The Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents has been helping Palestinian residents obtain rights and benefits since 2004, and we’ve described here, here, and here the amazing work they’ve been doing since the onset of the pandemic. Indeed, between March 2020 and March 2021, they helped Palestinians deal with over 7,300 requests, 4 times their annual average.
Atta’a staff being interviewed for local TV / Internet broadcast
And since March 2021, Atta’a is continuing to help local residents at an accelerated pace: From the beginning of 2021 to the end of July, Atta’a has had nearly 2,500 requests for assistance. This breaks down to:
- 800 requests via Facebook
- 500 requests via WhatsApp
- and another nearly 1,200 requests via in-person meetings
What’s the reason for the uptick in requests? Well, the continued pandemic, for one. Another is that the family re-unification law, which has prevented Palestinians from filing for residency status in order to live together with their families since the early 2000’s, was not renewed in early July, and many are turning to Atta’a for help. Since posting, this video has received over 210,000 views! Here’s the video in Arabic:
Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, the Rayne Foundation, the Leichtag Foundation, and the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders for their support of Atta’a.
