Showing posts with label Solidarity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solidarity. Show all posts

November 17, 2009

Thousands protest Peres' visit to Argentina

Press TV - November 17, 2009 09:03:17 GMT

Protestors rally against the visit of Israel's President Shimon Peres to Argentina
outside the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, November 16, 2009.


Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators gathered in the square opposite the Argentinean parliament in Buenos Aires to protest President Shimon Peres' visit to Argentina.

"It's a disgrace that the president of our country is meeting today with the child-murderer, Shimon Peres... There are thousands of people who came here today to protest against the hospitality shown to a representative of an occupying and oppressive government," one of the protestors said.

The protestors carried pictures and placards glorifying Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, and the Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

The signs read "Get out of Argentina, murderer Shimon Peres", while others said "Death to Zionist-fascist Israel, officer of American imperialism in the Middle East, murderers of the Palestinian people!" the signs also included pictures of Palestinian children killed during Israel's Operation Cast Lead at the beginning of the year.

November 15, 2009

Interview: "My film makes you part of Gaza's reality"

Adri Nieuwhof, The Electronic Intifada, 15 November 2009

A scene To Shoot an Elephant shows the body of Palestinian paramedic Arafa Abdel Daim after he was killed by Israel's assault on Gaza.

Directed by Alberto Arce and Mohammed Rjuailah, To Shoot an Elephant is a documentary film that offers an eyewitness account from the Gaza Strip during Israel's assault last winter. During the attacks, when the Israeli military banned foreign journalists from entering the Strip, Arce managed to stay inside Gaza and filmed how medical teams and hospitals were targeted by Israeli forces while performing their duties. One day after receiving the Anna Lindh Journalist Award for conflict reporting for his articles on Gaza published by the Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo, Arce won the Best Director prize at the Dei Popoli Film Festival in Florence on 7 November 2009. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof met with Arce and interviewed him about the motivation behind his film.

Adri Nieuwhof: Can you tell us who you are and why you wanted to make the film?

Alberto Arce: I am a 33-year-old journalist from Spain. I am inspired by the support we received from internationals to our struggle in 1936. [In July 1936 Spanish generals launched a military campaign to overthrow the young, democratically-elected Republican government.] George Orwell participated in the International Republican Brigades and at the same time reported our war. I try to follow Orwell's example. I followed the events in Palestine for five years and became aware of the media blackout in Gaza. I wanted to report on the collective punishment of the people in Gaza and decided to join the boat of the Free Gaza Movement [which set sail for Gaza] at the end December 2008. I wanted to break down the wall of censorship.

AN: Is To Shoot an Elephant your first film?

AA: No, it is my fifth film. I directed three films on Palestine and one on Iraq. All movies are filmed from the perspective of what civilians, local and international, can do during a war. We, civilians, have to do anything that is possible to stop a war. Collective punishment of the people in Gaza is not allowed under international law. I cannot accept that Israel does not allow journalists into the Gaza Strip. My film is also about defending the right to freedom of speech. I wanted to show the facts.

AN: How did Palestinians in Gaza react to your camera?

AA: The situation in Gaza is getting worse by the day. You cannot imagine the level of suffering. The civilians welcomed me and appreciated that I was there. There were two reporters from Al-Jazeera and seven other foreigners [documenting the attacks] in Gaza during the heavy military attacks. You know, the civilians on the ambulances are the real heroes. They were risking their lives every day to save civilians. One of them was shot [in front of the camera] by an Israeli sniper [while 16 emergency medical workers were killed while on duty].

AN: How do you feel about winning the Best Director prize in Florence?

AA: I am proud to have received the prize for the film I directed together with Mohammad. I trust it will help to reach a wide audience. After winning the prize people asked me if I was happy about it. But I will not ever feel happy about the film. [The] characters of the film are the civilians in Gaza. They are still trapped. During the military attacks I was one of them. The situation in Gaza needs to be changed, and it will only happen with international pressure to enforce respect for international law.

AN: How did the public respond to your film?

AA: A few people had to leave the cinema before the movie ended. I feel sad that they could not face the facts. People died in Gaza and I cannot wake the dead. The hundreds of children who died during Operation Cast Lead were human beings. It is not about statistics. The audience at the world premier in Florence remained silent after watching the film. I found that impressive. The film is cruel. It makes you feel you are part of this reality.

AN: Looking back on your stay in Gaza, what was the most difficult or moving moment?

AA: The worst was the first day. After the heavy bombing that day, our group of seven internationals got the offer to leave to save our lives. It took us three minutes to decide that we wanted to stay. At that moment I became a Palestinian, and I was no longer an international. That meant that we were also subjected to the bombing, to the random violence. You realize you are alive by chance. I did not want to be a dead hero, I want to be a living professional journalist and filmmaker. I cannot describe what it is like to spend a night under heavy bombing, to find out the next day that your neighbors died that night. Or what it feels like to be shot at, and the person in front of you dies, and not you. This violence is what Palestinians have experienced for 60 years. What would my life have looked like if I, as a five-year-old, saw my two schoolmates burned by white phosphorous?

AN: In which cities will the movie be shown?

AA: On our website www.toshootanelephant.com you can find the information. The film will also play a role in the sessions of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. I would like to invite solidarity groups and activists to participate in a global free screening of the film on 18 January 2010, one year after the so-called "cease-fire" in Gaza. This global screening is organized to remind us that the situation in Gaza has not changed. On the contrary, it is getting worse. If you want to join in the global screening, you can contact me via the website.

Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate based in Switzerland.
Source

November 14, 2009

Medic among two hurt by live fire in Nil'in

14/11/2009 17:21


Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli forces used live fire on Palestinian demonstrators protesting Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Nil'in on Friday, activists said and the military confirmed.

Rumors had been circulating that the Israelis would respond more harshly than usual due to the activists' success in pulling down a section of the wall at the Qalandiya military checkpoint a week earlier.

