2023-03-31-accounts

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CADFA Trustees’ Annual Report 2022-23 CADFA (Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association) Building Hope | Voices from Palestine CADFA.org

1. Introduction

2. CADFA’s work 2022-23

3. Building Hope | Voices from Palestine

4. Keeping CADFA going

5. Objectives for 2023-24

6. Appendices

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INTRODUCTION

The human rights situation in Palestine

2022-23 was another grim year of military occupation of Palestine. The situation, which was already full of serious on-going human rights violations, became even more extreme this year as the settlers' movement took a significant place in the Israeli government. Behaviour that used to be represented as individual incidents became daily and was much more clearly a public strategy. Israeli elections and political disagreements resulted in hard approaches to the Palestinians. This year saw more violence on Gaza and strong pressures to take over homes. Key ministers in the new Israeli government are radical Zionists, living in the West Bank in settlements - pressures to take over land, build settlements for Israelis and push the Palestinians out became mainstream. There is more discussion of the human rights year in Abu Dis in the appendix.

The Israeli Separation Wall in Abu Dis (both pictures on this page)

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Talking about human rights in Palestine

There is a struggle going on in the West at many levels when it comes to talking about Palestine. In the UK, more and more people now know at least a little about Palestine and more have an understanding and positive approach to Palestinian rights. At the same time, there are attempts to rule this discussion out of court as well as a good deal of misinformation. Despite its importance and despite Britain’s own role, worries around the subject have limited discussion of what is happening in Palestine in schools and public bodies. Many suggest that the issues in Palestine are concerned with religion. Many official bodies have accepted the IHRA definition of antisemitism which (as feared when it was recently introduced) is having a chilling effect on some aspects of public discussion.

For CADFA, equality and human rights are the central question. We note that our own government claims that these are ‘British values’ and takes strong actions in relation to governments in other parts of the world that violate human rights but does not do so in relation to Israel/ Palestine. We should demand consistency. A focus on equality and the human rights for Palestinians enables people to understand what is going on and demands positive action for change.

After a talk about the CADFA book "Stories from our mothers"

Palestinian voices and advocacy for human rights

CADFA’s projects help people in the UK to learn more about Palestine and to talk about the issues and our work crucially involves linking people in the UK (and elsewhere) and Palestine which allows us to hear directly from Palestinians themselves.

1Yasmin Najar during the youth workers' visit from Palestine

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Our work with young Palestinians in particular develops their skills, confidence and knowledge of western understandings which helps them to speak to western audiences - examples of this were our wonderful youth visit in June/July this year and the Beyond the Checkpoints project, both discussed below.

This Trustees’ report

Although it was set to the background of things in Palestine becoming even more grim than previously, 2022-23 was a hard-working year for CADFA full of purposeful activities. This Trustees’ report shows how we met our objectives for 2022-23 through a series of exciting projects and led us to 2 create the new Building Hope| Voices from Palestine project. It shows how we were sustained by a growing group of partners and widening team, looks at CADFA finances for the year 2022-23 and lays out our objectives for 2023-24.

2 Our old friend and previously Chair of CADFA, Dr Munir Nusseibeh, back in London for a visit

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CADFA’S WORK 2022-23

Campaigning for equality and human rights in Palestine

As discussed in the Appendix below, this was another year full of pressure and grief in Palestine. CADFA was working at grassroots level with people who knew little about Palestine as well as people who knew more, trying to raise awareness, give information, counter active disinformation and create an understanding of the urgency of action; to work with our members, partners and friends to convey this to others and to try and persuade policy-makers to take action.

One of many local protests against human rights abuses in Palestine

We disseminated information from Palestine and on human rights

violations through Zoom links, social media, regular updates to our growing mailing-list, through Cafe Palestina, stalls, meetings in very many places and activities on the street. We took part in national demonstrations about Palestine and ran our own, often in the pedestrian area on the north end of Kentish Town Road. We had some great placards thanks to our trustee Fiona’s design skills and our members’ help painting.

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We campaigned in general on the human rights violations, the increasing number of murders, and also began a campaign to Camden Council to have the place we demonstrate in named Shireen Abu Akleh Place i n honour of the famous journalist who was gunned down by Israeli soldiers when reporting in Jenin in May 2022. For this we wrote to Camden Councillors, made an online petition, wrote to the local paper and had a number of small demonstrations.

We attempted to take up the issues with our representatives. We continue to send letters to our own MP (Keir Starmer), although see little hope from his partisan approach that does not want to hear of Israel’s human rights violations.

Campaigning to name the Kentish Town pedestrian area after Shireen Abu Akleh, the famous Palestinian reporter who was killed by the IDF in Jenin in May

We have encouraged our many partners to raise these issues with their reps and importantly a number of our visitors have been taken to visit MPs and members of the Senedd in Wales.

A key part of CADFA’s work and an effective way of creating interest in the human rights situation in Palestine has been to bring people from Palestine and the UK together. This year we reached thousands of people in this way (this is not an exaggeration!).

Linking together for human rights

For many years, we have organised group visits between the UK and Palestine, but this was not possible during Covid. We began this year, after two years of the world stopping and starting owing to lockdowns, wondering if our hoped-for youth workers’ and youth visits from Palestine would be able to go ahead or not, and unsure about sending visitors to Palestine.

