“My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him,” she said. “And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it’s too late… Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency…But maybe the rest of humanity will show more mercy.” – Randa Adnan (via Joe Catron in Mondoweiss)

It is urgent that people take action around the world, as Khader Adnan’s persecution continues in his 58th day on hunger strike. On Monday, February 13, an Israeli military court rejected Adnan’s appeal. Adnan is being held without charge, on secret evidence. He is now in his 58th day of hunger strike, and entering an extremely critical health stage in which organ failure is imminent. The military court’s action is an effective death sentence for Khader Adnan, who has refused to stop his hunger strike so long as arbitrary detention, torture and abuse continue in the occupation’s prisons.

Carlos Latuff's cartoon for Khader Adnan

The Israeli military court action has shown once more the utter contempt of the Israeli occupation for Palestinian life. Khader Adnan has spent six years in Israeli prisons over different times in detention - almost all of that time with no charge or trial, held on secret evidence and at the whim of the illegal Israeli occupation.

Heed Randa’s call. Action is URGENT now more than ever. It is time to occupy Israeli consulates and embassies, engage in solidarity hunger strikes, and protests. Please use this form to send us information about your local protests and actions.

Khader Adnan is dying to live. Take action now to support him. 

1. Organize a protest, occupation or solidarity hunger strike at your local Israeli Embassy (for a list, click here).

Post your local actions to the Khader Adnan facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Khader-Adnan/236953309725144 and tell us here: http://samidoun.ca/2012/02/tell-us-about-your-local-protest-for-khader-adnan/

Help us spread the word with social media after you take action.
Download this photo of Khader Adnan to use for your social media profile pictures and click on the suggested messages below and they will be automatically tweeted.  

2. Call your government officials and demand that they pressure Israel publicly and privately to release Khader Adnan.
In Canada:

Call the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa at (613) 567-6450 OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).

Call the Office of the Foreign Minister, John Baird (Tel: 613-990-7720; Email: bairdj@parl.gc.ca)

Just last week, Baird stated that “There is not a government on the planet today more supportive of Israel than Harper’s Canada.” Call Baird’s office and let him know that this shameful declaration implicates Canada in Israel’s crimes and human rights violations. Demand that Baird’s office call for Khader Adnan’s release.

In the US:

Call the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC (1.202.364.5500) OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).

Call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209)

Demand that Jeffrey Feltman bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel and raise the question of Khader Adnan’s administrative detention.

3. Write to Israeli officials and demand an end to delay and the immediate, unconditional release of Khader Adnan. Samidoun has provided a template and an automated letter-writing system. Send yours and make your voice heard today!

4. It is important to note the responsibility of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Sign this petition and join hundreds demanding that the ICRC exercise its responsibilities to protect Palestinian prisoners.

5. Your creative resistance is needed: your articles, videos, and art. Spread the word:

Tweet Now: STOP Israeli Military de facto death sentence for #KhaderAdnan #Dying2Live http://samidoun.ca/?p=238

Doc Jazz cartoon for Khader Adnan

Commemorating Land Day, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) invites people of conscience around the world to unite for a BDS Global Day of Action on 30 March 2012 in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, justice and equality and for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it fully complies with its obligations under international law.

Let’s showcase our BDS successes through creative actions and media efforts and mobilize for the World Social Forum Free Palestine in November 2012.

First launched at the World Social Forum in 2009, the BDS Global Day of Action on 30 March coincides with Palestinian Land Day, initiated in 1976, when Israeli security forces shot and killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel and injured many in an attempt to crush popular protest against ongoing theft of Palestinian-owned land. Thirty-six years on, Israel continues to entrench its regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid and intensify its grave violations of the basic rights of Palestinians everywhere, whether those living under occupation, citizens of Israel, or the majority of the Palestinians, the refugees.

In the past year we have continued to witness a historic outburst of people power motivated by the desire for justice and freedom from tyranny and corporate greed. There is renewed belief in popular struggles as a means to achieve human emancipation and empowerment. Ordinary people have bravely stood up to the decades-old regimes of the Arab region, overcoming their fears and challenging their longstanding subjugation. Largely inspired by the Arab popular upheavals and earlier, similar uprisings across Latin America, people across the world have vocally “occupied” the centers of corporate exploitation or otherwise mobilized to demand social justice and an end to devastating wars. The ‘Arab Spring’ has given new impetus to the ongoing struggle against imperial hegemony in the global south and a new reach for the alternatives to neoliberalism. The global 99% are further uniting and connecting their struggles for justice, rights and dignity.

