#palestinians
MUST WATCH– Breaking the Silence: women soldiers talking about abuse in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“08/22/2014: GAZA CITY, AA - The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s ongoing offensive against the Gaza Strip has risen to 612 following fresh Israeli attacks on the blockaded enclave on Tuesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The fatalities include at least 160 children and 70 women.”
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This is residential building attacked by an Israeli warplane: 11 killed including 5 children. And many severe injuries.
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“Noor Abu Jarad went to sleep at night, woke up in Al-Shifa Hospital. Then was told that her entire family of 8 members were all killed; after Israel targeted their home. She was the only survivor.”
SOURCE: Mohammed Zeyara
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Amazing. Humanity is waking up. Now the media must do the same.
“Only yesterday we reported on protests against the War on Gaza that had flooded the streets of Jerusalem with thousands of protesters. Jews and Muslims marched side-by-side in support of civilians in Gaza, and yet the vast majority of the corporate, mainstream media completely ignored this story.”
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WATCH THIS.
Palestinian UFC fighter Belal Muhammad honours his Palestinian brothers and sisters back in the homeland at the end of his speech saying that this fight was nothing compared to the real thing back home. Masha'allah.
A Palestinian grandma, her son and her grandchild picking olives in Nablus.
: Omar Dawabshah
Happening in occupied Jerusalem right now, just like how it happen every year.
Palestinians made a document that contains templates for letters to US, UK, & Canadian politicians, media outlets, and companies in relation to current events in Palestine as well as petitions & other resources. If you live in any of these countries then please select a template, edit it to your preference and send according to the instructions on the relevant page.
Here is a link to it (please share it): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-RUOHHiEtr7uoclQgWN-tCWOihnHIp5hym89aNePi_E/mobilebasic
Aside from that, please protest, support the BDS boycott and spread awareness as much as possible.
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Gaza: Nine out of ten children suffering from PTSD after Israel’s May offensive | Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-palestine-israel-conflict-children-ptsd-trauma-monitor
‘Palestine Is…’ Exhibition
If you are in London why not drop by the Interpal office to take a look at our in-house exhibition ‘Palestine Is’.
We asked artists to conjure up images of what Palestine is to them. Ranging from dreams of the fantastical to the brutal realities of war.
There is still time to submit your artwork to our illustration competition, the winners of which will have their artwork featured in our upcoming poetry collection, ‘Palestine Verses Vol. II’.
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CASE STUDY: A CARER’S NEED
In the run up to International Women’s Day, we would like to celebrate the strength and resilience of Palestinian women the world over. We would like to share with you the story of Saeda Shaladan, a 35 year-old mother of five from Gaza.
She lives with her children and younger sister, who is studying at university. After studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work at Al-Aqsa University she found herself unemployed and unable to provide for her growing family. Following a divorce from her husband, Saeda was alone and without means - forced to rely on benefits from the Ministry of Social Affairs. After sacrificing her alimony payments in order to retain custody of her children, Saeda experienced firsthand the double-bind placed on women under occupation. She has been trying to find employment to support her family but pressing concerns at home have demanded her attention.
One of Saeda’s daughters, Shahd, was diagnosed with a kidney defect from birth. Her crucial treatment cost $100 every month, more than the benefits from the Ministry of Social Affairs can provide. Saeda is Shahd’s full-time carer but is desperately in need of a fixed salary to meet her children’s needs. “I want to give my children the best opportunities in life and start them off on a good foundation from which to succeed”.
Interpal provided the family with considerable support to see them through the winter, including warm clothing for the children, blankets and carpets, a heater and LED-powered batteries. Saeda said of the support she received: ‘I have never asked an organisation for help, but Interpal truly seeks to help needy people and provides them with the means to help themselves, allowing us to keep our dignity intact’.
Interpal ensures all our projects support women and girls. By supporting Palestinian women, you can make a positive impact on entire families and communities.
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The UN have stated that Gaza will be ‘unlivable by 2020’ if the humanitarian crises impacting it are not addressed. However, for many families, Gaza is already unlivable and they are forced to drink unclean water, miss out on adequate healthcare and live in shockingly poor housing. There are still approximately 60,000 people homeless since the 2014 assault on the Gaza Strip, and not having a home is a truly horrendous experience. Our homes are our sanctuaries, and tied up with human dignity and development. A child with nowhere to study will struggle, an elderly or unwell person with nowhere to recover will suffer and a family with no home will fall apart.
