NEWS
Oxford Ramallah Friendship Association stands in solidarity with our friends in Ramallah and the West Bank and calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
On Monday 20 November, Oxford City Council voted for a permanent Gaza ceasefire.
News: The Gaza Monologues
On Sunday 12th November, we joined with Mandala Theatre in a special event to fundraise for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). The event was held at Flo’s Place in the Park in Oxford.
We created a warm and loving space where emotional texts could be shared among friends and then we shared food together in love and friendship. We came together to tell our people in Gaza and Palestine that we love them and that they are constantly in our hearts and minds.
Young actors from Mandala Theatre read from the Gaza Monologues. These were published in 2010, after traumatising attacks on Gaza. The young Gazan authors worked with Ashtar Theatre to create their pieces. Four current monologues from Ramallah and Gaza were also read.
The powerful texts were read beautifully with the actors creating group tableaus. Hearing the strong words, written by young people and read by young people was intensely emotional.
Listen to the first of a series of podcasts launched by Mandala Theatre which features readings of the monologues read by the young people in Mandala's Youth Voice.
Mohammed a sixth-year medical student, who lives in Gaza wrote:
“I departed from Oxford in 2023 after completing a one-month elective course in vascular surgery and another in colorectal surgery. Never before have I felt as desperate as I do now. I have witnessed four prior attacks on Gaza, but this one is the most severe. The atrocities and massacres we are currently witnessing in Gaza are inconceivable. I feel accountable for my family, yet simultaneously, I feel powerless and helpless.”
Special thanks to: The Mandala Theatre young performers, Flo’s in the Park, Waste2Taste, Za’tar Bake, SESI Food and Household Refill, and all the fantastic cooks and helpers.
Total raised for MAP since 7/10/23
£3,281.58
Life under the siege
Interview on BBC Radio Oxford with Mohammed Al Habil, a student doctor from Gaza, on life under the siege. Listen here
Monday 30th October
Armistice Day in Oxford
Councillor Lubna Arshad, Mayor of Oxford City, made a powerful speech on Armistice Day.
Keeping in contact with our friends in Ramallah
Since the beginning of the attacks on 7 October we have been keeping in regular contact with our friends in Ramallah and showing our support in any way we can.
Refugees in our own Homeland Visit to Oxford 29 June to 10 July 2023
Seven individuals linked to the Women's Centre in Al Am'ari Camp visited Oxford this summer. The group included two young people from the Al Am'ari UNRWA school.
The visit helped strengthen the links with Ramallah and deepened our understanding of the challenges people in Palestine currently face. It gave a unique opportunity for the young people and the women involved to share their stories, skills and rich culture and to gain insights and connections with local people and groups in Oxford.
Highlights of the visit:
‘Refugees in our own Homeland’
Public meeting, Oxford Town Hall, Thursday 6th July
A film of life in Al Am'ari refugee camp and speakers from the Women’s Centre
Flo's - The Place in the Park - Friday 7th July
A chance to meet with our friends from Ramallah in a relaxed, informal setting, with food and music. Oxford residents took part in a hand stitching workshop led by skilled embroiderers from Ramallah, and enjoyed some energetic dabke dancing.
‘Pieces of Me’
Pitt Rivers Museum Saturday 8th July. 12-4pm
Pop-up exhibition of historical pieces from Palestine and Palestinian History Tapestry
Cllr Mark Lygo on his visit to Ramallah
ORFA hosted a meeting in the Town Hall in 2022 to hear Cllr Mark Lygo speak about his recent visit to Ramallah. Sharing stories about the people he met, he said he wanted to encourage an exchange of cultures between Ramallah and Oxford, with further visits from both sides. He told members of Mandala Theatre Company, who would visit Ramallah in July, that 'you can achieve peace with storytelling'.
Avi Shlaim, ORFA Patron, spoke at the meeting, briefly giving some political and historical background about the situation for people in Palestine. He said ’the only hope for Palestinians lies in law, politics and civil change. Palestinians are normal people who want what normal people everywhere want, which is to live in peace and dignity’
Yasmin Sidhwa, also an ORFA patron, spoke about her vision for bringing young people of Oxford and Ramallah together through theatre. She said she was very excited that Mandala Theatre would be going to Ramallah to take part in the International Drama Festival in July.
During his visit, Mark was presented with a beautiful hand embroidered logo for the Oxford Ramallah Twinning, made by stitchers in the Womens Centre at Al A'mari Refugee Camp.
SPEAKING UP FOR PALESTINE
Over 3000 people took part in a protest and march through Oxford organised by Help the World Oxford on 16 May 2021.
Winter appeal raises £2100 for Palestinian refugee families
‘Thank you for your help and support’
ORFA’s winter appeal raised a total of £2100 to support families in Am’ari Refugee camp, where the Coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated an already difficult situation.
The money from Oxford has been used to buy olive oil, winter clothes and blankets for families affected by Coronavirus in the camp.
ORFA worked with the Women’s centre, a key democratic and non-aligned institution in Am’ari camp, to identify what was most urgently needed and to distribute items to families in need.
Refugees in the camp, who are living between the pandemic and the occupation, have difficulty in self-isolating due to overcrowded homes with several generations living together.
Many workers are daily paid and unemployment is high. The pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on this disadvantaged community and there are many young children in the camp living with inadequate resources.
A first payment of £1000 was sent in November 2020 and a second payment of £1100 was sent in January 2021.
Pictured here are some of the items distributed to families, and Naifa, one of our friends in the Women’s Centre, with a box of supplies.
