Frequently Asked Questions

• Organizational



1. What is the Rebuilding Alliance and who runs it?
             The Rebuilding Alliance, an American nonprofit organization with 501c3 status, rebuilds homes and communities in regions of war and occupation. We advocate for government policies towards these regions based on human rights and international law. Through a mutual commitment to justice, we create alliances among our supporters, partners, and those who suffer injustice and violence, yet resist through rebuilding. Our projects are symbols of hope that help rebuild shattered communities and offer people around the world immediate ways to make peace, starting with the tangible support of a family's right to a home.
   The Rebuilding Alliance began as a pilot project called The Global Campaign to Rebuild Palestinian Homes in June, 2002 as a three-way partnership between non-governmental, non-profit groups – one Israeli, one Palestinian, one American. In July 2003, we filed for nonprofit status and formed a board of directors. Read more about the History
   
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2. What are the goals of the Rebuilding Alliance?
             Our vision is to galvanize support to rebuild whole neighborhoods in areas of conflict – rebuilding as quickly as possible to stabilize the area by providing jobs, and reinforcing the fair rule of law fair by suing for reparations.
   Our social venture plan to rebuild neighborhoods was a semi-finalist in the National Social Venture Competition sponsored by the Haas and Columbia Schools of Business and Goldman Sachs. We presented these plans at a United Nations conference in Geneva in July, 2003 – and continue to refine them.
   
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3. Where did the Rebuilding Movement get its start?
             In East Jerusalem. It began when a Palestinian family called their Israeli friend to help them save their home. Salim and Arabiya Shawamreh, a Palestinian couple with clear title to their land in Anata, East Jerusalem, were sitting down to dinner with their seven children when Israeli soldiers came to their door and said they had 15 minutes to leave their home. Salim argued with the soldiers and Arabiya locked the door, then called Jeff Halper, and Israeli anthropologist and the coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. The soldiers broke the windows and threw tear gas in. Arabiya lost consciousness. Jeff and fellow activists stood before the bulldozers but could not stop the demolition and were beaten. As Jeff and Salim watched the bulldozer push through the daughter's bedroom, Salim decided the best way to respond was rebuild. They started work the next day. Together, and with the help of thousands worldwide, Palestinians and Israelis worked together to rebuild that home five times. It stands today as the Beit Arabiya Center for Peace.
   
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4. How does the work of the Rebuilding Alliance effectively advance justice?
             Rebuilding a demolished home is a powerful affirmation of fair housing rights. But rebuilding alone is not enough to safeguard that home and the ones around it from re-demolition. Every dollar raised by the Rebuilding Alliance not only pays for construction but also pays for community, volunteer, and legal services while spreading the word to concerned citizens worldwide to take action to save homes. For a 7% administrative cost, and an 8% fundraising cost, the Rebuilding Alliance creates a construction, community service, and conscience-raising engine to uphold the international laws that protect homes.
   
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5. Is the Rebuilding Alliance affiliated with International Solidarity Movement?
             TRA is not affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement, although we hold great respect for their work. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with our own board of directors. TRA evolved from the Global Campaign to Rebuild Palestinian homes, a response to Israel's massive destruction of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002. We read the accounts of families bulldozed in their homes and the reports of war crimes by the IDF as documented by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Although we could not stop the destruction, we knew how to do something that could make a difference: we knew how to rebuild. We formed our board of directors in 2004 and received our 501(c)(3) approval in 2005, retroactive to date of incorporation.
   
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6. Who all represent the board of the Rebuilding Alliance?
   Board of Directors of the Rebuilding Alliance
   
   • Ghassan Abdullah
   • Cindy Corrie
   • Jennifer Fischer
   • Alan Kaufman, Esq.
   • Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom
   • Sarah Williams‚ Esq.
   Honorary Board Members
   • Reverend Fahad Abu­Akel
   • Dr. Khalil Barhoum
   • Craig Corrie
   • Margaret Ratner Kuntsler‚ Esq.
   • Germana Nijim
   • Karin Pally
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• Philosophy



1. How does TRA respond to people who would silence the facts?
             We were recently asked this question when speaking to a local Rotary Club, during the same week that the TRA board met to consider how to respond to a disparaging article online. The best way to respond is with the truth. Our board sent out an appeal to our supporters and drafted a point-by-point response to the article.
   


2. Why is the Israeli government demolishing Palestinian homes?
             There are four major reasons for home demolitions: Land Grab, Population Squeeze, Military Action and Collective Punishment.
   
