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Past Humanitarian Grant Recipients
2000
Grantees 2001
Grantees 2002
Grantees 2003
Grantees 2004 Grantees
2005
Grantees 2006
Grantees
2007
Grantees
2008
Grantees
2009
Grantees
2009 Grantees
El-Lid Charitable Society
Founded: 1998
Project: Informal Education Summer Camp
Location: Nablus and North West Bank
A grant from The Jerusalem Fund Humanitarian Link enabled El-Lid Charitable Society to conduct its informal community classes for students who need more assistance and support in school. Tutoring was offered to 5th -12th graders at the El-Lid campus three times a week by 20 teachers from the local community who were seeking more experience and covered such subjects as English, Math, Chemistry, Physics and Arabic. Food and refreshments were provided daily, and because the children came from different regions of the governorate, transportation was provided for all. El-Lid also offered many field trips for the students and classes in computer proficiency. The high school students also met twice a week to discuss their academic futures with advisors and all participating children were offered professional, psychosocial support. The grant from The Jerusalem Fund also gave local women in the community the opportunity to learn invaluable computer skills.
Al-Khader Charitable Child Care Society
Founded: 1999
Project: Summer Camp for Children with/without Special Needs
Location: Al-Khader Old City
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Al-khader Society was able to hold an integrated summer camp for children with and without special needs, to give them the opportunity to meet, play and share activities together. This kind of annual summer camp helps to integrate children with special needs in schools and in their community among their peers. The activities the kids participate in include art, music, sports, drama and children's rights education.
Al Basma Club for Disabled
Founded: 2005
Project: Engage Women and Children with Disabilities in Recreational Activities
Location: Gaza Strip
The Jerusalem Fund was happy to continue supporting the Al Basma Club for the Disabled [ABCD] this year as it became an oasis for many disabled people – particularly women and children – after the war on Gaza. It is clear that the number of persons with disabilities has been notably increased. The ABCD set a strategic plan to include women with disabilities in its activities because there is not a place for these women to take part in recreational activities. In addition, children with disabilities are given an environment to relieve stress and play sports with other children experiencing the same trauma.
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation - Habilitation Preschool
Founded: 1974
Project: Purchase Tricycles to Encourage Children with Multiple Disabilities to Exercise
Location: Lebanon
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation - Habilitation Preschool offers daily motor skills exercises to children with multiple disabilities (mainly those with cerebral palsy) to keep the muscles elastic and to decrease spasticity in their muscles. Children usually dread physical therapy and may learn to avoid it but this center finds a motive for the child to enjoy their treatment through play. The Jerusalem Fund helped provide tricycles which are the best mode to encourage motor activities for children with cerebral palsy. It enhances their equilibrium, moves the joints of the upper and lower extremities and teaches them how to maneuver into space thereby developing their praxis (motor planning) and the relation of their body to the space surrounding them. These tricycles have been specially designed for children with disabilities and can be adjusted according to the condition of the children worked with.
Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation
Founded: 1998
Project: Train Nurses to Study Midwifery
Location: Bethlehem
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Holy Family Hospital will be able to send four nurses to attend the University of Bethlehem on a four-year program of study in midwifery. The Direct Entry Midwifery Program leads to an undergraduate degree in midwifery that will qualify the students to practice their specialty either in the Holy Family Hospital or elsewhere in the region. Midwives are major healthcare workers in the Holy Family Hospital and are the primary health care providers for patients that do not require the care of an obstetrician. Unfortunately, there is a longstanding shortage of qualified midwives in the West Bank. The Holy Family Hospital has begun to remedy the shortage through its collaboration with the University of Bethlehem.
2008 Grantees
Al Basma Club for the Disabled
Founded: 2005
Project: Engaging Persons with Disabilities in Sports
Location: Gaza Strip
Due to the increasing number of persons with disabilities in the Gaza Strip, the Al Basma Club board set up a new strategy to include the maximum number of persons with disabilities in recreation and sports. The new strategy includes designing new sports such as sitting volleyball and power-lifting to allow more people with disabilities to take part in an active lifestyle. With the help of The Jerusalem Fund, this project will help those who already participate and encourage new ones to take part in the sports rehabilitation program.
Al-Shorok Association
Founded: 2001
Project: Assist Students with Learning Disabilities
Location: Gaza Strip
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Al-Shorok initiative developed the capabilities of 168 students between first and sixth grade in three fields: Arabic, Mathematics and English. Most of the students who enrolled in the initiative currently have learning difficulties and score academically behind their peers. Each student was offered three therapeutic sessions a week per course and every session lasted 40 minutes. This project is in response to recent UNRWA statistics that revealed that the percentage of kids with learning difficulties has reached an alarming rate.
Burj Al Luq Luq Social Centre
Founded: 1991
Project: Psychological, Social and Cultural Support for Youth.
Location: Jerusalem-Old City
This project’s objective is to form a supportive framework for children and youth on a psychological, social and cultural level. It targets youth anywhere between seven and 24 years of age. The project seeks to empower youth from poor socio-economic backgrounds with psychosocial counseling, but also helps them discover their creative talents through cultural and artistic courses. It encourages them to spend their leisure time in a constructive, healthy and positive way.
Committee for the Advancement of Arab Education in Haifa
Founded: 2001
Project: School Supplies for Palestinian Children in Haifa
Founded: Haifa
The Committee for the Advancement of Arab Education in Haifa supplied disadvantaged students with school supplies. As a result of an ongoing discrimination and disregard at both the state and municipality levels, over 60 percent of Arab children are living in poverty in Israel. Moreover 50 percent of Arab children in the city of Haifa are poverty-stricken. The children's poor conditions drastically affect their schooling and their inability to afford basic school supplies prevents them from fully participating in school. The Jerusalem Fund grant equipped 200 Palestinian pupils with an equal starting point for this school year providing school bags, uniforms and other basic accessories.
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation- Habilitation Preschool
Founded: 1974
Project: Conducting Occupational and Physical Therapies Training
Location: Lebanon
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation- Habilitation Preschool continued to train staff as part of its strategic plan. Staff training promotes sustainability and ensures that quality service is provided for all its beneficiaries. The preschool is specialized in education and therapy intervention for children with disabilities and their families in the Palestinian communities in Lebanon. During the current year, the director conducted a specialized training course in therapeutic techniques for intervention with children with Sensory Integration disorders. Fifteen participants from six NGOs working in the Palestinian communities attended the course. Other NGOs requested to re-conduct this course for professionals (Occupational & Physical Therapists) who weren’t able to attend. The grant from The Jerusalem Fund made it possible to offer such training that was conducted between September and November 2008 for around 20 therapists. This gave a chance for participants to have a practical insight in the implementation of the techniques that the preschool has been using since 1994.
Ibn Khaldoun Society for Community Development
Founded: 2002
Project: Renovate and Upgrade Four Gaza Kindergartens
Location: Gaza Strip
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund the Ibn Khaldoun Society for Community Development project to renovate, maintain and upgrade four Gaza kindergartens was completed. Needs assessment and priorities were identified by the local partners’ on-site engineers and coordinators. Letters of needs and priorities were exchanged with UNRWA, UNICEF and local institutions concerned with children. Most of the work was concentrated on improving both internal and external issues. The properly designed and developed play areas with appropriate facilities for children will soon be in place. The children and parents feel that the quality of their educational environment has been improved.