"These rumors were confirmed," said Ibraheem Amera, coordinator of the Nil'in popular committee. "A huge army of Israeli soldiers was awaiting [protesters] and immediately started [to] fire huge amounts of tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and also live ammunition."

Amera said the popular committee had warned protesters to be extra cautious on Friday, because he believed a "decision was made by the Israeli military, because in Nil'in the wall has been taken down twice already by the people, and after the fall of the wall in Qalandiya, the Israeli military is afraid that the 'Nil'in falling wall virus' will start to spread throughout the whole West Bank."

Two Palestinians, including a medic, were reportedly injured, according to a statement from the committee, after Israeli forces made an incursion through fields from three different sides, closing in on a group of around 100 demonstrators. "The army was shooting live ammunition from a distance of less than three meters... and two people sustained minor injuries from grazing shots."

A witness said one soldier ran up to a Palestinian Red Crescent Society media, "grabbed him by the neck and pushed him to the ground, then the soldier started beating him. The volunteer sustained no serious injuries, except for some bruises."

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed that soldiers fired .22 calibre rounds, but insisted that they were used within the army's rules of engagement, and only when protesters turned violent. She pointed out that a soldier was lightly injured by rocks that she said were thrown by protesters.

Protests continue throughout West Bank

In the nearby village of Bil'in, residents gathered at a large demonstration called by the popular committee in honor of the death of Yasser Arafat. They were joined by international and Israeli activists, as well as a group of members and supporters of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) and a delegation of members of the Palestinian People's Party.

The protest was led by Israeli Knesset Member Mohammed Baraka, the front's general secretary. One international activist was injured and dozens suffered tear-gas inhalation when Israeli forces opened fire. Protesters expressed solidarity with Baraka, who will stand on trial in next week as a result of his participation in one of the demonstrations in 2005.

Demonstrators wore t-shirts with a slogan commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, "From Berlin to Bil'in, The Wall Shall Fall." They also chanted slogans against the Israeli wall.

An international activist from the United States was also injured, the popular committee said.

In Al-Mas'ara, a village near Bethlehem, residents gathered raised Palestinian flags and banners demanding that farmers be allowed to access their lands to pick olives. As they have every Friday for the past three years, protesters were intercepted by Israeli soldiers who had set up a barbed-wire fence at the entrance to the village, effectively cutting off the villagers' access to their lands.

Demonstrators chanted against "the discriminatory policies of the occupation and reminded [them] that only this morning, farmers who were picking olives on their lands in the surrounding villagers were harassed by settlers while Israeli soldiers stood by," the local popular committee said in a statement.

In Arabic and English, protestors asked the soldiers to reconsider their occupations and join the Palestinian, Israeli and international civilians "on this side [of the wall] who abide by the international human rights and who work together for just peace."

Protestors attempted to remove the barb wire and continue their march towards their lands and the site of the wall, including one who managed to get by. "A woman from the village asked the Israeli soldiers what they were doing here in her village and pushed them out of her way, succeeding in continuing her walk towards Um Salamoneh, defiantly carrying the Palestinian flag," the statement said.

November 12, 2009

British soldier faces 10 years in jail after being arrested during anti-war demonstration

Daily Mail
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:23 EST
© PA

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton is facing 10 years in prison for refusing to return to Afghanistan. He is pictured here at the 'Stop the War' demonstration in October
A soldier facing charges of desertion for refusing to return to Afghanistan has been arrested and charged with five further offences after joining an anti-war demonstration.

Lance Corporal Joe Glenton led a protest in London last month against the continued presence of British troops in Afghanistan.

He was already facing a court martial but according to the Stop the War Coalition the new charges carry a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.

The group's convener Lindsey German said last night : 'This is not about breach of military regulations. In the last few days a range of military personnel have been speaking in the media in defence of this appalling war. I doubt if any of them have been arrested.

'This is about the persecution of a soldier who believes in telling the truth in accordance with his conscience.

'He is saying what the majority of the population believes - that this war is unwinnable and immoral. The anti-war movement will be doing everything possible to get him released.'

Lance Corporal Glenton, 27, from the Royal Logistic Corps, addressed a rally of more than 5,000 anti-war protesters packed into London's Trafalgar Square in October.

He told the crowd he had witnessed sights during his time in Afghanistan that forced him to question the morality of his role.

The married soldier, from Norwich, told onlookers: 'I'm here today to make a stand beside you because I believe great wrongs have been perpetrated in Afghanistan.

'I cannot, in good conscience, be part of them. I'm bound by law and moral duty to try and stop them.

'I'm a soldier and I belong to the profession of arms. I expected to go to war but I also expected that the need to defend this country's interests would be legal and justifiable. I don't think this is too much to ask.

'It's now apparent that the conflict is neither of these and that's why I must make this stand.'
The Ministry of Defence refused to comment when asked about the further charges.

But spokesman confirmed Lance Corporal Glenton is currently subject to disciplinary action. He said: 'I can confirm that disciplinary action against a serving soldier from the Royal Logistic Corps is currently in progress.

'As this matter is subject to court martial proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.'

The soldier, based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is facing a court martial, adjourned to January, for alleged desertion after going absent without leave in 2007.

He is charged with disobeying a lawful command. He joined the Army in 2004.

If convicted, he faces two years in prison.

Speaking during last month's rally, he said: 'The occupation in Afghanistan is at best dubious in terms of legality and morality.

'I can't be involved in it on that basis and, not only that, I am also bound to try and stop it, try and change things.

'That's the law, the occupation of a country like that, regime change, these things are all illegal.'

He said military personnel told him not to appear at the rally.

But despite the threat of prison, he said he was determined to speak out.

He said: 'People keep telling me I'm brave but I don't feel brave at all - I feel fairly terrified. It's not going to stop me, I'm going to keep going.

