Issue29

Galilee Society Newsletter

In This Issue: Issue 29, March 2008

Call Issued for Environmental New Staff Members Join the Galilee
Scholarship Applications Society
EJC Celebrates Major Advocacy Institute of Applied Research Names
Success in Majd Al Kroum Sewage New Scientific Director
Rikaz Publishes Sociological Data News in Brief
Marking International Women's Day, How to Support the Galilee Society
Launches Hebrew Website Interface
HRC Delivers Lectures to High
School Students, Holds Registration
for Second Course for Health
Professionals

Call Issued for Environmental Scholarship Applications

The Galilee Society's Environmental Justice
Center (EJC) has issued a call for
scholarship applications for its Environmental
Education Scholarship Project.

Arab university (BA or MA level) students
specializing in Environmental Science,
Biology, Chemistry, Geography, or
Agriculture are invited to apply.

Applicants must commit to volunteering in
the EJC’s Environmental Education program.
The scholarship program requires the
university level grantees to conduct
environmental programming with children in
their home villages and towns. The Galilee
Society provides training and support for the
grantees in planning these activities, and
encourages the grantees to focus on a wide
variety of environmental topics.

Interested applicants should apply by the Boys show their environmental
11th of April 2008. appreciation while participating in
programming run by Environmental
Scholarship Grantees.

EJC Celebrates Major Advocacy Success in Majd Al Kroum Sewage

The Galilee Society’s Environmental Justice Center recently made major progress in its
advocacy work addressing the problem of sewage in the village of Majd Al Kroum in the
Galilee. Money has finally been allocated by the government for the replacement of the main
sewage lines serving several villages, and bidding for the work contract has begun.

Sewage problems pose some of the most hazardous and widespread environmental dangers
in Palestinian Arab towns and villages in Israel. The presence of untreated sewage near
human habitation poses the risk of infectious diseases, pollutes drinking and agricultural water,
and severely degrades the environment.

The sewage flooding in Majd Al Kroum, at times resulting in pools up to two meters deep of raw
sewage, led to an insect infestation. When cases of West Nile Virus were reported in the
village, local citizen Mahmoud Agbaria, after meeting with the GS, donated enough chemical
pesticides to eradicate the disease-carrying insects from the area around the village. Together
with several Majd Al Kroum residents who also volunteered their time, the area was sprayed
with pesticides as a public health precaution in late summer of 2007.

The EJC brought the issue to the attention of
the Ministry of the Environment, which
initiated an investigation into the Majd Al
Kroum Local Authority. While the Local
Authority responded by repairing the
pumping machines, this resulted in little
improvement of the situation for the
residents. The sewage pipes remained
neglected and insufficient for the greater
area. Majd Al Kroum was still suffering from
sewage backup from the other villages in the
Sewage flooding in Majd Al Kroum vicinity.

The Galilee Society lawyer, together with the
residents of the Majd Al Kroum (including some GS staff), initiated a class action lawsuit to
attempt to force the Local Authority to resolve the sewage problem. The GS lawyer asked the
court specifically for an exact timetable of actions that the Local Authority should perform to
resolve the situation.

As a direct result of GS legal and organizing activities, two events now mark significant
progress in Majd Al Kroum. First, the Infrastructure Ministry allocated funds for expanding the
capacity of the main sewage pipe for the village of Majd Al Kroum and the surrounding
villages. Second, the Local Authority has initiated bidding among contractors for the actual
replacement of the main sewage line.

This technique of advocacy regarding sewage infrastructure has been demonstrated to be
effective, and the GS will apply it in other villages where sewage infrastructure poses a
problem to public and environmental health.

Rikaz Publishes Sociological Data Marking International Women's Day,
Launches New Hebrew Website Interface

Rikaz published statistics specific to Palestinian women citizens of Israel in several Arabic
language newspapers to mark International Women’s Day on the 8th of March. The statistics
are derived from Rikaz original data collected by the 2007 Socio-Economic Survey of 3270
Palestinian Arab households throughout Israel.

