliance with activists and organizations overseas goes beyond a traditional relationship based on financial support. Instead, international activists and organizations also support Ibdaa through education, advocacy, and solidarity.

DHEISHEH REFUGEE CAMP

Dheisheh refugee camp, located near the city of Bethlehem in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, is one of fifty-nine Palestinian refugee camps dispersed throughout the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It was established after the expulsion and flight of more than 750,000 Palestinians who were displaced by the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. Those that fled to Dheisheh originated from forty-five villages west of Jerusalem and Hebron. Their descendants now comprise the 11,000 inhabitants living in the camp today on less than one square kilometre of land. Only two under-resourced schools and one part time doctor serve the needs of the entire camp.

A resilient and active community, Dheisheh has a long history of struggle. Until the Israeli army’s withdrawal in 1995, the camp was surrounded by a high barbed-wire fence that sealed all but one of the fourteen camp entrances. The Israeli army controlled this single entrance with a revolving gate. The Social Youth Activity Center, which was the primary youth organization in the camp, was closed by military order from 1981 until 1993. Soldiers and violent confrontations filled the alleys, killing dozens of residents, while hundreds were injured, imprisoned, and disabled for life. During the years of the Oslo peace process, the plight of refugees was largely ignored in the negotiation framework, bringing a continued sense of stagnation and desperation to the community.

Since the start of the current Intifada in September 2000, the Palestinian struggle to end thirty-seven years of Israeli occupation has been met with unprecedented levels of military violence. Using US-manufactured helicopters and tanks, the Israeli military has shelled Palestinian communities destroying homes and killing hundreds of people. In Dheisheh, soldiers have opened fire on children, blocked families in their homes for days with little access to food or water, and denied emergency medical care to the sick and injured.

The Israeli occupation has had a particularly strong impact on the women in Dheisheh. With many men in jail, killed, injured, or restricted in their ability to travel to find work, women have increasingly become the sole providers for their families. They are responsible for income generation, home maintenance, education and care of children, and care for elderly and injured family members. As a result, many women find themselves suffering from increasingly difficult circumstances with fewer places to turn to for help or opportunities to struggle for change.

Yet those hardest hit by today’s deepening poverty and military violence are the children, who make up more than 50% of Dheisheh’s population. Severe human rights abuses, political instability and violence have deprived Palestinian refugee children of the basic pleasures of childhood. Like all Palestinian children, every child in Dheisheh has been traumatized by military invasions into their community, house raids in the dead of night, and arrests

and murders of family members and friends. Almost every child in Dheisheh has lost classmates, neighbours, or family members in violent deaths or to imprisonment.

ACTIVITIES

1- Ibdaa Art Programs

Ibdaa’s art programs for children and youth are central to the organization’s mission. Growing up in Dheisheh refugee camp, there are very few opportunities for children to simply be children. Instead they are bombarded by violence, poverty and One of our main aims in founding the centre was to give children a chance to develop their creativity.

Through Ibdaa’s painting classes, dance troupe, drama group and music ensemble, children are able to find new avenues to express themselves.

The Ibdaa Dance TroupeThe Ibdaa Dance Troupe consists of twenty-eight teenaged boys and girls. The first generation of youth dancers came together in 1994 as part of a cultural exchange project with the French organization, Discovery. For the past twelve years the Ibdaa Dance Troupe has toured extensively throughout Europe, the United States, and the Middle East. They have become Palestine’s youth ambassadors, participating in international conferences in Sweden, in youth summer camps in Greece and Hungary, and performing for world leaders such as the Pope and members of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Ibdaa Drama ProgramIbdaa’s drama program began in early 2005 with twenty-five boys and girls. Drama serves as an excellent means of individual and group expression, especially for Dheisheh’s refugee children who have few outlets to express themselves. Ibdaa’s drama activities help the children to live in the present, develop a clear understanding of roles in day-to-day living, form relationships with others, use their imaginations

freely, and live creatively in everyday life. In addition, the drama activities improve children’s empathy and understanding for others.

