Category Archives: Activism/Volunteerism

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Tulkarem to boycott Israeli goods starting 1 March

Tulkarem – Ma’an – The city of Tulkarem will begin a total boycott of Israeli goods starting March, the chamber of commerce announced Thursday.

The chamber, in conjunction with several local merchants and organizations, decided to launch the campaign, called “Keeping Tulkarem Clean of Israeli Goods.” The city will have assistance in organizing popular awareness of the efforts from coordinators from the popular anti-wall campaigns including Jamal Jum’ah.

Member of the local coordination committee Jamal Barham stressed the importance of unifying efforts to ensure the success of the campaign. This will include helping shop owners identify non-Israeli goods to replace common items like milk, flour, juice and chocolate.

The goal of the Tulkarem project is to increase the production of Palestinian goods from supplying 15% to 25% of consumer goods in Palestinian areas. They anticipate that this jump will provide at least 100,000 jobs in the production sectors.

Palestine is the second largest consumer of Israeli goods and imports 2.6 billion US dollars of Israeli made products per year.

French academics join the call to boycott Israel

Israel’s impunity must end

Reports have made it clear that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to war crimes: a population denied all possibility of escape or self-defense has been starved, deprived of medical care, and massacred beyond the view of the media. Images and accounts of the results of these actions are now reaching us, and they are frankly unbearable. It is not a matter of “excesses” committed by a few soldiers, but rather of a deliberate policy that borders on ethnic cleansing. To quote a letter signed by 300 British-based academics and published in the Guardian January 16, “The goal of this war has never changed: to use overwhelming military power to eradicate the Palestinians as a political force, one capable of resisting Israel’s ongoing appropriation of their land and resources.”

Israel’s impunity must end. Neither humanitarian aid nor a call to extend the ceasefire will suffice. The blockade of Gaza must be lifted and Israel, together with its political and military leaders, must be tried for war crimes. We ask the French government and the French population to take all practical measures to force Israel to accept these demands, and, first of all, to define and apply to Israel a program of boycott, divestment, and sanctions.

We who have signed this text commit ourselves to cease all collaboration with Israeli institutions participating in the occupation, and declare our solidarity with those who in Israel struggle courageously for the human, social, and political rights of Palestinians.

Read the French version signed by French academics on the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel blog.

and check these links:

Latest Guardian Article on Occupations and Sit-Ins

Israel used experimental weapons in Gaza developed at UC

UPDATE: Call on Israeli Soldiers to Stop War Crimes published in Haaretz

A fellow Egyptian blogger was sexually harassed

Another Blogger Detained For Gaza

World gets its first gay leader

My father once heard MLK denounce Israel

and don’t forget to check Mondoweiss blog for updates on Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, the first American college to divest from Israel.

I Support Hampshire College SJP

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I am going to send an email to the president’s office everyday =)

Via Pulse:

Ever since it announced to widespread applause its decision to divest from the Israeli occupation, Hampshire College administration is being hammered by the Israel lobby’s flak machine led by Zionist fanatic Alan Dershowitz (best known for his academic malpractices) who is threatening the institution with withdrawal of funding, unless, Inside Higher Ed reports, ‘Hampshire resolves any ambiguities and clearly states that it rejects student efforts to divest from the Jewish state. “What they have to do is make it impossible for the students to plausibly be able to declare victory,” said Dershowitz, whose son went to Hampshire.’ But Hampshire students are standing strong (here they are in their own words). They are calling on the institution’s administration to embrace the moment. They recognize that this is ‘bigger than Hampshire‘.(For full coverage check out the indispensalbe MondoWeiss)

Following is a call from Hampshire students for support. This is a historical moment. Please take the time to apprise the administration of your views.

Dear Supporters,

Over the last 24 hours, there has been a huge response from students, parents, journalists, activists, public figures, political organizations, and individuals such as yourselves from across the country and the world congratulating us for our historic achievement this week. We are impressed and heartened by your passion in supporting us in this exciting campaign.

