Israeli Occupation Forces Trash Orphanage Sewing Workshop
By Iqbal Tamimi • May 10th, 2008 at 8:32 • Category: Children's Corner, Human Rights, Israel, Newswire, Palestine, Resistance, Zionism
This series of reports from Iqbal Tamimi tells us how the IOF decides that they’d rather cast the future of children to the street and render them eternally dependent upon “aid” from others – that then gets blocked.1) Israeli occupation forces stormed at dawn today, Wednesday, 30/4/2008 the orphanage sewing workshop of the Islamic Charitable Society in Hebron and confiscated all its contents. They informed the workers that it will be closed for three years, and threatened to arrest any person who approaches the location and imprison him for five years.
The witnesses said that the Israeli military force backed up with large trucks, raided the orphanage charity workshop in Alsalam Street in the city of Hebron. The soldiers smashed the main gate of the girl s’ school, took away all the contents of the workshop including the sewing machines, furniture, even the orphan s’ clothes. They prevented all journalists from reaching the location.
This attack is depriving 4000 orphans of the place which used to provide them with clothes, besides forcing 15 orphan girls working in the workshop to become without any source of income.
Two weeks ago, the Israeli forces confiscated the contents of the orphanage bakery and their food store.
A number of the workers reported that the Occupation forces broke into the workshop situated in the ground floor of the charitable orphan’s house in Alsalam Street, and informed the workers of the Occupation’s decision that will be implemented on the 28th of April, closing the workshop for 3 years and confiscating all its contents.
The Israeli army warned the workers should they disobey this military decision and found present on the premises after the date mentioned, they will be imprisoned for 5 years.
The sewing workshop was established 1985, where 15 orphan girls work to support their families. They make clothes for more than 4000 orphans of both genders; the surplus is sold in the local market.
The Israeli forces closed down last week the Orphanage bakery too, and confiscated its contents.
The orphans are pleading to all human rights organizations and activists to help them reverse this unfair decision.
Witnesses said that they saw the Israeli trucks taking away some of the orphanage belongings and dumping them in a waste area near Yatta a town just south of the city of Hebron, after breaking the orphanage machines beyond repair.
How very humane…
Iqbal Tamimi is a Palestinian journalist and poet from Hebron. She is currently the Press Freedom Desk Officer at Exiled Journalists' Network in the UK. She is also the creator of a vibrant and important activists' network Palestinian Mothers, open to all who share the vision of peace and justice, men and women alike.
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