The Ibdaa Music Program Ibdaa staff and volunteers conduct intensive music instruction courses designed to prepare students to play in Ibdaa’s Music Ensemble. The thirty boys and girls, between the ages of eight and thirteen, from Dheisheh refugee camp are learning to play instruments such as the piano, violin, guitar, kaman (Arabic violin), tabla (Arabic drum), ‘oud (Arabic guitar), and nye (Arabic flute). In addition to learning to play these six instruments, the children also take courses in singing, reading, and writing music.

2- About Ibdaa's Women's Committee

The Ibdaa Women's Committee (IWC) was formed in 2000 to foster women's participation in Ibdaa's activities and in the Palestinian refugee community. The IWC has since become one of Ibdaa's most active and productive programs. Run by women for women, IWC focuses on social, economic, political, and cultural development and empowerment.

Since Palestinians were uprooted from village life in 1948, the women have had to take on new and challenging roles in the family while the men searched for jobs outside the home. Palestinian women have to confront the continuous Israeli violence and repression,

collapsing economy, and reinforced gender norms and discrimination within our society. They experience direct violence at checkpoints, in the streets of the camp, or in their homes, and many women have also lost husbands, siblings and children to Israeli bullets or jails. In the current climate, women have been forced to undertake many burdensome roles, among them income generators, educators, homemakers, and caretakers of children, the elderly, and the injured. As a result, many women find themselves under increasingly difficult and oppressive circumstances with fewer opportunities to struggle for change.

The IWC successfully organizes activities for women within our society's constraints while also pushing our community to accept women's rights, equality, and freedom. There are currently 100 active members of IWC who design and participate in programs and projects for women in the camp. They organize the Women's Tatriz Cooperative, the kindergarten and nursery, workshops and forums on health and human rights, computer courses, an annual summer camp for young women, mental health services for women and mothers, and special social events for women. Since its inception, Ibdaa and the IWC have made a tremendous impact on the Dheisheh community. Starting with the inclusion of girls in the dance troupe, Dheisheh women and girls have made more space for themselves: the sports program has opened its doors to girls and women, other kindergartens have followed Ibdaa's lead and integrated boys and girls, and several young women are independently studying abroad and participating in cultural exchanges in foreign countries.

Young Women's Summer Camp

Young women from the IWC organize an annual Young Women's Renaissance Camp. The camp brings together tens of girls from every area of the West Bank for a week of intensive human rights education,

leadership capacity building, and creative expression. The camp is working to create a network of dynamic women leaders who are inspired and encouraged to initiate change in their communities.

Education and Lecture Series

The IWC organizes lectures and workshops on human rights, civil society, first aid, women's health, and other topics. The IWC also coordinates cultural exchanges. We sent two delegations of women to Sweden, arranged video conferences with women's groups from around the world, and hosted several women's delegations in Dheisheh. Through these exchanges, we are able to learn about different societies and social structures and share our own stories and visions for the future.

Tatriz

Ibdaa initiated the Women's Tatriz Collective after the start of the second Intifada in 2000 to provide financial support to families in Dheisheh Refugee Camp where the rate of unemployment was climbing higher than 45%. There are now sixty women in the Women's Tatriz Collective. The collective has also become a supportive social network for the women. Many of the collective members are involved in IWC's educational and cultural activities and organize special events and celebrations for women in the camp.

Tatriz , or traditional Palestinian embroidery, is more than an art or handicraft; it is an integral part of the daily life of the Palestinian geographical and cultural landscape. Through this project we are not only supplying much-needed income to families, we are also carrying on the legacy of our Palestinian heritage. We want to share this tradition with our supporters and hope that you enjoy the beauty and history of our crafts. Please contact us directly to order tatriz pieces.

