Civil courage is when civilians stand up against something that is deemed unjust and evil, knowing that the consequences of their action might lead to injury or even death. The Palestinian villagers of Al Aqaba, a little town in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank, are standing up as peacefully and courageously as they can, to build their homes on the land they own, knowing that Israeli Army bulldozers may come at any time. They are “rebuilding to remain.”
At one o’ clock in the morning on Oct. 10th, 2012, three Israeli military jeeps drove through Al Aqaba Village [in the Jordan Valley] to Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq Sbaih’s house at alarmingly high speed. They banged on his gate and yelled for him to open immediately. Because he is paraplegic, Mayor Haj Sami needs time and assistance to get out of bed. Before he was able to approach the soldiers, they fired bullets above his house and then drove away firing into the air. Villagers were terrified for Mayor Haj Sami and his elderly mother who lives with him.
Mayor Haj Sami received no message from the soldiers — neither oral or written. This raid seemed to be an intimidation tactic against the mayor, a peace advocate who continues to build and welcome visitors despite demolition orders against 97% of his village. Forty years ago at the age of 16, Mayor Haj Sami was shot by Israeli soldiers when working in the fields with his parents, and since then has been wheelchair-bound. He was the first casualty in the Israeli Army’s live-fire training exercises that killed 12 people and injured 36. In 2002, by order of the Israeli Court, the Israeli Army signed an agreement barring live-fire training exercises within Al Aqaba Village, but the next year the Army issued demolition orders against the kindergarten, the mosque, the medical clinic, and most of the homes.
“I was not afraid, but the people were frightened,” said Mayor Haj Sami, “I will stay steadfast and serve the citizens, God willing, these criminal acts will not scare me.”
We can breath a sigh of relief — Al Aqaba’s lawyers at JLAC report that the Jaber family home and barn are safe for now. Demolition orders have been “frozen.”
Starting at 9:01pm Pacific Time on Tuesday, October 16th, GlobalGiving will match donations to “Rebuilding to Remain” by 30% for each donation up to $1000. If you give early, in the first two hours of the competition we will have a much better opportunity to compete for GlobalGivings generous $50K of matching funds.
To finish construction so that 3 families move into their new homes and to continue the advocacy to keep them safe, we must raise $18,919.
To make TUESDAY 9:01 Pacific easy to remember, please come to our Online Bonus Benefit for ‘Rebuilding to Remain’ — or if you are in California, come to our Bonus Benefit party at our San Mateo shop!
Please join us.
It helps to remember what Rebuilding to Remain is all about. Here’s a film short by Maurice Jacobsen capturing the closing day of the Architectural Design Charrette in Al Aqaba, when the first 3 families signed to approve the design of their new colorful, eco-friendly, affordable, expandable homes!
To follow both crisis and hope, please click the “Get Alerts” tab on Lea Park’s “Palestine Crisis Map.”
donna, thanks so much for writing in. i’m going to do my darndest to remember! will you post a comment on tuesday and remind everyone? pleeeeaase.
what an incredibly worthy cause.
Annie, Yes, I’ll be happy to comment on Tuesday to remind everyone!
There’s got to be a way to help Palestinian families hold on. It is important for everyone to know that ‘Rebuilding to Remain’ is the only mortgage loan program in Area C. Despite a new and vibrant mortgage loan program in Areas A and B, no Palestinian banks offer mortgage loans to families in Area C because the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation is not providing Palestinian mortgage loan guarantees in Area C.
Speaking of (re)building on Arab land, the following ad was emailed to JPost subscribers recently,
http://p5trc.emv2.com/HM?a=ENX7Cqkmnnxv8SA9MKJb2PPnGHxKLejfnPcStGb5lw8W0bBhOG5mpqVsje_HhdB9ZlfC
form which one may quote, “Arabs are buying and/or squatting all over Galilee (Northern Israel) Lands. Help save Jewish Sovereignty in Galilee … Help stop the erosion of Jewish Control of the Galilee!” along w/ links to articles such as “Jews May Lose Out to Arab Encroachment” & “Illegal Arab Occupation and Unhindered Arab Building.”
When you click on the “Donate Now” button you’re taken to their website w/ posts such as http://www.byisrael.net/save-the-galilee/
Notice that at the top of their site they mention involvement in charity work such as feeding the hungry & helping the sick. Are these charity works covers for their main effort? How many ostensibly Israeli charity groups are in fact fronts for extremist ethno-religious nationalism?
Jonathan Cook published a long piece in The Link called “Welcome to Nazareth”, detailing what this land confiscation in the Galilee has meant to its largest city, Nazareth.