We are taking on this challenge to raise funds for Amos Trust’s Home and Community Rebuilding Programme. Amos Trust is a small, creative human rights organisation which works in three main areas; Palestine Justice, Climate Justice and Street Justice.

For the last 12 years, Amos Trust has been working alongside local partners, Holy Land Trust and Hebron International Resources Network (HIRN) to rebuild Palestinian homes that have been destroyed by the Israeli Defence Force. These homes have all been on the West Bank, on land owned by Palestinians. Home demolitions, settler attacks and land confiscations are daily realities for Palestinians living in the West Bank, and since October 7th the incidence of these has greatly increased.

This September, Amos Trust will be taking a group out to work on community building projects in the villages surrounding Bethlehem and Hebron. Amos is working with Holy Land Trust and HIRN to identify suitable projects, such as building greenhouses and play areas, repairing and repainting homes, installing kitchens/ bathrooms, planting trees, clearing land and improving access. The money raised through this challenge will be used pay for this vital building work.

The projects are all on the West Bank, on land owned by Palestinians. This land was either annexed by Israel in 1967 to form part of Greater Jerusalem or in what is known as Area C. Area C represents over 60% of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords and comes under full Israeli control. In both of these areas, it is almost impossible for Palestinians to build on their own land, with over 98% of permit applications refused by Israel. The consequence of this is that these families have no choice but to build without permission. While Israel justifies the demolition of Palestinian homes — through lack of building permits, or as they pose a ‘security threat’, the reality is very different. Home demolitions are more typically used to pave the way for Israel’s matrix of control (the settlements, Israeli by-pass roads, the Separation Wall), and to make it apparent to Palestinians that the land is wanted without its indigenous Palestinian population.