Creating Alternative Facts on the Ground
Where: Anata, East Jerusalem
When: 2nd-15th August, 2009
Contact: the Camp Coordinator
Tel: 972-(0)2-624-5560 Fax: 972-(0)2-622-1530
Mobile 972-(0)54-4285026 or 972-(0)-52521655
or fill out email form below.
For the seventh year in a row, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions is offering a summer work camp intended to foster learning, discussion, and friendship between Palestinians, Israelis and internationals.
For two weeks the work site is a hive of construction, interaction, learning, discussion, and constructive resistance. We would very much like to see you at any day at our camp during the dates August 2-15. We will especially need help on the building site August 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and 13.
We offer transportation to the camp every morning at 8am leaving from the New Gate in East Jerusalem. Return transportation will be available after lunch at 3pm or at 10.30pm after dinner and evening event.
Suggested donation: $50 for the day; $25 for ½ a day.
The cost covers meals, all activities on site, and transport from the Old City to Beit Arabyia and back, and contribution to construction costs.
Annually since 2003, ICAHD has made it possible for international and Israeli activists and volunteers to join together with the local Palestinian community to rebuild the home of a Palestinian family whose house has been demolished by the Israeli authorities.
Every year hundreds of Palestinians are forced from their homes, built on land they own. They watch helplessly as Israeli bulldozers and pneumatic drills destroy their homes in minutes. The Israeli government claims that these houses are illegal because they have been constructed without building permits; however, the Israeli authorities refuse to grant building permits to Palestinians.
Working with local Palestinian construction workers and community members, alongside Israelis, camp participants rebuild an entire house in two weeks. They also have the opportunity to get to know the family whose house is being rebuilt. At the end of the two weeks there is a dedication ceremony that includes speeches from local dignitaries and internationals and features a celebration with Palestinian music and dance. The ceremony culminates as the keys to the rebuilt house are handed over to the family. Festivities continue with a traditional feast that marks the end of the camp.
In addition to helping construct a home, participants also experience:
Guest speakers including leaders in the Israeli and Palestinian peace and justice movement.
Field trips and study tours about the settlements, the separation barrier, road closures, checkpoints, and 'restricted' by-pass roads.
2009 ICAHD Summer Rebuilding Camp