In this spirit of shared struggle, we invite Palestine solidarity activists and all those active in social justice and human rights causes worldwide to use this day of action to launch a far reaching mobilization effort towards the upcoming World Social Forum Free Palestine to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in November 2012 and to take action to highlight and develop the key campaigns of our global movement.

The Forum will provide a unique space for discussion of a unified global strategy to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination and end Israeli violations of international law.

Ideas for action

The BDS Global Day of Action is an opportunity to showcase the achievements of our diverse and global movement through visible and creative actions. The BNC calls on supporters of Palestinian rights to focus on developing thoroughly researched, broad based and strategic BDS campaigns that are based on the three operational principles of the movement: context-sensitivity, gradualness and sustainability.  Developing such a long-term vision is essential for the growth and sustainable success of the movement.

With these criteria in mind, the BNC suggests the following forms of action for this BDS Global Day of Action:

1. Organize a visible and creative protest, flash mob or action that promotes an existing long-term campaign to a new audience;

2. Prepare outreach meetings or events or media initiatives that seek to bring BDS to new audiences;

3. Launch mobilization initiatives for the WSF Free Palestine, to be held in late November in Port Alegre, Brazil. Consider announcing the formation of national, regional or sector mobilizing committees and to start public and media outreach. The mobilizing committees for the WSF Free Palestine serve to mobilize and to discuss how to use this opportunity to strengthen local solidarity efforts and provide them with global reach and exposure. More information here.

4. Where possible, use the Global BDS Day of Action as a launching pad for new BDS campaign initiatives;

5. Call on governments to implement incremental sanctions against Israel, by heeding the call from Palestinian civil society for a military embargo on Israel or by suspending free trade agreements or other agreements;

6. Publicize, promote and make use of the recently published report issued by EU heads of mission to occupied Jerusalem calling for preventing and discouraging “financial transactions in support of [Israeli] settlement activity.” This can be accurately interpreted as a call for a ban on colonial settlement products from entering the EU market and for effective measures against all actors implicated in Israel’s colonization of East Jerusalem and the rest of the OPT.

Join the BDS Global Day of Action on Land Day, 30 March 2012!

For information on how to join this global event and how to develop ongoing BDS action in your country, organization and network, please contact the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) at: bdsdayofaction@bdsmovement.net.

We’ll be highlighting all of the day’s actions on the bdsmovement.net website, so please send any information about planned actions ahead of time to bdsdayofaction@bdsmovement.net.

On the day itself, let’s all use Twitter hashtag #bds to promote our actions and don’t forget to follow @bdsmovement to follow the action as it unfolds!

For further inspiration:

BDS Global Day of Action 2011 press release
BDS Global Day of Action 2010 press release

Khader Adnan, Palestinian political prisoner being held under administrative detention, is now entering his 57th day of hunger strike and facing a severe health crisis.  Despite the fact that Khader Adnan risks death with every minute that passes, the Israeli military court system is delaying decisions in his case and further prolonging his unjust imprisonment. This delay shows utter disregard for Khader Adnan’s life, health and humanity. Write now to the Israeli Military Judge Advocate General to demand that Khader Adnan be freed immediately and unconditionally. 

Keep the pressure on: make phone calls, send letters, and protest to free Khader Adnan.  See actions: http://samidoun.ca/?p=191

Tweet Now: Tell Israeli Courts: Your Delays are Killing #KhaderAdnan #Dying2Live http://samidoun.ca/?p=191

On Thursday, February 9, an appeals hearing was held in Adnan’s hospital room in Zief Hospital in Safad, where six lawyers represented him. Despite the urgency of the situation and the threat of Adnan’s imminent death, the judge postponed ruling on the case until typed documents were presented, expecting a ruling sometime “next week.” 

In the hospital, he remains shackled to the bed, even as he has lost over 80 pounds. After 50 days without food, a hunger striker has a severe risk of organ failure – which is why action now to demand Khader Adnan’s freedom is urgent.

Khader Adnan has been protesting his detention and the abuse and torture suffered since he was seized by Israeli occupation soldiers on December 17, 2011, as Addameer reports. Prisoners – like Khader Adnan – held under administrative detention are imprisoned without charge, on secret evidence, for up to six-month periods at a time – which can be renewed repeatedly.

