On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities: We are Resilient, and we will Remain!

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3, 2024, QADER for Community Development organized an activity titled "On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, A Message from Palestine to the World: We are Resilient, and we will Remain!" on Tuesday at the playground of the Arab Orthodox Cultural Club- Beit Sahour.

The event was organized in partnership with the Arab Orthodox Cultural Club- Beit Sahour, Al-Malath Charitable Society, the Oasis Center for Persons with Disabilities, the Arab Women's Union Society- Beit Sahour, and Ma’an lil-Hayat (L’Arche Bethlehem).

The event was opened by Mrs. Lana Bandak, the General Director of QADER, who welcomed the attendees and emphasized the urgent need to stop the genocide in Gaza immediately. She called on the occupation to respect the sacred right to life for all members of the Palestinian people, including persons with disabilities. She also stressed the importance of mobilizing local and international efforts to ensure that the needs of persons with disabilities are included in planning, decision-making, and implementation of humanitarian and relief responses in Palestine. Furthermore, she urged intensified media and human rights campaigns to shed light on the suffering of persons with disabilities.

In his speech, Dr. Elias Iseed, Mayor of Beit Sahour Municipality, highlighted the importance of promoting values of respect, equality, and appreciation within Palestinian society. He repeated the municipality's commitment to enhancing these values by developing infrastructure to ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities, empowering them, and enabling them to exercise their rights with dignity and respect.

The event included a musical performance by "Wajd," a musical group from Bethlehem University, which was accompanied by the entry of a group of persons with disabilities onto the playground. Additionally, the "Baqoun" folklore dance group presented a dabkeh dance performance that included participants with disabilities from the Oasis Center. The message "From Palestine to the World" was delivered by two young girls, Rand Ajarmeh and Sara Ghabbash, in Arabic and English, highlighting the genocide faced by the Palestinian people.

The activity concluded with inclusive sports events featuring players from the Palestinian national basketball team and the basketball team of the Arab Orthodox Cultural Club- Beit Sahour.

As the world celebrates this day under the slogan "Nothing About Us Without Us," emphasizing the leadership of persons with disabilities, it is a reminder that persons with disabilities in Palestine are not only denied their essential right to participation but are also deprived of their right to life every minute, as the world remains silent on the genocide of the Palestinian people.