Approximately 558,000, or roughly half, of the Palestinian citizens of Israel are women. Of
these women, 8.1% are heads of household.

Education levels of Palestinian women vary widely. While 7.9% of Palestinian women in Israel
age 18 and over are currently studying, an even larger percentage of 8.3% never attended
school in their lives. As many as 35% attended school, but did not finish their secondary
education. While 4.9% attributed their dropping out to early marriage, nearly double that
number cited no school near their community as their reason for not completing high school.

Regarding health status, 11.3% of the Palestinian women in Israel suffer from chronic illnesses
including cardiac disease, blood pressure, and diabetes among others. The number increases
to 42% over the age of 40. While 3.9% of all Palestinian women in Israel suffer from diabetes,
over the age of 40 the number increases to 17.5%. Diabetes rates are higher in Palestinian
women than in men, and higher among the Palestinian Arab population than the Jewish
population.

Mobile phone usage varies with age. Palestinian women in Israel ages 20-28 take the lead in
mobile phone ownership at 77.9%. Mobile phone ownership drops sharply to 10% above the
age of 60.

Rikaz also is launching an updated website
in all three languages, and is currently in the
process of publishing new information on the
Palestinian localities in Israel. These
achievements mark the accomplishment of
major goal markers in the EU-funded Rikaz
project.

Additionally, RIkaz held a Steering
Committee meeting in March in order to plan
the next stages of the project. The meeting
of the Steering Committee made plans for The Steering Committee of the Rikaz EU-
the formation of the Consortium of Arab funded project meets to plan and discuss
the upcoming stages of action.
organizations around the Rikaz project. The
Consortium is planned to bring about
organized activities in coordination with
many civil society organizations to address needs identified by Rikaz survey data.

Rikaz plans to launch the updated website
complete with a brand new Hebrew interface
in the coming week at www.rikaz.org. The
website will include current statistical data
from Rikaz original research as well as from
the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. The
addition of the Hebrew interface greatly
strengthens Rikaz’s accessibility for its target
group of professionals, academics, civil
society activists and organizations inside of
Israel. Rikaz was originally supported by the
The new Rikaz website www.rikaz.org
includes a new Hebrew interface, in Ford Foundation, and now is funded by a
addition to the Arabic and English. grant from the European Union. Rikaz
comprehensive statistical information on the
Palestinian population of Israel is free to the public and available now in Arabic, Hebrew and
English.

Currently, Rikaz is in the process of publishing the report Palestinian Arab Localities in Israel
and their Local Authorities- A General Survey 2007. The publication contains the results of
Rikaz fieldwork from 2007 involving a comprehensive survey of Palestinian municipalities
throughout Israel. It will also contain a special chapter placing these statistics in the historical
context of the Palestinian minority in Israel.

Rikaz has also begun receiving submissions in response to the call for academic papers. The
papers must be written in the Arabic language and involve original research utilizing Rikaz
data.

HRC Delivers Lectures to High School Students, Holds Registration for
Second Breast Cancer Course for Health Professionals

The Health Rights Center's (HRC's) Breast Cancer Project Coordinator Amira Othman, as well
as Al-Maissam Director Naim Kraim, delivered lectures on the 10th of March for secondary
students at the Amal Technical College in Taybe. The College had invited the Galilee Society
to participate in a school-wide health day. Naim Kraim presented on Bird Flu, and methods of
preventing its transmission to humans. Amira Othman lectured on awareness and early
detection of breast cancer. The College presented both GS representatives with a certificate of
appreciation for the rich information they
shared.

These lectures were part of a series of 16 on
Breast Cancer awareness and prevention,
the majority of which target high school
students. In her lecture at the Amal
Technical College, Ms. Othman gave basic
information on cancer, its definition and
manifestations. She then explained the
importance of early detection and self-
examinations, and distributed GS breast
cancer educational materials.
Students at Amal Technical College listen
The HRC values these lectures for high to lectures on health topics, including
breast cancer awareness and prevention,
school-aged students not simply as an and bird flu transmission prevention.
effective way to protect the girls themselves
as they grow older; the lectures also impress
upon the students their role as daughters in
protecting the health of their mothers through
education and information-sharing.