Al-Mashghal – The Factory: Arab Centre for Arts and Culture
Founded: 2007
Project: Music and Art workshops
Location: Haifa
This project provided music and movement workshops in Arabic by a professional early childhood music educator for 24 Palestinian children between two and six years of age in Haifa. Using music elements such as rhythm, melody and movement, the workshops give the children a basic knowledge and starting point for playing different musical instruments in the future, especially traditional Arab instruments such as the qanoun and the oud. During the workshops the children gain the opportunity to express their feelings, increase self-confidence and improve their concentration. The workshops encourage social interaction between the children, their parents (strengthening the parent-child bond) and the teacher and promote extracurricular activities for children who have no other venue for pre-school, arts-based education near Haifa.
Ayam Zaman Center
Founded: 2004
Project: Ramallah Summer Camp
Location: Ramallah
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Ayam Zaman Center offered a summer camp for 150 children age seven to fourteen years-old. This summer camp included many activities like theatrical performances and educational trips to ancient places in the vicinity. They also offered cultural education by teaching dabka, singing and painting. Ten young people age 15 to 20 attended as trainees under the supervision of camp supervisors to prepare them with the necessary skills to engage and manage children’s activities. This camp supported the children by identifying their interests and skills and encouraging them to pursue these gifts while giving them a safe environment to do so.
Beit Al Musica
Founded: 1999
Project: Arabic Music Festival
Location: Shefa-Amr
Beit Al Musica was able to continue its tradition of holding its annual music festival which was launched in 2000 as part of its Community Enrichment Program. This festival is a large-scale event that reaches more than 4,500 people yearly. It contributes to the revival of the local musical heritage and to revitalizing the cultural life of the Palestinian community through a series performances open to local and international ensembles. The festival opens up opportunities for various musical styles, such as classical music, classical Arabic music, jazz and ethnic music. The festival annually showcases a culture that all attendees are proud of and helps refine the image of the community.
House of Grace
Founded: 2001
Project: Tutoring for Students in Haifa
Location: Haifa
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, House of Grace’s initiative “Education for Change” targeted Arab youth who come from very deprived social backgrounds, and thus unfortunately underachieve in their academic studies. With lack of attention to their schooling from the local government and discrimination practices against them, local NGOs such as the House of Grace step in to fill in the gap. The program provides these youth with English tutoring to three groups of ten to twelve students. Tutors are students of the subject in higher education who work part-time as volunteers with their volunteer hours matched with a financial grant. This encourages responsibility, giving back to their community and volunteer values. This program also deals with other, real-life circumstances, such as drugs and physical and emotional abuse, which are dealt with by their well-qualified social worker.
Research Journalism Initiative International (RJI)
Founded: 2007
Project: Establish the Nablus Open Media Center
Location: Denver, CO
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, RJI established the Nablus Open Media Center (NOMC), a permanent media training and production resource for Palestinian journalism students. The NOMC features equipment and technical resources, production facilities, advanced media production workshops and professional career development resources for Palestinian university students. Palestinian multimedia projects are made available to U.S. educators at no cost through RJI’s online multimedia library. Media produced at the NOMC is Palestinian student-driven, combining international best practices in journalism with personal, creative expression. The goal is not to be a “first-to-print” newswire service, but rather to promote the educational value of honest, individual perspective and experience.
Zakira or “Memory”
Location: 2007
Project: Photography by Children of the Refugee Camps.
Location: Beirut
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Lahza is a project in which Zakira worked with 500 children in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon creating an anti-war billboard photography campaign for the 33rd anniversary of the Lebanese civil war. They also sponsored photo exhibits by aspiring photographers and organized archives of leading photographers in Lebanon. The kids took most of the pictures of their refugee camp as they see it and all photos were then included in a beautiful book.
Al-Quds Open University /Hebron Educational Region
Founded: 1991
Project: Training Lab for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Location: Hebron
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Al-Quds Open University launched its blind and visually impaired training lab in the Hebron Educational Region. Al-Quds Open University has set the precedent for the students who have visual impairments. It aims to create a new service in Hebron in order to enable the students from Al-Quds Open University and the local community to participate with their sighted peers in the field of computer technology and to benefit from the capabilities that this field offers to this sector of students.
Boston Palestine Film Festival (BPFF)
Founded: 1991
Project: Boston Palestine Film Festival (BPFF)
Location: Boston
The Boston Palestine Film Festival was able to showcase the diverse and creative work of all filmmakers (of any nationality) exploring both historic and contemporary themes related to Palestinian culture, experience and narrative. This festival features a range of compelling and thought-provoking documentaries, dramatic features, rare early works and new films by emerging artists. These films from international directors bring an honest, self-described and independent view of Palestine and its diasporic society, culture and political travails.
Break the Silence Mural and Arts Project
Founded: 1969
Project: Public Art Project
Location: Birzeit
The Jerusalem Fund supported Polyphony and Counterpoint, which is a collaboration between the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (Palestine) and Break the Silence Mural and Arts Project (United States). For the past year the ESNCM and BTS have been planning this public art project/ mural on the façade of the ESNCM in the West Bank town of Birzeit. The intent is to bring together an international ensemble of artists to paint in solidarity with Palestine, and in so doing, embody and envision Edward Said's ideas regarding relationships of radical humanism and music.
Chicago Palestine Film Festival
Founded: 1991
Project: Annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival
Location: Chicago
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Chicago Palestine Film Festival was held in Illinois and generated media attention to the Palestinian cause. The film festival is dedicated to presenting a film festival that is open and reflective of the culture, experience and vision of the filmmakers and Palestinians.
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation- Habilitation Preschool
Founded: 1974
Project: Purchase New Tools to be used by Children with Disabilities.
Location: Lebanon
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Occupational Therapy Workshop uses material and tools in its two sections, upholstery and carpentry. Usually the foundation would buy upholstery material and keep it in stock for two years maximum for padding purposes and accessories. The grant made it possible for the foundation to purchase the necessary material. A portion of the grant was used to purchase new carpentry tools to replace the old ones. The new tools were needed to enhance the quality of the work. Most of the children with disabilities, who access the OT Workshop services, come with their families. Material used in the upholstery is usually not paid for in return. The workshops are also available to children from other local NGOs. Training children with special needs is important for their self-esteem and their worth as their skills will help them earn a living.
Handicap & Libertés (HAL)
Founded: 1990
Project: Set up Repair Workshops for Medical Devices.
Location: France
The Jerusalem Fund supported the project "MAMED Palestine" to set up repair and maintenance workshops for medical devices such as wheelchairs, crutches and devices for hygiene. The project trained and employed excluded people (exclusion due to their disabilities and/or social and cultural origins) in the field of medical material maintenance and dispersed good-quality, second-hand medical devices to disabled people and/or organizations working with the disabled. Since there are no facilities providing repairs and maintenance of medical devices in the Gaza Strip, many medical institutions and NGOs have expressed their interest in holding such a workshop.
