The Shu’fat refugee camp is situated in East Jerusalem which the UN placed under Jordanian control when the state of Israel was formed in 1948. It was illegally occupied by Israel after the 6-day war in 1967 and annexed by Israel in 1980.

So essential services such as education and health cannot be provided by the Palestinian authorities and they are not provided by Israel. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA] does, however, make some educational provision.

A population greater than that of Orkney lives in a greatly overcrowded area no bigger than Stromness. Entry to, and exit from, the camp is via a check-point controlled by armed members of the Israeli Security Forces [ISF] who frequently conduct “operations” within the camp. These often result in confrontations and the ISF do not hesitate to use tear gas, skunk spray, plastic coated bullets or sometimes live ammunition.

The Al-Quds Charitable Society provides services for children, especially those with special needs, including education, physiotherapy and summer camps.

Since 2014, Gaynor Jones has spent several extended periods in Shu’fat helping with the activities run by Al-Quds. She is a member of Orkney Friends of Palestine [OFoP] and of Amnesty International Orkney [AIO] both of whom regularly raise money to support the work of Al-Quds. For example, they jointly organize an annual Refugee Week lunch [soup + bread + cheese] which usually coincides with the St. Magnus Festival.

More recently, Unite [the union] independently formed a link with Shu’fat and not only funded a September 2023 visit to England of a delegation of 5 people from Shu’fat but also helped OFoP and AIO fund an extension of this visit to include a few days in Orkney.