WEST BANK: Palestinians say planned Israeli closures of Islamic charities will harm orphans and young students

Record ID: 563201

  • Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians say planned Israeli closures of Islamic charities will harm orphans and young students
  • Date: 1st April 2008
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MUHAMMAD SIAJ, STAFF MEMBER AT THE CHARITY, SAYING: "There are orphans who, if they were to leave this home (the charity orphanage), they would find no home but the streets.''
  • Embargoed: 16th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4RSMKZOA4JHQ5LNFL4U7XQ5QH
  • Story Text: Palestinians say Israel's decision to close down Islamic charities in the West Bank will leave hundreds of orphans without a home and thousands of children out of school. Israel says the charities funnel funds to the Islamic movement Hamas.
    In the West Bank City of Hebron, children residing at the Qatar House Charity for Orphans are wondering where they will live now that Israel has launched a campaign targeting orphanages and charities which Israel says have links to the Islamist group Hamas.
    Israel says the charities, which helped Hamas build support among Palestinians and win a 2006 parliamentary election, provide help to militants.
    Israel has given a number of Palestinian charities notice that it intends to shut them down. The charities say they are simply aiding ordinary Palestinians.

    "Following the rumour of this news (Israel announcing it will close charities and orphanages linked to Islamist group Hamas), of course the children started to raise worrying questions. They are asking about their destiny, they are asking about the clothes they are used to receiving, the food they are used to eating, the refuge that is their home,'' Muhammad Siaj, staff member at the Qatar House Charity for Orphans, told Reuters Television.
    The charity is funded by, and runs under the supervision of, the Qatari Red Crescent. It is one of the charities slated by Israel for closure.
    Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June, Israel has stepped up raids targeting the group's charities and schools in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's rival Fatah faction holds sway. Abbas's government has also sought to crack down on Hamas members and their charities in the West Bank.
    Israeli troops last month raided the Hamas-linked Islamic Charity Organisation in Hebron, confiscating computers and vehicles from its main office and closing several smaller offshoot institutions. The Israeli army said in a statement it raided the organisation because it delivered money to militants, trained young people "according to the Jihad spirit" and supported the families of suicide bombers.
    The campaign has stirred fears among other institutions, including those providing a home for orphaned children, such as the Qatar House Charity for Orphans. The charities say the planned closures will put thousands of Palestinian children on the streets.

    "There are orphans, if they leave this home (the charity orphanage), they will find no home but the streets,'' said Siaj.
    Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron protested on Thursday (March 27) against the raids. According to organisers, some 4,000 protesters, including children, took part in the protest. They chanted anti-Israeli slogans, waved green banners -- the colour of the Hamas flag -- and held placards reading "They even took our bread".
    ''They closed down our school (orphanage), but even if they close it we will not give it up and we will continue to study. We will continue to study until we understand and we become educated. So they closed our school, the orphans, you see, they don't eat, who will feed them? Their fathers and mothers are not alive, so if they close our school, who will provide for us?'' said schoolgirl Zeinab, an orphan.
    Around 1,000 children are benefiting from the Qatar House Charity for Orphans. Issa Hawamdeh, 13, is one of 120 boys living in the charity. He says it is the only home he has.
    ''My social situation is not ideal. My father died of a stroke in Ramallah. Our social situation is not normal. (Reporter asks about his mother) She is ill with cancer,'' said Hawamdeh.
    Hawamdeh added: ''First of all, it is an unfair decision (Israel planned closure of charities). It is not documented by law and it is not legal. This decision will cost me a year of studies and it will degrade our social situation further."
    The United States, which is trying to sideline Hamas and bolster Abbas as part of a push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, has also blacklisted some Palestinian charities linked to Hamas.
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