PARC Host Women for Peace in Occupied Jerusalem in Cooperation of the Coalition for Jerusalem
April 22, 2007
On 17 April
2007, representatives of the Coalition for Jerusalem met an
international Women Peace Cyclist delegation representing 32
countries across the world following a Middle Eastern tour,
which included Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The delegation was
organized at the initiative of an international organization
called "Follow the Women" which aimed at raising women's
awareness across the world regarding wars and occupation in the
Middle East region, and their impact on the women's situations,
in addition to mobilizing support and assistance to the women
victims of Israeli occupation.
In
a very symbolic and meaningful move, more than 80 women ended
their tour in Palestine, and in Jerusalem, in particular to
express a firm vision regarding the importance of the city to
humanity and to all people and religions of the globe,
especially the Palestinian people. "We wanted to stress that no
peace and stability can prevail in the Middle East without a
just solution to the Jerusalem issue," said one of the
participants.
PARC managed
to organize a day long visit program for the delegation in which
many representatives of the Coalition for Jerusalem, national
and religious icon people as well as universities and schools
actively participated. The visit program was open by a study
tour in the Old City which included visiting the most
problematic and challenging quarters where Israel established
irreversible facts on the ground that would affect the future
solution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict. International
women could see the real situations of the Palestinian
Jerusalemites and the ongoing threats of the Jewish fanatic
settlers. The delegation listened to Palestinian eyewitnesses'
stories on Israel's feverish campaigns to force Palestinians out
of the Old City and replace them with settlers to create a
demographic imbalance in the city in favor of Jews, in addition
to destroying the historical and cultural identity of the Old
City by changing it to a completely Jewish city.
The second
part of the program visit was an open meeting at Dar El-Tiffel
El Arabi where an official and popular welcome reception
ceremony took place. Dr. Munib Younan, the Bishop of the Avang.
Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, as well as Mrs.
Mahera Dajani the Chairwoman of the Dar El-Tiffel El Arabi
addressed the delegation and expressed their sincere thanks for
their efforts to support the rights of the Palestinian people to
peace, freedom, and independent state. They asked the
international women to convey the Palestinian vision to end the
Israeli occupation to establish just peace in the Middle East
while stressing that Jerusalem had always been an open city
until 1967 when Israel started to impose its full control over
the city by denying access to the Palestinians and other people.
Therefore, it is important to know that the Palestinians
envision Jerusalem as an open city with no walls or any type of
restrictions; a city that accommodates two capitals for two
states.
At the
public meeting, PARC screened the Iron Wall film produced in
2006 and the school's chorus had a musical and traditional
dancing (Dabka) performance which was met with huge applause by
the audience. Lunch was served to the guests followed by a
visit to the school's museum.
The last
part of the visit program was participating in the candle sit in
by Damascus Gate which was organized by the civil society
organizations including and Palestinian Detainees' families in
commemoration of the Palestinian Prisoners Day, commemorated by
the Palestinian people on 17th of April each year.
It is worth
noting that tens of women representing Iran and Syria were not
allowed to travel to Palestine as Israel returned them from
Allenby Bridge, the border between Jordan and Palestine. They
expressed their deep sorrow for not meeting the Palestinian
women and asked their friends to convey their full support and
solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just cause.
PARC's
representative conveyed the same feelings to both delegations
and hoped to meet them in the near future in free Jerusalem. She
asked the international women to bring the T-shirts of the
Coalition for Jerusalem with mottos reading "Jerusalem…the heart
of Palestine" and "Free Palestine" to their Iranian and Syrian
counterparts.
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