CPTNET
Sept. 1, 1998

Update on the Jaber Family

CPTers Natasha Krahn (Waterloo, ON) and Mark Frey (North Newton, KS)
recently spent several days with the Jaber family whose home was demolished
by Israeli soldiers on August 19. They offer this update on the situation:

In general, the Jabers are doing better emotionally. Atta was in much
better spirits, especially when he was working on rebuilding the new house.
Rodeina at times was able to nurse baby Rajeh, at other times spoon-feeding
him milk.

Sunday, the crew began the long process of setting all the supports and
re-bar-framing in preparation for pouring the roof. Monday, they put the
finishing touches on the roof preparation, then 30-40 neighbors showed up
in the early evening, still dressed in their nice work clothes, and started
shoveling sand and gravel to help mix the cement and cart it up to the roof.
The group seemed to be having fun as they yelled and hollered and generally
got covered with concrete. After about two hours of work the roof was done.
It was an exciting event.

Meanwhile, Monday morning an Israeli film crew arrived to interview the
Jabers for a story they are putting together on the house demolition issue.
That evening, Atta and his cousin Ismael went to Tel Aviv to talk to some
Israeli peace activists about their situation. The meeting was arranged by
Aliza Zutra -- the person partnered with the Jaber family through the
Israeli equivalent of CPT's Campaign for Secure Dwellings.

The roof needs about 12 days to dry after which they'll remove the roof
supports and build the fourth wall. Then they'll put in a floor. It's a
lot of work for a two room house, and there's a real sense of loss when you
see the rubble from the bigger, nicer house just meters away.

The new house will not have a bathroom, something the family lived without
for years until just this year when Atta finally finished a kitchen and
bathroom addition. Now they will have to use rocks, like they did for so
many years before.
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Christian Peacemaker Teams has maintained a violence-reduction presence in
the West Bank city of Hebron since June of 1995 at the invitation of the
Hebron Municipality.