In Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp, Palestinian girls participate in a Brazilian jiu jitsu class, challenging traditional gender norms. The course focuses on self-defense and empowerment through martial arts.
Key points
Palestinian girls train in Brazilian jiu jitsu
Located in Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp, Beirut
Course focuses on self-defense and empowerment
Coach Mirella Atallah leads the training
Participants challenge traditional gender norms
Mentioned in this story
Burj al-BarajnehMirella Atallah
Palestinian girls gather to train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Palestinian girls train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
BEIRUT — In a makeshift gym in the Burj al-Barajneh refugee camp, the participants in this martial arts class are unlearning much of what they have been taught about how girls and women should behave.
It's the end of a two-month course in Brazilian jiu jitsu - a form of the Japanese martial art - and the small space rings out with yells and the sound of shuffling as coach Mirella Atallah drills her students on how to get leverage against a much stronger opponent.
Palestinian girls gather to train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Mirella Atallah, Lebanese-Canadian, is a trainer of jiu jitsu and former world champion who now trains women and marginalized communities around the world - in societies where there's little awareness about gender-based violence and talking about sexual abuse is considered a taboo most of the times.Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Atallah, though, doesn't consider it just self-defense.
"For me it's important to call it women's empowerment in public spaces, " she says.
"After two weeks I felt I was changing - not just in sports but my mental health and everything," says Aisha Saqqa, 18, and a first-year business management student in college. "Mirella told us to act differently."
That includes noticing their surroundings in public instead of striving to not be noticed, keeping their heads up and making eye contact. It also includes using their voices, a challenge for some girls raised to be quiet.
Q&A
What martial art are the girls learning in Beirut's refugee camp?
The girls are learning Brazilian jiu jitsu.
Who is the coach of the jiu jitsu class in Burj al-Barajneh?
The coach of the class is Mirella Atallah.
What is the significance of the martial arts class for refugee girls?
The class helps refugee girls unlearn traditional gender norms and empowers them through self-defense training.
How long is the jiu jitsu course for the girls in the refugee camp?
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Palestinian girls gather to train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Atallah doesn't consider jiu jitsu only self defense. The training includes noticing surroundings in public instead of striving to not be noticed, keeping their heads up and making eye contact. It also includes using their voices, a challenge for some girls raised to be quiet.
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
"I had a lady in the program, she actually tried to scream and to scream for help and she couldn't - her voice wouldn't go out," Atallah says.
Saqqa, who wants to start a perfume business, wears a pale pink hijab covering her hair and a loose green shirt, and plans to start a perfume business after college. She speaks passionately about wanting to improve herself, to join every club she can and to become skilled at public speaking.
Everyone in the room is overcoming adversity - starting with being born in one of Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps to families who fled or were forced out of their homes with the creation of Israel in 1948 and never allowed back.
Malak, left, is a Palestinian refugee teenager who lives in Bourj el Barajneh and trains in jiu jitsu.
Malak, left, is a Palestinian refugee teenager who lives in Bourj el Barajneh and trains in jiu jitsu. She met Hanan (the one next to her) in the training and they always team up together. They became more than friends "like sisters!" they say . Malak shares her aspirations "I want to be a beauty specialist when I graduate this year. I will join a special technical school and start working toward my dream."Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
In a country that has seen little but war and economic crisis in the past few decades, almost every social and economic problem is magnified in the camps.
Atallah herself is a role model. Raised in a poor Lebanese family and bullied at school, she worked her way through university and finally made her way to Kuwait and then Canada.
"I was not like the other girls - never looked like them, never wore clothes like them," she says of her childhood. "We were not doing well financially so we never had the opportunity to buy new stuff and be cute."
Refugee girls train in jiu jitsu in the camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Rim, Rama, Chahed are sisters. They are the only ones in class not Palestinian but Syrians. At first, they had a really hard time doing the moves because they did not believe they could. Mirella's challenge with them for two years was to convince them that they were strong enough and they finally built their confidence.Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
When she wanted to learn judo like her brother, her parents told her it was unsuitable for girls.
Atallah now is 48. She moves with confidence and is so fit and healthy she looks more than a decade younger. But she struggled to get there.
"Jiu jitsu gave me a voice," she says. I was very shy and then when I started jiu jitsu I felt empowered, I felt strong. I felt I could do anything I want."
A new start
Mirella Atallah, back in 2022 when she was training the women from Bourj el Barajneh camp in a martial arts center in central Beirut.
Aline Deschamps
Aline Deschamps
Working multiple jobs in addition to studying, it took her eight years to finish university in Lebanon. After graduating in 2005, she moved to Kuwait and worked in marketing. She says her weight there reached 275 pounds and her body 'shut down'. She was on constant medication and had to use crutches to walk.
"When I moved to Canada I said this is my chance to change," she says. "I was like 'no, no, no. This is not me. I am not going to be that person.'"