'I won't be silenced. I'll keep talking and doing what I think is right.

'I have to or I'll have to live with this forever if I don't.'

Israeli forces detain nine internationals

12/11/2009 20:28

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli forces detained two Palestinians and nine internationals working on the rehabilitation of agricultural lands within the project “Green Palestine” near the village of Umm Salamoneh south of Bethlehem on Thursday.

Ibrahim Awad, the coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall in the area said Israeli forces raided his land and detained him along with a member of the Village Council and nine internationals near the illegal Effrat settlement, while Deputy Director of Agriculture in Bethlehem Ibrahim Masha’leh said that Israeli forces detained "dozens of foreigners and the employees of the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture in Umm Salamoneh village."

Bethlehem district is the second to embrace Project Green, after a successful debut in Tulkarem. The initiative is run by the Popular Committees in the area, and brings together local government, education professionals, and local councils for integrated solutions to providing a healthy living space for local residents.

The project is part of a larger national scheme governed primarily by the Ministry of Agriculture to aid not only farmers, but communities at large.

November 11, 2009

Palestinian students at Israeli universities support academic boycott

Open letter, Abnaa el-Balad, Iqraa Student Association, National Democratic Assembly, 11 November 2009

The following open letter to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim was issued on 9 November 2009 by Palestinians with Israeli citizenship studying as Israeli students. The university's board is due to consider a measure supporting the academic boycott of Israel:

We are Arab students at the Israeli universities writing to you in support of the proposed academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions. We believe that the boycott is timely and hopefully will help in upholding moral values of fairness, justice and equality which have been sorely missed in our region.

While the reason for the boycott is rightly what has been going on in the 1967 occupied territories [West Bank and Gaza Strip], we propose another angle which affirms the need for boycott, namely our daily experience as Arabs in Israeli institutions. We are the lucky ones who have been able to pursue our studies in institutions of higher education, to which we arrived against great odds. Only very few among our generation have been qualified to attend universities due to the state's discriminatory policies. Our schools mostly lack the basic facilities needed for education, and the curriculum is structured to serve the state's goal in socializing the pupils for self-estrangement. It contains very little, if any at all, on our history and culture. Additionally, it aims to erase our historical memory and promote the official policy line of divide and rule. In short, it is modeled on curriculums that dark regimes, like apartheid South Africa, have used to indoctrinate rather than educate. We arrive to universities with this "educational" baggage.

The idea that Israeli universities adhere to the values of free academic institutions, where academic freedom, objectivity and meritocracy prevail, is widely accepted in the West. From our experience we attest -- and indeed prove beyond doubt -- that this is not the case. In recent years Israeli universities have changed the criteria of acceptance to various faculties in order -- as a certain president of an Israeli university put it -- to prevent large number of undesirable (i.e. Arab) students from attending prestigious faculties such as medicine and natural sciences. Moreover, lecturers who presented findings which are at odds with the official ideology -- such as Ilan Pappe and Neve Gordon -- are bullied and harassed or forced to resign. Meanwhile raw racist statements by many lecturers are considered by the administrations of the universities as benign or even objective statements. For example, recently Dr. Dan Scheuftan stated in one of his lectures: "The Arabs are the biggest failure in the history of the human race ... there's nothing under the sun that's more screwed up than the Palestinians;" "Throughout the Arab world, people fire guns at weddings in order to prove that they have at least one thing that's hard and in working order that can shoot."

It goes without saying that none of these lecturers has ever been disciplined. Moreover, foreign students are warned by the security authorities of Haifa University not to visit Arab villages or towns.

Although some Israeli universities -- such as the University of Haifa -- pride themselves on promoting "co-existence," nothing is further from the truth than this. We are prevented from forming our [own] (i.e. Arab) students union, and racial discrimination against us -- under the pretext of not serving in the army -- is widely practiced in the granting of scholarships, as well as in the provision of housing at the universities' residential halls. This is particularly grave as the universities are located in Jewish towns, and Arab students face many obstacles and hardships in finding appropriate housing due to prevailing prejudices and anti-Arab sentiments in Israeli society.

Yet, the restrictions imposed on our freedom of expression are more stifling. We are not allowed to express our collective sentiments or ideas publicly. It is quite often that our public gatherings are not only violently interrupted by extreme right-wing Jewish students, but also in various occasions the universities called on the police to intervene. In several occasions, as during our peaceful demonstration at Haifa University against the war on Gaza, the police sent in large number of its special units which are infamous for their brutality. Needless to say that they do the job they are trained for. Moreover, the universities collaborate with the internal security services (the feared Shin Bet) and provide them with names of the activists among the students who are regularly summoned, investigated and threatened.

In the end, we are hopeful that you will take a decision which reaffirms the true meaning of human values, and provide a proof that racism, religious tribalism, obfuscation and disregard for human dignity are no longer tolerated.

Undersigned:

Abnaa el-Balad - The Student Movement
Iqraa Student Association - Islamic Movement
National Democratic Assembly (NDA) - The Student Movement

Source

November 06, 2009

UK: Week of supermarket boycott actions

UK Boycott Divestment Sanction

7 November 2009 to 15 November 2009

Location: Global

This coincides with a week of action called by the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (http://www.stopthewall.org/).

Phone-in day Wednesday November 11

It is time to step up the supermarket boycott campaign which calls for consumers to reject Israeli goods for as long as Palestinian rights are denied by the apartheid regime. We must specially oppose the stocking of produce from the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which is stolen land. The excellent motion passed by the TUC Congress gives added impetus. The settlements are illegal under international law and goods originating there should not be on sale in the UK. The label ‘West Bank’ is grossly misleading; some shoppers think they are buying Palestinian produce.

