Erin Karsten
Erin's Trek Palestine 2023 Page
Fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestinians
Story
I am participating in 2023 Trek Palestine, a challenge event to raise money for Medical Aid for Palestinians, a UK-based charity whose mission I strongly support! I will be TRAVELING TO PALESTINE to participate in an 8-DAY TREK from April 22-30. The trek is organized by MAP and lead by a local Palestinian tour guide group. I will be trekking starting in Nablus, passing through Jericho, Bethlehem, Hebron, and ending in Jerusalem. I will be paying all costs associated with the flight and the trip myself to ensure that 100% of donations fundraised go to MAP. My fundraising goal is to raise $3,000. If you would like to support me in reaching this goal, please consider donating to my JustGiving page.
About MAP :
MAP's vision is a future where all Palestinians can access an effective, sustainable and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity.
Through our programmes in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and Lebanon, we work with trusted and experienced local partners to achieve this vision. Our programmes, designed and delivered by Palestinians, provide access to essential health services and build local knowledge and skills to address Palestinian health problems. In times of humanitarian emergency, we are ready to respond rapidly with aid and assistance.
MAP is also committed to bearing witness to the injustices caused by occupation, displacement and conflict. We speak out in the UK and internationally, and ensure Palestinian voices are heard at the highest levels, to press for the political and social barriers to Palestinian health and dignity to be addressed.
Why Palestine?
Since its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip began in June 1967, Israel’s policies of land confiscation, illegal settlement and dispossession, coupled with entrenched discrimination, have inflicted immense suffering on Palestinians there, depriving them of their basic rights. This has been well documented for many years by the UN, Amnesty International and other NGOs.
For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israel’s settlement policy drives mass and daily human rights violations. It affects whether, when and how they can travel to work or school, go abroad, visit relatives, earn a living, attend a protest, access their farmland, or even access electricity or a clean water supply. It means daily humiliation, fear and oppression. People’s entire lives are effectively held hostage by Israel.
For the 2 million Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, the illegal blockade imposed by Israel, now in its 13th year, has cut off virtually all access to the outside world. The majority of exports and imports, including raw materials, have been banned. This has hampered the reconstruction required in the wake of the devastation wrought by the three armed conflicts that have taken place between Israel and Palestinian armed groups since the blockade was imposed. The blockade, which amounts to collective punishment, has had a dire impact on the living conditions of the residents of the Gaza Strip, causing a perpetual humanitarian crisis that has led to the UN deeming the place “unlivable”. Unemployment rates have skyrocketed and many families have been forced into extreme poverty, leaving approximately 80% of the population dependent on humanitarian aid.
During the latest major Israel/Gaza conflict, that of July-August 2014, Amnesty International revealed evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Israeli forces. It documented civilian deaths, as well as destruction and displacement in the Gaza Strip resulting from serious violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces.
Source: Amnesty International, "Call to Support International Criminal Court Investigation into 'Situation in Palestine'...",
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/1986/2020/en/
See also: Human Rights Watch, "A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution," https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
About JustGiving :
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
