Daniel Salgar, Journalist

Photo by Daniel Salgar/2012.

One of the first places I visited when I went to Palestine was the Aida refugee camp, close to Bethlehem. At first sight, it is a poor area with narrow streets, graffiti, a lot of garbage and high levels of overcrowding. But you wouldn´t think you were in a refugee camp if it wasn’t for a giant key that hangs above the entrance.

This key symbolizes the desire that refugees have to return to their homes. In fact, many of them kept the keys of the homes they had to leave, starting in 1948, with the creation of the state of Israel and as a consequence the Israel-Palestine conflict. In Aida, quite a large part of the population has been living under refugee conditions more than 60 years, and there are entire generations that have been grown up in this place.

I was struck by seeing persons accustomed to living in such difficult conditions and still preserving the hope that one day their right to return will be fulfilled. Although now, this seems more and more like a dream which Palestinian people will have to give up.