Hebron Youth Club
Founded:
Project: Provide a Library Where Children can Spend Leisure Time
Location: Hebron
The Jerusalem Fund supported the Hebron Youth Club [HYC] to provide a library with a good collection of books and equipment in the club. The HYC’s mission is to help the youth in Hebron by providing them with a cultural space they can spend free time in and by providing constructive activities to engage the youth in positive thinking. The library encourages youngsters to think about their education and a better future for themselves.
Playgrounds for Palestine
Founded: 2003
Project: Establish Ten Playgrounds in the West Bank
Location: Philadelphia
With a grant from The Jerusalem Fund, Playgrounds for Palestine was able to achieve its primary objective by working with local Palestinian municipalities and NGOs in order to establish ten playgrounds in Doma, Beit Iksa, Al-Arroub Refugee Camp, Bani Zaid, Yatta, Jerusalem, Balata Refugee Camp, Askar Refugee Camp, Jenin and Qalqilya. Playground sites are chosen on the basis of community need and feasibility. While precedence is given to those areas hit hardest by violence and oppression, actual site location is determined by where it is believed that the largest amount of children will be able to access the playground's premises safely. The goal is to provide Palestinian children residing in these areas of the West Bank with safe playgrounds where they may escape the harsh realities of their lives and play.
2007 Grantees
Al-Quds Open University /Hebron Educational Region
Founded: 1991
Project: Library Improvements
Location: Hebron
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund the university was able to improve the library to meet the needs of the students, professors and researchers from regions all across Palestine. This project provided the library with a good collection of books and references related to academic programs at Al-Quds Open University, in addition to other subjects of interest.
Burj Al Luq Luq Social Centre
Founded: 1991
Project: Support Program for the Developmentally Challenged
Location: Jerusalem- Old City
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Burj Al Luq Luq Social Centre continued its service project for individuals with special needs which originally launched in 2001. This program has four main goals: First, it helps parents of the challenged to cope with their child's disability. Second, it ensures the safety of all children in their programs and offers them a normal life. Third, it integrates them with their community by showcasing their different abilities, and fourth, it builds up their self-confidence by bringing out some of their hidden abilities through playing sports, music, painting, dancing, and performance. This project has been well-received by the individuals with special needs and their families.
The Palestinian Friendship Center for Development
Founded: 1996
Project: Furnish and Equip Gaza kindergarten classrooms
Location: Gaza Strip
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Palestinian Friendship Center for Development [PFCD] – a youth, non-profit, community-based association – was able to use toys and playground equipment as educational tools for disabled children in three kindergarten classes at Nussirat, Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps in the Middle Area. The three refugee camps were known areas with disabled children and a lack of resources. The PFCD conducted two workshops (the first as an inception workshop and the second as an evaluation) as well as inauguration and closing ceremonies with families and children from the community and partner kindergartens.
Union of Palestinian Women Committees
Founded: 2001
Project: Computer Training for Palestinian Women
Location: Ramallah
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, this project started a women's computer center at the Union of Palestinian Women Committee [UPWC] to train women from refugee camps in computer skills. Many women could not continue their university studies because of financial difficulties so these courses are at a very low cost or free to the students, depending on the case. The project also focuses on advocacy campaigns towards gender issues and helps the women find jobs after their participation in the courses. The gender and leadership courses held by the UPWC empowered the women to take a more active role in their society and the computer classes gave them new skills to find better jobs.
Wi’am Centre for Conflict Resolution
Founded: 1949
Project: Income Improvements and Civic Awareness
Location: Bethlehem
A grant from The Jerusalem Fund helped launch the Palestinian Apprenticeship Project to increase the income of impoverished Bethlehem families through development of new skills, the creation of new jobs in the short term and the matching of individuals with potential employers in the long term. Moreover, the project was able to strengthen civil society by providing public and private social institutions with volunteer labor to help rebuild and clean dilapidated facilities, particularly hospitals, schools, and community centers. Additionally, the project created a level of civic awareness and involvement, not only among citizens, but more importantly, among government officials.
Arab Women's Union of Ramallah
Founded: 1956
Project: Maintenance for Home of Arab Women Union of Ramallah
Location: Ramallah
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Arab Women’s Union of Ramallah was able to add an additional floor to the old building that hosts the senior home and begin needed maintenance work on the building. The home belongs to the Arab Women's Union of Ramallah and serves senior citizens in the area — a service that few Palestinian organizations offer.
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation- Habilitation Preschool
Founded: 1974
Project: Purchase Sound Therapy Equipment
Location: Lebanon
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Foundation obtained some basic administrative and training equipment that was needed for the preschool. The preschool uses sound therapy for therapeutic intervention on children with communication needs. The grant helped the school purchase two discmen, three high-quality pairs of headphones, a digital camera, a personal computer, an LCD projector and a projection screen. This equipment is used in training, which is an ongoing activity at the preschool. This includes staff training, university student training and training of community workers from other projects working in the Palestinian community.
Popular Theatre Society for Performing and Training Arts
Founded: 2005
Project:
Location: Ramallah
The grant from The Jerusalem Fund helped fund the production activities and rehearsals that took place in the Ramallah Al-Amary refugee camp. The play “Gravedigger” presented a point of view rejecting hostility and aggressive wars and encouraged discussion on the value of life. It also allowed creative and talented individuals from Palestine a chance to gain new performing skills through a training workshop for both amateurs and professionals. The Popular Theatre Troupe was finally given the chance to present a theatrical work that derides wars and gratuitous killing, to be presented in most Palestinian cities at regional and international festivals.
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Founded: 2001
Project: Major Mobilization to Protest Israeli’s Illegal Military Occupation
Location: Washington, DC
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and United for Peace and Justice sponsored a major mobilization to protest U.S. support for 40 years of Israel’s illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip on June 10-11, 2007 in Washington, DC. The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is a national coalition of more than 200 organizations working to change U.S. policy toward Palestine/Israel to support human rights and international law. United for Peace and Justice is the nation’s largest anti-war coalition of more than 1,400 organizations working to end the U.S. war on Iraq. The mobilization included a massive rally on the West Lawn of the Capitol, which was expected to draw 100,000 people; a large-scale teach-in, which was expected to draw 3,000 people and to which Nobel Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Jimmy Carter were invited; and a grassroots lobbying day, which was expected to draw 1,000 people.
Al Basma Club
Founded: 2005
Project: Engage Persons with Disabilities in Sports
Location: Gaza Strip
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund the Al Basma Club continued to offer different activities to encourage most of the disabled people to be involved in recreational and competitive sport and other activities. This project enhances the performance of existing athletes and will give the chance for new athletes to take part of the sport rehabilitation program. In addition, the Al Basma Club project increases the participation of women and kids in the different activities. Such programs offer hope and optimism to a marginalized segment of the Palestinian society.
