The Rebuilding Alliance
| Mission Statement | Rebuilding Alliance is dedicated to advancing equal rights for the Palestinian people through education, advocacy, and support that assures Palestinian families the right to a home, schooling, economic security, safety, and a promising future. |
| Established | 2003 |
| Exec. Dir. | Donna Baranski-Walker |
| Chair | Dr. Beverly Voloshin |
| Headquarters | Redwood City, California United States |
| Membership | Over 20,000 |
| Founder | Donna Baranski-Walker, |
| Homepage | www.rebuildingalliance.org |
Rebuilding Alliance (RA) is a non-profit organization based in Redwood City, California, founded by electrical engineer[1] Donna Baranski-Walker[2] in 2003,[3] that rebuilds homes and communities in regions of war and occupation. It developed from the Global Campaign to rebuild Palestinian Homes Organization, which had been dissolved a year earlier.[4]
Organization
[edit]Baranski-Walker who also holds an M.S. in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Hawaiʻi, worked as an inventions licensing associate at M.I.T., Stanford and SRI International. Her activist work has been recognized by Solidarity, who presented her with a Medal of Gratitude, and two certificates of Special Congressional Recognition. In 2003 she was awarded the Lewis Mumford Award for Development by the Architects, Designers, and Planners for Social Responsibility.
RA advocates for government policies towards regions of conflict based on human rights and international law. Through a mutual commitment to justice, RA has created alliances among supporters, partners, and those who suffer injustice and violence, yet resist through rebuilding. RA projects are symbols of hope that help rebuild shattered communities and offer people around the world immediate ways to make peace, starting with the tangible support of a family's right to a home.
In the Palestinian territories, the group has had two foci of activity: Area C, 60% of the West Bank where 150,000 Palestinians live, and where, the organization states, Israel does not permit Palestinians to build on their own land, by refusing building licenses.[2] Secondly they support the Rachel Corrie Rebuilding Campaign in Gaza, where over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza made homeless after 2000, Rebuilding Alliance partnered with the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme to rebuild homes, schools, and communities. The starting point was the rebuilding of the Nasrallah family home that was the site of Rachel Corrie's death, and which was demolished later. The house was rebuilt in 2007.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) played a role in lobbying the US Senate to intervene and stop the demolition of the Jordan Valley Palestinian village of Aqabah,[2] where it had built a three-storey kindergarten.[5][6][7]
During the on-going Israel-Palestinian conflict, the non-profit won a contract by the World Food Programme and as a result continues to feed 80,000 Palestinian civilians every day across Gaza through its hot meals program.[8] The non-profit works closely with United Nations Relief and Works Agency in supplementing its efforts to provide for shortfalls of cleaning supplies and food in UN schools or Designated Emergency Shelters.[9] The non-profit, along with other pro-Palestinian advocacy groups, led a congressional letter addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging his government “to intervene on behalf of the Sumarin family and halt their eviction from their long-standing home."[10]
After the 7 October attack, the non-profit also ended a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers to the West Bank providing Members of Congress a chance to witness first-hand the realities of the Palestinian people on-ground and as a result, has been widely regarded as influential in shaping American foreign policy in the West Bank.[11] Most recently, the non-profit was successful in leading a congressional letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for a medical truce in Gaza to combat the rise in polio.[12]
Currently, the non-governmental organization is governed by a five-member Board of Directors.[13]
Criticism and controversies
[edit]In September 2024, the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative-leaning political journalism network, reported that the organization, along with the Holy Land Trust, sponsored a bipartisan congressional staff delegation to the West Bank. The report claimed that these trips were allegedly led by a member of an organization sanctioned by the United States, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Additionally, it was noted that the office of Michigan Senatorial candidate Elissa Slotkin had participated in this trip.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ Debran Rowland, 'Group In Western Suburbs Hopes To Light Way To Peace In Gulf,' Chicago Tribune 6 January 1991
- ^ a b c Donna Baranski-Walker,'Rebuilding a Future in Palestine: It Starts With You,' Huffington Post 15 June 2011
- ^ Stacey Palevsky, 'Palo Alto nonprofit works to rebuild Palestinian homes,' Jweekly26 January 2007
- ^ Gregory Orfalea, The Arab Americans: A History, Olive Branch Press, 2006 p.296
- ^ Pat and Samir Twair, 'John Ging Headlines Kinder USA Program, Corries, Richard Falk at Rebuilding Alliance,' Washington Report for Middle East Affairs 2009.
- ^ Event: Constructive Intervention - Presentation About the Rebuilding Alliance,' Global Exchange 17 February 2003.
- ^ Steve Coyle,' "Back in the US, Notes from the West Bank",' Congress for the New Urbanism 9 September 2011
- ^ "Informational Webinar on How Rebuilding Alliance Feeds Families in Gaza". 3 April 2024.
- ^ https://www.rebuildingalliance.org/new-blog/2023/10/11/how-rebuilding-alliance-makes-it-work
- ^ https://peacenow.org/entry.php?id=35906
- ^ "BBC News Story on Rebuilding Alliance's Hot Meals Program in Gaza". YouTube. 18 March 2024.
- ^ https://summerlee.house.gov/posts/rep-summer-lee-leads-14-colleagues-in-calling-on-secretaries-blinken-and-austin-to-secure-medical-truce-for-polio-vaccination-campaign-in-gaza
- ^ "Board of Directors".
- ^ https://freebeacon.com/democrats/slotkin-spox-attended-anti-israel-west-bank-tour-led-by-member-of-terrorist-group/