Dear friends,                                                                                                                        Jerusalem July 6, 2002

Although we know that many of you are on vacation this time of the year, we still want to keep in touch with you and keep you updated about the situation in Palestine.

At present it seems that the military incursions into Palestinian cities and villages are becoming routine and commonplace. All the main cities on the West Bank except for Jericho are under curfew. Nearly two million Palestinians are imprisoned in their own homes. They are only allowed to go out for a few hours every now and then to buy food and other necessities. Nobody can go to work or to school. There have also been many deaths and injuries in the past weeks.

From the Israeli government we hear different threats and promises. We also hear that this re-occupation will last for a long time. It seems that Mr. Sharon is drunk with power. He still believes that military power is the only solution. He thinks he can continue occupying the West Bank and Gaza, building more settlements, forcing the Palestinians into Cantons or rather Bantustans and setting the rules of the game. But these actions will not bring any peace; it will rather increase hatred and feelings of hopelessness and despair.  Of course this situation is affecting everybody, both physically and psychologically. People are exhausted but not defeated and in the YWCA we struggle to keep our programs running:

 Ramallah: The VTC extension program has so far been a success, but at the moment the students are not able to come to the YWCA center. Ramallah and the surrounding villages are under curfew and when they lift the curfew it is only for a few hours. That doesn’t give the students enough time to pass through the checkpoints or walk over the mountains to come to school and back home.

As for next year we are planning to have two groups of students. The registration should have started by now, but under the present circumstances no registration is possible.

Last Monday we were expecting 120 children who had registered for the Summer Camp. All preparations were made. Leadership workshops were held. There was even a pet animal zoo for the children.  That Monday morning Ramallah was reoccupied and now everybody is sitting at home wondering if there will be any Summer Camp at all this year. And we ask ourselves, what can we do with the children’s disappointment?

Jericho:The city is closed but not yet under curfew. Our Food Production Project is still running, although there is limited access to vegetables outside Jericho proper. The main obstacle is the transport of the products. At present the trucks can’t reach Jerusalem, Nablus or Bethlehem. A few of them have been able to go on dirt roads into Ramallah, provided that the curfew is lifted.

Jalazone:The new program for young girls - Expressive Art Therapy - has unfortunately been disrupted, as the project coordinator and the facilitator - both from Jerusalem - were not able to travel to Jalazone. For the sake of the children two of the teachers living in the camp will continue with part of the program.

Katie, the director of the center, is living in Ramallah. Last time she managed to reach Jalazone she had to get back under fire.

Jerusalem: It has become more and more difficult to get into Jerusalem. There are checkpoints everywhere, even “flying checkpoints “within the city.  This affects our Vocational Training Center. Teachers and students are often forced to be absent, especially those coming from the surrounding villages. At the moment we have a very low number of students who have registered for next year. We are really worried about this and it is probably caused by the financial problems that many families are facing.

 The National Council is busy making preparations for the YWCA World Council meeting in Australia and also for the local elections, which are supposed to take place in August. In times like these it is next to impossible to have a council meeting because of all the closures and restriction of movements. Most of the time we have to communicate via the telephone and the e-mail.

Last but not least we want to thank you for all signs of solidarity and sympathy. This time we want to express our special thanks to the children of the YMCA-YWCA of Denmark for their lovely postcards!

 Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers and to raise your voices for a just peace in this country.

 With best regards from YWCA of Palestine

Abla Nasir, General Secretary

YWCA of Palestine.

e-mail address: abla@ywca-palestine.org