Hopes and Fears:

A Presbyterian Journey to Palestine

video by Haddon Kime, Greater Atlanta Joining Hands for Justice

Sponsored by the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta's Joining Hands for Justice Committee- the international component of the presbytery’s hunger program, Presbyterian Answer to Hunger (PATH)- eleven people traveled in February 2008 to Israel and Palestine.

To see them share their stories, and learn about life in the Occupied Palestinian Territories watch the video they made and visit their website.

Focus on the children

by Michele and Terry Finseth, JH Companionship Facilitators

In a country that has consistently been robbed of many of its rights and liberties, the Joining Hands for Justice Palestine Network is aptly coined for its commitment to issues of human rights. Often when this fight for survival and self-determination intensifies, it is children who are found at the bottom of the pecking order, unable to defend or even speak for themselves, and suffering the most.

Hebron orphanages and schools under threat

Recently the news has been filled with reports of an unfolding tragedy in Hebron, where orphanages and schools run by the Islamic Charities Society have come under attack and the threat of closure.

The drama began late in February when the Israeli army issued six orders for closure and eviction of orphanages, schools and other facilities. Despite the Society’s appeal to the Israeli High Court, its response was to give the Israeli army an undefined period of time to justify their closure orders, giving the military ample time to act.

The first action occurred shortly after, when the soldiers arrived and looted the society’s central warehouse, confiscating school buses, food, clothing and office equipment used for the schools and orphanages. At a later date, a troop of forty military arrived at 1:00 a.m. and began looting the school’s sewing center and bakery, leaving behind a wake of destruction. Loading the goods onto trucks, they drove away with an estimated $45,000 of materials which they threw into a nearby dump.

Hearing that their schools and orphanages were under attack and seeing the destruction of their buildings, the affected children have been afraid to close their eyes at night. They were even more fearful of heading off to school in the morning, apprehensive that the military could return again at any moment. Much of their fear centers on the fact that they have no where else to call home. Many have lost relatives in the conflict, others have been placed in the orphanages because their family’s situation has become so dire that they can no longer feed and cloth their children.

International response has been intense, with a number of non-government organizations meeting in Hebron to form a core group to halt the Israeli attacks.

There is no end to the ill-effects of occupation, yet it is especially disheartening to observe children, specifically orphans, as the victims of such terrible and degrading acts of oppression. Many have given up hope by the time they reach adulthood. The vacuum this loss threatens to leave in the next generation is of growing alarm and concern to Palestinians.

Giving Children a Voice

To that end, our network is in the process of transitioning into work that not only alerts others to the plight of children in this country, but also attempts to help give children voice to their suffering. Numerous organizations in our network are already engaged in various ongoing programs that seek to address the disintegrating conditions of children’s lives. The timing coincides with the completion of our 2007-2008 programs and affords us the opportunity to embark on a more distilled focus for the future of the Joining Hands for Justice Palestine Network.