There have been many developments since SJP went public with the divestment, so it might be hard to keep track of the flurry of updates that have been published all over the internet. Please visit our website for the most recent statements (http://www.hsjp.org/). Also, Phillip Weiss’s blog (http://www.philipweiss.org/) is a particularly good resource, as they’ve been following the events closely.

Your support so far has been so helpful, especially since we’ve been working non-stop since we broke the news. There’s so much more to be done, so we’ve come up with a few specific ways to demonstrate your solidarity with SJP and the movement. Here they are:

1) E-mail the administration and the President to voice your concern over their refusal to own up to the divestment decision. Express your disappointment that President Hexter has done nothing to condemn Alan Dershowitz’s threatening phone calls to SJP’s spokespeople (see update on website). Forward your letters of congratulations that you sent to us to them too. Make sure they know that divestment is not just a college—it’s a movement!

A script is attached to the end of this e-mail (or the bottom of this message) as a guide if you would like to use it.

Contact:

Ralph Hexter (President): [email protected]

President’s Office: +1 413-559-5521

2) Hampshire’s endowment is very small which means that most of the college’s year-to-year operating budget comes from tuition fees.For those who have donated, your contributions are greatly appreciated and important as the school is already in a troubled financial state. What we would like you to do for now is e-mail us every time you make a donation with the amount and your name so we can keep track of the funds and the support network. If you haven’t donated already, here’s the link:

https://alumni.hampshire.edu/giving/waysToGive/giveOnline.aspx

3) Contribute to our video series, “Voices of Divestment.” We are trying to show the world that this isn’t about a small group of activists, but a wide range of people from all different walks of life. We would like you to make short 30-second to 1-minute clips and send them to us by uploading the video to YouTube and emailing us the link.

Keep them informal, but stay passionate! Improvise. We want to hear why you support divestment in your own words.

Check out existing videos here: http://www.hsjp.org/voices-of-divestment/

Or alternatively: http://voicesofdivestment.wordpress.com/

4) Build momentum! This isn’t just about us; we’ve been getting a lot of e-mails about help and advice for starting similar BDS campaigns at other schools, and this is one of the most important ways you can help. If the BDS movement spreads rapidly, it will become clear to the public and the media that this is not just a local administrative dispute, but that we have finally reached a critical threshold in the United States.

Many groups and individuals have contacted us asking about going on speaking tours and giving trainings for campus divestment movements. We are very excited about the prospects of helping to spread divestment to many campuses and are investigating the logistics of how to make this happen. For now if you are interested in hosting us for a speaking tour in some capacity, please email us at: [email protected] with the subject “SPEAKING”.

*****

The following is the script to guide you in e-mailing the president’s office:

Hello, my name is _____. I am calling/e-mailing to express my congratulations to Hampshire College for your historic decision to divest from the Israeli Occupation. This move should be an example to all institutions of higher learning across the world.

However, I am disappointed that the administration has been trying to distance itself from the decision and de-politicize the powerful statement that divestment sends. In your response to the Student’s public campaign, you have repeatedly insisted that the divestment decision had a “variety of reasons” for going through, and that it had no regional or political significance. However, the length & intensity of the campaign that the Students for Justice in Palestine have run makes it clear that it was their efforts that brought this divestment to the table. I sincerely hope that you will reconsider your position on divestment and express your support for the students’ efforts in an official statement soon.

Lastly, your failure to condemn the threats Alan Dershowitz has made towards SJP’s spokespeople is deplorable. Dershowitz has called for a boycott on the College and you have still maintained your “neutral” position, hurting the students, the college, and yourself. I urge you to protect your students and their right to speak out on this monumental occasion.

Thank you.

http://www.hsjp.org

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=55085942212

The Only Occupiers I Will Ever Support

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This post will be continually updated.

