Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Good, the Bad and the very Ugly

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ImageThe Good:

Below is an update from our partners regarding the latest training sessions offered to teachers in the Mount South Hebron Hills:

Latest Update from the Hebron International Resources Network (HIRN): The Network has been intensively engaged in the planning and the execution of a 5-day training of more than 15 kindergarten teachers from South Mount Hebron. The training was held at Huda’s Kindergarten at the beduion community of Khashem Al Daraj while participants came from Zif, Yatta, Deirat, bweib, Karmel, Susiya, Umm Al Khair, Khashem Al Karm as well as Khashem Al Daraj and Al Najada. HIRN made sure that the training would take place at Huda’s Kindergarten as to let teachers from other communities to experience and to know the Beduion communities of South Mount Hebron which are, basically, neglected by the rest of Palestine. Instrumental in the actual trailing was the wonderful Musicians without Borders organization (that has trained the teachers on integrating music in their daily activities http://www.musicianswithoutborders.org/p_palestine.htm) and the World Vision International (who helped in the actual building of the Kindergarten). Splendid work. Photos will follow in an upcoming update

 

The Bad and the Very Ugly:

As international observers continue their work in the H2 area of Hebron, an alarming number of violations against children are being reported. The Christian Peacemaker Team, whose members are stationed at a number of checkpoints near schools and on roads leading to schools, have released a report called 

Occupied Childhoods:
Impact of the actions of Israeli soldiers on Palestinian
children in H2 during February, March and April 2013

They systematically document and photograph the harassment, detentions and arrests of children. For a full version of their report, click here

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Volunteers gather to start cleaning the site for the Tel Rumeida Kindergarten

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cleaning the area arond the Tel Rumeida building that will be used as a kindergarten 3It’s a round-up, thankfully of a very positive nature. Our partners on the ground have started work on our third kindergarten, in the Tel Rumeida area of the Old City of Hebron.  Last week, the tireless Hamed Qawasmeh, rounded up a team of volunteers from Hebron, and started work clearing the area around the structure that will eventually be used as the kindergarten. No time to rest though – Hamed and the team are coming back this Friday to continue clearing the site. Leichhardt Friends of Hebron held a trivia night fundraiser in February (2013) to raise money for this project. Click here to read more about the project and to see where the funds are going to.

 
We’re also pleased to announce that work has continued on the Um Al Khair kindergarten, the first project we worked on in 2009. Our partners on the ground Um Al Khair with solar panels 2ensure that the projects we commit to are sustainable and have long-term benefits for the community. Despite the myriad of challenges faced by this community, work has continued on the kindergarten building. Excluded from the master plan, the community cannot access the water or electricity that is on the grid. Read here how the community was able to overcome this hurdle.
 
Once again, we thank you for your ongoing support. The children and communities we support undergo a lot of stress and trauma, in some instances just to get to school. The most recent instance of this was last month, when 29 children were arrested on their way to school, some as young as seven. No parents or lawyers were present at their interrogation and as of the 26th March, three children were still being held. You can find the details to this story here.

Firing Zone 918

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ImageThe struggle continues for the communities in the South Hebron Hills who are an area designated by the military as a firing zone. For years the communities have been living under the threat of expulsion and constant harassment.Last July Israel informed the courts it plans to evict the villagers. The case in currently in court.

B’Tselem have put together a great resource that outlines the situation here, as well as posting testimonials from villagers in this area. You can find the story here.

 

 

Relentless Settler Attacks Continue Against Palestinian Farmers

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Al-Haq, and organisation established in 1979, has been working tirelessly to defend the human rights of Palestinians and to seek justice for continued violations of these rights across the occupied territories. The vision for the organisation is to:

 see the rule of law and standards of international human rights and humanitarian law implemented and adhered to, so that Palestinians can enjoy equal treatment with respect to their human dignity, free from occupation and with the full realisation of their right to self-determination.

There are many examples and instances of violations of human rights in the oPt, and one of the predominant example is of the destruction of property and land, in particular the destruction of olive trees. This practice of harassment and destruction poses not only a physical danger to the Palestinian landowners, but also imposes severe economic hardship on families as their livelihoods are destroyed or confiscated from them. Read here for a report on attacks in Hebron.

On Thursday 29 November and December 1, Shawan Jabarin General Director of Al-Haq will deliver a keynote address at the New Law Lecture Theatre at the University of Sydney as well as deliver two seminars on the topics of Media, Palestine and Human rights as well as Law, Palestine and Human Rights. For further details about these two events click here.

Protection of Civilians Report

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The United Nations Office for the Coordination Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) publishes weekly reports of demolitions and violence that are occurring in the occupied Palestinian territories. In the week of October 31 – November 6, the number of Palestinian structures that were demolished (including East Jerusalem) were:

Demolished: 81

Demolished in 2012: 557
Of which residences: 139
People displaced in 2012: 1,006
2012 vs. 2011 demolitions (weekly av.): 12 vs. 12
2012 vs. 2011 people displaced (weekly av.): 20 vs. 21

Operation Dove, present in the South Hebron Hills were present at a recent home demolition in Derath and Jawaya.

