30 April 2008
Hebron Orphanage
Here is a link to a blog that has all the information about the orphanage in Hebron that the Israeli government is trying to shutdown. It also lists phone numbers of people you can contact to express your opposition to this.
02 April 2008
From the ISM website...
CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered closed
April 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Hebron Region
For more information about CPT’s work in Palestine click here
Last night (April 1st 2008) approximately 300 women, including teachers, mothers and students, protested the shut down of their school and orphanages by the Israeli government. This is one of several schools and orphanages serving 7,000 orphans and students in the Hebron area. Internationals, including Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and others committed to non-violence, slept in the school expecting armed Israeli soldiers to come and seal up the doors.
The Israeli High Court have just extended the order by one week. This evening internationals have arrived to stay in the school for the night because no one has seen a copy of the written order. There’s also a presence at one of the boys schools by the men and boys of the community. Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh, an articulate defender of her school and friends who will become
homeless, joined her classmates in last night’s protest. Her descriptive letter to Oprah is below.
Dianne Roe, who works with the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Hebron, cried when she was interviewing sixteen-year-old Rabina. Below is a news release distributed by CPT and a letter that Rabina,
who was raised in Houston, Texas, who wrote to Oprah last week.
Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh will join her classmates tonight in facing armed Israeli soldiers if the Israeli army carries out the order effective 1 April closing orphanages and schools funded by Islamic Charities that serves 7,000 children.
Two years ago Rabiha was a teenager in Houston, Texas where she was treasurer of the student council and loved going to the mall with her friends. Her new friends are her classmates at the Girls’ orphanage
school in Hebron. Last year they helped her learn Arabic and integrate into her new surroundings. Now she wants to help them.
Dear Oprah,
My name is Rabiha Abusnineh and I am 16 and a half years old. For the first fifteen years of my life, I have lived in Houston, Texas in the United States of America. I was really happy there because I had everything I wanted. For instance, I had a 3.9 GPA and I had awesome friends and went to a really good school (North Shore High School). But all that changed when I moved to Hebron, Palestine in August of 2006. I didn’t know the Arabic language at all but over time and practice and a lot of repetition I have learned it and become the highest ranking in my class due to endless cooperation from my school.
I go to Al-Shar’iya Secondary School for Girls but it is not just any normal school. It is a school of 650 girls, 500 of them being orphans that depend on the school for a place to study, to eat, to sleep, to
get treated if they’re sick, to get school supplies, and probably every other necessity they need to live. And now for some reason the Israeli Occupation wants to close it down along with its other branches that include a school for orphaned boys and an elementary school for orphaned children. What they do not realize is that if they were to close the Islamic Charitable Society which funds these orphanage schools, they would be kicking some of these orphans into the street with no one to care or to spend on them.
They say that these orphans practice terrorism and due to their false accusations they have confiscated all of the properties and the income that are required to care for the orphans and the buses that transport them from their homes to the school and they’ve closed down the bakery that extends bread to the orphans to sustain their hunger and they’ve stolen all the food in the food pantry that contains canned goods and meats for the orphans and they’ve confiscated the warehouse that contains school supplies and clothes for the orphans. I declare that these are not things used for terrorism so why have they taken them? And now they have given the different orphan schools warning to be closed by April the first.
My school and the Palestinian people have done plenty of things to stop this decision that came out about a month ago. We have marched and protested all with out any result. I ask you Oprah as a last resort to please please please help! I am asking you not for money but to help spread awareness on this situation and to help people see that the students of this school are orphans that have lost their fathers or mothers or both and in that lost their main source of income and their main source of love and care. This is not a political situation but rather it is a humanitarian one. Ever since I was a kindergarten in America I have learned that “All men were created equally” and that the American people have “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. If we were all created equally then us striving for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness shouldn’t differ between Americans, Palestinians, Africans or any one else.
I have been taught to stand up for what I believe in and what I believe has nothing to do with politics because I’ve always been neutral but Oprah by studying at this school and seeing everything that is provided I can not imagine what life is going to be like if it closes down so I will stand by them to the very end until they get back their rights. I ask you Oprah to please respond to this message as soon as possible because there is roughly a week left until the Israeli Occupation decide to carry out their inhumane and heartless plan. I watch your show about every week day here from Saturday-Wednesday and so does practically every other girl in my school. They see you as a source of kindness and compassion due to your help with building the African Schools and your help with a lot of different things. Please help them see that personally by helping them. Again all I ask for is coverage and awareness and hopefully a visit from you. Your reward will be in heaven. God Bless You for you are surely one of my role models and what I strive to be like when I’m older.
Thank you again for being my role model and for any help that you can offer.
Sincerely,
Rabiha Abusnineh
P.S. Please hurry!! God Bless You and all of your staff and crew!
CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered closed
April 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Hebron Region
For more information about CPT’s work in Palestine click here
Last night (April 1st 2008) approximately 300 women, including teachers, mothers and students, protested the shut down of their school and orphanages by the Israeli government. This is one of several schools and orphanages serving 7,000 orphans and students in the Hebron area. Internationals, including Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and others committed to non-violence, slept in the school expecting armed Israeli soldiers to come and seal up the doors.
