New Year in Bethlehem
For some years our Parish has partnered BASR, the Betlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation. Occasionally, our parishioners have visited this modern little hospital on the outskirts of Bethlehem in the West Bank. It has become a centre of excellence in the Middle East, while still remaining embedded in the local community. It addresses both physical and mental well-being, especially among children – though its doors are open to anyone in need.
It is difficult enough to live in the West Bank. Through arbitrary restrictions on movement, house demolitions, the appropriation or destruction of farmland, and by sheer physical violence, the occupying forces impose an intolerable burden on Palestinian everyday life. BASR’s specialism in physical and mental trauma derives directly from this.
And now there is Covid to deal with, which is drastically affecting both the West Bank and Gaza. The Occupied Territories aren’t given access to Israel’s supply of vaccines. The demand for BASR’s services has never been greater. Against the odds they work tirelessly to bring food, PPE and medication to the people of this beautiful, impoverished city and its refugee camps. Their current target is to support some 700 vulnerable people living with disabilities and 400 inpatients and frontline staff.
Edmund Shehadeh, the Director, has sent us his Christmas greetings and wishes us in Hampstead a blessed New Year. We normally offer BASR a share of our Christmas collections, but that has all changed. But we can still respond practically by contributing through the following link: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/help-basr-counter-covid19/. If you have any questions you can always get in touch with me through the Vestry