On November 6th the Israeli army demolished one house and a stumble in the Palestinian village of Derath; afterward it demolished a house and a water cistern in the Palestinian village of Jawaya, South Hebron Hills, West Bank.
Around 6.45 am three DCO (District Coordination Office) cars, two demolition machines and one bulldozer broke in Derath village escorted by four Border Police jeeps and one army vehicle. First it was demolished a two floors house still under construction owned by Mohammad Musa Mohammad Abu Aram, then they moved to demolish a metal sheep’s stumble.
At about 9 am the vehicles proceeded to Jawaya village, demolished a house and destroyed a water cistern, used to collect rain water; both owned by Mahmud Ahmed Nasser Nawaja. In the South Hebron Hills area water supply is particularly critical. According to the owner, in 2011 the DCO delivered only a stop working order for those two structures.
The two Palestinian villages are located in Area C, under Israeli military and civil administration. According to OCHA oPt (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in occupied Palestinian territory) construction is prohibited for Palestinians in some 70% of Area C, while in the remaining 30%, a range of restrictions eliminate the possibility of obtaining a building permit.
The policies enforced by the Israeli authorities in Area C restrict the possibility to access to basic needs for the residents and prevent environment and development of Palestinian communities. An OCHA Opt research shows that in some communities families are being forced to move as a result of Israeli policies applied in Area C

the 7arakat |‘ḥarakāt’ project

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***Please note the change in venue for the event***

The 7arakat |‘ḥarakāt’ project, Function Room 3 Petersham RSL, 7 Regent St, Petersham 2049, November 5

 The 7arakat Creative Development Lab, 5 – 17 November 2012, The University of Sydney

Our neighbouring local council, Marrickville Council, are hosting Palestinian theatre makers from Bethlehem.  As part of The 7arakat |‘ḥarakāt’ Project the theatre group are staging a public talk on Monday 5 November. Working with Australian theatre company Version 1.0, visiting theatre makers will be identifying and incorporating innovative approaches to documentary theatre that articulate issues concerning Palestinian experience and the ways Australians engage with that experience. More details here.

Our Harsh Logic: Israeli soldiers’ testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010

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Avner Gvaryahu:

Our Harsh Logic: Israeli soldiers’ testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010

In conversation with Irving Wallach

Monday, October 22, 2012 / 6.00 for 6.30pm

Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe

Cost: $10/$7 conc. gleeclub welcome

 

Our Harsh Logic: Israeli soldiers’ testimonies from the Occupied Territories, 2000-2010 Israeli soldiers speak out for the first time about the truth of the Palestinian occupation, in ‘one of the most important books on Israel/Palestine in this generation’ (The New York Review of Books).

The very name of the Israel Defense Forces – which many Israelis speak of as ‘the most moral army in the world’ – suggests that its primary mission is the defence of the country. Indeed, support for the occupation of Palestinian territory rests on the belief that the army’s actions in the West Bank and Gaza are essentially defensive and responsive, aimed at protecting the country from terror.

But Israeli soldiers themselves tell a profoundly different story. In this landmark work, which includes hundreds of soldiers’ testimonies collected over a decade, what emerges is a broad policy that is anything but defensive. In their own words, the soldiers reveal in human and vivid detail how the key planks of the army’s program – ‘prevention of terror’, ‘separation of populations’, ‘preservation of the fabric of life’, and ‘law enforcement’ – have in fact served to accelerate acquisition of Palestinian land, cripple all normal political and social life, and ultimately thwart the possibility of independence.

The many soldiers who have spoken out have taken aim at a silence of complicity, both within Israel and in the wider world, that perpetuates the justification for occupation. In the process, they have created a gripping and immediate record of oppression. Powerful and incontrovertible, Our Harsh Logic is a significant contribution to understanding one of the world’s most vexed conflicts.

Breaking the Silence is one of Israel’s most internationally lauded non-government organisations. Established in Jerusalem in 2004, it was founded by Israel Defense Forces veterans to document the testimonies of Israeli soldiers who have served in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Khashem Al Daraj kindergarten opens

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On Wednesday September 12, the Huda kindergarten in Khashem Al Daraj opened its doors to 40 students. Initially the project was to renovate the old, dilapidated building that was, at the time, serving as the kindergarten. As more partners jumped on board, the village council was able to bring in an architect to design a new building, truly fit to function as a learning centre for the children. Leichhardt Friends of Hebron have been working with our partners on the ground for the last two years to raise funds for this integral project in the South Hebron Hills. Funds raised at our 2011 and 2012 Festival of Friendship, held during refugee week, were used to support this kindergarten project.

Congratulations to all involved in this project.