While many notable organizations provide much-needed service and leadership from important epicenters such as Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Gaza, several important NGOs working in and around Hebron, Palestine also do steadfast and fearless work.
With the particular circumstance of H1 & H2 – split governance and movement restrictions in the heart of the city’s Old Town – Hebron is a flashpoint of such contention. But just outside the city limits, Palestinian towns around Hebron also fight for their rights to identity and determination.
Here you may find the list of 5 NGOs Working in and Around Hebron, Palestine
- Human Rights Defenders
- Youth Against the Settlements
- Taghyeer Movement
- Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine
- Breaking the Silence
In many cases, they do this buttressed right up next to Israeli Settlements. Whether in the towns or the city’s center, These important organizations have their work cut out.
1. Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights Defenders led by activist leader Badee Dwaik, is a leading organization near the contentious checkpoint of H1 & H2 at the infamous Shuhada Street. Dwaik sets out with the main goal of documenting violations against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and IDF soldiers alike. His main strategies include a proactive social media presence, collaboration with human rights individual activists and activist organizations, and the training and implementation of a video and photography strategy to record such activities and abuses.
With this in mind, Badee and HRD set up The Capturing Occupation Camera Project, a program designed to provide equipment and/or training to H2 Palestinian residents to help “arm” them in their fight against ongoing human rights affronts. Dwaik’s philosophy of a rewarding life is directly connected to his support for the rights of his fellow Palestinians. In doing just this, Badwee Dwaik and the members of Human Rights Defenders risk their own safety to shine the needed light.
2. Youth Against the Settlements
Youth Against Settlements (YAS) is a Palestinian rights activist group based in Hebron. YAS
advocates nonviolent resistance through civil disobedience. One of their landmark offerings of popular activism is their annual Open Shuhada Street campaign, taking place each year in February.
YAS encourages the public, including activists and sympathizers in Europe and the West to become to become active for Human Rights in Hebron and the rest of the occupied West Bank. As activist Mufid Sharabati puts it: “You can only fully comprehend the situation in Hebron, if you have seen it on-site with your own eyes.” YAS is a represented NGO of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
3. Taghyeer Movement
Founded by non-violence activist Ali Abu Awwad, Taghyeer (Change) is a collection of grassroots Palestinian community organizations and initiatives – many led by women – committed to strengthening and supporting Palestinian society from the ground up. In recognition of this work, Taghyeer provides an umbrella of support, linking these community groups in their commitment to non-violence and their results-driven approach.
Operating out of Khallet ‘Afana just north of Hebron city proper, Taghyeer’s 14 affiliates include service to nearby towns such as Shuyukh al-Arrub and Jub al-Dheib as well as those as far north as Nablus. The goal of Abu Awwad is to strengthen Palestinian identity through grassroots movements that defy the Occupation through dignity. As Abu Awwad state’s it, “The first dialogue is between us and ourselves.”
4. Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine
Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine (CPT) is a Canada / USA joint veture and faith-based initiative supporting grassroots Palestinian non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation and the inherent injustice. In addition to its collaborations with Palestinians, CPT engages Israeli peacemakers and utilizes the experience of community peace involvement to educate people back home in Canada and the USA. The ultimate goal is for the collective, non-denominational push for global justice and peace.
While the farthest thing from a violent or inciting political disruptor, CPT reservists have indeed been blocked in the past from entry into Israel or the territories by Ben Gurion officials. It would seem even the most innocuous of human rights focus in the West Bank can still worry Israeli authorities.
5. Breaking the Silence
Breaking the Silence (BTS) is an Israel NGO comprised of veterans of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) providing confidential platforms for current and former IDF soldiers to recount their experiences in Occupied Palestine and their misgivings of the Israeli policy of Occupation.
BTS brings tours to Hebron’s Old Town to uncover the reality of H1 & H2 and the subsequent restrictions on Palestinian movment. BTS also publishes collections of soldiers’ accounts of the Occupation along with exhibits that call attention. The latter includes this month’s EXPOSE[D] in Tel Aviv where 52 former soldier’s break their anonymity and add their names or their voices against Israel’s moral abuses in the Occupation.
The Netanyahu government has tried many forms of legal and diplomatic manipulation to end support and attention toward for BTS practices, including seeking reveal BTS sources through the courts. Breaking the Silence has won all such rulings protecting confidentiality. BTS remains one of the most dramatic criticisms of the Israeli practice by those that administered it themselves.
The goals of human rights actualization are two-fold in Hebron and throughout the West Bank and Gaza: to raise awareness of th Palestinian plight abroad and to lend support and identity to Palestinian lives and rights at home. With these goals in mind, the five NGOs detailed play an invaluable role on the streets of Hebron and beyond. And with their fearless leadership, other organizations and committed individuals stand at the ready.
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