Dear friends:
I am in Cyprus till Saturday and then in the US for a week starting Sunday then back to Palestine. The hospitality and generosity of Palestinians, people who visit Palestine, and people who care everywhere are inspiring acts of universal humanity. In this belated message we focus on the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between People (PCR, a pioneer in bridging cultural differences, empowering Palestinians, and bringing people to support Palestine, actions that led to formation of the International Solidarity Movement). I also would like to tell you about the biggest projects we are involved in now and seek your support (material and otherwise). Below are the mission, the goals, a call to join us for Nights of the Shepherds (and/or support in other ways), a history of previous activities of PCR, and a list of current activities. The exciting new project Nights of the Shepherds is cosponsored by PCR and the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA/YWCA and will bring community and visitors together to protect the land and the people of the Shepherds field (the Bethlehem rural areas) that are under threat by colonial settlers. Last week and unsolicited, USAID offered to fund the project with $20,000 from but the aid was unanimously rejected on principle (USAID requires groups to adhere to a US policy made and produced in Tel Aviv). Instead, we rely on people of good will (like you) to support our functions. Please read the following and consider making a donation (or provide other kind of support).
Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People
Mission: The Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People was founded in April 1988 with the mission of bridging the gap between Palestinians and peoples from all around the world, informing the public about the reality in Palestine, and empower the community through nonviolent direct action for peace.
Goals:
- Organize activities that enhance the chances for a just and peaceful solution to the Palestinian cause
- Challenge stereotypes and prejudice on all sides by bringing people together for example through the alternative tourism program that allows Internationals and Palestinians to live and work together
- Engage in media campaigns that provide accurate and first hand information Palesine and life in the occupied territories,
- Organize functions that enhance civic duty and civic responsibility in a safe atmosphere for youth, women, and for marginalized segments of our society.
NEXT ACTIVITY TO SUPPORT: Join us for Nights of the Shepherds: Community and people connections to protect the land and the people of the Shepherds field.
Cosponsored by PCR and the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA/YWCA
Thousands of pilgrims and locals come to Bethlehem and Beit Sahour during the Christmas season to celebrate the momentous events and connect to biblical sites like the Shepherds field and the Church of Nativity.
The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People (http://www.pcr.ps) and its tourist division the Siraj center in Collaboration with the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA/YWCA invite you to join us:
- The First night, 24 Dec 2008: Palestinian art consisting of music, folkloric dances, music, choires, theater groups, marching bands, art exhibits, other artistic expressions. The location is be the YMCA grounds in Beit Sahour
- The Second day, 25 Dec 2008: Tourists and locals are invited to joint programs and celebrations ranging from home visits to visits to impoverished areas to bring the Christmas spirit to the needy etc. More afternoon programs at the location of the first evening will include Children’s program and Christmas Carols. In the evening at 4 PM, a “candle light procession” from Shepherds Field will commence.
The Shepherds’ fields are endangered by settlement activities. We are now surrounded by colonial settlements on three sides and the fourth is being targeted by settler groups (Ush Ghrab to the East of Beit Sahour). There is some emigration of people from our communities (Christian and Muslim) because of the depressed economic situation and other pressures of the occupation. Yet there is a tremendous amount of good activism and community work. The idea of the Shepherds night will add to this empowerment and steadfastness (sumud) in our communities as well as provide a tangible benefit to the tourism sector.
To support this project send donations to PCR (PCR ). For tax deductible donations from the US, please send you check or wire transfer with a note to indicate it is for the Rapprochement Center to The Biblical Studies Fund, 661 Massachusetts Avenue Suite 40, Arlington, MA 02476
http://www.pcr.ps/
Wire: ABA/Routing # 211371120 (there is no SWIFT code)
Bank Name: Cambridge Savings Bank, 1374 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
Acct #: 535716139 Account Title: The Biblical Studies Fund
Please email me at qumsi001@hotmail.com to indicate you have sent any money through this appeal so that I can forward to George and the staff the good news of your forthcoming support and to keep track of funding sent through our fiscal sponsor.
