Hackney event - Lots of pictures below!
On Saturday 21st March, the Kingshold Community Hall in Hackney was covered in balloons, flag, cupcakes and decorations to welcome eight of the fifteen young women visitors from Palestine who were part of CADFA’s Twinning in Action project and the tenth annual CADFA women's visit to Britain.
One of the visitors was Shorouq Darbadran from Beit Sourik, whose village has had an informal friendship relation with people in Hackney for the past ten years. This has involved visits in both directions since the first group from Hackney visited Beit Sourik in 2006 and, with the help of the charity CADFA, several Beit Sourik visitors have come to Hackney schools, colleges and organisations over the years.
Shorouq spoke of the human rights problems faced by her village as Israeli settlements extend and as people are limited in their right to travel by tunnel access roads, checkpoints and the Israeli Separation Wall. She called for the renewal and strengthening of the grassroots twinning link with Hackney and said how much it would mean to people there.
Another visitor was Shahd Hindi, whose family were pushed from their village near Haifa by Zionists wanting to take the land in 1948 . Their family like thousands of others have been refugees ever since, and now live in Jenin refugee camp where as a little girl Shahd (now 22) witnessed the horrors of the Israeli invasion of 2002 when the Israeli army invaded and flattened much of the camp, killing dozens. If her family were allowed back home - as international law says they should be - she would have been in her twin town in Hackney, as Hackney Council has for some years had a formal twinning to Haifa.
As well as the food, raffle and celebrations, the evening focused on twinning initiatives. Baroness Ece of Hackney opened the meeting. She said that the recent parliamentary debate calling for recognition of a Palestinian state was a dramatic development and followed a sea-change of public opinion about Palestine. Nandita Dowson, Director of CADFA, talked of the many visits and volunteering opportunities organised by the charity, linking people in Britain and Palestine together and showing the power of personal links in raising awareness of human rights.
The women visitors had spent ten days in Britain together with young women from Palestine as part of the CADFA visit funded by Erasmus Plus (European funding) . CADFA has brought other visitors from Palestine to Hackney during the past year - in October, a group of schoolboys visited the council; in February, university students from Palestine stayed in the borough and visited Hackney College. In June, look out for the next Palestinian visit, which will be school students, visiting local schools.
On Saturday 21st March, the Kingshold Community Hall in Hackney was covered in balloons, flag, cupcakes and decorations to welcome eight of the fifteen young women visitors from Palestine who were part of CADFA’s Twinning in Action project and the tenth annual CADFA women's visit to Britain.
Old friends: as a CADFA volunteer in Palestine for three months two years ago, Sarah (on right) stayed with Shorouq in Beit Sourik when visiting the village to send back news for the Hackney-Beit Sourik group. They were very happy to meet up again on 21st March!
One of the visitors was Shorouq Darbadran from Beit Sourik, whose village has had an informal friendship relation with people in Hackney for the past ten years. This has involved visits in both directions since the first group from Hackney visited Beit Sourik in 2006 and, with the help of the charity CADFA, several Beit Sourik visitors have come to Hackney schools, colleges and organisations over the years.
Shorouq spoke of the human rights problems faced by her village as Israeli settlements extend and as people are limited in their right to travel by tunnel access roads, checkpoints and the Israeli Separation Wall. She called for the renewal and strengthening of the grassroots twinning link with Hackney and said how much it would mean to people there.
Another visitor was Shahd Hindi, whose family were pushed from their village near Haifa by Zionists wanting to take the land in 1948 . Their family like thousands of others have been refugees ever since, and now live in Jenin refugee camp where as a little girl Shahd (now 22) witnessed the horrors of the Israeli invasion of 2002 when the Israeli army invaded and flattened much of the camp, killing dozens. If her family were allowed back home - as international law says they should be - she would have been in her twin town in Hackney, as Hackney Council has for some years had a formal twinning to Haifa.
As well as the food, raffle and celebrations, the evening focused on twinning initiatives. Baroness Ece of Hackney opened the meeting. She said that the recent parliamentary debate calling for recognition of a Palestinian state was a dramatic development and followed a sea-change of public opinion about Palestine. Nandita Dowson, Director of CADFA, talked of the many visits and volunteering opportunities organised by the charity, linking people in Britain and Palestine together and showing the power of personal links in raising awareness of human rights.
Several Hackney councillors had expressed interest in the meeting. Councillor Dawood Akhoon attended the meeting and said he was very interested in Hackney having a formal twin in Palestine - perhaps Beit Sourik because of the links that had already been made.
Teena Lashmore, a parliamentary candidate in nearby Waltham Forest, was also present. After the meeting she tweeted..."Great day with @camdenabudis The seeds of twinning Hackney with Beit Sourik in Palestine. Lets make it happen! pic.twitter.com/bfRi3o1SyL "
The women visitors had spent ten days in Britain together with young women from Palestine as part of the CADFA visit funded by Erasmus Plus (European funding) . CADFA has brought other visitors from Palestine to Hackney during the past year - in October, a group of schoolboys visited the council; in February, university students from Palestine stayed in the borough and visited Hackney College. In June, look out for the next Palestinian visit, which will be school students, visiting local schools.
A page from the Hackney-Beit Sourik blog shows a young woman from Beit Sourik who visited Hackney in 2014.
CADFA volunteer putting the final touches to the cupcake stall before the event began
Baroness Merel Ece of Hackney speaking at the event
Palestinian visitors in front of a small-scale version of the Israeli Separation Wall, made by CADFA volunteers
In a previous CADFA women's visit, Fatima from Beit Sourik (right) tells the story of how her nose was broken by a blow by an Israeli soldier when she was seven; an English participant listens intensely
Some of the Hackney helpers who made the evening happen
No comments:
Post a Comment