We are from the National Committee Against the Wall in the Beit Omar area of Hebron, Palestine. We work against the racial discrimination wall, Palestinians and Israelis together with the common aim of stopping the wall in the Hebron area, in villages and towns such as Beit Omar, Jabaa, Yatta and Twani. We have been working together for the past five years, and all this time we have been using the car that belonged to Mr. Ezra Nawi, an Israeli. Even though it was his own private car, we Palestinians used it more than him – he even paid for all the fuel.
He himself has been struggling literately day and night in an effort to strengthen the Palestinian villagers in the South Hebron area as the Israeli government and settlers try to expel them from their land. Rain and shine he was there, building water wells, planting olive trees, ploughing fields, organizing summer camps for the children, taking patients to the hospitals, and filing scores of complaints against settler violence.
With his car, we managed to reach areas that the Israeli army prohibits Palestinians cars from entering. We used it to travel all around the different areas in the Hebron region, and we were very grateful to him. Unfortunately, the car was stolen during a protest against the wall on Monday April 17th. We searched everywhere but had no luck finding it. It was a 4X4 Mitsubishi Magnum pickup truck, which Ezra used regularly for his political activities. Unfortunately, Ezra did not have theft insurance.
We’re sending this message to you, hoping to find some comfort. In this difficult situation, we can not afford to buy back Ezra’s car – and of course he did not ask us – as the amount is too much: nearly $23,000 (US). If you could contribute any amount of money to help us buy back the car for him, we would be very grateful.
Sincerely yours,
Mussa Abu Marya
National Committee Against the Wall, Beit Omar
Please send checks made out to Ta’ayush with a note added “for Ezra’s car” , to:
Dr. Neve Gordon
Department of Politics,
Ben-Gurion University,
Beer-Sheva, 84105
Israel