Madison Rafah Journal

Palestinian children at the Oxfam water project in Gaza. (Neil Ashour)

Sarah Irving, The Electronic Intifada, 7 July 2010

For the last year Mark Buttle has been the coordinator for the "WASH cluster," the group of aid organizations working on water, sanitation and hygiene in the Gaza Strip. A chartered water engineer, Buttle has worked for a development-oriented nongovernmental organization (NGO) for more than a decade, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has been based in Gaza since May 2009. He spoke to The Electronic Intifada contributor Sarah Irving about the challenges faced by international agencies working in Gaza.

Sarah Irving: What are the typical activities your job entails?

Mark Buttle: It's all about getting people around the table. We have a coordination meeting every week or two and people are invited to attend so that everyone knows who's doing what, where, and they can exchange information. We've been prioritizing developing a contingency plan for the water sector, working out what the water sector needs to do in the event of a worst case scenario.

SI: What is the biggest problem the water sector faces?

(Read on …)

7:00 – 9:00 pm
1221 Humanities Building
455 N. Park St
UW-Madison [map]

Dr. Jad Isaac will present research on Palestinian agriculture, environment, land use and water, highlighting the problems facing farmers and residents in the occupied West Bank. His presentation will cover current and future water conditions, and options for a more sustainable water management system.

Dr. Isaac, a Palestinian resident from the Bethlehem area, is a former professor of life sciences at Bethlehem University and currently the director of the Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ). He headed the Palestinian delegation for the environmental working group in the multilateral talks and is an advisor to the Palestinian negotiating team on final status issues with Israel.

This event is sponsored by Hillel's Israel Celebrates 62 Committee, Kavanah: An Open Dialogue on the Israel-Palestine Conflict, The Middle East Interest Group, and the American Friends Service Committee in Chicago.

Commemorating the life of Rachel Corrie

Sunday, March 21
4:30-5:30 pm Silent Auction viewing and bidding
5:30-6:30 pm Vegetarian Dinner by Lulu's restaurant
6:30-9:00 pm Program
Fellowship Hall, First United Methodist Church
203 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison [Map]

A benefit dinner and program sponsored by the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project and Madison Playgrounds for Palestine.

Tickets for the dinner and program are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. All proceeds will help provide Palestinian children with a new playground in Beit Sahour, West Bank through Playgrounds for Palestine, and a water purification system for a school in Rafah, Gaza through the Maia Project of the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA).

Besides information on these two humanitarian projects, the program will mark the seventh anniversary of Rachel Corrie's death on March 16 with (Read on …)

Dear Members and Friends of MRSCP,

Late last year, we agreed to take on the task of raising funds to pay for and install three water filtration/desalination systems that the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) wants to put in a school and two day care centers in Rafah.

This is part of the very ambitious MAIA PROJECT by MECA to install 20 such systems in schools, kindergartens and daycare centers in Gaza. So far, funds have been raised for about five systems.

We are pleased to report that we are only $800 away from our goal of paying for one of the two smaller systems.

And, while we are planning a major fundraiser for Sunday, March 21 (more information on that shortly), we are hoping that you will consider a donation to help put us over the top for this first daycare system so that we can turn our attention to the much larger school system.

These systems are designed to be completely manufactured within Gaza. They will not be held up by the seige, and the funds will help support the families of those inside Gaza who build, install and maintain the systems.

(Read on …)

On January 21, 2010 54 members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama calling for an end to the Gaza blockade by Israel and Egypt. You can thank Tammy Baldwin for signing this letter and supporting an end to the suffering in Gaza here.

Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, February 4, 2010

Israel lobbyists are calling the 54 brave congresspeople who signed the letter to Obama against the Gaza blockade "the gang of 54," and trying to light a fire under em. One of them has cold feet. From Arutz Sheva wire:

(Read on …)

Mr. Bill Corcoran, President
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
Tuesday, 9 February 2010, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.
The Palestine Center
Washington, DC

RSVP here, or watch the webcast live at 1 PM.

A year after the bombs stopped falling on Gaza, full recovery remains elusive. Survival is a daily challenge. ANERA president Bill Corcoran has traveled to Gaza regularly during the past year to assess the damage and the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance. He will talk about current conditions and challenges for helping Gazans rebuild their lives.

Mr. Bill Corcoran has been president of ANERA since 2007. Before joining ANERA, he was Vice President of the Christian Children's Fund, a $300 million nonprofit serving children and their families in 32 countries. During the 1990's, Mr. Corcoran directed the Pontifical Mission for Palestine based in Jordan with projects there and in Iraq. He also supervised various projects in Lebanon and Syria.

Gush Shalom, Haaretz, Jan 15, 2010