We would like to share with you a family case which has been bought to our attention by our Gaza Field Office. It is the case of the Al Khatib family in Gaza.
The Al Khatib family were forced to leave their home. The family of nine now reside in a 20 square meter tent made from recycled tin plates. There is no water, sewage or electricity networks nor any furniture. The cold and rain continually leaks into the derelict house leaving the seven children constantly unwell. The children’s father is unable to work as he suffers from trauma and serious psychological problems following a severe head injury. That is why their mother, Sabreen, walked in to the Interpal Gaza Office recently with a desperate plea for help. She could no longer stand to watch her family in this state.
Interpal works to ensure that Palestinians are not forced to give up their dignity and rights due to poverty and disadvantage. Our Karamah Project provides grants to families to renovate damaged or inadequate housing, and we also support other shelter aid such as rent and alleviating debts due to housing.
A generous donor has already come forward and made a donation which will allow Sabreen and her family to rent a property for a year (2017). However, it is important to remember that the family’s problems are ongoing and they will need continued support from us.
Our aim is to fundraise a total of £8,500 this year in order to purchase a house for the family so that they are able to move in, in 2018.
If you are unable to donate, please do share this link with your contacts and try to raise some funds yourself.
As part of our 2016/17 Winter Appeal we distributed 2,000 winter clothing kits for refugee children in Rashidiyeh and Borj Al Shamali camps.
Thanks to your generous donations we are able to continue distributing aid to school children in Lebanese refugee camps.
To donate, call 0208 961 9993 or click the ‘Donate’ button at the top of our Page.
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In these unfortunate times of this pandemic, new positive opportunities were available. One of these opportunities was the widespread and availability of virtual conferences and webinars. In the last couple of months, I attended a weekly private virtual conference with a group of Palestinians that are living in Palestine.
I had the chance to attend a talk by a former political detainee in “Israeli” dungeons. It was a she, and this suggested an additional level of complexities in her experience. I am not going to talk about her terrible experience in the detention. It is a subject that has been exposed and analyzed by many individuals that have better qualifications than me. However, what really caught my interest is two things:
- the stories she heard of how Palestinian women get in this situation and
- how they are treated once they get out.
Getting into the Dungeons?
There are a lot of women and girls that were detained because of their activism, actions, and resistance (i.e. administrative detention). However, there is a story that was repeated by several women in the detention centers. It seems like it is becoming a trend. Some young women were detained because they attacked an occupation soldier. The reason for the attack was to escape.
Escape from what exactly? It seems that these young women were usually abused in their houses, and they did not find the social support to overcome their situation. In addition, it was hard to go solo, independent because of the social constraints, the failure of the so-called authority, and of course, the occupation. Therefore, they decided to do a pseudo stabbing operation so they would get arrested and locked away from their painful reality. The problem is that they are escaping from one painful situation to another painful situation.
After Getting out of the Dungeons?
Once they get out, former detainees in general, and women in particular, are not treated as shown on the television screens. They are certainly celebrated. However, their personal life is changed, and this is not just because of the toll of detention, imprisonment, and physical and psychological torture on them. It is also due to how society perceives them after they get out. For instance, a former detainee will struggle immensely to find someone that will rent for him or her because the landlord will presume that the occupation forces would come any time and mess the house up. In addition, a former female detainee might find it very hard to get engaged because men won’t prefer her for the mere reason that she is a former detainee. She becomes a second, or maybe a last, choice.
This might not be true for all the cases; however, they exist to some extent. The Palestinian society has been under occupation for a long time, and this has hindered it on many levels. It is of course not an excuse for our society; it is just an explanation of why it is filled with sociological and psychological issues.
The first time I heard about these stories was during these conference calls. I was shocked because for us, Palestinians, the detainees are heroes. They are supposed to be treated with respect, and sometimes as saints. The existence of the so-called the Palestinian Authority played a vital role in switching people’s focus towards materialistic objectives in life, and therefore, marginalize the struggle against occupation from a societal-solidarity point of view.
There is a thorough analysis of this by Dr. Samah Jabr here.
Free Palestine!
The picture is a caricature drawn by the martyr Naji Al Ali who was assassinated in 1987.