1-Edinburgh University Occupation for Gaza


Statement from the occupying students:

On the morning of Wednesday 11th February Edinburgh University students occupied the George Square Lecture Theatre. We have acted against the university because of its financial and commercial links to the apartheid state of Israel, in addition to its unacceptable silence in response to the Gaza conflict, described by the UN President of the General Assemby, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, as “genocide”. We will sit-in until the heads of the university agree to the following demands…

Broadly, we demand that our university demonstrate what should be its inherent opposition, as an educational institution, to Israel’s illegal and shameful behaviours.

Read their demands here.

2-King’s College Occupation in Solidarity with Gaza:

“The college has agreed to a series of measures to directly address the current crisis in Gaza, including the provision of scholarships for those directly affected by the crisis, and the donation of educational resources to institutions in Palestine”, said Mido Khan on behalf of the student protesters. “In addition, the college has acknowledged the scale of discontent that the award to Peres has generated among the student population, particularly considering the award in the context of what has happened recently in Gaza.” The students agreed to cease their occupation after college management agreed to publish a statement outlining the position of the College on these issues and the humanitarian measures undertaken in the wake of the occupation.

“This signals the reintroduction of student activism as a powerful agent for political change, and shows us that if we make a stand then we can make a difference”, said Hesham Yafai.

3-LSE Occupation in Solidarity with Gaza!

A spokesperson for the group said:

“Nothing we could have said or done would have been enough given the scale of the suffering inflicted on the people of Gaza by the Israeli military but we have achieved a huge victory for Palestinian students and for student activism. That we pressured LSE Director Howard Davies into issuing a public statement is a massive success but given the LSE’s history it shouldn’t have taken an occupation to achieve this. We look forward to meeting the new Palestinian students that our successes on application fees and scholarships will bring to the LSE.

4-Sheffield Hallam Free Gaza Movement

Following the actions of Sheffield Hallam students and workers from around the city who voted to occupy the tenth floor of the Owen building to make practical demands of the university in solidarity with Palestinians and to condemn the actions of the Israeli state, the Sheffield Free Gaza Movement was formed to build initiatives and campaigns and continue to put pressure on the university management to fulfil the demands of the occupation.

5-Oxford Occupation in Solidarity with Gaza!

OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OCCUPY BUILDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA

In the first week of term, over 80 Oxford University students occupied the historic Bodleian building to demand that the university release a statement condemning the attack on Gaza and cancel the lecture series at Balliol College inaugurated by Shimon Peres.

Students organised the sit-in after attending an emergency meeting in Oxford organised to discuss the war on Gaza and the precarious ceasefire. Members of the University entered the Clarendon building and sat down at 1200, British time, on Thursday 22nd January. Their demands were presented to University officials, and by 7pm the same day they acheived victory, putting an end to the occupation after reaching a successful agreement with the university.

6-Queen Mary Occupation

We as students of Queen Mary are occupying lecture room FB 1.13 in the College to protest against the recognised war crimes in Gaza committed by the Israeli Government, and to show our solidarity with the oppressed peoples in the region. We are pursuing this course of action to maintain the momentum of other student protests in Universities across the U.K.
As students of this institution, we unreservedly object on moral grounds to the University’s failure to boycott goods supplied by companies who fund military operations in Gaza.
Furthermore, we have strong reasons to believe the University is financially involved with arms dealers GKN and Cobham. We find this morally unacceptable and ask for complete transparency on the part of the University regarding any investments in the arms trade. It will be our policy to seek to expose this issue and open it up for debate within the College.
We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused to either staff or students at our College; however, we have been motivated to act on the basis of our moral convictions.

Read their demands here.

7-Goldsmiths Occupation for Palestinian Scholarships

Goldsmiths will establish 4 scholarships, covering the cost of taught postgraduate tuition fees, to be awarded to students who come from all and any part of the world which is affected by oppression, persecution, political or military strife such that their human right to education is denied to them.
Goldsmiths will work with its students and other interested parties to establish a charitable trust to raise funds to support the costs of these students’ study - accommodation, travel and living expenses. In the early years of the charity’s operation, if it cannot raise sufficient funds to cover the costs, Goldsmiths will provide funds to enable the students to study at Goldsmiths.
Two of the four scholarships will, for the ten years from 2009-10 until 2018-19, be reserved for students from Palestine. Before the 2019-20 scholarships are advertised, there will be a review, which will include asking the student body (and making its assent a necessary condition) to determine whether and for how long the reservation of 2 scholarships for Palestinian students should continue.
Goldsmiths will work with Al-Quds Open University and Birzeit University, with which we already have strong academic links, in identifying suitable candidates. The selection panel to agree the criteria for the scholarships in the first instance, and to determine who receives the scholarships on an annual basis, shall comprise a student representative chosen by the students, an academic staff representative, and a Pro-Warden.

