Forced Staycation Behind An 8m Wall

Today I booked my holiday for my family and I .  Yay!  It has been two years since we have had an amazing vacation.  We are going to the US and will be touring across Nevada and California.  Our visas are authorised, our flights booked and soon we will be off.  There is likely to be no restriction of our movement, we can go anywhere we like and experience wonderful activities.

Imagine waking up to this wall every day, on the other side is the rest of the world that you have no access to!

It struck me that if I lived in the West Bank, it would be unlikely that I would be able to have a holiday like this.  Being Palestinian, I would be be living behind a 430 mile, 8m tall wall that cuts off my world from that of the rest of the world.  It is like living under apartheid, in fact, it is living under apartheid but with the added feature of living behind the Berlin Wall.  If I wanted to take my family

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away on vacation I would have to get a permit, probably travel miles to apply for it and would probably get it refused.  I would be forced to stay behind that massive wall.  Actually, if I did get the permit to go away on vacation, there is a law that says that I no longer have a claim to my house.  It is an Israeli law which then entitles the Israel Defence Force to take my home and either knock it down or give it to families of Israeli settlers.
If I was Palestinian, I would be too scared to leave my home for a holiday and be forced to live fearfully in my own home.  I wouldn't be able to give my children the experiences that many children outside of the West Bank get every year.  They would get a forced 'staycation' behind that 8m wall.
It breaks my heart to think that Israeli children and Palestinian children are not getting a chance to build peace together because they live in an atmosphere of fear and hate.

In July, I am raising money for a human rights charity in London called Amos Trust who seek to work with local grassroots organisations across the world that are building hope and peace in troubled places endorsing non violent protest and inspiring change.  Please sponsor me as I jump out of a plane by clicking the banner below.  If you can't sponsor me, no worries, but please share my post.  Building awareness is more important.

Thanks

John

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Why you are not anti Semitic if you stand against Israel's abusive human rights activities.

The media in the UK is having a field day over the comments made by Bradford MP, Naz Shah about her views on Israel and how Israel treats Palestinians. She has been accused of being antisemitic by making comments that are deeply hurtful to the Jewish community.

I agree that the MP made comments at a time of tension and anger and perhaps her choice of words were unfortunate, but what she was expressing was anger at the devastation that Israel delivered to Gaza in 2014.

It would seem that in some parts of the Jewish community , Israel very much defines their identity as Jews. It is deeply rooted in the history of this religion and in many ways has a root for Christianity too. Indeed, Israel spends a lot of money giving young Jewish people from all over the world a free 10 day vacation in Israel so that they can get a sense of what their 'homeland' is all about.  This is a small part of Israel's Public relations machine. Being a part of a religion often does have a geographical context eg Israel for Judaism and Christianity, Saudi Arabia for Islam, India for Hinduism.

But I struggle to understand why criticising the acts of a country that are perpetrators of serious human rights abuses means that you can be labelled as antisemitic. What is happening in the West Bank and Gaza in terms of Israel's illegal oppression of those territories is a an attempt at land grabbing, ethnic cleansing and a clear lack of respect for the value of human rights.

Palestinians are being displaced from their homes , many of their children are being put in detention and land that is owned by Palestinians is being occupied with illegal Israeli settlements.

My time in the West Bank made me think clearly about how much of the world has been deceived by Israel who still uses the Holocaust to halt comments about the state being an abuser of human rights. Yes the holocaust was terrible and should never happen again and yes perhaps comparing the Israeli government to Hitler and the Nazis is wrong and hurtful. But both organisations share a common appetite for displacing a race living among them and have turned to violence to oppress them.

Let's be clear here. These actions are not about being Jewish, these actions are being taken by people who do not respect human life and are looking to extend their prosperity and greed. There are many Jewish people that are against Israel's actions against Palestinians too all over the world, including many that live in Israel itself. Israel isn't a bad country, but it's leaders are racist, make no mistake.

Don't you dare try to warp the discussion on these human rights abuses by playing the anti-Semite card because if you do, you are aligning yourself with human rights abusers, not Jews.

Today it's my birthday - Please celebrate with me by supporting children without hope and justice.

Please click here to go to my Just Giving Page.