   A. Land Grab Over 400,000 Israelis now live in the Occupied Territories, including the settlement "neighborhoods" in East Jerusalem. Israeli settlements were built on private land, belonging to Palestinian villagers. Through an intricate system of zoning and planning, Palestinian homes were and continue to be demolished to make way for settlements. Halper reports that since 1967 Israel has expropriated 24% of West Bank, 89% of Arab E. Jerusalem, and 25% of Gaza. Ignoring Ottoman & British-era land deeds, Israel has designated another 72% of the West Bank as Israeli "state lands," closed to Palestinian use.
   Immediately after seizing the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, Israel disbanded the regional councils that were legally responsible for land planning. Disbanding the councils was in violation of international law. According to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, "Israeli domestic laws, including Basic Laws, military orders and planning regulations are applied with discrimination against, and disadvantage to the Palestinian population." While applying very tight restrictions and granting very few building permits, Israeli occupation forces carry out punitive and violent demolitions of Palestinian homes for lack of a building permit. An intricate network of Israeli–only bypass roads connect the settlements to Israel's highway grid. These bypass roads are built as superhighways, as wide as three football fields including the security margins cleared on each side. Any home in the path or on the fringe of the bypass highway network is demolished. The neighborhoods of Anata and Sur Bahair were recently destroyed for this reason.
   In summer 2002, the Government of Israel (GOI) began construction of a "separation barrier" – a complex series of walls, barriers, trenches, and fences – within the western border of the occupied West Bank. The Wall has been ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice. Most significantly, the Wall's alignment does not coincide with the Green Line border separating the West Bank from Israel . The Wall now runs deep inside the West Bank and surrounds major Palestinian cities and splits towns in half. In many cases the Wall separates Palestinians from their farmland, and thus they lose their livelihood. In Gaza, a gigantic steel wall has been set-up 70 meters from the border with Egypt. To provide an additional security zone, 2200 Palestinian homes destroyed.
   
   B. Population Squeeze Home demolition, along with travel restrictions, curfews, blockading of towns and uprooting of trees, is one of the most brazen and cruel of Occupation policies. These policies are designed to make life so difficult for ordinary Palestinians that eventually they will give up their land and leave. According to Ziad Al-Hammouri, director of the Jerusalem Center for Social and Economic Rights, the Palestinian population of Jerusalem is currently 35% of Jerusalem's total population; the Municipality of Jerusalem has limited expansion of Palestinian areas with the goal of reducing the Palestinian population to under 27%. Thus few families if any are granted a building permit in East Jerusalem. As reported by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 28,000 homes in East Jerusalem hold demolition orders. **
   
   C. Military Action Military action destroys and damages Palestinian homes. According to data collected by al-Haq: Law in the Service of Man (Ramallah), as of 6 January 2002, Israeli military shelling heavily damaged or destroyed 7571 Palestinian homes. Examples include Beit Jala where homes and schools were damaged by retaliatory shelling, Jenin, where infirm, elderly, and children were trapped in their homes when bulldozers destroyed a whole neighborhood under fire, and 2200 homes destroyed in Rafah Gaza. Here is the Human Rights Watch Report on home demolitions in Rafah.
   
   D. Collective Punishment As a form of collective punishment, the Israel government demolished the homes of suspected terrorists and their extended families. Such collective punishment is illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention. When the Israeli government officially ended this policy in 2005, punishment demolitions accounted for only 5% of all demolitions, according to the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem http://btselem.org/english/House_Demolitions/Statistics.asp. From 2001 through 18 April 2005, the Israeli government destroyed 558 such homes.
   
   * A large number of sources provide documentation of the number and the financial impact of the destruction of homes, however the data covers various periods of time, geographic location, and categories of destruction. A detailed survey for the period from September 2001 – July 2002 is provided by the World Bank Donor Support Group and the United National Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA). Both Israeli human and Palestinian human rights organizations track aspects of home demolitions, varying by period of record and geographic location. International agencies including the International Red Cross Red Crescent Society, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch provide relief services and case studies.
   ** Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Report of the Special Rapporteur ofon Adequate Housing as a Component of the Right to an Adequate Stand of Living, Mr. Miloon Kothari, 12 June 02.
   
