Imagine

Imagine living in constant fear. Imagine one day, someone will barge into your home at 3:00 am, wake you up from your sleep, and orders you to leave your house immediately, and never return. Imagine having an identity card that doesn’t identify you, instead it categorizes you as a permanent resident, not even a citizen. Imagine crossing at least two checkpoints to go to school. Imagine getting married and being separated from living with your spouse, and if you have children they won’t have a nationality. Imagine a life filled with paying taxes and being rewarded with house demolitions. This is not imagination to Palestinians living in Jerusalem, this is their daily life.

The Palestinians in Jerusalem suffer from the Israeli Occupation on a daily basis. Since 1967, Israel has worked extensively on decreasing the city’s Palestinian population. Various methods have been adopted to achieve this objective at the expense of Palestinians. These include the isolation of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, discriminatory policies on constructions, residency, Land appropriation, and access to water, healthcare, and education, among many others.

Towards Community Controlled Grant-making

Jerusalem Fund

We, at Dalia Association* are reaching out to you to establish a fund to support Palestinian community priorities in Jerusalem. The funds raised during Ramadan will go to two main priorities – supporting families who have experienced home demolitions, and empowering youth through our youth grant making program. With your help, by giving a dollar a day (or more), we can support Palestinians in Jerusalem to use resources to support their priorities.

All donations for the Jerusalem fund will be directed to "The Dalia Association Palestinian Community Fund" at the Center for Arab American Philanthropy in Dearborn, Michigan. (http://www.centeraap.org/funds/view-our-funds/dalia-association-palestinian-community-fund/)

Since 1967 some 48,488 houses have been demolished by Israeli authorities.

Around 298,000 Palestinians currently reside in Jerusalem, of which several hundred are at risk of force displacement due to colonial settler activity, particularly in the Old City, Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah. Some of these houses have been demolished by the owners to avoid being charged with demolition costs and fines by the municipality of Jerusalem.

Over 5,000 businesses have closed down, due to the Annexation Wall and strict restrictions on traders. 

Photo by Grassroots Jerusalem

Photo by Rasha Sansur

Traders who used to bring agricultural products into Jerusalem are now required to have trade permits identical to those needed to import goods internationally into Israel. Obtaining one of these permits is a complex and expensive process. Consequently, many Palestinian farmers are unable to sell their products in Jerusalem markets. Companies in the nearby commercial zones of Al-’Eizariyah and Abu Dis now face huge challenges in both attracting customers and transporting their merchandise to Jerusalem.

Between 2000 and 2014, Israel issued orders to close around forty of Jerusalem’s institutions

The fate of many of Jerusalem’s institutions, being closed down either by decree of the occupation authorities or as a result of the lack of funding. Many institutions also moved to the West Bank, and to Ramallah in particular, because of Israel’s policies of suppression, the difficulty of operating within Jerusalem, and the near impossibility of maintaining ties with the rest of the West Bank. With the closure of these institutions, Jerusalem lost thousands of job opportunities as well as an important part of its independence from the Israeli establishment.

Approximately 2,200 more classrooms in the Official School System and 400 preschool classes are needed to accommodate Palestinian students.

Photo By Atta Jabr.

 Palestinian students in Jerusalem suffer from a severe shortage of classrooms and preschool classes. Often students are forced to crowd into housing apartments that have been haphazardly converted into schools.

*About Dalia and how we work

At Dalia Association we believe that as Palestinians we have to realize our rights to control our resources and sustain our own development for generations to come. We are a community foundation; this means we mobilize resources for community-based developmental initiatives. We link financial and non-financial resources to the community. We also convene communities to come together to discuss issues that need solving for a sustainable future. We do not interfere in decision making, however we help the community identify their available resources to aid them with achieving their objectives and implement their ideas.

Meet Aisha and Lina!

Aisha Mansour, our Executive Director at Dalia Association, she dedicates her efforts and time towards a vibrant civil society in Palestine. She believes that as Palestinians we can achieve our independence despite living under Israeli occupation, by mobilizing our available cash and non-cash resources for our own development.

Lina Ism'ail, our Community Programs Officer, she is a strong believer in collective thinking and actions, in addition to the role of grassroots movements and the spirit of volunteerism in community development and in the liberation of nations.

To learn more about staff members visit this link: http://www.dalia.ps/who-we-are

To learn more about Dalia visit our page: http://www.dalia.ps/ 

Or follow us on Facebook: DaliaAssociation and Twitter: @DaliaAssoc 

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Every $ counts here, please donate towards supporting Palestinian Communities.

Share this campaign with friends and family!

Get in touch with us, we'd love to hear from you!

References

• OCHA, East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian concerns, 2014
•  http://icahd.org/

•  http://www.wclac.org/english/flip/jerusalem_book2015/files/assets/basic-html/index.html#22
• http://grassrootsalquds.net/jerusalem-daily-life-aspects/economy#sthash.DDdOF6Jw.dpuf
• http://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/JQ%2062_Jerusalem.pdf
• http://grassrootsalquds.net/jerusalem-daily-life-aspects/economy#sthash.FYHFg3vB.dpuf
•  http://grassrootsalquds.net/jerusalem-daily-life-aspects/education#sthash.KKJjOcIe.dpuf
•  www.dalia.ps
• http://www.centeraap.org/funds/view-our-funds/dalia-association-palestinian-community-fund/