Children demonstrating against the Israeli military's attempt to close schools and orphanages in Hebron, Palestine (photo by Ahmad Jaradat, AIC, 2008).
Representatives from the Alternative Information
Center (AIC), Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT), UNICEF, OCHA, Save the Children
UK, Defence of Children International (DCI), YMCA, Relief International, the
Ecumenical Accompanying Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), Terre des Homme-Switzerland, the Michigan
Peace Team and other international human rights organizations met in Hebron on
8 May to help Hebron’s orphanages and schools from the Islamic Charitable
Society to survive their Israeli military ordered closure.
The meeting was held in order to update people on the
current situation of the orphanages and schools, and to establish a steering
committee of Palestinian and international NGOs, which can take action and determine
measures to help 240 orphans, 5000 needy families and 5,700 students directly
impacted by the closure. The schools provide libraries, computer laboratories,
English and Hebrew classes, and several workshops to teach the children
practical skills.
Since issuing confiscation orders against all the
properties belonging to the Islamic Charitable Society on 26 February, properties
which, in addition to the schools, include bakeries, a transportation service,
a supermarket, a clinic and residential buildings for poor families, the
Israeli military raided the central warehouse, damaging furniture and gates and
seizing equipment, food, stationary, clothing, and other supplies which were to
be given to the students and their families. The estimated value of the seized
goods is US$300,000 and damages to the gate amount to US$2,000,000. The military
also ransacked two bakeries of the society that provided bread to the orphanages,
removing all their equipment. On 10 April, according to witnesses, soldiers entered
the girl’s school and took photographs of a sewing workshop and questioned the
staff, ordering the removal of the exhibition and the workshop by Monday, 28
April. Two days later, on 30 April, after breaking down the main gates and
doors, Israeli soldiers looted the workshop of all its sewing and processing
machines, office equipment, cloths and supplies. The workshop, established in
1985, employed 15 female orphans and produced Islamic outfits for the
orphans.
Members of the CPT, who were living with the children at
the time in order to protect them from the military attacks, documented the
raid with photos and videos. In total, the confiscated material in the last month
is estimated at approximately US$400,000.
Some of this material was found a few days later in
Yatta dump. This destructive vandalism perpetrated by the Israeli military can
not be reasonably defended as a legitimate issue of state security. As the case is still in the Israeli High
Court, the military had no right to pre-empt the verdict by confiscating,
damaging and destroying material belonging to the Islamic Charitable Society.
It is an unacceptable behaviour for which Israel should
be held accountable in a court of law.
Following the accusation raised by the Israeli military,
that the Islamic Charitable Society is connected to Hamas, the Society provided
proof of their political independence. No political party controls the society.
The books are audited by the Palestinian Authority, the curriculum taught is identical
to that of Palestinian Authority schools, and the schools are fully supervised
by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and always open for inspections by any
authority.
The Society provided the Israeli High Court with all
requested legal certifications relating to its donors, its currently financial
situation, official registration as an NGO and certificates of evaluation
issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Interior and the Jordanian Ministry of
Social Affairs.
However, all efforts appear to be in vain. Under what Israel dubs an “emergency
regulation”, the Israeli military has full freedom of action, and no political
agreement can hinder their activities in the occupied cities.
The wider question that needs to be asked is: Why did
the Israeli military target a charitable organization that takes care of poor
children, orphans and needy families?
The Israeli military actions, which are illegal
according to international law, are obviously intended to humiliate the Islamic
Charitable Society’s efforts to work on the level of civil society. Of course,
the case is a political one, being that all the properties targeted are located
in Area A, under full PA jurisdiction. Because of the enormous amount of people
affected, it cannot be denied that, if fully implemented, this act will be a
collective punishment and a crime against humanity.
All of the material confiscated and damaged were
donations from several organizations, included international ones. Once more,
the efforts of the international community to help Palestinian people through
donations to charitable organizations are obstructed by Israel’s occupation
policies. These donors should make Israel
responsible for its actions, otherwise their help will be wholly wasted, and merely
a substitute for Israel’s
obligations towards the people living in the territories it occupies. It’s time for the international community to
take a strong position regarding Israel
crimes against Palestinian civilians and force it to fully apply international
law and thus its responsibilities in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories.
The steering committee formed by the different
official and international organizations will work hard to support, through
legal and social ways, the future of the schools and orphanages held by the
Islamic Charitable Society. They will provide activities for the children, in
addition to psychological and other support.
The NGO campaign to save the children and the orphans
of Hebron will
continue. Stand with the orphans. “Please return my smile back” said a poster
held by a child girl of the orphanage.
For more information, you can visit the follow link: www.hebronorphans.blogspot.com
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