In the small West Bank town of Beit Jala, a new Al Bayyara park breathes life into a community that’s been devastated by conflict and poverty.
This community playground is the most recent of three West Bank playgrounds built in 2014 as part of the Al Bayyara project, which has produced nine parks since its inception.
Al Bayyara, meaning “citrus grove” in Arabic, is an initiative Anera launched in partnership with the Bank of Palestine, local municipalities and individual donors to give children safe, communal places to play.
Odeh Khalilieh, a resident of Beit Jala, donated the land where the newest playground now stands. “Every community needs a breathing area, especially for the children,” says Khalilieh. “There are no public places around this area at all, so this park, I hope, will be the soul of the community.”
As piles of rubble are converted to vibrant “Bayyaras,” Palestinians in the West Bank come together to rejuvenate their neighborhoods. In Beit Jala, Maysoun and Al Bireh, you can see the incredible transformations that have taken place through before and after photographs of the sites.
