The AGM of British Friends of Rabbis for Human Rights will be held by Zoom on Monday 6 December, at 6pm*. Please use the following links for the meeting papers:
Zoom and telephone links tba.
*The AGM start time has been changed to 6pm (from 8AM) to accommodate Rabbi Michael Marmur, Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel, who will address us.
Dear Friends,
The Olive Harvest continues and this week, as we reported, has been one of excitement, pain and success. As we reported to you earlier in the week, on Monday our staff and volunteers were attacked as they participated in the harvest near Awarta. However, even in the face of violence, threats and indifference we continue and are proud of the over 500 volunteers who have joined us thus far, where we all work to show that justice and solidarity can overcome violence and oppression. Continue reading
Nothing came easy to our matriarch Sarah, whose death and burial occupy the first part of this week’s reading. We had previously read of her struggle with infertility, her ordeal with lecherous rulers (with Abraham’s acquiescence), and with his uppity concubine; when she’s finally blessed with her own son, her home life is far from idyllic. Now, right after the story of Isaac’s near death, we learn of her passing, which a midrash suggests was brought on by her fear for Isaac’s life. But her troubles aren’t over yet, because Abraham doesn’t have a place to bury her. Continue reading
// Press Release – 25.10.2021 //
Volunteers and employees from Rabbis For Human Rights were attacked not long ago by settlers from the Itamar settlement, while the volunteers were assisting Palestinian farmers harvesting their olives in the village of Awarta in the West Bank.
The attackers who arrived on foot and on “tractoronim” (small tractors used for racing) sprayed pepper gas at the harvesters. One of the employees of RHR was hurt and needed medical assistance. Volunteers with RHR reported that there was an army presence at the time but that the soldiers barely intervened. Continue reading
The 2021 Olive Harvest is RHR’s way to move human rights forward! From the virtual world to the actual world, RHR is busy making human rights a reality. Struggling against violence and hate, planting seeds of solidarity with each olive harvested, RHR is Moving Forward for Human Rights!
Today we are changing the future together. We are out in the groves, harvesting in solidarity with Palestinian olive farmers. We stand for THE PALESTINIAN RIGHT TO FARM THEIR OLIVES in peace and in security, free of violence and free of oppression!”
Donate… Make each olive count for justice and for peace!
Thank you for your support and for Moving Human Rights Forward!
In its 19th year of working on the olive harvest, RHR volunteers were out in the occupied West Bank village of Awarta to help with the olive harvest. It was the first day of the season for our volunteers. We are proud to stand with our Palestinian partners who face violent harassment & restrictions under the occupation. You can continue this work from anywhere in the world by being a supporter.
If you would like to donate to BFRHR, you can find more information on the Donations page
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Shana Tova!
Dear Friends and Partners,
The New Hebrew Year stands before us. After the Jewish month of Elul, a month in which we prepare our hearts we arrive at what is known as Judgment Day. Standing before God or facing ourselves, we are called to engage in serious soul searching. Who is to live and who is to die and what is to live and what is to die in our souls? How can we abandon our habits and our flaws and be just a little bit better in the coming year? Which of our curses will we leave behind in 5781 and which blessings will we carry forward and bring upon ourselves in the New Year? Continue reading
This coming Shabbat we read one of the shortest Torah readings of the year and one of the most powerful. Not only does it engage us in the renewal of the covenant with G-d as we hear the last words of Moshe Rabeinu and his demand for commitment but also it presents us with a profound paradox: On the one hand Continue reading
The 2021 Olive Harvest with RHR and Palestinian Olive Farmers is fast approaching. We look forward to our 19th year leading volunteers into the West Bank to help Palestinian farmers harvest olives and to stand with them in solidarity against settler violence, against interference by the military and against the indifference that allows for their rights to be trampled year after year. Continue reading
After an intensive and persistent two-year struggle, led by RHR’s Adv. Becky Cohen Keshet, director of the social justice department, under difficult political circumstances Rabbis for Human Rights can now say that it has succeeded! Food Security is now part of the basic national budget. Continue reading