A HUMAN rights activist from Blanchardstown has travelled to Palestine to spend three months as an observer embedded in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Katie Morris is a member of an international team of volunteers involved in providing a protective presence for those under threat of harassment and abuse.
The team will monitor and report on human rights abuses and violations in the troubled region.
The team is part of a World Council of Churches (WCC) programme that works for an end to the occupation.
The WCC led programme of Ecumenical Accompaniment in Israel and Palestine (EAPPI) began in 2002 following a call from church leaders in Jerusalem to send a non-violent international presence in the region.
Katie will spend three months living and working in the West Bank working alongside both Israeli and Palestinian groups striving for peace. Along with her team, she will provide a protective presence to vulnerable communities at risk of violence.
Their daily tasks will involve escorting children to school, monitoring checkpoints, and witnessing the demolition of Palestinian homes.
“Human rights abuses need to be witnessed and recorded and vulnerable communities deserve to be defended,” explained Katie. “The work of the EAPPI is vital in working for an end to the occupation and I am honoured to work as part of a team with them.”
Countless studies, including the 2006 work ‘Field Strategies for Civilian Protection’ by Liam Mahony, provide evidence that a non-violent protective presence reduces instances of violence encourages perpetrators on all sides to reevaluate consequences.
Katie will work in a team of five and will be placed in one of seven locations across the West Bank.
Upon her return, Katie will host a number of lectures across Dublin and further afield, detailing her experiences and what she witnessed while working as an Ecumenical Accompanier in the West Bank.
Anybody interested in hearing from Katie either in the field, or upon her return, can email her directly at katieeleanormorris@hotmail.com.
