Festival of Friendship Refugee Week Event 2014

Refugee Week Festival Sat 21 June 2014

Refugee Week Festival Sat 21 June 2014

Only one week to go!
The Refugee Week Festival starts
12 noon in Leichhardt Town Hall, next Saturday, 21st June.
More about the Festival…

The 2014 Refugee Week Festival will support a school transport programme to help teenage girls in the remote community of Dkaika  finish high school. Currently the students have to walk for almost an hour, must walk 7km along a rough 4WD mountain track  to  the nearest high school

The situation in Dkaika
The students have to walk for almost an hour to reach the nearest junior high school and even further to a school where they complete year 12.This has lead to high dropout rates, especially for girls.

Chidren study in front of their classroom - demolished by the Israeli occupation forces.

Chidren study in front of their classroom – demolished by the Israeli occupation forces.

The solution identified by the community is a school transport plan and with your support, we can help them achieve this.

You can help support the students of Dkaika by coming to our Refugee Week Festival, which will be held on Saturday, 21st June, in Leichhardt Town Hall. The money raised will pay the wages of a driver and we hope, the running costs of the vehicle, to take students to high school and university.

To read a full report about the village and our proposed project to support education access to the community click here.
For Festival details, email hebronleichhardt@gmail.com.
Donations are welcome and can be made here.

Leichhardt Friends of Hebron have been successful in supporting the establishment of three kindergarten facilities in Hebron and the South Hebron Hills. Through our partnership with the Hebron International Resource Network (HIRN) we are working with some of the most impoverished, vulnerable and threatened communities in the area.

Dkaika is one of these, an isolated and vulnerable community in the far south of Palestine, only metres from the boundary with Israel. Sadly, the community faces a targeted campaign of isolation and destruction from the Israeli Army.

The Israeli authorities are threatening to demolish 35 homes and buildings, including at least one classroom. At least 4 homes and one classroom have already been demolished.

They also prevent the community from accessing the most basic services, including electricity and running water although these are provided to Israeli residents of nearby illegal settlements. Despite the hardship this causes, people feel able to remain on their traditional lands as long as their children have access to education, which is highly valued in Palestine people.

Since 2009, Leichhardt Friends of Hebron have been successful in supporting the establishment of three kindergarten facilities in Hebron and the South Hebron Hills. Through our partnership with the Hebron International Resource Network (HIRN) we are working with some of the most impoverished, vulnerable and threatened communities in the area.

 

Khashem Al Daraj kindergarten opens

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.

Support Hebron pre-schools

If you couldn’t make it to the Festival on Saturday you can still support our pre-school projects in the South Hebron Hills by  making a tax-deductible donation to the Kindergarten Appeal. By donating to this appeal you will be helping support early childhood education facilities for Palestinian communities in the south Hebron hills.

We still have some ceramic pieces and kuffiyehs from Hebron and they will be on sale at the Addison Road Winter Magic Festival on Saturday 30th June – we will be there from approximately 1-5pm.


Hebron: microcosm of Israeli apartheid? Forum speakers confirmed

We’re pleased to announce that the speakers for the forum at this year’s Festival of Friendship have been confirmed.  The forum will explore the issue of apartheid in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and will feature academic Ghassan Hage, writer Randa Abdel-Fattah and anti-apartheid veteran Kolin Thumbadoo as speakers, and journalist Antony Loewenstein as moderator.

Festival of Friendship 2012 Forum panel: from left, Antony Loewenstein, Randa Abdel Fattah, Kolin Thumbadoo and Ghassan Hage

Festival of Friendship 2012 Forum panel: from left, Antony Loewenstein, Randa Abdel Fattah, Kolin Thumbadoo and Ghassan Hage

Forum topic: Hebron: microcosm of Israeli apartheid?
Time: 3 – 5pm, Saturday 23 June
Place: Leichhardt Town Hall

Read more about the forum, and our distinguished panel of speakers…

Hebron Glass & Ceramics Factory products exclusive to Festival of Friendship

Ceramics from the Hebron Glass & Ceramic Factory

A great range of Hebron ceramics will be available exclusively at the Festival

We are pleased to announce that a selection of handmade ceramics direct from Hebron will be sold at our festival on 23 June, 2012. All proceeds will go to support our kindergarden projects in the South Hebron Hills. These ceramics have been produced in the Hebron Glass and Ceramics Factory. You can read more about the Factory and the story of its owners, Mr Hamdi and his brother: Continue reading

Exciting addition to Festival of Friendship: Aromatherapy specialists Perfect Potion

Perfect Potion logoWe’re delighted to announce that the latest stall confirmed for the Festival of Friendship on 23 June is Australian aromatherapy company Perfect Potion. Perfect Potion have a range of products made from Palestinian Olive Oil, including soaps, skin lotions and hand creams. They were the first Australian company to obtain certified natural cosmetics (BDIH) status from Europe for the majority of products. The majority of the essential oils that Perfect Potion offers are certified organic.  You can see the whole selection of products on the Perfect Potion website.

Come to the festival to support fair trade products that support Palestinian communities!

Festival of Friendship Refugee Week Event 2012

It’s this Saturday…  the Third Annual Hebron Leichhardt Refugee Week Festival of Friendship… only a few sleeps to go!
Come and have a coffee with us, or buy a colourful mug, handmade in Palestine at Hebron Ceramics.
View the Festival Program here, or download an A4 poster or smaller A5 poster (2 to a page).

When: Saturday, 23 June 2012
Where: Leichhardt Town Hall (cnr Marion & Norton Sts, Leichhardt)
Time: Midday to 8pm

We look forward to seeing you for brunch at 12 o’clock lunchtime on Saturday 23 June and hoping you stay all day.
Highlights of the Festival include market stalls, great coffee, delicious food & drink, our new photography exhibition, Steadfastness,  a forum investigating the situation in Hebron and the Australian premiere of the award-winning documentary, Roadmap to Apartheid, narrated by Alice Walker. You can admire and buy the uniquely colourful ceramics from Hebron, perfect for your home or that special gift; buy organic olive oil soap or a kuffiyeh, the traditional chequered scarf; or browse our bookstall with hundreds of new and second-hand books of all types, then sit back and relax with a coffee and a snack while our musicians entertain you. Above all, come and have fun!
More details… 

Kuffiyahs – Direct From Hebron

They have arrived! We are very excited to announce that we have received another lot of kuffiyahs, direct from the Herbawi textile factory in Hebron. Our last batch sold out in one day at our Festival of Friendship, 2011 and we aniticapte that these kuffyahs will be snapped up in no time. We have a selection of both colour and the traditional black and white kuffiyahs.

We will be selling the kuffiyahs at upcoming events so stay posted to know where we we’ll be. This week we will have a stall at the Miko Peled lecture, Moving towards a democracy in Israel/Palestine. 

Details:

Date: Tuesday, 27th September, Location: Teacher’s Club, 22-33 Mary St, Surry Hills Sydney NSW, Time: 6.30pm for a 7pm start

Kindergarten before the facelift

At the 2011 Leichhardt Friends of Hebron Festival of Friendship you helped us raise over $5000. That money will be used to renovate and extend the Al Huda kindergarten in the South Hebron Hills village of Khashem Al Daraj. Click here to see pictures of the current state of kindergarten and the conditions in the village.