Beit Sahour Municipality Press Release – August 2nd, 2007 The Municipality of Beit Sahour is embarking on a new project that will revitalize the community and provide services that have long been lacking. The project is called Oush Grab, when it is completed we will have turned an abandoned Israeli military base and refuse dump into a park, a camping ground, a youth leadership training center, and a surgical hospital. We have already built the leadership center and have secured funding for the surgical hospital; and we are now attempting to secure funding for the remainder of the project and to get the necessary building permits so we can continue the transformation. We are also celebrating the release of Nidal Fuad Rishmawi a native of Beit Sahour who was unjustly held in an Israeli military prison for five years. He was released as a result of negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian National Authority leaders. His family and friends are overjoyed to have him back and he looks forward to returning to life in Beit Sahour. Despite the positive developments in Beit Sahour over the past month we are all continually reminded of the effects of the wall and the occupation. We are now in our fortieth year of military occupation by the Israeli Defense Force and are feeling the political, psychological, and economic effects more than ever. As August marks the end of the 38-year occupation in Northern Ireland that began just two years after the occupation in Palestine, we wonder how many more years will our occupation last. Respectfully, Hani Al- Hayek |