8-SUSSEX OCCUPATION

Over 80 University of Sussex Students have occupied a major lecture theatre in solidarity with Palestine under siege.

Motivated by the escalating crisis in Gaza, University of Sussex students have issued a set of demands to the University management calling for immediate action. The occupation is a response to recent Israeli military assault on Gaza. We stand in solidarity with the School of Oriental and African Studies, the London School of Economics, King’s College London, Birmingham and Essex Universities. The occupied space will be used for education and dialogue until the following demands are met…

read them here.

9-SOAS students occupy university building

We, a coalition of SOAS students from many different backgrounds, have resolved to occupy the Brunei Gallery Suite. In line with Student Union motions, our aims are the following..

Read them here.

10-Leeds Uni Occupation

In response to our demands, the University made the following concessions:

On Monday, the Vice Chancellor issued a public statement in which he “expressed his dismay at the conflict and the loss of life in Gaza and Israel.” The University has declared that it is “agreeable in principle to facilitating schemes to provide surplus educational materials to Palestine…and that it will discuss with LUU (Leeds University Union) ways of extending opportunities for Palestinian students to study at Leeds.” The University has also stated that it will review its socially responsible investment policy and that it will accept a list of roughly a dozen companies which concern us most and they will inform us whether they do or do not invest in the aforementioned companies. We will actively pursue all of these concessions to ensure that they are followed through.

11-Occupation Nottingham

We demand:
1 STATEMENT - That the University issue an official statement to the press condemning the recent and continuing atrocities perpetrated by Israel in the Gaza Strip, acknowledging particularly the effect on educational institutions, such as the bombing of the Gaza Islamic University.We demand:
The University should officially denounce the attacks on civilians, the systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid and the targeting of academic institutions, hospitals, places of worship and international peace keeping facilities. The University should encourage other universities to make such statements, as well as informing the UK and Israeli governments.

Read their full demands here.

12-FREE MAN MET: Students in Occupation for Gaza!

MMU Students are currently in occupation of the Geoffrey Manton building. We are occupying the building in solidarity with the people of Gaza and to stand up to imperialism in the Middle East. We have issued the following set of demands to the Vice-Chancellor because we believe in delivering concrete solidarity for the people of Palestine.

Read their demands here.

Boycott Israeli Goods: NESTLE

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By Ayesha Niser

I challenge you to help free Palestine! In order to help with the Boycott I’ve chosen one company to focus our energy on. That company is Nestle.

Nestle is heavily invested in Israel and has “received the Jubilee Award by the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. This is the highest tribute ever awarded by the “State of Israel” in recognition of those individuals and organizations, that through their investments and trade relationships, have done the most to STRENGTHEN the Israeli economy”
Nestle is an easy company to boycott because of their wide range of products. And you usually see Nestle’s name on the front of everything.

So you’re thinking how am I not going to have a Kit Kat bar? Well good question, have you ever wondered how the caramel got into a Caramilk bar? Or, You can’t take away Nescafe, what are we going to drink? How about Maxwell house?

See you have choices. You can choose the children of Palestine or help their oppressors live the good life with full bellies, clean water, and electricity. It is your choice, to have power and strength or be weak and powerless.
I’m going to explain why it will take a few months for Nestle’s to respond to our boycott.

- Every month large companies look at how much money they made based on different products and different parts of the world. They compare these numbers to the last month, to the same month last year and what they budgeted. And this is where your efforts come in. When they see that all of a sudden they made less money this month they have to research why. And they actually have to write it down. And what will they have to write why they lost money, it will say BOYCOTT.

