Friends International Center in Ramallah
February 2008 Newsletter
(Vol. II No. 2)

For the past months, all eyes of the world have focused on Gaza.  The situation has been critical.  It is hard to imagine that people can live this way – no electricity, no water, and no heat for a good portion of every day.  The food situation has been scarce.  In fact, 80 per cent of the people are living from food aid.  Then the power of the people broke forth.  They could no longer contain themselves.  They took their fate into their own hands and broke the gate separating Gaza and Egypt.  They were finally able to get some of the badly needed staples for themselves and their families.  Read more about this act of courage. 

(Power to the People by Jeff Halper - click here)

From the Friends International Center in Ramallah:

A number of groups came to the Friends Center, including two Methodist groups that asked Jean Zaru to give a lecture to them. 

On February 29 a local group used the facilities for the training of trainers of nonviolent action. 

Pat Stapleton brought a group of professional musicians from the UK to FICR.  The group was a solidarity group with Al-Quds University and was hosted by the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association.  It was a wonderful occasion to meet staff from the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association and speak about ways that we could cooperate. 

Musicians from Camden who visited FICR

Dr. Linda Cozzarelli, from Berkley gave a lecture about working with children who have experienced trauma.  Linda comes to Palestine every year to train counselors at the Palestine Counseling Center in Jerusalem.  This year she also worked at the Friends Girls School in training teachers on working with children who have gone through trauma.  Linda A. Cozzarelli, L.C.S.W. is a child and adolescent psychotherapist who specializes in working with traumatized children, especially those who are bereaved or who have a parent who is seriously ill and in understanding the psychological impact of learning disabilities on children‘s sense of self and self worth.  Ms. Cozzarelli is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. She founded and directed the Bereavement Program and is a consultant to the Learning Program at the Ann Martinn Children‘s Center in Piedmaont, California.  She teaches at the University of California in Berkeley, and consults to schools in Berkeley and Oakland, California.

On February 27, Ron Kraybill, the Quaker International Affairs Representative (QIAR), based in Jerusalem, gave the first lecture of a Roundtable Series (see attached schedule).  The lecture was to have taken place the day the snow storm hit Ramallah, therefore had to be postponed.   

(Ron Kraybill Roundtable Series March - April 2008  - click here)
   

From the Ramallah Friends Meeting:

January and the first part of February were unusually cold this year and brought more snow to Ramallah than had been witnessed in recent memory.  Snow fell for two days and immobilized Ramallah for about three days.  The blanket of snow that covered the garden of the Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse looked like a winter wonderland.  However, it also left many broken trees and other plants.  We had to wage a major cleaning campaign to get rid of the broken branches, fallen trees, and beaten down flower beds.  One of the very tall old trees was leaning at an angle that made it too dangerous to ignore.  We asked the municipality to cut the tree from outside the wall because the equipment that was used to cut it down was too large to drive through the gate.   

After the snow slid from the roof of the Meetinghouse, we had snow about three feet deep on the sidewalk leading from the Annex to the door of the Meetinghouse. 

The garden after the heavy snow storm

Some of the damaged trees, bushes, and plants as a result of the snow storm.

We were pleased to host Bronwyn Harwood, the General Secretary of the European and Middle East Section (EMES) of the Friends World Committee on Consultation (FWCC).  This was her last trip to the Middle East in her current capacity.  Her warmth and caring for the people of Palestine and the issues they face and for the Quaker community in Palestine will be remembered with great fondness and we wish her well as she begins the next part of her life.  Traveling with Bronwyn was her successor, Marisa Johnson.  We were pleased to meet her and look forward to working with her in the future. 

Bronwyn and Marisa at the Wednesday Potluck dinner

Many Friends joined us for Meeting including Pat Stapleton, a Friend from the UK, who is now living in France.  She taught English for three months at the Al-Quds University in Abu Dis. 

     
From the Occupation: Monthly Action Focus:

In general, the focus for the MYRTOE Campaign (Right to Enter Campaign) continues to work on the visa and residency rights issues for Palestinians and internationals.  Many, Palestinians with dual citizenship and internationals, who want to come to the West Bank or Gaza Strip are still being refused entry at the airport or at one of the bridges.  The refusal is random and many who are refused never register their refusal.  Some do not want to make their refusal known publicly, while others do not know about the Right to Enter Campaign and therefore do not know who to turn to.  

In February, Terry Rempel, a Canadian Mennonite who has lived in Beit Jala and Bethlehem for many years, was refused entry at the Allenby Bridge.  He tried in various ways to come back, but was not granted a visa.  After spending a couple of weeks in Amman, Jordan, he left for Canada and is in dialogue with the Canadian Foreign Ministry about their role in helping him re-enter.  The same day Terry was refused entry, 12 others of different nationalities, who were trying to cross the bridge the same day were also refused entry.  The refusals are random.  The problem is that often the Right to Enter Campaign does not get to hear about these refusals.
 
The Right to Enter Campaign is still collecting the names of persons – Palestinians and Internationals – who have been denied entry at one of the ports Israel controls (Ben Gurion airport or one of the bridges across the Jordan River from Amman.  If you are a person who has been denied entry or know of someone who has been denied entry, please contact Anita Abdullah at anita_abdullah@hotmail.com

If you are interested in working on this issue and are living outside of Palestine, please contact John Salzberg at john.salzberg@verizon.net.  John is a member of the FICR Steering Committee and is working on this issue in the US.  He is able to put you in touch with others in the US who are working on this issue from a US policy point of view. 

For more information on “Right to Enter/Re-enter” go to www.righttoenter.ps

Kathy Bergen
Program Coordinator          
www.ramallahquakers.org