CPTnet
9 January 2008

HEBRON URGENT ACTION: Stop-work order issued for clinic in the Beqa'a Valley

The Palestinian residents of the Beqa'a Valley are in danger of losing their clinic. The Israeli Civil Administration has issued a stop-work order for the building, which is under construction. Residents of the Beqa'a Valley have been building this clinic without governmental or outside funding, even though many residents have little or no paid employment.

About 600-700 people, mostly women and children, will use this clinic for routine medical care including prenatal checkups and vaccinations. Palestinian Relief and CARE International currently provide these services one day a week in the existing facilities. The residents decided to build a new clinic, because the facilities they are now using are inadequate. Some patients are currently receiving medical attention in one Beqa'a resident's home.

(To view pictures of Beqa'a Valley residents using an existing home as a clinic, go to the CPT photo gallery http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album233 )

At the end of December 2007, the Israeli Civil Administration issued a stop-work order on the clinic building and residents have complied. The residents' last day to appeal the stop-work order is 10 January 2008. The Civil Administration typically issues a stop-work order as a prelude to a demolition order.

Four other stop-work orders were issued on the same day for homes in the Beqa'a Valley. In all, upwards of twenty-five homes are under stop-work orders in the valley. Six of these are homes that have been rebuilt with help from the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demotions (ICAHD) after previous demolitions.

Atta Jaber, a longtime friend of CPT and a resident of the Beqa'a Valley, said, "You know this is for the clinic . . . this is for the humanity, it is not a politics thing or a security building, this is for the humanity-- I'm scared, maybe one day they take it away." IDF demolished three of Jaber's homes and now he and his family are living in their fourth home.

ACTION

Please call, email or write to your government officials. Urge them to send a strong message to the Israeli government to rescind the stop-work orders and allow residents to complete the clinic in the Beqa'a Valley.

Below is a suggested list of contacts for this Urgent Action.

ADDRESSES

Canada: Embassy in Tel Aviv--The Canadian Embassy, PO Box 9442, Tel Aviv 67060, Israel. Fax: (011 972 3) 636-3380. Email: taviv [at] dfait-maeci [dot] gc [dot] ca

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Office of the Prime Minister, 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Canada, K1A 0A2. Fax: 613-941-6900 or Email: pm [at] pm [dot] gc [dot] ca

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Maxine Bernier, House of Commons, Ottawa ON, Canada, K1A 0A6. Fax: (613) 995-0687 or Email: Berni M @parl.gc.ca

You can mail your MP at the House of Commons address, or find their email address at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPost...

UK: Embassy in Tel Aviv -- British Embassy, 192 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv 63405, Israel. Tel: (+972 3) 725 1222; Fax: (+ 972 3) 527 8574. Email: webmaster.telaviv [at] fco [dot] gov [dot] uk

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA
To email the Prime Minister go to http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/page821.asp

Foreign Secretary David Miliband, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London SW1A 2AH. Tel: 020 7008-1500

To email MP, MEP's, MSPs, or Northern Ireland, Welsh and London AMs http://www.writetothem.com/

Contact details for UK Members of Parliament and House of Lords: http://www.parliament.uk/directories/directories.cfm

Contact details for the Members of the Scottish Parliaments: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/msplocator.htm

Sweden: Contact PM Fredrik Reinfeldt , Phone: 46 8 405-1000, email via senior registry clerk -- www.sweden.gov.se

Contact Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt, Phone: 46-8-405-1000, email via senior registry clerk -- www.sweden.gov.se

USA: Embassy in Tel Aviv -- US Embassy, 71 Hayarkon Street, Tel Aviv
63903, Israel. Email: Mary Glantz, Human Rights, glantzme [at] state [dot] gov

Or Michelle Schohn, schohnjm [at] state [dot] gov Or ac5 [at] bezeqint [dot] net

President George W Bush, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC20500 Register your message with the White House Comment Line 202-456-1111. comments [at] whitehouse [dot] gov

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

Matthew S. Rosenstock Office of Israel and Palestine Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the State Department. Email: RosenstockMS [at] state [dot] gov; phone 202-647-1461. Met with Hebron cartographer and team friend Abdelhadi when he was in the States.

To contact your Senator go to http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

To contact your Representative go to http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/