Their name means “something from nothing” – and these teenagers have something to say.

They are IBDAA, a Palestinian youth dance troupe from the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, who will visit Bainbridge on July 17 as part of their second U.S. tour.

“I might be partial, but these kids are terrific. Each place they get a standing ovation,” said tour leader Shirabe Yamada, project coordinator for the Middle East Children’s Alliance that is sponsoring the troupe’s visit to the States.

The Berkeley, Calif.-based nonprofit planned the dancers’ first U.S. junket in 1999.

Billed as a “cultural exchange event,” their performance sparked a 2002 documentary, “The Children of Ibdaa: To Create Something from Nothing,” by San Francisco filmmaker S. Smith Patrick.

The current tour of 10 states in 40 days is more strenuous, but the 18 dancers, now five years older, are better equipped to cope.

“Then they were children, now they are youths,” Yamada said. “They are better dancers than before. And their sense of mission is stronger. They have formed their own opinions.”

Eighteen year-old dancer Ghassan Saad sees his performance in the light of both his personal story and his people’s history.

“My aim is to tell the people about Palestine and the Palestinian people,” he said. “I don’t dance just from my legs and hands, I dance from inside.”

Besides covering twice the ground, the second tour is different from the first in other ways.

IBDAA dancers left a country in the throes of a second Palestinian uprising, or Intifada.

“We came the first time in 1999, before the uprising, during relative peace,” Yamada said. “Since then, (the dancers’) lives, which are not normal to begin with, have been turned upside-down.”

Dheisheh refugee camp has experienced military incursions by Israeli soldiers. Some residents have been arrested or killed.

Curfews and checkpoints have made travel even more difficult, and the tour was nearly cancelled.

“It was very, very difficult to get them out,” Yamada said, “because Palestinians are not allowed to leave the West Bank community unless they have special permits from the military.”

Since Palestinians are banned from the Tel Aviv airport, the group travelled by bus out of Israel, crossing through four checkpoints to reach Jordan.

On this tour, which kicked off last month in Los Angeles, the group has encountered pointed questions from post-9-11 audiences.

“They know there is a stereotype about them as terrorists,” Yamada said, “but they are actually people like everyone else.”

Founded as a dance troupe in 1994, IBDAA has expanded into a cultural center for the camp’s youth.

According to Yamada, membership in the dance troupe has become a sought-after privilege. Prospective dancers must show they are community-minded by working with camp children. Older dancers teach younger performers.

And they have to be able to hold up under the pressure of encountering audiences of different nationalities and political viewpoints.

“They have to realize they are doing more than dancing – they are representing their people,” Yamada said.

“We want to live and to have our civil and human rights like any people in all the world,” Saad said. “My dream is to live there in my own homeland. ”

For Ben Packard, a member of the local Youth Lead and Serve organization co-sponsoring the dance group’s visit to Bainbridge, researching Mideast politics and history has been an important part of preparing for the performance.

“I haven’t decided who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. I don’t actually see it in black and white that way,” the BHS junior said.

“I do think it’s important for anyone, anywhere, to learn about the issues.”

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IBDAA performs traditional debkeh dance and original works at 7 p.m. July 17 at the BHS LGI Theater.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, available at the door at 6:30 p.m. Meet the dancers at a potluck picnic, 2 p.m. in Battle Point Park. Information: kathrynhorsley@aol.com.