We continued with virtual meetings that brought people from across both countries together on Zoom (‘Let’s Talk About Palestine’). The work we did with schools was virtual. But we were indeed able to restart visits in both directions this year and by mid-year we had the confidence to go further and plan the Building Hope | Voices from Palestine project which is discussed below.

CADFA visitors and hosts at Cafe Palestina

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CADFA’s visits and main events 2022-23

May-June 2022 - Palestinian youth workers’ visit to the UK
June-July 2022 - Palestinian youth visit to the UK
August 2022 - Beyond the Checkpoints project in Palestine
Being Young in Palestine youth conference on Zoom
September 2022 - First group visit to Palestine after Covid
Building Hope launch conference in Palestine
October 2022 - Building Hope launches in the UK: visit from Palestine
November 2022 - Women’s visit from UK to Palestine
December 2022 - Human Rights Day activities on Zoom
Jan- Feb 2023- Let’s Talk About Palestine sessions on Zoom
March 2023 - Palestinian women’s visit to the UK

Meeting the objectives that we set last year

(2022-23 Objective 1) Regular human rights reports to members and new people

A school visit from outside London to Cafe Palestina

Our co-ordinator in Abu Dis is in touch with the local community and aware of what is happening in Palestine more widely. He logs human rights violations on a regular basis and communicates about the situation in Palestine to us in the UK as well as showing it in more depth to our visitors to Palestine. . This information reached people through our updates (roughly two a month), Facebook, our website and leaflets given out at Cafe Palestina at street activities and other events.

During the year, our co-ordinator gave reports to us in the UK regularly through ‘Let’s Talk About Palestine’ and other

Zoom meetings. He also came to the UK three times this year, with the youth workers’ group, with the youth visit, and on a visit to meet different groups to launch the Building Hope project. In this way the human rights reports reached many towns

(Objective 2) Develop work in schools: continue to link young people in the two countries; make school materials both for use with students and with teachers

We had two parts of our schools projects this year: one, the continuation of our Sonunu project (school links on Zoom) and two, the ‘A Place Called Home’ project working with Walsall schools on behalf of Walsall Council. We continued with our work in schools across the country, produced materials to explain the situation in Palestine and learned more about the problems that can weigh on school teachers or students who want to speak out freely on Palestine.

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Sonunu project Our Sonunu project continued to be exciting. Zoom meetings bringing together very

different groups of young people - in the UK, some of the schools were rural and the children largely (not only) white and others much more mixed in big cities or largely ethnic-minority in smaller towns – and Palestinian young people in towns and villages. As usual there were numerous technical problems but very rewarding sessions with many surprises, new things learned. The groups all prepared presentations and we facilitated discussions on aspects that were new to them, keeping the focus on human rights.

Sonunu project zoom meeting between girls in Camden and in Abu Dis

The Palestinian young people involved in the Sonunu project were invited to apply to join the youth visit to the UK (see below) though in the end we decided to bring a group of boys this year hoping to give the girls a chance next time.

During that youth visit, young Palestinians continued the school work, visiting ten schools

and youth clubs across the country, joining in sports, discussions and leading assemblies in several schools.

A Place Called Home

The Walsall project ‘A Place Called Home’ was a main focus for the early part of the year and its success and its disappointment were major learning points. Having spoken to many people around the two schools we were working in, it became clear that it was important to look together with teachers at ways of approaching the issue of Palestine. The question (as outlined here in the introduction) is not just the facts of what has happened and is happening in Palestine but the pressures on teachers and schools and the different ways Palestinian issues are represented. The government has written to schools to demand ‘balance’ – though their view of what that means is problematic in a context of a serious power imbalance! Ultimately, the project fell for the same reason.

The project made useful material for young people that looked at the context, at the question of balance itself, at the different ways that people look at what is happening in Palestine, and at human rights issues. We ran two successful training sessions for teachers from the schools.

Staff seemed very interested in the questions that were raised.

It was really disappointing, therefore, when the schools pulled out of the project, saying that they had expected an Israeli point of view as well as a ‘Palestinian one.’ We explained again that our approach (the pivot of our ‘balance’) is human rights and that none of our material took an ethnic approach, but we know that this is the political context in which we are working. The steering committee – who were very supportive - talked both to the schools and the Council, but the project had to come to an end.

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(Objective 3) Organise a youth worker visit from Palestine

Boys from the Beyond the Checkpoints project talking to a CADFA meeting on Zoom

We were very happy to run a youth worker visit from Palestine for ten days in May/June supported by the Palestinian Higher Council for Youth and Sports. This was the first visit from Palestine after Covid and a very positive experience for everyone who took part - the visitors, people from CADFA, young people and youth workers in youth organisations across London and the Midlands and audiences in public meetings called Being Young in Palestine.

During this visit, there were public meetings in Camden, Hackney,

Islington, Stratford, Newham, Ilford, Brent, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and Cambridge.

The visit was a training visit to look at how to run youth visits to the UK in a safe and productive way. We had a number of useful workshops and good discussions throughout on next steps. The visit allowed us to reach new places for us, to raise the issue of human rights in Palestine to new audiences and to build new partnerships. One of the participants on the visit had a disability and spoke strongly about the issues of disability in Palestine - important everywhere, and with a special strength in Palestine where military action is creating further disabilities and military closures are making treatment more difficult. The idea was born too of a return youth workers’ visit to Palestine and we will do this when we can.