- So will they listen to us right away? Yes and no, they are going to try and convince us to come back to buy their products. They will do this by having their chocolate bars at 2 or 3 for a dollar. Who doesn’t love a bargain? We don’t love a bargain, we will not sell the souls of the children of Gaza for a dollar. This is the one time where I encourage you to spend more money. They will also have contests to buy their products. Like if you buy three boxes of Nestle cereal you can win a trip to Disney, Hawaii, etc. We don’t need these trips, we need Palestine to be FREE. Do not give into temptation. Remember for 60 years we have resisted their calls to destroy the Palestinian people. We can and will resist their marketing ploys.

- They will write on their website and have responses to say that they have operations in each country and that your product is not made in Israel. For example the might say Nestle products of the USA are made locally and do you want local people to lose their jobs in this economy. First the products usually are made locally, but the research of Nestle is done in Israel. So, the Israelis are telling you what tastes good. Are you going to let the Israelis tell us what to do? NO!! As for the jobs and the local economy, well if it means that Nestle has to lay off people that means that the money we spent on Kellogg, Cadbury, etc should increase the number of jobs at those companies so people can go work there. When you take your dollars from one company, you are giving it to another. So you are still helping the economy. Basically they are trying to trick you. But we are smarter and better than that.

Now for the challenge. I want all of you to boycott Nestle, all their products and find substitutes. Post this article on your Facebook walls, spread widely in emails, etc. We can help each other. Second everyone is to find three friends and convince them to join the challenge. Do not just forward this message, people ignore them, I know I do sometimes. And ask them to be honest if they are going to join or not. If 2 out of the three will join you need to find a third friend. And you have these friends convince at least 3 friends. Try to find friends around the world to join the boycott. The more people and countries involved the better.

Valentine’s Day and Easter is when companies make the most money from chocolate sales. They depend on this money for the rest of the year. The power is ours. Buy Cadbury Easter eggs, Caramilk bars, etc… Let’s win this challenge.

PETITION TO REMOVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FROM SHIMON PEREZ

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PETITION TO REMOVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FROM M. SHIMON PEREZ: REGARDED AS A WAR CRIMINAL AND SPONSOR OF GENOCIDE AGAINST HUMANITY IN THE GAZA STRIP

We the signatories … … … … …, claiming to be outraged by the attitude of Shimon Perez regarding the war of genocide and ethnic cleansing that the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip endure

Under the name “Operation Cast Lead, Israel launched a military operation against civilians in Gaza who are already living a total blockade (land, sea and air) imposed by the Jewish state from eighteen months. The IDF has used American fighter aircraft F16, Apache helicopters, and shelling from warships, to sow terror and destruction of homes, clinics, mosques, universities, schools, police posts and administrations, in short all the infrastructure already in bad shape and are nevertheless used by the population of Gaza to alleviate the blockade.
Mr. Maxwel Galford, the spokesman of the Special Rapporteur of the UN in charge of the peace agreements in the Middle East said: “In Gaza, life for children and families has become a matter of life or death.” The raid by Israeli aircraft on the camp of Jabalia, has shown an extreme atrocity by the murder of the family “Baâloucha” composed of five sisters who were murdered in their sleep (17 years Tahrir, Ikram 14 years, 12 years old Samar Dina 8 years Jouaher 4 years).

In the Gaza Strip, ambulances are unable to rescue the wounded throughout the territory. In a statement Mr. Jacob Klinberger, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross said “we saw the wounded who have not survived their injuries because ambulances are prevented from arriving on time. If it ( Israel) does not respect the rules laid down by international humanitarian law, death is simply be pure fate of several people when we could help”. 8 / 01 / 2009.

The Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki Moon has called for its part, “what is happening in Gaza, the terror and bloodshed” (SG/SM/12025), he called on Israel to a cease-fire and implementation of international law and conventions of human rights.

