Abir's Garden: a Safe Place to Grow

Abir Aramin was walking home from school with her sister and their friend in the West Bank town of Anata on January 18th, 2007. Israeli Border Police drove provocatively through the school zone on the Palestinian side of the separation wall, firing tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets at the children. Abir was shot in the head and died 2 days later. She was 10 years old.

News of Abir's death created a wellspring of emotion worldwide, in part because Abir's father, Bassam Aramin, is an activist and founding member of Combatants for Peace. Responses to a condolence letter online written by Women of a Certain Age came from 58 countries. The Rebuilding Alliance contacted Bassam, who asked that efforts to organize on behalf of Abir be directed to the children of Anata, in the hope that the world would help Combatants for Peace provide them with a safe place to play.

Following the tragedy, everyone attended the meeting of the Parent's Club of the Anata School for Girls. They discussed what happened, how to press for a fair investigation, how to get the soldiers away from the school zone when the children were walking home. They also began discussing plans for a play area in memory of Abir.

Here are the plans for the playground and garden, to be constructed in Abir's memory. A landscape architect who is a member of Combatants for Peace met with the family and the Parent's Club at the Anata School for Girl to develop these plans. We start with section 5a, next we'll do section 2b.