It is Wednesday 13th April 2016 and it is my birthday!  Yay!  I turn 44 today.  I am such a fortunate person.  I am in good health, own a home, am married and have two beautiful teenage daughters.
I am having a wonderful career and I really do not have anything to complain about.  Thank God!

In the midst of my thoughts though, are my experiences visiting street children in South Africa and meeting Palestinian families in the West Bank that live under oppression, have their houses knocked down and loved ones locked up in prisons for the young and old.

I don't live with any of these pressures but my heart goes out to them and for one year only, I want to dedicate my birthday to them with the aim to at very least raise some kind of awareness about their plight.

In July I am jumping out of a plane to raise money for grassroots charities in those areas that seek to bring hope and justice to displaced children and families via the Amos Trust.  I would like to raise £1000 if I can.

Please support me with a small donation to my cause, I will love you forever and after all , it is my birthday :-) - Please click here to support me.

Thank you.

John

Great news from The West Bank. Palestinian family gets their home back.

I love good news don't you?

I want to tell you a bit about the charity that I am jumping out of a plane for called The Amos Trust and for the good news that they delivered to a family a year ago.

The family in question, is a Palestinian family who live in the West Bank.  The West Bank, in the Middle East, is rapidly being colonised by Zionist Settlers from Israel.  Large pieces of land are being taken away from their Palestinian owners to make way for Israeli families to start a new life.

Amos Trust believes in non violent protest and seeks to highlight the injustice that is happening for Palestinian families.

The family in question that I want to tell you about had their house bulldozed down.  It was done by the Israeli Defence Force which was seeking to displace the family from their home.

A year ago, and in protest of this injustice, Amos Trust raised funds and volunteers to visit the West Bank and spend time with this family rebuilding their home.

Imagine the impact that the good news about rebuilding their home had!

My friend Lia Maclean, was one of the volunteers and she helped build the home for the family.

The displaced Palestinian family - Photo Lia Maclean

Volunteering for this project is risky.  There is every chance that the IDF could return, arrest volunteers and demolish whatever progress had been started.  Despite poor whether and losing a couple of days in progress to the weather, the volunteers worked together and did a fantastic job working with local builders.

Amos Trust volunteers supporting the displaced Palestinian family by helping to rebuild their home - Photo Lia Maclean

The building team really started from scratch.

Photo Lia Maclean

Photo Lia Maclean

The end result was this beautiful home which the displaced family could move back into.

The completed home. Time to move back in! - Photo Lia Maclean

The good news from the West Bank however is that the building work finished a year ago and thankfully the IDF have not been back with their bulldozers.  Lia revisited the home and the family recently to see how settled they were.

Lia Maclean visiting the Palestinian family who are now back where they belong.

As I write about this, I feel emotional about my time in the West Bank, when I met a family in the same position.  The reality is that Palestinian families are being displaced all the time, illegally.  The UN won't do anything about it (despite their laws being broken) and sadly our Government won't do anything about the treatment of Palestinians because they want to maintain the £7Bn trade that the UK gets from Israel.

Charities such as Amos Trust are working hard to highlight what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza. They are highlighting the far right wing activities of the Israeli government, the displacement tactics, the apartheid wall and the intention to displace more and more Palestinian people from their country.

I'm not into politics, but I do care about the children that are losing their homes because of their race and the children that are put in prisons which until recently were managed by the British company G4S.

My sky dive is not going to fix this, but it might help more people to understand more about the situation in The West Bank and put pressure on our government to not support Israel in these activities.

I want to thank Lia, for making a stand and for doing something practical to help that family and thank Amos Trust for coordinating the project.

Lia wrote a blog about her time there and I would like to share that with you. Just click here. Thanks to Lia for all her great photos!

Please join me in supporting the good work that has already been done so far and what has already been committed to for the future.  If you would like to sponsor me please click the banner below.

Thank you.

John

Street Children in Durban - A view from a 10 year old.

I am proud to introduce my lovely daughter Jess, dance student, and actress, who visited Durban and their street children with our family in 2009.  Being only a child at the time she has a unique set of memories of being a child observing the suffering of other children.

Jess tells us more in her guest post below....

Jess aged 10 playing on Durban Beach (one of her favourite places in the world!)

