Middle East crisis engulfs CAFOD projects

Clashes between Palestians and Israeli troops have engulfed CAFOD projects in Israel. Executive director of Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR) Edmund Shehadeh said solders targeted both a BASR training centre and a CAFOD supported community day-care centre for children with mental and physical disabilities in the El-Khader village. He said: "We are trying to help ensure that the victims of these violent Israeli attacks survive. We are also doing whatever can be done to prevent long term negative consequences of the psychological trauma." BASR has also formed an Emergency Crisis Intervention Team consisting of a psychiatrist, two psychologists and 15 relief workers to help people caught in the violence. The relief workers visit the trauma victims in their homes, assess their individual needs and provide them with moral support and encouragement. They also guide them to certain organisations that could provide support or refer them to BASR where they could be provided with medical treatment, rehabilitation and psychological help as well as the necessary disability aids. BASR is on emergency footing and has opened its doors to receive victims of the violence. It is providing the injured with medical care and different types of rehabilitation services as well as disability aids free of charge. The virtual blockade of Palestinian towns and villages by Israeli troops has led to food shortages. BASR is providing many families with food parcels. It has also giving financial support to families whose homes have been seriously damaged, to help them cope with the necessities of life such as clothing and blankets. Shehadeh says: "These services are rendered to all people in need regardless of their sex, religion or political affiliation."