Dear Friends,

In this week update

·        Beware of viruses sent in our name: its not from us.

·        Coming Tuesday: "Jenin Jenin"  + an apology and how to buy a copy

·        Plowing time

·        Equipment for families in Ramle that there house was demolished

·        The Diary of journalist Christopher Hedges ("Gaza Diary").

·        Collection or articles – attached.

·        Wanted: student videos about the middle east

Some of you received an email with our name that contained a virus. It was not sent by us. Please pay attention to the style of that email:   "subject:[HaifAct] A  IE 6.0 patch" . The email it self has 2-3 sentences trying to get your attention to the attachment. WE DO NOT SEND SUCH EMAILS. This is a common attempt to spread viruses and we get such emails from others as well. We do not open them and  we use a Norton Anti Virus to check all our in and out going mails.

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It seems that the interest in the film Jenin Jenin keeps growing.

First, we wish to apologize to all those that came to our screening last Tuesday and could not find a place in the packed room.  We will keep showing the film as long as there is a demand for it (details follow) and a discussion will be held before and after every screening.

For those interested in purchasing the film with Hebrew subtitles : you can mail a check for NIS 100 to Andalus, P.O.Box 53036 Tel Aviv 61530.

Jenin Jenin

Director Mohammad Bakri

Israel. 2002. 70 Mn. Arabic. Hebrew Sub.

Tuesday 21.01.03 at 20.00

35 Trumpeldor St, Tel Aviv

Recommended contribution NIS 20.

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Plowing time (A meassage from Aviad)

Arabic and Hebrew follow

Hello everybody

 An initiative to take part in the plowing activity with Palestinian farmers, is organizing these days (pretty much like is was during harvest & olive picking). Our presence in the plowing procedure is essential as a sign of support and solidarity, and in order to help prevent conflicts.

If you would like to join, please contact Aviad:  el_tin@hotmail.com  tel: 02-5664914

وقت حراثة الارض

في هذه الايام يتم تنظيم مبادرة للإنضمام الى حرث ارض اللمزارعين الفلسطينيين، في شيء شبيه لقطف الزيتون. وجودنا في الحراثة  هامة كشكل من اشكال التضامن والمساعدة، وحتى نمنع المواجهات في المناطق.

المعنية  او المعني بالانضمام  عليهم الاتصال مع افيعد: el_tin@hotmail.com  هاتف: 5664914-02

 זמן חריש

שלום לכולם

בימים אלה מתארגנת יוזמה להשתתפות בחריש של חקלאים פלסטינים, במתכונת דומה להשתתפות בקציר ובמסיק הזיתים. נוכחותנו בחריש היא חיונית כסמל לסולידריות ותמיכה, וכדי למנוע עימותים בשטח.

מי שמעוניין/ת להצטרף מוזמן/ת ליצור קשר  עם אביעד:  el_tin@hotmail.com  טל': 02-5664914

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 From Khan Yunis refugee camp, Gaza, Palestine.

The Diary of journalist Christopher Hedges ("Gaza Diary").

"I sit in the shade of a palm-roofed hut on the edge of the dunes,
momentarily defeated by the heat, the grit, the jostling crowds, the
stench of the open sewers and rotting garbage. A friend of Azmi's brings me,

on a tray, a cold glass of tart, red carcade juice."

"Barefoot boys, clutching kites made out of scraps of paper, and ragged
soccer balls, squat a few feet away under scrub trees."

"Men in flowing white or gray galabias -- homespun robes -- smoke
cigarettes in the shade of slim eaves. Two emaciated donkeys, their ribs

protruding, are tethered in wooden carts with rubber wheels."

"It is still. The camp waits, as if holding it's breath. And then, out
of the dry furnace air, a disembodied voice crackles over a
loudspeaker."

""COME ON, DOGS," the voice booms in Arabic. "WHERE ARE ALL THE DOGS OF
KHAN YOUNIS? COME! COME!""

"I stand up. I walk outside the hut. The invective continues to spew:
"SON OF A BITCH!" "SON OF A WHORE!" "YOUR MOTHER'S CUNT!""

"The boys dart in small packs up the sloping dunes to the electric fence that separates the

camp from the Jewish settlement. They lob rocks toward two armored jeeps parked on top

of the dune and mounted with loudspeakers."

"Three ambulances line the road below the dunes in anticipation of what
is to come."

"A percussion grenade explodes. The boys, most no more than ten or
eleven years old, scatter, running clumsily across the heavy sand. They
descend out of sight behind a sandbank in front of me. There are no
sounds of gunfire. The soldiers shoot with silencers. The bullets from
the M-16 rifles tumble end over end through the children's slight
bodies. Later, in the hospital, I will see the destruction: the stomachs ripped out,

the gaping holes in limbs and torsos."

"Yesterday at this spot the Israelis shot eight young men, six of whom
were under the age of eighteen. One was twelve. This afternoon they kill

an eleven-year-old boy, Ali Murad, and seriously wound four more, three

of whom are under eighteen."

