Friends International Center in Ramallah
April 2009 Newsletter
(Vol. III No. 3)

From the Program Coordinator

We are passing through the Easter season for Christians all over the world.  Catholic and Protestant Christians celebrated Easter on April 12.  Orthodox and Armenian Christians celebrated Easter on April 19.

Rev. Mark Holman, Pastor of the English speaking Lutheran congregation in the Old City of Jerusalem leading the Easter Sunrise Service on the Mount of Olives at 6:00 a.m.

A view from the Mount of Olives as the sun rises over the hills in Jordan, the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Judean Desert.

Holy week is betrayal and death, but it is also hope, new life, and new beginnings.  I caught a glimmer of this hope when I attended the celebration of the Children’s Nobel Prize, which was given to Dr. Jumana Odeh for the work she has done with children with special needs and their families.  Jumana is a pediatrician.  She was one of the doctors who started the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees in the early 1980s when there was little health care available in villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza.  They brought hope and healing to people in remote areas.  Years later she established the Palestinian Happy Child Center (PHCC), the first center of its kind in Palestine.  The PHCC works with children who have a variety of special needs.  One of the unique features of this center is the integrated approach it takes.  The staff of the PHCC works with the children as with their families.  This approach helps the family to know more about the situation of their child and how to deal with their child’s special needs in the home.  
On Thursday, April 9, Dr. Jumana Odeh, founder and director of the PHCC, the staff of the center, and the board of directors were honored at a reception at the Grand Park Hotel in Ramallah under the patronage of His Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad.  The reception was attended by the Minister of Health of the Palestinian Authority, the Deputy Minister of Health, health care professionals, children and families the PHCC works with, and family and friends of  Dr. Jumana Odeh.  It was an honor for me to be invited to this celebration.  
        
Click here if you would like to read the press release for this event.

Click here if you would like to read the speech Jumana Odeh gave at the reception.

At the reception (left to right): Dr. Talal Nasser Eddin, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Palestinian Happy Child Center, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Dr. Jumana Odeh, director of the Palestinian Happy Child Center.

Dr. Juman Odeh giving her speech at the reception.

One of the children, Mohammad, who comes to the Palestinian Happy Child Center and his mother, Fayzeh, at the reception.

From the Friends International Center in Ramallah

As Friends (Quakers), we are concerned about violence of all kinds, including the proliferation of arms, militarism, and militarization of society, just to name a few.  For three weeks we talked about this phenomenon by watching “Why We Fight”.  We used the occasion of viewing the film to talk about our responsibility in what arms/weapons sales from the US to the Middle East has meant for the people of the Middle East and how we need to respond to this today.  In other words:  How does the US, who is responsible for so much of the arms sales around the world take responsibility for what these arms/weapons are doing in other countries?  
We asked Jimmy Johnson (the International Coordinator for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a researcher and analyst on the political economy of the Israeli arms trade) to respond to the film and Sam Bahour (a Palestinian-American
businessman and activist living in Ramallah) to lead us in a discussion as to what this means for us today.  Two weeks later we invited Jimmy to give a lecture about the continuing research he is doing and the following week we invited him to join our monthly potluck dinner to continue a discussion with him.  The topic of proliferation and sales of arms/weapons around the world is a huge topic and we will continue to talk about our responsibility in this and what we can do.  

Click here to read more about the work of ICAHD.

Jimmy Johnson leading a discussion at a potluck dinner at the Friends Center about "arms and weapons and the Israeli economy" after having given a lecture on this subject the week before.

On March 11 we organized a book launch for the new book of Rev. Naim Ateek  A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation.  The book has drawn much attention.  After Rev. Ateek gave a summary of the intent of the book, four persons were asked to respond to the book from different points of view:  Cedar Duaybis from a Christian feminist point of view; Dr. Mustafa Abu Sway from a Muslim point of view; Father Peter du Breul from a Christian point of view; Hannah Rought-Brooks from a human rights and international law perspective.  Much discussion was generated.  

Rev. Naim Ateek introducing his new book at the book launch.

Two Sabeel staff, Nora Karmi and Omar Haramy, at the book launch.

    
From the Ramallah Friends Meeting

Update on Tristan’s situation:  

In the March FICR Newsletter I talked about the situation of Tristan Anderson, who was wounded by a tear gas canister shot by an Israeli soldier during a peaceful demonstration against the Wall.  On Saturday, April 11, I and a couple of friends from Ramallah went to Tel HaShomer Hospital in Tel Aviv to visit Mike and Nancy.  No one except the family is allowed to be with Tristan.  We took Nancy and Mike for a picnic lunch to a beach on the Mediterranean Sea, just so they could get out of the hospital grounds for a few hours.  We had a lovely visit with them.  It was their first time away from the hospital since they arrived in Tel Aviv a month prior to that.  Mike and Nancy are from Grass Valley Friends Meeting in California.  

Click here if you would like to read an update of Tristan’s situation.

Please keep Tristan, Gaby, Henry, and Nancy and all of Tristan‘s family and friends in you hearts and prayers.

Picnic on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea.   Left to right: Anne Roberts (Ramallah) and Mike and Nancy Anderson.

 
  
From the Occupation: Monthly Action Focus:

The Right to Enter (RTE) Campaign continues it’s focus on the responsibility of third states concerning the matter of Right to Enter/Re-Enter the oPt (occupied Palestinian territory) via one of the entry ports Israel controls.  The Campaign is calling third states to assume their responsibility in enforcing human rights and international law in a situation of military occupation.
The past weeks we have seen an increase in Internationals being refused entry to the oPt via one of the Israeli controlled entry points.  
The 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


NOTE:  Please click on the FICR Newsletter Archive below to read previous newsletters.  



Kathy Bergen
Program Coordinator
www.ramallahquakers.org