3- Health Committee

The intensifying Israeli military occupation coupled with the lack of essential medical and mental health services inspired Ibdaa and local healthcare professionals to establish the Ibdaa Health Committee (IHC) in June 2003 to respond to the urgent health needs of the population. In Dheisheh, 89.6% of residents rely on UNRWA health services because the cost of private or government insurance is prohibitively expensive. The UNRWA clinic is staffed by only one part-time doctor and is not equipped to deal with many medical conditions since they have no specialists and minimal equipment. There are adequate medical facilities for most conditions available at other clinics and hospitals within the Bethlehem district, but many families cannot afford them unless referred by UNRWA and even then UNRWA may only cover 50-60% of the costs incurred at other medical facilities.

Connecting Health with Human Rights and Dignity

Connecting health with human rights and dignity constitutes one of the IHC's core aims. The committee is comprised of volunteer nurses, physicians, social workers, counselors, sociologists, psychologists and other interested persons. The IHC members are committed to improving the overall healthcare system for Palestinians residing both within Dheisheh Refugee Camp and the greater Bethlehem area.   Through the spirit of voluntarism and teamwork, the IHC provides critically needed medical and mental health services through education, prevention, treatment and professional training. The Health Committee works at the local level within important spheres: the community, healthcare professionals, and medical organizations.

Objectives

Through the spirit of voluntarism and team work, the aim of the IHC is to improve the overall healthcare situation within the Bethlehem area and, in particular for Palestinian refugees. This is accomplished through work within three main areas:

Community Professional Development Coordination among Healthcare organizations

The Community

Increase people’s awareness of healthcare issues Assess the healthcare needs of and services for the community Empower individuals to become active participants in improving the overall quality of the

healthcare system.

Professional Development

Foster enthusiasm among healthcare professionals. Promote a community based approach as the basis for healthcare intervention. Foster cooperative relationships and a sense of belonging among healthcare professionals. Promote education and skill development among healthcare professionals. Improve the continuity of care and integration of healthcare services among the various healthcare

organizations.

Medical Organizations

Promote the development of cooperative and collaborative endeavors within the healthcare system.

Enhance the quality of healthcare organizations. Participate in developing a uniform high quality healthcare policy.

The health committee strives toreach its objectives through an integration of services with other healthcare organizations based on the principle of cooperation

IHC Activities

•  Cancer Prevention & Support Committee which provides services such as prevention, education workshops, treatment, and research on the prevalence and causes of cancer.

•  Provide free and discounted eyeglasses, hearing aids, and reconstructive surgery for dozens of children and adults each year

•  Organize public awareness and prevention workshops on diabetes, nutrition, and reproductive health for Dheisheh residents

•  Provide monthly open medical screenings for Dheisheh residents that include free consultation, referrals, and treatment

•  Coordinate professional conferences on topics like women's health, child abuse prevention

•  Organize the Diabetes Club which provides free glucometers and supplies; fitness classes; discounted services from Beit Sahour Health clinic; and lectures on food, exercise, foot and body care

4- International Cultural Exchange Program

The Israeli occupation imposes many restrictions on travel for Palestinians, even moving from one Palestinian town to another can be impossible because of checkpoints, roadblocks and curfews. But despite these barriers, Ibdaa has succeeded in reaching the international community and building relationships and solidarity with friends and partners in Palestine and around the world.

Face to Face

Ibdaa dancers, sports teams, women's delegations, children's delegations and health committee representatives have traveled around the world, connecting with people in Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Sweden, Tunisia and the United States. During these trips, participants visit local schools and community centers to exchange life experiences and learn from their peers around the world.

Ibdaa members also regularly attend international summer camps, programs and seminars on peace education, film and art festivals, social forums, and campaign meetings for children's rights. And we receive international delegations almost daily right here in Dheisheh. Through these short visits we are able to explain about our situation as Palestinian refugees and lay the foundation for future communication and cooperation.

Window to the World

The Ibdaa computer lab enables refugee youth to participate in global Internet connections with youth all over the world. Using the computer lab, Ibdaa youth participate in the following programs:

• Across Borders: This virtual connection program links Palestinian refugees from camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. This project includes a network of websites for each camp. The Ibdaa/Dheisheh site, which is updated weekly with news about the camp by Ibdaa youth, can be found at www.dheisheh.ps. Across Borders also includes virtual exchanges between youth from each camp since it is nearly impossible for them to meet in one place.