From November 7 to 15, PSC and other organisations across the UK are targeting Waitrose and Morrisons supermarkets in particular, as both refuse to discuss the question of settlement goods. We aim to inundate them with calls to their HQs on Wednesday November 11. Note these numbers:
Morrisons Customer Services — 0845 611 6111
Waitrose Customer Services — 0800 188 884
Branches and individual members can stage a range of actions during the weekends of November 7-8 and November 14-15, and any time in between:

  • Write or deliver letters to the manager of your local store
  • Write or email their headquarters
  • Organise or join a demonstration at your local branch
  • Set up a stall or hand out leaflets outside your local branch
  • Deluge Morrisons and Waitrose with phonecalls on Weds November 11
  • Display photos, placards and other visual information making the case against Israeli apartheid
  • Contact local media to publicise the campaign

If you have no Waitrose or Morrisons in your area, please raise the issue of Israeli and settlement goods in your local stores. In the case of M&S and the Co-op, encourage them to continue their existing policies of not stocking goods from illegal settlements but also not to stock Israeli goods at all.
Useful resources including model letters, videos of demos, pictures and links to background information are available via www.bigcampaign.org.

REMEMBER TO CONTACT PSC OFFICE IN GOOD TIME TO REQUEST LEAFLETS, STICKERS and POSTCARDS TO SUPERMARKET MANAGERS!

Relevant contact details:

Waitrose Customer Service (8 am – 10 pm Mon – Fri, 8 am – 9 pm Sat, 9 am – 7 pm Sun)
Freephone: 0800 188 884
Email: customer_service@waitrose.co.uk
Waitrose Customer Service Dept, Waitrose Ltd, Doncaster Rd, Bracknell, Berks RG12 8YA

Morrisons Customer Service: 0845 611 6111
Head Office - 0845 611 5000
Registered office - Hillmore House, Gain Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD3 7DL

Picket Morrison's head office

13 November 2009 14:30 to 16:30

Location: Outside Morrisons HQ, Gain Land, Bradford, BD3 7DL

Morrisons supermarkert profited from the sale of Israeli goods throughout the bombing of Gaza, and they continue to do so. Unlike some other supermarkets they refuse even to discuss their sale of goods from illegal Israeli settlements.

The Picket will be on Friday 13th November from 2.30 to 4.30pm outside Morrisons HQ, Gain Land, Bradford, BD3 7DL. Map

Bring childrens "bloodstained" clothing, candles, and your placards


Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Week of Action 7-16 November
Unite against Apartheid - Tear down the walls in Palestine - Break the siege on Gaza

The Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, its popular committees and member organizations call on activists to launch a week of global mobilization against the walls of apartheid in the West Bank and Gaza from November 9 to 16 2009.
read full call for action from Palestine

As part of a UK wide targetted action

What you can do:

1. Join Scottish PSC or other boycott Israel action during this week of action

2. Phone-in to target supermarket on Wednesday November 11

3. Email target supermarket

Morrisons Customer Services – 0845 611 6111
Waitrose Customer Services - 0800 188 884

Chief Executive Officers:
marc.bolland@morrisonsplc.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
mark_price@waitrose.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Other actions you can do:

o Write or deliver letters to the manager of your local store
o Contact local media to publicise the campaign

If you have no Waitrose or Morrisons in your area, raise the issue of Israeli and settlement goods in your local stores. In the case of M&S and the Co-op, encourage them to continue their existing policies of not stocking goods from illegal settlements but also not to stock Israeli goods at all.

Waitrose Customer Service (8 am – 10 pm Mon – Fri, 8 am – 9 pm Sat, 9 am – 7 pm Sun)
Freephone: 0800 188 884
Email: customer_service@waitrose.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Waitrose Customer Service Dept, Waitrose Ltd, Doncaster Rd, Bracknell, Berks RG12 8YA

Morrisons Customer Service: 0845 611 6111
Head Office - 0845 611 5000
Email: Steven.Butts@morrisonsplc.co.uk This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Registered office - Hillmore House, Gain Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD3 7DL

Boycott Israel action outside Waitrose, Morningside, Edinburgh:

Saturday 7 Nov 2pm to 4pm

& Thurs 12 Nov 5.30pm to 7pm


A Plea to Norway's University of Trondheim to Boycott Israel

It is shocking that the world accepts Israel’s genocides and threats against its neighbors as fait accompli without regard to the never ending suffering of Palestinians under its brutal military occupation. Palestinians and Lebanese die, suffer and endure in silence in a world conditioned to accept Israel’s “right to self defense”, a euphemism for wanton murder. They die in silence, absent from the western conscience due to the blanket support of most western media outlets, none more so than in America, the nation exporting democracy and freedom through smart bombs and biased politicians who if they dare to criticize Israel jeopardize their ambitions and become the recipients of the worst media smears. In the U.S. no debate or action is allowed against Israel either by our own “never challenge Israel” government or by our staunchly Pro-Israel media.

The academicians and experts invited to your university to speak on this issue know first hand their personal victimization at the hands of Pro-Israel forces. They have risked much for the truth and are honorable men and women.

Please do the right thing and vote for an academic boycott of Israel, a nation that is neither civilized nor democratic, by setting an educational precedent for your university, faculty, alumni, but most importantly for your students, that standing up for principles is the foundation for all just laws and human rights for all peoples and not just the powerful few.

Teach them to adopt “freedom from fear” as their guiding principle in life while facing all challenges, especially challenges that discriminate between the powerful and the weak, the haves and have nots, that no people should be victimized by the power of money and weapons.



SIGN THE PETITION:
http://www.petitiononline.com/boycott9/petition.html

Michigan woman imprisoned by Israel following settler take over of Palestinian home

Imprisoned American citizen and Michigan resident Ahlam Mohsen to be deported to the US after being arrested in a Palestinian home taken over by Israeli settlers in Occupied East Jerusalem.