In addition to the lectures, the HRC has
issued a call for registration for the second
Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment
Course. The course is aimed at health
professionals who work with the Palestinian
minority in Israel, including doctors, nurses,
social workers and health activists. The
program of the course has been honed and
improved since the pilot course which took
place for only five sessions in 2007. The
upcoming course will meet for nine
sessions. One of these sessions will involve
Amal Technical College students attend a visit to Rambam Hospital in Haifa, and a
the school's health promotion day. discussion with Arab women who have been
diagnosed with breast cancer and who will
share their experiences. Registration is going on now! A breast cancer study day for health
professionals has also been scheduled for early April in coordination with the Israeli Cancer
Society.

New Staff Members Join the Galilee Society

Murad Habiballah, whose background is in
Chemical Engineering, has joined as of
March 2008 as the Environmental Education
Coordinator for the Environmental Justice
Center. He is responsible for coordinating all
projects relating to environmental education.
Environmental education projects of the EJC
have included the Environmental
Scholarships Project which facilitates
university students to conduct projects with
younger students in their home villages, the
Arab Writers Competition to promote The Galilee Society welcomes [from left]
environmental literature in the Arabic Murad Habiballah, Awda Abdelhalim and
language, and a beach clean-up with Jamie Mandell.
Palestinian students. Mr. Habiballah is
currently planning a course for 30 primary and secondary school teachers who will meet
weekly over a period of several months. The teachers will hear lectures and discuss a number
of topics related to environmental education, such as antennae and electromagnetic radiation,
and composting and recycling.

Awda Abdelhalim, specialist in sexual education, joined the Health Rights Center in February
as Project Coordinator for the HIV/AIDS Project. Ms. Abdelhalim is also a Masters level
student in Social Work at the University of Haifa. For the HIV/AIDS Project of the GS, she will
be conducting lectures in high schools as well as the peer education workshops in which high
school students are trained as peer educators in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Ms
Abdelhalim also has done past work in smoking cessation and hopes to bring this field to the
GS’s work as well.

Jamie Mandell joined the Resource Development department at the end of October 2007. She
has worked previously with the Galilee Society as an intern in 2005 and later as a full
employee, and she joins again to cover the maternity leave of the department head. “I am
thrilled to have this opportunity to observe how the Galilee Society’s many exciting projects,
some of which were conceived a couple of years ago when I last worked here, are developing.
The Galilee Society is a highly professional organization which has done an enormous amount
to assist Palestinians in Israel, and I am proud to be associated with them.”

Institute of Applied Research Names New Scientific Director

Dr. Hassan Azaizeh, a long time researcher at the Galilee Society, has been named the new
Scientific Director of the R&D Center (now called the Institute of Applied Research). As such,
he is responsible for overseeing the research activities of the Institute, and the scientific
relationships with local and international institutes. He hopes to hone the Institute’s scientific
goals, mission, and especially future relations with the scientific community, and to further
strengthen the relationship with the Ministry of Science and other Israeli ministries. The
previous Scientific Director, Dr. Isam Sabbah, served from 2005 until 2008.

Dr. Azaizeh earned his PhD in Microbiology from the University of Texas, held a Postdoctoral
research position at the Technion in Haifa for two years, and worked in Germany as well as the
United States in microbiology and biotechnology. He has been at the Galilee Society since
1996.

Dr. Azaizeh’s scientific research into 2008 includes such topics as the production of bioethanol
from agricultural wastes; the examination, recovery and use of polyphenols from olive wastes
for innovative products; the removal of selected disrupting chemicals, pharmaceuticals and
pathogens from sewage; the endocrine disrupting activity of steroid hormones and their
biodegradation in domestic and swine wastewater; and the use of phytotechnologies to
promote sustainable land use management and improve food safety.

