Women and Palestine

The Britain - Palestine Twinning Network - "promoting twinning and friendship links"

Activities for the network in 2010 include * Women's visit March * visits to Palestine April and October * CONFERENCE in November

- Join the Twinning with Palestine Groups facebook page for the latest news.

National tour of Palestinian Women 2009

This year we have eleven women coming, sponsored by our twinning groups. They will be speaking at towns and cities all over the U.K. where there are twnning groups as well as many other places looking to build links with Palestinian communities. Due to considerable interest and our attempt to squeeze as much in as possible, the planned meetings are changing constantly. Please bookmark and follow this page or even better join the facebook page or blog, to keep up to date with the latest information.

Twinning groups welcome Palestinian women on speaking tour of Britain for International Women's Day

Eleven Palestinian women from all ages and all walks of life will be in Camden on 4th March at the beginning of a speaking tour that will take them all over Britain, from Bristol to Cambridge and Brighton to Newcastle. Two other women will be in Scotland for similar events.

Five students together with workers in education, health and social services, members of women's groups and members of local twinning committees are being brought to London by different twinning groups that are members of the Britain-Palestine Twinning Network. They will be joining in International Women's Day celebrations and public meetings on Palestine, as well as visiting universities, schools and workplaces to promote Britain-Palestine Twinning.

Public attention has turned towards Palestine since the Israeli attacks on Gaza in January, said the secretary of the Twinning Network, "This is very important because the human rights violations in Palestine are the centre of a knot of trouble that not only affects the Middle East but involves all of us."

But January 2009 in Gaza is just one part of the story. These women will be telling of the difficulties caused to normal life by the Separation Wall and the brutalities of the Israeli Occupation in the West Bank, which is all part of the Israeli pressure on people in Palestine to leave, because they want the land but not the people in it.

This tour will take these women's stories to an audience of thousands across the country.

Women coming include;

- Hiba Ayyad, a student whose mother was killed by Israeli soldiers in her own house last September (from Abu Dis, with links to Camden)

- Sirien Sawafteh, who has been involved in building a school for children in the Jordan Valley in a place where Israel says it is illegal for Palestinians to build (from Toubas, with links to Brighton)

- Najat Abdurahme whose village Bil'in is convulsed with problems as the Israelis build the Separation Wall and shoot at peaceful demonstrators every Friday (from Bil'in, with links to Liverpool)

ENDS

More information is available from 0845 458 1167

Notes to editors

1. MORE INFORMATION on 0845 458 1167; contact at camdenabudis.net

2. PHOTO OPPORTUNITY - with eleven of the thirteen visitors, and with twinning people from groups all over Britain: Marchmont Community Centre, Marchmont Street WC1 6.30 on 4th March 09.

3. INTERVIEWS POSSIBLE (Biographies of all the women are available)

4. WOMEN'S VISIT BLOG is at tnwomen2009.blogspot.com

4. Britain Palestine Twinning Network. There are now some thirty Britain - Palestine twinning and friendship links, with more enquiries coming all the time. The Twinning Network website is www.twinningwithpalestine.net

In order to get around and speak in as many areas as possible the women have been divided into five groups.

1. North-west group visiting Liverpool, Pendle, (Manchester), Ormskirk, Preston.

Liverpool (Bel’in). Nursery teacher and on the Committee against the wall.

Pendle (Beit Leed). Health worker and Women's Committee.

In Liverpool 5th and 6th March. Manchester, Ormskirk, Preston on the 7th and 8th. Pendle 9th and 10th.

2. North-east group visiting Newcastle, (York), (Bradford), Hackney.

Newscastle (Qalqilya). Coordinator of health union committees and a member of women’s society.

Hackney (Beit Surik). Social work in The Regional committee for Rehabilitation.

Newcastle 5th, 6th and 7th March. Hackney 9th and 10th.

3. Midlands group visiting Birmingham, Walsall (Dudley, Telford, Shrewsbury) Watford.

Birmingham / Walsall (Ramallah / Kobar). Translator, Public Relations.

Watford and Luton (Salfeet). Student.

Walsall and Birmingham 5th, 6th and 7th March. 8th, 9th and 10th in Watford.

4. East and south-east group visiting Nottingham, Tower Hamlets, Brighton.

Brighton (Jordan Valley). Student.

Nottingham and Tower Hamlets (Jenin). Secretary in Patients Friends Committee.

Nottingham 5th and 6th March. Tower Hamlets 7th and 8th. Brighton 9th and 10th.

5. West and London group visiting (Bristol), (Slough), Camden, Luton, (St Albans), South East London, Cambridge.

Camden (Abu Dis). Two students.

Cambridge International Women’s day, events in Camden and Tower Hamlets on 7th March. Meetings expected in Bristol, Slough, SOAS/ UCL, Goldsmiths, Luton, St Alban’s, Million Women Rise Demo on 8th (To be confirmed).

Delegates from Oxford (Ramallah) and Dundee (Nablus) will be based in their host towns throughout the tour. Meetings planned in Falkirk and Glasgow.

Twinning groups helping sponsor a visitor in 2009 (this is not the final list):

1. Tower Hamlets - Jenin

2. SE London – Beit Fourik

3. Falkirk – Jayyous

4. Hackney – Beit Sourik

5. Luton – Battir

6. Camden – Abu Dis

7. Haringey – Aizariya

8. Birmingham – Ramallah

9. Godalming – Beit Sahour (tbc, sounds v uncertain)

10. Watford – Salfeet