International news
Education not occupation!
The Brighton Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group are involved in a joint solidarity project to build a much-needed school for the Palestinian village of Fasayil in the Jordan Valley. Construction begun in the summer of 2007 in defiance of Israel’s complete ban on house building in the area and the school is a physical manifestation of the Palestinian people’s peaceful resistance to the occupation.
On the 17th of October, Israel’s ‘Military Civil Administration’ issued an injunction against the continued building of the school and unless the village applies for a permit by a certain date the school can be demolished. However, house permits are never issued in Fasayil as the land is designated as ‘agricultural’ by the Israeli authorities.
As the villagers were painfully aware of the likelihood of the school project being demolished from very the beginning, the shell of the building was built cheaply out of traditional materials such as mud and straw bricks so that the cost of rebuilding would not be too great. Unfortunately, the area was hit by heavy rain and strong winds in early December and this proved too much for the cheap structure and some of the walls were damaged as a result. However, the overall frame of the building is still intact. As the school has received quite a lot of attention since the injunction was issued, the villagers now feel more confident of the project’s international support and have expressed a wish to rebuild the walls out of concrete.
The approximate cost of this sturdier building is around $5000 for materials and between $1000 and $4000 for labour cost, with these estimates: Concrete walls: $2000, Roof for the second building: $1000, Concrete floor: $1000, Doorframes and windows: $1000. So far, the Brighton Tubas Group have contributed $2000 to cover the cost of the walls but we need help to raise the $7000 (or £3500) for the rest of the work plus the labour costs.
‘We will build the school again and again’, the people of Fasayil have stated. ‘They cannot destroy our determination to give proper education to our children’. We are calling on everyone who wants to help the villagers fight for their basic rights and support their stance against the Israeli occupation to fundraise for the school or donate individually to the school fund.’
Further details from brightonpalestine.org.uk
Infant Mortality
For the second consecutive year Cuba has achieved an infant mortality rate of 5.3 per 1,000 live births; the lowest in the country’s history and the second lowest in the Americas, just behind Canada and ahead of the USA.
‘As experts acknowledge, the true measure of a nation’s progress is the quality of care provided for its children, their health and protection, material safety, their education and socialisation. And the infant mortality is an indicator that measures those advances in a synthetic form.
Worldwide, the global rate stands at 52 and in Latin America, 26. ... achieving lower rates of infant and maternal mortality are aimed not simply at the cold numbers themselves but at what they reflect: lives saved for the happiness of families and the pride and joy of our socialist society.’
Granma 13/01/08