We visit our kindies in Hebron

Posted on by
Reply

Two members of Friends of Hebron have just  had the great privilege of visiting Hebron on Tuesday, 18 June, 2013.

We met with Hamed, representing our partner organisation, Hebron International Resource Network (HIRN). Hamed took us to visit the preschools at Umm Al Khair and Khashem Al Daraj, in the South Hebron Hills. Not only do residents of these vulnerable villages have to cope with a harsh, desert climate but they are located in Area C so subject to Israeli military and administrative controls.

The kindergarten at Umm Al Khair is bright and colorful but there is no outdoor play area. Israel’s intransigence means that any playground equipment provided is likely to be quickly demolished.

P1030464Nevertheless, as our photo shows, we have been able to provide a safe and happy building for the littlies to start their education. Unfortunately the village has ony a tent school because of the building restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities. [See this excellent article by Ruth Pollard in the SMH]

The kindergarten at Khashem al Daraj is also looking good and even has a playground, as this village has the advantage of being “on the masterplan”.

P1030473P1030471Finally, the news from Hebron city is only partly good. A house was been donated to provide preschool education for refugee children in the Tel Rumeida area. Wonderful work by volunteers over several weekends has cleared most of  the accumulated rubbish from the yard. Since then, some settlers have painted hateful graffiti on the wall.

P1030250One of the volunteers was arrested as we visited, but we later heard he was released without charge. This tactic of arrest and release is a common method of harassment by the Israeli military in Hebron. Young men who try to make a positive contribution to their community seem to be targeted.

 

Dr Mona El-Farra – invitation for dinner and presentation

Posted on by
Reply

Dear Friends,

We would like to invite you to a farewell dinner and fundraiser with Dr Mona El-Farra – an acclaimed human rights activist, Gaza blogger and physician. Take part in her last presentation in her current Australian tour and show your support for her work with traumatised children in Gaza and their need for clean water, along with other basic necessities of life.

Details are:

Monday 10th June,  6.30 pm
Hellenic Club Restaurant (upstairs)
251 Elizabeth St, Sydney
(opposite Museum Station)

$50 per person + drinks

This includes 3 course meal and a contribution to two projects for Gaza’s childen:

Play and Heal – to provide psychological support
Maia – for clean drinking water

Bookings essential to confirm numbers to restaurant

How to pay:
1. RSVP to CJPP at  events@coalitionforpalestine.org
2. Pay $50 into CJPP bank account:  BSB no.: 112-879  Acct no.: 155 748 603
and please put your last name as payment reference
3. Please pay by Friday 7 June 2013

A flyer for this event is attached.

Information is also at:

http://coalitionforpalestine.org/current-events/gaza-solidarity-dinner-and-talk-from-dr-mona-el-farra/

Children blocked from returning home after collecting food from soup kitchen

Posted on by
Reply

The Christian Peacemaker Teams are on the ground, daily, in the Old City of Hebron. They are observers and photograph and document violations and tensions in the Old City and Hebron Governorate. Read this story to see how the border police are continuously harassing the residents of the Old City, including impeding their ability to move freely:

Because of the dire economic situation in the Old City in Hebron every day children go to the Ibrahimi Mosque soup-kitchen to get food. Walking out through the mosque checkpoint shortly after noon on Sunday 26 May, I was surprised by the number of people standing at the other end of the checkpoint.

Upon passing out through the checkpoint I realized that the turnstile to enter the mosque area was closed and nobody was being allowed through. A dozen young boys held plastic tubs of soup they had collected at the soup kitchen. They told us they had been waiting for around half an hour. Read more here

 

 

Harrowing video shows Israeli soldiers arresting Hebron children

Posted on by
Reply

This article, published in the Electronic Intifada, highlights the increased phenomena of arresting very young children in Hebron. According to the rights group Defence for Children International – Palestine Section, 236 Palestinian children were in Israeli detention in February of this year, 39 of them aged 15 or younger:

Two videos of Israeli soldiers arresting three young boys in Hebron give a harrowing glimpse into the everyday violence faced by children in the occupied West Bank city where settlers have taken over Palestinian homes under the protection of the army. (Videos embedded above and below.)

The videos, published by the group Youth Against Settlements, show a chaotic scene of settlers confronting Israeli soldiers, Palestinian residents and international observers at Shuhada Street on Sunday. The heavily-armed Israeli soldiers drag away three young boys while Palestinians and an international activist attempt to intervene. One of the boys wails with fright as he is pulled away. A woman who identifies herself as the mother of one of the children defiantly goes into the Israeli army jeep and manages to remove one of the boys from it. Read more here

 

 

The Good, the Bad and the very Ugly

Posted on by
Reply

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

Image

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.