Hastings Friends of Yatma supplies medical equipment for Yatma clinic

HFOY has bought essential equipment for the Yatma clinic. We have been able to supply sterilising equipment; blood pressure, diabetes and blood testing apparatus, and a washing machine . The doctor only makes fortnightly visits and much of the running of the clinic is done by the nurse Mureena – in the photo she is unpacking the delivery with deputy Mayor Mohammed Snober.

School bags for Yatma children are big hit!

When she was in Yatma recently HFOY activist Gill Knight learned that the community had expressed a need for 25 ‘school bags’ for the poorest Yatma children. Hastings Friends of Yatma agreed to fund the bags.

The school bags are backpacks filled with school supplies which are often out of reach for the poorest families in Yatma. Below are some photos from the day the school bags were distributed:

Sign acknowledging Hastings Friends of Yatma

Yatma children with new school supplies

 

Yatma boys school has needs beyond new building

The Yatma Boys School has a new building thanks to a Jordanian donor. But the building is nearly empty, lacking basic facilities, even furniture. Computers are generally lacking, there is no phone line and there is only one water tap for all the students in the school. (This reflects the generally desperate water situation in Yatma, which was deprived of its spring by the settlers of the Rechalim colony).

 

Settlers destroy olive trees in Yatma

Settlers uprooted 120 olive trees at Yatma on about July 6, 2012. The olive trees belonged to Yatma resident Bade’ Nasser.

The settlers are believed to come from Kefar Tappuach settlement, or possibly the ‘Taffouh’ settlement.   An earlier attack on 30 trees in January was blamed on settler dissatisfaction with the forced evacuation of Jewish militants from three outposts. The ‘Price Tag’ campaign targets Palestinians in the West Bank in retaliation for actions by the Israeli government that the settlers don’t approve of. While the Israeli government claims to be against the Price Tag attacks, it generally sanctions the perpetrators only if they attack Israeli facilities. In a rare exception, Israeli occupation forces arrested the young woman in this video, for damaging Palestinian property in Luban Ash-Sharqiyia village.

A photograph in this blog, shows some of the damage done to the olive trees in Yatma.

This month’s attack is just the latest in a long string of attacks by settlers in the area south of Nablus. Perpetrators are rarely charged and compensation is not paid. This report compiled by the Palestine Centre for Human Rights documents some of the Israeli human rights violations in the occupied territories for the week ending 12 July 2012.

We have three beautiful pieces of Hebron glass for sale.

A very kind donor has given Hastings Friends of Yatma three pieces of  Hebron glass to resell to raise money for projects in Yatma.

We believe this glassware was purchased between 1948 and 1957  in Hebron, West Bank.

History of Hebron glass: Hebron has been the site of a glass industry for as long as two thousand years. Hebron glass can be in a variety of shapes and colours, but is often associated with a striking blue colour. Prior to 1930 glassmaking was carried out by Arab and Jewish Palestinians working side by side. After the expulsion of Hebron’s Jewish population in 1930 several Arab Palestinian families continued the tradition. Lately, the glass production has suffered, due to declining tourism in the West Bank, export difficulties, and ongoing mobility problems relating to the occupation.

Friends of Yatma currently don’t know the value of these beautiful pieces. Probably not a great deal in pure cash terms. But we think that symbolically they are priceless.

By making a very generous offer for one of these pieces you are indicating your support for the ongoing struggle for peace and justice in Hebron and the rest of the West Bank, the will for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.  You are supporting higher valuations for the work of Hebron craftspeople.

And you are making a donation toward a useful project in the village of Yatma. (For a list of current projects we are working on, read current blog posts).

People with additional knowledge of Hebron glassware are encouraged to add more informaton via the comments feature.