Lewis Mumford Award

The Global Campaign to Rebuild Palestinian Homes is being awarded the 2003 Lewis Mumford Award for Development by the Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility.

The Rebuilding Homes Campaign is being recognized as a model of how people of all faiths and nationalities take constructive, nonviolent action to help homeless families and prevent house demolitions in regions of conflict. With the support of people around the world, this campaign has raised over $330,000 and have brought hundreds of Israeli, Palestinian and international volunteers together to rebuild the homes of families who have never been accused of any crime.

The Campaign joins a distinguished list of past Lewis Mumford Award recipients: Habitat for Humanity, tenants rights organizer Bertha Gilkey, and affordable housing designer, Michael Pyatok. Past recipients of the Lewis Mumford Peace Awards include Dr. Helen Caldicott, Mr. & Mrs. Jimmy Carter, Yitzak Rabin, and Barbara Lee.This award is a recognition of the dedicated work of our team in the USA, the ICAHD and JCSER teams in Jerusalem, and the thousands of donors around the world who have supported this rebuilding work. It validates the work of Palestinian, Israeli and international volunteers who join work days to give their labor to assure each family the right to a home and a homeland, and bring an end to the demolition and confiscation of homes, in accordance with provisions outlined in the new Road Map for peace.

Says Donna, "The Israeli and Palestinian founders of this movement, Jeff Halper and Salim Shawamreh, decided to rebuild the day Mr. Shawamreh's home was demolished to make way for a road to a settlement. They have been rebulding homes ever since, and now, due to our Campaign, families the world over are helping by holding a House Party to Rebuild a Home."

Mr. Shawamreh's house was demolished for the 4th time just a few weeks ago, yet despite the risk of redemolition, over 100 Palestinian families have asked for Israelis and Palestinians to come rebuild their home too. With the government of Israel demolishing whole towns, the Campaign is now ramping-up to finance and rebuild neighborhoods.