Issue25

The Galilee Society Newsletter

In This Issue: Issue 25, May 2007

Rikaz Conducts Training for Surveyors for 2007 <Socio-Economic Survey of Palestinians Living in IsraelEJC Launches Arab Writers Competition to <Promote Culturally Specific Environmental EducationNaqab Department: Youth-to-Youth Group <Takes Leadership Role at Environmental Day

Teva Pharmaceuticals to contribute Funding to <Galilee Society’s Unique Breast Cancer Aware-ness ProjectAgainst Collective Punishment: EJC Continues <to Fight Mekorot Policy of Water SuspensionsNews in Brie < f

During 27-30 April, Rikaz conducted its first of three trainings for field surveyors for its second comprehensive socio-economic survey of Palestin-ians living in Israel, at Galilee Society headquarters in Shefa-‘Amr.

A group of 30 trainees attended the event, which was conducted by Rikaz staff and previously trained surveyor supervisors. The trainees include veterans from Rikaz’s first socio-economic survey of Pales-tinians in Israel, conducted in 2004.

Rikaz Conducts Training for Surveyors for 2007 Socio-Economic Survey of Palestinians Living in Israel

The purpose of this training was to prepare survey-ors for collecting data from Palestinian households in the survey’s fieldwork. Each trainee was provid-ed with a surveyor manual, which has been refined based on the 2004 survey evaluation. In order to simulate field conditions, trainees participated in su-pervised role-playing situations, where they learned how to approach households and to conduct statisti-cally integral interviews.

Training topics included the use of maps to ensure randomized sampling. Surveyors will work simul-taneously, but in different localities (or “statistical areas”), each area taking five days to survey. A to-tal of 3,270 total households will be surveyed from 78 localities, which include 109 total statistical ar-eas in Israel, including unrecognized villages in the Naqab.

In the North region, 1,650 households in 41 lo-calities will be surveyed. In the Haifa region, 570 households in 11 localities will be surveyed. In the Central region, 510 households in 11 localities will be surveyed. In the Southern region, 540 house-holds in 15 localities will be surveyed.

In addition to the importance of the statistical area, training topics included an in-depth discussion of the questionnaire, which forms the framework of the survey. In the field, surveyors will conduct in-terviews based on this questionnaire, and the data it contains will then be compiled and analyzed by Rikaz staff. Surveyed demographics will include such indicators as health, education, income, agri-

culture, environment, housing, and many others.

The second surveyor training will be conducted next week in the Naqab region, and the third in the Cen-tral region soon thereafter. Fieldwork for the 2007 Socio-Economic Survey will begin at the end of the week.

Rikaz staff and survey supervisors participated in a training workshop for trainers, conducted by Pales-tinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) staff in Ramallah, the weekend before the training for sur-veyors. The PCBS also advises Rikaz on technical areas such as statistical samples and questionnaires.

The 2007 Socio-Economic Survey, a follow-up to Rikaz’s groundbreaking 2004 Socio-Economic Sur-vey, is part of an E.U. Partnership for Peace-funded project. The 2004 Socio-Economic Survey con-stituted a unique and complete data source for the socio-economic and other aspects of Palestinian life in Israel, including demography, education, culture, health, environment, housing conditions and labor.

Participants in the Rikaz field surveyor training

A flurry of media attention marked the EJC’s an-nouncement of its Arab Writers competition, which promotes culturally specific environmental edu-cation and Arab cultural heritage. EJC staff gave three radio interviews and at least six Arab language newspapers published articles.

The EJC’s Arab Writers competition aims to pro-mote culturally specific environmental education by soliciting Arabic language short stories with envi-ronmental and cultural themes, publishing them in a collection, and distributing the published volume to schools in Israel. The EJC will also develop and distribute a syllabus outlining a course of environ-mental study centered on the short story collection.

This project was initiated to address the of the lack of modern literature in the Arabic language that deals with environmental issues, observed by the Galilee Society and its long experience in Arab schools. An extreme insufficiency of environmental education in general exists among Arabs in Israel. This forms an important part in revitalizing the Arab cultural heritage among this minority group. Through this project, the EJC will also provide a unique opportu-nity for talented Arab environmental writers in Is-rael while promoting environmental education and sustainable development in Arab schools. This pro-gram has been designed to provide environmental literature that is aligned with the Ministry of En-vironment’s approach to Sustainable Development and Education in Israel.

