SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA, June 13, 2011 (WAFA) - San Mateo, California-based nonprofit Rebuilding Alliance is seeking to keep a Palestinian village in the West Bank Jordan Valley from disappearing, according to a press release published Monday.
The organization is working with the village of Al-Aqaba, one of the 149 Palestinian villages in the West Bank Jordan Valley now facing demolition orders, to organize a design collaborative over three weeks in July so that villagers can return home. The organization plans to take architects and planners to the village during these three weeks.
“With President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu now in a turf war over the Jordan Valley, this is an especially critical time, a watershed moment,” said Donna Baranski-Walker, founder of the Rebuilding Alliance.
“More than 150,000 Palestinians live in that 60% of the West Bank controlled solely by Israel. Israel's army has blanketed the 149 Palestinian villages with demolition orders. Al Aqaba's families need good design, mortgage financing, and solid advocacy worldwide to build a future.”
“I will be documenting this process from the start to show other villages in the West Bank and also in Gaza how this planning process works and why it is important to bring people together to plan their future,” said independent producer Maurice Jacobsen.
“Right now there is a real dilemma in the region. This project can create housing that is built to code, designed to world class standards, with community involvement. There will be nothing in the design that anyone can find fault with. By having such a design in place, it can be a very important tool to help all of Palestine rebuild.”
“If you want to envision neighborliness, Al-Aqaba is good. Seventeen countries, agencies have come, visited and like what they saw enough to invest,” he said. “Share our dream, invest in peace.”
GlobalGiving.org will provide on Wednesday, and for just 24 hours, a matching grant for the project, 'Rebuilding a Future in Palestine.'
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