Brighton Residents Visit Palestine

A delegation of ten people from Brighton arrived in the Tubas region of
occupied Palestine this weekend. Their week-long visit is aimed
at fostering links between grassroots groups in Brighton and Tubas.

This is the second large delegation from Brighton to visit the Tubas region.
The group will contact grassroots organisations like the Tubas Red
Crescent, agricultural cooperatives, students' unions, Tubas Women's
Group and local trade unions.

Fact-finding will involve documenting human rights abuses against the Palestinians by the Israeli army and gathering information on the activities of an Israeli company called Carmel Agrexco. This company is Israel's largest exporter of produce from illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, to British supermarkets. Sadly the Palestinians themselves never benefit.

The group will visit a school that was built with the help of volunteers from
Brighton, in defiance of a ban on building in the area. Although not yet even finished, last week the Israeli authorities issued a demolition order. They intend to destroy the school some time after 29 November 2007. It is hoped that pressure can be brought to bear to reverse the demolition decision.

The trip was organised by the Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity
Group. The delegation includes students, health workers and representatives
from Brighton branches of Amnesty International and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Lucy Collins, a health worker from Brighton, commented as she left: “This is an excellent opportunity to discover how Palestinian health workers are able to deliver
primary care under fire and to look at ways in which health workers in Brighton can
support them.”

Sarah Pelham, a student at the University of Sussex, said: “I will be talking
with students from the Tubas region and looking at ways that students in
Brighton can campaign in solidarity with them. Ten percent of students at
Al Quds University in Tubas are political prisoners, while others are
forced to work for Carmel Agrexco in sweat shop conditions to survive.”

Personal blogs will be written by the group during their visit. On
their return they will be giving presentations and film shows documenting
the realities of life under military occupation in Tubas. To read the
blogs go to www.brightonpalestine.org/blog

For more details contact: tubas.brightonpalestine.org.

Interviews with the delegation in Palestine can be arranged.

The Brighton Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group was set up in March
2006. As well as organising delegations to Palestine, the group sells soap
and handicrafts from a women's group in Tubas, has hosted a group of
Palestinians from Tubas in Brighton, has funded and helped to build a school in the Jordan Valley and plans to send a nurse to work in the area in December.

Details:

Brett Cohen or Sarah Cobham 07846506710 or 07986764432

tubas.brightonpalestine.org.

email  thewallmustfall@riseup.net