Once interested writers submit a proposal to the EJC, they can then enter a short story into the com-petition. After the submission deadline on 4 July, the project’s expert committee will judge the sub-missions and award a first prize of $3,000 to the best story and several lesser cash prizes to other ap-plicants. All submissions will receive an award for participation. Acceptable subjects include the im-

EJC Launches Arab Writers Competition to Promote Culturally Specific Environmental Education

Illustration from an online newspaper news article about the competition

Fifteen students from the Almostaba group of the Naqab Department’s Youth-to-Youth program helped organize a high school Environmental Day on 19 March.

The Youth-to-Youth students distributed environ-mental education materials and led groups of stu-dents in garbage removal and environmental hazard surveying. Youth-to-Youth members guided groups of students from the Almostaqba school around the outskirts of the village, picking up garbage and lead-ing discussions on observed environmental problems in the vicinity, such as water pollutants, toxic materi-als near residential areas, and air pollutants.

Financial support, in the form of environmental education materials and t-shirts for the Youth-to-Youth members, was provided by the Galilee Society Naqab Department. Educational materials included public education stickers and pamphlets.

The Youth-to-Youth project, which aims to train

Bedouin students to act as peer leaders in the fields of health and environment, operates in three Naqab schools and involves 54 students in total. Partici-pants attend workshops where they learn such topics as the importance and meaning of health and en-vironmental education, the human body (build and function), infectious diseases and their transmission, hygiene and nutrition, the importance of vaccina-tions, household and road accidents and their pre-vention, first aid, the dangers of drugs and smoking,

Naqab Department: Youth-to-Youth Group Takes Leadership Role at Environmental Day

Youth-to-Youth members from Almostaqbal attending a plan-ning session

portance of a clean environment, sustainable devel-opment, and related topics.

The main funder for the Environmental Justice Center in general and for this project in particular is Misereor, the German Catholic Bishops’ Organiza-tion for Development Cooperation.

To promote the competition, the Galilee Society published advertisements in five Arabic language newspapers for one week, as well as directly solicit-ing certain well known Arabic language writers in Israel.

Israel-based Teva Pharmaceuticals Industry, Ltd. is providing a grant to a Galilee Society project to implement an Arabic-language public education campaign that will promote breast cancer awareness among Israel’s Arab population.

This alliance demonstrates an important relation-ship between the Galilee Society and an interna-tional corporation, and widens our donor base to include business as well as foundation and govern-ment funding. It also shows Teva’s commitment to community relations in general and to the Arab sec-tor in particular.

Teva funds will contribute to the production of a na-tional poster campaign and the production of two Arabic-language educational films on breast can-cer. The posters will be posted throughout Israel and will be printed in Arabic and therefore aimed at the Arab community in Israel. A culturally sensi-tive issue, breast cancer is not openly discussed in the Arab society, resulting in low levels of awareness and women not attending regular checks and taking preventive action.

As a result of these problems, breast cancer, the lead-ing cause of cancer mortality in Israeli women, is increasing at a faster rate among Arab women, ac-cording to the Israeli Center for Disease Control (ICDC) and the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This disparity is, in part, due to the lack of early detection of breast cancer amongst Palestinian women, which results from a lack of health knowl-edge and unavailability of the necessary services for early prognosis. Arab health educators in Israel today lack the appropriate tools for breast cancer training and awareness-raising among women in their com-

Teva Pharmaceuticals to contribute Funding to Galilee Society’s Unique Breast Cancer Awareness Project

hereditary diseases, local environmental hazards in the area, and good environmental practice.

The Youth-to-Youth project is a component of a larger Galilee Society’s project, entitled, “Programs for Strengthening Health and Education in the Bedouin Unrecognized Villages in the Naqab,” which is financed by the Spanish Government’s De-

velopment Fund, via the development agency, AC-SUR. Aiming to promote women’s participation in development, this project provides women’s health leadership training, women’s health/first aid educa-tion, peer health education, campaigns of legal advo-cacy on behalf of Bedouin communities, and public health and environment campaigns.

A mammography, a procedure that has been proven to reduce mortality from breast cancer

munity. Although extensive materials exist in He-brew, a lack of training and educational materials ex-ists for the Arab minority in their native language.

In order to address this dearth of culturally specific health information and the resultant high rates of breast cancer, this project will design, print, and dis-play posters drawing attention to the issue of breast cancer, the dangers of the disease as well as the im-portance of checks and prevention.