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3. How do you know the rebuilding funds go where you say they go?
             Through carefully planning with each NGO partner agency, multi-signature accountability, and review by our board of directors. For our construction project in Gaza, funds are wired via bank to bank transfer to a separate account for the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. No funds are transferred out of that account until TRA's Construction Supervisor, the Sponsoring NGO, and the family sign-off to assure that the construction milestone was met to the satisfaction of all. Our board reviews the sign-off approvals and visits the building site.
   Milestones include the following:
             - Negotiation for purchase of land (we usually help the family rebuild on their own land but in some cases, rebuilding there is just too dangerous).
             - Architectural specifications and drawings
             - Solicitation of three sealed bids for construction
             - Opening the bids and selecting a contractor
             - First construction milestone payment
             - Second construction milestone payment
             - Third and final construction milestone payment
             - Evaluation: What worked? What didn't? What do we do differently next time?
   Each milestone is reported to The Rebuilding Alliance home office and reviewed by the Board of Directors.
   Please remember that due to the uncertainties of the Occupation, every plan requires a back–up plan B – and even the homes and schools we think are out of harm's way can be slapped with a demolition order on a moment's notice. Staying in touch and being flexible is the only way to assure that projects are completed with integrity despite the challenges.
   
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4. Are you rebuilding terrorist homes?
             No we are not. The Rebuilding Alliance denounces terrorism by individuals, private groups, or states. Our organization also denounces all collective punishment including all house demolitions. Collective punishment is a violation of the Geneva Convention and international law, illegal in territories under occupation. The Rebuilding Alliance actively supports those Palestinians, Israelis, and Internationals who build together in nonviolence just as we actively oppose individuals, groups, and state policies that incite violence.
   We rebuild the homes of people who have never been accused of any security violation. Our organization is in full compliance with U.S. law and the families we rebuild for are granted visas by the U.S. government to allow them to speak in the United States. Such visas are granted after a thorough background check.
   
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5. Will the Rebuilding Alliance rebuild in other conflict zones?
             Yes. We will expand our geographic focus as resources become available.


6. Why is it important to help Palestinian families rebuild their homes?
             Rebuilding is a tangible way to acknowledge what happened, support human rights, and help Palestinian families maintain their human right to their homes. Since the start of Israel's Occupation in 1967 over 14,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished, resulting in the displacement of more than 100,000 people. From September 2000 to February 2005, the Israeli Army demolished some 4000 homes, an average of 70 demolitions per month. Sometimes, whole neighborhoods were destroyed, such as in Rafah, Gaza, with demolitions continued night after night. In the West Bank, nearly every family who built or expanded their home in Area C (60% of the West Bank) holds a demolition order from the Israeli Civil Authority.
   
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7. Why is home rebuilding an effective way to end Israeli Occupation?
             Israel's home demolition policy provides a window into understanding the entire structure of the Israeli Occupation - its policies, effects, and costs - and the Israeli / Palestinian conflict. Likewise, rebuilding homes bring people together worldwide to uphold international law and overcome the injustice of Occupation by refusing to be enemies. March16, 2003 was marked by the tragic death of Rachel Corrie, an American ISM activist who was killed as she stood between a IDF bulldozer and the home of a physician in the city of Rafah, Gaza (see www.palsolidarity.org). She is but one of many who seek to save homes and stop the bulldozers. In focusing our attention on Israel's home demolition policy, we are building momentum for a just peace.
   
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8. Why rebuild homes when the homes may just be demolished again?
             Home demolitions are not a natural disaster. Unlike building in a flood zone or on an earthquake fault, home demolitions are the result of man-made policies - and these policies can be changed. The Road Map recently adopted by the Israeli and Palestinian governments specifically requires the government of Israel to end "confiscation and/or demolition of Palestinian homes and property, as a punitive measure or to facilitate Israeli construction." Rebuilding Homes requires an end to demolitions, in accordance with the Road Map.
   
             There is no insurance for families whose homes are demolished. When their home is demolished, their life-savings are wiped out. While international agencies recognize the scale of the disaster, and work to house landowners made homeless, no agencies have been willing to help homeowners rebuild in assertion of their right to a home on their land. As of May 2003, over 100 families have asked to be added to a Rebuilding Homes waiting list, in full knowledge that rebuilding still holds no guarantee of safety.
   
             The risk of re-demolition is real. Despite that risk, rebuilding remains a powerful source of hope for families who have lost everything, a powerful political statement to bring demolitions to an end, and a transformative peacemaking process.
   