(Objective 4) Organise a youth visit from Palestine

This was a great experience. There was tremendous co-operation by a number of people who between them

In June- July, we brought a group of six Palestinian school students aged 14 and 15 and two leaders to the UK for two weeks.

Youth visitors from Palestine at Cafe Palestina

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The students came from four different towns in Palestine where their schools/ youth clubs were linked to UK schools through our Sonunu project. They spent time in London, Lancashire, Mid-Wales and the Midlands. They visited linked schools and others, saw many different places, played sports and took part in public activities designed to give them a voice to the wider world and spread the impact of the visit.

They were encouraged to write about, photograph and video the events of the visit as they went along and we hoped to use the last day to put these together into a youth film. However there was another exciting local event - a fair in Ledbury where it was possible to meet the Mayor and a youth worker – and the poem on the left was written for them! - and at the time of writing the video still needs to be made!

Despite this, it was a wonderful visit, involved very many people from school children to town Mayors, reached more people through social media and events and was spoken about in newspapers across the country. There was real interest and excitement in meeting and hearing from young Palestinians, from the fundraising activities before the visit (through Arabic in Wales, a raffle, a sponsored walk in the UK and one in Palestine, an appeal and the efforts of the different groups involved in looking for sponsors) to the variety of activities on the visit (visits to youth clubs and schools, visits to local places, public events that were appropriate for young people and private

Youth visitors doing an evaluation of their time in the UK

events including Eid activities). During this visit, there were public meetings in Ilford, Brent, Camden, Northampton, Nelson, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Hereford, Llanidloes, Knighton and Ledbury.The visit was safe, enjoyable and clearly positive for all the young people - they had a real sense of achievement - and had a strong impact on others[.. ]

We had a grant for this project from the MSN Fund who asked us to write in the final report about the reach of the project. We think those figures that we found for

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our report to them are interesting: “The interaction with the young Palestinians was arranged in different ways and 950 young people met them in classes or workshops or listened to them in assemblies. Over seventy people were closely involved in the project (volunteers in the many small groups involved), around 350 people joined in public events ….In addition, though impossible to count, we suggest that possibly 3000 in the families and friendship circles of participants will have discussed and been affected by the visit and/or seen the posts, newspaper reports or the materials from the project.”

(Objective 5) Start our visits to Palestine again

We were very happy that we could run these visits again. These visits drew on our years of visits and our good relationships with a number of good partner organisations whose help we very much appreciated. Each visit was different but well-planned and very successful.

As with all of our visits over the years, visitors had twin impressions. The visitors saw many places, had meaningful interactions with a range of people, strongly appreciated the welcome they got and liked Palestine. On the other hand, and the reason we believe it is important to take people there, is it is impossible to go to Palestine without seeing the terrible conditions of

CADFA visitors to Palestine here learning about the effects of the Separation Wall on people's lives – here the Wall blocks the historic main road between Jerusalem and Amman

apartheid in which Palestinians are living, and we hope that our visitors will return to Britain armed with the tools and plans to be more active on Palestinian rights.

From a presentation by a visitor to Palestine after her return to the UK

This year the things that people are seeing and hearing are even

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more shocking. As the settlers’ movement is given even more space and power, it is impossible to go for a week without coming across some real tragedy or appalling violation.

Women from the UK cooking together with women from Abu Dis

September 2022 - our first visit after Corona - a small, general visit to the West Bank

which included the Building Hope launch conference in Palestine.

November 2022 - a women’s visit to Palestine

in partnership with an Abu Dis women’s centre, visiting women’s organisations across Jerusalem and the West Bank. Women from this visit helped prepare for a women’s visit from Palestine to the UK in March.

Building for a health professionals’ visit to Palestine

At the end of the year, we were looking forward to a visit that had been planned for three years previously, before Covid. We look forward to writing about it in the next annual report.

(Objective 6) Rejuvenate Dar Assadaqa’s youth work in Palestine

Beyond the CheckpointsBefore Covid, Dar Assadaqa used to run summer projects for young people that included outings from Abu Dis as

well as a variety of activities in Abu Dis itself. These outings were a great relief for the young people, but they often concentrated on swimming pools and leisure.

This year we developed a new type of summer project with young people from Abu Dis and others who had taken part in the Sonunu project (Palestine - UK Zoom links between schools and youth clubs) to visit each other’s villages and towns where they were shown round by their young hosts. This was a way for young people to learn more about their own

The Beyond the Checkpoints group visiting an old olive press

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country and develop their skills of presenting it to others. They also spent some time making short video and photographic presentations.

The project finished with a youth conference on Zoom that allowed the young people to talk about their villages to people in the UK. They were also later given the opportunity to help show UK visitors round during the September visit to Palestine.

The Beyond the Checkpoints group met and listened to an old man who could remember the Nakba of 1948

It was very expensive in transport and very hot as run in August, but it was an extremely exciting project and we have decided to run another in 2023 and make this part of the preparation for a youth visit to the UK which we will move back later in the year.

THE BUILDING HOPE | VOICES FROM PALESTINE PROJECT

Having got going again during this year, we carried out a mid-year evaluation of CADFA’s next steps now the world was recovering from Covid. What is it that we do that is most effective?

Following the Covid virtual visits (very good but the people involved were already motivated to find out about Palestine), the youth workers’ and the youth visits from Palestine in summer 2022 reminded us how much stronger an in-person visit from Palestine could be and how many people it could reach. Visits to Palestine are also important, but visits of Palestinians to the UK engage and educate many new people -they are an effective contribution to the growing movement calling for human rights for Palestinians.