The National Institute of Social Care and Vocational Training, commonly known as Beit Atfal Assoumoud
Founded: 1976
Project: Restore Computer Labs Destroyed after a Fire
Location: Sour, Lebanon
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Beit Atfal Assoumoud restored its computer lab that was destroyed by a fire. The project aimed to restore things to where they were prior to the fire. This unfortunate incident came at a time when the institute had just begun a new vocational training program in the Computer and Informatics Center. The Institute has been planning this program for students who drop out from schools at an early age. There are many students in their classes, between the ages 15 to 20 years old. They attend the center 5 days a week, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Most of the students are females. One of the institute’s objectives for the new generation of Palestinian refugees is to provide an education, improve their capacities for potentially increasing their income and to assist them in addressing some of their social issues arising from their refugee status. The computer center is part of a whole series of programs at the center, which also provides an excellent scouts program for youth in the camp, a great bagpipe troupe and conducts other cultural programs.
The Youth Solidarity Network (formerly knows as Digital Visions)
Founded: 2006
Project: Youth Multi-media Training
Location: Berkeley, CA
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Digital Visions trained and supported many youth and youth workers to produce powerful multi-media narratives about their personal histories, experiences and those of their families and communities. At the time, the group was fully engaged in post-production work related to the digital pieces. The network is also collaborating with the Palestine/Israel Education Project out of New York City and Washington DC to produce a dynamic popular education-based curriculum and a teaching guide as a resource for teachers and youth workers who want to use the pieces in their classrooms and other educational contexts. Involving young Palestinians in telling their own narrative helps them better tell their story and improves their increasingly valuable multi-media skills.
Family Development Society
Founded: 2004
Project: Set up an Art Therapy Program
Location: Hebron
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Safe Space project of the Family Development Society (FDS) became a reality. This project set up an art therapy program in order to provide mainly long-term individual and group art therapy to children between ages of 8 and 15 in the old city of Hebron which suffers from a siege. This project has two phases: the first one informs the school teachers in the old city of Hebron about the necessity of therapy for this client group in their school. This phase also aims at training teachers in art therapist fields. The second phase of the project provides children with a safe therapeutic environment where they could work through issues of loss and bereavement-and in some cases their experience of violence and witnessing torture.
Nawafeth Youth Forum
Founded: 2005
Project:
Location: Ramallah
A grant from The Jerusalem Fund jumpstarted the Nawafeth Youth Forum’s project to meet the cultural needs of youth living in the Ramallah region by establishing and running a library at Nawafeth Youth Center in Biddu. The public library now serves students from elementary up to the university level and has just started implementing a program of strengthening classes for students studying for the high school diploma. Opening the library has been a key tool for empowering the youth.
Young Men’s Christian Association
Founded: 1988
Project: Orphans Summer Camp
Location: Amman
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, a summer camp for orphans was made possible by the YMCA. The camp goal was to provide the youngsters with basic life skills, recreation and education on democracy and basic human rights with an emphasis on tolerance and respect of differences. The camp’s follow up program on the weekends throughout the school year ensures that the values learned during the summer camp are reinforced. About 150 youths attend this camp for a period of two weeks during which the youths are given spiritual, physical and mental exercises. They learn good habits to enhance their community spirit and participate in group activities whereby they learn cooperation, tolerance and responsibility. They are taken on trips to the various historic and religious sites in the country as part of their education. The camp serves to keep these orphans off the streets during the summer and winter vacations and offers them a caring environment encouraging a spirit of belonging and self esteem.
2006 Grantees
Arab Children Friends Association
(ACFA)
Founded: 1989
Project: Literary Bridge Building for
Palestinian Children and Youth
Location: Haifa, Galilee and Naqb, as well as
the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Date: June 2006 - June 2007
With the support of The Jerusalem
Fund, the ACFA’s Literary Bridge project
enhanced the libraries and kindergartens in
Gaza and the West Bank, provided support for
teachers & librarians at these
institutions, and held activities for children
in at least 80 local youth centers. The
ACFA supplied folk books, encyclopedias,
stories, games and song cassettes to boost
local libraries while encouraging the
improvement of children’s reading
level. The ACFA also prepared free kits
of their publications, Al-Hayat Lilasafeer
(“Life for Birds”) and Al-Hayat
Lilatfal (“Life for Children”) and
distributed them to libraries, youth centers
and hospitals in rural areas of the West Bank
and Gaza.
Al Basma Club for the Disabled (ABCD)
Founded: 2005
Project: Developing sport activities for
persons with disabilities
Location: Gaza City and Northern Gaza
Date: March 2006 – February 2007
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the ABCD assisted person with disabilities to participate in recreational and competitive sports. The ABCD also looked to raise awareness in the community about athletes with disabilities while forging different sports teams for disabled athletes, thus giving them the opportunity to participate in sports competitions at the local, regional and international level.
Arab Women’s Union of Ramallah
Founded: 1939
Project: Renovation of Home for the Elderly
Location: Ramallah, West Bank
Date: December 2006
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Arab Women’s Union of Ramallah renovated three rooms in the basement of their old aged home in order to provide housing for elderly men. In addition to providing facilities for the elderly, the Arab Women’s Union of Ramallah runs a center that teaches women in Ramallah and the surrounding villages how to sew.
Atta Services: Aid to the Aged
Founded: 1993
Project: Supportive Community Services
Location: Ramallah, Salfeet and Bethlehem
Date: January – December 2006
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Atta Services, together with the local and non-local partners, established and upgraded support services and centers in Broqeen, Ramallah, Taybe and Bethlehem. The centers provide services to the elderly according to their needs, with day programs and community outreach services. ATTA also provided training programs and hosted lectures for community members on job skills, social gerontology and other pertinent topics.
Ayyam Zaman Center
Founded: 2004
Project: Supporting Village Families
Location: Kufur Naima and Beliin
Date: November – December 2006
With the support of The
Jerusalem Fund, Ayyam Zaman Center distributed
food baskets to 200 poor families in the Kufur
Naima and Beliin villages. Each basket
contained non-perishable food items and cooking
supplies, at a price of 200 NIS each.
Digital Visions
Founded: 2006
Project: Palestinian Youth Digital Storytelling
Project
Location: Haifa, Israel; and Salfit &
Dheisheh Refugee Camps, West Bank
Date: May 2006 – May 2007
With the support of The
Jerusalem Fund, Digital Visions worked with
fifty youth over a month-long period to create
short digital pieces based on their families’
oral histories. The Digital Storytelling
Project included three week-long workshops
designed to help youth document the oral
histories and experiences of Palestinians
living in refugee camps in the West Bank, and
as Palestinians living in Israel.
Following each workshop, Digital Visions,
working together with the local community,
screened the final product in each
village. Upon completion of the project,
Digital Vision interviewed the youth and
created a DVD about the project and the stories
collected, to share with numerous groups
throughout the United States.
