Palo Alto nonprofit works to rebuild Palestinian homes

[Tom Joad]

Amir Terkel’s army days are years behind him, but never far from his mind.

“I’ve been haunted by thoughts of the children I’ve seen standing in the rubble of their homes later becoming militants or terrorists,” he said.

So, shortly after completing his service in the Israel Defense Forces, he began to volunteer with an agency that helped rebuild Palestinian homes.

“Many Palestinian children never see Israeli faces except those of soldiers,” said Terkel, 35. “I think as an Israeli, building homes that were illegally destroyed by my government in my name is one of the more constructive things I can do.”

Then he moved to Berkeley. The filmmaker and graphic designer thought his activism was over.

But he soon found a way to continue his cause when he learned of a Palo Alto nonprofit that works with Israelis, Arabs and Palestinians to rebuild homes and schools in the West Bank and Gaza.

“When you don’t meet those who you deem your enemy, you can’t put a face on the conflict, and there’s no chance of healing or progress,” Terkel said. “So I was delighted to hear about the Rebuilding Alliance.”

Donna Baranski-Walker, a California transplant, created the Rebuilding Alliance in 2003 after she spent a year working under the umbrella of San Francisco-based Global Exchange.
From J, the Jewish Weekly

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We need to do everything we can to rebuild these homes, and end the occupation, the very source of the problem.
The Rebuilding Alliance
US Campaign to End the Occupation