Dear friends,

Twenty-two thousand people turned to HaMoked for assistance this past year. I had to double-check that figure: 22,000 people. In a normal year, we receive about 5,000 requests for assistance, but this past year is far from normal.

Donate to support HaMoked

Most of the calls to HaMoked were from people searching for family members in Israeli detention. We are able to assist West Bank families in these cases very quickly; usually within 24 hours we call them back with basic information. But for many months the Israeli authorities refused to provide any information regarding Gaza detainees. We challenged this mass enforced disappearance through dozens of petitions to Israel’s High Court of Justice, and finally in May, the military set up a mechanism to enable locating Gaza detainees and to coordinate lawyers’ visits (after the first 45 days of detention).

And so we are now able to bring some measure of relief to thousands of families in Gaza searching for loved ones. 

We need your help to continue to do this work

This is only one aspect of HaMoked’s work. Here’s what else we’ve done this past year:

• We have ensured that hundreds of East Jerusalem families could remain together, when the Ministry of Interior tried to deny residency status to some members of the family;
• We have litigated on behalf of the thousands of farmers denied access to their West Bank lands beyond the Separation Wall;
• HaMoked lawyers visited dozens of prisoners and detainees, both from the West Bank and from the Gaza Strip. Based on these visits, we filed dozens of petitions to Israeli courts regarding the harsh detention conditions, working to stop systemic abuse and torture in Israeli prisons;
• We helped Palestinians contest travel bans imposed upon them, including successfully assisting students who were banned from leaving the West Bank to resume studies abroad;
• And we joined with partner organizations in principled petitions, demanding humanitarian aid to northern Gaza, ICRC access to prisoners, medical evacuations from Gaza, and due process and humane conditions for detainees.

This ongoing war has exacted a terrible price on so many, Palestinians and Israelis. In a year of immense suffering, loss, and destruction, the HaMoked staff is a rare source of hope: Jews and Palestinians working together, day after day, to defend human rights — and despite all the obstacles succeeding to help thousands of people.

We can’t do this without you

Thank you to those who have already donated to HaMoked. For those who have yet to donate, I’m asking you now to make a donation to HaMoked to enable us to continue our work.

Wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah to those celebrating. May the New Year bring an end to the war, a return of the Israeli hostages, and concerted efforts to rehabilitate devastated communities and bring peace and justice for all.

All the best,

Jessica Montell
Executive Director of HaMoked