CPTnet
30 November 2005
On 30 November 2005 the National and Islamic Forces in Hebron held a press
conference to ask for the release of four CPTers being held by an Iraqi
armed group. They released a joint statement expressing their "sorrow at
the [disappearance] of four of the peace advocates from the CPT in Iraq."
The first speaker was Sheikh Najib Al Ja'abri, who hosted the press
conference at the Ali Baka'a Mosque in the Haret e-Sheikh neighborhood of
Hebron. He spoke of his warm feelings about working together with CPTers
over the years. The second speaker was Abdul 'Alim Dana of the Popular
Front for the Liberation of Palestine, followed by Fahmi Shahin, Coordinator
of the National and Islamic Forces in Hebron, representing the Palestine
People's Party.
Naim Daour, Public Relations Director for Hebron University, talked about
repeated closures of the university and CPT's work to help to re-open it.
"Sometimes it is hard to tell who is working for us and who is against us,
but really Christian Peacemaker Teams helps us - whoever is holding the
CPTers has made a mistake."
Fariel Abu Haikal, Headmistress of Qurtuba Girls' School, emphasized the
difference between CPTers and the American government. "Saif al-Haq ('Sword
of Justice,' the Iraqi armed group holding the CPTers) I don't know, but
these problems in Iraq, they come from George Bush. He is the problem, not
CPT." She described the accompaniment that CPTers have provided for
teachers and students at her school, who are often assaulted by Israeli
settlers from the nearby settlement of Beit Hadassah.
The last Palestinian to speak was Jamal Miqbal of Beit Ummar. Jamal and his
family live in the shadow of the Israeli settlement of Karme Tzur, and the
Israeli military issued a demolition order on their home. Many CPTers have
stayed at their home, both in tense times when the Miqbals feared that the
bulldozer would come, and in more relaxed seasons.
At the conclusion of the press conference, CPTers read this message: "We are
very worried about our four friends. We fear that whoever is holding them
has made a mistake. They are four men who went to Iraq to work for peace.
They oppose the occupation. They are not spies."
CPT Hebron feels deep gratitude for the efforts of these speakers, and for
the organizers who worked so hard on behalf of the CPTers missing in Iraq.
As the participants left, one after another stopped to express their
sympathy, and their hope that the four peace activists will soon be free.