Rita Giacaman

Protesting 'The Place of Children in the Space of Conflict' conference


The French Ministry of Health, the French State Secretariat for Victims and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs are co-sponsoring an international congress entitled ‘The Place of Children in the Space of Conflict’, to be held in Toulouse, France on the 21-23 of March 2005. The primary purpose of the conference is to draw attention to the suffering of Israeli children, to the exclusion of serious and needed attention to other children living in war and conflict, the context within which these children suffer, and the reason for their suffering. 

Schooling at Gunpoint: Palestinian Children's Learning Environment in War Like Conditions (part 2 of 2)

This report was first published on 1 December 2002 and offers a devastating look at the effect of the Israeli occupation on one aspect of Palestinian civil life — school education — in one area, Ramallah. 

Schooling at Gunpoint: Palestinian Children's Learning Environment in War Like Conditions (part 1 of 2)


By the end of the 2001-2002 school year, the Palestinian Ministry of Education reported that: 216 students were killed, 2514 injured, and 164 arrested; 17 teachers and staff in the education sector were killed and 71 were arrested; 1289 schools were closed for at least 3 consecutive weeks during the Israeli invasion between March 29 and up till the end of the school year; and approximately 50% of school children and 35,000 employees in the education sector were prevented from reaching their schools. 

Distance Learning: An educational survival strategy in war-like conditions at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University (part 2 of 2)


One of the features of prolonged Israeli sieges is that everyone, no matter what their line of work or social status, will have to deal with the interruption to their life posed by closures, checkpoints, and cope with days and weeks spent trapped in the confines of their town or, in the case of curfews, the walls of their home. Samia Halileh and Rita Giacaman, who work for the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University, have documented the Institute’s process of “accommodating exceptional circumstances”. The following report is a glimpse into the dangers and frustrations of trying to carry on an academic life during wartime. 

Distance Learning: An educational survival strategy in war-like conditions at the Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University (part 1 of 2)


One of the features of prolonged Israeli sieges is that everyone, no matter what their line of work or social status, will have to deal with the interruption to their life posed by closures, checkpoints, and cope with days and weeks spent trapped in the confines of their town or, in the case of curfews, the walls of their home. Samia Halileh and Rita Giacaman, who work for the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University, have documented the Institute’s process of “accommodating exceptional circumstances”. The following report is a glimpse into the dangers and frustrations of trying to carry on an academic life during wartime. 

The story of a Palestinian grandmother

On Thursday, March 29th, 2002 , I knew that there will be re-occupation, and because we live right next to the governorate of Ramallah, where our president resides, I decided to move with my daughter and my granddaughter to my other daughter’s house. This was a house that we thought was safer, as it is located in the middle of Ramallah, and situated inside the Anglican Episcopalian compound. 

Plunder in Ramallah

Evidence is mounting that the Israeli Army is stealing people’s belongings as they search homes. Even the very precious stores of foods that remain in Ramallah are being plundered. We have been hearing about this since the begining of this occupation on Friday the 29th of March, 2002. 

Ramallah is without water

The situation in Ramallah is as follows: many parts of the town continue to be without water. Even with the problems of water solved, it will not reach most homes because 6 out of 9 electrical feeding stations are down. No electricity means no water, no sewage pumping (serious for public health) and no ovens can work to bake bread, among other problems.