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9. How do you rebuild homes when Palestinian towns are under 24-hr curfew?
             We started with East Jerusalem, an area not under curfew, to demonstrate against Israel's ongoing policy of court-ordered demolition of homes that were refused a building permit and have completed 4 homes. We have also completed a Bedouin home in Area C which is totally under Israeli control. Plans are underway to begin the rebuilding of a school in Jenin, an area where curfews dramatically affect access and travel. The challenges are significant yet we are making good progress with the help of teachers and administrators throughout that area. We are pleased to see our network of support growing as we undertake bigger challenges.
   
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10. Does TRA only rebuild in Palestine? Why not rebuild Israeli homes that are destroyed too?
              Right now we can only rebuild one house at a time by raising 100% of the cost through grassroots fundraising and then building the new home. It is a long process - and especially frustrating because no one in the modern world finances construction this way. But in conflict zones, there is no homeowners insurance, and banks do not provide mortgages or rebuilding loans. When homes are destroyed, families lose everything. I dream of the day when we can finance the rebuilding of whole neighborhoods on both sides of these man-made disasters. I believe there is a way to finance the reconstruction of homes so that the rebuilding process will qualify for a mortgage, and I look forward to the day when we can take on multiple redevelopment projects in Palestine, in Israel, and everywhere where people lose their homes due to the man-made disaster of war and occupation. Our vision for rebuilding neighborhoods is featured in the Changemakers Entrepreneuring Peace international competition at http://www.changemakers.net/journal/peace/displaypeace.cfm?ID=118
    
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• Financial



1. How do I make out my check?
   In the United States, checks may be made-out to "The Rebuilding Alliance" and mailed to: The Rebuilding Alliance 457 Kingsley Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA
   To make a secure credit card gift through our web site, please select Donate Now! Please note, online donations are processed through our fiscal sponsor, Global Exchange.
   In other countries, we ask that you send a money order or cashier's check in US Dollars or make a donation online via credit card. For wire transfer, please contact us for account details.
   The Rebuilding Alliance is a 501c3 organization. All donations are tax deductible in the U.S.
   
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2. Why does it cost so much to rebuild a home or school?
             The usual cost for rebuilding an average 100 square meter (980 square feet) home in the Jerusalem area is $30,000. In addition to this $30,000 are the following expenditures:
             $6,000    —    cost to tell the story of the home to people around the world with a short film, build coalitions to adopt the home, and coordinate urgent action to prevent demolition
             $2,400    —    cost of raising funds for that home
             $2,100    —    cost of administration
             $2,500    —    legal reserve fund (Note: the total cost for defending that house and others near it in a class-action petition before the Israeli Supreme Court will be about $10,000. We also seek to help the family sue for compensation).
             $43,000    —    Total Cost for each home we build
   
             Homes outside Jerusalem are cheaper, but in some places, like Rafah, it is still too dangerous to build on the original site. When we must purchase land, as is needed for the Nasrallah family home in Rafah, our project cost rises by nearly $20,000. Also duplexes cost more than single-family homes. The Nasrallah home will house two families, Dr. Samir Nasrallah (the pharmacist) his wife and children, and Mr. Khaled Nasrallah (the accountant) and his wife and children.
             Schools are bigger, thus more costly than homes. Our kindergarten in Al Aqabah (near Tubas) is 253 sq. meters with a building cost of $35,360. Again, we include educational outreach, fundraising, legal reserve, and administrative cost with the price of each building to set the fundraising goal for each project.
   
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3. How is fiscal oversight assured?
             All Sponsoring NGO's submit quarterly reports of income and expenses to The Rebuilding Alliance for review at the quarterly meeting of our Board of Directors. The Construction Supervisor sends regular reports as well. The sponsoring NGO, board members, and volunteers visit the worksite throughout construction period to assess progress to date. TRA's construction supervisor is responsible for the quality of the project and funds are only transferred when the Sponsoring NGO, the family, and TRA's construction supervisor are in agreement that the milestone has been met. The family is always included in project assessment and evaluation, as they are their own best advocates.
   
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4. Who endorses the Rebuilding Alliance? Are new sponsors welcome?
             The Rebuilding Alliance actively seeks endorsement for its rebuilding efforts, drawing groups together for fundraisers that build local coalitions for advocacy. We are working to develop a list of endorsers in each congressional district so that representatives will be assured of local support when they publicly take action on behalf of the Rebuilding Alliance. Please invite your place of worship, peace, or service group to endorse the Rebuilding Alliance and contact us to set-up a speaking event or house party.
   
