Update on the Orphans in Hebron

I know several of you will be pleased to know, if you don't already, the "Hebron Orphans" have their own website where you can hear all about what's going on in their own words. Check it out: http://www.hebronorphans.blogspot.com

Here's some more information and a plea to support the orphans by contacting your elected officials. I trust that you know how to get in touch with them. You can also contact the Israeli army here

For Immediate Release: Wednesday 30, April, 2008 3:30 am
Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron

RAIDED - Hebron Girls Orphanage Sewing Workshop

HEBRON At 1:00 am this morning, April 30th, the Israeli Military raided the Hebron Girls' Orphanage near the intersection of Salaam and Al Adel (Peace and Justice) Streets. Acting on orders issued by Major General Shemni, soldiers looted the workshop of all its sewing and processing machines, office equipment, rolls of cloth, finished clothing and supplies. CPT members documented, with still photos and video, approximately 40 Israeli soldiers emptying the workshop contents into 2 - 40ft. trucks. The estimated value of the physical material taken is $45,000 US. The cost in terms of the fear and terror instilled in the hearts of the little girls living above the workshop is much higher.

Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and other internationals from Belgium, Britain, Canada, Germany, Holland, and the US have been sleeping in the orphanage. Their concern is for the children who live in fear of the military forcing them out of the place they've come to call home. Their hope last night was that their presence would forestall the army's raid on the workshop. They hoped in vain. CPT's Art Arbour decried this latest effort by the Israeli military in its campaign to close the orphanages, "How can grown men do this to little children?" CPT members documented with still photos 40 Israeli soldiers clearing out the workshop

Statements of support for the orphans have come in from former President Jimmy Carter, from EU Vice President Luisa Morgentini and from representatives of many international organizations worried about the fate of the orphans in Hebron. Please join with them in supporting the orphans.

From Sami Awad:
Christmas in Bethlehem; A Time for Joy and Resilience

I received the most wonderful article in my in-box today. Here's a taste:

The colored strings of lights are now decorating its streets. As you drive past homes you now see Christmas trees proudly placed in front of windows so that all may see. Manger Street is full of traffic at night but no one is complaining for everyone is waiting their turn to receive candy from one of the many Santa Clauses dancing with joy in the street. Everywhere you go you hear Christmas songs played from small radios placed in front of stores or on balconies. In Manger Square, the main Christmas tree shines with bright colors and decorations. The joy is doubled in this holy city this year as both the Palestinian Christians and the Muslim communities celebrate. Christmas and Eid Al-Adha (the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice) have come together this year.

Check out the rest of the article on Sami Awad's wonderful blog (with a fresh new, lovely look): Never Give Up

Occupied Voices: Sami Awad - "Never Give Up"

I've been meaning to write about this topic for a while, but the truth is that I've found this to be a surprisingly emotional topic and I haven't wanted to face it.

Last week I received an email from my friend Sami Awad, director of the Holy Land Trust with the subject "From Palestine to Virginia Tech: We a you with you in this Time of Pain." Sami explains that they had dedicated there weekly demonstration to the victims of Virginia Tech:

Once we reached the path created by the by the bulldozers for the building of the Apartheid Wall we dug the earth and plated the thirty two olive trees in a row...Over 150 Israeli soldiers came to dismantle our protest. Our commitment to nonviolence and to achieve our goal completely paralyzed their weapons and their goals and eventually our power made them withdrawal. The planting of the trees was followed by reciting the names of all those who were killed in the Virginian massacre followed by a fifteen minute period of silence before the group moved back to the villages.

I think that this is the aspect of Palestine that I will never really get used to. Time and time again, my Palestinian friends express an incredible sympathy for the pain and grief of my community. When the four CPTers were kidnapped in Iraq, our Palestinian friends organized huge protests on their behalf. I could understand that - CPT has worked hard to end the occupation of Palestine. But I'm blown away by the incredible compassion my friends have for people who they don't know, who probably don't care about their pain. There's some much that I need to learn from Palestine.

Sami is always blogging about the dynamic nonviolent movement that continues in Palestine. Check out what he has to say - I believe that it the most important news coming from the West Bank. http://samiawad.wordpress.com/

Occupied Voices: Voices from Palestine - Palestinian Children Write

I woke up as usual this day, went to school but first I got to Qalandia’s checkpoint the first part of my long journey to school. Passing it has become a normal thing for me. Most of the people might think it’s easy, but no one really knows what I go through everyday just to educate myself to the best of my ability at school.

More and more Palestinian children are sharing their stories through blogging and "Voices from Palestine" is particularly charming, terrifying, and sad. Children contribute their thoughts and photographs and incredibly well spoken. Check it out! http://voicesfrompalestine.org/

Occupied Voices: Palestinian Poet Mahmud Darwish

This poem came my way via the blog "Raising Yosef" Enjoy.

The siege is lying in wait.
It is lying in wait on a tilted stairway
in the midst of a storm.

We are alone. We are alone to the point
of drunkenness with our own aloneness,
with the occasional rainbow visiting.

We have brothers and sisters overseas..
kind sisters, who love us
who look our way and weep.
And secretly they say
"I wish that siege was here, so that I could..."
But they cannot finish the sentence.
Do not leave us alone. No.
Do not leave us alone.

Our losses are between two and eight a day.
And ten are wounded.
Twenty homes are gone.
Forty olive groves destroyed,
in addition to the structural damage
afflicting the veins of the poem, the play,
and the unfinished painting.

(Mahmud Darwish, A State of Siege, 2002, translated by Ramsis Amun)

Occupied Voices: Musings of a Palestinian Princess

Well, Occupied Voices, a periodic feature here at "I Saw it in Palestine" is back. And this time I want to point you towards a blog that I really enjoy reading: Musings of a Palestinian Princess The writer of this blog, Lucy, is "just your average princess, just under occupation." Lucy blogs from Bethlehem, usually, and I'm disappointed that I didn't get to met her while I was there. That's the sort of blog that "Musings of a Palestinian Princess" is: the sort that makes your want to actually met the person writing it. Check it out, yo.

Occupied Voices: "Kerblog" from Beirut

KERBLOG contains truely amazing drawings documenting his experience living in Beirut as the bombs keep falling. Check out what he has to say...and draw.