We decided that we would try to work with old and new partners across the country to widen the work and increase the number of visits that bring Palestinian voices regularly right across England

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and Wales and from this the Building Hope | Voices from Palestine project was born. We produced a new leaflet, a presentation for meetings and began to work on a plan for a number of visits a year - these depended on having sponsors and supportive partners so the first thing was to establish that others wanted to join in.

Launch in Palestine in September 2022

The project was launched at a conference at Al Quds University in September. It was attended by our September group of visitors from the UK, but the main participants were Palestinian people from across the West Bank and Jerusalem who had been involved in CADFA’s work for the past few years, some of them as children or students and others as adults or leaders of visits. It was good to host old friends from Palestinian organisations that CADFA had worked with for years - the Higher Council of Youth and Sports, Al Quds University, schools, local council and others and to discuss new plans. Knowing that our work is respected is an encouragement to keep going. There was great enthusiasm for the project and many useful contributions.

Launch in the UK in October 2022 (visit from Palestine)

Our co-ordinator from Palestine came to the UK for a series of project launch meetings in October. We were able to take him to visit existing partner groups and go to new places to meet small groups of interested people.

Talk by our Palestinian co-ordinator in Hereford

During this visit, there were Building Hope public meetings

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on Palestine in Camden, Brent, Stratford (East London), Brixton, Exeter, Falmouth, Chichester, Milton Keynes, Leeds, Manchester, Pendle, Hereford and Cardiff

Women’s visit to the UK in March 2023

The first visit to Palestine organised by the Building Hope project was a group of ten women from the women’s centres visited by the UK women’s group in November. Their very first steps were difficult because of the way that the UK visa system echoes the apartheid distinctions imposed by Israel. In contrast to any Israeli settler living on their land, they had to go through a long, expensive and very inconvenient process full of unpleasant assumptions and the likelihood of being turned down. And all the visa applications were indeed turned down.

We had to launch a big campaign to get this situation overturned. With a lot of extra work and expense, they all received visas but one passport was mislaid by the visa office - so we will be bringing the person who could not come last time and another two on a separate leg of the same Palestinian Women’s Voices Tour in July 2023.

Palestinian women visitors at a women's meeting in Brent

Silwan in Jerusalem, where most people's homes are under threat as Israel is threatening to move people out and demolish houses. The eyes have been painted to say to the Israelis “we are watching you.”

Speaker from a Silwan women's organisation talking about her life to a group in London

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The work was well worth it - these were an amazing group of women, strong, articulate, with a lot to say and real enthusiasm for taking their stories to people in towns small and big across Britain. The visit took the theme of International Women’s Day. The women were in London for a few days and then divided into four small groups that went to places north-west, West Midlands, west and southwest of London (see map). In most cases, these were places that we had visited in the Launch visit (above). The visitors went to women’s centres and other community venues and gave talks in schools, libraries, community centres, and at least one university.

During this visit there were public meetings in an incredible number of places Camden, Harlesden, Lewisham, Newcastle-under-Lyme, St Alban’s, Luton, Presteigne, Knighton, Craven Arms, Barnstaple, Bristol, Manchester, Totnes, Chester, Bodmin, Truro, Cardiff, Northampton, Falmouth, Aberdare, Birmingham, Derby, Walsall, Nelson, Forest Gate, Wimbledon and Islington

Half a year of Building Hope

The women’s visit was a great start to Building Hope -We broadened the number of people involved in the leadership of the visit, stimulated new groups, reached young and old in many different organisations and really felt the enthusiasm for the project. We have plans to work on a second leg of the visit in July and further visits next year.

Although we managed to raise the money for the women’s visit, the financial side of the project remains a challenge. We have new partners and have increased our membership (up about 15% over the year) but not yet enough to make us secure so this is an important job for 2023-24.

KEEPING CADFA GOING

Café Palestina

The event room at Cafe Palestina is often used by CADFA

CADFA’s base in London is Cafe Palestina, a social enterprise cafe, shop and event space in Kentish Town, London. This year, the Cafe was recovering from the interruptions during the Covid years, and CADFA’s work there began again. Downstairs as well as workspace there is a CADFA exhibition, space for meetings, workshops, speakers and events. Upstairs (on the ground floor) is the Cafe which also hosts CADFA events such as meals, iftars and

provides a base for CADFA visitors. CADFA’s Palestinian library is hosted in the Cafe and our books and leaflets are available for people to read and discuss if they like to.

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At Cafe Palestina- A memorial to Andy Mingay, a long-standing member of CADFA who sadly died during this year.

This year we were very grateful to the family of Adah Kay for donating her books about Palestine to join the others available there for people to read. Speakers at the cafe this year - as well as our visiting groups - included our old friend and CADFA Chair for several years Dr Munir Nusseibeh. We

were really pleased when (among other

workshops), one of the schools we have been working with in Lancashire brought a group of young people down to visit the Cafe and have a workshop on Palestine, looking at the Palestinian items housed there and sampling Palestinian food.