News in Brief
American Jewish Philanthropists Visit the Galilee Society to Explore
Partnership Possibilities

American philanthropists Judith Schneider and Norbert Weissberg visited the Galilee Society
on the 9th of March to discuss the possibilities of partnership around a mother-child welfare
project. They met with General Director Mohammad Khatib, Breast Cancer Awareness Project
Coordinator Amira Othman, and Resource Development representatives Emily Antoon and
Jamie Mandell. Also joining were Professor Alan Apter from the Pediatric Psychological
Services Department in the Beilinson (Schneider) Hospital in Petach Tikva, and Mustafa
Qossoqsi, a researcher/clinician from the same department.

The proposed project is taken from a model developed at Yale University in the US, which
utilizes pschychological health techniques and home visitations to support young, first time
parents. In addition to the Galilee Society offices, the group visited the Institute for Applied
Research (R&D Center), a primary school in Shefa Amr, and a Ministry of Health mother-child
clinic, where they met with staff and administration from the Ministry of Health.

Rikaz Representatives Attend Workshop for European Union Partners

Rikaz Representatives Ahmad Muhammad and Jamie Mandell attended a three-day EU
workshop which was held for EU partners in Israel.

Twelve EU partners were in attendance from 26 to 28 February at the workshop, which was
held in Ramit Gan. The workshop covered project cycle management, specifically how to
create a project and ensure its success through effective management. The attendees
received certificates of participation from the Head of the European Commission Delegation to
Israel, Ramiro Cibrian Uzal.

Rikaz representatives Jamie Mandell and Sobhi Sgher also attended a previous EU workshop
in Beit Jala in December 2007 that involved partners in both Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.

GS Resource Development Department Seeks Intern

Resource Development Interns work alongside the Galilee Society staff in our main office in
Shefa Amr. Intern responsibilities include writing and editing grant proposals, English-
language reports and letters, initiating and maintaining contacts with donors, and writing for the
newsletter. The internship offers good experience working in the non-profit sector in an
intercultural setting. Applicants should have a minimum BA/BS education and native English
writing ability. Preference will be given to those applicants able to commit one year or more.

Deadline to apply is 31 March 2008. To apply, email a cover letter, resume, referee contact,
and a 2-3 page writing sample to Mohammad Khatib via the Resource Development staff at
antoon@gal-soc.org. Be sure to write “Internship” in the subject line.

How to Support the Galilee Society

Help achieve equitable health, environmental, and socio-economic conditions and
development opportunities for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel by supporting the Galilee
Society.

How to Donate to the Galilee Society

Tax-Exempt Donations
In order to facilitate giving, the Galilee Society has recently received tax-exempt status in the
United States, via the Friends of the Galilee Society. To donate in the United States, please
make checks payable to the Friends of the Galilee Society and send them to:

Dr. Shouki Kassis
Chair, Board of Directors
7 Lee Road, Audubon, PA 19403
United States
kassis25@comcast.net
Tel: +1 610 662 3693

Bank transfers to the Friends of the Galilee Society can be made to the following account:

Account Name: Friends of the Galilee Society
Bank Name: PNC Bank
Branch: Audubon Village Shopping Center
Account Number: 86-0943-9642

Please inform Friends of the Galilee Society of your donation:
fnassar@gal-soc.org.

Direct Donations
To donate to the Galilee Society directly, please send checks (in any currency) payable to the
Galilee Society at:

P.O. Box 330
Shefa-Amr, 20200
Israel

Alternatively, bank transfers (in any currency) can be made directly to the Galilee Society's
bank account:

Account Number: 9800
Bank Name: Bank Hapoalim
Branch Number: 731
Bank Address: Jabour Street, Shefa-Amr 20200 Israel
SWIFT Code: POALILIT

Please inform us of your donation at fnassar@gal-soc.org.

The Galilee Society - The Arab National Society for Health Research and Services is a leading
community-based Arab NGO. The overriding goal of the Galilee Society is the achievement of
equitable health and socio-economic conditions for the Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The Galilee Society
P.O. Box 330, Shefa-Amr 20200, Israel
Tel.: +972 4 986 1171
Fax: +972 4 986 1173
Email: admin@gal-soc.org

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