Friends International Center in Ramallah
November 2008 Newsletter
(Vol. II No. 9)

From the Program Coordinator

The US elections have come and gone.  The euphoria expressed in the US is not always felt here.  Palestinians are supportive of Barack Obama as president of the US and see it as a victory on many levels and in all of its dimensions.  When it comes to the question of what he will do in moving towards a just and lasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis, the skepticism begins.  Too many US administrations have let them down; too many US administrations have made promises to both sides; too many US administrations have not even pretended to be “even-handed” in their attempts to work for a just and lasting peace.  People here know that it is not always the person in the office of president that can do as he chooses – he is bound by lobby groups and existing US policy in the Middle East. 
In the last newsletter I included some articles about the US elections in relation to the Middle East and Barack Obama.  As a follow-up to one of the articles, I am including an article by Akiva Eldar, a journalist from Haaretz Newspaper, who interviewed Rashid Khaladi when he was here a few weeks ago.  
(Click here if you would like to read the article.)

Some individuals and groups are becoming pro-active in their approach towards the incoming administration, both here and in the US, in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict and what they think the next administration can do. 

(Click here if you would like to read what CMEP wrote to Barack Obama.)

From the Friends International Center in Ramallah

October and November were the “olive harvest” months.  Many international groups and individuals came to Palestine in solidarity with the Palestinians farmers.  They picked olives in areas that were prone to settler violence against the Palestinian farmers.  These olive pickings were organized by Palestinian organizations as well as Israelis organizations such as Rabbis for Human Rights.  Internationals joined these organized efforts.
From November 12-19, Sabeel held its seventh international conference in Palestine and Israel called: The Nakba: Memory, Reality, and Beyond.  Four days of the conference took place in Nazareth, including trips to destroyed Palestinian villages, one day (Sunday) was spent attending various church services, and three days of the conference took place in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.  (See  www.sabeel.org if you would like to know more about the work of Sabeel and Friends of Sabeel.)
Jean Zaru is on the Board of Directors of Sabeel and one of its Vice-Presidents, along with Archbishop Elias Chacour.  She attended the conference.  I gave a workshop in Nazareth on the entry/re-entry and visa issues. 

(Click here if you would like to read the statement of the Sabeel conference)
   
From the Ramallah Friends Meeting

The Ramallah Friends Meeting is one of two Quaker Meetings in the Middle East, the other being in Bumana, Lebanon.  Both of these Meetings are considered part of the European and Middle East Section (EMES) of the Friends World Committee on Consultation (FWCC).  At the invitation of EMES, I attended the Quaker Peace and Service consultation in Brussels in October, representing the Friends Center.  It was a very interesting and supportive time of sharing with other Quakers what we are doing and the context of our work here in Ramallah and hearing what other Yearly Meetings are doing in the area of peace and justice work. 
(Click here if you would like to know more about the meeting in Brussels
See photos here:  http://tinyurl.com/3w8bjs

From the Occupation: Monthly Action Focus:

The Right to Enter (RTE) Campaign is continuing to focus its work on the responsibility of third states concerning the matter of Right to Enter/Re-Enter issues.  Human rights and international law are critical at all times in framing the issues, including in a situation of military occupation.
The RTE Campaign continues to collect 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 
Due to the fact that there is no clear policy for denial of entry, a person is allowed to enter via one of the ports controlled by Israel at the discretion of the Israeli immigration official.  The denial of entry is random.  People continue to be given a one-week visa, a new trend and alternative to being denied entry completely. 
For more information on "Right to Enter/Re-enter" go to www.righttoenter.ps

Kathy Bergen
Program Coordinator
www.ramallahquakers.org