In his statement (on the EL-Jazeera television) on 9/01/2009, Mr. Berg Fory, a member of the Nobel Committee for Peace, said that the Nobel committee members are ashamed to have awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace to the Israeli President Shimon Perez, especially after watching the Israeli massacres committed against children, women and elderly innocent in the Gaza Strip.

Perez was primarily responsible for the massacre of Qana in southern Lebanon in 1996. This massacre after Operation Grapes of Wrath by the Israeli air force has caused the death of over a hundred civilians, mostly children and women. The shelter in Qana that was bombed, is one of the shelters run by the United Nations, which had housed more than a hundred Lebanese. Mr. Perez was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the Premier of Israel Isaac Rabin and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

It is to preserve the essence of peace in the world especially in the Middle East, in solidarity with what is happening in Gaza and against the crimes against humanity that are perpetrated on site:

We ask the Nobel committee and the Norwegian government to withdraw the Nobel Peace Prize to Mr. Shimon Perez, current president of Israel for its crimes against humanity.

It’s just a damn signature

Homosexuality on LBC this Wednesday on A7mar Bil Khatt el 3areed

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A friend sent me this, I will try to call the bastards:

I have my reservations on the list presented in this email, but I am busy with my thesis lately, will write on how one should deal with homophobia and discrimination and post-racism soon. Please try to participate and help our just cause.

This is a call to an urgent action by all of us.

Tomorrow Wednesday, January 27 at 9.30 pm (Beirut time), LBC is going to tackle the subject of homosexuality on their show A7mar bel khatt el 3arid.

It is very important for us to watch this show to write about it, blog about it, and comment about it. It is also very important to CALL IN to express support for LGBTQ in Lebanon and to correct whatever wrong things people will be saying on the show.

So please make sure you watch the show tomorrow at 9.30 pm and call the numbers that appear on the screen. Call from Lebanon, the Arab world, and internationally.

When you call, here are some points you should raise:

1. Doctors, psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and experts all agree the homosexuality is normal. Therefore, it shouldn’t be treated as a topic of “a7mar bil khatt il 3areed”
2. Lebanese media should deal with this topic supportively, not just put homosexuals or transsexuals on display.
3. There are hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ in Lebanon and they are tax-paying citizens. They deserve full rights as anyone else.
4. Last Thursday, two gay men were beaten up brutally by security agents were dressed in civilian clothing on Sassine Square. This inhumanity towards homosexuals is not accepted.

Be careful that your numbers might appear on the caller ID, so you don’t have to state your are gay if you don’t want to. Be brave and call on everyone in Lebanese society to accept homosexuality.

We Won't Take No for an Answer: "Israeli" War Criminals Wanted NOW

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Public asked for information on travel plans and whereabouts of top Israeli leaders

By Redress Information & Analysis

26 January 2009

An international human rights organization has submitted evidence to the International Criminal Court for the arrest of top Israeli leaders for war crimes in Gaza and has called for information about the travel plans and whereabouts outside Israel of the suspects.

A human rights organization has called for the arrest of a number of senior Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The International Coalition against Impunity (HOKOK), a non-governmental organization registered with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, has submitted a “Letter of Notification and Referral” to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court outlining the case for the arrest of 15 Israeli political and military leaders for crimes committed in Gaza in violation of the Rome Statute and the Fourth Geneva Convention.

It has also issued an international appeal for information about the undermentioned war crimes suspects. Members of the public in Israel and throughout the world who have information about the travel plans or whereabouts of the undermentioned suspects when they are outside Israel should report this immediately to:

The Prosecutor

P.O. Box 19519

2500 Hague

Netherlands

Fax +31 70 515 8 555

[email protected]

The Israeli war crimes suspects are:

  1. Ehud Barak
  2. Amir Peretz
  3. Binyamin Ben Eliezer
  4. Avi Dichter
  5. Carmi Gillon
  6. Dan Halutz
  7. Doron Almog
  8. Ehud Olmert
  9. Eliezer Shkedy
  10. Gabi Ashkenazi
  11. Giora Eiland
  12. Matan Vilnai
  13. Moshie Bogie Yaalon
  14. Shaul Mofaz
  15. Tzipi Livni

A summary of the evidence against the above-mentioned war crimes suspects can be found in the document below, which is also available in Hebrew.

