Rebuilding to Remain in Palestine's Al Aqaba

Dear Friend, 

I am proud to tell you that our Rebuilding to Remain program in Al Aqaba is thriving.  The original three families who benefited from our construction loans have consistently repaid those loans, but for the year during COVID when they were out of work.  What’s more, 18 other families built homes too — no demolition orders on any of the 21 homes that were finished!  This is a huge accomplishment. 

Rebuilding Alliance's Rebuilding to Remain program, in our last round of lending, gave finishing loans to four more homes.

Now, our program is needed more than ever.  Please take brave new steps with us to help eight families finish their homes and advocate for all twelve to be safe as they finish and move-in as soon as possible. 

You may have heard that Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq, the village’s guiding light, passed away in July, 2021. With Mayor Haj Sami gone, Israeli soldiers resumed training in houses in the village, in violation of the agreement they made in 2002 — we met with Congressional offices to ask them to intervene.

Not long after, in September 2021, the Israeli Army issued Military Order 1797 against one unfinished home on the far side of the village. This was the home Mr. Ismael was building for his large family.  Military Order 1797 gives only 96 hour (four days) to appeal before automatic demolition. The village’s brilliant attorney, Adv. Netta, filed the appeal and took the case all the way to Israel’s High Court of Justice. Not only did the settler judge, who should have recused himself for conflict of interest, rule against the family, but he ruled against them in a way that may endanger every other unfinished house in Al Aqaba – and possibly even the finished ones. The Israeli Army demolished Mr. Ismael’s house on January 28th, 2022 — a loss of their life-savings.

About training in the village, the Israeli Army replied to Adv. Netta’s letter of concern, stating that they would continue to use villagers' unfinished homes for training, and refusing to review or approve the village’s master plan.

Military Order 1797 “includes certain exceptions, whereby the inspector cannot demolish the structures immediately, but rather must issue a stop work order:

• If 6 months have passed from the day the structure was completed;
  
  
• If the building has been inhabited for 30 days;
  
  
• If the structure has a valid building permit, the owner can submit a written request to cancel the order within 96 hours from receiving the order;
  
  
• If 120 days have passed since the new order was delivered, but not executed;
  
  
• If there is an approved master plan covering the structure.
  
  

We ask your help to implement the highlighted one. 

They are resolutely moving forward in the face of adversity — giving up is not an option because, after all this is their land, their homes, their families, and their community. Eight of the twelve at-risk families have asked the Al Aqaba Cooperative Assembly for Housing the Displaced (AACAHD) for loans to finish and move in as soon as possible (the other four don’t need a loan to finish).

Rebuilding Alliance (RA) is committed to raising the funds needed (about $140,000) as a seed grant to the AACAHD who will issue loans to the families.  RA has hired a site engineer (she started this week) to review estimates and inspect the quality of the work. 

Our advocacy campaign is also underway, bringing the voices of Al-Aqaba straight to Congress. We’re also scheduling a U.S. Embassy visit to the site, so they can see with their own eyes what promise Al-Aqaba holds, and why it is so important to intervene to protect this remarkable village.

Starting Monday Apr. 4th though Friday Apr. 7th, GlobalGiving is matching all donations up to $50 by 50%.  That means your $50 donation will become $75 total.

• The minimum needed to get them moved in is about $75,000. That will cover floor to ceiling including tile, windows, and doors. 
  
  
• When 1000 people each donate $50, all eight families will finish enough to move in. That’s giving homes to 56 people including children and some grandparents.

Our $50 forms their safety net. 

Thank you again for all that you do.  Please mark your calendar and donate on Monday.

P.S. At the end of 2018, we asked Palestinian banks to match Rebuilding Alliance’s crowdfund in the hope of providing $180,000 in financing for Al Aqaba villagers to build new homes. In our meeting, the Palestinian Banking Association explained that as much as they wanted to, there would be no way they could move forward. Even though Area C is defined as temporary in the Oslo documents, the Palestinian banks realized that any investment they made in Area C would trigger Israel’s shut-down of their bank’s operations in the West Bank and Gaza.

Al Aqaba families built anway, little by little. In November, 2021 Rebuilding Alliance helped four families complete construction at $7,000 each. Our Rebuilding to Remain program inspired 18 families to build their homes and move in — and up until just recently no one was served  demolition orders.

Because the risks are high, I'm going to Al Aqaba and my team and I are working to bring our next Congressional staff delegation there as soon as possible.