Previous activities of PCR:
PCR had a very rich and productive 20 years. They can be divided into these periods:
1988-1994
During the first uprising, PCR pioneered nonviolent resistance that involved large segments of the society with support of internationals. We provided training to locals in conflict resolution management, peaceful resistance, and cross-cultural dialogue. We were the first group in the West Bank to have a formal and periodic (monthly) dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. This dialogue continued on a regular pace for 12 years even as the uprising and the violence escalated. It kept the hope alive of coexistance and peace.
PCR played an important role in organizing the 1989 tax resistace (No Taxation without Representation) that gained the admiration of people of good will around the world including our Israeli colleagues and dozens of international visitors who visited even during siege and curfew. We carried dozens of direct actions in the years 1989-1994 that generated significant media and public attention. That experience also taught us to learn to disseminate information to an outside world hungry for real information and was a prelude to our accelerated media efforts during the second uprising.
1994-2000
The decrease in violence during the Oslo years did not decrease our commitment and interest in peace making and direct action. PCR with support from the Israeli members of the dialogue group supported the land defense committees that challenged the building of settlements on Palestinian lands. The most prominent case, PCR was involved in was Jabal Abu Ghneim where we kept a protest tent in operation with Israelis and internationals for four months 24 hours a day. We challenged the settlement activities in Israeli courts including this case that moved for nearly four years (a good delay for us) until the Israeli Supreme court ruled in favor of the State and in violation of International law.
PCR did not feel defeated. To protect Beit Sahour Land threatened by the Har Homa settlement on Jabal Abu Ghneim, we worked with a number of groups and land owners to encourage buildings on their lands as close as is feasible to the settlement. These threatened lands we knew would be protected if we had people living there. This included a housing project in the area of Mazmouria. The land belongs to people from Beit Sahour, however, as residents of the West Bank, we can not build houses there, because that land was identified within the borders of Jerusalem. Therefore Jerusalemites were the perfect candidates for such a project.
A housing committee was founded that included people from Jerusalem who need to build houses, but do not have land in Jerusalem. One land owner with an area of around 40 dunams agreed to include his land in this project. The idea was to plan a housing project on that land, apply for building permits from the municipality of Jerusalem and if permits were granted, the members of the housing committee will buy lots in this land. In this case, the land owner is selling his land to people from Jerusalem to build houses.
A Palestinian famous architect who lives in Jordan, volunteers most of his effort and time in planning the area and designed houses with Arabic architecture. The municipality of Jerusalem refused to allow the housing society to officially submit the full application and kept asking for modifications. In October 2000, shortly after the second intifada started, the Israeli army built a military road to connect the settlement on Abu Ghneim with the military base in Beit Sahour, and with other settlements. This road went right through the project’s land, which was the last nail in the coffin for this project. But the experience was worthwhile and the citizens of Beit Sahour developed housing projects very near the Har Homa settlement (but outside of the illegally expanded and illegally annexed East Jerusalem lands).
In those years, PCR also developed programs for training youth and women in leadership positions, expanded its activities in community development and education, and hosted many international delegations on fact finding and solidarity trips.
2000-2008
Our community service program was expanded and made a formal division of PCR. We engaged more youth with nonviolent resistance. In one capacity building program 70 young Palestinians received training in advocacy, communication skills, conflict resolution and democracy. When trained and empowered these young advocates became the backbone of other PCR and community activities.
One project we pioneered and led by the young people was the Displaced Shepherd project which aimed at renovating homes damaged as a result of the Israeli shelling of the Eastern neighborhood of Beit Sahour from the military base in Ush Ghrab.
The young activists of PCR visited all families and documented damages and recorded stories. They uploaded all this information as family profiles on the internet. This information was used a fund raising campaign in which raided $400,000 dollars raised with the municipality of Beit Sahour as a joint effort. As a result, almost all families managed to return to their homes in few months.
In 2000, we mobilized our dialogue group and international friends for actions to reclaim the military base that was located on town land and was a major issue in the community. We successfully held nonviolent protests at the base (even getting inside the base by the hundreds) and this success led to the formation of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). PCR was heavily involved in ISM for five years, during which it had employed around ninety percent of its efforts and finances to support ISM. PCR hosted ISM headquarters until 2005 when the headquarters was moved to Ramallah (this followed a raid by the Occupation soldiers on our offices in Beit Sahour).
