| Campaign information from | |
Letter from Ibrahim Issa, co- director of the school
Sample letter of protest
Dear friends,
Hope Flowers school in El Khader is facing demolition of their cafeteria, which is adjacent to the planned route of the Israeli security barrier.
Because it teaches peace and democracy, Hope Flowers has been a favourite of the US government in the past.
They need your help. Please write to Israeli officials and ask them to rescind the demolition order.
Contact information (Hopefully up to date)
Mr. Shaul Mofaz,
Minister of Defense
Ministry of Defense
37 Kaplan St.
Tel-Aviv 61909
Israel
E-mail1 sar@mod.gov.il or
E-mail2 pniot@mod.gov.il
Fax : +972-3-696-27-57
Mr. Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister
Prime Ministers' Office
Qiriat David Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem
Israel
pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Fax : +972-2-566-48-38
Brig. Gen. Menachem Finklestein
Chief Military Attorney General
Military postal code 9605
IDF
Israel
Fax : +972-3-569-43-70
Coordinator of Activities in Judea and Samaria
General Yaakov Orr
Ministry of Defense
Ha-Kirya
Tel Aviv
Israel
Phone: +972-3-697-5351
Fax: +972-3-697-6306;
Spokesperson:
Mr. Shlomo Dror
Mobile: +972 2 50-398-652
____________
Civil Administration
Commander
Beit El Israel
Tel: +972 2 9977071
Fax: +972 2 9977326
---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
Mr. Shlomo Politis
Legal Advisor to the Civil Administration
P.O. Box 10482,
Beit El
Israel
Tel: +972-2-997-7071
Mobile:+ 972 2 50-511782
Fax: +972-2-997-7326
_______________________________
Mr. Shlomo Moskovitch
The Office of the Executive Planning Council
Civil Administration
P.O. Box 16;
Beit El
Israel
_______________________________
Mr. Yossi Hasson
Coordinator, Planning Committee: Civil Administration
P.O. Box 16, Beit El, Israel
Tel: 972-2-997-7307
Fax: 972-2-997-7344
_______________________________
Captain Peter Lerner Spokesperson
Civil Administration
Beit El,
West Bank,
Israel
Tel: 972-2-997-7398;
Fax: 02-9977018 [May have been changed]
_______________________________
The 30th January 2004 letter from Ibrahim Issa, co- director of the school - as background information
Dear Friends,
Lots of thanks for your support to the Hope Flowers School. I want just to inform you about the demolition process of the School cafeteria. On the afternoon of November 4th, 2003 , and after the school day, the neighbours of the school informed us that a force from the Israeli army came to the school cafeteria and left a paper there. The paper was written in Hebrew and with some translation in Arabic. The paper was about a final warning to demolish a building and gave the characteristics of that building. The demolition notice had only a number; the owner of the building was not listed in that warning, nor were there any other details.
The Hope Flowers School contacted immediately an Israeli lawyer (Mr. Andre Rosenthal) and informed him about that notice. Mr. Rosenthal started his contacts with the Israeli civil administration in order to get more information whether the Hope Flowers School Cafeteria is the building in question, especially since the Israelis wanted to demolish the same building in 1999 and after a long process, an Israeli military court stopped the demolition of that Cafeteria. After few weeks and several faxes and phone calls to the Israeli civil administration, the Israeli civil administration confirmed that the warning relates to the Cafeteria building of the Hope Flowers School. The cafeteria is a separate building of the school with an area of 500 square meters. The reason given in the notice was that the building does not have a building license, but we suspect two actual reasons: one: the building is very close to an Israeli settlement(Efrat), making that area a highly sensitive one. Two: the building would be close to the segregation wall that the Israeli government is building in the West Bank. We suspect that the segregation wall will be built very close to the Hope Flowers School. This is according to (unofficial) maps published recently by the Israeli army.
Yesterday I was in the Applied Research Institute in Bethlehem. I spoke to surveyors who had the maps, and they confirmed that the wall will be very close to the school. They said that these maps, nevertheless, are subject to ongoing change by the army. This is, I believe, the actual motivation for the demolition warning that we received, but the demolition warning does not mention the wall as a reason.
Today I had a phone call from the school lawyer. He is going to start a process to stop the demolition of the school Cafeteria in Beit El (Command Center of the Israeli Civil Administration in the West Bank). This is needed to prevent any unilateral action from the Israeli army before any juridical process takes place. Meanwhile, the lawyer advised us to apply for an Israeli building permit for the school cafeteria, because the Israelis are using this lack of a permit as an excuse for demolition.
The school cannot afford the costs of the juridical process, neither the building license fees and the related engineer's work on its own. The school depends for the past three years on donations to keep its doors open, and this problem is only adding more and more pressure on the school. We are now in urgent need of funds to pay the expenses of the engineering work to submit for the Israeli building permit. We are looking to our friends for support in this matter.
I want to inform you that the school has an approved building permit (building license) from the Palestinian Authority, but the school is located in Area C (totally Israeli controlled area with entirely Palestinian population) which means the Palestinian building license does not help to save the Hope Flowers Cafeteria building or the main school building either. The Israelis are taking this as an excuse to prevent any Palestinian expansion in area C.
Soon we are going to start a protest letters campaign to stop the demolition of the school cafeteria. We will send you a draft of the protest letters, the case number, and the mailing addresses. The letters should be sent to the Head of the Civil Administaration in Beit El and to Israeli embassies. We are also asking our friends to write to their governments to encourage them to protest to the Israeli government.
More information will follow soon.
Just to close; When Hussein founded the Hope Flowers School he was attacked many times by Palestinian radical groups; his home was attacked, his car was burned, he was accused of being a collaborator and was even jailed by the PNA as pressure to change the school philospohy. Once, after a bad day of treatment in the prison, I asked Hussein if he feels sorry after all this pain and he answered: " To suffer for Peace is much better than to suffer for war"
As his son now following in my fathers footsteps, I want you to know that the Hope Flowers dedication for peace education will never waver. It will always remain rock solid, and the Hope Flowers School will remain the home of peace education in the Middle East.
In Peace,
Ibrahim Issa
Co-director
- to be used as it is, or for inspiration -
To...
We have been informed that the Hope Flowers school in El Khader, well-known for its excellent record of educating for peace and democracy, is facing demolition of their cafeteria, which is adjacent to the planned route of the Separation Fence.
In light of the disputed status of this wall and its route, we urge you to do everything to stop such a senseless demolition.
[your name]
page last updated 21 February, 2004
page last updated 21 February, 2004