Some new projects summer and autumn 2004 (in English)
STUDENT FUND
Capable young women in the occupied territories of Palestine want to study at college or university. The problem is that many families are so poor that they do not have the finances to help the girls in their families. The alternative to higher education for these girls is early marriage (at age 16-17) or to stay indefinitely at home with their parents.
But
we can help – each of us – or together!
The need is great.
Education is one of the most important tools in the conflict, and it is
especially important to support the young women who constitute "The New
Palestine".
We hope that individuals, families,
schools, classes, choirs, friendship clubs, sports teams, organizations, and the
like, can together share the expenses, that is "adopt", such a
student.
You will receive a photograph, name
and address, and other information about the family situation and development of
the studies.
What
does it cost?
Right now the most important thing is
to send the registration fee of 1000 dollars to the university or college for
the 2004-2005 school year which begins in September!
For more information contact Trine Eklund: email: t-eklun@online.no Tel. (47) 22 14 30 62 or Torill Eide: email: torill.eide@tiscali.no Tel. ++67 50 66 51 (work)
Mobile: ++416 90 972. Tel.(47) 629 74 592 (weekends)
Greetings for the PIO-project,
Trine and Torill
April, 2004
Adoption
Project in Gaza
As
many know, we were refused entrance to Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)
when we tried to cross the border during the March.
On the Gaza side of that border stood hundreds of women for seven hours
with posters to welcome us, and transportation into Gaza City.
Dressed up and ready for our visit they waited while chanting a welcoming
cheer, but they, as we, were disappointed.
We
have therefore a strong desire to do something for the people of Gaza.
Safwat Diab, one of our colleagues in arranging the March, has for a long
time had a dream of setting up a foster parent long-distance adoption program
for needy children in Gaza. Children
who have lost their father, mother, or both parents, have to go out on the
streets and sell small things to earn a little money instead of going to school.
We hope to help families so that children can go to school.
After
we returned from the March, we established a new adoption program which we are
now marketing everywhere where we meet people. We hope to recruit March
participants from all over the world to participate in this project.
We are emphasizing this project especially because we know how terribly
important it is for those who will benefit in Gaza.
Seven
families in Norway have so far signed up to be responsible for sending kr. 250,-
(approximately $35-40) each month for an adopted child.
The foster parents will be sent information and pictures of the child
they have adopted.
The
Gaza Committee includes three very responsible men:
Safwat Diab from the March Committee, Hani Al Dada who works for the
Norwegian Foreign Department in Gaza, and Omar Al Naqa who works for the
governor in Rafah, Gaza.
If
you wish to be foster parents to a child in Gaza, contact Torill Eide:
torill.eide@tiscali.no .
Peace Education Project
We
were contacted by teachers in Ram Allah during the March.
They expressed a strong desire for a project to introduce knowledge of
peace education, peace culture,
conflict resolution between students and between students and teachers, and
human rights in the schools in Palestine.
These
were teachers from the largest teacher's union GUPT, General Union of
Palestinian Teachers. When we asked
how the Minister of Education would stand in regard to such a project, we were
told that they expected a positive response from him, and we have recently
received notice that he has added his voice to those asking to see this project
established.
The
project is well in process in Norway, where cooperation has been established
between the Norwegian Peace Alliance and the Education Association and PIO.
There is great interest in the project, so we have reason to hope for
good results. The Palestinians would like a completely developed program,
as well as guides who can train them and give follow-up. They wish to train as
many teachers as possible who can take their new knowledge and skills to their
respective schools.
PIO
and March participants have put this process in motion, and will continue to
function as advisors to the project.
BRIDGE
BUILDING PROJECT
The
Oslo Process inspired us to create the PIO Project in 1996.
The fact that old enemies could little by little meet, negotiate and
produce an agreement was a big step on the road to peace.
Some of us decided that we here in Norway, on a grassroots level, could
also contribute!
We
wanted to bring Israelis and Palestinians together to cultivate trust and build
bridges. Politicians
can meet and make agreements, but without the support and understanding of the
people, such agreements seldom last for long.
PIO
(Palestine – Israel – Oslo) received more and more support, and the work
made progress. Teachers met
teachers, church leaders met church leaders, housewives met housewives, and
youth met youth – brought together in peaceful surroundings to meet each other
as fellow beings. Then came the second intifada and put a stop to that peace
work for the time being.
When
the work with the International Human Rights March began, the hope was that we
would again see a cooperation between the Israelis and Palestinians – namely
through the respective organizing committees.
That question gave rise to protracted conversations and discussions
between us – and especially between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The result was generally negative – the Palestinians did not wish to
cooperate directly with the Israelis, but only through Jerusalem Link, which is
a partner organization between the Palestinian 'Jerusalem Women's Center', and
the Israel women's group, 'Bat Shalom'. The
organization was established in the '90's and has had its ups and downs, but
they are all courageous women, on both sides.
We
had to accept the fact that cooperation between the two was not, for the time
being, possible, but our hope was that the March itself would bring them
together. That did happen, but only
barely! Their was resistance,
especially among the Palestinian women. While
some were ready for dialogue, the social-political structure around them
deterred them.
But
the Palestinian women could in any case assert that all of the discussions and
nightly conversations had started a process in and among them. Many reflections
have got them looking for a good way out of this difficult situation.
This
work, which we call the real peace work of PIO, has our highest priority.
It
is our wish now to again begin actively building bridges – namely to bring
Israelis and Palestinians together to build the trust which is necessary to
reach a just peace in the region.
We
therefore challenge schools, organizations, institutions, professional milieu
and other groups to consider whether they can participate in this bridge
building project.
PIO
will arrange contacts and be helpful throughout the process.
Contact
Torill Eide torill.eide@tiscali.no
Tel: (47) 67 50 66 51 (work) (47) 62 97 45 92 (weekends) (47) 416 90 972 (mobile)
FRIENDSHIP TRIPS
The
route for the Human Rights March which our Israeli and Palestinian partners had
arranged gave us an exceptional opportunity to get to know important places,
historical events, the current political and social situation, and not least to
meet the people from all parts of the society, political groups and occupations
in both countries. In that
way we have gained both knowledge which we can continue to use for future
projects, and a large network with which we would very much like to continue
cooperation.
One
project which is a result of this we call "Friendship Trips".
We invite people on a trip around Israel and Palestine in order to get to
know the history, background for the political and social situation, sights,
culture, and perhaps most importantly, the people – on both sides.
We have three goals with this project:
1.
To give people insight into and understanding of the conflict in this
volatile area
– from both perspectives.
2. To increase tourism and give regular people an opportunity to earn money for goods and services, such as simple accommodations, visits to women's small businesses, buying souvenirs, etc.
3. To show both country's
cultural and historical sights.
We
cooperate with a travel agency in Oslo and with local contacts in Israel and
Palestine. They are in charge of
the practical matters locally. One
or more of the March participants will accompany the group as a guide.
The first Friendship Trip will be from Norway in September/October 2004.
We also know that several other countries are interested in the project,
among them Sweden, The Netherlands, and Belgium.
It
is genuinely our hope that in addition to the trip people will be interested in
joining continuing projects for Israel and Palestine, but this is of course not
a condition of participation in the Friendship Trip.
Contact:
Torill Eide - torill.eide@tiscali.no
Trine Eklund - t-eklun@online.no
Telephone
- (47) 67 50 66 51 work
Telephone – (47) 22 14 30 62
(47) 62 97 45 92 weekends