Current Activities
Currently PCR has three departments, Alternative Travel Department, Community Service Department, and the Media Department that complement each other and help Palestine concurrent with helping Internationals connect better with Palestine.
The Alternative Travel department includes Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies. [www.sirajcenter.org]
Siraj organizes an annual summer program, known as Palestine Summer Celebration. This extremely successful project gives participants have an opportunity to live with Palestinian Families, learn Arabic, volunteer at Palestinian NGOs, learn Palestinian culture (e.g. folklore dancing), and eat and cook Arabic food. These individuals also visit remote areas, tour the wall, the seam line, visit with Palestians and Israelis inside and outside the Green Line. Siraj brings Palestinians and Internationals in its unique way at other times of the years and sometimes in unconventional tourism. One Peace Cycle projects brought European cyclists on a tour of the West Bank and another one for hikers.
The Community Service Department includes two projects, the “Education for All Program” (EFAP) and the “Young Advocates Program” (YAP). EFAP provids free-of-charge support classes for student of less fortunate families who need support to enhance their academic performance including classes in Arabic and English. We also trained youth in extracurricular activities including arts and drama. The program trained boys and girls, Christians and Muslims from the five schools in the town of Beit Sahour. The program is currently funded by “A La Calle”, an Italian organization working for social change.
YAP is a capacity building program that aims at preparing young Palestinians form more involvement in their society and in the civil based nonviolent resistance in Palestine. The program is a continuation of the community program launched in 1997. Around 30 young people from Bethlehem area received basic and advanced training in Human Rights, Communication Skills, Media and Web Design and Advocacy skills.
Currently the department is actively working on the Nights of the Shepherds described above and for which we seek your support (participation, financial, publicity, donations in kind etc).
The Media Department includes the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). a Palestinian-International collaborative effort, IMEMC to provide accurate reporting that helps increase understanding of the context, history, and the socio-political developments in Palestine. We provide news in English, Italian, Spanish, and Arabic languages all edited and produced by volunteers in places like Rome, Barcelona, Bethlehem and the US. IMEMC also provide News in Arabic through the Palestine News Network (PNN) website, [http://arabic.pnn.ps] as a cooperation between IMEMC & PNN. IMEMC is a founding member of the Network of United Radio and TV Stations (NUR Media) [http://english.nurmedia.org]. NUR became member of Palestine News Network-United a coalition of Radio, TV and Website groups. IMEMC provides a daily news cast in English and Italian languages, which provides nearly five minutes featuring main incidents of the day. IMEMC field reporters cover actions and events usually misrepresented or not covered in Western Media.
A video production training project is being implemented to provide young Palestinians with skills needed to produce short videos, skills that will be expanded to create job opportunities. The IMEMC production unit produces documentaries that highlight issues of critical importance in Palestine (e.g. the plight of remote villages) but that do not receive adequate media coverage.
Current Needs:
The achievements of the past twenty years and current projects (highlighted above) contributed tremendously in bridging the gap between the Palestinians and grassroots people from many countries around the globe and all were done .All were done with shoestring budgets and maximizing the use of volunteers and the few amazingly inspiring and hardworking staff who are paid little and work extremely hard. It is amazing to think that we could do all the above with an annual budget of $95000 for PCR. But with a current budget deficit of $12,000 and demands on our services constantly increasing, we need your support for any and all projects above. For tax deductible donations from the US, please send you check or wire transfer with a note to indicate it is for the Rapprochement Center to The Biblical Studies Fund, 661 Massachusetts Avenue Suite 40, Arlington, MA 02476
Wire: ABA/Routing # 211371120 (there is no SWIFT code)
Bank Name: Cambridge Savings Bank, 1374 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138
Acct #: 535716139 Account Title: The Biblical Studies Fund
Please email me at qumsi001@hotmail.com to indicate you have sent any money through this appeal so that I can forward to George and the staff the good news of your forthcoming support and to keep track of funding sent through our fiscal sponsor.
We also always need volunteers in the different departments/activities so contact us and let us know what skills and/or time you have to offer.
http://www.pcr.ps/
No comments:
Post a Comment