In addition, the project will create two films, the first film being targeted at healthcare professionals, and the second film at Arab women. Both films will fur-ther public knowledge about breast cancer in a cul-turally specific and sensitive manner.

Film as a visual tool is not only important in the process of health education and training, but also crucial for raising the awareness of breast cancer among Arab women more generally. In many cases, and in particular among the older generation, Arab women inside Israel do not know Hebrew at all or do not master it to the level needed to grasp medical advice or to be able to read leaflets and brochures in Hebrew. In addition, the level of illiteracy among Bedouin women in the south of Israel is even higher than Arab women in the rest of Israel. This situa-tion risks leaving Arab women in a position where they do not have access to the knowledge and infor-mation needed to prevent or discover the disease in time.

The educational film for Arab health professionals will be promoted and distributed using the Galilee

Society’s extensive network, including speakers and participants from many years of health conferences and study days, Galilee Society members and board members, Israeli Knesset members, and Ministry of Health decision makers. The Galilee Society may also arrange a public viewing of the film and invite carefully selected health professionals.

The educational film for Arab women will be dis-tributed to health educators throughout the country. It will also be distributed to a wide range of women of all ages that participate in the Galilee Society’s other projects. These other projects include women’s health education and women’s leadership in the Naqab, diabetes and cardiovascular disease project, and female high school students in our HIV/AIDS project. In addition, this film will be sent to women’s NGOs and civil society organizations throughout Israel, as well as Kupot Holim and Hospitals, to en-courage distribution among patients.Discussions held between the Galilee Society and Teva have suggested the possibility of airing the films during Ramadan, when Arab families traditionally gather and often watch television together. This possibility indicates an enormous potential of these films to reach both Arab women in Israel as well as a much wider audience across the Arab world.

Through this campaign the Galilee Society hopes to encourage a more open debate on the issue of breast cancer among Arab women in Israel and to make the community more aware of the disease. This is aimed to result in more women taking action towards pre-venting the disease or detecting it early on.

In its latest efforts to prevent the Israeli National water utility, Mekorot, from continuing to suspend water services to entire Arab villages as punishment for non-paying individuals, the Environmental Jus-tice Center (EJC) has renewed its advocacy efforts.

In a letter sent to the General Director of Mekorot, the Minister of Interior Affairs, the Chairman of the Committee for Interior Affairs and the Envi-ronment, and the government Water Authority, the EJC argued that the suspension of water to entire Arab villages constitutes a humanitarian violation that affects hospitals, schools, and both paying and nonpaying citizens. That these actions affect both offenders as well as innocent citizens equally con-stitutes disproportionate and collective punishment, which is illegal under Israeli law. The EJC maintains in this letter that such actions are in breach of the basic right to water, which forms part of the depart-ment’s Charter of Environmental Justice.

Recently, Ofir Paz Pines, the Chairman of the Com-mittee for Interior Affairs and the Environment forwarded the EJC correspondence to the General Director of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, who is responsible for the national water infrastructure in Israel. Paz Pines called on the General Director to take action and asked what his plans were to alter this discriminatory policy. Paz Pines also forwarded the letter to Mekorot, sustaining the EJC’s humani-tarian, disproportionate, and collective punishment arguments.

These efforts are the latest in a long line of Galilee Society efforts to end this unfair policy. In August of 2004, following an EJC petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice, the Knesset adopted an amendment to the Water and Sewage Corporations Law, which allowed Mekorot to cut water to municipalities who have paid more than 80% of their water bill.

Following this 2004 amendment, the High Court issued a decision on 19 August 2004 asking the plaintiff, the Galilee Society, to withdraw its petition against Mekorot in light of the amendment, which changes the normative basis of the petition.

However, despite the positive step of the 2004 amendment, many Arab villages continue to suffer from frequent water stoppages as a result of the in-ability of local authorities to pay the required 80%. Routinely, entire Arab villages, such as Rameh and Kafr-Kanna, are deprived of water and are forced to stockpile tap water and buy bottled water for essen-

Against Collective Punishment: EJC Continues to Fight Mekorot Policy of Water Suspensions

tial tasks like preparing food and flushing the toilet.

The Galilee Society responded to the High Court decision by arguing that this amendment is not an adequate response to the citizens it represents, as al-

most no Arab local authority is able to pay the 80% required, and thus there is no guarantee that Me-korot will not cut off water to Arab towns and vil-lages.

