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Earlier this year, Worod Al Dibis was preparing for a Lajee Cultural Tour to Ireland in July 2025 as a part of a group of 40 Palestinian youth who would be performing music and the traditional Palestinian dabkeh dance.\u00a0<\/p>\nAbout 40% of visa applications from Palestinian nationals have been rejected by Ireland since October 2023.<\/p>\n
On the third floor of the Lajee Centre in Aida refugee camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem, Worod Al-Dibis is playing the Oud, a type of lute that has been played for thousands of years by Arab and Persian musicians.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This afternoon, Dibis is playing a composition by her teacher, Tamir Al-Sahouri, a leading Palestinian oud musician with the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Bethlehem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Dibis was preparing for the Lajee Cultural Tour to Ireland in July 2025. She was one of 40 Palestinian youth who were to perform music and the traditional Palestinian dabkeh dance in Dublin, Galway and Cork.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Worod Al Dibis was preparing for a Lajee Cultural Tour to Ireland in July 2025 as a part of a group of 40 Palestinian youth who would be performing music and the traditional Palestinian dabkeh dance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTravelling is a very important opportunity for the children,\u201d says Mohammad Alazza, the director of the Lajee Centre in Aida Camp. \u201cThe only time they can practise freedom is when they are abroad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t care about the soldiers \u2014 that maybe they will come to my house,\u201d he says. \u201cYou feel more comfortable, because you know it’s safe in some way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2025 Lajee Cultural Tour had to be postponed after the Department of Justice in Ireland failed to issue visas for the youth group in time to travel for their tour in July. \u201cI was so sad,\u201d says Dibis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s really painful when you see the reactions of the youth,\u201d says Mr Alazza. \u201cThey informed their parents, their friends that they are travelling. They are excited and suddenly: nothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t lose any funds due to the delays, thanks to the generosity of those suppliers who returned deposits we paid,\u201d says Orla N\u00ed N\u00e9ill, one of the tour\u2019s organisers in Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, such uncertainties necessitate short-term planning which leads to unnecessary higher costs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice said 1,790 applications have been received since October 2023, of which 1,068 have been granted. Israeli citizens do not require a visa to travel to Ireland for a short period.<\/p>\n
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The Lajee Centre in Aida refugee camp lies on the outskirts of Bethlehem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms N\u00ed N\u00e9ill says the organising group \u201cis very disappointed the visa applications for our friends in the Lajee Center have been delayed so much we had to plan and postpone an itinerary twice in 2025 despite the applications having been submitted in plenty of time\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had two very successful Lajee tours in 2014 and 2022, and never before had these delays,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are perplexed about the reasons. Our team of volunteers in Dublin, Cork and Galway are experienced and include a social worker with expertise in safeguarding.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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‘We had two very successful Lajee tours in 2014 and 2022 and never before had these delays,’ says Orla N\u00ed N\u00e9ill, one of the tour\u2019s organisers in Ireland. ‘We are perplexed about the reasons.’\u00a0<\/p>\n