I made it back safely! I had an incredible time in Israel and the Occupied  Territories, and was with an excellent group of people from London. I learned a lot about human rights work.

It was an intense and disturbing trip. The human rights situation in the Occupied Territories is especially dismal, and the people are in despair. I am attaching the official Amnesty International press release on the findings of our mission, if you are interested in reading it. We met with both Palestinian and Jewish human rights groups (and NGOs), as well as individuals and groups from both sides who have been victimized by the violence. It is very clear to us that the international community needs to get involved immediately, and in the least, international observers need to be brought in to stem the downward spiral of violence.

 I will send some pictures of my trip once I have them developed. Thank you for all of your well wishes before I left!            

 Karen

 This is the press release about the purpose of the Amnesty International   mission that was written just before I left.

 http://www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/MDE150102002?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES
ES\ISRAEL%5COCCUPIED+TERRITORIES

 This is the press release about the findings of the Amnesty International  mission, released yesterday.

http://web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/7BEAA32737D8E97480256B57005D5D86?
OpenDocument

 KAREN KENNEDY

 Academic Adviser
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