Age 10, I didn't think anything could be so bad that it could cause pain to children's lives. I had a house, a lovely family and could chase my dreams, knowing there would always be someone to support me. It was how I'd grown up, and how I thought every other child grew up as well, but I was wrong, very wrong.

During my visit to Durban, South Africa, the street kids of Umthombo  were the friendliest children you could wish to meet and you'd never have known some of their backgrounds from seeing them. 

They welcomed us and appreciated us coming and I just wanted to play with them and have some fun, as after all they were kids like me, weren't they?

During the week that we were with Umthombo, we were not only there to learn but also to play with the street kids and be their friends, which is not what I can say about a lot of the community around them who didn't understand them or their lives.

DAY ONE- me and my mum with some of the Umthombo team, went round Durban to learn about the city, the kids and the situation at the time. It was a year before the major international Football World Cup which was being hosted in Durban, the city were told to 'clean up the streets and the city' to make a good impression on the incoming tourists and professionals who were due to come. The authorities and council did this but they took it a little too far. 

In South Africa, there are two types of police, the police department for the country and then the Metropolitan, the city police. The metro police decided that as the street children caused social problems on the streets, they were a problem which they had to clear up. 

The Umthombo team spoke of round ups and how they couldn't do anything for the kids when the metro police were involved, they could only help if the kids were in 'safe space' the Umthombo building itself. However, this would seem a perfect solution because you could just get all the kids in one safe spot. However, at this time Umthombo didn't have the facilities to keep children in over night so every day they had to force the children onto the streets for the night until 6am as Umthombo was only open between 6am and 11pm. So the team could not help regardless of if they wanted to after a certain time.

As we were walking around Durban we were told about this and on the way we met some kids that the leaders knew and had worked with, we even saw some of their artwork that they had tried to make a point with.

An example of street children art in one of Umthombo's art programs.

The street children were just like some of the teens from home, skating along grafitti on the skate park walls.

However one question that always crossed my mind was why are there no girls?

Towards the end of our journey round Durban suddenly out of nowhere we heard shouting and screaming. Me and everyone around me began to run as I felt mum grab my hand tightly and run with the group. Finally we reached the spot of the violence and shouting.

There we found a metropolitan police van with a large number of  street kids in the back, caged and screaming 'help!' , 'Get off me!', 'Let me out' and 'why are you letting them do this to me?!' A small child was reaching out to the Umthombo team and screaming 'please help me, please!'. We all stood there feeling hopeless as we saw the van of children being driven away. I asked where they were going and I was told, 'miles from here to the countryside where they have to make their own way back'.

After we saw, this mum made sure I was by her side the whole way back to 'safe space'. We almost reached Safe Space when my arm was grabbed by a man a lot older than me trying to pull me down an alley and luckily the Umthombo team knew him and took me away from him immediately. Within one day the true dangers for the street kids were revealed to me! The metro police and the streets itself.

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Slowly after this it was revealed to me why we hardly saw any girls. Girls were more likely to get into groups of men because they felt safer there even if they were being abused by them in another way. Boys in the streets had to be careful just as much as girls but many girls became pregnant or severely poorly from sexually transmitted diseases and with the lack of healthcare they got, not many would get better quickly, if at all.
To make it worse they couldn't escape from this place of harm, the streets was their home now and they couldn't go back to what they were used to.

Looking back on it now, it is horrific how young children, 'free' people were treated. And seeing it from such a young age really opened my eyes to how imperfect the world is when there is poverty like this on the streets around us. Why should any person feel forced to leave their home and fight for themselves, especially from the age of a teen maybe even younger. Why should any policeman have the right to round up kids and dump them miles from what they know?! It's just wrong and not fair. Whilst I was in South Africa I developed a strong hatred for the metro police and I began to refer to them as the metro bullies. I didn't understand why someone could be so horrible! I didn't even think that this kind of thing was legal never mind being caused by the law itself!!

Umthombo provide a Safe Space for street children in Durban to feel valued and develop.

Leaving South Africa, I remember vividly me and my mum sitting together on the plane, knowing we were going home to somewhere safe, and crying...because we knew those kids and young adults that we met, they wouldn't be going home, they wouldn't know where their next meal would be, and worst of all they wouldn't even know if they'd wake up in the same place tomorrow. I felt guilty for leaving and all I wanted to do was bring them home with me and make them feel wanted.