Dar Assadaqa

Our co-ordinator and our Palestinian activities are based at Dar Assadaqa in Abu Dis. Unfortunately owing to the pressure on people and therefore on housing in the Jerusalem suburb, the base of the organisation has had to move several times since it was started as CADFA’s main partner in Palestine in 2006. Dar Assadaqa’s previous accommodation in the centre of Abu Dis finished in April 2021 as the landlord wanted to redevelop the building. This was very sad for us - another old Abu Dis house being knocked down to be replaced by a tower block - and for us, this building was full of memories of good projects with both local people and visitors.

The CADFA co-ordinator spent some months working from our old rented ‘guesthouse’ but the same thing happened there: the landlord wanted to sell… so Dar Assadaqa moved to very small premises

Boys from Palestine in Wales

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where our things could be stored and our co-ordinator could work. Covid meant that there were few activities in person so the accommodation problems were delayed for some time.

This year we were rescued by our friends: in January 2023, Abu Dis Council offered Dar Assadaqa some accommodation where our co-ordinator could work. However it is unfortunately very close to the Israeli military camp in Abu Dis and not safe for young people to come and go or for the youth activities that we used to have. The local Damaa Cultural Centre allowed Dar Assadaqa groups to meet there. Local friends hosted our visitors and the University made it possible for groups connected to them to use their accommodation. By the end of the year a new suggestion for an old house to become a ‘proper’ Dar Assadaqa centre has been made and we hope that by this time next year, the organisation may have moved again.

Charity Commission Compliance visit

We noted in last year’s annual report that, because CADFA works in Palestine, we became subject to a wide-ranging compliance investigation by the Charity Commission. They assured us that they were doing the same for every charity operating in Palestine. Providing papers and answering questions took a lot of time but the investigation did give us the opportunity for some useful conversations with the Charity Commission and helped us look sharply at all of our policies and procedures. The investigation was signed off in Sept 2022.

The CADFA team

This year the Trustee team continued with the same members as the previous year. Our Director Nandita Dowson led the CADFA team in the UK and the Abu Dis Co-ordinator Abdul Wahab Sabbah led the team in Palestine. We added part-time administrators to our team, Anita and Gabi for three months from March- June followed by Meg in August who was still with us at the end of the year.

We had a huge number of volunteers including people who worked regularly throughout the year, (such as Annika’s stalwart team on the Brunswick stall), people who worked on special events and many all over the country who joined in at the time of a visit to help host, drive, cook and accompany visitors. Others joined in to help CADFA in a sponsored walk, promoting a raffle and other fundraising events.

3Dr Abdullah from the Health Centre presenting CADFA with a token of thanks during the women’s visit to Palestine in November 2022

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Building partnerships

A talk by a returned CADFA visitor who is making a book of her photographs during the Arabic language residential - organised to raise money for the youth visit from Palestine.

We began the year with links to many organisations across Britain and Palestine and through our renewed activities and the Building Hope project, ended the year with even more. Many of these in the UK are small organisations working on the issues of Palestinian rights - twinning groups (and the BPTFN network), PSC and Friends of Palestine groups - and others are all types of community and educational organisation.

In Palestine we have been happy to work with local people both individuals and organisations in many towns and villages for a number of years. The number, too, are expanding and new groups want to be involved in CADFA’s work. We very much appreciate the support and recognition given to us by old friends and renewed this year including the Higher Council for Youth and Sports, Al Quds University, Abu Dis Council.

A meeting with Dr Husam Zumlot, the Palestinian Ambassador, during the women's visit in March.

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We would like to thank the trustees of some small funds who believed in our work and gave us small grants towards the youth visit: MSN Fund, Euroquality Foundation. We are looking for more such funds to help us keep our projects going.

FINANCIAL REPORT

Our finances have reflected continued recovery from Covid. Our income has increased from £80.8k the previous year to £116.1k (+44%). Our costs have increased similarly; £82.1k to £119.3k. Our income and expenditure are almost back to the level before Covid (actually higher than some recent pre-Covid years).

This expansion of activities (in particular the Building Hope initiative) have required significant expenditure (in particular continued employment of a part-time assistant and bringing over many visitors from Palestine). Whilst these activities have generated income, it has been a continual challenge to ensure this covered our costs.

Our increase in income was almost exclusively from income raised around visits to Britain and other projects (this was over £50k, although at the expense of a drop of over £10k in general donations). The costs of these visits include about £25k of “direct” costs (flights, other transport, food & accommodation on the visits, etc), as well as needing to cover some of our “core” costs (staffing, CADFA accommodation, etc), as these require a lot of time organising. Our visits to Palestine generated over £15k in income, but as the direct costs of these were over £10k, they only made a small contribution to our core costs. Whilst membership increased by around 15% over the year, membership income was up less than half that (mainly because the membership growth was towards the end of the year).

Staff costs were up by around 10% reflecting employment of an assistant in Camden (1 day per week). Note there have been no increases in salaries (as there haven’t been for many years). Because of our challenging finances, we reduced the amount we were putting into the “pension pot” (set up the previous year) from £500 to £100 each month. The £100 approximately covers the increase in the gratuity in lieu of pension for our Abu Dis worker on his retirement from the extra year worked.

The loan made to our Abu Dis worker the previous year, has now been fully repaid.

Our accounts (see below) show us ending the financial year in deficit by £3,386 (after starting the year with £192). Including late items makes the position slightly worse; -£3,746 (compared with - £245 at the beginning of the year). We have been able to avoid interest charges by juggling our money (in particular borrowing from the Pension Pot). We are addressing this deficit in the budget for 2023/4.