Ahlam was a guest of the al-Kurd family when on the morning of 3 November 2009 Israeli settlers burst in and seized part of the building. Contrary to eyewitness accounts, the police claim the 21-year-old attacked them.

From the Givon prison in Ramle where Ms. Mohsen is currently awaiting deportation she reported that: “The Israeli police were violently pushing an elderly Palestinian woman. So I stepped in front of them. They told me to move and when I refused they started forcefully pushing me. Then they grabbed me and carried me into a police van. While I was waiting at the Israeli Ministry of Interior, the police officers kept telling each other that I was a ‘dirty Arab’ and introducing me as 'Osama Bin Laden’s sister'. One of them, threatened to ‘break my head’. None of the other non-violent demonstrators were targeted; the way they treated me, it’s obvious that I was arrested because I’m of Arab descent.”

The 40 settlers, accompanied by private armed security and Israeli police forces, entered a section of the home, threw out the family’s belongings and locked themselves in.

The take-over came after an appeal submitted by the family's lawyer was rejected by the District Court. In their appeal, the Palestinian family was challenging an earlier court decision that deemed a section of the house illegal and ordered that the keys be given to settlers. The settlers proceeded to enter the house, while the court did not grant them the right to enter the property.

The al-Kurd home was built in 1956. An addition to the house was built 10 years ago, but the family was not allowed to inhabit the section because the municipality refused to grant them a building permit. Visibly unequal laws are used to make it possible for settlers to move into a home where it was declared illegal for Palestinian residents to inhabit. The Israeli authorities exercise their abilities to demolish and evict Palestinian residents, while ignoring building violations from the Israeli population in East Jerusalem.

The al-Kurds have become the fourth Sheikh Jarrah family whose house has been occupied by settlers in the last year. So far, 60 people have been left homeless. In total, 28 families living in the Karm Al- Ja'ouni neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, located directly north of the
Old City, face imminent eviction from their homes.

See video:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/11/03/hancocks.fight.for.jerusalem.cnn

Ahlam is imprisoned in the Givon prison in Ramle. She is available for
interviews.

Please contact:
Ahlam Mohsen +972.548.845.924
Sasha Solanas, ISM Media office +972.54.903.2981

Source

November 05, 2009

Non-violent protesters begin vigil outside evicted Palestinian family’s home

By Saed Bannoura - IMEMC - November 5, 2009

After a Palestinian family was forcibly removed from their home by armed Israeli settlers in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, international and Israeli peace activists have descended on the neighborhood to hold a vigil in support of the evicted family.

The vigil began late Wednesday when the peace activists brought a tent, food and supplies to the al-Kurd family, and set up the vigil across the street from their now-occupied home.

The family was forced out of their home Tuesday morning by 40 armed settlers accompanied by private armed security and Israeli police forces, who entered a section of the home, threw out the family’s belongings and locked themselves in.

The take-over came after an appeal submitted by the family’s lawyer was rejected by the District Court. In their appeal, the Palestinian family was challenging an earlier court decision that deemed a section of the house illegal and ordered that the keys be given to settlers. The settlers proceeded to enter the house, while the court did not grant them the right to enter the property.

The al-Kurd home was built in 1956. An addition to the house was built 10 years ago, but the family was not allowed to inhabit the section because the municipality refused to grant them a building permit.

The al-Kurds have become the fourth Sheikh Jarrah family whose house (or part of it) has been occupied by settlers in the last year. So far, 60 people have been left homeless. In total, 28 families living in the Karm Al-Ja’ouni neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, located directly north of the Old City, face imminent eviction from their homes.

The area of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, where most of the recent home demolitions and evictions have taken place, is the place laid out by Israeli municipal authorities for expansion of Jewish developments, in a plan published in 2005.

In addition, Israeli peace groups have documented significant excavations underground in the Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods by Israeli archaeologist and ideologically-driven religious elements.

November 02, 2009

UK student union boycotts Israeli goods

02/11/2009 16:00

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Following a landmark referendum, students at the UK's Sussex University in Brighton this week voted to boycott Israeli goods.

The decision comes in line with the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which calls upon Israel to respect international law and end the occupation of Palestinian territory.

The referendum received messages of support and thanks from Jewish and Israeli academics and non-governmental organizations that oppose Israel's occupation. Author and scholar Norman G. Finkelstein described the referendum result as "a victory, not for Palestinians but for truth and justice."

According to Iyad Burnat, head of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in, "We hope even more people all around the world will follow by our example so that we can put an end to the Israeli occupation and dismantle the apartheid wall."

October 30, 2009

Norway University might boycott Israel

October 30, 2009

Haaretz daily reported on Friday that Norway's University of Trondheim may become the first university in the West to adopt an academic boycott of Israel, if a majority of its board votes in favor of the move at a meeting next month.

Excerpt:


Three days prior to the November 12 vote by the board of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the institution will host a lecture on Israel's alleged use of anti-Semitism as a political tool.

The lecture, by Prof. Moshe Zuckermann of Tel Aviv University, is part of a controversial six-session seminar on Israel that is comprised entirely of Norwegians and Israelis known for highly critical attitudes toward Israel. Prof. Morten Levin, an NTNU lecturer and member of the seminar's organizing committee, set up the series of lectures - which also featured Ilan Pappe and Stephen Walt - with Ann Rudinow Saetnan and Rune Skarstein. All have signed a call for an academic boycott of Israel.

Source

News and resources for the UK BDS Movement

Boycott Israeli Goods

The PSC and BIG call for a comprehensive boycott of Israeli Goods

A personal boycott of Israeli products helps remove consumers from complicity with Israeli apartheid. As ethical consumers we can conduct our boycott ‘where we are at’, in whatever town or country. International networks and co-ordinated activities are proliferating. PSC branches engage in regular boycott activities across the UK.

