Hebron Rehabilitation Committee Succeeds in Evacuating Israeli Settlers Out of Arafeh Building
Through Hebron Rehabilitation Committee’s legal unit concentrated efforts against the Israeli settlers taking over Arafeh family house in “Qzazeen old market” in Hebron’s old city, which lasted for two years, the legal unit of the HRC has succeeded in evacuating the settlers out of the mentioned building. In accordance to the evacuation decision, the HRC’s lawyers along with competent authorities visited the building to make sure that the decision is being executed.
The Minister of Transport Commends Hebron Rehabilitation Committee in The Return of Thousands of Citizens to The Old City of Hebron
On a visit of His Excellency the Minister of Transport Mr. Asem Salim to Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, he was hosted by the General Director of the committee, Mr. Emad Hamdan and the Deputy Mayor of Hebron, Mr. Yousef Al Jabari, through which he was briefed of the current situation in the Old City of Hebron and how the Israeli occupation works to surround the H2 area with settlements and divide it with checkpoints that limit the freedom of movement and access into different H2 areas for both residents and visitors.
Mr. Hamdan also mentioned efforts of Hebron Rehabilitation Committee and its progress since 1996 in the restoration, rehabilitation and housing of old buildings and offering incentive services to the residents of the old city, whether these services are social, health or psychological, along with protection of religious and historical sites and the preservation of its architectural elements dating back hundreds of years in addition to the rehabilitation of the infrastructure in cooperation with Hebron municipality.
During the visit, His Excellency pointed out that these massive efforts are worthy of appreciation, and that he admired the appearance of Hebron’s old city and its historical splendor, which must be preserved. His Excellency also resented the suffering of the people living near the settlements in H2 area and gave them a big salutation for their steadfastness against the Israeli occupation.
Funded by The Polish Government
Hebron Rehabilitation Committee Opens “Emar Children’s Park” East of the Ibrahimi Mosque
Despite closures and restrictions forced on Hebron’s old city area by the Israeli Occupation and the obstacles that Hebron Rehabilitation Committee faces during the implementation of its rehabilitation and renovation projects in the area, it has successfully constructed a children’s park, with an area of 700 square meters that contains more than 600 children, in Jaber and Salaymeh neighborhoods east of the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The opening ceremony of the park was held by Hebron Rehabilitation Committee and took place on January 13.
Hebron Rehabilitation Committee General Director, Mr. Emad Hamdan, has indicated that the project of “Emar Children’s Park” is one of the committee’s most important projects due to this restricted area’s particularity for being a connecting area between the Ibrahimi Mosque and Kiryat Arba Settlement. Mr. Hamdan has also mentioned the difficulties that the HRC’s workers went through during transferring of the construction materials and the implementation of the project.
During the opening of the park, deputy mayor, Mr. Yousef Jabar, has stated that Salaymeh and Jeber neighborhoods always need support and solidarity by all the national and international associations, also, Hebron Municipality and the HRC will always work hard and exert efforts to aid resilience of the area’s residents and provide their needs.
The engineer supervisor of the project at Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, Mr. Hilmi Maraqa, has declared that this park has eight fixed games and a set of popular local games designed on the playground of the park, he also thanked and appreciated the Polish government for its funding of this project.
Meanwhile, the social researcher at Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, Mrs. Diana Zalloum, has confirmed that the residents of the old city in general and the people of the eastern area of the the old city in particular are living under great psychological and social pressure because of the living conditions, social isolation and movement restrictions that the Israeli occupation imposed on the area, and for this reason the HRC sought a suitable location to offer a way for the children of this area to meet, play and have fun.
As Aref Jaber, a resident of Salaymeh and Jaber neighborhood, said, "This project has been awaited for years, as this area is closed and there is no place for children to play except the streets, where it was dangerous to play due to the presence of settlers’ cars, which caused many incidents of settlers running over Palestinian children."
The Polish ambassador, Przemysław Czyż, has declared that he is grateful for the happiness of the children in this park and is proud of his cooperation with Hebron Rehabilitation Committee in the completion of this project, which the residents deserve as it is one of the top projects in the area.
At the end of the opening ceremony, the residents of the area presented a token of their appreciation to the Polish ambassador, and to Hebron Rehabilitation Committee for its concern and efforts exerted in this project near Kiryat Arba Settlement.
Beyond the humanitarian implications of living under military occupation, the Palestinians throughout the West Bank must endure the impact from the illegal settlements. Today nearly 20% of people living in the West Bank are Israeli settlers living illegally on ethnically cleansed Palestinian properties.
