At the Deheisha refugee camp near Bethlehem in the West Bank, I learned an important lesson about jumping to conclusions. Drinking mint tea in the café on the top floor of Ibdaa, the camp’s beloved community center, I was startled by shouting and stomping below me. Considering the events of the past few days—it was June, and Hamas had just taken control of the Gaza Strip, leaving the Palestinian territories in the hands of two different governments—my heart froze. I figured that Hamas militants were raiding the camp to kidnap government sympathizers. Expecting bullets to crash through the windows, I quickly moved to the center of the room, only to realize that the voices I heard were the voices of children.

They marched between the unfinished and graffitied buildings of the camp, dressed in shirts emblazoned with the Ibdaa’s logo and the colors of the Palestinian flag. One boy with a flag draped around his shoulders shouted slogans through a megaphone. Although the children were small, they were a formidable force, and they were calling for Palestinian unity.

In recent months, followers of Middle East crises have learned to stop thinking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in terms of Israelis and Palestinians. Since the 2006 legislative elections, the two major rival political groups, Hamas—considered a terrorist organization by most Western countries—and the more moderate Fatah, have struggled for control of Palestinian territory.

The Hamas takeover of Gaza forced the Palestinian authority and its Fatah president, Mahmoud Abbas, to retreat to the West Bank, thus ending a unified Palestinian government. Now, the international community must devise a strategy for negotiating with a divided Palestinian entity—Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. Some propose political solutions to this inter-Palestinian conflict in order to create a cohesive Palestinian group with which Israel can negotiate. But the impact of the Deheisha refugee camp suggests that more creative solutions are needed.

Beyond negotiations between the two parties—which seem unlikely—there must be an emphasis on efforts to cultivate cooperation among their supporters as well. On January 23, after Hamas militants blew up the barrier between Egypt and the Gaza strip, the Palestinians were unified in their joy as they dashed across the Egyptian border in search of food and new supplies. In a rare moment of solidarity, one Palestinian woman explained to The New York Times, “I’m a Palestinian, not Fatah or Hamas. But I thank Hamas for this.” This speaks volumes about what the Palestinians need: to feel unified in their identity as Palestinians and not forced to sympathize with a particular group.

The Ibdaa Center does just that for the children of Deheisha. Ibdaa, which comes from the Arabic word “to make something from nothing,” was founded in the midst of the Second Intifada. Ibrahim, an Ibdaa employee, says the center was established at a time when “there was nothing for the children to do except to observe and participate in the Intifada, surrounded by violence. This filled their life.”

As Ibdaa grew, it began to provide for more people in Deheisha, and it is now the backbone of the community. Its programs include a co-ed traditional dance troupe, a basketball team, a youth-run radio station, and a popular summer camp. It provides a place for adolescents to spend time and, because of Ibdaa’s role as a hostel for foreigners, interact with different types of people. Ibrahim says Ibdaa uses these programs to “build leaders who will help create a free society that will be united by common beliefs of democracy and equality, where everyone has the opportunity to participate in the life of the nation.”

More programs like Ibdaa’s are sorely needed as a means to encourage such Palestinian unity. Children growing up in West Bank refugee camps often have no exposure to social movements outside of Hamas or Fatah. Ibrahim and many others believe the conflict between Hamas and Fatah has distracted the Palestinian people from the larger problems confronting the region: Palestine’s relationship with Israel, which, in fact, only exacerbates the tensions between Hamas and Fatah. By providing another option, Ibdaa fosters Palestinian unity and progressive values by helping a new generation focus on solving a bigger problem—like reaching a realistic and lasting peace settlement with Israel.

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