Friends International Center in Ramallah
May-June 2008 Newsletter
(Vol. II No. 4)

From the Program Coordinator

May was a month of celebrations for Israelis – celebrating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and commemorations for Palestinians living in Israel, in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), and around the world – commemorating the dispossession of their homes, their land, and their country.    

Many activities were organized by Palestinians in the oPt, in Israel, and around the world, including those who are working for a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba, the Arabic word meaning ‘catastrophe’, which has been used since 1948 to describe their dispossession in 1948 as a result of the establishment of the state of Israel. These activities included marches, vigils, and meetings.

A Palestinian American, Mona Hajjar Halaby, has been teaching at the Friends Girls School in Ramallah this past year and has been active with the Ramallah Friends Meeting.  She initiated the organizing of a silent walk through in what is now West Jerusalem, former Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem, as a way of remembering the loss of her family home and the home of other Palestinians in what is now known as West Jerusalem.  Mona gathered together a group of Palestinians who lived in West Jerusalem prior to 1948 and together they organized a silent march through the neighborhoods of West Jerusalem, stopping at the homes of Palestinians in West Jerusalem, now inhabited by Jewish Israelis.  The organizers estimated that around 200 took part in the silent march on Sunday afternoon, May 11.  Participants in the silent march included Palestinians whose West Jerusalem homes were confiscated in 1948, media, and international supporters.  Palestinians who took part in the silent march, wore back T-shirts with ‘Nakba Survivor’ written on them.  The walk was a very powerful experience for all who participated.  Many journalists wrote articles about the silent march. 

(Click here to read what people wrote about the Silent March)

At the beginning of the silent march, Amal Nashashibi spoke. 

(Click here to read the translation of her talk)

Mona Halaby took many pictures of the silent march.  Here are a few:

(Silent March)




In front of the house of the mother of Mona Hajjar Halaby in Baq’a (Mona is third from the right)




(The blond woman with the sunglasses is Linda Gradstein from NPR.)

Dignitaries from around the world were invited by Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, including President George Bush.  The speech he delivered in Knesset (Israeli Parliament) was criticized as being void of any mention of the Palestinian Nakba and the continuing dispossession of Palestinians until today.  It sounded as though Palestinians did not exist in his world in 1948 or today.

As a sign of protest to the official and unofficial celebrations in Israel and around the world of the sixty years of Israeli statehood, a group of Jews who were not able to celebrate Israel‘s 60th birthday, signed a statement.  These Jews of conscience stated openly that they were not able to celebrate when others were suffering as a result of this celebration.  

(Click here to read this statement) 

As a follow-up…In the last issues of the FICR Newsletter, I attached some information about the orphanages in Hebron that were being threatened to be closed by the Israeli military authorities.  Attached is a concern expressed by Mairead Maguire, a Nobel Peace Laureaut, who attended the Bil’in conference. 

(Click here to read Mairead Maguire’s article.)  
 

From the Friends International Center in Ramallah

On May 14, the Friends Center invited Sam Bahour and Shir Hever to speak about The Economics of Occupation and the Business of Development: A Critical Look at Economics, Business, and Palestinian Rights.  This lecture and discussion was part of the lecture series we have launched called:  "Towards a Just Society and the Role of the People".  Given the economic situation in the oPt and theme of the lecture series that is designed to bring us back to human rights, international law, and UN Resolutions as the basis for a just society, we felt that scheduling this lecture on the day of commemoration of the Nakba was appropriate.  Another reason for scheduling the lecture at this time was to take a critical look at the Palestine Investment Conference that was scheduled to take place in Bethlehem the following week.  The discussion was helpful in beginning our thinking about that conference.   Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American businessman and activist based in Al-Bireh/Ramallah, Palestine.  He is Managing Partner of Applied Information Management (AIM), a management consulting firm specializing in business development with a niche focus on the information technology sector and start-ups.  Sam was instrumental in the establishment of PALTEL and the PLAZA Shopping Center and currently serves as a Board of Trustees member at Birzeit University and is the University’s treasurer.  He is also a Director at the Arab Islamic Bank and the community foundation Dalia Association.  Sam writes frequently on Palestinian affairs and has been widely published.  Sam is co-editor of HOMELAND: Oral History of Palestine and Palestinians and may be reached at sbahour@palnet.com.
Shir Hever is an economic researcher in the Alternative Information Center, a Palestinian-Israeli organization active in Jerusalem and Beit-Sahour.  Researching the economic aspect of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, some of his research topics include the international aid to the Palestinians and to Israel, the effects of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories on the Israeli economy, and the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns against Israel. His work also includes giving lectures and presentations on the economy of the occupation. 

(Click here to hear the lecture of Sam Bahour and Shir Hever) 

On May 28 we finished the last of the Roundtable Series by Ron Kraybill.  The people who attended the series were very appreciative of Ron‘s knowledge and skills he brought to this series.  The mixture of lecture and involving the group in discussion was a good balance for learning.  Dr. Ron Kraybill has worked with initiatives for peaceful change in South Africa, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, and elsewhere.  He lived in South Africa 1989-1995 and was jointly appointed by the political parties there as training advisor to the South African National Peace Accord, a key structure in the political transition.  He has done training, consulting and lecturing in peacebuilding throughout the world for nongovernmental organizations, universities, and the UNDP. Presently he is based in Jerusalem as Quaker representative in the Middle.

(Click here if you want to know more about the Roundtable lecture and discussion series.)
 

From the Ramallah Friends Meeting

Ramallah Friends Meeting continues to be enriched by attenders who are temporarily working in Ramallah or who are passing through.  Two Friends who are currently with us are Helene Pollack (Central Philadelphia Monthly Meeting) and Arlene Kelly (Central Philadelphia Meeting and Treasurer of the FICR Steering Committee).  On May 7, Helene organized a meditation workshop for ten interested persons at the Friends Center.  The workshop was based on a unique method of meditation called Experiment with Light, that was developed by Quakers in the UK and has spread to the US and elsewhere.  It was the method of meditation used by Tom Fox, the Quaker who was with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq, kidnapped and later killed.  From his journals, it was obvious that he used this method of meditation while in captivity.  The group that gathered to learn this new method of meditation decided to continue meeting every other Saturday as a way of meditating collectively and learning more about this method of meditation.     

From the Occupation: Monthly Action Focus:

The Right to Enter (RTE) 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

From May 21-24 the Palestine Investment Conference (PIC) took place.  The RTE Campaign is very concerned that the conditions for investment in the oPt is not right.  In order to invest in Palestine, investors must have access.  Many Palestinians and Internationals are still being denied entry to the oPt.  This does not create a supportive climate for investment. 

 (Click here to read the press release that was read at a well attended press conference on May 20, organized by the RTE Campaign.)

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

Kathy Bergen
Program Coordinator
www.ramallahquakers.org