DesertPeace

It's been almost a year since israeli soldiers brutally murdered this gorgeous child, Abir Aramin. She was one of over 100 Palestinian children murdered in cold blood by Israeli soldiers in 2007. A wonderful group in the States is attempting to immortalise the name of this little Martyr by building a garden in her memory...a project that all of you can participate in and support.

Abir Aramin's Garden: a Safe Place to Grow

Summary: Bring former combatants together to create a playground for the children of Anata, advocate for the safety of all children -- especially Palestinian children -- in school zones, and pursue justice for Abir Aramin.

How You Can Help:

$50 - Buys a curbstone to frame the sand area$150 - Buys the sign, "Abir's Garden" $450 - Pays for a Spring Rooster$1,500 - Buys a Merry-go-round$25,844 - Will fully fund this playground.

Project Needs and Beneficiaries:

Help create a long lasting memorial to Abir Aramin, where children can be children and safely step out of the occupation and into their imagination. Former fighters from Combatants for Peace (C4P) will work side by side to build the playground, helping Abir's friends and the world see that there are people who care for children and work together for justice and peace. Work on Abir's Garden will begin with the playground area shown in 5a in the plans below, designed by C4P members working with the Parents Committee at the Anata School for Girls in East Jerusalem. Work will continue as funds are raised. When completed, the school grounds will include two play areas, a ball field, fruit and olive trees, a memorial fountain, and many beatiful places for the children to sit, play, and talk.

What Happened to Abir?

Abir Aramin was walking home from school with her sister and two friends in the West Bank town of Anata on January 16th 2007 but never made it back to her family. On this day the Israeli Border Police jeep, parked outside the gates of the Anata girls' school, opened fire at the 4 girls walking home. Abir was hit with a rubber bullet to the head and critically wounded. Abir Aramin was taken off life support after 3 days of struggling for her life. She was only 10 years old.

"Over the past 2 years, the Israeli Border Police and IDF forces have been creating provocations near the school district of Anata has become in part of the daily routine for the children. Ever since construction started on the separation barrier surrounding Anata, the jeeps have been roaming the streets especially near the schools and shooting grenades and tear gas along with rubber bullets," said Avichay Sharon of Combatants for Peace. "Many children have been injured in the past by these brutal actions of the soldiers and on January 16th it became deadly. As in many other cases the police replied that the soldiers were shooting in response to stones thrown at them by children. Even though all the evidence and witnesses stated that no stones were thrown that day, the prosecution decided to close the case because of lack of evidence." News of Abir's death created a wellspring of emotion worldwide, in part because Abir's father, Bassam Aramin, is an activist and founding member of Combatants for Peace. Responses to a condolence letter online written by Women of a Certain Age came from 58 countries and was addressed to her family. The Rebuilding Alliance contacted Mr. Aramin, who asked that efforts to organize on behalf of Abir be directed to the children of Anata, in the hope that the world would help Combatants for Peace provide them with a safe place to play.

Abir's friends are traumatized, as are the children of Anata who live under occupation and witness brutality daily. They have no safe place to play and grow.

Bring Those Responsible to JusticeAn integral part of this project is in pursuing justice for Abir. Despite numerous eye witnesses of the jeep firing rubber bullets at the girls and an autopsy report, the Israeli government recently dismissed Abir Aramin's case, supposedly for lack of evidence.

We urge you to ask your elected representatives to invoke the requirements of the Leahy Law and the Arms Export Control Act to press for justice in the case of Abir Aramin. Ask them to call on the U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice to demand that the Israeli government investigate and report back to her the circumstances of the death of the ten year old Palestinian girl, and bring the soldier responsible to justice.

The U. S. Arms Control Act prohibits countries from using U.S. weapons against civilians. Furthermore any authorized use must be in "legitimate self-defense" or for "internal security". Killing a defenseless child fails on both these counts. The Leahy Law adds the requirement that "the government of each country is taking effective measures to bring the responsible members of the security forces unit to justice."

Please call and email your congressperson and senators and ask for their senior staffers for foreign policy. Here is a phone script you can use to make that call, and a letter to send by email to follow-up.

Activities: Designs completed, approved. Accounting plan is in place. Ready to purchase playground equipment and schedule the first phase of the project. Combatants for Peace to help with construction in 2 weekends: clearing then assembly.

Potential Long Term Impact: This project arises from the Aramin family's decision to turn their tragedy and despair into care, creativity, and teamwork. Abir's Garden will nurture the children of Anata East Jerusalem and provide a model way to overcome violence.

Project Message: I'm not going to lose my common sense, my direction, only because I've lost my heart, my child. I will do all I can to protect her friends, both Palestinian and Israeli. They are all our children. -- Bassam Aramin, Abir's father and co-founder of Combatants for Peace
Key People: The following three people sign-off on each stage of the project Zohar Shapira, among the founding members of Combatants for Peace, heads the Israeli side of the movement. Zohar, now a teacher in a Waldorf school in Israel, served for 15 years in the elite unit "Sayeret Matkal", as a combatant and commander. After the bloody spring of 2002, when hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians were killed in mutual violence he refused to serve in the occupied territories. Zohar is married with one child.

Bassam Aramin, Abir's father, is co-founder of Combatants for Peace. He now works as a clerk at the Palestinian National Archives. At the age of 17 he was sentenced to 7 years in Israeli prison for belonging to the then-outlawed Fatah movement and for weapons possession. Beaten by soldiers in prison, he decided that he would not become a prisoner of hatred. He and his wife had six children, five remain.

Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom is a member of the board of directors of the Rebuilding Alliance. An American-born rabbi, he has lived in Israel since 1968, and been involved in Israeli peace camp initiatives for over 29 years. Rabbi Milgrom co-founded Clergy for Peace and lectures in Israel and Europe on Judaism, nonviolence, and peace. Now working with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to save Jahalin Bedouin villages slated to be removed by the Israeli Separation Wall, he sees building as way to ameliorate the suffering of innocent people and push for policy change.

Partnering with the Rebuilding Alliance Combatants for Peace is a group of Israeli and Palestinian individuals who were actively involved in the cycle of violence in their area. The Israelis served as combat soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinians were involved in armed resistance in the name of Palestinian liberation. They believe that the blood shed will not end unless they act together to terminate the occupation and stop all forms of violence. They work to educate, raise consciousness and create partners in dialogue, and to maintain political pressure on all governments to stop the cycle of violence.
Women of a Certain Age traveled to the Occupied West Bank in 2004 to meet with Palestinians whose voices have not been heard outside the walls of occupation. They work to keep visible the reality of life on the ground in the Occupied Territories.

Click HERE to get to the Rebuildind Alliance Website for details on how YOU can help make this a reality... The Greening of Palestine.

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© 2007 DesertPeace

SOURCE: http://desertpeace.blogspot.com/2007/12/greening-of-palestine-special-post.html