Palestine Trauma Centre in Gaza

July 9th 2014
Worcester – Palestine Friendship Group held an evening of talks about the Palestine Trauma Centre, http://en.ptcgaza.com/ , on Thursday July 3rd 2014.

This is a local organisation in Gaza who try to support people traumatised by the constant stress, helplessness and threat of violence in Gaza. They said their aim was to build resilience in families and communities, so that people could cope rather than being completely overwhelmed. Among other referrals, they get children referred who are too upset to speak. They said there is a high level of stress in Gaza, and very limited services for mental or physical health.

They talked about research on coping with PTSC (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and said that for Gaza a new term was needed, because the stress continues, it is not from events in the past. And research on what therapies can help people. They get funding from abroad but all decisions are local.

Experiences of Occupation – a talk in the Forest of Dean on November 25th

Human-rights observer Jane Harries will be sharing her experiences of occupation at The Bailey Inn, Yorkley on Sunday November 25th at 4pm.
The Bailey Inn is about 2.5 miles from the crossroads on the A48 (on the south side of Blakeney)

Directions:
The road from the A48 takes you through the village of Viney Hill and becomes the main road through Yorkley, continue until you see the Bailey Inn on the left, turn left in front of the pub, the entrance to the car park is on the left side of the pub.

An event on 12th June organised by our friends in Worcester

THESE ARE NOT THE HUNGER GAMES

A Reflection on The Palestinian and Irish Republican Hunger Strikes.

By Jim Bonner.

I worry that the deal reached, with the help of Egypt, might not be the end of the Palestinian Prisoners hunger strikes. We have seen concessions from Israel before which have turned out to be nothing but weasel words.

In the report from Uruknet written by Ali Abunimah (Details emerge of …) we see that this worry is one which Ammadeer share.

I see striking parallels between the hunger strike just ended and The First Hunger Strike of Republican Detainees in Long Kesh (The Maze) in 1980. If you consider The Five Demands below

1. the right not to wear a prison uniform;
2. the right not to do prison work;
3. the right of free association with other prisoners, and to organise educational and recreational pursuits;
4. the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week;
5. full restoration of remission lost through the protest.

which were the core ideals of the prisoners you see echoes of the Palestinian demands as stipulated in the press release of  27 September 2011.

Both hunger strikes began as a demand for basic human rights within prisons holding  political prisoners. In Northern Ireland the detainees were stripped of their ‘Political Status’. The result was the beginnings of the Dirty Protests and the rise of  The Blanketmen. These were the precursors of the hunger strikes in Long Kesh.

In Palestine jails many of the ‘prisoners’ are not convicts but internees, again an echo of  Northern Ireland. Will we see another wave of protests if the deal is not honoured?

The next few months will be crucial in seeing if Israel is going to keep it’s word. The politics of the Jewish State is littered with back room deals, every player in the governing Coalition, headed by Netanyahu and The Likud Party, seems to want something for their own constituents rather than solve the Palestinian-Israeli impasse, ignoring any chance of a just cessation of hostilities.

What happen if there is a break from good faith?

History shows what will occur if this happens. In The Fast To The Death lives were lost, but the aftermath was a resurgence of Republican sentiment. In those deaths the seeds of the Peace Process was begun. Bobby Sands MP, with his election to the UK Parliament and the election of Kieran Doherty in the Dail Eireann whilst they were dying reignited in the Irish Republican communities a hope for a better future.

The people overcame the intransigence of successive Governments from both sides of the border, a new politics was created by the voters, not by those who sought to rule. From the embers of the hunger strikes Sinn Fein was reborn as a political entity and, in time, the Provisional IRA and the INLA moved away from the bullet and embraced the ballot.

It is this spirit which will allow the Palestinians to overcome. Unity is strength. Internationally their has been a coming together to support the Palestinian Prisoners. Our job now is to channel this support into a worldwide movement to support all Palestinians, and not only The Men Behind The Wire.

Cheltenham Event – November 3rd – “Behind the Wall: three months in Bethlehem”

South Cheltenham Churches,

University of Gloucestershire Chaplaincy,

Quaker Peace and Social Witness,

present

“Behind the Wall: three months in Bethlehem”

an illustrated talk by

Bishop Richard Llewellin

7.30pm

Thursday 3 November

in

Lecture Theatre TC014, Park Campus

University of Gloucestershire

Cheltenham

Earlier this year retired Anglican Bishop Richard Llewellin spent three months in Israel/Palestine as an EA – that’s a member of Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), which sends out groups of volunteers (EA’s) to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. They’re there to support Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, monitor what happens, report violations, and talk about their experience when they get home.