News in Brief

Galilee Society General Director Dr. Basel Ghattas attended a dinner hosted by the U.S. Ambassador in March and met with Nancy Brinker, founder of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, a Gali-lee Society breast cancer project funder. Richard H. Jones, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, hosted the function.

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation is the largest funder to the Galilee Society project, “Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign,” which aims to raise awareness about breast cancer amongst Palestinian women throughout Israel. It will train Palestinian women to become health leaders, performing self-checks and checks on others, and distributing in-

formation about breast health to more women. This raised awareness will result in greater community sensitivity to women’s special health needs and a better quality of life for victims of breast cancer. Our holistic approach to health care includes impacting these levels via complementary activities: awareness raising and education, advocacy, service provision, research and empowerment. Activities include con-ducting a Training Course, Advocacy activities and a Study Day and preparing culturally specific pub-lications.Susan G. Komen for the Cure, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is dedicated to education and research about causes, treatment, and the search for a cure to breast cancer.

U.S. Ambassador Dinner Brings Together Breast Cancer Organization and Galilee Society Representatives

Representatives from a joint Italian, Israeli, and Pal-estinian trade project focusing on developing markets for olive-based products visited Al-Maissam on 23 March to learn about Galilee Society activities and to discuss Al-Maissam’s role in the trade project.

Mr. Gianni Toma, Mr. Carlo Mileti, and Mr. Sergio Bidetti, of Lecce, Italy, learned about Al-Maissam’s research and educational activities as well as Galilee Society projects during a three-hour tour of the Al-Maissam Medicinal Plants Center.

Delegation from Italian Olive Products Consortium Visits Al-Maissam

Representatives from Children of Peace, a British non-governmental organization focusing on Pales-tinian and Israeli children, visited the Galilee Soci-ety headquarters in Shefa-‘Amr in March during a fact finding visit among NGOs that work with chil-dren in Israel and the West Bank.

Children of Peace Secretary John Guyatt, Treasurer Claire Packham, and Administrator Nicole Prit-chard Smith, visited the Galilee Society as part of a weeklong tour in Israel and in Palestine, where they met with 13 different Israeli and Palestinian NGOs. The purpose of the tour, organized by their Middle East representative, Kassim Baddarni, was to devel-

op a coalition of local partners providing services to children in Israel and Palestine.As a consequence of their visit to the Galilee So-ciety, where they heard about a planned project to empower Arab youth to make informed decisions regarding their health, they have named the Galilee Society a “preferred partner”, which confers privileg-es in the case that Children of Peace receives fund-ing to extend to its partners.The proposed Galilee Society project will compile data on Arab adolescent health knowledge, attitudes, and practices, provide outreach to schools, and im-prove networking among community advocacy and healthcare provider organizations.

British Charity Focusing on Children in Israel and Palestine Names Galilee Society “Preferred Partner”

Drawing on its long history of collaboration and its extensive networks of contacts, Al-Maissam’s role in the joint project is to coordinate activities and to im-prove communications between the Israeli, Palestin-ian, and Italian partners.

The project’s overall objective is to promote olive- and olive wood-based products in the Mediterra-nean area. The project’s secondary object is to devel-op a cross-cultural dialogue of peaceful cooperation between Italy, Israel, and Palestine. Members of the Italian delegation with Dr. Naim Karim, Gali-

lee Society General Program Director

The Naqab Department conducted a health day at the high school in the Bedouin village of Lagiyya on 21 March to promote household safety and healthy life decisions.

Dr. Salim Sane’, Naqab Department Strategic Pro-gram Director, and Safa Al Ataouna, Health Educa-tor, conducted activities for 360 adolescent students. Activities included lectures for children with inter-active demonstrations on the use of healthful, tradi-tional Bedouin plants.

Students were instructed to bring certain locally grown plants, which Naqab Department staff used to make tea for the students. Staff used the activ-ity to illustrate the value and availability of natural, traditional foods as a way of promoting health and cultural awareness.

In addition to activities for students, Naqab Depart-ment staff conducted lectures for teachers on the value and availability of Bedouin traditional plants and medicines.

Naqab Department staff also distributed more than 1000 Galilee Society-made brochures on healthy lifestyles, the health benefits locally grown plants, and avoiding household accidents.