Institute for Middle East Understanding
Founded: 2005
Project: Palestinian-American Profiles to
Inspire Media Coverage
Location: Oakland, California
Date: April 2006 - February 2007
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, the Institute for Middle East Understanding identified 44 Palestinian-Americans accomplished in the arts, literature, academia, business, and other professions and community service. IMEU held interviews with, and created profiles for these individuals. The profiles were then used to proactively pitch these individuals in the news media and on the internet in order to highlight their achievements in a compelling human interest angle. Additionally, the organization provided whatever training necessary for the selected individuals to succeed in their interactions with journalists. This was the first compilation of prominent Palestinian-Americans, captured in one place and backed by the concerted effort of experienced public relations professionals to promote them.
International Middle East Media Center
Founded: June 2004
Project: Internet Radio Station
Location: Beit Sahour, Palestine
Date: September 2006- September 2007
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, the International Middle East Media Center created an internet radio station with real time reports and interviews, in English, from Palestine. The web stream was made available at www.imemc.org , receiving over 1 million visitors per month and provides only real-time, up-to-date and comprehensive newswire reporting from occupied Palestine. The content was archived daily and was made free for public distribution in order to allow rebroadcast in as many places as possible in various parts of the world. Material was also made available via podcast.
Palestinian Association Memory
Founded: 1999
Project: School Uniforms for Needy
Students
Location: Rafah
Date: July – August 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, Palestinian Association Memory oversaw a project that provided assistance to school students in the Rafah area at the beginning of the school year. Many of the children’s families live suffer intense economic hardship. This project provided 250 children with school bags, uniforms, and stationary materials as they began their fall 2006 term.
Reach Out and Care Wheels, Inc.
Founded: 2004
Project: Wheelchair Distribution
Location: The West Bank and the Gaza
Strip – Mount of Olives, Princess Basma
Rehabilitation Hospital, and Life Gate
Date: April – May 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, ROC
Wheels Inc partnered with Hope Haven
International Ministries for a trip to the West
Bank to distribute 200 wheelchairs to people in
the region. ROC Wheels also helped
establish a new wheelchair factory, which
involved teaching production methods to
employees. The wheelchairs produced in
the new factory will serve the local
community.
Rose of Jerusalem Charitable Association (RJC),
partnered with
For Children of Bethany and Jerusalem
Suburbs (BaJes) Projects
Founded: December 2000
Project: Play to Learn
Location: Southeast Jerusalem region
beyond the wall: Aizariyeh, Abu Dees,
Sawahreh, Sheikh Sa’ad, Jahaleen Bedouins and
Al-Za’ayim
Date: November 2006 – November 2007
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, RJCA and BaJeS created a Toys Library for disabled children. The project enabled handicapped and special needs children to improve and increase their learning skills through adapted toys, games and activities, which facilitate their social integration with non-handicapped children and the rest of the community. More then 200 children benefited from the project, as did members of their families and 50 local youth trainees (who became trainers).
Sindyanna of Galilee
Founded: 1996
Project: Honey Production and Marketing
by Women of Kufr-Qara, Israel
Location: Kufr-Qara
Date: Fall 2006 – Fall 2007
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, Sindyanna of Galilee trained 10 women to become professional beekeepers and then purchased the honey the women produced on a fair trade basis, marketing it at home and abroad. The project provided a source of income to the women and their families while also empowering them by offering a framework of learning to suit their needs. The project also aimed to change attitudes in Arab society that discourage women from earning a living, setting an example for more women to become wage earners in other villages.
Spafford Children’s Center
Founded: 1976
Project: Remedial Teaching for Children
with Learning, Psychological and Speech
Problems
Location: Old City, Jerusalem
Date: August 2006 – August 2007
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, the Spafford Children’s Center now provides remedial teaching, psychological counseling, speech therapy and artistic activities for children in need of it. After psychological and educational evaluations, students are placed in groups of up to 4 children or treated individually for parental-reinforced courses following school hours for up to 13 weeks. Over 350 children a year benefit from this project as it improves their academic performance and behavior, thereby raising their self-esteem, thus allowing them to remain in school.
Sunbula
Founded: 1996
Project: Production of photography
exhibit titled, “Celebrating Palestinian
Embroidery: Past, Present &
Future”
Location: East Jerusalem, Bethlehem,
Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and Gaza
Date: June – August 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, Sunbala produced a photography exhibit by artist Steve Sabella, featuring various photographs, stories and information on the heritage of Palestinian arts & crafts from over 1,600 Palestinian contributors. Viewers witnessed the economic and cultural role of arts & crafts in Palestinian life today. The specific photo panels of Sabella will be utilized in future opportunities to further education and awareness of Palestinian life.
The World Computer Exchange
Founded: 1999
Project: Computers for Elementary Schools
in UNRWA Palestinian Refugee Camps in Jordan
Location: Palestinian Refugee Camps in
Jordan operated by UNRWA
Date: October – November 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, the World Computer Exchange provided 200 Pentium III computers and 10 Pentium III laptops to over 130,000 Palestinian refugee elementary school students in Jordan, offering them access to Jordanian online learning programs and other Internet-related capabilities.
Union of Palestinian Women’s
Committees (UPWC)
Founded: 2001
Project: Women’s Education Assistance
Program
Location: Nablus, Jenin and Bethlehem
Date: August 2006 – December 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, UPWC was able to further education opportunities for female Palestinian high school graduates and integrate these women into the public work force despite the constraints of daily life under the occupation. More than 50 women are now involved in such UPWC programs, helping improve the overall Palestinian economic situation and setting a precedent of higher education and employment for their families.
Wi’am-Palestinian Conflict Resolution
Center
Founded: 1994
Project: Palestinian Apprenticeship
Project
Location: Bethlehem, Beit-Jala and
Beit-Sahour
Date: October – December 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, Wi’am was able to continue to provide short-term jobs and new skill-sets to almost 130 Palestinian apprentices through organizations such as King Hussain Hospital in Beit-Jala, Bethlehem mental hospital, Women’s Union of Bethlehem, the Bethlehem Museum, and a senior citizen’s home in Al-Shyukh. These apprenticeship projects increase the income of impoverished Bethlehem families and provide potential long-term employment opportunities, while simultaneously strengthening civil society by providing public and private social institutions with free labor.
YMCA of Jordan
Founded: 1988
Project: Annual Summer Camp for Orphan
Boys and Girls
Location: Amman, Jordan
Date: July – August 2006
With the support of the Jerusalem Fund, the
YMCA of Jordan was able to provide almost 350
Palestinian orphans with a month long summer
camp with spiritual, physical and mental
exercises as well as group activities to
reinforce positive living habits for enhanced
community spirit. Educational trips to
various historic and religious sites in the
country were also incorporated into the
camp’s curriculum.
Young Artists Forum
Founded: 2002
Project: “Children of Ba’leen Village
Tell Their Stories Through Art Work”
Location: Ba’leen Village, Ramallah
Date: October – December 2006
With the support of the
Jerusalem Fund, the Young Artists Forum held an
art exhibition in the village of Ba’leen,
Ramallah after conducting 12 art workshops
under the supervision of two professional
artists. Through this art exhibition,
children of Ba’leen were able to tell their
stories of the hardships of the Wall and
Israeli occupation through art work, thereby
improving their psychological well-being,
furthering new, non-violent forms of resistance
to the occupation for the Palestinians, and
providing talented young artists with
opportunities for continued work in art.
