On Saturday, 12 March 2016 after a one-month strike, the Palestinian teachers in the West Bank returned to work (and Christian Peacemaker Teams-Palestine resumed its school checkpoint accompaniment.) The teachers were striking for fairer wages and in general more respect by the Palestinian Authority (PA) officials. An enormous amount of money in the PA budget, much of it donated by foreign funders, goes to its security apparatus. Still more is lost to corruption and the inflated salaries of upper-echelon PA officials. The teachers were calling for their salaries to reflect the respect that other public sector employees receive.

Team members spoke to a tour guide in ‘Idna village about his opinion on the strike and he said he was calling it “a revolution.” If the strike had happened in any European country, he said. It would have brought down the government. When teachers planned to converge on Ramallah for a 7 March demonstration, PA officials warned bus companies they would lose their bus licenses if they chartered buses to teachers. Hebron friends reported to the team that PA police set up checkpoints on the day of the demonstration and checked buses and shared taxis for teachers on the day of the rally. CPT Palestine’s project support coordinator was in one of these taxis when she entered Ramallah and the police asked in any teachers were inside. The driver reported he could have been fined 500 shekels (129 U.S. dollars) if he had been transporting teachers. (Ten thousand teachers managed to make it into the capital by arriving the night before.)

Read the full article here. 

Kindergarten students CPTers walk to school   The Walk to School in Hebron   Imagine your children or grandchildren going off to kindergarten. Young, innocent, curious, proud to be “adults” going to school now. Not quite the same for kindergarten kids off to school in Hebron, Occupied West Bank, Palestine.  In one neighborhood the kindergarten kids round the corner from the courtyard where their families live. Then, to go to school, they have to climb a rather steep hill. This hill has some features that you would consider “out of the ordinary”.  There is a nice, hard-surface path that leads up the hill. On the right of this path is a low wall constructed of concrete barriers — somewhat like you might find separating the traffic lanes on an Interstate highway or autoroute — topped with a wire fence. The path becomes a kind of corridor, but it’s not the path for these kindergarten kids. They are Palestinian in occupied Palestine. Their path lies to the left of the barrier. It’s an eroded dirt path covered with rocks and debris — not so easy for little feet and short legs to navigate. Read the full article here.    Restriction of movement near the Ibrahimi mosque   Colonization: Bridging Israel and America   Stepping into Palestine has required that I engage who I am as a white American because the Israeli military occupation of Palestine and the unchecked land theft of the illegal Jewish settlers is above all else an act of colonization.  Palestine is an occupied land where generations of Palestinians have had their ancestral lands stolen, their homes destroyed, and where the future of their children is always in jeopardy.  When one escapes the loudspeaker of American media and escapes the propaganda tours of the Holy Land, one comes face to face with the reality that this conflict is at its simplest a massive land grab.  It is theft from one people for another people.  Israel is colonizing Palestine. When you accept that Israel is colonizing Palestine, your eyes open and you see the conflict for what it truly is—an oppressed people resisting an oppressive people.  Israel employs so many tactics in its quest for land and the Palestinians, as a diverse culture with numerous peoples and perspectives on solutions, respond as occupied and colonized peoples have always responded.  They resist violently and nonviolently, they survive, they persevere, and they do their best to plan for a future and to undo the social ills that accompany the poverty that accompanies colonization. Read the full post here.      Our mailing address is: cptheb@cpt.org Consider a contribution to the Christian Peacemaker Teams to support peace and justice. Make a difference, click here bit.lyhttps://cpt.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0316-2.jpgCPT_Donate unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences    Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Website Categories Palestine al-Khalil (Hebron) Subscribe to the Friday Bulletin Get Hannah’s thoughts and the entire bulletin every Friday in your inbox, and don’t miss out on news from the teams, a list of what we’re reading and information on ways to take action. First Name Last Name Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Subscribe Read More Stories A year without them Mona El Zuhairi A story of the oppressive and devastating practice of family separation. The poor pay the price of colonialism Caldwell Manners I remember my first visit to the community of El Guayabo. We arrived on public transport speed boats that operate on the Magdalena River. 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