The Galilee Society’s efforts to promote the pres-

ervation and cultivation of preparation of local me-dicinal herbs stems from the need to preserve and revitalize the rich Palestinian Arab heritage of ex-pertise in this area. As a result of this conviction, the Galilee Society established the first botanical garden and plant resource center for traditional medicinal plants in the Middle East, the Al-Maissam Medici-nal Plants Center for Research & Education.Funded primarily by the Israeli Ministry of Science, Al-Maissam combines educational activities, scien-tific research and ecotourism. It has experience in the preservation and cultivation of local medicinal herbs in addition to knowledge of their medicinal uses. Its facility contains a laboratory, administration offices, a lecture hall, a botanical garden, classes, al-gae and fishponds, an aviary for local domestic and wild birds, and an apiary for beehives.

Naqab Department: Health Day in Bedouin Village School Promotes Safety and Healthy Life Decisions

Children learning proper toothbrushing techniques during the Lagiyya Health Day

Mr. Eric Manheimer, Cochrane Collaboration Complementary Medicine Field Administrator at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Univer-sity of Maryland School of Medicine, conducted a workshop at the R&D Center on 16 April outlining the methodology for medical research in the Co-

chrane Statistical Methods framework.

The lecture, entitled “Instructions for preparing a re-view in the Cochrane Reviewer’s Handbook,” was well attended by R&D Center scientists and staff.

R&D Center: American Presents Workshop on Medical Research Methodology

Representatives from Misereor, the German Catho-lic Bishops’ Organization For Development Co-operation, a donor to the Environmental Justice Center, visited the Galilee Society headquarters in Shefa-‘Amr on 28 April.

Dr. Maria Haarmann, of Misereor’s Africa and Middle East Department, introduced Dr. Christina Pfestroff, who is working on a new joint initiative on human rights and humanitarian law for Misereor and EED (Church Development Service (Evange-lischer Entwicklungsdienst). Part of Dr. Pfestroff ’s role is to assess the opportunities that will ensure EU

policy is equally fair to both Israelis and Palestinians. She was especially interested to hear about the Gali-lee Society’s experience with the Palestinian minor-ity in Israel and of certain examples of discrimina-tory policies. Dr. Haarmann and Dr. Pfestroff also discussed other Galilee Society activities and initia-tives, as well as ways of developing the relationship between Misereor and the Galilee Society.

Misereor, which is based in Aachen, Germany, is a member of CIDSE, an alliance of 15 Catholic de-velopment organizations from Europe and North America.

German Catholic Aid Organization and Donor to the EJC Introduces Representative of New Human Rights Joint Initiative to The Galilee Society

How to Support the Galilee Society

Help achieve equitable health, environmental, and socio-economic conditions and development opportuni-ties for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel by supporting the Galilee Society.

How to Donate to the Galilee Society

Tax-Exempt DonationsIn order to facilitate giving, the Galilee Society has recently received tax-exempt status in the United States, via the Friends of the Galilee Society. To donate in the United States, please make checks payable to the Friends of the Galilee Society and send them to:

Dr. Shouki KassisChair, Board of Directors7 Lee Road, Audubon, PA 19403United [email protected]: +1 610 662 3693

Bank transfers to the Friends of the Galilee Society can be made to the following account:

Account Name: Friends of the Galilee SocietyBank Name: PNC BankBranch: Audubon Village Shopping CenterAccount Number: 86-0943-9642

Please inform Friends of the Galilee Society of your donation:[email protected].

Direct DonationsTo donate to the Galilee Society directly, please send checks (in any currency) payable to the Galilee Society at:

P.O. Box 330Shefa-Amr, 20200IsraelAlternatively, bank transfers (in any currency) can be made directly to the Galilee Society’s bank account:

Account Number: 9800Bank Name: Bank HapoalimBranch Number: 731Bank Address: Jabour Street, Shefa-Amr 20200 IsraelSWIFT Code: POALILIT

Please inform us of your donation at [email protected].

The Galilee Society - The Arab National Society for Health Research and Services is a leading disk utility commu-nity-based Arab NGO. The overriding goal of the Galilee Society is the achievement of equitable health and socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The Galilee SocietyP.O. Box 330, Shefa-Amr 20200, IsraelTel.: +972 4 986 1171Fax: +972 4 986 1173Email: [email protected]

Issue25

Documents

Transcript of Issue25