The Olive Tree Movement

Ahalan WaSahalan!
Welcome to the Olive Tree Movement's brand new website!
Here you'll be able to receive information about the group activities and reports from past activities.

Enjoy!

Aya is 8 years old, a resident of Beit Umar, in the Hebron region, and is one of 8 children in her family.

About a year ago, a cancerous growth was found in Aya's head. Over the last half a year, Aya has undergone 3 difficult surgeries in order to remove the growth, and she was hospitalized in Hadassah-Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem for 3 months. The surgeries were funded by the Peres Peace Center.

Recently Aya began radiation and chemotherapy treatments at Hadassah Hospital, which she will need to continue for around two months. The Palestinian Authority funds the treatments themselves, but none of the accompanying expenses.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Update: Dr. Gassan Sharif Khaled’s second abduction and subsequent imposing of a six months administrative arrest by the IDF/Shabak

Hebrew text follows

Dr. Gassan Sharif Khaled is a professor of international commercial law at A-Najah University in Nablus, and the son of our close friend Abu Azzam. (http://www2.najah.edu/nnu_portal/index.php?page=95).

Dr. Khaled was abducted from his home in Nablus by the IDF on January 16th/08 and imprisoned for two months; the initial three weeks included interrogation by the Shabak (Israeli Secret Service) that included continuous physical torture (due to which he also suffered internal hemorrhage in one leg).

sing the petition
To: Obtain the Realease of Dr. Gassan Sharif Haled from the Israeli Occupation Prison

AN INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF DR.
GASSAN SHARIF HALED WHO WAS ABDUCTED BY THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION ARMY ON 16/01/08 !!!

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*Hebrew text follows

We are friends and supporters of Dr. Gassan Sharif Haled?s family for the past five years, both from Israel and from the international community. Some of us are also frequent visitors of Gassan?s parent?s home in the West Bank village of Ja?ayus. We ask you to sign this petition to demand the immediate release from prison of our dear friend, who holds a Ph.D. in law and is a respected professor of international law at Al-Jajah University in Nablus.

photo gallery
Click here to watch video from the convoy (sorry, Hebrew only, except for Jeff Halper’s speech, partially in the video)
The initiative for the large action that took place today (26.1.08) started when the well-know psychiatrist, Dr. Eyad al-Sarraj, the human-rights activist from Gaza, met in the Gush Shalom office with a small group of Israeli peace activists, in order to tell them about the desperate situation in the strip. It was decided on the spot to organize in Israel a relief convoy for the Gaza Strip people, and to fight by all political and juridical means for the right to get it in. It was agreed that two parallel protest rallies would be held simultaneously on the two sides of the wall.

يوم السبت 26 كانون الثاني لن نبقى في البيت!
رفع الحصار!
قافلة إمدادات إلى جيراننا في غزة
هل يساعد أولاد سدروت أن نرغم أولاد غزة على شرب مياه ملوثة؟ يبدو أن حكومة إسرائيل تفكر أن الأمر كذلك (إذا كانت تفكر أصلا).
غزة محاصرة! مئات المنتجات الضرورية للإدارة السليمة للحياة اليومية يُمنع دخولها إلى القطاع بأمر من حكومة إسرائيل. حتى إدخال مصافي المياه، الضرورية لتطهير المياه التي يتم ضخها من الآبار في غزة، وهي مياه ملوثة بالأملاح، الزيوت، والمجاري، ممنوع منذ أكثر من نصف سنة. وسائل الإعلام في إسرائيل لا تنجح (ومن غير المؤكد أنها تحاول) في تمرير الصورة الحقيقية عن الوضع المتأزم إلى الجمهور الإسرائيلي، غير أن كل من تحدث، في الأشهر الأخيرة، مع سكان غزة، يدرك أن الوضع قد تحول منذ فترة إلى كارثة إقليمية تلحق الخطر بنا أيضا.

On Saturday January 26

nobody stays home-

End the Siege!

Relief convoy to our neighbors in Gaza

Does it help the children of Sderot when we force the children of Gaza to drink polluted water? It seems the government of Israel thinks so (if they think).

Gaza is under siege! Hundreds of commodities needed for the maintaining daily life are not allowed into the Strip, by order of the Government of Israel. Even the entry of water filters - vital for purifying the water drawn from Gazan wells, which are heavily polluted by brine, oil and sewage - is prevented for more than half a year already. The Israeli communications media don’t succeed (and not always even try) to convey to the public a real impression of how severe is the situation. But anyone who talked to Gazans in the past months understands that the situation has long since developed into a regional disaster, which puts us, too, in danger.

I am traveling with other American and Israeli peace activists to Palestine to plant olive tree saplings early this February. You can read all about the trip at http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2008-01-14-07-40-04-news.php.

If you want to purchase a tree for planting in Palestine by donating on line please use the following funds collection link https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/1285/t/755/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=1911 or by sending a check for $10.00 or more per sapling to Plant Healing, P.O. Box 2712, Orleans, MA 02653.

In solidarity, with love, B.

PDA is partnered this February, 2008 with the Trees of Reconciliation project of Jewish Voice for Peace, Plant Healing, and the Olive Tree Movement in Israel and Palestine to plant olive tree saplings on land in West Bank villages where Palestinian farming families have been denied access to their orchards by the Israeli government's separation/apartheid wall.