Atallah says she started yoga and meditation. And those practices led her eventually to the martial arts
"I went to the gym and started kickboxing and never skipped even in the heaviest snowstorm," she says of her time in Montreal. "I lost a lot of weight and I felt so light on my feet."
Eventually she made her way to a Brazilian form of jiu jitsu which, unlike the traditional Japanese version, does not use sticks. On the mat she heard stories from people who said the sport helped them overcome drug addiction and recover from abusive backgrounds.
Six months later she entered her first competition and won. She is now a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt - the first Lebanese woman to attain that level - and a certified yoga teacher.
Creating communities
Ola and her daughter Hadeel both train in Mirella's self-defense class
Ola and her daughter Hadeel both train in Atallah's self-defense class. "We left the camp during the 2026 war because it was being bombarded by Israeli strikes! I encourage my daughter to train. I want her to be strong, independent, and not scared of anything. I know her potential—she is smart. When she started training, she was shy, but now I have seen how she has evolved, started coming out of her shell, and stepping up. That is why I came and trained with her, so she could see that if her mother is training, she could do the same"
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Before the class starts, Atallah is sitting in a Beirut cafe with flowers and outdoor tables - a side of the city often featured in influencer social media posts. A server offers hibiscus and mulberry vanilla kombucha.
Just a short walk away is the entrance to the camp, and another world.
"The situation of girls and women in Lebanon is different than what you see superficially," Atallah says. "It's not us sitting in this cafe. It's not what you see downtown. Only about ten percent of people are able to live that life."
Palestinian girls leave the jiu jitsu class and cross the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Girls leave the jiu jitsu class and cross the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
For many women, particularly those in the camps, life is more about grinding poverty and the ever-present danger of being robbed or assaulted in the street. At home, she says, many girls are beaten and bullied by their mothers as well as their fathers.
"It's very common for them to hit and push," she says. "One girl - her mother burned her with an iron."
She speaks of one girl, 15, whose father pulled her out of school, forced her to cook and clean for the family and prevented her from going out or speaking to people. She says it was the friends the girl had made in jiu jitsu class who reached out for help for her.
Ola coordinates with the students for the Atallah's class.
Ola coordinates with the students for the Atallah'sclass. She is very involved in her community in Bourj El Barajneh. "We left the camp during the 2026 war because it was being bombarded by Israeli strikes! I encourage my daughter to train. I want her to be strong, independent, and not scared of anything. I know her potential—she is smart. When she started training, she was shy, but now I have seen how she has evolved, started coming out of her shell, and stepping up. That is why I came and trained with her, so she could see that if her mother is training, she could do the same"
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
"Something I do with all the programs is create small communities," Atallah says. "I want them to bond so that at least if something happens you have support so that you don't feel alone."
Without safe public transportation, women and girls can face harassment and risk rape when going out, particularly at night.
"So many of the women I was teaching don't go out when it's dark. They stay home," Atallah says. "It's like a cycle. You limit the women from going out. They can't go to the gym…their health deteriorates, their mental health is not there."
Palestinian girls gather to train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
Left, Hala "I love to train for jiu jitsu, and I never want to skip. Every time I can sign myself up to train, I would train more. I don't sleep at night since the last war. It is hard for me to fall asleep because of the fear of the bomb sounds—wondering if it is going to hit us or not. I prefer to stay awake, and once the sun shines, I will sleep." Right, Tia, Faten, Lana always love to team up together.Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
She says when they first join the class many of the girls are so uncomfortable with their bodies, they find it difficult to do basic moves, such as squats. Atallah eases them into it.
Atallah works with non-governmental organizations to run free classes for migrant workers, girls and women in refugee camps and those in the LGBT community - among the most marginalized and vulnerable in society. She estimates she has taught about 1,500 women and girls all over the world, including in Syria and Pakistan this year.
The students have ranged in age from 12 to 83.
In the small gym in the Beirut refugee camp, Fatima Mohammad, 21, a substitute teacher and graphic designer, says the class has given her more confidence.
"When I started jiu jitsu my way of thinking changed a lot, not only physically but also mentally," she says.
Palestinian girls, descendants of the Nakba, gather to train in jiu jitsu in the refugee camp of Bourj el Barajneh in South Beirut.
On the left : Fatima, trains in jiu jitsu in Bourj el Barajneh Camp "Life is hard, but I love it, and I love to joke and laugh! I want to finish school and start university outside the camp. I am so excited and I am ready for that challenge with the support of my dad."Aline Deschamps for NPR
Aline Deschamps for NPR
Atallah breaks away from the moves on the mat to go around the circle, asking each of the 16 girls and women what they would change about the camp if they could. Some mention removing weapons, others talk about planting trees or more access to exercise. Atallah encourages them to imagine those changes.
"You know when you have a pool of water and you throw a stone in it," to create ripples, Atallah tells the women and girls. "We are the stones."
