Journey With Jonathan: Entry #8
A Busy Day in Ramallah
I had a very busy day in Ramallah today. After spending over 2 hours at the Qalandia checkpoint, I started a series of meetings with organizations and individuals in Ramallah.
My first meeting was with Ubai Aboudi, Executive Director of Bisan Center for Research and Development (www.bisan.org). This is one of the 6 Organizations (reference to one of our articles on them) which had been declared to be “terrorist organizations” by Israel. This organization, like Al Haq and the other organizations, has continued to operate, defiantly. No evidence was ever been produced that these are terrorist organizations, that they are branches of the PFLP, or that they are diverting donor funds away from their stated purposes. European and US governments, who investigated this matter and even reviewed the “secret evidence” Israel claimed it had, all rejected the Israel's claims and refused to accept the Israeli designation of these organizations as terrorist.
Nonetheless, by merely making this accusation, Israel has succeeded in casting suspicion. And, some banks have been reluctant to handle donations to these organizations, fearing the expense of having to defend their actions, by allowing donations to a so-called “terrorist" organization. Perhaps that was Israel's intent all along: to scare banks, governments, and other organizations from dealing with The Six, therefore reducing their power and effectiveness.
I also had the chance to visit with Paul Parker, a former member of the FOSNA Board of Trustees, who is serving now as principal of the Friends’ School in Ramallah. He is enjoying his post and sends his best greetings to the entire FOSNA family.
I am finally back in Bethlehem, after yet more meetings. It is now 11:00PM, and I need to go to bed, as I have more meetings in Ramallah tomorrow, starting with Sha’wan Jabbareen at Al Haq.