ICAHD has a long history as an advocate for Palestinian rights and for a just peace between Israel and Palestine, as well as significant success in forging a close working relationship with Palestinian organizations and communities. ICAHD activists resist the Occupation “on the ground” by physically blocking bulldozers sent to demolish homes and, raising funds abroad, by bringing Israelis, Palestinians and internationals together to rebuild homes that have been demolished – more than 160 homes rebuilt, more than 160 acts of non-violent defiance to the Occupation.

ICAHD attempts to reach the wider Israeli society with its message of a just peace. It also views itself as a political actor capable of influencing governments’ policies towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Believing that the Israel-Palestine conflict should concern people everywhere, ICAHD members, mainly of them young Israeli activists, work to mobilize human rights and political organizations, trade unions, churches, university groups and others in a joint struggle to bring an end to this interminable, globally destabilizing conflict.

About Beit Arabiya Project:

Beit Arabiya (“Arabiya’s House”) is an ICAHD project carried out in the West Bank village of Anata, northeast of Jerusalem. As its name suggests, Beit Arabiya is a home belonging to Arabiya Shawamreh, her husband Salim and their seven children, a Palestinian family whose home has been demolished four times by the Israeli authorities and rebuilt each time by Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists – but who continue to live in fear of yet another demolition. Since the family cannot live in their home because Israel would revoke their Jerusalem residency if they moved in, thus preventing Salim from working, they have dedicated it as a center for civil society strategizing over effective ways to end the conflict.

Based upon the model of the Scandinavian folk school movement (Folkhogskola), Beit Arabiya offers courses for activists, venues for meetings and opportunities for strategizing and for developing campaigns. It is a place where internationals can interact with local activists, thus facilitating effective global cooperation among peoples. Beit Arabiya also serves as the venue for ICAHD’s annual summer rebuilding camps, where Israeli, Palestinians and international volunteers come together to rebuild Palestinian homes.

For more information, please visit ICAHD website: www.icahd.org/eng