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Pause during a sponsored walk to raise money for the youth visit

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The Saturday stall which raises money for CADFA and in particular for women's visits - and has gone on weekly for years, rain or shine!

Our Palestinian Arabic teacher learning how to make Welsh cakes during the residential Arabic course (fundraising for the youth visit)

CADFA trustee draws a raffle ticket (fundraising for the youth visit)

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THANK YOUS

We considered listing the many helpers and friends that made this year’s work possible, but here were so many, and some not even known to us, so we decided that this was impossible. We would like to extend strong thanks to the staff of CADFA, the regular volunteers, the people who joined to help with particular campaigns, the fundraisers with their many ideas, the hosts, drivers, cooks, accompaniers during visits, the partner organisations that welcomed our visitors and all those who arranged speaking opportunities, asked advice, gave advice…. There was help from many Palestinian friends as well. There have been so many of you in both countries, and we and our friends in Palestine are really grateful for and encouraged by your efforts.

OBJECTIVES FOR 2023-24

This report and the appendix below show that the situation in Palestine is getting even worse. So we want to keep going, raising awareness and helping people find positive and useful ways to work for human rights.

The main areas we want to work on to strengthen and sustain this work

are

Extending our membership, involving new people across the country, encouraging our members to be active
Working with existing partner organisations and with new organisations both in Camden and across the country
Developing and extending the Building Hope| Voices from Palestine project
Finding new sponsors and/or ways to make this work sustainable.

We will specifically work on

Regular human rights reports on Zoom and in person
Public events focusing on human rights in Palestine
Publications on social media and in print on human rights in Palestine
Visits to Palestine (aim to have three or four this year)
Visits to the UK (aim to have three or four this year subject to funding)
School links and school materials on Palestine and human rights
Advocacy work (including Beyond the Checkpoints)
In December 2023, celebration of 20 years of Camden Abu Dis links.

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Appendices

Appendix 1 -Objectives of CADFA

From the CADFA constitution as amended November 2013

The Charity’s object is to promote human rights (as set out in the International Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations) and respect for international humanitarian law in Palestine by all or any of the following means:

raising awareness of human rights and humanitarian issues relevant to the Israeli— Palestinian conflict in general and to the situation of Abu Dis in particular;
researching and monitoring abuses of human rights and infringements of humanitarian law in Abu Dis in particular and Palestine more widely; educating the public about human rights and humanitarian law;
promoting public support for human rights and the observance of humanitarian law;
working to eliminate abuses of human rights and infringements of humanitarian law in Abu Dis in particular and Palestine more widely;
working to obtain and promote redress for the victims of human rights abuses and infringements of humanitarian law and their families in Abu Dis in particular and Palestine more widely;
providing support to and relieving need among the victims of human rights abuses and infringements of humanitarian law and their families, in Abu Dis in particular and Palestine more widely.

Appendix 2 - Trustees of CADFA

Tara Seaborn (Chair)
Hugh Wallis (Treasurer)
Cristina Piccoli (Secretary)
Fiona Millar (Minutes secretary)
Peter Ashan

All re-elected at the AGM on 6th November at Cafe Palestina.

Appendix 3 - Some press articles/ letters

Our youth visitors from Palestine appeared in a small paper in Ledbury (we don't have a better picture)

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Appendix 4 - The human rights year in Abu Dis

The Separation Wall in Abu Dis at this point runs down the middle of a road - it is Abu Dis on both sides, but has become a significant barrier to many aspects of life – social, educational, medical, economic…

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The pressure on Palestinians increased this year. The on-going apartheid, deep and structural discrimination, human rights violations against Palestinians, continued. In addition, the Israeli government crisis and the increased power of the extreme right wing and settlers’ movement has been the background for increased pressure on the Palestinians. Much of this was physical violence - the settlers’ movement created a militia (which has subsequently been agreed to by the government) which has invaded Palestinians’ homes, acted very aggressively, killed people. Palestinians are aware of increased danger in the areas outside their towns – for people from Abu Dis, going near Maale Adumim can be dangerous. Sometimes people are stopped, sometimes settlers throw stones.

Israeli army in Abu Dis

At the end of March 2023, there were 37 prisoners from Abu Dis in Israeli jails and 15 on admin detention. There were not as many child prisoners as there had been but children have been arrested and their families fined.

The takeover by Israeli settlers of Palestinian land and property is continuing; seizure of land and building of settlements is the big issue. During this year, there were 960 house demolitions across Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Abu Dis is filling and growing. Traffic is everywhere, parking and traffic is a real chaos. Old buildings being are taken down and there is new building of tower blocks everywhere. “There are more people every day – in Abu Dis there are people coming into the city because of the university, people wanting to be around Jerusalem as well as population expansion. This is terrible,” says a voice from Abu Dis, “What can it be like in 10 years time? Where can people live? How will they find space?”

Town planning doesn’t work. We were told that the Palestinian Authority don’t give the council any proper authority – it can’t stop people building or make provision for parking. People can build without a licence or can pay the PA local authority ministry and buy permission – The Council can’t do anything about it.

Together with this, the lack of a proper sewage infrastructure is like a time bomb.

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The Abu Dis year 2022-23

April

Ramadan started at the beginning of April. People from Abu Dis were very keen to go into Jerusalem to the Al Aqsa Mosque to pray. Huge crowds at the checkpoints round the city, but Israelis didn’t allow everyone to go into the city - just men over 55 and women over 40. This led to younger people taking the dangerous route and climbing and jumping the huge Separation Wall.

