Keryn Banks is spending three months living in Occupied East Jerusalem.  Her regular reports show the challenges facing its inhabitants:
She reports, “Today was a bit of a tough day, we had a call about a demolition in Nabi Samwil, where the school is that I posted about earlier. A family that we knew had 3 animal shelters and 2 food storage shelters demolished this morning by the Israeli Civil Authority. It was upsetting to see the family so distressed by this. They are very poor and their animals now have nowhere to live. The whole process was incredibly destructive and the family were suffering from being tear gassed in the process. Please think of the Barakat family in Nabi Samwil.”
She is volunteering for Quaker Peace and Service with the World Council of Churches’ programme, Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine (EAPPI).   Each day she and other members of the team visit checkpoints and communities in an effort to provide some degree of protection.  Teams report human rights abuses and support Israelis and Palestinians working for peace.  
You can read her blog here.  
Keryn is a 31 year old New Zealander who has been living in Glasgow for the last nine years.  She has taken three months leave from her job with Christian Aid to be part of this ten year old programme.
November 1, 2012