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
Founded: 1968
Project: Milk for Preschoolers Project
Location: Rafah, the Gaza Strip
(Palestine)
Date: January-December 2006
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, ANERA's Milk for Preschoolers program combats malnutrition by providing 12,000 preschoolers at over 100 preschools in the Gaza Strip with fortified milk and high-energy biscuits every day at school. The milk is purchased from a local dairy in Nablus and delivered to the schools, which are located in the poorest communities in the Gaza Strip. In 2004, the program reached 21,000 children. ANERA’s work improves the life of Palestinians throughout the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, and Jordan. Its projects are coordinated in conjunction with local institutions, such as schools, universities, health facilities, cooperatives, municipalities, grassroots committees, and charitable associations.
Ayyam Zaman Center
Founded: August 2004
Project: Children’s Welfare Project
Location: Kufur Neima and Beliin villages
Date: December 2005 – January
2006
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Ayyam Zaman Center (the “center of past days”) distributed winter clothing for the children of two villages and gathered them for a special new year’s celebration, both assisting in their well being and relieving the economic burden that holidays and winter months put on an already disadvantaged community where approximately 40 percent of villagers are unemployed.
The Arab Women’s Union of Ramallah
Founded: 1964
Project: Renovation to Elder Care Home
Location: Ramallah (Palestine)
Date: July-September 2005
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Arab Women’s Union of Ramallah renovated the five bathrooms and dilapidated exterior of their old aged home as well as purchasing four wheel chairs for the elderly. In addition to its elder care home, the Union runs a center that teaches women in Ramallah and the surrounding villages how to sew.
The Annahda Women’s
Association
Founded: 1965
Project: Annahda Rehabilitation Center
Transportation Needs
Location: Ramallah (Palestine)
Date: January-December 2005
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Annahda has expanded its services on behalf of mentally disabled children and adults. This grant enables the acquisition of a new bus to transport the 60+ students and their families from their homes throughout Ramallah to the Annahda Center. Currently students depend on a dilapidated bus purchased in 1989 that cannot accommodate even two dozen students at a time. Through the work of the Rehabilitation Center, the Annahda Women’s Association of Ramallah seeks to encourage Palestinian families to allow their mentally disabled children to travel outside the home and to participate in the Center’s academic, vocational and rehabilitative programs on a regular basis.
Atta Services: Aid to the Aged
Founded: September 1993
Project: Emergency Nutrition and Health of
the Palestinian Elderly
Location: Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah and
the Selfeit and Jenin districts
Date: January-December 2005
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, Atta Services set up supportive eight day care centers; provided medical care, social activities and well-balanced hot meals to the home-bound; provided counseling and trauma care; and trained staff and volunteers to better respond to the urgent needs of the elderly. Serving approximately 600 elderly Palestinians from five major West Bank areas, this project is a critical lifeline to those made vulnerable by not only the natural effects of their declining age and health, but also by the loneliness, shock and trauma of the ongoing conflict; the inability to provide for themselves because of the poor economy and low family income; the inadequate psycho-social support and housing conditions in besieged areas; and the inaccessibility of medical, hospital and emergency facilities caused by checkpoints and the Wall.
The Bir Zeit Club
Founded: September 1995
Project: Educational Training Center
Location: Birzeit (Palestine)
Date: October 2005
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Bir Zeit Club built an educational training center and computer lab that serves the children and youth of Birzeit and the 1,500 students of Birzeit University. The project expanded the activities and services of the Bir Zeit Club. Over two-thirds of the Birzeit community is under 30 years of age and depend on the Palestinian educational system and local civil society organizations such as the Bir Zeit Club to mediate the effects of a military occupation and widespread economic hardship.
The Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation
Founded: July 1974
Project: Renovation to Habilitation
Preschool Building
Location: Mar Elias Refugee Camp, Beirut
(Lebanon)
Date: November-December 2005
With the support of The Jerusalem Fund, the Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation was able to address several serious structural problems in its six-room Habilitation Preschool in the Mar Elias refugee camp. This project involved renovating and insulating the building’s ceiling, expanding its storage space, and better equipping the organization to educate preschoolers with disabilities in a healthy and safe environment. Known for its exemplary educational work with Palestinian children in refugee camps throughout Lebanon, the Beirut-based foundation supports a variety of public libraries, kindergarten arts projects, and specialized preschools for refugee children with mental and physical disabilities.
The Hope Flowers Secondary School
Founded: September 1984
Project: School Library Upgr
Peacefund Canada
Peacefund Canada's goal is to encourage and support adult peace educators and other learners in their efforts to build a more humane, non-violent and de-militarized world. The Jerusalem Fund supported the International Women's Peace Service - Palestine Project (IWPS), an international team of 16 women who work with the media and attorneys to document human rights abuses and encourage non-violent direct action. Located in Salfit, the organizers train and support an international team of volunteers to work throughout Palestine to provide written and photographic evidence of human rights abuses, develop village profiles, and challenge the destruction and confiscation of property and cultivated lands throughout the West Bank and Gaza. The group operates under the guise of international law and consistently calls upon civil society to censure Israeli actions against the occupied population.
Birzeit University Library
Birzeit University - Palestine. Birzeit University, which began as an elementary school in 1924, faces great obstacles in carrying out its mission in spite of the Oslo peace agreements between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Violations of human rights continue unabated and students are often arrested and detained sometimes for being members of the student council. Student from Gaza are often barred to travel to the West Bank to enroll at Birzeit. Moreover, the University is facing prolonged financial crisis due to the stalled peace process and the resulting poor economic situation. Despite such hardships, the University continues to expand in new and creative ways in order to better meet the needs of the Palestinian society. Currently 53 percent of the student body, which totals over 7,000 students, is female; 15 percent are pursuing graduate or post-graduate degrees.
An annex to the University Library is currently under construction to provide greater space for books and student patrons. The Birzeit University Library provides vital access to information on academic, scientific, technological, cultural and social issues to students and faculty. In addition, the library serves students from other Palestinian universities, high school students from private and public schools, and individuals and local institutions in the community. The Jerusalem Fund is one of the financiers of the automation process of the library, which will link the main library to the new annex, as well as to specialty libraries.
Palestine Media Watch
Palestine Media Watch - USA. Anti-occupation activism on US campuses is vibrant; however, the media aspect of the movement is often an afterthought, when in fact media is the heart of any successful campaign. Palestine Media Watch (PMWATCH) is a network of 42 chapters in US cities that identify students interested in media activism. PMWATCH provides and trains the students with the tools and expertise to build chapters in their respective universities. The aim is to link a network of sophisticated media campus activists who can help various anti-occupation groups effectively get their message to fellow students as well local media outlets. The Jerusalem Fund provided a seed grant for PMWATCH-CAMPUS, which is the mechanism to support this cross-sharing of techniques and lessons learned.
