Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Appeal 2

You may have read about the illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. You may know that the Israelis are expanding their settlements, stealing the land and the water from Palestinians whose families have been living there for generations.

But did you realise that in order to build these illegal settlements, they are demolishing the homes of Palestinians?

At present there is a push against the Bedouin community, their homes, villages and schools. The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions reports that in the past week since December 5th, 20 structures were demolished and at least 61 people displaced and left homeless.

A video taken on November 24th show the demolition of homes in the Bedouin community of Beit Hanina, leaving 20 people homeless, including 6 children. (Beit Hanina was bisected several years ago by an "apartheid road," Road 443, built by Israel for the exclusive use of Israelis.)

Here is another specific example from October: fifteen Israeli army jeeps and a bulldozer showed up at the rural community of Khan al-Ahmar, in the hills east of Jerusalem, and demolished five homes, displacing 71 people, including some 60 children.

If you care about this injustice and inhumanity, you could write to your elected representative and ask them to pressurise Israel to stop the demolitions, and the expansion of Jewish settlements.

You could also make a donation to a charity that works in Palestine to support Palestinians. Medical Aid for Palestinians is a non-governmental British charity with no agenda of violence, and works for the health and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees. They give practical aid of all kinds, too many to list here, but which include mobile emergency clinics for Bedouins, the provision of equipment in hospitals in Gaza, and  therapy programs for traumatised children in Gaza (see my last post.)

Click here to make your donation. Thank you.

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