"Children have been shot in other conflicts I have covered -- death
squads gunned them down in El Salvador and Guatemala, mothers with
infants were lined up and massacred in Algeria, and Serb snipers put
children in their sights and watched them crumble onto the pavement in
Sarajevo -- but I have never before watched soldiers entice children
like mice into a trap and murder them for sport."

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Equipment for families in Ramle that there house was demolished

Following house demolitions in Ramla there is an urgent need for Mattresses, blankets, house utensils and toys.

You can  bring the small  stuff to Windows. If you have mattresses or for more details please  contact Vera at 054-730763

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Students Videos
 Do know of any student videos about the middle east? If so, please let me
know as I would like to invite them to submit a video or film  to the
International Student film Festival.     Please let me now if any students
make videos.
>
> Best wishes,
> Larry Nimmer
> www.studentfilmfestival.org

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Who Are We?

“Windows” is a joint organization established in 1991. Windows' members - Jews and Palestinians from both sides of the Green Line - are working together to promote acquaintance, understanding and reconciliation between people from both nations, through educational and cultural programs, media and art. We believe that in order to reach a just and lasting peace, and to advance the process of reconciliation in our region, it is important to understand and internalize democratic values and human rights, and to deepen mutual knowledge of the other. In this way we can learn to cope together with the shared history and present reality that we, Palestinians and Jews, share.

“Windows” is a non-profit organization and it is not affiliated with any political body. Our activity is based on volunteer work and funded by donations.

How Do We Work?

Hebrew-Arabic Magazine for Children

We publish "Windows," the only bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) magazine that is written by and for children of both nations. "Windows," which is geared toward children aged 10-14, deals with a variety of topics: from the daily lives of the children, through general, social and cultural issues, and up to the more difficult issues of identity, nationality and the conflict, issues that have taken on a much more central place since the outbreak of the current Intifada. Through the magazine we seek to encourage free exchange of ideas and thoughts among children from both communities, and to nurture a dialogue based on mutual knowledge, respect and acceptance.  "Windows" is written and edited by the children themselves, under the guidance of two editors, one Jewish and one Palestinian. The work involves gathering material written by children on both sides of the Green Line, and holding writing workshops and meetings among the young writers from both sides. "Windows" was established based on the conviction that educating the next generation, our children, plays a vital role in working for a just and lasting peace and a process of reconciliation in our region.

"Windows" was awarded the New Israel Fund prize in 1995 for its contribution to democracy, tolerance, and dialogue between different groups in Israel; it was awarded the "Rotary Israel" prize in 2000 for its contribution to understanding between Jews and Arabs.

Educational Program

Recently “Windows” has launched a new project - the development of an educational program by a team of educational professionals. The program is being designed to give teachers the opportunity to incorporate material from the children’s magazine in formal lessons as well as informal educational activities. The program will combine education towards values such as tolerance, listening to the other and mutual respect   with the coping with materials from the magazine concerning the complex reality in which we live. In addition, we are developing models for joint Palestinian and Jewish study groups, and in this framework we are currently establishing a course that brings together youngsters from Tel Aviv and Jaffa to study history and archeology together.

Palestinian-Israeli Friendship Center

Our friendship center is located in the heart of Tel Aviv and offers a wide range of activities, including lectures, meetings, films, exhibits, tours, spoken Arabic courses and more, to the wide audience from both nations and all ages. The program is designed to give expression to voices seldom heard in the public Israeli discourse and to explore the complex history and reality of the region, all this in an open and accepting atmosphere that enables people to share experiences, opinions and emotions. We believe that this is one of the important ways to break down stereotypes and prejudices, to overcome the barriers of fear and to establish a basis for equal and constructive dialogue among the two peoples.

We are about to open a new center in Tul karem.

Humanitarian Activities

We collect food, clothing, toys, household items, etc., to help the Palestinian population in the territories, which has been under an extended closure – causing the shortage and hardship to grow worse daily. The supplies are collected at the friendship center, sorted, packed and sent, mostly to the communities with which we have established relationships. They distribute the items through our activists, according to need. Beyond the attempt to reduce, even just a little bit, the physical suffering, we wish to send with these packages a message of solidarity: that there are people in Israel who oppose the non-humanitarian steps being taken against the Palestinian population in the territories and empathize with the suffering these policies are causing.

How to Help?

It takes a great deal of time, effort, and materials to organize and promote these plans, work, and projects. Volunteers are welcome. Donations would be very much appreciated and can be sent for.

P.O. Box 56096

Tel Aviv 61560 Israel

Direct deposits can be made to our bank account:

Bank Discount Branch #147

Account #: 364797

Tax deductible donation can be sent through the New Israel Fund.

Windows through the New Israel Fund

1625 K St. NW, Suite 500

Washington, D.C., 20060

For tax deductible donation from other countries

 please visit our site www.win-peace.org

If you are not yet a member of Windows, consider joining. Fees are:

NIS100 per year (which includes a subscription to Windows: Arabic-Hebrew Magazine for Children)

NIS 50 per year (without the subscription)

NIS 20 per year (students)