.: Israeli Authorities Extend the Closure of Nidal Center for Community Development-Jerusalem for a Month

الخميس، 3 سبتمبر 2009

Israeli Authorities Extend the Closure of Nidal Center for Community Development-Jerusalem for a Month

The occupation authorities have extended the closure of the Nidal Center for Community Development for another month and renewed its warning to the centers employees not open the center or carry out any community development activities in the name of the center. According to Hazem Abu Sair, the director of Nidal Center, the Israeli intelligence had summoned him to the Russian Compound Prison in Jerusalem and questioned him and held him responsible for any activity implemented in Jerusalem under the Centers name, before taking a decision to continue the closure of the Center for a month

The text given to Nidal's director by the occupation authorities stated, "According to my powers in reference to resolution 6(a) prevention of terrorism-1948 I extend the closure order which was given to the Nidal Center located on al-Jabsheh Street in the Christian Quarter in the Old City on 09/07/2009 until 11/09/2009 signed Inspector General Dudi Cohen

Solidarity campaigns were active from countries such as France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, which confirmed its denunciation of the closing of the Center and called for it's reopening and reactivation, as well as letters from the Belforte Municipality condemning the closure and sent to the French Foreign Minister, the French Ambassador to Israel and the General Consulate in Jerusalem

Also Sweden, who holds the current presidency of the European Union deplored the closure of the Center and called for its reopening. Despite these international solidarity campaigns, the occupation authorities still renewed the closure of the center

It should be noted that Nidal Center for Community Development, which was established in 1999, provides educational, health, and development services to several social sectors in the city Jerusalem

This renewal is seen as a part an Israeli campaign that targets Jerusalem and the Palestinian presence in the city, including the Palestinian organizations there

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our objectives & program

Our Objectives are:

Reinforcing the community cultural dialogue.

Reinforcing and promotion the progressive cultural components.

Encouraging creativity in arts.

Developing values and democracy for the people of Palestine especially women.

Reinforcing the cultural and progressive dialogue among youth and raising their awareness on .
their social role. As well as resisting the negative impacts of globalizations

Reinforcing and promoting the progressive perception of women and supporting their struggle .
on all levels

Developing an understanding for the youth, about the
problems of climate change and how it effects our world

Programs and activities:

Community awareness program: the program targets youth and aims at raising their awareness of cultural issues. Lectures workshops film screenings, cultural evenings, and are activities are arranged regularly to achieve this objective

Training and developing skills program:

the program aims at developing the skills of women and
youth in the fields of painting, theatre, singing, and other skills related to the arts

Voluntary Work and Summer Camps program: the program arranges a series of voluntary .

activities, in addition to organizing summer camps that include cultural activities

Cultural Exchange Program:

the program reinforces the local and international cultural exchange activities

Publication:
the center publishes various social and cultural studies that address vital and related issues to the Palestinian reality, especially for youth and women

Handala

Handala is the most famous of Naji al-Ali's characters. He is depicted as a ten-year old boy, and appeared for the first time in Al-Siyasa in Kuwait in 1969. The figure turned his back to the viewer from the year 1973, and clasped his hands behind his back. The artist explained that the ten-year old represented his age when forced to leave Palestine and would not grow up until he could return to his homeland; his turned back and clasped hands symbolised the character's rejection of "outside solutions". Handala wears ragged clothes and is barefoot, symbolising his allegiance to the poor. In later cartoons, he sometimes appears throwing stones or writing graffiti.Handala became the signature of Naji al-Ali's cartoons and remains an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity and defiance; the artist remarked that "this being that I have invented will certainly not cease to exist after me, and perhaps it is no exaggeration to say that I will live on with him after my death".