Business Meeting

Kirstin Fleming completed a three month placement in Palestine in December 2012, for which Duns Rotary Club part-sponsored her, and she gave us a most interesting illustrated talk about this very special experience at our weekly club meeting.

She went under the auspices of the International Citizen Service, a charity sponsored by the Department of International Development,  and was attached to the Barrier Monitoring Unit of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  The Barrier Monitoring Unit researches the impact of the West Bank Barrier currently in the process of being erected by the Israel Government as a response to the second Intifada of Palestinians - it's approximately 62% completed.

It's known by Israelis as the 'Security Fence' and by Palestinians as the 'Apartheid Wall' but passes through the West Bank territory (internationally agreed to be for Palestinians) isolating about 9.4%, considered amongst other things the most fertile part of the territory, from the rest and seriously inhibiting Palestinians passing from one part of the West Bank Territory to the other.

The work of the Barrier Monitoring Unit is to document the impacts of the barrier on the local populations, and strengthen advocacy for better access (to land, livelihoods and services) while also building local capacity.

The team Kirstin was part of worked to identify the full implications of the permits regime for entering the Palestinian area behind the barrier (known as The Seam) and was part of a wider programme that surveyed the issues faced by West Bank ID holders and how the permits legislation was being implemented by Israeli Government officials on the ground.

Kirstin outlined some of the findings and then highlighted the impact in various places she had visited, including farmers allowed to use agricultural crossings to tend their olive groves only once every six months, other farmers who could only maintain their claim to landholdings with the help of volunteers on the 'right' side of the barrier because of the access problems and most notably the impact on the town of Hebron where the barrier bisects the town, depriving the Palestinian side of economic activity.  The barrier has also been the source of graffiti and wall art depicting the emotions and challenges in the current situation.

It was evident that Kirstin had found the placement a most involving experience and she held the attention of members throughout and stimulated lots of discussion at the end of her talk.  Vote of thanks was by Andrew Lester.

Here's the presentation she gave :

Palestine Experience 2012 from Duns Rotary on Vimeo.