• Cyberbridge Project: This global connection brings together Ibdaa youth with youth in Catholic Schools in the United States to exchange information, pictures, and stories about daily life and culture.

• South Valley Academy High School: Beginning this fall, Ibdaa youth will begin a global connection with these 9 th grade students New Mexico. Over several months the youth will create photo essays depicting the similarities and differences between their lives as refugees in Palestine and as immigrants in the United States.

International Volunteers

Ibdaa receives volunteers from all over the world to provide training and bring new skills to the center. Students, teachers, health professionals, media workers, entertainers and other interested person's work in Ibdaa's existing programs, supporting the local staff and volunteers. International volunteers not only bring new expertise to Ibdaa's work in Palestine, they are also valuable members of the center's international network of supporters. Volunteers stay in the Ibdaa guesthouse and learn about the life in Dheisheh and in Palestine so they can educate their own communities upon returning.

5- Kindergarten and Nursery

Ibdaa’s kindergarten, the first co-educational kindergarten in Dheisheh refugee camp, provides a safe, nurturing environment for the camp’s preschool-age children. The kindergarten serves as a means of both preparing children for entering school and providing a space other than the camp’s crowded alleys for young children to learn and play. Through regular meetings with parents and close collaboration with Bethlehem University’s Early Childhood Education Department, our kindergarten teachers have developed a unique curriculum that includes lessons in reading, writing, and math as well as arts and crafts, singing, dancing, drama, and monthly field trips.

The Ibdaa Kindergarten helps children adapt to the classroom environment prior to entering the overcrowded UN schools, giving them the self-confidence necessary to succeed in school. Ibdaa’s students are consistently at the top of their classes at the UN schools because they begin in a supportive environment where they receive individualized attention from their teachers.

Since its opening in 1997, the demand for our kindergarten program has increased faster than we are able to expand. The program currently serves 140 students with a waitlist of 250 children. In 2005, we completed the first two floors of our new building which will house a larger kindergarten as well as the nursery and children’s library. When all the classrooms in the new kindergarten building are completed we will be able to accommodate 160 boys and girls between the ages of three and five.

The Ibdaa Nursery

The Ibdaa Nursery, a later addition to the kindergarten program, was established by the initiative of Dheisheh’s working mothers. The nursery is open year-round from 8am to 4pm and serves as a safe place for parents to leave their infants and toddlers (less than three years old) under the supervision of early-childhood educators. The nursery is essential for single parents struggling to support their families

because it allows them to work fulltime without the burden of arranging childcare on a daily basis or worrying about the safety of their young children. In the new facilities, the nursery will be able to accommodate twenty-five children.

Children's Library

Ibdaa runs the only children's library in Dheisheh. With more than 1,000 books in Arabic and English, the library provides an environment that promotes literacy, nurtures the exploration of knowledge, and raises cultural awareness. The library is an important resource for the Ibdaa kindergarten and nursery teachers and students. Structured activities, such as after-school programs and field trips, are open to children of Dheisheh throughout the year.

Child Sponsorship

Ibdaa's child sponsorship programs don't follow the traditional sponsorship model. Instead, Ibdaa cooperates with international organizations to provide educational, cultural, and social programs for the sponsored children; to help them make personal connections with their sponsors; and learn how to write about their lives.   The children also receive special gifts for Eid and at the beginning and end of the school year.

6- Coalition Building and Leadership Development

After ten years of building Ibdaa's work locally, the directors began turning their attention to building jointly with other areas of Palestine and the Arab world. Through networks and coalitions on refugees, children's rights, and international solidarity, Ibdaa hopes to be part of changing the world for future generations.

At the same time, Ibdaa is continuing to develop new leadership within the organization. Since it's founding, all of Ibdaa's programs have used leadership development models that transferred skills from one group of youth to another rather than relying on adults. But now these youth leaders are taking on even more responsibility. In 2006, two young people were elected to Ibdaa's board and have brought fresh ideas and energy to the center.