Vegetable exports to the European market are crucial to the Israeli economy, amounting to some 80 per cent of total exports. The UK continues to be the largest market, taking 60 per cent share of export volume. Potatoes, capsicum, fresh herbs, dates and cherry tomatoes, generated the highest returns to Israel’s growers in 2004-5. Companies such as Carmel Agrexco were the beneficiaries. Raising questions about labelling and sourcing at supermarket AGMs has become a feature of our boycott campaign. DEFRA and the Office of Fair Trading have faced demands for clarity and legality on labelling. Department stores such as Selfridges have taken cosmetics produced in Israel’s illegal settlements off their shelves, only to replace them under duress from the Israeli Embassy.

The BIG campaign aims to promote a consumer boycott and to actively campaign against corporations selling Israeli goods.

BIG aims to store files on corporations selling Israeli goods on Who Sells Israeli Goods page.

Some common Israeli goods:

  • Tivall (Sainsbury's Meatfree Hot Dog Sausages and Vegetarian Sausages)
  • Carmel (West Bank) (Organic Fruit and Veg sold in most Supermarkets)
  • Tomer (West Bank) (Organic Fruit and Veg sold in most Supermarkets)
  • Beigel and Beigel (West Bank) (Sweets and Pretzels etc)
  • Agriver/Flowersdirect (West Bank) (strawberries sold in Aldi), but also other berries, cut herbs, pomegranates, figs, peppers, passion fruit, plums, carrots, cut melons, cut mangos and many other products.

Wines

  • Galil Wines (The Golan Heights) (Waitrose, Sainsbury's)
  • Palwin Wine (West Bank) (Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose)
  • Carmel Wine (West Bank) (Smithfield Wines, Manchester)
  • Tishbi (Smithfield Wines, Manchester)
  • Binyamina (West Bank/Golan) (John Lewis, Waitrose)

These are just a small selection of the illegal goods exported from Israel, feel free to add to this, it is just our attempt at increasing awareness.. Distribute to as many as possible and if you're looking for fresh produce, Always Buy Local.

More information on who profits from the occupation.


Please sign the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign's e-petition to the Scottish Parliament which calls "the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Executive and individual MSPs to cancel all contract(s) they have with Eden Springs Israeli water company.

October 29, 2009

UK: Over 60 face charges from anti-Israel protests


London - IRNA - 10/28/09 - A total of 63 people are due to appear in court later this week on charges arising out of demonstrations in London against Israel’s slaughter of over 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza at the turn of the year.

Most are charged under the country’s Public Order Act with using or threatening violence during two mass protest marches in January that culminated at the Israeli Embassy.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, all the cases will be heard at West London Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and Friday. Police were said to be still seeking another 17 people in connection with incidents that occurred.

The protests were parts of nationwide demonstrations, marches and rallies held around the UK at the height of Israel’s latest blitzkrieg attacks on Gaza.

Violence occurred at the embassy during clashes with anti-riot police. Several protesters complained to the Muslim News about the intimidation provoked by police charging the protest march in a tunnel on the way to the embassy.

More speech silencing: Michigan Student Assembly votes gag rule

October 29th, 2009

From Blaine in Michigan: Last night, the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA), a University of Michigan body, violated the Open Meetings Act, the First Amendment, and the university's Standard Practice Guide.

Look at today's Michigan Daily article, and judge for yourself:

Shocked by recent comments seeking to boycott Israel, the MSA voted for a Gag Rule.

That Gag Rule outlaws all public comments, uttered by any community member, unless they are pre-certified by an executive board to be "relevant to students".

The MSA also moved its meeting, for this vote, to a building up on North Campus, to ensure no one would even show up to complain.

The Michigan Daily editors had campaigned loudly for this Gag Rule, so great was their outrage that Gaza had been discussed at past MSA meetings, as Israel carried out massacres in the Gaza Strip.

Now Israel is free to massacre Gaza again without worrying about back-talk from anyone in the MSA meetings.

Here is the Boycott-Israel resolution that pained MSA so much that they shut down the First Amendment:

MSA Resolution to Boycott Apartheid Israel, and to Stop Apartheid on Campus

Resolution Summary:

  1. Boycott all Israeli products.
  2. Take that $1 trillion you’re spending to kill Muslims, and spend it instead on re-building Detroit.
  3. Stop 400 years of White Privilege—the University should admit every Black high school graduate.

Boycott all Israeli products

WHEREAS, White Supremacism, including Zionism, is the most genocidal force on Earth,

WHEREAS, Congress has paid $300 billion to Israel, according to Congressman John Dingell,

WHEREAS, Israel spent that money on a genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign against the Palestinian people, which has culminated in the Israeli siege against Gaza,

WHEREAS, Israel has forced 1.5 million Palestinians into a concentration-camp existence in Gaza, where childhood malnutrition and anemia are rampant,

WHEREAS, Israel is threatening to unleash a “Holocaust” on Gaza,

WHEREAS, Malcolm X was right— the Zionists had no “legal or moral right to invade Arab Palestine, uproot its Arab citizens from their homes and seize all Arab property for themselves”

WHEREAS, Israel’s alliance with Apartheid South Africa was "more intimate and more extensive than anything similar in Israel’s history", according to Professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi,

WHEREAS, Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons, which it tried to share with Apartheid South Africa,

WHEREAS, Israel is training its pilots to nuke Iran, a land of 76 million people who have never invaded anyone,

WHEREAS, Israel trained and oversaw SAVAK, the brutal force of torturers who kept the Shah of Iran in power,

WHEREAS, the United States has been bleeding Iran with economic sanctions, then with U.S.-imposed dictatorship, then with U.S.-fueled invasions, almost continuously since 1952,

WHEREAS, those economic sanctions still make it impossible for Iranians to get spare parts for any airplane, from anywhere in the world,

WHEREAS, Israel is demanding even crueler economic sanctions against Iran,

THEREFORE, the Michigan Student Assembly demands that Congress impose a total boycott against all Israeli products,

THEREFORE, we demand that Congress cut off all aid to the racist state of Israel, the last Apartheid State on Earth.

