Tag: Tanweer Enlightenment Forum

Women Support Center in Nablus empowers women and girls, resists gendered violence and the Occupation

Women Support

The Women Support Center is a project of the Tanweer Cultural Center and has been active in Nablus and surrounding communities of the Northern West Bank for four years now. It serves women and children with legal, mental health, economic, educational, and recreational initiatives. Designed to encourage independence, safety, wellness, and solidarity among women, they offer trainings in media, legal rights, entrepreneurship, and vocational training, group and individual therapy, legal counsel, sponsorship for gardening cooperatives, and individualized support for ad hoc projects when needs emerge.

Since October, military and settler activity have presented serious risks and delays in regional transportation into and out of Nablus. Palestinians are often forced to wait three or more hours at checkpoints before they are allowed through (if, indeed, they are allowed at all). This presents special difficulties to women and girls, due to lack of safe places to use the restroom. In recent months, the Center installed a restroom for women awaiting checkpoint passage. They also frequently arranged Iftar deliveries so that travelers entering and exiting the city could meet their bodies’ needs, which the occupation was otherwise preventing.

Cars delayed at an IOF checkpoint outside Nablus.

Public women's toilet built by Women Support Center for Nablus checkpoint. — Public women’s toilet built by Women Support Center for Nablus checkpoint.

Hakema Hassan, coordinator of the Gardening Cooperatives program, shared that the economic and social benefits for women who can produce food are immense. The Women Support Center distributes seeds and seedlings, and provides grant money for women to establish and sustain cooperatives. However, many women who would otherwise engage in this work do not feel comfortable leaving the cities—even to their home villages—as settler and military violence have worsened dramatically. “Our car windows have been broken many times”, reports Hassan. And at the aforementioned checkpoints, women face gendered harassment: “They ask us to dance for them…. This is forbidden.”

Other programs, such as upcoming media classes, are intended to offer women and girls tools for their activism. Other recent activist initiatives include: forums on female political prisoners under the occupation, vigils and protests for Gazans resisting genocide, and resistance against sexual violence and gender oppression.

Tanweer and the Women Support Center survive on a small budget—which has been all the more limited since the Israeli government cut off funding since the 7th of October. We invite you to help the Women Support Center and Tanweer to provide lifesaving and empowering services to the northern West Bank by donating at the PayPal account tanweer.nablus@gmail.com.

Extension of administrative detention of Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq for the second time

31 March 2012 | Tanwer

Human beings are born free, but we are surrounded by restrictions everywhere Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Today on the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day, which confirms for our people the unity and integrity of our case, the unity of its land, and the right of return and self-determination, the Israeli military court has extended administrative detention for two more months and for the second time of the human rights lawyer Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, 70, a lecturer at An-Najah National University and the Cultural Coordinator Forum of the Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment (Tanwer). He is currently detained in Ofer prison near the city of Ramallah.

Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq has been arrested since 7/11/2011, when he was taken from his home at two o’clock in the morning while suffering from illness. With his health and medical condition, he was transferred to a hospital immediately after his arrest to Ramle. He was sentenced to two months in administrative detention initially.

The arbitrarily administrative detention is legally incompatible with the most basic international standards of human rights, because it is without any specific charge against the prisoner. It also depends on the police file and secret evidence which cannot be seen by the detainee or defense lawyers. This file is prepared by the Israeli intelligence service with the intelligence information compiled in different illegal ways.

This type of detention is internationally banned not only for the specific category of the Palestinian people but internationally. It has been extended to include the arrests of lawmakers in the Palestinian Legislative Council, members of local councils, university students, political activists, academics, trade unionists and also women and children.

The decisions of administrative detention of Article 111, in the system’s state of emergency, imposed by the colonial authorities during the British Mandate, over Palestine in September of the year 1945, are illegal on the grounds that Article 43 of the agreements for the International Court in the Hague (1907) prohibit an Occupying power from using illegal measures in the occupied country.

It is worth mentioning that most of the unjust laws against the Palestinian people arise from the era of the British colonial authorities and are kept in practice by the Zionist occupation, even though these laws were deleted at the time.

Administrative detention is the endless suffering of the prisoners because the detention might run into a decade’s time, during which stress plays on the nerves and psychology of the detainee and his family, based on the expectation that tomorrow the prisoner will be liberated. The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights received from Israel’s Court of Ofer that the number of administrative decisions issued by the Israel military governor amounted to a total of 5971 since the beginning of the year 2004 until the end of 2010.

We, of the Tanweer Forum, call for the release of our colleague, Dr. Yousef, immediately from behind bars, holding Israel responsible for his health. And we hold the Government responsible for the conditions of Israel’s occupation. We demand the closure of administrative detention which is contrary to international law and human and ethical values. On this occasion, we declare our solidarity with all prisoners on hunger strike calling for their release, especially in solidarity with the struggling Hana Shalabi.

We also call upon the Arab and international institutions, like An Najah National University, to expose the policy of administrative detention because of its destructive social impact, to the media internationally.

We call for the establishment of a professional united front working for the release of Palestinian freedom fighters — members of the Council of Jurists, legislative delegates, academics and university students, children and women– to end the filing of administrative detention forever.

Israeli military court extends administrative detention for civil rights lawyer Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq

9 February 2012 | Tanweer Enlightenment Forum

The Israel military court has extended administrative detention for two months in addition to three months already detained for civil rights lawyer Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, a lecturer at An-Najah National University and the Cultural Coordinator for the Tanweer Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment Forum, currently detained in Ofer Prison near Ramallah.

Yousef Abdul Haq was arrested November 7th, 2011 at his home at 2:00 AM, suffering from illness which requires constant dosage of medicine, forcing his transfer to a hospital immediately after his arrest in Ramla.

He was sentenced to two months in administrative detention immediately.

This arbitrary administrative detention is legally incompatible with the most basic international standards of human rights, because it is without any specific charge against the prisoner. These arbitrary detentions depend on the military file and “secret evidence” which cannot be seen by the detainee or defense lawyers. This file is prepared by Israel intelligence and is “collected” illegally.

This type of detention is internationally banned and is impacting lawmakers in the Palestinian Legislative Council, members of local councils, university students, political activists, academics, trade unionists and even women and children.

The imposition of administrative detention by Article 111 of the military state of emergency imposed by the British colonial authorities of Palestine September, 1945 is illegal on the grounds that Article 43 of the Hague international agreement of 1907 prohibits an occupying power to change the legislative reality of the country occupied.

Administrative detention is the endless suffering of the prisoners because they may de detained for a decade, physically and psychologically impacting the detainee and their family based on the expectation that the next decision will be an extension of detention.

The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights received from the Israeli military court in Ofer, that the number of additional administrative detentions issued by the Israeli military governor reached a total of 5,971 since the beginning of 2004 until the end of 2010.

We in the Tanweer Enlightenment Forum, call for the release of our colleague Dr. Yousef immediately from behind bars, and we hold the Government responsible for the conditions of Israel’s occupation, in respect to his health. We demand the end of the administrative detentions which are contrary to international law..

On this occasion, we declare our solidarity with the prisoner hero Khader Adnan, who is continuing his hunger strike battle in his 55th day to end the administrative detentions. We also call on international institutions and the Arab and local media to expose the policy of administrative detention. We uphold the work of a united front for the release of Palestinian prisoners including lawyers, members of the Legislative Council, academics, students, children and women.

We call for the end of administrative detentions forever.

Freedom for political prisoners.

Close the detention camps and prisons and abolish administrative detention.