Palestinian refugees:
In the human history there is not any crime which is as brutal as the crime of forcing Palestinians out of their lands in 1948 at the hands of the Zionist gangsters; this was later called the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe). The contemporary history of Palestinians turns on a key date: 1948. That year, a country and its people disappeared from both maps and dictionaries.
Palestinians used to live in peace on their homes and land before 1948. On May 15, 1948, the Zionist movement declared the formation of the "nascent state of Israel" on 78% of Palestinian lands. Palestinians have been uprooted from twenty cities and about four hundred villages; about seven hundred thousand Palestinians i.e. 66% of the residents of Palestine became homeless; this was the complete deterioration of the Palestinian society with all its components and bases; it lead to the emergence of a new phenomenon in the Palestinian society that is the Palestinian Refugees Camps. Even now, after seventy-six years, more than seven million Palestinians are still living in exile, mostly in neighboring countries: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the rest.
Palestine is a very poor country, Palestinians are almost totally dependent on external aids to keep them survive. The worst situation is in the Palestinian camps where starving took place taken into consideration the highly fertility rate which reach 8.5.
All of the camps are overcrowded, they contain virtually no open or green spaces that can be used for recreational purposes or sporting activities. Camp residents are living in small size houses that do not exceed 30 square meters at a rate of two rooms for one family; the housing conditions of Palestinian refugees are also among the worst in the world. The health situation of Palestinian refugees is generally very poor. The statistics of Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (2015) reflects the highest percentage of poverty and the difficult socio-economic conditions in the refugee camps, where 67.5% of the refugee families under risk of poverty, a result of the high unemployment; high fertility rate; the large family size; and the high dependency rate. In this context, a male youth from Arroub camp said, “We are living in misery, we have nothing, it is very crowded, your window opens into your neighbour´s window, a street is one meter wide, as refugees we need a solution that gives us our rights”.
In fact, these camps which bear witness to the catastrophe, homelessness and uprooting of Palestinians from their lands and homeland symbolize their daily sufferings on all levels: cultural, social, economic and political. They are still up till this present waiting for a political decision to put an end to their pain and suffering that was promised to them by the international community, although the United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date" (UN, 1948).
Project Details:
Title: Ramadan Iftar for 500 Needy Palestinian Refugee Families (4000 persons) in the West Bank: Hardship, Aged, Handicapped, Unemployed, Widows, and Orphans 2015.
Donor: The Lady Fatemah (A.S.) Charitable Trust-London.
Organization: HRS - Humanitarian Relief Society.
Authority: Registered Non-Government Organization in Palestine.
Address: Bethlehem, West Bank, Palestine.
Contact person: Dr. Bassam Banat, president, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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, 00972 599 678 306.
Beneficiaries: Needy Refugee Families: Hardship, Aged, Handicapped, Unemployed, Widows, and Orphans in refugee camps, West Bank, Palestine.
Number of Beneficiaries: 500 needy families (500*8 persons=4000).
Date of the project: June 25 - July 5, 2015.
Food package details for each family: 3 kilo of corn oil, 5 kilo of rice, 4 kilo of sugar, 5 kilo of semolina, 1 kilo of dates, and 1 kilo of tea.
Project process:
The HRS society announced about the project in the mosques of ten Palestinian refugee camps in north, middle and south of West Bank: Fawwar, Arroub, Ayda, Duhaisha, Amaari, Jalazun, Balata, Askar, Nur Shams, and Jenin.
Each needy family filled an application for the food which last for ten days.
All the applications were evaluated in order to get the very needy 500 families.
Each selected family received a capon from HRS to get Ramadan Iftar 2015.
The delivery of the food took place in the ten refugee camps in the period June 25 - July 5, 2015.
HRS team covered the delivery of the food professionally, with accurate documentations (excel names list of the head of the family, his category; number of members in the family; number of boys and girls in the family, photos, etc).
HRS uploaded the project details on LFT web and HRS web as well.
Acknowledgment:
Upon the completion of this charity project and on behalf of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and the HRS board members I would like to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to The Lady Fatemah (A.S.) Charitable Trust for their generous support for our needy brothers and sisters in the refugee camps.
It would be have been impossible to carry out this charity project without your generous support and kindness, may Allah bless you and reward you the Jana, Ameen. “inna lanudeeAAu ajra man ahsana AAamala” (We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds). Sadaga Allah Al Atheem.
With my deepest salaamas and duas,
Professor Bassam Banat.
President
