The Islamic Charitable Society sewing workshop in Hebron was among the buildings raided by the Israeli military, causing losses amounting altogether to US$418,000.
The international campaign to save the
schools and orphanages in the city of Hebron which are affiliated with the
Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) has had a strong impact, forcing Israeli
embassies around the world to respond to requests for information and answers. Relying
on information obtained from the Israeli military, embassies are working to
create a climate of terror against the ICS, thereby justifying Israel’s actions
(For more on the ICS, click
here).
Israeli embassies claim that the military
never closed any school or institute operated by what they referred to as “the
Hamas movement,” even though, according to the Israeli authorities, these
schools were used by Hamas to promote its goals and strengthen its power through
force and terrorism. Embassies noted that the Israeli military indeed closed
schools built for the children of Hebron, but that the schools had not yet been
functional. However, the schools had been fully equipped and supplied, such
that this distinction is meaningless, as there are also closure orders for
the remaining fully functioning schools and orphanages, orders that may be
executed at any moment.
Only last week, the Israeli military raided
and closed two additional branches of the ICS, in the Shyukh and Beit Ula
villages near Hebron. The military confiscated almost everything in the buildings,
which hosted a school, kitchen, kindergarten and administrative offices. The
estimated cost of the confiscated material is US$18,000, which is in addition to
the previous US$400,000 lost from the confiscation of equipment and damages
from the last month.
According to the Israeli embassies, the Israeli
military has proof that the ICS in Hebron is involved in recruiting activists
for the organization and in collecting funds for terrorist activities, all
undertaken under the cover of civilian networks. In this way, the Israeli
embassies contend, the ICS is trying to increase support for Hamas and
disseminate its radical ideology, which includes encouragement of Islamic Jihad
against the “Zionist enemy.”
Israel believes that the ICS educates youth
with the extremist doctrine of Jihad, supports martyrdom and provides financial
aid in Hebron to families of terrorists. The Israeli embassies noted that
Israel has confiscated documents which contain severe incitement against Jews,
Israel and the United States.
Because of this, it is stated, the Israeli
military operates against the economic resources of the Islamic charity
associations. These resources, they believe, serve as an income source for the Hamas
terrorist movement, which uses this money to support its terrorist activities.
To date, absolutely no proof has been
offered by Israel to the ICS, the local and international media or the numerous
non-governmental agencies involved in protecting the orphans to back up its
most serious claims. The fact, however, that no evidence has been offered
to the public—and likely will never be—points to the likelihood that no such
documents have ever been confiscated and no such activities have ever been
conducted by the ICS in these schools and orphanages. Under the cover of
“security needs” the Israeli authorities are committing grave human rights
violations and throwing thousands of Palestinian students and orphans onto the
street.
According to the ICS lawyer, Mr. Jawad
Bulos, the Israeli High Court has refused to issue an order nisi[i],
as he requested, and has scheduled a hearing on the case in October. The Israeli
military is now offering to negotiate if a management system acceptable to it
can be found. On the one hand this is good news, as it signals that the Israeli
military has noted the international interest and does not possess any credible
proof. On the other, however, without the order nisi to halt the closures
pending the court hearing, the military can close the schools and orphanages
any time it wishes if the Israelis believe that international interest has
faded.
Accordingly, international support is most
needed. Following an
appeal from the Christian Peacemaker Teams, we are inviting all concerned to
visit the orphanages, to spend a night so that the buildings don’t remain
empty, to tour the buildings of the ICS, the one closed and seized and the one
still functioning and to tour the city of Hebron, where poverty and closures
are destroying a once thriving economy. Hebron’s old city has become a ghost
town, and, with all the buildings the Israeli military is now trying to close,
it will become increasingly so. Hebron’s al-Huda Mall, a very large building of
the ICS that once hosted several shops, a student library, offices for
therapists, dentists and lawyers, in addition to the administrative office for the
orphanages, has now been made empty. Only the library, which is also under
threat, and one clothing shop, which managed to escape the closure order, are
still open in a climate of fear and desolation.
The ICS provides schools, orphanages and a
network of support for thousands of people in Hebron while the Palestinian
Authority, which bears responsibility in the area, fails to protect its people.
Removing one of the most important safety nets from the thousands of families
and children who depend upon the charities will increase devastation for Palestinian
residents of Hebron.
The Israeli actions against the ICS will
affect the lives of thousands of people from Hebron and its surroundings, such
that they can be considered collective punishment, done to intimidate and crush
the local population.
Attorney Bulos believes that a major part
of the solution to this crisis is political. There is an explicit Israeli plan to
target all Palestinian infrastructures that can be related in any way to
Islamic organizations and movements. Yet, in a situation where the PA doesn’t
have either ability or willpower to secure a livelihood for the Palestinian
population, these Islamic charities represent some of the only institutions
that have demonstrated the capacity to support the social needs of the people
in the area.
When the official government fails to take
care of the needs of the Palestinians, we ask all of you to help in taking an urgent
action.
You can find the schedule by clicking on this
link.
See also our previous articles, here
and here.
[i] A conditional order which is to be confirmed unless something be done,
which has been required, by a time specified.
|
