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Hebron orphanage raided by Isaraeli army

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Pennie Quinton, IMEMC

At 1.00 in the morning on the 30th of April, the Israeli Army raidsorphanage in Hebron, home to 110 girls, seizing all equipment fromcommunity sewing workshop.

The Hebron Orphanage for girls is run by the Charitable IslamicSociety,(I.C.S) and houses 110 children.

The ICS is accused by Israel of funding the Hamas movement under thetable, and in recent years, the ICS has been raided several times bythe Israeli Army who seized computers and paper work from theiroffices. Now the Israeli government wants to take property owned bythe ICS and has issued a court order to this effect.

Bassim the director of the Hebron orphanage for girls says that theIsraeli officials came and inspected a sewing work shop in thebasement, a project set up to give local women whose husbands are ingaol a means of earning a living.The official forbade any one fromworking in the room he photographed and made an inventory of allsewing machines and related equipment in the basement.He forbadeBassim from moving the workshop elsewhere threatening him with aprison sentence of five years were he to do so, he then said that thearmy would come and remove the equipment after the 26th of April 2008.

The Christian Peace Maker teams were concerned about the effects ofsuch a raid on the children so began to sleep over night in theorphanage. At one in the morning on the 30th of April the army drovethree trucks into the playground of the orphanage, one equipped with awinch for hauling heavy equipment.They sawed up the metal table forcutting fabric with an angle grinder, and seized everything from theworkshop including the stock of clothes sewn by the women.They sweptthe floor and left taking everything leaving the room utterly void.TheChristian Peace Maker Teams tried to speak with the soldiers abouttheir actions, but they refused to engage and completely ignored them.

MRN