From the Program Coordinator:

There is relief in Ramallah and throughout Palestine as a result of the agreement between Fatah and Hamas after a three day meeting (February 6-8, 2007) in Mecca initiated by Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz.  The Mecca Agreement has achieved two things.  It has, for the most part, stopped the inter-factional strife that killed scores of Palestinians, especially in Gaza.  And it has allowed the formation of a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas, Fatah, other factions and independents.  We here hope the world will engage with the new government and end the economic boycott that has so impoverished ordinary Palestinians.

It will take a long time to improve the humanitarian situation in Palestine.  There is a lack of funds and the humanitarian situation is desperate, especially in Gaza.  Lately I have heard people talk about the “Iraqification of Gaza”.  What it will all means and how it will unfold remains to be seen, but we know that things will not be better any time soon. 

Click here to read about the situation in Gaza:

International aid agency: 80 percent of Gazans now rely on food aid

From the Friends International Center in Ramallah:

The Friends Center has been an active place this past month. 

The Center has continued to host regular meetings of the planning committee for the international conference on nonviolence to be held in the West Bank village of Bil’in April 18-20.  For the past two years, many Palestinian villages along the Green Line have been non-violently resisting the building of the Wall.  For the last two years Bil’in has been the center of joint Israeli-Palestinian nonviolent protests against the dividing wall that Israel is building deep into Palestinian territory.  All signs are that the conference will be well attended. 

On March 6 the Center organized a discussion of Jimmy Carter’s book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.  The book is not readily available in Palestine therefore most people had not read it but everyone had read numerous critiques of the book.  It was important to discuss the book while it was in news.  I found someone who had read the book, Sri Mayasandra, the Mennonite Central Committee Jerusalem Representative.  He summarized the book and the context of its contents and release for everyone.  Two persons responded.  Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian attorney living in Jerusalem and a human rights activist, responded from a legal point of view arguing that the word “Apartheid” was not an accurate description of what is taking place in Palestine and a new word needs to be found.  Just as in South Africa the word “Apartheid” was from the language of the oppressor, he suggested that in Palestine the Hebrew word “Hafradah” which means “apart or separate” be used.  This is the same word used by many Israelis when speaking about the Wall.  The second respondent was Ingrid Jaradat, director of Badil in Bethlehem.  She argued that the only non-violent effective action left is to engage in BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) both inside Palestine and outside.  All other means to end the Israeli military occupation have been tried during and have failed to bring the almost 40 year Israeli military occupation to an end.  The level at which she called for involvement in BDS is dependant on the comfort level of the individual or group.  We had a very engaging and fruitful discussion of the book as well as some of the opportunities the release of the book provides for us.

In general, everyone felt that the significance of the book is that it was written by a person of the stature of Jimmy Carter.  Everyone admired his courage to speak the truth and remain unflappable in the face of criticism he has received.

Click here to read an op-ed by Jimmy Carter:

From March 14 until April 10 Kathy Bergen traveled to the UK and US.  The next FICR newsletter will summarize the highlights of that trip.   

From the Ramallah Friends Meeting:

Many visitors from abroad worshipped with Ramallah Friends during the past month.  A group of Quakers traveling in the area used the Meetinghouse for worship very early one Sunday morning.  Kathy and Colin South (previous directors of the Friends Schools) returned to Ramallah for a visit. 

Tareq Khalaf, the eldest son of Ziad Khalf and Joyce Ajlouni (Director of the Ramallah Friends School) has been accepted as a tenth-grade student at Westtown Friends School (near Philadelphia) beginning in September, 2007.

Trish Edwards-Konic, FUM (Friends United Meeting) will spend three months at the Friends School as a Friend in Residence.  The purpose of her trip is to write a book about the impact of the Ramallah Friends School on the Palestinian community and its graduates. She is basing her book on the stories of alumni and friends, through interviews, etc.  The book will be called ‘Enduring Hope’.

Bronwyn Harwood from Edinburgh, Scotland and coordinator of the Europe and Middle East Section of Friends Committee for Consultation (FWCC) spent a week in Ramallah visiting Friends and Quaker projects in the area, in particular the Play School in Amari Refugee Camp.

Jean Zaru, Presiding Clerk of Ramallah Friends Meeting, traveled to Sweden at the invitation of the Christina Odenburg, the Bishop of Lund, and the first woman Lutheran Bishop of Sweden.  Jean also attended the annual meeting of the Europe and the Middle East Section of FWCC in the Netherlands April 5-8.  She was called to be with her elderly mother in Amman, Jordan, who is not well.  Jean does not know when she will be able to return to Ramallah.

From the Occupation: Monthly Action Focus:

The last FICR newsletter focused on the visa situation of Palestinians living outside of Palestine whom Israel had refused entry/re-entry into Palestine via one of the ports Israel controls.  Those denied entry/re-entry included  Palestinians with dual citizenship wishing to live and work in Palestine, spouses separated from their families wanting to live together as a family in Palestine, and Palestinians with dual citizenship wishing simply to visit Palestine.  Many Internationals wishing to live and work in Palestine have also been affected by the Israeli policy of refusal of entry.  The MYRTOE (My Right to Enter/re-enter) Campaign continues to work to change Israeli policy on this issue and has made some gains.  However, work continues on the many unresolved issues.  Many who previously were not allowed to enter Palestine have been allowed to come in and many who had overstayed their visas (and had not left the OPT to renew their visas for fear of being denied entry when they tried to re-enter) have been given extensions.  However, a good number are still being refused entry/re-entry and MYRTOE is continuing to work on the issues that are blocks to entry/re-entry to Palestine. 

A focused campaign will be launched within the next couple of months and we will keep you posted on this matter.  In the meantime, we ask that you to continue to inform yourselves on this issue so you can become more active when the campaign is launched. 

You can find more background information on the MYRTOE website:  

www.righttoenter.ps

Click here to read the Amnesty International report on this subject:

Amnesty International: Right to Family Life Denied

One of the most important things you can do is to let someone in the MYRTOE Campaign know of anyone who has been refused entry into Palestine, that is, refused entry at Ben Gurion Airport or at one of the bridges coming from Amman, Jordan.  If you know of someone from your country that has been refused entry or re-entry to Palestine, please contact anita_abdullah@hotmail.com and report this case.  Anita works with MYRTOE and is collecting names of persons who have been refused entry and re-entry.    

Kathy Bergen

Program Coordinator

Check out the new FICR website

www.ramallahquakers.org