THEREFORE, we demand that the University of Michigan Board of Regents declare a boycott against all products imported from the racist state of Israel.

Take that $1 trillion you’re spending to kill Muslims, and spend it instead on re-building Detroit.

WHEREAS, Congress has spent $1 trillion to kill millions of Iraqis since 1991,

WHEREAS, Congress has killed over a million Afghans since the 1980’s, using a series of unbelievable excuses,

WHEREAS, the U.S. repeatedly bombs Somalia, using more unbelievable excuses,

WHEREAS, Senator Clinton threatens to “obliterate Iran”, and Senator McCain sings “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran”,

WHEREAS, Senator Obama threatens to invade Pakistan, then President Bush launches military strikes directly on Pakistan,

WHEREAS, Congress’s trillion-dollar genocide against Muslim lands is conducted at the direct expense of Black America,

WHEREAS, Congress’s trillion-dollar occupation of Muslim lands is conducted at the direct expense of Black America, the Michigan Student Assembly demands that Congress immediately remove its trillion-dollar army of occupation from every nation on Earth, because that army only brings coups, torture, racism, and death to the planet;

THEREFORE, we demand that Congress immediately spend that trillion dollars, which was stolen from Black America, on the immediate rebuilding of Detroit, including mass transit that every Detroiter can walk to, including the best elementary, secondary, and university education in the nation, including the best neighborhood clinics, the best neighborhood libraries, and the best housing infrastructure in the nation, and including the necessary industrial facilities to build all of those things, and to employ every Detroiter of working age, with full union wages and benefits,

THEREFORE, we demand that Congress similarly rebuild every U.S. inner city, and that this rebuilding be directed by Black engineers, architects, professors, physicians, educators, and managers, and that this rebuilding be staffed by Black union labor, nationwide, until Black unemployment ceases to exist,

Stop 400 Years of White Privilege—

–the University should Admit every Black high school graduate.

WHEREAS, centuries of government policy, backed up by organized white violence at every level, has attempted to beat down African political power, financial power, industrial power, and landholding power, from the Congo to Chicago,

WHEREAS, Martin Luther King Jr. was right— the U.S. government is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today”,

WHEREAS, the U.S. has murdered and imprisoned African and African-American leadership on a mind-boggling scale, from Lumumba in the Congo, to Mandela in South Africa, to Fred Hampton in Chicago, to Marcus Garvey, to the Orangeburg Massacre, to the Jackson State Massacre, to the U.S.-Israeli-South-African invasion of Angola in the 1970’s, to the U.S.-Israeli-South-African creation of death squads across the African continent which have murdered millions and stripped Africa of unimaginable wealth,

WHEREAS, today’s white suburban power structure was built with a trillion-dollar federal highway subsidy, and with massive governmental subsidies to build all-white suburban settlements, which have sucked the wealth and political power of Black America into virtually all-white enclaves, while barring the bulk of Black America from entry,

WHEREAS, white political, economic, employment, and educational power has always been built on massive federal subsidies, from the railroads in the 19th century, to the government-backed white academies created to suck away resources from any public educational system that might benefit Black students,

THEREFORE, the Michigan Student Assembly finds it obscene that a violent, 400-year steamroller of white privilege– where whites use the riches of Black labor to perpetuate a closed circle of privileged white university admissions, a closed circle of white business connections, a closed circle of white jobs, perpetuated by a heavily subsidized white suburban political machine,– is called a “meritocracy”, while the slightest effort to get Black students into the University is called “reverse racism”;

THEREFORE, the Michigan Student Assembly demands that the University of Michigan Board of Regents immediately guarantee admission, tuition-free, to every Black student who graduates from every Michigan high school, together with year-round tutoring for every new student who needs it;

THERFORE, we declare, in advance, a highly visible picket line and a 3-day student strike, if any state authority attempts to “stand in the schoolhouse door” to block the open admission of Black students to this University.

This Resolution was proposed for an immediate vote by the Michigan Student Assembly, at the University of Michigan.

This Resolution then was torn up by the Assembly's General Counsel, as the Michigan Daily reporter watched.

But the Resolution was again presented to the Assembly for a vote. This Resolution has also been proposed for a vote by the University's LSA Student Government.

Source

October 28, 2009

Bahrain Parliament Votes to Penalize Contacts with Israel

Al-Manar













28/10/2009
Bahrain's parliament on Tuesday approved legislation penalizing contacts with the Zionist entity. "Whoever holds any communication or official talks with Israeli officials or travels to Israel will face a fine...and/or a jail sentence of three to five years," member of parliament Jalal Fairooz from Al-Wefaq bloc, an opposition group that was the driving force behind the move.

"The motivation is that steps are being taken by certain countries to allow certain talks to be held with Israeli officials. Israeli delegates have managed to participate in events in Arab countries with no treaties with Israel."

Diplomats and analysts say Arab governments have been pressured by the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama to make steps towards normalizing ties in order to help encourage Israel to enter “peace talks” with Palestinians.

But popular sentiment has been opposed to such moves. An Egyptian writer is facing disciplinary action by the journalists union for meeting the Israeli ambassador in Cairo.

Bahrain's Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa wrote in the Washington Post in July that Arabs had not done enough to communicate directly with Israelis. Bahraini officials visited the occupied Palestinian territories in July in an official capacity for the first time to collect five of their nationals Israel was deporting after seizing them on a ship bound for the Palestinian territory of Gaza, blockaded by Israel.

