Supported the emboidery work of this handicapped Palestinian refugee woman at Musawat Saida.
The Palestinians are great with their hand-sewn emboidery work and its a pity there is a lack of marketing effort to sell them abroad.
The refugee emboidery market is a great money-churning goldmine that remains very much untapped and we are trying our best to assist in this area.
Moreover, for the refugees themselves, its great to earn one’s keep than sitting at home and wait for handout. The emboidery sewing can also be done at home with minimal interruption to their household chores as most refugee women also tend to look after the children themselves.
The wealthy international charitable bodies these days are stretched to the limits with their funding resources and many local NGOs suffer from this reduction in funds.
The idea of a social enterprise model whereby NGOs self-fund themselves from selling their own hand-made products takes more eminence now.
However, its still difficult to change the mindset of NGOs here as they are used to easy access to funds contributed from the European charitable organisations.
But such days are truly numbered…and my fear is that some noble charitable organisations may need to close down soon due to a lack of funds.
The United Nations cultural and heritage body, Unesco, has condemned Israel’s “escalating aggressions” regarding the holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, prompting a furious reaction from Israeli politicians.
A resolution passed on Thursday denied the importance of the site to the Jewish faith by referring to it and the al-Aqsa mosque only by their Muslim names, the politicians said.
The site has been a flashpoint between Muslims and rightwing Jews over the past two years in particular, although tensions in the vicinity stretch back decades.
The resolution was backed by 24 countries, with six opposing it and 26 abstaining. The US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Estonia voted against the resolution; Russia and China were among those backing it.
While affirming the importance of the Old City to all three monotheistic faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity – the resolution failed to acknowledge Jewish connections to Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif, Israel said.
The al-Aqsa mosque – the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina – and the iconic Dome of the Rock stand on a plaza on the eastern edge of the Old City, and are under the control of an Islamic trust called the Waqf.
The Western Wall, below the concourse, is regarded as the holiest spot in Judaism as the last remnant of the temple that once stood there. Jews can visit the plaza above the wall, but are forbidden by law from praying, reciting religious texts or entering Muslim holy sites there.
The resolution said Muslims’ freedom of worship was being curtailed by “escalating aggressions and illegal measures”. It deplored the “continuous storming of al-Aqsa mosque and al-Haram al-Sharif by the Israeli rightwing extremists and uniformed forces … [and] forceful entering by so-called ‘Israeli Antiquities’ officials”.
In March 2015, a leaked EU report said tensions over al-Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount were partly to blame for a spike in violence, including shootings and stabbings, over the previous six months.
Uri Ariel, a rightwing minister in the Israeli coalition government, called on Israel to respond to the Unesco motion by stepping up activities at the site.
“Especially now, it’s on us as a government to act in defiance of these decisions and to strengthen the Temple Mount and the Jewish presence on the site holiest to the Jewish people – the Temple Mount,” he said in a letter to the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.
The Labour party leader, Isaac Herzog, wrote on Facebook: “Unesco betray their mission, and give a bad name to diplomacy and the international institutions. Whoever wants to rewrite history, to distort fact, and to completely invent the fantasy that the Western Wall and Temple Mount have no connection to the Jewish people, is telling a terrible lie that only serves to increase hatred.”
Before the vote, the British Jewish organisation Yachad, which campaigns for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and for a two-state solution, condemned the resolution as “an inflammatory denial of Jewish history” which “serves only to set back the cause of peace in the region by playing into the hands of those on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who see it as a holy war”.
The motion was submitted by the Palestinians supported by Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and Sudan.
A similar resolution in April passed with 33 votes to six, and was supported by a number of European countries led by France. This time France abstained amid a heavy lobbying campaign by Israel.
KUALA LUMPUR: Tentera Israel menahan kapal layar, Zaytouna-Olivia, bersama tiga anak kapal dan 10 aktivis wanita termasuk wakil tunggal Malaysia, Dr Fauziah Mohd Hassan, dalam misi ‘Women’s Boat To Gaza'(WBG), semalam (5 Okt).
Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE), dalam kenyataan malam semalam (5 Okt), mengesahkan kapal itu, yang dalam perjalanan menuju ke Gaza, ditahan pada pukul 2.58 petang waktu tempatan (8.58 malam waktu Malaysia/Singapura).
Kapal Zaytouna itu dijangka akan ditunda oleh tentera Israel ke Pelabuhan Ashdod, menurut kenyataan itu.
Dr Fauziah bersama anggota misi bantuan kemanusiaan WBG itu mengikuti misi mencabar sekatan Israel ke atas Gaza setelah laluan darat ke negara yang dizalimi itu dikepung dan laluan masuk dari sempadan Mesir-Gaza di Arafah, turut ditutup.
Delegasi wanita dari negara lain adalah dari Tunisia, Israel, Algeria, Kanada, Turki, Amerika Syarikat, Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand dan Australia sebagai tanda solidariti kepada rakyat Palestin.
Pelayaran WDB bermula pada 8 malam, 14 September lalu (waktu tempatan Barcelona) dari pelabuhan Vell dan berhenti di Ajaccio, Perancis (bagi pusingan pertama) pada 19 September sebelum meneruskan perjalanan ke Messina, Itali (pusingan kedua).
Justeru, MyCare akan mengadakan satu sidang media berhubung perkara itu hari ini (6 Okt).
StandWithUs has been described as a “notorious right-wing pro-settler organization that works closely with the Israeli Foreign Ministry”. The aim of the American not-for-profit is to enhance Israel’s image in the eyes of the world. The grassroots group concentrates on three main areas: Media Action for Israel, Call to Action for Israel and Educational Action for Israel.
A Singaporean Christian family has drawn the criticism of some for supporting StandWithUs. In a message to the pro-settler group, the Singaporean family said:
“As Singaporeans, we are thankful to Israel for the IDF’s help during our country’s infancy. Our military and our country are indebted to Israel. As Chinese with an ancient culture, we are inspired by the Jewish culture, which is of a similar vintage as ours. Chinese and Jews have much to learn from each other. As Christians, we are lovers of Israel and all its people; it is the birthplace of Christianity and central to the coming of HaMashiach. We remain contrite for anti-semitism in the Christian heritage and are committed to return to the Jewish roots of the faith. Today, we celebrate these things and our hearts are full. We stand with Israel, we stand with Jerusalem, now and always. Am Yisrael Chai!”
StandWithUs shared the Singaporean family’s picture in their Facebook and captioned it, “We LOVE our supporters of Israel from around the world! This week we received this message from a family in Singapore.”
Facebook user Shaffiq Haz who is from Singapore, in responding to the right wing group’s sharing of the picture said: “You guys do know . .. a large percentage of Palestinians are Christians . . .right . .. and they are similarly oppressed . . ”
Hidhir Arafat Ariana Aifa, another Facebook user from Singapore said: “Where does Israel stand in the map?? Obviously nothing… the biggest bully which call other place their country…shame on you.”
Other Facebook users from Singapore, like Mohd Jamil Mohd Said agreed that Israel was a bully. He said, “Zionist STEALS Palestinian land and kills innocent woman and children. Lets not forget that…!!!!”
The Singaporean family though got support from some others.Facebook user Magdalene Shane Lee said, “I am Singaporean, and I support Israel too. They are a secular nation among theocratic nations, as we are.”