Ramallah Friends School -
Playcenter
The Ramallah Friends Schools have served the youth of Palestine and witnessed to Quaker values in the midst of conflict and adversity for more than a century. Today, on the Schools' campuses in Ramallah and el-Bireh more than 950 students from kindergarten through grade twelve receive a rich and rigorous education in Arabic and English. During the 2003 Israeli incursion on the Ramallah area, the both campuses suffered tremendous and unprecedented physical damage. The Jerusalem Fund helped to rebuild the Playcenter on the el-Bireh campus, which included the repairs to the damaged structure, purchase of destroyed furniture, toys and books.
U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
The U.S. Campaign to End the
Israeli Occupation was created in 2001 to hold
the US government accountable for its policies
towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Instead of US support for military occupation,
the US Campaign seeks to promote the
application of human rights and international
law as a viable road to resolution. The
coalition's diverse membership is united by a
passion to see justice and peace in the
region. The group is rich in its ties to
a range of communities, its levels of
expertise, and the resources of member
groups. The Jerusalem Fund provided a
grant to support the US Campaign's annual
strategy meeting, which was held at George
Washington University.
BADIL
The BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency & Refugee Rights aims to provide a resource pool of alternative, critical and progressive information and analysis on the question of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons. The organization was established to support the development of a popular refugee lobby for the right of return through professional research and partnership-based community initiatives. BADIL ('badeel') is an Arabic word that means 'alternative'. BADIL's alternative approach to the question of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons is based on international law, relevant UN resolutions, and the participation of refugees themselves. The Jerusalem Fund provided BADIL with a grant to perform a study on refugee compensation and the right of return.
Atta Services to the Aged
Atta Services seeks to address issues affecting elderly Palestinians, including their mental and physical health as well as social well-being. Atta Services' Meals on Wheels Program, for example, provides hot meals to the aged in the Ramallah area at least three times a week. This program is an integral part of Atta's outreach program, which also facilitates doctor visits, house cleaning, and visits by Atta Services' staff. In the midst of the harsh Israeli occupation regime, Atta proposed an emergency relief program to alleviate the critical conditions that Palestinians have had to face. Re-starting its Outreach Community Services after the invasion of the Israeli army into the already occupied West Bank, Atta focused on a triad of activities: (1) medical and psychological support; (2) food and sanitation; (3) home repairs and care. The Jerusalem Fund supports the breadth of its programs, but in particular, the Meals on Wheels program to at least 300 beneficiaries on a monthly basis.
The American Society of the Order of Saint John
Eye Hospital - Jerusalem
The American Society of the
Order of Saint John Eye Hospital -
Jerusalem. The principle aim of the
priory in the United States is support of the
Ophthalmic Hospital of Saint John in Jerusalem,
which mainly serves the Palestinian Arabs
living in the Israeli occupied territories of
the West Bank and Gaza. Because of health
conditions in the Middle East, they are
particularly susceptible to eye disease.
Following in the traditions of the Hospitaller
Knights, the hospital aims to fulfill an
important and historic responsibility towards
the people of the Holy Land, whom it continues
to serve without reference to race, religion or
ability to pay. 45, 000 patients are seen
annually in the Outpatient Department, and
4,000 major operations are performed. 25
percent of the patients are children and many
of those suffer from congenital eye diseases
such as Cataracts and Glaucoma, as well as a
large number of trauma cases caused by domestic
accidents in the home, and more recently from
the civil and military disturbances in the
area.
The development of the
Pediatric Ophthalmic department is a recent
achievement and deals with over 11,000 patients
each year, most of whom have serious and
complicated eye conditions. Many of our
patients are Diabetics, and require
sight-saving laser or Vitro-Retinal surgery,
and our specialist Vireo-Retinal surgeon
performs an average of 10 major operations per
week. The community at large is well served by
St. John. The Outreach mobile Eye Clinic tours
the length and breadth of the country twice
weekly, setting up clinics in the most remote
and disadvantaged areas - many of which are
refugee camps. 5,000 patients are seen annually
in this way, and some 1,000 with serious eye
diseases, are referred to the main hospital.
Gaza has many particular problems, not least of
which is its isolated geography. Consequently,
in 1992, St. John opened an Eye Clinic with an
operating facility in order to do Cataract
surgery on a day-by-day case basis. This is now
well-established, seeing some 6,000 patients
per year, and performing over 400 cataract
operations. The Jerusalem Fund supports
the breadth of the hospital's programs.
2003 Grantees
Summer 2003 Jerusalem Fund Observation Trip to Palestinian Grantees
| The Jenin Charitable Society |
Located in a large building on
the outskirts of the city of
Jenin
, in close proximity to the
Jenin refugee camp, the Jenin Charitable
Society (JCS) boasts a wide variety of services
and facilities. All of these are provided to
the needy populations free of charge. The JCS
is the sole provider of many specialized
services for the 200,000 residents of the
northern
West Bank
.
One of the original projects
the JCS operated was a program of loans for
University students. These were to be
eventually paid back at little or no interest
by the students according to their ability,
however since the beginning of the
intifada, none of the JCS's
outstanding loans have been repaid, leading to
a net outlay of over 140,000 Jordanian Dinars
(over $220,000).
An ongoing
project that JCS provides to the community of
Jenin is remedial classes for students studying
for the tawjihi matriculation exams.
Due to the disruptions in schooling caused by
Israeli attacks and military closures, many
students have been prevented from completing
their full school programs. The JCS remedial
classes, both in Jenin and a nearby location,
seek to make up for the class time and
educational opportunities lost at the hands of
Israel's occupation forces. Classes are free,
with teachers' salaries paid by the JCS, and
feature all of the major subjects of the
tawjihi. Approximately 200 students
come to the JCS location in Jenin for this
service. There is another location that serves
more than 60 students who are unable to
regularly attend classes in Jenin.
Sewing machines provide vocational
training at the Jenin Charitable Society
The
Jenin Charitable
In
addition, the JCS hosts supplemental classes in
English, French and Hebrew as well as
vocational instruction in sewing and
hairdressing. The JCS has a fully-equipped
beauty salonthat is enjoyed by many students
seeking to expand their career opportunities.
To reiterate, all of these classes are provided
free of charge.
Society's beauty school
The only
center for hearing and speech-impaired children
in the Northern West Bank is located at the
JCS. Currently the facility is in the process
of being transformed into a boardingschool, to
alleviate the difficulties that the children
face travelling to school from various
increasingly isolated villages and towns in the
area.
Testing room for
hearing-impaired children
One of the upcoming projects for the JCS is opening a computer center to service the greater Jenin area. Once again, this would be the first and only such facility in the area. Currently the JCS has obtained 5 computers for its lab, but has outfitted adequate facilities to accommodate 20-25 computers. The JCS has specially wired labs waiting for computers to fill them.
Another
nascent undertaking is a library suitable for
students, from the youngest up to University
level, and open to the public. Currently the
library's holdings amount to only a few shelves
of mostly children's books. But the JCS is
seeking additions to the collection.
During the
2002 Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp,
the JCS was uniquely suited to provide
emergency aid to the residents of the camp
whose homes were attacked, and many destroyed,
by the occupation army. For nearly a month
almost 1000 newly homeless refugees took
shelter in the JCS building, and were provided
with the basic necessities and emergency aid
despite the fact that the JCS itself had no
electricity or water for more than three
weeks.