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• Legal



1. Shouldn't Israel pay reparations instead of burdening the world community with rehousing the families whose homes were demolished?
             It is very important that families sue for compensation for their loss — and TRA is actively encouraging our families to join such lawsuits. Good news — the courts are finally showing courage. On October 26, 2004, ABC News Online reported that the Israeli Supreme Court has demanded explanations from the army over the scale of the destruction of Palestinian homes in the Rafah region of the Gaza Strip. The Court was responding to a petition filed by the Arab-Israeli rights group Adalah, which accuses the military of having perpetrated "war crimes" with the demolition without military necessity of the large number of houses in the town which borders Egypt.
   
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2. Is it legal to rebuild demolished Palestinian homes?
             While rebuilding may be illegal under Israeli law, the act of demolition itself is illegal under international law. We seek to assert the primacy of international law as we rebuild to challenge the legality and morality of the occupation and its tactics. The right to a home is stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the last 36 years of the Israeli occupation, there are only rare occasions that a Palestinian with deeds to his/her land, is given a permit to build by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior. The entire Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina has had no zoning or planning since 1968, so not even the streets have been named. Building a home is a right and fair housing law is a requirement to enforce that right.
   
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3. Are people who protest home demolition, or those that help rebuild, in any kind of danger?
             Home rebuilding is a non-violent form of civil protest, in the traditions of Gandhi, Thoreau, and the American civil rights movement. Many of our rebuilding activists are willing to go to jail if arrested by the Israeli authorities. So far no one has been arrested for rebuilding, although people have been arrested for trying to prevent home demolitions, including Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, and Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. We mourn the death of Rachel Corrie who lost her life trying to block a bulldozer from destroying the home of the Nasrallah family — and we hope that our efforts to rebuild will help realize her goals.
   
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• Operational



1. Who selects the homes? Who does the building?
             Our Sponsoring NGOs submit proposals to TRA's board of directors to select the building projects. All participating families have gone through an extensive interview process so that they understand the risks they may face in bringing their tragedy to light.
   Demolition rubble is cleared by a contractor. Volunteers perform initial tasks like assembling materials, and laying cinderblock. A Palestinian general contractor approves designs, supervises construction, and performs skilled work, such as framing and pouring concrete, plumbing, and electrical. Building materials are purchased from Palestinian suppliers. These efforts also contribute to the local Palestinian economy that is devastated by the closures, curfews, and occupation.
   
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2. Who inspects the construction to assure quality?
             Each of our projects is built with the assistance of a local Sponsoring NGO. That NGO hires local contractors and works with a Rebuilding Alliance construction supervisor to inspect quality at the time of every sign-off for milestone payments to contractors.
   
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3. How will the Rebuilding Alliance succeed?
             Each home that is rebuilt gets media attention. As Americans see the rebuilding of homes and the alliance-building among Palestinians and Israelis who seek an end to the Occupation, they lend support to our efforts. When the homes they build are at risk, they call their congressional representatives and ask them to intervene. With more support, more homes are rebuilt — strengthening the local economy — and more homes are saved from demolition. Homeless families have a chance to restore some normalcy of life and people who work for peace find encouragement and purpose for their creative efforts. We want to show Congress that their constituents are concerned so that they will take action that will make the world safer for us all.
   
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4. How can I participate in this important work?
             Volunteer: If you live in the San Francisco area, join us at our office to help out in a variety of ways especially on mailing days.
   
             Houseparty / Speaking Event: Host the Rebuilding Alliance speakers and films at your church, mosque, synagogue, or service club etc. to raise awareness about Israelis and Palestinians working together to rebuild.
   
             Form a task force to save one home and go together to visit your congressperson / senators to ask them to make calls on your task force's behalf.
   
             Volunteer in Israel/PalestineVolunteers based in Israel/Palestine with experience in project management can help define the next "Adopt a Home" project. You will work with Israelis and Palestinians who want to build together, compiling a prospectus for each house demolished. This prospectus serves a vital role in raising funds for the rebuilding, describing the family's efforts to build their home, why it was demolished, politics of home ownership in that area, and the groups and individuals who will join together to rebuild.
   
             Volunteers Everywhere -- Come help rebuild !Not only Israelis and Palestinians participate in home rebuilding. Internationals do too. If you have the time, and the means to get there, we can connect you with current projects. Needless to say, this is the most satisfying contribution an individual can make; it's an experience that could change your life.
   
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