The Israeli army was in force in Jerusalem. Many young people were beaten and arrested on the way

Every child in Abu Dis knows the sight, smell and taste of tear gas

into the old city at Bab al Amoud. Settlers were pushing people from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. “Unity” demonstrations brought together Palestinans from the West Bank, Jerusalem and inside 1948” (Israel"). There was a violent response from Israel - they bombed Gaza.

This was a very bloody month in the West Bank too. On the 1st April there was a massacre in Jenin. There were then invasions of Nablus. This led to big demonstrations across Palestine including in Abu Dis. During April 2022, 23 people were killed in the West Bank.

[CADFA post}: “Terrible news from Palestine. Our friends there send us picture after picture of people shot by the Israeli army - young people, two women, a lawyer... "Say their names," people say (to show that like ourselves these are people with lives, histories, hopes, happiness, problems, mums, children), but we don't know all the names, and to tell the truth we have even lost count of the number over the last few days: countless families, countless communities grieving and fearing even worse - and

so are we.”

In Abu Dis, on the night of 5th April there were army house invasions in Abu Dis and 3 people were arrested.

On 12th April, 4 people were arrested. The Israelis renewed the administrative detention order (detention without trial) for Huthaifa Badr and Mohammed Ebidat.

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Abdullah Jalal had his skull fractured by Israeli soldiers

On 16th April there was a demonstration at the Al Quds University in support of Palestinian prisoners including Ahmed Munasra (age 19) who was arrested at the age of 12 and has spent the last 2 years in complete isolation inside Israeli prison and is now suffering serious mental health problems.

The demonstrators were also supporting the family campaign to get the Israelis to give back the body of Dr Mai Afana who was killed at an Israeli checkpoint on 16th June 2021 - Israel took away her body and did not return it.

18th April [CADFA report] “So many pictures of shameful brutality by Israeli soldiers in the past few days. This poor lad of 17, Abdullah Jalal, was taken to the Israeli army military

camp in Abu Dis today, kept there for two hours and beaten so hard with guns and sticks that when they let him go, his skull was fractured. We need the world to hear and protest and we need the cruel apartheid to stop fast.”

May

On 11th May, Shireen Abu Aqleh was murdered in Jenin, where military pressures had continued. The famous journalist was preparing to give a news report when she was repeatedly shot by an Israeli sniper.

On 15th May, Shireen Abu Aqleh’s funeral was interrupted by the Israeli army who at one stage attacked the pallbearers causing the coffin to be dropped and nearly hit the ground.

There were demonstrations all over Palestine. On 15th May there was a demonstration in Abu Dis, near the university. The Israeli army shot tear gas and rubber bullets.

15th May - This was Nakba day [CADFA report] “Things in Palestine are unspeakable at the moment with a violent military in every place, pushing people from their homes, invading refugee camps, killing people including journalists, punishing mourners and here invading the campus of Al Quds University today.”

On 17th May there were house invasions and arrests of 3 people in Abu Dis. This led to demonstrations and attacks by the army on demonstrators. Two people were seriously wounded with live ammunition, others wounded with rubber bullets.

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June

The tension continued this month, thirteen more people were killed in Jenin and Nablus. In Abu Dis, this was the anniversary of the killing of Dr Mai Afaneh whose body had not been returned.

On 1[st] June, the Israeli army invaded dozens of houses in Abu Dis, ordering young people to report to the intelligence officer at military camp.

On 3[rd] June there was a big demonstration in Abu Dis on the commemoration of the Nakseh (invasion and occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in 1967).

On 7th June there were house invasions in the old part of Abu Dis. Three young people were arrested.

Dr Mai Afaneh and her daughter. Mai was killed by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint north of Abu Dis in 2021

16th June A year after the killing of Mai Afaneh there was a demonstration in Abu Dis.

16th June [CADFA report]; “Today is the 1st anniversary of the killing of Dr Mai Afana, a young mother and lecturer from Abu Dis who was shot at an Israeli army checkpoint. This is a compilation of photos from the family who will be

marking today with a memorial but have not yet had the opportunity to bury her or say goodbye as the Israelis are still holding her body. This is a policy they have applied to dozens of people who were killed their families - refusing to return the bodies and further punishing the families and communities.”

These days there is always a water crisis in Abu Dis in the summer. Much of the water from the West Bank aquifer is taken to the Israeli settlements and the Israelis have made different rules for Israelis and Palestinians to take water. Palestinians have water pumped into tanks on their roofs only once or twice a week and in summer there is often not enough.

June saw the beginning of a deeper water crisis which left many homes without water at all because a water pump in Wadi Jheer was broken and stayed this way for 3 months.

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July

On 9th July, the Israeli army invaded blocks of student accommodation and four students were arrested.

On 22nd July, there were demonstrations in Abu Dis and the army took over University Street.

The water crisis continued. This was partly because a long process of agreements with the Israelis had to be made before new parts for the pump could be obtained.

August

On 25th August, Mai’s body was returned to her family. Israel had been keeping it as they are keeping dozens of others.

25 Aug [CADFA report]: “This poor child from Abu Dis not only suddenly lost her beloved mother Dr Mai Afana (she was shot by Israeli soldiers in June 2021) but then had to wait for 14 months - apparently not believing that her mother wouldn't come home - to say goodbye to her. The Israelis wouldn't give Mai's body back till yesterday.”

