Urgent Action for Palestinian Human Rights

Thanks to your support, our Advocacy Team just wrapped up a successful trip to Washington, D.C. to mark International Peace Day, culminating in our Congress-wide “Pinwheels for Peace" briefing on September 16th. Our briefing, which took place in a wonderful Rules Committee Room in the Dirksen Senate Building, was sponsored by California Senator Alex Padilla.

This was Rebuilding Alliance’s 9th annual “I Care About Peace” Congressional Briefing, and this year we brought forward the ‘Pinwheels for Peace’ project, a psychosocial support and art project that was developed by two teachers in Florida. This project has children writing down what peace means to them and drawing what peace looks like. This was the backdrop for our briefing, which consisted of three guest speakers who talked about what peace means to them, and brought forward their experiences in Gaza and the West Bank.  

We wondered how we could talk about peace at a time like this: our briefing took place just as the invasion of Gaza City was getting underway, as we were learning about the mass displacement orders that the Israeli Military posted for the entire population of Gaza City, this just weeks after famine was declared there. Rebuilding Alliance’s teachers in Gaza City and Khan Younis, who have done ‘Pinwheels for Peace’ in the past, approached Rebuilding Alliance and asked us to do the project with them– this was the impetus behind the framing of our Congressional briefing. 

Remarkably, our teachers in Gaza City gathered students in one of the last schools still standing, and worked with them on this project. The pinwheels that the students made were incredibly powerful, and sometimes heartbreaking. Our briefing featured videos from both Khan Younis and Gaza City, made by our amazing filmmaker Nour, that included interviews with the students discussing what peace meant to them. For many, peace meant safety, being able to live in their home, having enough food to eat, and an end to the bombing.

Our distinguished guest speakers presented to the audience between showings of these videos. 

The young Palestinian American Georgetown student, Noor Zaareir, talked about what peace meant to her, reminding us that, “peace without justice is not peace.” She also powerfully and poetically stated that peace is a human right, and that “peace is the right of a child to wake up to birds instead of bombs.” 

Dr. Yahya Shaikh is a local doctor who has been on medical missions to Gaza to support the healthcare system there and treat children at pediatric Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. Dr. Shaikh has also published his research case study on preventable and treatable conditions in the Gaza Strip that are resulting in death due to the lack of treatment and medicine available there. Dr. Shaikh’s presentation brought forward the voices of many of the children that he treated in Gaza, ensuring that they will not be forgotten. Dr. Shaikh reminded us all of the impact of this war on children, and on the necessity of ending it because of the lifelong scars it will leave on the most vulnerable children. 

Closing out our briefing was Jenna Fischer, an incredible activist with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence who spent several months this year as a protective presence in the South Hebron Hills Village of Um Al Kheir. Her briefing detailed her experience there, and also paid tribute to the young Palestinian teacher Awdah Hthaleen, who was killed there earlier this summer by an Israeli settler. Her work, and that of other activists serving as a protective presence in West Bank villages, is a powerful reminder that solidarity and community are essential components of peace. 

Our team also held individual meetings with Congressional offices while we were in D.C. for this briefing. We had some very good conversations with staff about what interventions their offices can make to assure safety for children and families in Gaza and the West Bank. 

We asked them to make two calls to the U.S. State Department and to the Israeli Embassy to:

• Press for the State Department to expedite the review process for the Gaza Medical Evacuation Program to the U.S., after visas were halted in August; in addition, push for the reopening of the humanitarian corridor to the East Jerusalem Hospital Network for medical evacuations. These hospitals have been funded by the U.S. in the past and they are ready and willing to take patients. With nearly 16,000 patients waiting for evacuation, according to the W.H.O., the need is great.
• Urge the Govt. of Israel to remove the settler caravans inside of the village of Um Al Kheir. After the death of Awdah Hthaleen, settlers cut the water supply and quickly set up caravans. This is a dangerous provocation, and this outpost is illegal under both international and Israeli law.
• Press for Israel to uphold its obligation to assure the military accompanies and protects Palestinian communities harvesting their olives in the West Bank. The olive harvest plays a significant role for Palestinians, not only culturally and nationally, but financially. The harvest must start on time and harvesters must be allowed access to their land, free from settler harassment and violence.

Rebuilding Alliance will continue to bring forward the voices of Palestinian communities in Gaza and the West Bank, and we hope to bring these issues forward with Congress on our next Leadership Learning Mission.

Links:

• Hear Gaza's Children Speak for Peace, International Peace Day
• Children in Gaza City Make Pinwheels For Peace
• Children in Khan Younis Make Pinwheels For Peace