CPTnet
3 May 2008
HEBRON URGENT ACTION: Israeli military raids Hebron orphanage sewing workshop.

At 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday 30 April, the Israeli military raided the Hebron Girls' Orphanage in the H1 area of Hebron. [In 1997 the Hebron Protocol (part of Oslo II), signed by the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority divided Hebron into two areas: H2 under Israeli military control and H1 under Palestinian control (civilian and security)].

Acting on orders issued by Major General Shemni, soldiers looted the workshop of all its sewing and processing machines, office equipment, rolls of cloth, finished clothing, and supplies. CPT members documented, with still photos and video, approximately forty Israeli soldiers emptying the workshop contents into two large trucks. The estimated value of the physical material taken is $45,000 U.S. The cost in terms of the fear instilled in the hearts of the little girls living above the workshop is much higher.

On 26 February, the Israeli Army issued six military orders of closure and eviction for two orphanages, three schools and other facilities of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron. The Society appealed to the Israeli High Court of Justice. On Monday, 7 April, the court gave the Israeli military an indefinite period to provide a legal justification for the decision.

For several weeks, members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and other internationals from Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Scotland, and the U.S. have been sleeping in the orphanage. They hoped that their presence would forestall the army's raid on the workshop. CPTer Art Arbour decried this latest effort by the Israeli military in its campaign to close the orphanages, saying, "How can grown men do this to little children?"

Statements of support for the orphans have come in from former President Jimmy Carter, from European Union Vice President Luisa Morgentini, and from representatives of other international organizations worried about the fate of the orphans in Hebron. Please join with them in supporting the orphans. Write to the Israeli embassy in your country and to your elected representatives to protest this latest illegal act by the Israeli military in Hebron.

For more information on the orphanage go to: http://www.hebronorphans.blogspot.com.


You can find the Israeli embassy in your country at
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Diplomatic+missions/Web+Sit...

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
Canada, K1A 0A2.
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: pm [at] pm [dot] gc [dot] ca

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Maxime Bernier,
House of Commons
Ottawa ON, K1A 0A6.
Fax: (613) 995-0687
Email: BerniM [at] parl [dot] gc [dot] ca

You can mail your MP at the House of Commons address, or find their email address at http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=SM


UNITED KINGDOM
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@ fco.gov.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, go to 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/index.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;
Michelle Schohn, schohnjm [at] state [dot] gov, or ac5 [at] bezeqint [dot] net

President George W Bush,
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20500
Register your message with the White House Comment Line:
202-456-1111
e-mail:comments [at] whitehouse [dot] gov.

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

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/
Or call the Capitol Switchboard at (202)-224-3132 and ask for the appropriate Congressional office.

Please write to the Israeli military and urge them to return the confiscated properties. Send appeals electronically to:
http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/Contact+Us/

.