A Norfolk woman is in Israel and Occupied Palestine to serve as a human rights monitor for three months.
Tegan Hill, 31, from Great Yarmouth arrived in the country to monitor human rights violations and provide protective presence in East Jerusalem as part of the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme (EAPPI).
Based in East Jerusalem, Mrs Hill is currently involved in protective presence at the E1 Bedouin community at risk of demolition; Khan al Ahmar.
Tegan explained that her motivation for joining the EAPPI programme is to: “witness the conflict first-hand to gain an insight into both the Palestinian and Israeli experience of the occupation whilst providing protection underpinned by International Humanitarian Law”.
She said: “The programme is a unique yet challenging experience, in the field, we routinely witness human rights abuses.
“For instance, when monitoring access to work, education, healthcare and worship at Qalandia checkpoint; I witnessed a young Palestinian women being refused entry to Jerusalem despite needing access to a hospital for an operation.
“I will be spending time in both the West Bank and Israel and sharing stories from a range of perspectives within the conflict.”
When home, Mrs Hill plans to raise awareness of the humanitarian situation in occupied Palestine through a series of public events in Great Yarmouth, Norwich and beyond.
She said: “I will be reporting eyewitness stories of both Palestinian and Israeli experiences of the occupation.
“It is of course extremely difficult to witness this breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention; it’s also impossible not to be inspired by the resilience of the Palestinian people alongside the work of Israeli human rights activists.”
When in Norfolk, Mrs Hill works as Family Support Worker and as a volunteer at Norwich International Youth Project where she supports young refugees and asylum seekers in Norfolk.
She will be documenting her visit through blogs, photographs and eye witness reports, when home she will host a series of events.
The programme has asked Mrs Hill doesn’t publicise operation information referring to the exact date she’s home, but we can confirm it will be towards the end of the year.
Follow Tegan’s journey and other EA’s firsthand experiences on their blog.
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