View of the Jenin refugee
camp. The central area contained more than 600
homes leveled by the Israeli army in
2002.
Baladna
Baladna was formed to compensate for the lack of organizations specifically directed towards Palestinian youths growing up in Israel. Though the founders of Baladna saw many Zionist youth organizations designed to instill a sense of identity and purpose in Jewish Israeli youths, Palestinian citizens of Israel were deprived of a similar service. Consequently, no unified Palestinian identity has taken root in the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Most identify themselves either with their local community or with their religion, but the lack of a unified national sentiment is apparent. Baladna hopes to rectify this situation.
|
Palestinian icon Handala on the
|
The problem begins in the Israeli educational system. Although there are separate facilities for the education of Israel's Palestinian minority, even these are not controlled by Palestinians. Palestinian children are not allowed to learn about any Palestinian nationalists or nationalist literature. According to Nadim Nashaf, Director of Baladna,
| Nadem Nashef, Director of Baladna |
the Palestinian teachers in the Israeli school system are scared. They are concerned for their jobs and will not exceed the limits placed on them by the oppressive Zionist ideology Israel's schools push. Although private schools are better, most students can't afford them. Altogether, there is more freedom of thought in the Jewish Israeli school system than for the Palestinians. For instance, Jewish Israeli students might be allowed to discuss Palestinian nationalist poetry, but Palestinian children would not.
The Israeli government delayed the registration of Baladna for 14 months , eventually prohibiting them from officially using the name Baladna. The organization is legally known in Israel as the Association for Arab Youth.
Baladna is pursuing many projects at this time. One of their most important is a three-month training session provided to potential youth leaders. Youths are selected from all over the territory of what is now Israel and given a scholarship and a training course focusing on instilling values of national identity in their peers. Each year the courses extend to more villages and cities, with the hopes of covering as much of Israel as possible. This program has been very successful and Baladna is hoping to expand the scope of the training sessions.
The grant provided to Baladna by the Jerusalem Fund was used to buy a projector and other equipment to show films directed toward an Arab and Palestinian audience. At one film festival of Jordanian and Palestinian films from the West Bank Baladna drew almost 700 people, largely university students, to see the films. In giving these films a wide public viewing, Baladna is performing a service that is invaluable to the Palestinian citizens of Israel. This same audio-video equipment has been used to lend out to other organizations with similar goals and projects, thus further expanding the usefulness of the grant.
Some upcoming projects for Baladna include a large summer concert featuring Arab music and a Palestinian book fair. In the book fair Baladna will offer more than 5,000 books obtained from various sources but all concerning Palestine to the public. And finally, in November there will be a 5 day conference in Nazareth featuring Palestinian and European organizations and activists meeting to discuss a whole range of topics.
Baladna hopes in the near future to be able to implement a student exchange program with American and European students. The aim will be to bring students who are either Arab, Muslim, or from other minority groups, like African-Americans, to travel to 1948 Palestine and to experience life in Israel as an ethnic minority.
2002 Grantees
Charitable Societies
The Right to a Home ...and a Homeland - Redwood City , California
Middle East Children's Alliance - Berkeley , California
Clinics and Health Projects
Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association - Nablus
Patient's Friends Society - Hebron
Taha Hussein Association for the Blind - Um El-Fahem
Atta Services: Aide to the Aged - Jerusalem
Community Resources
Hanitzotz Publishing House - Jaffa
International Jewish Peace Union - Tel Aviv
Palestine Happy Child Center - Ramallah
Baladna :Association for Arab Youth - Haifa
Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute - Ramallah
Legal Resources
Badil Resource Center - Bethlehem
Schools and Universities
Sameh Zoabi's Film Project - Columbia University , New York
Prof. May Seikaly - Wayne State University , Michigan
Ramallah Friends School - Ramallah
Birzeit University - Birzeit
2001 Grantees
Charitable Societies
Beit Jala Charitable Society for the Aged - Beit Jala
Palestinian Youth Women Society - Gaza
Save the Children Foundation - Gaza
Clinics and Health Projects
Augusta Victoria Hospital - Jerusalem *
Palestinian Counseling Center - Jerusalem
Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association - Nablus
St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital - Jerusalem
Union of Health Work Committees - Gaza City *
Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees - Jerusalem *
Al-Amaree Women's Programme Center , Al-Amaree Refugee Camp - Ramallah *
Community Resources
Arab Cultural Association - Nazareth
Arab National Club - Jaffa
Hanitzotz Publishing House - Jaffa
International Palestinian Youth League
Palestinian Working Women Society - Nablus *
The Social Development Committee - Haifa
Yoad Foundation for Development of Local Art - Rama
Legal Resources
Badil Resource Center - Beit Jala
Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group - Jerusalem
Schools and Universities
Al-Anwar Library for Children - Hebron
Ramallah Friends' School - Ramallah *
Society of Remedial Education Center
Charitable Societies
Atfaluna
Society for the Deaf -
Gaza
City
Atta Services Aid to the
Aged -
Jerusalem
Committee for the Development
of Social Services -
Nazareth
Clinics and Health Projects
Augusta Victoria Hospital -
Jerusalem
Bethlehem Arab Society for
Rehabilitation - Beit Jala
Palestinian Children's Relief
Fund - Kent, Ohio
Patient's Friends Society -
Hebron
Psycho-Social Counseling Center
for Women - Bethlehem
Union of Health Work Committees
- Gaza City
Union of Palestinian Medical
Relief Committees - Jerusalem*
Community Resources
Al-Amaree
Women's Program Center - Al-Amaree Refugee Camp,
Ramallah
Al-Baqa Children's Center -
Jaffa
Al-Funoun Dance Troupe -
Ramallah
Association for Educational and
Social Initiatives - Negev
Ibda' Culture Center,
Deheishe Refugee
Camp - Bethlehem
Jabalia Rehabilitation
Society - Jabalia
Refugee Camp, Gaza City
Jalazone Youth Activities
Center - Jalazone
Camp, Ramallah
Palestinian Working Women
Society - Nablus
Palestinian Youth Exchange
Center - Beach Refugee Camp, Gaza City
Wadi Joz Community Center -
Jerusalem
Legal Resources
Association of Forty - EidHod
Badil Resource Center -
Beit Jala
Christian Peacemaker Teams -
Hebron
LAW Palestinian Society for the
Protection of Human Rights & the
Environment - Jerusalem
Palestinian Human Rights
Monitoring Group - Jerusalem
Palestinian Center for Human
Rights - Gaza City
Schools and Universities
Arab
Evangelical School - Ramallah
Azzoun High School -
Kalkiliya
Beit Leid Secondary Girls'
School - Tulkarem
Birzeit University
Library - Birzeit
Bureen Secondary Boys'
School - Nablus
Dar Salah Boys School -
Bethlehem
Girls School - Mazra'a al-Sharqiyya
Ithna Boys School -
Hebron
Ni'lin High School -
Ramallah
Ramallah Friends' School -
Ramallah
Computer labs
* Multiple Grants Awarded