• Birzeit University - Palestine : News and Events Israeli military authorities block Birzeit from the outside world
• Public Committee Against Torture Report on Abeer Abu Khdeir, i.d. 023474315, 32 years old, from Shu'afat and her husband Nasser Abu Khdeir
• Miftah The Changing Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Palestine, and the Impact of the Ongoing Crisis on the Palestinian Nation-Building Process

Birzeit University - Palestine : News and Events

March 7, 2001 (update: March 8, 2001)
On the eve of Sharon’s swearing in at the Knesset, the Israeli military authorities have been exercising harsh methods by blocking more roads in towns and cities in the West Bank, making it almost impossible for people to commute.At around midnight last night, the authorities went a step further, and dug up two trenches in between Ramallah and Birzeit, cutting it off completely from the outside world. In addition to the trenches, the authorities broke off water pipes and cut off the telephone lines, prohibiting any kind of communication between the residents. The two trenches are about 4 meters long, three meters wide, with a depth of 3 meters each. Beyond the two trenches, the bulldozer ruined another 100 meters of the road, by removing the asphalt, and digging up the road. The only way for people to reach Ramallah is to walk along the edges of the trenches, and take a car going in that direction. The trenches and the ruined road fall in Area B.

The students and staff of Birzeit University are on a four-day holiday due to the Eid Al-Adha. The staff are supposed to come back to the University on Saturday, March 10, while the students are due back on the 17th of March when the second semester starts.

If the trenches are not closed off before Saturday, the staff will not be able to reach the University. All the roads leading to the University from Al-Jalazon and northward have been closed for months, and the road dug up was the only link between the villages of Surda, Abu Kash, Birzeit, Jifna, Kobar and other villages with Ramallah.

Birzeit University condemns this act perpetrated by the Israeli authorities, and considers it an act of inhumanity and cruelty, aiming at imprisoning thousands of people in their own homes and towns, while at the same time prohibiting the students of Birzeit University from reaching the University campus to pursue their education.

The Ramallah-Birzeit main road: two Israeli-dug trenches and destruction in between March 8, 2001: The road to Birzeit is still closed, and thousands of people are imprisoned in their own homes. Today, even worse than yesterday, four armored vehicles are patrolling the area where the trenches were dug, and people are forbidden to even cross on foot. So far, none of the residents of that area know what is going on, and why the Israeli authorities have gone to such extreme and inhumane measures.

Public Committee Against Torture

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel Executive Director Hannah Friedman was present this morning at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court where a hearing was held on the extension of Abeer Abu Khdeir's detention.

Ms. Abu Khdeir's brother and sister, also present at the court, reported to Ms. Friedman that Abeer Abu Khdeir appears well and that they managed to tell her while she passed them in the corridor that her children are fine and being cared for by her sister. Relatives also reported that on the day of their arrest 20-30 security forces personnel came to the Abu Khdeir's home arrested them and searched the house for several hours ransacking it in the process but did not find a thing.

Ms. Friedman met with Attorney Jowad Bulus who represents Ms. Abu Khdeir. He stated that Abeer and Nasser Abu Khdeir are accused of weapons possession. He also said that Jerusalem District Court President, Judge Zeiler, extended through 11.3.01 the Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel that was imposed against Ms. Abu Kheider from 21.2.01 through today.

Abeer Abu Khdeir from Shu'afat, a mother of four was arrested on the night of February 21, 2001 together with her husband Nasser and Nasser's cousin, Wahlid Musa Abu Kdeir, who was released a few days ago. Reports state that they underwent six hours of harassment that was directed not only against her family, including her children aged from 2 to 12 years old, but also against other families who live in the same building. >From the day of her arrest to this time she has not been allowed to meet with her lawyer.

The results of the hearing today were:-
1. Their detention was extended until 15 March 2001.
2. The Order Prohibiting Meeting with Counsel still exists.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel calls on the Jerusalem District Court to allow Ms. Abu Khdeir to meet with her attorney and expresses its concern that she may be subjected to ill treatment or torture. They will be prohibited from meeting with council for at least 19 days until the next hearing scheduled for 11.3.01.

Please refer to PCATI for further information on this topic. 02-563-0073 or Hannah Friedman 052-864-844

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH)

• Since the 1960's, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) have played a key role in meeting the basic needs of the Palestinian community in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The absence of a government has left an enormous responsibility for NGO's to provide essential services in the fields of health, education, agriculture, psychological and physical rehabilitation, community services, and economic development.
• The establishment of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in 1994 was a catalytic factor in the transformation of NGO's from primary 'providers' into complementary agencies to the central role of the Palestinian public sector.
• NGO's continue to cater for 60% of primary health care services, 42% of hospitals, 90% of handicapped rehabilitation centers, and 95% of pre-school education. They serve the needs of more than one million people in the Palestinian agricultural sector, they have rescued 25,000 dunums of Palestinian land from the threat of Israeli confiscation, and they employ over 25,000 Palestinian citizens.
• With the outbreak of the Palestinian Uprising (Intifada) in late September 2000, the role of NGO's has shifted towards responding to the immediate and short-term needs of the Palestinian people across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
• In the health sector, NGO's are playing a central role in providing first aid services to the injured and absorbing them into emergency centers, providing essential medical supplies, and appealing to the donor community for financial support to meat the needs of their medical relief process.
• NGO's are taking an equally important responsibility in providing mental health services and counseling for victims of the Intifada, an aspect which is essential to the various families (especially women and children) that are increasingly traumatized by the political, economic, and social hardships of the current crisis.
• In addition, NGO's are having to provide emergency funds to maintain various community-based centers in refugee camps and isolated areas in the Palestinian territories. This is due to the fact that users of such centers are unable to provide the necessary funds in light of the economic hardships facing the majority of the Palestinian people.
• Although the mentioned services of NGO's are indispensable and essential at this time of crisis, there is an urgent need to highlight an underlying crisis facing the general process of the NGO sector in Palestine, let alone the Palestinian nation-building process.
• Since late September 2000, the majority of NGO's in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have had to increase their spending to meet the immediate needs of the Palestinian people in light of the ongoing crisis. Major NGO's have been drawn to disburse significant amounts of their annual budget to swiftly meet short-term demands, raising serious doubt as to whether they will be able to sustain their regular programs in the near future.
• Without the availability of regular and systematic funding, it is unlikely that NGO's in Palestine will be able to carry out their mainstream duties, the consequences of which will have detrimental economic, political, and social effects on the Palestinian people. Thus, within the context of the current circumstances, the changing role of NGO's into relief and short-term providers will leave serious and long-term problems.
• Even an overall improvement in the political situation will leave the majority of NGO's with significantly fewer resources than required to maintain the Palestinian development process.
• The effect of this problem on Palestinian civil society is equally disturbing, since a significant number of NGO's is directly conducive to the political structure of Palestinian society. Various NGO's are leading the Palestinian quest to promote pluralism, rule of law, democracy and human rights in the Palestinian territories. Therefore, a shortfall in the capacity of such institutions will have direct and detrimental effects on the general process of Palestinian political development and the fostering of civil society.
• This problem reinforces the need for Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to pave the way for the Palestinian nation-building process to continue undisturbed, in order to ensure peace and security for both sides of the conflict.
• Equally, there is an urgent need for the international community to realize the importance of sustaining the NGO sector in Palestine, and to take concrete and immediate steps to ensure the continuity of this indispensable aspect of the Palestinian nation-building process.