Hebron–(7/7/2010): PRCS hosted a ceremony honouring the members of former administrative boards of the Society’s branch in Hebron. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Society, Dr. Younis Al-Khatib, Mr Samih Abu-Esheh, Secretary of the Executive Office and President of the Hebron PRCS branch, as well as many members of the Executive Office and the present Administrative board and heads of departments and divisions of the society, along with many figures and representatives of local and international institutions.
Dr. Al-Khatib praised the honourees, describing them as great figures of the Society, which would have never existed without their efforts and boundless devotion. He added that the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is and will always be devoted to the service of everyone, without any discrimination, and to all the stratums of the Palestinian society in the Homeland and the Diaspora. While commending the role that PRCS volunteers and its remarkable staff play in the Society, Dr. Al-Khatib equally emphasized that PRCS’s doors are wide open for all generous souls wishing to serve their country and fellow citizens, wherever they might be.
For his part, Mr Abu-Esheh welcomed all the guests present at the PRCS building, as he described the Society as “the largest in Hebron and the Homeland”, all while commending the Society’s “knights” who daily toil tirelessly all across the country, providing relief to all, and giving their best effort without any discrimination nor prejudice.
He also underlined that the society’s branch in Hebron is present in every home in the Hebron governorate, through the services it provides in coordination with the mother society as well as the local and international institutions. He also indicated that PRCS would have never accomplished what it had, if it wasn’t for the solid foundations set for the Society by its past administrative boards.
Mr Abu-Esheh outlined the Society’s advancements in terms of services and programs, of which the latest was the opening of the Red Crescent Specialized Hospital in Wadi Al-Tufah in Hebron, which assembles the most qualified experts in the country and provides specialized medical care in Paediatrics, Neonatal medicine and Gynaecology- all considered rare specialities - along with many other achievements : Al Raja' Centre for Special Education, the Physiotherapy Center, the Psycho Social Center, the Youth and Volunteer Department, the mobile rehabilitation clinic, the Community-based Rehabilitation Program, the Emergency Medical Services Department, the Disaster response services, kindergarten and primary health care... all services which rightfully earned the Society Yasser Arafat Prize for Achievement.
During the honourees’ speech that he delivered, Mr Fayez Hejazi, a former administrative board member, affirmed that “we are a nation that builds and doesn’t demolish, and our work is bound by the laws of humanity in every sense of the word. We are and will always be Palestinians till the end”. And he thanked the Palestine Red Crescent for its “remarkable gesture to pay tribute to the former “knights” who led the Society and laid its foundations so that it could carry on.”
The celebration included many musical, artistic and poetic performances by artists such as Najih Al-Sakafi, who performed several patriotic musical numbers, Abed Al-Fatah Al-Issa, who amazed the audience with the many comic educational characters he played representing the Palestinian people, the brothers Yousef and Tayssir Halahleh, who animated the event with their folkloric music and songs, and finally the poet Yousef Abu-Awwad, who recited a poem entitled “A Call from Hebron”.
The Hebron PRCS branch, founded in 1965, is one of the Society’s largest in Palestine and the Diaspora. It seeks through its unique and diverse spectrum of services to activate partnership with the institutions and societies in the Palestinian territory, so that every Palestinian house may benefit from the services it provides thanks to the efforts of the workers and volunteers of the Society, which became, itself, an outlet for the entire Palestinian people.