First and last visit to the sea

This is the first time that these two brothers have been to the ocean. They live in D'heisha refugee camp in the city of Bethlehem.

Before the age of 16, Palestinian children do not yet have huwwiyas, or identification cards. These cards determine how and where they can move. With an i.d. card from the West Bank, the boys cannot enter Jerusalem (where the holiest sites of their religion stand), enter into "Israel" (or the line that Israel has decided is their new border), or cross the Wall. They will be essentially landlocked into the West Bank.

So we went on a little trip with the boys. First, we went to Zacharia - a once-Palestinian village where the Israeli suburb of Zakaria sits among ruins of an old mosque and school where their mother lived 50 years ago. She is forbidden from returning to see the place her family lived for generations, but wanted her sons to go and bring back photos and the oranges she misses. We also brought them to visit the mosque in the old city of Jerusalem, and swam and played soccer by the sea in Jaffa. As the wall is almost completed, it will probably be the last time they are able to do so.