Evidence for the arrest of 15 top Israeli leaders can be found here.

This document is also available here.

Government complains about BBC decision to ban Gaza appeal-Add your complaint now

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The BBC must reverse its decision. Complain to the BBC here.

Stop the War understands that the government has contacted the BBC to complain about its decision to refuse the broadcasting of a humanitarian appeal for Gaza.

The BBC’s decision will prevent the raising of millions of pounds in emergency aid being sent to Gaza. Stop the War demands that the exchange between the government and the BBC be made public immediately.

Brendan Gormley, of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which is co-ordinating a national appeal for Gaza said, “We deeply regret this decision. Agencies are already providing food, drugs and blankets as well as delivering clean water. But we will soon reach the limit of what we can do, without more money.”

The reason the BBC has given for blocking an appeal for emergency aid is that it wants “to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC’s impartiality”.

Lindsey German, National Convenor of Stop the War said, “What has ‘impartiality’ to do with an appeal for humanitarian aid to a devastated people? How can you be impartial about that? Either these people need the aid or they don’t.”

This is the first time in the 48 years of DEC national appeals for humanitarian aid that a broadcast has been refused. DEC estimates that £10 million of urgently required aid would not now be sent to help Palestinians in Gaza, living in catastrophic conditions.

“This is a betrayal of the BBC’s obligation to be a public service,” said Tony Benn, President of Stop the War. “To deny the help that the aid agencies and the UN need is incomprehensible.”

It is imperative that the BBC responds to the government’s complaint and reverses its decision to refuse this broadcast. If it does not, we will see people in Gaza continue to suffer due to being denied emergency relief because of BBC ‘impartiality’.

Gaza Action #1

Posted on

Via Pulse: our Qunfuz is part of the blog’s contributors. I am a big fan of Muhammad Idrees and I have recently came across peoplesgeography blog. This blog is very promising.

Rally - Lobby - Boycott - Donate

Rally

MAJOR GLOBAL JANUARY RALLIES occurred from Jan 1-11, including a 100,000 strong rally in London on the 10th January. Please check the links below for further actions.

*** For updates on US cities, please visit ANSWER: Act-Now-to-Stop-War-and-Racism and US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation page

*** For updates on UK cities, please visit this Palestine Solidarity Campaign page and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity campaign

*** For updates on your city, visit your national or local anti-war group; a good source is http://www.indymedia.org http://YOURCITY.indymedia.org (insert your city)

Lobby

USA

1. Contact the White House to protest the attack and demand an immediate cease-fire. Call 202-456-1111 or send an email to [email protected].

2. Contact the State Department at 202-647-6575

3. Contact your Representative and Senators in Congress at 202-224-3121

4. Contact your local media by phoning into a talk show or writing a letter to the editor

ISRAEL

Mr. Ehud Barak,
Minister of Defence,
Ministry of Defence,
Hakirya,
Tel-Aviv 64743,
Israel.
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Tel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423
Fax: ++972-3-6976711

    Ma’ariv:
    2 Karlibach st.
    Tel-Aviv 67132
    Israel
    Fax: +972-3-561-06-14
    e-mail: [email protected]
    Yedioth Aharonoth:
    2 Moses st.
    Tel-Aviv
    Israel
    Fax: +972-3-608-25-46
    Ha’aretz (Hebrew):
    21 Schocken st.
    Tel-Aviv, 61001
    Israel
    Fax: +972-3-681-00-12
    Ha’aretz (English edition):
    21 Schocken st.
    Tel-Aviv, 61001
    Israel
    Fax: +972-3-512-11-56
    e-mail: [email protected]
    Radio (fax numbers):
    Kol-Israel +972-2-531-33-15
    Galei Zahal +972-3-512-67-20
    Television (fax numbers):
    Channel 1 +972-2-530-15-36
    Channel 2 +972-2-533-98-09
    Channel 10 +972-3-733-16-66

UK

(courtesy of BRICUP)

1. Join or organize emergency protests and direct actions in partnership with Palestine solidarity and social justice organisations in your area. Send reports of actions you participate in so this information can be shared with people around the world.

