RSS Feeds
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it    
Occupation magazine - Activism

Home page  back Print  Send To friend

The threatened Jahalin Bedouin`s persistance is what preserves access to Jerusalem. Please, donate!
By Angela Godfrey angela@jahalin.org

Dear friends:

Some of you know me from lobbying together on The Hill, the European
Parliament or at Westminster. Or I’ve guided you over the past 15 years to
Bedouin facing the cruelty of displacement that goes hand in glove with
settlement expansion. Did you buy Bedouin beadwork from me, to support the
desperate Bedouin of Sinai? Or we met this year in Norway or Sweden, with Eid
abu Khamis and legal expert Dr. Alice Panepinto, speaking of the Bedouin as
“gatekeepers of Jerusalem and guardians of the two state solution” whose
sumud on E-1 lands keeps East Jerusalem on the table as Palestine’s capital.
Our advocacy with them is part of the reason they’re still there, so that a
small spark of hope remains alive. Despite Trump!

Wherever we met, you know my dedication to securing human rights for
Palestinians living under occupation, especially neglected refugee Bedouin.
You know, too, the dedication of Jahalin Solidarity’s co-director, Fakhri abu
Diab, Silwan’s elected spokesman. Together in 2005 we launched a campaign
that saved 88 Silwan homes (including his) from demolition; we’ve worked
successfully together ever since.

In 2015, when Fakhri and I began the journey of establishing Jahalin
Solidarity as a Palestinian non-profit, we knew it would be a long struggle.
That’s why we need your support now more than ever.

We’ve had many successes, including this year’s advocacy to prevent
demolition of Al Khan al Ahmar “car tyres” school (whose building I helped
fund, in 2009), urgently threatened in February. A letter I wrote, adopted by
26 cross-party British MPs, went to Min. Alistair Burt calling for decisive
political, diplomatic and economic pressure to prevent the Israeli
government-ordered demolition.

At my invitation when addressing the European Parliament last year, the
Delegation to Palestine committee visited Al Khan al Ahmar in February to
witness the threats faced, and committed their solidarity with Bedouin facing
the war crime of forcible displacement.

Another achievement this year for Jahalin Solidarity was our human rights
trainings for 120 Bedouin women, facilitated by consultants from Sidreh, a
Bedouin feminist NGO. Those refugee women are asking for English lessons, so
they can interact with those of you visiting them, as well as follow-up
trainings to learn more about their human rights. We need your help to do
that, too.

After working as our field co-ordinator, Mariam abu Dahouk, a Bedouin refugee
with a Bir Zeit English degree, is now the first Bedouin woman in OPT with a
driving licence. We need your help to get her from Ramallah to Al Khan al
Ahmar every week to teach our women’s group English.

But despite the successes we are now at a crisis point.

The situation for the Bedouin is deteriorating fast; PM Netanyahu and Defence
Minister Lieberman have called for their “relocation” – a war crime if it
takes place, against which I have advocated since 2005. But funding to
support our activities is almost non-existent.

For now, we’re surviving on air!

For us to continue, we need to ask our friends around the world for
donations. It pains us to have to do this, but we see we have no other
choice. We can`t allow the might of the Occupation or Trump’s stomping on
political landmines to bulldoze the hopes, dreams and prayers of the Bedouin
and wider Palestinian public. We won`t stand idly by. But we hope that in
these perilous times you can make even a small donation to support our work.

We are a lean organisation, with a superb track record of cost effectiveness
and transparency, surviving on goodwill, good spirit, good hearts and good
people. But that can`t keep us going – and we’d dearly like to develop our
capacity to do even more, including with additional staff.

We want the Bedouin to have a future - we know you do too. We want Israel to
have a future – as do you. And, in fighting the Israeli occupation and its
policies, we want a future for Palestine and the Palestinian people, with
Jerusalem as a shared capital. Please consider a small gift to Jahalin
Solidarity before the end of the year.



In solidarity, and gratitude.

Angela & Fakhri

P.S. Donations are tax-free “receiptable” in the US via the AJ Muste Memorial
Institute at https://act.ajmuste.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?
reset=1&id=26
Donations can also be made via our secure website ( www.jahalin.org ), or see
the instructions below, if you prefer to post a cheque to us, here in
Jerusalem-Al Quds, or to AJ Muste in NYC.

Tax-deductible donations may be made directly online here at the website of
Jahalin Solidarity’s US fiscal sponsors: The A J Muste Memorial Institute, or
via the Donate tab at the www.jahalin.org website. Alternatively, cheques may
be made out to `A.J. Muste Memorial Institute` with `Jahalin Solidarity`
written in the memo line, mailed to: AJ Muste Memorial Institute, 168 Canal
Street 6th Fl., New York, NY 10013 USA.



Non tax-deductible cheques may be mailed directly to Jahalin Solidarity c/o A
Godfrey: POB 8032, Jerusalem, Israel 9108001 or wire transfer made to
Jahalin Solidarity’s registered bank account (please email to
angela@jahalin.org for IBAN/Swift details), with official receipts then
supplied. Thank you!

Links to the latest articles in this section

Stop considering – Recognize Palestine Now!
US involvement in the Gaza carnage: Protests in Tel Aviv - and in Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles
Back home on the Gaza Border - and the terrible war still goes on