Help Noor Who Has Lost Everything

Noor Abu al-Qiyan lost everything on 18th Jan 2017 when his father was shot at point-blank range and left to bleed to death, his house and possessions bulldozed, his family's life savings stolen and his herd of cattle and chickens largely destroyed, as part of the ethnic cleansing of his village Umm al-Hiran by the State of Israel to make way for a Jewish village on the site. Two weeks after his father's death, Noor's grandfather died from a broken heart. 

Noor holding a pair of jeans salvaged from the ruins of his house

Today Noor and his brothers and sisters are listless and his mother is in severe depression. 

Let us now give Noor and his family some hope by helping them to rebuild their broken lives. Let us help Noor and his relations replenish and shelter their livestock, buy necessary goods, and feed, clothe, shelter and educate their family. Let us give them a helping hand for the future.

Noor's 14-year old brother Yosef salvaging cushions from the ruins

Noor's Tragic Tale

The Bedouins living in "unrecognised" villages in Israel have a particularly difficult life as the state refuses to provide them with with the most basic of facilities such as electricity, running water or sewage. They are a neglected and discriminated community in the midst of a cruel and inhuman reality. Noor's story is particularly painful, because his father, Yakoub, a respected teacher and an outstanding member of the community, was shot dead on the day the state came to demolish his village.

Later that same morning, Noor's house was bulldozed, together with many other houses in the village, to make way for a new exclusively Jewish village to be built on the site.

 Noor wandering through the ruins of his family home

Today Noor sleeps on a concrete slab under the stars, which once formed the roof of his father's house, whilst his mother and siblings sleep in Noor's deceased grandfather's house (which has not yet been demolished) together with more than 20 other family members who have been made homeless. 

By donating to this cause you will have a chance to help restore the broken lives of Noor and his extended family and give them back some dignity and hope. Let us show Noor and his family that we care.

The block of concrete on which Noor now sleeps at night

Noor's Father Yakoub

Yakoub Abu al-Qiyan, born 27.12.1970, was a highly educated man and the first Bedouin from the Negev community of Israel to receive a Masters Degree in Electronics. He studied both in Israel and in Germany and was a teacher of mathematics and electronics at the A Salam High School in nearby Hura. He was a devoted husband and a father of eight children, one of whom is presently studying Medicine abroad.

Yakoub was a peaceful, God-fearing man who had devoted his life to studying, teaching and supporting his family. He was in the middle of a management course at a college in Tel Aviv, studying with the goal to becoming the principal of the high school he was teaching at. 

Yakoub's life was tragically cut short on the morning of 18th January 2017 as he left his house at dawn with his life savings just before it was to be demolished. Trigger-happy policemen fired into his jeep as it drove down the hill injuring him critically in the legs. As a result, Yakoub lost control of his jeep and it careered off the path and into a policeman. When Yakoub then opened the door of the vehicle, bleeding profusely, with his shattered legs paralyzed behind the wheel, he was shot in the chest at point-blank range and left for almost an hour to bleed to death with all medical aid denied him. Yakoub's car was subsequently confiscated and all the family's money and jewellery "disappeared". 

 Noor sitting beside the monument erected in memory of his beloved father 

Giving Back Hope to Noor

Noor is a student at Sami Shamoon Engineering College in Beer Sheva and I am one of his teachers and I want to try to help put him and his family back on track. At present Noor has understandably lost all motivation to study or go forward in his life. He is mourning for the loss of his father and grandfather, his home and his animals. All Noor's clothes and textbooks and other possessions were lost under the rubble of his home. Neither Noor nor the rest of his family were given time to salvage hardly anything before the demolitions began. In addition, all the solar panels and water storage tanks from their homes were destroyed, in itself an act amounting to a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. 

Noor's cousin Deaa searching through the rubble with the bulldozer behind him

I have visited Noor and his family at his village and have witnessed how their lives have been broken apart by these horrific deeds. I have set up this campaign to run for a month and all the money from it will be donated directly into Noor's bank account. May it serve, in any way possible, to help put the lives of Noor and his extended family back on track. 

Noor looking from the ruins of his destroyed house towards the hills

How You Can Help

The best way we can assist Noor and his family is to help restore their savings that were stolen by the police officers on the day their house was demolished and to help them replenish their livestock essential for their livelihood. They also require a four-wheel drive so that they can once again be mobile in the harsh desert terrain in which they live and where roads are not maintained or public  transport provided by the state. They will also need to purchase solar panels and water tanks that were destroyed on the day of the demolitions. Noor comes from a very educated family and his father would have wanted Noor and his brothers and sisters to continue their education. Please help Noor and his family to do this by donating generously to this cause and sharing this campaign with as many friends and acquaintances as possible. The shortened link to the campaign is: www.LaunchGood.com/HelpNoor

Noor's father Yakoub's house at the top of the hill with Noor's house below it. The picture was taken before the day on which Yakoub was brutally murdered and the demolitions took place. At the top left of the picture are the excavation works in progress in preparation for the new Jewish settlement to be built on the ruins of the Bedouin village.