Letter of Recommendation:.
Yafit Gamilla Biso is a Jewish, Israeli woman who has shown relentless commitment to working for peace and justice for the Palestinian people in Israel and the Occupied territories. She does not consider herself a political person but instead a woman who believes in the basic human rights of all people.
Ms. Biso came to Israel more than twenty years ago, a single mother of three children, fleeing an abusive marriage and looking for a fresh start for her family. She was forced to leave her seven- year old son with his father as “collateral”- a guarantee that she would return to Syria. It took 2 years and a considerable amount of money to have her son finally join her and his sisters in Israel. Ms. Biso opened a garment factory in Tel Aviv employing twenty Palestinian workers from Gaza and at one point had a partner who was also from Gaza. The Intifida brought an abrupt end to the partnership and to her business
Born and raised in Syria, Ms. Biso’s mother tongue is Arabic. She attended a government high school with Muslim, Christian and Jewish students. She knew and befriended numerous Palestinians from the nearby refugee camps. Arriving in Israel alone with her two children, it was only a normal progression to continue her association with Palestinians – people who spoke her language and whose culture she understood and respected. She also had a first hand understanding, growing up in Syria as a second- class citizen, of injustice and inhumanity.
From the first Intifada in 1987, Ms. Biso made herself available to Palestinian’s who needed help. “ I was only slightly active until around the First Intifada, even the Second. During the first one it was basically employing workers and taking care of them, picking them up, driving them, putting them up; they slept at my house so that they wouldn't have to commute. If anybody needed help there they called me and I assisted in everything I could, errands here or there.”
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Her work began slowly organizing demonstration and working with peace organization such as Peace Now and Gush Shalom. She visited Palestinian families on her days off and brought her own children. She offered humanitarian aid and showing support as an Israeli woman. As the violence escalated and the second Intifida began, Ms. Biso increased her activities working with other organizations in Israel committed to justice and peace such as Ta’ayush. She started volunteering her time and energy for the olive harvests.
She began working with a group New Profile. “At the time Noa Mor and her husband and, Tal Gurlitz, Rina Mose. sent e-mails that they needed people to come and visit. They said there were some sick people in Tel Hashomer Medical Center requesting someone, preferably an Arabic-speaker, to come talk to them, visit, and take care of their needs. It was a very small group at the time of two or three people. We started off slowly and grew, and the group got strong. I used to go to Tel Hashomer four or five times a week. All the mothers had my phone number, the intensive care unit had my number, other units too. If they needed translation at night they called me up –even at two am. I would meet with mothers and doctors for a meeting and translation regarding the child's condition. a complex medical procedure that require their understanding and approval, and sometimes explain them what are the risks involved.”
Often ostracized and rejected by many members of her immediate family and her community Ms. Biso work continues. In July, 2004, she participated in a five -day hunger strike in Araam, joining on the second day risking her both health as a diabetic and her employment. “I left one job after I was seen on television joining a hunger strike with Azmi Bishara (Knesset Member) to protest the Wall. They made trouble for me so I left. It causes problems but doesn't make me change my opinions. I live according to my beliefs; I'm very stubborn. I do what I want to do.”
Last year she established her movement The Olive Tree. The Olive Tree Movement is committed to establishing justice and peace for Palestinians. Transporting men, women and especially children from the occupied territories to hospitals in Israel. Ms. Biso has been doing this for many years in her “spare time”. She works at a minimum wage job – working long hours every week and still managing to assist numerous families almost daily. She has often been without any money as she spends every available dollar on gasoline and car repairs driving the long distances from the checkpoints to the Israeli medical facilities. She does not ask the families for money if they cannot afford it. She is not financially supported by any organization and relies on assistance from friends and colleagues whenever possible.
She not only works in the fields during the Olive Harvest but also throughout the planting season independently with families and villages she knows but also with the Rabbis for Human Rights. It is necessary for an Israeli and international presence to protect the farmers from the violent activities of the Jewish settlers and the restrictions of the Israeli Defence Forces. Unfortunately both Israeli and international volunteers are also often in physical danger from the same elements.
During the summer months when Palestinian children are out of school for three months, Ms. Biso has organized a summer camp in the Bedouin village of Jahaline. This year she hopes to have camps in other villages reaching more and more disenfranchised children. The cost of the camps appears so minimal but without help it feels astronomical. The summer camps are staffed by young and enthusiastic Israeli volunteers. Ms. Biso drives back and forth from her home in Rishon Litzion to the camp each day before going to the night shift at her job in Tel Aviv. She spends her days off in the village sleeping there overnight.
Ms. Biso collects old computers and repairs them and brings them to children in the Occupied territories. She brings toys and clothing donated by Israelis. She brings food and medical supplies. She brings love and respect and caring.
She is available day or night to offer support, solidarity and strength to the beleaguered Palestinian people.
This winter was the premiere at the Haifa International Film Festival of a documentary of Biso’s work as an activist in the Occupied Territories. The film, entitled “ The Harvest” was produced by Yoram Sabo and shows the struggles of the Palestinian farmers and also portrays the Jewish settlers living in the territories.
Ms. Biso continues to demonstrate with other Israeli organizations committed to Peace and Justice. She stands in the front line able to speak in Hebrew to the soldiers, in Arabic to the Palestinians and in English to the International community. Gamilla Yafit Biso is a household name throughout the Palestinian lands and in the Jewish Israeli Peace movement. She works tirelessly for human rights especially for children.
Curriculum Vitae
Yafit Gamilla Biso
2 Maniah Shohat Street, Apt. 5
Rishon Litzion, Israel 75241
(972) 2 212 2090 cellular (972) 6251227
olivetreemov@gmail.com
olive-tree-mov@012.net.il
Date of Birth December 25,
Date of Immigration to Israel -November 30, 1985
Education
International Trade, Israel, 2001
Business Management Degree, Damascus University, 1983
Damascus High School, diploma
Affiliations/Organizations
Olive Tree Movement, Founder
Women’s Coalition for Peace, Member
Machsom Watch, Member
Rabbis for Human Rights, Member
Respectfully Submitted,
Sandra Ruch
Bar Rav Hai David Street 38/7
Haifa, Israel 35592
Telephone: (972) 52 622 0610
miriamswell@hotmail.com
miriamswell1981@yahoo.com