The Israeli High Court have just extended the order by one week. This evening internationals have arrived to stay in the school for the night because no one has seen a copy of the written order. There’s also a presence at one of the boys schools by the men and boys of the community. Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh, an articulate defender of her school and friends who will become
homeless, joined her classmates in last night’s protest. Her descriptive letter to Oprah is below.
Dianne Roe, who works with the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Hebron, cried when she was interviewing sixteen-year-old Rabina. Below is a news release distributed by CPT and a letter that Rabina,
who was raised in Houston, Texas, who wrote to Oprah last week.
Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh will join her classmates tonight in facing armed Israeli soldiers if the Israeli army carries out the order effective 1 April closing orphanages and schools funded by Islamic Charities that serves 7,000 children.
Two years ago Rabiha was a teenager in Houston, Texas where she was treasurer of the student council and loved going to the mall with her friends. Her new friends are her classmates at the Girls’ orphanage
school in Hebron. Last year they helped her learn Arabic and integrate into her new surroundings. Now she wants to help them.
Dear Oprah,
My name is Rabiha Abusnineh and I am 16 and a half years old. For the first fifteen years of my life, I have lived in Houston, Texas in the United States of America. I was really happy there because I had everything I wanted. For instance, I had a 3.9 GPA and I had awesome friends and went to a really good school (North Shore High School). But all that changed when I moved to Hebron, Palestine in August of 2006. I didn’t know the Arabic language at all but over time and practice and a lot of repetition I have learned it and become the highest ranking in my class due to endless cooperation from my school.
I go to Al-Shar’iya Secondary School for Girls but it is not just any normal school. It is a school of 650 girls, 500 of them being orphans that depend on the school for a place to study, to eat, to sleep, to
get treated if they’re sick, to get school supplies, and probably every other necessity they need to live. And now for some reason the Israeli Occupation wants to close it down along with its other branches that include a school for orphaned boys and an elementary school for orphaned children. What they do not realize is that if they were to close the Islamic Charitable Society which funds these orphanage schools, they would be kicking some of these orphans into the street with no one to care or to spend on them.
They say that these orphans practice terrorism and due to their false accusations they have confiscated all of the properties and the income that are required to care for the orphans and the buses that transport them from their homes to the school and they’ve closed down the bakery that extends bread to the orphans to sustain their hunger and they’ve stolen all the food in the food pantry that contains canned goods and meats for the orphans and they’ve confiscated the warehouse that contains school supplies and clothes for the orphans. I declare that these are not things used for terrorism so why have they taken them? And now they have given the different orphan schools warning to be closed by April the first.
My school and the Palestinian people have done plenty of things to stop this decision that came out about a month ago. We have marched and protested all with out any result. I ask you Oprah as a last resort to please please please help! I am asking you not for money but to help spread awareness on this situation and to help people see that the students of this school are orphans that have lost their fathers or mothers or both and in that lost their main source of income and their main source of love and care. This is not a political situation but rather it is a humanitarian one. Ever since I was a kindergarten in America I have learned that “All men were created equally” and that the American people have “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. If we were all created equally then us striving for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness shouldn’t differ between Americans, Palestinians, Africans or any one else.
I have been taught to stand up for what I believe in and what I believe has nothing to do with politics because I’ve always been neutral but Oprah by studying at this school and seeing everything that is provided I can not imagine what life is going to be like if it closes down so I will stand by them to the very end until they get back their rights. I ask you Oprah to please respond to this message as soon as possible because there is roughly a week left until the Israeli Occupation decide to carry out their inhumane and heartless plan. I watch your show about every week day here from Saturday-Wednesday and so does practically every other girl in my school. They see you as a source of kindness and compassion due to your help with building the African Schools and your help with a lot of different things. Please help them see that personally by helping them. Again all I ask for is coverage and awareness and hopefully a visit from you. Your reward will be in heaven. God Bless You for you are surely one of my role models and what I strive to be like when I’m older.
Thank you again for being my role model and for any help that you can offer.
Sincerely,
Rabiha Abusnineh
P.S. Please hurry!! God Bless You and all of your staff and crew!
28 March 2008
Al-Nakba
The Catastrophe.
Philadelphia is bringing about an awareness about the events of Al-Nakba from March 17 - May 18. A group of local activists formed the Al-Nakba Committee and are putting together many events including a Palestinian Film Festival. If you have time please check it out. I'm sure it will be an enlightening experience for many people.
Salam.
Philadelphia is bringing about an awareness about the events of Al-Nakba from March 17 - May 18. A group of local activists formed the Al-Nakba Committee and are putting together many events including a Palestinian Film Festival. If you have time please check it out. I'm sure it will be an enlightening experience for many people.
Salam.
06 March 2008
Hopeless Prayer for Peace
I'm sad and disappointed to hear about the attack at an Al Q'uds (Jerusalem) seminary today and that people died because of it. I'm sad that someone felt so oppressed and hopeless that they had to kill others to be heard, to be noticed, to wake up the world! I'm sad that people had to die because the world does not listen. I'm sad that hundreds of people in Gaza are starving to death and living in horrible conditions in which no person should ever have to endure under no circumstance regardless of their race, religion, politics, socioeconomic status, past history and so on.
