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For Immediate Release
23 April 2008
Contact: Sheri Wander
playfullspirit4peace@yahoo.com
C # 734-754-0648
Michigan Peace Team acts to stop Israeli Military closing
of
Orphanages and Schools In Hebron
Press Conference: Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 12:00 Noon local time
at the Al-Shari'yah Girls Orphanage (Beit el Binat), Salaa Street near Adel
Street, Hebron
1,700 students, including 240 orphans, will be forced out of
their orphanages and schools by the Israeli army with the planned confiscation
and closure of three schools and two orphanages in the West Bank.
Members of Michigan Peace Team will join with Christian Peacemaker Teams at
a press conference calling for a stop to the confiscation and closure.
The Israeli military closure and confiscation orders claim that the Islamic
Charitable Society (ICS) in Hebron, funder of the facilities, is connected to
Hamas. The ICS was founded in 1962 under Jordanian rule. The ICS says that some
of its employees are members of Fatah, and some are members of Hamas, but that
neither of those parties control the society. The ICS maintains their books are
audited by the Palestinian Authority, who has licensed them. These books are
open for inspection.
The ICS provides shelter and care to 240 orphans in the orphanages, educates
more than 1700 students, and aids an additional 4000 students and 5000 needy
families. It employs more than 700 teachers, counselors and other support staff.
Detroit area resident and Michigan Team member Nicole Rohrkemper - currently in
the West Bank as part of MPT's team on the ground - states "Regardless of who
funds these orphanages, these children are in desperate need. Continued violence
by the destruction of these orphanages solves no problem. We encourage Israel to
take positive action with the Palestinian Authority to assure no more harm comes
to these children."
Background:
On Tuesday 26 February the Israeli military entered buildings of the
Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) in Hebron, handing over six military orders for
confiscation and
closure of various facilities of the ICS, including three schools and two
orphanages. They demanded the orphanages, schools and other facilities be closed
by 1 April, 2008. On appeal, the Israeli court ordered the army to provide full
justification for the closure orders. The court has yet to issue a final
decision. Despite this, the army has already raided the central warehouse and
confiscated over $300,000 worth of school supplies, clothing and food as well as
two new school buses, and a van. They raided the bakeries that had been
supplying the orphanages, removing inventory and destroying ovens. The military
welded shut the gates of a $2,000,000 school for 1200 students, which was
scheduled to open in September.
A new deadline of Monday April 28th, 2008 has been issued by the Israeli
Military. They have demanded closure of the sewing workshop in the girl's
orphanage; a major step in their take over of the building and toward the full
closure of the school and orphanage;
Michigan Peace Team joins Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in the press
conference, set for Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 12:00 Noon local time at the Al-Shari'yah
Girls Orphanage (Beit el Binat), Salaa Street near Adel Street, Hebron. CPT (www.cpt.org)
is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the
world.
Michigan Peace Team (MPT) is dedicated to creating an alternative to militarism
and violence through empowered peacemaking. Founded in 1993 MPT seeks a just
world grounded in nonviolence and respect for the interconnectedness of all
life. MPT offers nonviolence trainings and places violence reduction peace teams
internationally and domestically, within the United States.
FOR MORE IN DEPTH
REPORTS ON MPT'S TEAM IN THE WEST BANK, GO TO
MPT IN PALESTINE
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