The Key

There is a heavy iron key on the wall of her modest ofce. Quamar Mishirqi-Asad is the head of the Legal Department of Rabbis for Human Rights in Jerusalem. She is a strong young woman of 33 years, Palestinian, christian and she shares the ofce with jewish Israelis. RHR is an Israeli Human Rights Organisation which describes itself as the only voice of the rabbinic conscience in Israel, that defends human rights in Israel and Palestine. The organisation nds its basis in humanistic jewish tradition and the UN Human Rights Charta 1948. Quamar was born and grew up in Nazareth and graduated in law at the university of Haifa. She wants to support Palestinians to enforce their rights, especially those who dont have the means and possibilities to exercise their rights themselves. Even though Israeli Law leaves little space for the rights of the Palestinians - in contrary to international law - not rarely Quamar actions are successful, even if she only delays demolition orders for Palestinian houses and cisterns, or sometimes even prevents the demolition. Is she free in her decisions or does she feel under pressure from the Israeli side? She looks at me intensely: I do what I think is right!. The atmosphere in the ofce is relaxed and the lawyers work together well. Her two children give her energy. Her eight year old son can join the discussions, he already knows the names of the Palestinian villages with the largest problems. Not the least of Quamar`s cases deal with three out of eight villages in Massaffer Yata, which Israel claims as Firing Zone 918 in the South Hebron Hills. They are threatened with demolition and evacuation. Together with ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel), an Israeli Human Rights Organization, and Shlomo Lecker, an Israeli Attorney, she has led petitions at the High Court of Justice with the goal to prevent the destruction of the infrastructure and the evacuation of these villages. Quamar is hoping to have support from us EA`s through advocacy work in our home countries. Without international pressure on Israel we will not have a chance to prevent the displacement of these people on the long run, she says. But we have already succeeded to delay the process for 12 years and we can probably delay it for some more years.

Quamar is not a lawyer who works only at her desk. She often is with the people in the South Hebron Hills, she knows their history and their woes. She knows the restricitions and threats under which people in an occupied country live. To help them is her motivation. The Palestinians are grateful for this and have given her a very special gift. The family Abu Samra gave her the key to their cave in Um Lekhws, in which the family had lived close to the village Bir al Idd. They have given her the key to thank her for helping them to come back home. The key in Palestine is a proof for the ownership of land and homestead and it is also a symbol for the deep desire to return home. Now this key is in Quamars ofce and reminds her of the hope of many Palestinians to get back to their land. Monika Roell 22. 12. 2012