September

This was the beginning of the school year and - as had become familiar -Israeli army checkpoints were put up in the morning around the schools

Abu Dis Boys’ School and Al Quds University lost 5 days because of army invasions.

Fayiz Damdoum, killed by the Israeli army in October 2022

On 20[th] September, three Abu Dis Boys’ School students were arrested, held in police station in Maale Adumim and only released after paying money. Each family had to pay 5000 shekels each (a huge amount for many families – the Palestinian minimum wage is 1800 a month).

October

1 Oct [CADFA post]; “Oh lord, another killing at the hands of the Israeli army in Aizaria next to Abu Dis… another young life ended, another family and community devastated - and total impunity for the soldiers.”

2 October [CADFA post]: “Living under military occupation - pictures from Al Quds University Abu Dis (Israeli soldiers near the Separation Wall they built and some of the tear gas they

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use - every adult and every child in the area knows its smell too well). This photo was the day after a 17 year old was killed in a drive-by shooting from an Israeli army jeep.

9 Oct [CADFA post]: “Terrible reports from Palestine at the moment, an escalation of suffering. People are trying to live a normal life but there are disturbances out of nothing - like the tear gas shot all round the middle of Abu Dis yesterday, affecting local families where there had been peace and quiet on a bank holiday. Bad news every day - yesterday women were among people beaten by soldiers near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem - terrible videos of women being forced to the ground and arrested. Last night Shufat Camp was under siege by the army with helicopters constantly overhead. More and more killings by the Israeli army - 4(four people) were killed yesterday.

Israeli army vehicles driving into Abu Dis at night

“The racism is so deep that there is no concern at all for civilians young or old and total impunity for the soldiers. No one knows what is next. Palestinians have to worry and to watch out for their family members: it is so scary to have unpredictable armed killers on the streets. And why is this now? As Israel has yet another election coming, is this some sort of showing off? Or are they determined to create a response and greet it with worse??”

On 18th October, there was an Israeli

army invasion of Al Quds University. More than fifty (50) people were hurt, some injured by rubber bullets and some overcome by tear gas.

November

On 3[rd] November, Amer Badr, a twenty-year old from Abu Dis - son of a famous surgeon - was killed in the Old City of Jerusalem. He was on his way to the mosque. His parents were arrested at home and at work immediately. They wanted to see the CCTV pictures of his death - the whole of the Old City is covered in cameras. The Israelis (as they often do) said that the cameras were not working.

On 5[th] November, the Israeli army went into Abu Dis. There were clashes at the University. Several young men were wounded by live ammunition.

On 6th November, the Israeli army invaded Al Quds University. They shot tear gas and a hot cannister ignited dry grass and caused a fire.

On 11th November, there were clashes again at the University and a young man was wounded in his foot.

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December

Yousef Rabiyeh was shot in his head by Israeli soldiers and is seriously disabled as a result

On 9th December, nine houses in Abu Dis were invaded by Israeli soldiers in the night, and nine young people were arrested. All of them were given administrative detention (imprisonment without trial).

On 18th December, there were clashes between Israeli army and young people in Abu Dis, and the Israelis shot tear gas inside the Al Quds University

On 20th December, there was a demonstration in Abu Dis caused by the death in prison of Nasser Abu Hmeid who had been in prison for 22 years.

22nd December [CADFA report]: “Terrible news yesterday in Abu Dis as a youth of 17, Yousef Rabiyeh was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers. Dangerously wounded, he was put by the soldiers in their military jeep and the paramedics from the Palestinian ambulance that came to his rescue were not allowed to approach – but his mother came running when she heard what had happened, and she held him and the door of the military jeep, screaming, to prevent him from being taken away. All Palestinians know of the number of young

people shot and allowed by the Israeli soldiers to bleed to death. She and Yousef’s aunt held on to him and to the military jeep and in the end the soldiers relented and allowed the ambulance people to take him to hospital. He had an operation lasting some hours to take a bullet from his brain and tend to his fractured skull. Now the community is supporting the family and staying with Yousef and hoping and praying that he will get well.”

January 2024

Jan 23 [CADFA report]: “Two days ago - A whole army of military vehicles filmed going through Abu Dis in the middle of the night. This one is heartbreaking. This family managed to film their son being taken away by the Israeli army in the middle of the night. You can hear the sadness and worry in his mum's (?) voice and someone (his father?) telling the boy to stay strong. Hoping he is released really quickly and that nothing more horrible happens to him while he is away. The experience of so many young people (specially boys) and their families in Palestine.”

February

During the night, on the early morning of 20th December, Israel soldiers invaded some offices and several houses in Abu Dis and gave people orders to report to the Israeli military camp the next day.

March

On 12th March, the Israeli army invaded Al Quds University. Seventy-one (71) students were hurt. Most suffered the effects of tear gas but some were injured by rubber bullets.

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On 21st March, the Israeli army invaded Abu Dis, shooting tear gas and using live ammunition. They entered three houses, and arrested three young people.

In March, there were reports in the Al Quds University that the Israelis plan to take over 800 donums of land from Aizariyeh and the Jerusalem suburb area near Abu Dis, to use as a settlement rubbish dump.

CADFA

c/o Café Palestina

53 Fortess Road

London NW5 1AD

Charity number 1112717

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