Eye witnesses:
Ecumenical Accompanier's reports
26.06.09 A memorable night in Susiya
Last Friday we spent our last and final night in Susiya in the South Hebron Hills. I think that for all of us Susiya has been a really valuable, mind opening and memorable experience during our stay in Hebron.
26.06.09 Al-Arub refugee camp
One day the whole team went to Al-Arub Refugee camp which is situated outside Hebron on the way to Bethlehem. We realised that we had driven past it several times without actually knowing it was a refugee camp.
25.06.09 The heat hums on hills - poem
The heat hums on hills
the colour of sand: rock not grain –
there is no shifting here.
High on the hill we climb
from the heart of the rock
water springs
enough for a goodly flock
and the families who tend them.
25.06.09 Reflection on hope
"There is not much reason to be optimistic, but there is every reason to hope." We reflected on these words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu earlier in the week and having read those words I believe that hope is the underlying...
25.06.09 Human rights defenders beaten & tortured by the IDF for their non-violent acts
Across the West Bank Palestinians are resisting in peaceful ways against the Israeli occupation and the ongoing building of the separation wall. In the Bethlehem area the path of the wall advances and continues to economically...
24.06.09 Wet paint
A FRESHLY painted park bench in Netanya – the Israeli coastal resort twinned with Bournemouth. The notice says "wet paint" in Hebrew, English and Russian. The Israeli Palestinian girl – one of the 20 per cent of Israel's citizens...
24.06.09 The story of an Israeli refuser
"I think that the most dangerous thing about it is that we have gotten used to it. This is the status quo and many of us can't see things being any different." The words of Sahar Varadi (18), a young Israeli woman who has refused...
24.06.09 A Night Visit to Um Kamel's Tent
On an open piece of waste ground just north of the Old City of Jerusalem in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah stands a 'defiant' tent, which refuses to be flattened however much the Jerusalem municipality tries to destroy it. It...
24.06.09 Health impacts of the occupation: Children's Relief Bethlehem (CRB) and their patients
The occupation affects the people of the West Bank in a variety of ways. Checkpoints, house demolitions and the effects of the wall are all quite tangible manifestations of the occupation. However there are many other issues that...
24.06.09 The shopkeeper's story
Mohammad is an accountant who can't make his books balance. Like many Palestinians he has led a chequered working life – frequently changing tack in an effort to keep his family fed and his head above water. I see thousands of...