Children's Rights

Ibdaa is a member of the steering committee for a network in the Arab world on children's rights that uses theater and music to spread awareness among children and adults. The children produce songs and skits about their rights and perform for local audiences. Ibdaa is also part of the Palestinian Network for Children's Rights, a group of NGOs that were brought together by Defense for Children International- Palestine Section. The Network is working to end corporal punishment in Palestine and to advocate locally and internationally on behalf of Palestinian children, especially those in Israeli prisons.

US-Palestinian Youth Solidarity Network (YSN)

The US-Palestine Youth Solidarity Network (YSN) brings together Palestinian youth with youth from oppressed communities in the U.S. The Network's purpose is to enable the youth to tell their own stories and to share ways to work for freedom and justice. The YSN works with youth organizations in both countries to build media arts capacity and advance youth leadership and solidarity in our shared struggles for racial, economic, and gender justice.

Let's Connect

Ibdaa has been at the forefront of training staff at other local community centers in the West Bank. Together with the Popular Arts Center in Ramallah and with funding from Catholic Relief Services, Ibdaa selected ten promising centers for a three-year project in which Ibdaa provided training for their staff and volunteers and jointly developed new, innovative programs for the children and youth in each community. Though the project has officially concluded, Ibdaa continues to stay involved with these centers, inviting their youth to summer camp activities at Ibdaa and helping their administration and staff navigate the challenges of running grassroots organizations and working with children and youth.

Other examples of Ibdaa's programs connecting centers include the Sports Under Siege summer camp brings boys and girls from different refugee camps in the southern West Bank together for a week of team-building activities and sports training and a loose network of centers from villages, cities, and refugee camps in the Bethlehem district that aims to lessen the gap between the children by organizing joint visits to cultural and historical sites, share expertise through trainings with the children on topics like children's rights.

Youth Lead Change

Ibdaa and Catholic Relief Services are running a leadership development for youth in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus, Beit Ula in Hebron and Dheisheh. The project aims to activate the youth sector in each area and engage them in community work by equipping them with communication, media, and leadership skills. After trainings, the youth then discuss all of the obstacles in their lives. Each group of youth selects a pressing issue affecting youth in their area and then develops and implements their own plans to address these issues and to deliver their message to a broad audience through the media. Ibdaa staff provides training and guidance for the youth groups but are careful to ensure that the youth themselves are leading the change.

7- Media Program

The goal of the Ibdaa Media Committee is to create a community multimedia production center that enables Palestinian refugees to create reports for radio, television, and print media outlets. The Media Committee is an avenue for refugees to represent their communities' stories and interests in the media. The committee aims to enable Palestinian refugees to document their lives, history and cultural heritage thereby creating alternative information sources for local and international media ; to foster new leadership among Palestinian youth by equipping them with practical skills in journalism and human rights documentation; to raise public awareness in Palestinian and international communities about

human rights, democracy, social development issues, and Palestinian culture and history ; and to build networks with other human rights activists and advocacy groups.

The Power of Media

Ibdaa is keenly aware of the power of words and images to convey and construct the refugee community's struggle for self-determination and peace. The Media Committee enables Dheisheh refugees to transcend

the heavily militarized borders that separate them from people around the world and build an international network of advocates for justice. Moreover, in a society where unemployment looms around 30%, the project will also equip refugees with marketable skills for employment.

Moving Behind the Camera

Ibdaa is internationally recognized as an innovative model for grassroots community organizing and has been featured in dozens of documentary films as well as news reports on CNN, ABC, CBS, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and other outlets. Ibdaa youth are now prepared to move behind the camera to represent their lives and articulate their messages.

Current Projects

Village Documentation Project

After visiting their destroyed villages inside the 1948 green line, children and youth transfer their experiences, stories, histories, and emotions into media documentaries using the three media methodologies: sound, video, and photography.

Ibdaa Radio 194

Ibdaa's radio studio is named after UN Resolution 194 that guarantees Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Radio 194 is equipped with a sound proof recording room and an audio editing suite.

