Living in the path of settlers

Posted on January 20, 2015 by hebronleichhardt

There is a military watch box on the roof of the Shamsiya house, making the roof a closed military zone and the family is forbidden to access it. For security reasons the Israeli military will search the house on a regular basis. On Saturdays, there is a tour for settlers through Hebron and the settlers from the Tel Rumeida settlement walk past the Shamsiya house. They access the roof and have damaged the water tanks. They throw stones at the family below and their daughter was knocked unconscious after being hit by a rock thrown by a settler. The Israeli military do not stop the settlers from being on the roof. The family are part of the “shoot back” camera project, run by the Israeli Human Rights organisation B’tselem. Vulnerable families are given cameras to document attacks on them and their property.

In the following 9 minute film, Yuval Orr shows what the daily life is like for 15-year-old Awni Abu Shamsiya as he attempts to maintain some shred of normalcy in his hometown of Hebron.

Festival of Friendship Refugee Week Event 2014

Posted on May 25, 2014 by hebronleichhardt

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.

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, 21^st 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.

Soldiers’ refusal to abide by open-fire regulations result in serious injury to children

Posted on October 4, 2013 by hebronleichhardt

The ongoing use of force against children continues in occupied Palestine, with children continually falling victim to serious injury. A young boy, South of Hebron, loses an eye when he is hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet in the face:

(MaanImages)

HEBRON (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot 6-year-old Musab al-Sarahneh in the eye in al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron early last week, his family reported.

The boy lost his right eye after Israeli forces opened fire on the car he was traveling in with rubber-coated steel bullets, according to the family’s account.

At the time, last Friday, Musab was sitting in a car holding his mother’s hand as they made their way home, his family says. Read more here.

Defence for Children International – Palestine interviewed a number of children that have been injured through the lax enforcement of open-fire regulations by the Israeli military. As serious injuries continue to be inflicted on children, there is little recourse to seek justice when soldiers disobey their regulations. In fact, of all complaints filed against the army, only 5% have led to indictments. The following article goes into more depth about the rules of engagement, and tells the story of Atta, who was shot directly, while retrieving his school bag, and the tragedy that unfolded:

The bullet struck Atta Sabah, 12, in the stomach and exited through his back, severing his spinal cord and causing paralysis from the waist down.

With high numbers of demonstrations occurring throughout the West Bank during the first six months of 2013, lax enforcement of the Israeli army’s open-fire regulations has led to increased violence against Palestinian civilians and has perpetuated impunity.

The regulations allow soldiers to use live ammunition “only under circumstances of real mortal danger,” according to a recent report by B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group.

Israeli forces are prohibited from firing rubber-coated metal bullets at women and children. Where firing rubber-coated metal bullets is allowed, police and military procedures state that they must only be fired from a distance of 50-60 meters (165 – 195 feet) and at the legs of people.The regulations prohibit directly targeting demonstrators with tear-gas canisters. Read the full story here

Harrowing video shows Israeli soldiers arresting Hebron children

Posted on May 3, 2013 by hebronleichhardt

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

Support Hebron pre-schools

Posted on June 3, 2012 by hebronleichhardt

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

Posted on June 1, 2012 by hebronleichhardt

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

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

Hebron Glass & Ceramics Factory products exclusive to Festival of Friendship

Posted on May 28, 2012 by hebronleichhardt

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 →

Festival of Friendship Refugee Week Event 2012

Posted on May 18, 2012 by hebronleichhardt

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…

When ‘flexing muscle’ means terrorizing children

Posted on March 22, 2012 by hebronleichhardt

The Golani Brigade left Hebron last week and a collective sigh of relief passed through the town. The Golani are famous for being tough on the civilian Palestinian population, and there was some hope that the violations administered by the Golani Brigade would not be repeated by the newly arrived Kfeer brigade. Three weeks ago, on a visit to the Mutanabbi boys school (which is located on a road that settlers use frequently), the principal reported that 27 instances of physical and verbal abuse against the school children by the army during one week alone. A teacher was detained at a checkpoint for 4 hours while on his way to work, and flying checkpoints (pop-up checkpoints) had been set up outside the school, where harassment of the children was regular. When speaking to the principal he told us that the week prior a settler, armed with an M16 assault rifle, had walked into the school, and threatened to blow up the school if students didn’t stop throwing stones. In any other instance this threat would be taken seriously and investigations would ensue. However, in Hebron, the residents say that settlers rule the army and protection is only for the chosen few. Read more

When the ‘daily grind’ doesn’t refer to your favourite coffee joint

Posted on March 5, 2012 by hebronleichhardt

The bleakness of the situation here {in Hebron} is further exacerbated by the settler violence that occurs under the ‘watchful’ eye of the military that is deployed here to maintain security. In 2011, when settlers tried to burn down the Cordoba school in Hebron, the principal installed video cameras on the premises to monitor security. Read more

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