The email below was sent to us by Amal Sadaqa from Stars of Hope a disability services NGO working in the West Bank of Palestine. It reminds us that while we must demand a permanent ceasefire on Gaza, the West Bank too is facing intensified attacks from Israeli Occupation forces.
Fellows and colleagues in partner organizations
Greetings from Palestine.
Israeli Occupation Forces target persons with disabilities and their organizations in behaviour that clearly reflects the policy of systematic ethnic cleansing practised by the Occupation against the Palestinian People.
Recently, the severity of the Israeli Occupation’s attacks and violations against our people in general, including people with disabilities, have escalated. This adds to the history of the Occupation, which is full of the most heinous crimes committed against our people for more than 75 years, and people with disabilities and the organizations working with them had a large share of these crimes.
One of the Israeli Occupation’s recently recorded violations is its attack on Al Jaleel Society for Rehabilitation in Jenin Refugee Camp, which took place during the Occupation’s raid of Jenin Refugee Camp, which included an assault on the public hospital adjacent to the Society’s headquarters, on 26/11/2023. During the attack, the Occupation Forces destroyed the Society’s belongings and the different rehabilitation tools and equipment that were used to serve the needs of persons with disability, which led to depriving 3,000 beneficiaries with disability of receiving the services that they need.
Please see the report titled “The Occupation Forces’ Attack on Al Jaleel Society in Jenin Refugee Camp”.
The Occupation’s attacks on the Camp extended to affect people with disabilities themselves. Jawad is one of the people with disabilities who was directly affected by these violations. He was greatly affected by the recent events in Jenin Refugee Camp, as he lives alone in his house and is a person with mobility and visual disabilities. His disabilities resulted in great difficulties in dealing with the recurring raids, the firing of tear gas bombs, and other actions resulting from such attacks. These effects escalated until they reached the point of demolishing part of his house due to the Occupation’s bombing of the Camp, and turned it into an uninhabitable house.
Please watch the video report entitled “Hannoun in Jenin Camp”.
Stars of Hope Society for the Empowerment of Women with Disabilities has worked to document these blatant violations against people with disabilities and their institutions. This results in making people with disability face more complex difficulties in light of the Occupation’s fierce attacks on everything that is Palestinian. The Society calls on all its partners to ensure that the voice of persons with disability is heard and requests that they adopt a comprehensive approach in advocacy and defence processes and to demand rights for all, including women with disabilities.
Best regards.
Amal Sadaqa