This website is mainly in French. This page presents the essentials about our association. To find out more, visit the French website, using your browser’s translation feature if needed.
Since 1990, our Swiss association has provided medical and material support to the people of Beit-Sahour, a town in Palestine near Bethlehem. In particular, it funds schooling for children from families in need and access to healthcare.
Who we are
What we do
Beit-Sahour
Donate
Contact
Who we are
The association “Aider Beit-Sahour, Palestine” (Help Beit-Sahour, Palestine) is a Swiss non-profit organisation, recognised as serving the public interest and based in the canton of Fribourg.
Born of a call for help
In 1989, the people of Beit-Sahour collectively refused to pay taxes to the Israeli occupation authorities, as a form of non-violent protest. The town was then subjected to heavy sanctions.
Naji and Jamileh Awad, Fribourg residents originally from Beit-Sahour, received calls for help from their relatives. In February 1990, they brought together friends and colleagues and founded the association.
How we work
- A volunteer committee decides how donations are used and oversees the projects.
- A trusted person in Beit-Sahour follows the projects on the ground, working with local partners.
- Thanks to its loyal donors, the association has sent an average of around CHF 25,000 a year to Beit-Sahour since 1990.
- The accounts are audited every year and approved by the general assembly.
What we do
Our support focuses on two priority areas, education and health, complemented by one-off assistance as needs arise.
Education: helping with school fees
Every year since 1993, the association has covered part of the school fees of children from families in need at the four church schools of Beit-Sahour: the Greek Catholic (Melkite) Patriarchate School, the Evangelical Lutheran School, the Greek Orthodox School of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarchate School. Around twenty families per school benefit.
These schools, known for the quality of their teaching, welcome all children, Christian and Muslim alike.
Health: improving access to care
Reaching the major hospitals in Jerusalem is often impossible for the people of Beit-Sahour, and almost 90% of them have no health insurance.
- From 1990 to 2015, we supported the Greek Catholic Church Clinic, which became the Beit-Sahour Medical Centre in 2007.
- In 2018, we helped equip the Shepherd’s Field Hospital, which offers the region’s first emergency department.
- During the Covid-19 pandemic, we funded food parcels and oxygen concentrators.
- Since 2022, we have been helping people with chronic illnesses buy their medicines, pupils pay for their glasses and some patients access dental care.
One-off assistance
Depending on needs identified locally, we also support local institutions: a playground for the scouts, a nursery and workshops for women, a centre for young adults with disabilities and a day centre for older people.
Raising awareness in Switzerland
In Switzerland, we organise film screenings, talks by witnesses and meetings to raise awareness of the reality faced by the Palestinian people.
Beit-Sahour
Beit-Sahour is a town in Palestine of around 17,000 inhabitants, about ten kilometres south of Jerusalem and east of Bethlehem. It is the last Palestinian town with a Christian majority.
According to tradition, it was in its fields, the “Shepherds’ Field”, that the angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.
A lively town despite the occupation
Tourism, handicrafts and the textile industry are the town’s main sources of income. Its craftsmen are renowned for their nativity scenes and religious objects in olive wood and mother-of-pearl, all handmade.
As throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, life is hard: unemployment is high and movement is severely restricted by checkpoints and the wall. Yet the town remains very lively, with a high level of education and many associations serving young people, older people and people with disabilities.
Donate
Our association relies on donations. The people we help thank you warmly for your support!
By bank transfer (from Switzerland or abroad)
| IBAN | CH98 0076 8011 0400 8580 9 |
| BIC | BEFRCH22 |
| Beneficiary | Aider Beit-Sahour, Palestine |
| Address | Route de Bourguillon 6, 1723 Marly, Switzerland |
From Switzerland: you can also donate with TWINT, by scanning the code below with the app, or with the QR-bill payment slip, which you can download below.
QR-bill payment slip
TWINT
Scan this code with the TWINT app to make a donation.
Tax deduction: as the association is recognised as serving the public interest, donations are tax-deductible in Switzerland. On request, we can email you a donation receipt.
Contact
Committee members will gladly answer your questions and offers of help or collaboration. We read and reply in French, German, English and Arabic.
- Email: info@aider-beit-sahour.ch
- Phone: +41 26 436 45 88
- Post: Association “Aider Beit-Sahour, Palestine”, c/o Naji and Jamileh Awad, Route de Bourguillon 6, 1723 Marly, Switzerland
Find out more
The French website presents in detail the history of the association, each of our activities, our official documents and our news. Feel free to browse it using your browser’s translation feature.
The figures on this page are from 2026.