EAPPI is organized worldwide by the World Council of Churches and UK by Quaker Peace and Social Witness. It was set up in response to a call by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem for a protective presence.

Gloucester Event October 16th – “Israel’s little reported war against the Negev Bedouin”

JEWS FOR JUSTICE FOR PALESTINIANS

GUEST SPEAKER DR AWAD ABU FREIH

VENUE – FRIENDSHIP CAFÉ, BARTON ST,
GLOUCESTER GL1 4HR
SUNDAY OCTOBER 16th 2011 6.45 – 8 PM

FREE ADMISSION – LIGHT REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED

Dr Awad Abu Freih is a Bedouin from Al Araqib, a village demolished 28 times since July 2010. He will speak about Israel’s little reported ‘war’ against the Negev Bedouin, who have been hounded from land they have lived in for hundreds of years. Forced to relocate to huge townships, rife with poverty, unemployment and crime, the Negev Bedouin have seen their land stolen to enable the establishment of Jewish settlements, agricultural projects and forests. Dr Abu Freih coordinates a group ‘Recognition Now’, which brings together Bedouin, Jewish and international groups who are campaigning for Bedouin land and civil rights.

Update on Situation in Deheisheh Refugee Camp in Bethlehem

Water: The water has been on for 1 – 2 days at a time since the new year began. It usually goes off for 2 or 3 weeks.  It came on the day I arrived, 18th March, for 24 hours, then went off until the day before I left, 1st April. It runs slowly so does not fill all the tanks while it is on.
If they run out of water, we buy it in a tanker which delivers to the camp and costs about £55, according to the exchange rate of the shekel to the £ sterling..
There is still a lot of unemployment, and many families without any income, so we try to give each of our 43 families something. They have 223 children between them. We are saving for Ramadan, as they will need extras at that time.
While I was there, there were several Israeli incursions into the camp at night. One night, the house opposite us was entered and searched, and then the people were told they had the wrong name, so it wasn’t them they were looking for!! No apology, or help to put everything back in it’s place. The children were upset.
It seems the Israelis regularly make raids in the camp, and arrest people, with no charges for weeks and months sometimes. My friend works at a hotel in Bethlehem and sometimes has to be there at 5am if a group want early breakfast. it could be around midnight when he returns home, and it is an ordeal for him as if he meets soldiers in the camp, they could arrest him, or question him, which would delay him getting to his work.
There will be closures during the next week or so, as the Easter for Latins,(R/C’s) and Orthodox, is at the same time, which means the Old City will be very crowded as all the celebrations will be taking place at the same time. As it is also the time of Pesach, (Passover), so there will be closures in the West Bank, so people will not be allowed into Jerusalem. This usually causes a lot of problems, as Palestinians may not be allowed to go to work, or to pray in the churches there.
There are extra restrictions now because of the settler family who were killed, although it is thought by many that a Thai worker who was employed by the family murdered them, as he had not received his salary, and was owed 10,000 shekels.
Families are struggling to make ends meet, as prices are going up all the time. Yousef is hoping to come to Cheltenham in December to do some fund raising with me. We would cook Arabic Meals, and sell goods from the Holy Land, and I will give an update of the situation. If anyone would like to host an event, please let us know via the Glos PSC website.
Joanne

Concerns about organic produce from the West Bank and Israel

There is increasing concern about the integrity of Israeli organic certifying body Agrior, which is employed by the Soil Association to certify produce from the West Bank and from Israel. Earlier this year the organisation Corporate Watch uncovered evidence that produce from West Bank settlements bearing the Agrior logo is being labelled as produce of Israel even before it leaves the settlements.
A report which appeared in Israeli daily Haaretz in August 2007, (“It’s organic, but where was it grown?”) makes it clear why this should not come as a surprise. In the report, Agrior`s director, Hagai Raban, was quoted as saying that the organization has full documentation detailing the products’ source, and that this can be obtained on request. Crucially though, he added,

“We don’t interfere in producers’ commercial considerations, or in how a producer wants to present the product”.

This was said in the face of concerns expressed by those Israelis who also wish to avoid settlement produce, including the distinguished Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard, who left the Tel Aviv organic co-op he had recently joined, after confirming his suspicion that the free-range eggs the group was buying came from a farm on an illegal outpost. Agrior, were the certifying body in this case, and Sfard told Haaretz that:
“The chickens may be ranging free, but the Palestinians in the area were employed under slave conditions, and their lands were stolen. Organic consumerism doesn’t mean only healthy eggs, but also making consumer choices that don’t harm the environment, people or animals”
Concerns about Agrior were also recently raised at a demonstration by Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign activists outside the Soil Association`s headquarters in Bristol.
In a statement, the Soil Association responded:

 
“….we have been in direct contact with all of our licensees who import products from Israel. We have not found any to be importing goods from the West Bank. We will continue to rigorously monitor this situation. Until we find evidence to the contrary we cannot act unilaterally against produce from Israel.”

