The Israeli occupation authorities have issued a directivethat bars the Project Hope delegation from entering Palestine, via Al-Karama (Allenby) Border Crossing. Last night, when the delegation headed to the crossing through Jordan to enter the city of Ramallah, Israeli authorities not only prevented it from doing so, but also decided to bar the delegation, which is comprised of 15 people, from entering Palestine for five years.
Project Hopeis one of the Ramallah expatriates’ projects, wherebya number of young Ramallite expatriates from the United States would visit Ramallah and Palestine on an annual basis, as part of Project Hope, supervised by Diaspora Ramallites throughthe American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine (AFRP), which constitutes an annual initiative carried out by the project organizers towards Ramallah.
On its part, the Ramallah Municipality has condemned the occupation authorities‘ decision that refuses entry of the delegation, while noting that this is part of the effort to effect international isolation that the occupation is attempting to impose against the Palestinian people, especially in light of the brutal occupation army’s aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, and to keep the world distant from the Palestinian cause and witnessing the heinous crimes committed against Palestinian citizens. In a statement, the municipality also indicated that this project was supposed to begin its annual activities for this year on the ninth of July, when the municipality provides it with the necessary facilities and support to ensure the success of the project. This is an opportunity to visit Ramallah and other Palestinian cities and to get to know the Palestinian cause closely.The project agenda included participating in a comprehensiveprogram that includes volunteer work, local trips,and learning about the realities of Palestinian lifeat Israeli checkpoints, in addition to the coordination of meetings with Palestinian figures.
The Ramallah Municipality has worked with the volunteers within this project in the past years on voluntary work to rehabilitatethe Ein Mizrab and Ein Tarfidya Springs, which are two of the historicalsprings in the city. Last year,the expatriate youths of the delegation had also participated in some volunteer work at the Radana Woods.