Jess is performing in the upcoming musical, Singing In The Rain at the Cambridge ADC Theatre with The Pied Pipers Musical Theatre Club.  Click here for more information and to book tickets.

The Day A Street Child Taught Me To Surf.

When I visited the Umthombo Street Child project in Durban South Africa, I never expected that a street child would give me a gift.

One of the common causes of being a street child is experiencing abuse at home and believing in the perception that it would be safer to live on the streets of Durban or any other city in the world.

So when they get to the city they often experience hardship, further abuse and live in very dangerous circumstances.

So you can imagine my surprise when I received a special gift from a street child on the beaches of Durban.

One of the projects that Umthombo have truly made a difference with, in Durban, is the Umthombo surfing project.  The video below gives a good overview of the benefit of that program to children living on the streets of Durban.

Street children being taught to surf, and having the daily discipline of surfing and training.  This work builds up confidence, stamina and a sense of meaning that has often been battered out of those kids living on the streets. It also shows them a different alternative to crime and drug abuse. They stop being just a street child and become someone fulfilling their potential.  Some of those street children have gone on to be international surfers competing in competitions around the world.

I was fortunate to be able to join those children in 2009 and one of them taught me how to surf.  He spent two hours showing me how to do it and you know what?  It was hard!  It was skilful and it showed me how much hard work would need to be put in to be good at surfing.

That day, I actually managed to stand on my surf board and surf for a couple of seconds.  In that time I felt such a rush of excitement and adrenalin and strangely freedom.

If I felt like that being a British tourist who has infinitely more than most of those street children, then I wonder how a street child must feel when they surf and people look at them as people of value again?

I was grateful for that gift that the street child gave me.

It is projects like these that Amos Trust supports in countries all over the world, this is why I am jumping out of a plane in July.  Please support me. Thanks.

The House On The Hill In Al Khadr

No one likes a sob story. People want to hear good news.

In my trip to the West Bank in the Middle East I was fortunate to visit a family that lived in a place called Al Khadr.  Al Khadr is a small village on the outskirts of Bethlehem.




In the map you can see that yellow road.  I remember walking up to an area in the outskirts of Al Khadr which was set in beautiful rolling hills, with a cool breeze.  Back to that yellow road, on the Al Khadr side there is a huge wall surrounding al Khadr that has been built to keep Palestinians out of Israel.  You can see the wall in the picture below;

In this ideallic setting there is a watchtower with cameras that watch across the Palestinian side of this wall.  As you look at the picture above I am sure that you will agree that it would be a beautiful site if it wasn't for the wall and watch tower.

The land that this is built upon from which I took this photo belongs to a family that has owned this land for generations.  The day before I visited this family they lived in their own home living off the land with a bore whole for a water supply next to it.  There were many children in this family with a new born.

With an hour's notice, that family was told to leave the house as it was going to be knocked down by the Israeli Defence Force to make way for an illegal settlement for Israeli citizens that had just moved into the country.

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What was their home became a pile of rubble and that family were displaced despite their land being in their possession for generations.  The Israeli Defence Force even filled in the borehole so as to force the family to move on.

The lad in the photo below showed me around.

The demolished home of this Palestinian family.

The children were forced to live in tents.

The children showed me the coverage of their situation in the local newspaper.

This is the site of their only drinking water source, filled in courtesy of the Israeli Defence Force.

I sat down with the boy in the first picture as he explained in Arabic about what happened to his family.  He didn't even sound angry, he sounded hurt, tired, flat.  His tone of voice (despite my lack of Arabic ability) spoke volumes of the hardship he had experienced.  It took all my effort to not to fall apart weeping for this family.

A year an a bit on from then, I am pleased to say that Amos Trust made a difference to that family by helping to rebuild their home in peaceful protest to the Israeli Defence Force.  It was a huge risk for the volunteers and builders that did the work.  They could have been arrested and worse still , the Israeli Defence Force could have demolished the house again.

In a later blog I will give you an update on how that project went.

For now, please do consider my motivation for jumping out of a plane to support this work and click the banner below to help me to raise £1000 for Amos so that they can help more families to gain justice in the West Bank.

Thanks!