In light of the Agrior director`s candid remarks, which demonstrate a willingness to place the interests of producers before consumers, this would seem to be a very naive approach.
For settlers, the West Bank is Israel, and to have to label their produce as anything other than “produce of Israel” is an affront to everything they believe in. In the UK, ethical consumers and retailers encountering items labelled “produce of Israel” would do well to remember this.

Help put an end to Profiteering in Palestine!

Tuesday, November 23rd, 7.30pm
The Friendship Cafe, Barton Street, Gloucester

An invitation for anybody interested in the pursuit of justice for Palestinians – through campaigning against businesses involved directly or indirectly in the Israeli Occupation.

Issues to be explored with help from a Corporate Watch journalist, and activists, include:

• Which companies making money out of the occupation of Palestine also operate in the UK?

• Why does the Soil Association allow goods from illegal settlements to be certified as organic, despite its ethical policy?

• How can we encourage more companies to join the few who have taken an ethical stand against the Occupation?

Latest news from Dheisheh Refugee Camp – 16 September, 2010

Here is an update in the water situation in Deheisheh Camp in Bethlehem. Since the 23rd July we have been counting the days when the water is on. It went off that day in the camp and was off for 17 days, and then came on for one day only at the start of Ramadan, on the 9th until the 10th August.  The temperatures at that time were 40 + and water became very short.  It went off again until the 1st September, when it was on for 1 and a half days, and then off until 14th September, and went off at midday today. So water was on for a total of 4 and a half days since 23rd July. ( That’s about 8 wks ) It had caused great hardship as there has been a very hot summer. We have purchased 4 tankers which delivered water during that time when it got very short.  They cost about 52 pounds each, which luckily, I have received in donations from friends, so have been able to help.
The hotel where Yousef works, has been buying a tanker daily, and during busy times has had to buy 2 tankers one at night, and one each morning.
Just to remind you that the Israelis never have their water turned off, and have swimming pools, and water sprinklers for their lawns etc. Their quota is 4 times more than the Palestinians are allowed, and they pay 4 times more for their water than Israelis pay….it is their own water from hte aquiffers under the West Bank, so in effect the Palestinians water is stolen an d then sold back to them at 4 times the price!!
The children all went back to school after the Eid al Fitr on Tuesday. Hala the elder daughter of Yousef, started at Abu Dis University ( Al Quds ) and has quite a long journey to and from there daily, as they have to travel via Wadi Al Narr….the long way round!
Her fees were generously paid by some of the PSC members and some friends. We were informed the cost was half yearly , and what we raised covered travelling expenses to and from Abu Dis.  However, it turned out that the fees are payable 3 times a year. She may get a reduction of up to half of the fees if she achieves high grades in her course work, so we hope she does! She is studying radiology. It’s a problem here, as information seems to change every day! ( Re the fees, and all sorts of other things, Like one day they are told the checkpoint is open so they go, and find it closed.)
The other 3 children in the family also have registration fees to pay, one was 150 nis, and one 120, and the last one was 70 nis. They told me that some of their classmates cannot pay, so may have to stop schooling.  We are waiting to see next week, who cannot pay, and we will help them as I brought some money with me to pay the debts, and there is some over that we were saving for the next feast, but might have to use to help these kids to carry on their schooling..
Each day we hear the news that ‘3 were shot with a tank missile in Beit Hanoon in Gaza,’ and’ 2 were killed when the Israelis bombed the tunnel in Rafah,’ and of course others were injured. ‘ 3 were shot dead in Gaza, a man of 21, another 19 and his grandfather aged 91 yrs.’ They were shepherds.
BBC only told us about the 4 Israelis who were killed in a car recently!
There is still about 60% unemployment in the camp, so a lot of poverty. The baby clothes I brought were gratefully received as many had run out of clothes because they couldn’t wash them due to lack of water. I gave out some Vitamin tablets also, and will bring some more next time.
We gave about  32 ‘Back to school ‘ packs, which consist of jeans, Tshirts, trainers, school bags, copy books and pens and pencils. Also the 5 nis needed for the school in the camp for registration.  Each pack costs around 25 pounds.
The weather is lovely.  Sunny days with a bit of wind to cool the air…
Best wishes to you all and thanks to all those who made donations, as it helps alot..I lit candles for your intentions today, in the Church of Nativity!!!
Joanne