Dear Friends of the Palestinian House of Friendship,
The “silent war” against the West Bank city of Nablus and the entire region continues. In December 2022 Netanyahu named Bezalel Smotrich the Minister of Finance, and Itamar Ben- Gvir, Minister of National Security. Both men are right-wing extremists, lawyers in their 40s living in Israeli settlements on the West Bank, and both are committed to the expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. Ben-Gvir has a criminal record and has turned over West Bank policing to armed Israeli settlers who grab Palestinian land, uproot olive trees, and often shoot Palestinians on sight. This is not hyperbole; as of mid-July 572 Palestinians (including 139 children) have been killed, 5,300 have been injured by settlers, and much city infrastructure has been destroyed
In the context of the war in Gaza in which close to 40,000 Palestinians (70% women and children) have been killed since October 2023 (with recent estimates being more like 180,000 people murdered), and the threat of imminent violence on the West Bank, the Palestinian House of Friendship (PHF) continues to offer a sense of safety and hope through activities for children and their families in Nablus, the nearby village of Asira al Shamaliya, and a number of refugee camps.
Smiling Faces summer camp has been reorganized into 8 smaller camps located in separate neighborhoods, giving parents the opportunity to pick up their children quickly, if there is any danger of violence in the community. These camps include traditional Palestinian music and dance, games, and a Green Hands Initiative (planting crops) for children.
PHF has also provided food, shelter, and support to about 80 people from Gaza who lost their jobs in Israel last fall and came to Nablus seeking shelter.
This includes children diagnosed with cancer who are now receiving medical treatment in Nablus hospitals. In addition, PHF has collaborated with the municipality of Asira to set up medical clinics to treat injured people injured by settler violencewhen access to hospitals may be impossible due to army or settler violence.
Mohammed Sawalha, Founder/Director of PHF, iscommitted to peace, and continues to create programs that will give children opportunities for joy and play throughout the long hot summer. But he also continues to think toward the future when there will someday be a free democratic Palestinian state. To this end PHF is offering workshops for adults this summer in which men and women can learn how to participate in a civil society, become trained in how to vote how to conduct elections, run for office, and develop democratic legislative initiatives.
Beginning in mid-August, Mohammed plans to offer these workshops in a pilot program that will initially reach 100 adults in the Nablus region. After evaluation of the pilot program, the workshops will be offered more broadly in the West Bank. The American Friends of PHF are researching possibilities for grants for this innovative project. If you would like to help out with this project, please reach out to Katharine Baker at [email protected].
Mohammed, his staff, and the families of PHF all express their gratitude for your continuing generosity in supporting the Palestinian House of Friendship.
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