Unclear » Israel

FREE THE SHMINISTIM – ISRAEL’S YOUNG CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS

Carrie Lee Teicher — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:01:41 +0000

http://december18th.org/

The Shministim – all about ages 16, 17, 18 and in the 12th grade – are a new breed of conscientious objectors in Israel and right now they are taking a stand. They believe in a better, more peaceful future for themselves and for Israelis and Palestinians, and they are refusing to join the Israeli army. They’re in jail, holding strong against immense pressure from family, friends and the Israeli government. They need our support and they need it today. The Shministim have asked Jewish Voice for Peace to reach out to people like us to let the Israeli government know we are watching, and that we support their courage. They’re hoping to receive hundreds of thousands of postcards to be delivered to the Israeli Minister of Defense on December 18th, when they will hold a massive rally and press conference. They’re hoping to stand strong on the steps of this majestic building – and on the steps of history – representing not only the thousands of refuseniks who came before them, not only the many young people to whom they are an example of a better world, but also to represent us. They have asked you, me, and every person who strives for peace to be on those steps with them, on that day. I will be there.

More info (in hebrew): http://shministim.blogli.co.il/

ARDC refugees in the Israeli media

Carrie Lee Teicher — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:21:09 +0000

Survivor’s stories from our (ARDC) shelter….

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1215331152189

Grieving for the Future

Carrie Lee Teicher — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:31:05 +0000

M is a 30 year old, mother of 3, pregnant woman living in a shelter in Tel Aviv. She has a sweet disposition and despite the fact that her 3 year old son (up until this week her other two children were in Egypt) can be a total “terrible three” terror, handles herself and him with grace and dignity. She is soft spoken, but people always seen drawn to her.

Last night her two other children, via discussions between UNHCR, ARDC and of course the Israeli military, were returned to her. They came from Egypt to Israel without parents–as their mother, M, was already here and their father (unknown to their mother up until last night) died in Egypt on his way to join his family. These kids had to tell their 8 month pregnant mother about what happened to her husband, their father. From this scenario, you’d hardly know that these two children are about 8 and 10 years old respectively.

As her grief set in, and her cries became louder and higher pitched, the entire female population of the shelter engulfed her and added to the screaming, screeching and sobbing. They collectively became a mob of comfort and grief. As the news spread throughout the Eritrean and Ethiopian refugee community, dozens of women started coming by to join this scene. And it was clear that the grief that engulfed them was not only M’s individual sorrow, but their common predicament. Most of the mothers living in the shelter are there alone, without husbands, so M’s situation is each and everyone of their worst fears coming true.

And the sorrow just grows. They grieve for her. They grieve for themselves. They grieve for all the injustices perpetuated against them in the past, but most of all I think many of them grieve for their future.

Things are getting uglier for the African refugees here…

Carrie Lee Teicher — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:25:02 +0000

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/985061.html

ARDC and PHR on TV

Carrie Lee Teicher — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:55:08 +0000

I was on the news last night representing ARDC (African Refugee Development Center).

Tel Aviv Refugees

Carrie Lee Teicher — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:30:57 +0000

More media about the African refugees in Tel Aviv… http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/959452.html http://www.keshet-tv.com/VideoPage.aspx?MediaID=33502&CatID=330&CurrentCatID=330

ARDC Refugee Shelters in the paper…

Carrie Lee Teicher — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:19:37 +0000

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/937494.htmlThe ARDC Refugee shelter story made it into both the English and Hebrew version of Ha’aretz today. ARDC, the African Refugee Development Center, is currently running 3 shelters for 350+ African refugees (mostly from Sudan, Ivory Coast, Eritrea and DRC) in southern Tel Aviv. The conditions are horrible. For photos I took, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrieteicher/sets/72157603146651030/

Defining discrimination

Carrie Lee Teicher — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:26:17 +0000

Baqa, Ash-Sharqiya, West Bank, Palestine

To find the location of where I was today on the map, go to the link below. Baqa Ash-Sharqiya is about 15 miles (and 15 billion light years at the same time) east from Hadera (inside Israel). Below is the link to the full map created by the Israel human rights organization, B’tselem. Where the PHR clinic was located today was in Baqa Ash-Sharqiya, which is near the arrow in green.

http://www.btselem.org/Download/Separation_Barrier_Map_Eng.pdf

What does it means to live in space where apartheid exists? What if that apartheid isn’t law but just an acceptable social practice? The dictionary defines apartheid as a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on the grounds of race. I was talking with someone tonight who believed what is going on in the West Bank is not apartheid, yet I find it problematic to call it anything else. On the border to the West Bank there are 50 cars filled with Israeli Arabs trying to cross the border to go back home to Israel on Saturday evening. These are Israelis who are not Jewish, but who live in Israel, pay Israeli taxes, have Israeli ID cards, go to Israeli schools and vote in Israeli democratic elections. Yet, because of their race/religion/creed and not nationality, they hold a teudat zehut (Israeli National ID Card) just like I do, they are being forced to wait in a longer line, with less service and less respect.

Our minivan drives in a separate line. The white Ashkenazi Jewish line is like an automatic fast lane. An Israeli gets out, flashes his ID and we’re waved through without opening the door, without checking our van, without checking our IDs and with our dignity and personal autonomy intact.

Also, I am a refugee

Carrie Lee Teicher — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:56:12 +0000

The posters and signs this morning, in Hebrew, English and French, read- “Also, I am a refugee” and “It’s happening NOW” and ” The ‘Never Again’ is HERE Again” and “Expulsion= Death” and “Let my people stay”. I went to a rally this morning for African refugees living in Israel; apparently I’m not the only one in Tel Aviv who cares about the world. What was the point of the rally? Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) was a co-sponsor of the march and rally (along with NIF, ARDC, Amnesty and more).

Why are we marching?

• We march in order to protest against Israeli policies of exclusion towards refugees and asylum seekers

• We march in order to demand social rights for refugees – health, welfare and education

• We march in order to stress that 600 refugees and asylum seekers are still in detention.

• We march in order to celebrate the social and cultural diversity that refugees bring to Israel.

What are we demanding?

• Fair and equal asylum process for any asylum seeker, regardless of her or his country of origin.

• The immediate release of refugees and asylum seekers from detention.

• “Social Residency” status that will grant refugees and asylum seekers eligibility for basic social rights.

• An immediate halt to the deportation of asylum seekers according to the “Hot Return Procedure”, a procedure that endangers refugees’ lives, and does not conform to Israeli and International law.

• To put a stop to any deportation of refugees and asylum seekers.

Reunited!

Carrie Lee Teicher — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 18:30:14 +0000