A NORTHSIDE grandmother will travel to Israel and Palestine in the coming months to act as a human rights monitor.
Far from
“sitting around knitting
? and enjoying retirement, Patricia Barker (63), from Malahide, will travel to the war-torn Middle Eastern countries in April where she will live for three months.
It’s not a trip without risks as Patricia will live and travel among a Palestinian community, monitoring and reporting on human rights abuses as they cross checkpoints along the notoriously dangerous West Bank.
She will also be a protective presence at points of conflict between the Palestinians and Israeli settlers.
The fearless grandmother and mother-of-two retired from her senior accounting lecturer post in DCU last year.
She was selected as one of 20 volunteers from the UK and Ireland to travel to Israel and Palestine as part of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI).
“One of the big advantages of retiring is that you have a chance to do what you want to do,
? Patricia tells Northside People.
“I’ve got a pension so I don’t and wouldn’t want to be paid for volunteering for this programme.
“The days are long gone where we think of retirees sitting around knitting, we keep active and we want to make a contribution.
“I’d been saying for a long time that I wanted to do something to make a difference so when the opportunity arose I thought now is the time to stop talking and do something instead.
?
Patricia admits that when she shared her plans with her family they were a little less than enthusiastic.
“Yes my kids do think I’m mad but they know me well enough to know I’m likely to do anything,
? she explains.
“I was an election monitor in Bosnia and Kosovo and I sailed the Antarctic so I do take risks but I think that must come with my background in accounting – you can take risks but you have to be careful and prudent.
“My husband Robert knows that travelling to Israel and Palestine is something I want to do but if he said that he didn’t want me going then I’d have to think very hard about it.
“I’m looking forward to the trip and I’m aware of the risks and how to take care of myself.
“I will be there to serve as an international presence; I’m not there to take sides in the conflict.
?
The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) was established 10 years ago.
Through the programme it’s hoped that human rights monitors can help to reduce the distress arising from abuses of human rights and humanitarian laws by offering a protective presence.
Additionally, the monitors provide a voice for abused people by sending reports to UN agencies, governments, diplomats and to the ordinary Irish people.
Patricia believes that the problem in Palestine is enormous and complex.
“Governments and international organisations have been struggling with it for decades,
? she states.
“I am only one person and, although I cannot hope to resolve the problem, I can do something and I do not want to spend the rest of my life justifying my lack of action.
“I hope that my presence may make a difference to the people I encounter.
?
Patricia adds:
“I am also hopeful that ordinary Irish people like me might trust my account of life out there and might add to my small action with their actions. In that way, we have a chance of influencing change.
?