2. Donate money through:

Medical Aid for Palestine
http://www.map-uk.org/

Middle East Children’s Alliance
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=1171

to pay for desperately needed medical supplies and their delivery. The current conditions in Gaza medical facilities are dire.

3. Flood Israeli embassies and consulates with letters and calls decrying the attacks. Find contact info for Israeli embassies around the world.

http://www.learn4good.com/travel/israel_embassies.htm

4. Shift the framing of Israel’s actions in the media by phoning into a talk show or writing a letter to the editor.

5. Sign the petition in support of UN General Assembly President Father Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/IJAN_Brockmann_BDS/

He has spoken out to condemn Israeli Apartheid and called for boycott, divestment and sanctions.

6. Write to your member of parliament.
If you are in the UK, you can find your MP’s details on this site:

http://www.writetothem.com/

7. If you are in Europe write to your MEP

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members.do

8. Write to members of the Israeli government and members of the Knesset

Download a list of e-mail addresses

9-12. If you are in the UK you can do the following (or the equivalents if you live elsewhere)

9. Write to:

(a) the Labour Party using this online form:

http://www.labour.org.uk/contact

(b) the leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron

[email protected]

(You could mention you are appalled that he has been on the BBC calling for restraint on all sides when nearly 300 Palestinians have been killed.)

10. British Consulate Jerusalem
+972 (02) 541 4100

11. British Embassy Tel Aviv
+972 (02) 3510 1167 / +972 (03) 527 1572
Call them.

12. Fax the office of the UK Prime Minister - Gordon Brown -
on +44 20 7925 0918

AUSTRALIA
Israeli Ambassador to Australia
HE Yuval Rotem
[email protected]

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Hon Stephen Smith
[email protected]

Australian Ambassador to Israel
HE John Larsen
Fax: +972 3 6935002

Boycott

  • Global Boycott Movement
  • Electronic Intifada — Boycott Divestment Sanctions by topic
  • PACBI: Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural boycott of Israel
  • Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) Resources - UK
  • Boycott Israel - InMinds
  • Boycott Israel to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza

Donate

Charities

KinderUSA
http://www.kinderusa.org

American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
http://www.anera.org
Islamic Relief
http://www.islamic-relief.com
Medical Aid for Palestine
http://www.map-uk.org/

To Americans: Re-evaluate Aid to Israel, Vote NOW!

Posted on

Reevaluate whether the level of and the basis for the aid we provide Israel is appropriate given our tough economic circumstance. Presently I fail to see the benefits to our country that would justify the extraordinarily high per-capita level of aid.

A comment posted by Willbearsmom:

I weep that my tax dollars are being spent to support the state-sanctioned murder of children. Israel has literally penned these people in a giant prison from which there is no escape and is bombing them. Half the population of Gaza is children. The result of this invasion is both monstrous and inevitable. We can no longer pretend to be on the side of right when we blindly support a nation who has used a legitimate security threat as an excuse to force a group of people into an Apartheid situation and then treating them like the objects of a grotesque canned hunt. There can be no excuse for bombing mosques and schools. If you saw a gunman firing at you from near a school, would you destroy it with a rocket, knowing you would kill dozens of children? What kind of monsters make the choice to bomb the school?

This is what happens when the United States commits atrocities and loses the right of moral leadership. We all need to stand up and admit that our government has been wrong, that this incursion by Israel is wrong, that this must be stopped.

Also vote here:

A Change in US Policy Toward Israel and Palestine

A Change in our Policy towards Israel

Stop supplying Israel with weapons

Place real economic pressure on Israel to stop the growth of settlements in the West Bank

Engage strongly for Israeli-Palestinian peace.