Though Ibdaa does not yet have a broadcasting license, dozens of children and youth have already been trained in field recording techniques, interviewing, audio recording, editing, and voice over translations. The r adio documentaries and original music made by Ibdaa youth have been aired on radio stations around the world and are available on Ibdaa's website.

Digital Story Telling

Ibdaa youth are eager to learn new media skills and to use powerful images to complement their words. The video component of the media project now includes courses in Digital Storytelling and Film. In both programs the products are created entirely by the youth themselves. The youth's digital stories bring together words, music and images to create 3-5 minute personal narratives about Palestinian history, culture, life under occupation and visions for justice. The young people have made documentary and theatrical shorts in the film program, bringing to life Ibdaa's activities, family life in Dheisheh, and fictional dramas.  

8- Oral History Project The Oral History Project is a means of collecting and recording individual and personal stories about pre-1948 Palestine, the lives of Palestinian refugees, and the history of Dheisheh refugee camp.

Told by the people that experienced this history themselves, the Oral History Project preserves primary sources about the history of Palestine that will spread awareness to successive generations of Palestinian and refugee children while simultaneously educating the international community.

Stories and histories are collected by Ibdaa youth who interview family members and when possible, visit the site of their families’ original homes and land. The youth research their families’ village life prior to 1948, how their families came to Dheisheh camp in 1948, what the situation was like in the camp in the early years, how things have changed since 1967, and what their families envision for the future.

Over the years, we have been continually surprised and amazed at the ability of our young people to use their words, their movements and their artwork to affect audiences across the world, from Jordan to the United States to Sweden. But thus far our youth have only been able to reach individuals or groups who have visited our camp or who have come to see our performances when the youth dance troupe travels abroad. We are working to create more opportunities for our youth to tell their stories to a wider audience.

One such way that we are trying to reach a larger audience is through combining the Oral History Project and the Media Training project so that our children can produce audio and video accounts of Palestinian oral history to share with our community here in Dheisheh and with audiences worldwide. In addition to the interviews and village visits, the youth also add their own narratives of growing up in a refugee camp and how they felt visiting the destroyed villages or towns from which their grandparents fled in 1948.

We are confident that the pieces our youth produce will have a strong impact on the international community and will further the cause of justice and human rights.

9- Sports Program

Sports are among the most popular activities at Ibdaa, providing a respite from the realities of life and an avenue for young people to have fun, engage with one another, and excel. There is no space in the crowded camp for sports activities so Ibdaa's teams are a rare opportunity for children and youth to play in the fields and halls in the surrounding towns and villages. Ibdaa has over 220 official players in its basketball, ping-pong, football, and volleyball teams. In addition, although sports are generally considered a male domain, Ibdaa established the first women's basketball team and the first women's volleyball team from a Palestinian refugee camp.

BasketballThere are three men's and two women's basketball teams in Ibdaa's basketball program, with players ranging in age from 10 to 35. Ibdaa regularly hosts and organizes tournaments for Palestinian teams across the West Bank, Gaza, and inside Israel.

The men's basketball team is consistently ranked number one in Palestine and was ranked number two in the Arab world in 2005. Following Ibdaa's tradition of passing skills from one generation to the next, former players coach the basketball teams.

Football

Ibdaa coordinates football teams for Dheisheh's youth who, like many children around the world, begin playing football at a very young age in the narrow streets and alleys of the camp. During the summer, Ibdaa has access to a concrete schoolyard for practices, but must rent a football field in another city for games. In the winter, practices are held in a public hall since there is no outdoor space available.

Despite these obstacles, football is one of Ibdaa's most popular sports, with three teams that continue to improve their football skills and enjoy their games, practices, and team bonding experiences.

Volleyball

Ibdaa currently has two men's teams and one women's team in its volleyball program. The 60 players range in age from thirteen to twenty-five. The men's team placed first in the southern West Bank and the women's team is ranked number two in the whole West Bank.

Ping Pong

Ibdaa's Ping Pong team includes Palestinian Christian and Muslim players from all over the Bethlehem and Hebron districts. They regularly place first in championships and have just joined the professional league.