Video: May 2009 Delegation
Video Clips from IFPB's 30th Delegation
May 24 - June 5, 2009
The following videos (eight in all) were taken by Lisa N., co-leader of Interfaith Peace-Builders' 30th delegation. The delegation was co-sponsored by the National Peace Foundation. Click here to read reports from this delegation.
VIDEO 1: Yahav Zohar, Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions - On a tour of Israeli settlements and home demolitions in East Jerusalem, the group stops at the settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim. Yahav discusses the future of the settlements and his thoughts on the prospects of a one-state or two-state solution given the "facts on the ground." He also references American and European involvement in - and influence over - the Israeli economy and Israeli policies. (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 2: Issa Amro, Youth Against the Settlements - During an Interfaith Peace Builders Delegation visit to Hebron, Issa Amro from Youth Against the Settlements explains the closure and colonization of Palestinian areas inside the Old City of Hebron by illegal Israeli settlers and the Israeli military. (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 3: Issa Amro, Youth Against the Settlements - Issa Amro from Youth Against Settlements in Hebron, explains the Israeli settler attacks on a Palestinian family living in Hebron's Old City. The home is under constant Israeli military surveillance and is adjacent to an illegal Israeli settlement which was built on top of a Palestinian shop which has been closed by the Israeli military for the past 9 years. (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 4: Israeli Anti-Obama Rally at the US Consulate in Jerusalem - On the eve of President Obama's speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, Egypt, a group of Israeli and American settlers from Israel's far right wing protested outside the US consulate in West Jerusalem. The featured speaker is a representative of the Israeli organization "Women in Green". (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 5: Hazem Jamjoun, Badil Center for Residency and Refugee Rights - Hazem Jamjoum is the Media and Information officer of the Badil Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. In this clip he defines the Right of Return as three things: (1) the physical return of the refugee; (2) restitution of the property; and (3) compensation for the injury. In response to a question from one of the delegates, Jamjoum discusses the difficulty of addressing the right of return for Palestinian refugees in the International Court of Justice (for example) because they don't have legal standing as a state - despite the clarity of UN resolutions specifically 194, as well as refugee law and human rights law, on the legal basis for the Right of Return. (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 6: Mourad Owdah, Phoenix Cultural Center of Deheishah Refugee Camp - Mourad Owdah, a volunteer with the Phoenix Cultural Center, leads the group on a tour of Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. In this clip he explains and translates graffiti to a group of US citizens on an Interfaith Peace Builders Delegation. The graffiti is a copy of an illustration by Naji al Ali, a prominent Palestinian cartoonist who was killed in London in 1987. (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 7: Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin, Parents Circle/Bereaved Families Forum and Combatants for Peace - The group met with Palestinian Bassam Aramin from Combatants for Peace and Bereaved Families Forum and Israeli Rami Elhanan from the Bereaved Families Forum. Rami's daughter Smadar was killed in a bus bombing in Jerusalem and Bassam's 10-year old daughter Abir was killed by Israeli border police in Anata, East Jerusalem. The two men eloquently speak about the need for a resolution to the ongoing bloodshed. These two men have an immense respect, appreciation and love for one another. They are the hope that reconciliation is possible. (video by Lisa N.)
VIDEO 8: Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, Combatants for Peace and Parents Circle/Bereaved Families Forum - Palestinian father Bassam Aramin explains the murder of his daughter Abir Aramin to IFPB delegates in a visit to the offices of Combatants for Peace, a group which was founded by Bassam Aramin and his Israeli partner Elik Elhanan, the son of Rami Elhanan seated next to Aramin in this clip. Both Rami and Bassam are also member of the Parents Circle/Bereaved Families Forum. (video by Lisa N.)