Because Khuza'a

Before and after the Israeli bombing in Gaza, Summer 2014. Click here for a vivid and detailed account of the battle as reported in Jewish Journal, September 4, 2014. It's an unforgettable read, a long piece by necessity.

One of the many buildings--part of the ceiling, the walls, and most of the furniture--damaged in last year's madness housed the local kindergarten, and Friends of Khuza'a New Mexico is raising money to rebuild it. Who are the friends of Khuza'a in New Mexico? You and I are. Just people who feel the need to restore a little dignity to the proceedings of being human, and who wish to provide the children a clean safe place where they can heal in community with loving teachers. 

Jeff Haas, one of the Santa Fe organizers, has relayed that the folks on the ground in Khuza'a have sent a budget for the restoration of the kindergarten. They need to buy zinc metal sheets to replace the walls, 20 chairs, five tables, and materials to build some playground equipment. They can make the needed purchases, transport the supplies to the construction site, pay the laborers, feed some volunteers, and have an operating kitty little left over for picnic supplies, food for the children, and miscellaneous sundries, all for $5,600.

The other urgent need is a water filtration system for Khuza'a Primary School, which operates in two shifts and serves 1,200 students (700 girls and 500 boys). Though it officially reopened on March 23rd, testing has revealed high biological contamination of the water in the region as a result of deteriorating infrastructure due to the bombing.The price tag for the water filtration system for the school is $13,000.

A lot of wonderful people are coming together to raise that $18,600 to cover the two projects, and events have been planned in Santa Fe and Albuquerque next weekend, May 15th and 16th to make it happen. In fact a friendly challenge has been issued and the hope is that Burquenos will contribute half of the needed amount and Santa Feans the other half. Tax deductible contributions can be made on line at this link, or checks can be sent to MECA (the Middle East Children's Alliance), 1101 8th St. Suite 100, Berkeley, CA 94710. Indicate your contribution is for the Khuza'a Project. 

Middle East Children’s Alliance had wanted to send its Director of Gaza Projects, Dr. Mona El-Farra, a physician from Gaza whose extended family suffered nine deaths in the bombing, on an "Out of the Rubble" speaking tour throughout the US. But Israel has denied her exit permit visa. She has also been denied an exit permit visa to travel to England to attend to her daughter who is ill. The humanitarian appeals on her behalf so far have fallen on deaf ears.

Instead, a Santa Fean who has just returned from meeting with Dr. El-Farra will present. From the press release:

Kathleen Christison, an internationally recognized political analyst and author, will be speaking and showing slides of her recent trip to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza at Tipton Hall on May 15 from 7-9pm.

Christison is the author of three books on Palestine, including Perceptions of Palestine: Their Influence on U.S. Middle East Policy and The Wound of Dispossession: Telling the Palestinian Story.

Christison’s writings have been described as a "scrupulously honest and well-researched history of the Arab-Israeli conflict..." Christison has an acute and in-depth understanding of the Middle East, in particular, the history of the founding of the state of Israel in 1948 and the dispossession and displacement of indigenous Palestinian populations prior to and after the creation of the state of Israel. She was a political analyst for the CIA between 1963 and 1979 where, for more than 7 years, her work focused on the Middle East. Since her resignation from the CIA in 1979, she has dedicated herself to researching and writing about the realities of life in occupied Palestine. Christison was also a member of the National Book Critics Circle for many years and has lectured around the country and in Europe.

Also in Santa Fe on Friday, May 15th from noon to 1pm, Santa Fean Issa Malluf, a Palestinian-American percussionist featured in the video below, will perform a concert with his ensemble. There is no cost for the music, but donations for the kindergarten and water filtration system will also be happily accepted there.

The Friends of Khuza'a Albuquerque event the following night will have a slightly different flavor. “Eyewitness in Gaza: Nakba 1948 to Current Humanitarian Crisis,” will feature a presentation by Ayman Nijim and Samia Assed. Nijim has developed programs to help children and mothers in Gaza cope with occupation, displacement, and assaults by the Israeli military; and Samia Assed is a Palestinian American, activist, and board member of the Albuquerque  Peace and Justice Center.

There will be Middle Eastern snacks, live music, tabling from social justice groups, and photography. Yes, of pain, destruction but also resilience.  

The fundraising event will be held at 7-9 pm on Saturday, May 16th at the Albuquerque Mennonite Church, located at 1300 Girard Blvd NE. 

Ayman Nijim, a graduate student  in peace-building conflict transformation skills at the School for International Training in Brattleboro Vermont is one of the featured speakers on Saturday, May 16th. His wife and two children still reside in Gaza.

School for International Training in Vermon

School for International Training in Vermon

I want to thank the organizers of these events in advance. Like so many others, I find the Israeli occupation of the Palestinians unbearably agonizing (I have family in Israel--my elder sister who emigrated there under the Law of Return, three Israeli-born nephews, and first and second cousins), and I tend to avoid the pain there when possible by focusing my activisms on struggles closer to home. Until now I had never encountered the term Nakba Day, nor did I know the details of the carnage in Khuza'a, or that here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we could do anything concrete to make their situation even a little better via restoring the kindergarten class and providing clean water for the children. It's a true relief, and not just for them.

I'm eager to hear the unmediated firsthand reports and to see the pictures and videos that will be presented at next week's events. I really do appreciate the opportunity to be informed, and also to confront whatever cruelty must be confronted in community instead of alone behind a computer screen. It's important.  

I want to keep this post as short as possible in the hopes that people will at least peruse the Simone Wilson article on last year's invasion of Khuza'a. 

Because.