In Ramallah a group of young folk dancers is anxiously awaiting the coming of summer when they will travel to the United States to share their culture and help Americans understand who they are and how they live.

The teens are members of the Al Raja Palestinian Folkloric Dance Troupe. They will visit congregations and special events of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), performing in Chicago, Omaha, San Francisco, San Antonio and other cities.

Al Raja means 'hope." The dancers are Christian and Muslim teens from the Evangelical Lutheran School of Hope in Ramallah. The school is a ministry the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).

Members of the dance troupe are eager to meet American youth and see how they live. They have much to share with Americans about life in Palestine.

One way these teens express their culture is through traditional dance. They practice for hours each week. The Al-Raja Dance Troupe is only about two years old, but many children in Palestine learn the traditional “debka” dancing from an early age.

In 2004 the dancers went to Norway. Travel from the occupied Palestinian lands is a challenge. Palestinians are not allowed to fly out of Israel’s airport in Tel Aviv; they must travel to Amman, Jordan, and fly from there. Crossing the border into Jordan can take four to five hours.

Palestinians cannot leave home without a permit, so they will have to get that permit before then can leave Ramallah and go 13 miles to Jerusalem to apply for their visas.

In Norway the Palestinian students found a different world. “It’s a whole different way of life! Freedom. They can just go out where they want, when they want,” said one of the dancers.

The everyday freedom and mobility known to us in the United States are only dreams for Palestinians. More than 400 road closures and checkpoints keep them locked in small enclaves in the cities and towns of the West Bank and Gaza.

Recently the dancers took a journey to Jericho, also in the West Bank, and one of the few places the youth can go for a picnic outing without the special permit. Najwa Krei, an advisor for the troupe, said they were stopped three times and had to stand outside the bus in the winter cold. It took over two hours to make the 25-mile trip.

The ELCA advocates dignity and justice for all people and peace and reconciliation among the nations. The Al Raja dancers’ tour is part of the church’s special strategy for engagement in Palestine and Israel.

Voting members of the ELCA’s 2005 Churchwide Assembly urged congregations to participate in the campaign, "Peace Not Walls: Stand for Justice in the Holy Land," to build awareness and engage in accompaniment and advocacy for "peace with justice" between Israel and Palestine.