Bahrain's parliament has limited powers and bills must pass through an upper house whose members are chosen by the king. Ultimate power lies with the ruling family. Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania are the only Arab League states with formal ties with Israel.

October 27, 2009

Israeli minister's speech disrupted at London university

Press release, LSE SU Palestine Society, 27 October 2009

The following press release was issued by the London School of Economics Student Union Palestine Society on 26 October 2009:

Students protested and disrupted a lecture tonight at the London School of Economics (LSE) by Daniel Ayalon, the controversial Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel.

More than 50 students and activists greeted Ayalon outside of the lecture on LSE's campus with placards and banners, while inside audience members heckled the controversial minister as a "racist" and "murderer" in relation to the illegal occupation and violence carried out by the Israeli state.

Ayalon was in the UK to meet British government officials and speaking at the LSE ahead of these talks in a lecture titled "The Middle East: The View From Israel." Security at the university was tight, with private security and police officers keeping a close watch on protesters. The minister began and ended his lecture amid boos and chants of "Free, Free, Palestine" while his speech was interrupted relentlessly throughout with audience members questioning Israel's atrocities.

The action was organized by the LSE Students' Union Palestine Society and the Palestine Solidarity Initiative. The London School of Economics Students' Union is officially twinned with An-Najah University [West Bank] and has previously voted to divest funds from those companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The motion also called on LSE to respect human rights and follow suit in embracing a divestment agenda with regards to such companies.

Mira Hammad who attended the lecture and is the Chair of the LSE SU Palestine Society said after the protest, "The Palestine Society at LSE has grown in support since the atrocities committed in Gaza which explains the huge turnout tonight. We will continue to support the growing international resistance against the occupation of Palestine until a just peace is achieved."

Merna Al Azzeh, a Palestinian masters student who was in the audience, added, "As an LSE student, I find it disgusting that LSE could invite a Minister to speak from a racist government that has been committing war crimes for the last 60 years."

"The recent Goldstone Report overwhelmingly condemns the genocide waged against Gazan civilians last winter and as a Palestinian I am reassured by the growing international resistance to Israeli apartheid."

Source

October 26, 2009

Thirteen detained after tent erected at settlement

October 26, 2009

Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinians, supported by Israeli and international peace activists, on Friday erected a tent on Palestinian-owned land across from Hazon David, an illegal Israeli settlement outpost slated for evacuation, according to a local group.

The Christian Peacemaker Teams reported that 100 people chanted for an end to the occupation and evacuation of Israeli settlements, illegal under international law, and erected the tent structure and flew a Palestinian flag.

Israeli military, border police, regular police, and special forces entered the area and called for the group to disperse or face arrest, according to the group.

Several Israelis sat on the ground in front of the Palestinians, the organization said, while Israeli police detained 11 Israelis, taking seven to the nearby Kiryat Arba police station in Hebron. Police reportedly detained two Palestinians, one of whom was released about three hours later.

The Israeli military forcefully moved the participants from the field to the owner's property up the hill, throwing stun grenades to encourage people to move more quickly from the area, the group added.

October 24, 2009

Mass disruption of war criminal Ehud Olmert in San Francisco

October 23, 2009

French national hurt at anti-wall protest

[MaanImages - Archive]
24/10/2009

Ramallah - Ma'an - A French citizen and nine others sustained light injuries during an anti-wall demonstration in the central West Bank village of Bil'in on Friday, according to news reports.

The unidentified protester was reportedly struck by a tear-gas canister.

Demonstrators at the protest, among them Palestinians and internationals, applauded several Israeli high school seniors who recently opted not to participate in Israel's forced military draft program, a refusal that could eventually lead to their arrests

Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators also rallied against the construction of Israel's separation barrier in Na'lin, which cuts through some 50 percent of village's farmland.

Israel's military fired tear-gas canisters and other riot means at the largely peaceful crowd, according to onlookers. There were also reports of rock-throwing on the part of a handful of Palestinians near the demonstration.

In Na'lin, another village near Ramallah, nine others were hurt by the same type of weaponry, according to activists, including six who were struck by rubber-coated bullets. One was hospitalized in Ramallah.

Near Bethlehem, protesters similarly rallied against the wall in Al-Mas'ara. There were no reports of incidents there.

But in Hebron, Israeli forces detained six protesters near the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement, according to demonstrators. Among them was a senior figure in the Palestinian People's Party.

Free Gaza News: Eye Witness Reports From Gaza

By Haitham Sabbah • Oct 24th, 2009

Ewa Jasiewicz, Free Gaza Coordinator in Gaza, talks in Berlin, Germany about what she witnessed during the 22-day massacre of civilians in Gaza. Her on-the-ground reporting of what she and seven others saw during that time is heart-wrenching. Israel deliberately murdered 16 medics trying to do their job of rescuing other injured Palestinians, targeting them directly. Ewa and the other volunteers from Free Gaza and the International Solidarity Movement accompanied these ambulances, horrified at what they saw.


She also eloquently speaks about the people in Gaza, how they are trying to make a living for their families as the Israeli Occupation Forces shoot to kill the farmers and fishermen, long after Operation Cast Lead was supposedly over.

Listen to her speech, see the images from the people who were there recording Israel's use of white phosophorus bombs and other deadly weapons that Israel literally threw at a civilian populations. Families have been torn apart, 29 members of one family murdered in their home as they held a white flag of surrender.

As Ewas says, "Israel's objective is to rid Palestine of Palestinians: drip by drip, body by body, person by person, village by village."

She as well as over a dozen other speakers are available to speak to your groups.

You can contact: http://www.freegaza.org/join-in/speaker-bureau and ask for someone to come and talk about the voyages of Free Gaza movement, the work in Gaza and witnessing the attempt by Israel to destroy a civilian population aided by American money and American weapons.

In solidarity & struggle,
FREE GAZA MOVEMENT
http://www.FreeGaza.org

Source