I'm scared that my friends in Al Khalil (Hebron) will suffer more than they are right now due to this horrible event even though they had nothing to do with it. I'm scared that all Palestinians will suffer because of it; suffer more than they ever have in the past and present.
I'm worried about more attacks on Israelis and that the Israelis who care about Palestinians and peace will suffer. I'm worried that the zionists will use this as an excuse to steal more Palestinian homes and land away from them with the official/unofficial backing of the Israeli government.
I'm feeling a bit hopeless today.
So, I pray for peace.
Insha'allah
peace
salam
om shanti
I'm scared that my friends in Al Khalil (Hebron) will suffer more than they are right now due to this horrible event even though they had nothing to do with it. I'm scared that all Palestinians will suffer because of it; suffer more than they ever have in the past and present.
I'm worried about more attacks on Israelis and that the Israelis who care about Palestinians and peace will suffer. I'm worried that the zionists will use this as an excuse to steal more Palestinian homes and land away from them with the official/unofficial backing of the Israeli government.
I'm feeling a bit hopeless today.
So, I pray for peace.
Insha'allah
peace
salam
om shanti
10 February 2008
Supporting Palestine....
It's been 6 months since I last walked on Palestinian soil. Life here has taken over and prevented me from doing a lot of the work I had hoped or envisioned myself doing for the Palestinians. However, it has not made me forget. I miss that place. I especially miss the people there. I've spent this time processing what I learned about the history of Palestine, what I saw, what I experienced and how I want to continue my work there.
It seems that when most people return they speak primarily at local anarchist events, synagogues, churches, perhaps a Friends meeting center, and at local universities. They typically speak about the protests they attended, about being tear gassed, about the horrible violent conditions Palestinians and the human rights workers live in on a day-to-day basis, and about the effects of Israeli occupation. Most get the message out quite well.
This has led me to think about what message I most want to convey when I speak to people. While I don't think the plight of the Palestinians can ever be communicated too much, and although I experienced and witnessed these same types of events, I also experienced another side of daily Palestinian life through the eyes of children that doesn't get told too often. The children made me very proud to be a part of their lives if only for a short six weeks and in turn I want to continue to do more to help them.
Since I volunteered through Art Under Apartheid and formed a friendship with its' founder, Katie Miranda, I decided that this would be the best route for me to pursue. But how exactly will I do this? This is the next step. Katie needs art materials, so I'll be purchasing art materials and sending care packages to her. How often care packages are sent will depend on her needs, the kids' needs, and of course available funds.
We also discussed getting more volunteers to come and run classes or tutoring sessions during the "off" seasons of fall, winter and spring. Those are the times when volunteer availability is at its lowest. One volunteer has stepped up already to provide a couple of hours of English tutoring homework services for the kids.
If you have some free time, preferably 2 weeks or more, contact Katie through the AUA website and get going! If you'd like to make a financial contribution to help send supplies contact me at yogalina5@yahoo.com.
Peace & Solidarity!
It seems that when most people return they speak primarily at local anarchist events, synagogues, churches, perhaps a Friends meeting center, and at local universities. They typically speak about the protests they attended, about being tear gassed, about the horrible violent conditions Palestinians and the human rights workers live in on a day-to-day basis, and about the effects of Israeli occupation. Most get the message out quite well.
This has led me to think about what message I most want to convey when I speak to people. While I don't think the plight of the Palestinians can ever be communicated too much, and although I experienced and witnessed these same types of events, I also experienced another side of daily Palestinian life through the eyes of children that doesn't get told too often. The children made me very proud to be a part of their lives if only for a short six weeks and in turn I want to continue to do more to help them.
Since I volunteered through Art Under Apartheid and formed a friendship with its' founder, Katie Miranda, I decided that this would be the best route for me to pursue. But how exactly will I do this? This is the next step. Katie needs art materials, so I'll be purchasing art materials and sending care packages to her. How often care packages are sent will depend on her needs, the kids' needs, and of course available funds.
We also discussed getting more volunteers to come and run classes or tutoring sessions during the "off" seasons of fall, winter and spring. Those are the times when volunteer availability is at its lowest. One volunteer has stepped up already to provide a couple of hours of English tutoring homework services for the kids.
If you have some free time, preferably 2 weeks or more, contact Katie through the AUA website and get going! If you'd like to make a financial contribution to help send supplies contact me at yogalina5@yahoo.com.
Peace & Solidarity!
16 December 2007
Experimental Broadcasting from Hebron
This is an experiment in broadcasting from Hebron via Issa's house in Tel Rumeida. Add it to your bookmarks and be sure to check it on a regular basis to find out the lastest news in my favorite city in Palestine.
19 November 2007
Occupation 101
Here is a website where you can watch Occupation 101 in its entirety for free! Yes, really, it is free! Just let it run through once in the background, until it finishes buffering then you can watch uninterrupted. It took roughly 30 minutes to completely buffer over a DSL line. Here is a brief synopsis from this website:
A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.
The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.
A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict -- 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.
The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.
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