Palestinian and solidarity activists in Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC held protests in the United States, while a solidarity hunger strike continued in Gaza. Near Beitunia, outside Ofer prison, the Israeli occupation army attacked a Palestinian demonstration calling for Khader Adnan’s release with tear gas and bullets, injuring 16 people, including a journalist.

International pressure is also mounting. Human Rights Watch joined Amnesty International’s call to “charge or release” Adnan on Saturday February 11, and United Nations envoy Robert Serry issued a statement, calling on Israel “to do everything in its power to preserve the health of the prisoner and resolve this case while abiding by all legal obligations under international law.” Organizations including theArab Doctor’s Union and the National Lawyers Guild’s Free Palestine Subcommittee, have joined the call for Khader Adnan’s release.

Khader Adnan is dying to live. Take action now to support him. http://samidoun.ca/?p=191

1. Call your government officials and demand that they pressure Israel publicly and privately to release Khader Adnan.
In Canada:

Call the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa at (613) 567-6450 OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).

Call the Office of the Foreign Minister, John Baird (Tel: 613-990-7720; Email: bairdj@parl.gc.ca)

Just last week, Baird stated that “There is not a government on the planet today more supportive of Israel than Harper’s Canada.” Call Baird’s office and let him know that this shameful declaration implicates Canada in Israel’s crimes and human rights violations. Demand that Baird’s office call for Khader Adnan’s release.

In the US:

Call the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC (1.202.364.5500) OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).

Call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209)

Demand that Jeffrey Feltman bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel and raise the question of Khader Adnan’s administrative detention.

2. Organize a protest outside your local Israeli Embassy (for a list, click here). View Chicago and Washington DC protests here.

Post your local actions to the Khader Adnan facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Khader-Adnan/236953309725144

Help us spread the word with social media after you take action.

Download this photo of Khader Adnan to use for your social media profile pictures and click on the suggested messages below and they will be automatically tweeted.  

3. Write to Israeli officials and demand an end to delay and the immediate, unconditional release of Khader Adnan. Samidoun has provided a template and an automated letter-writing system. Send yours and make your voice heard today!

4. It is important to note the responsibility of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Sign this petition and join hundreds demanding that the ICRC exercise its responsibilities to protect Palestinian prisoners.

5. Spread the word:

Tweet Now: 56 Days: Take Action Now for #KhaderAdnan http://samidoun.ca/?p=191 #Palestine #Israel #Dying2Live

Tweet Now: Tell Israeli Courts: Your Delays are Killing #KhaderAdnan #Dying2Live http://samidoun.ca/?p=191

A newly released report submitted to the United Nations by international organizations working in Al Khalil documents a sharp increase in serious human rights violations against Palestinian civilians, particularly youth and children, living in the Old City and Tel Rumeida.

Internationals working in Al-Khalil have called for an immediate withdrawal of the Golani Brigade, citing fears that the abuses will continue to escalate and make life unbearable for Palestinians should the soldiers remain another two to five months as expected. 

Contacts:

Since their arrival on December 27 of 2011, the Israeli Golani Brigade has shown signs of deliberate harassment and targeting of the Palestinian population of Al-Khalil. The report documents an increase in arrests and detentions of adults and children, serious physical injuries sustained while in military custody, home invasions, and an increase in the number and duration of arbitrary detentions of civilians at checkpoints. It also documents harassment of and attempts to silence international observers attempting to document these abuses.

Contrary to military justifications, these human rights violations have occurred without any observed provocation on the part of Palestinians. These eye-witness accounts, either reported to or witnessed by Internationals working in the city, are believed to represent only a small portion of the total number of abuses.

The full report is available for viewing, along with video and photos, at http://www.cpt.org/underattack

The Israel military court has extended administrative detention for two months in addition to three months already detained for civil rights lawyer Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, a lecturer at An-Najah National University and the Cultural Coordinator for the Tanweer Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment Forum, currently detained in Ofer Prison near Ramallah.

Yousef Abdul Haq was arrested November 7th, 2011 at his home at 2:00 AM, suffering from illness which requires constant dosage of medicine,  forcing his transfer to a hospital immediately after his arrest in Ramla.

He was sentenced to two months in administrative detention immediately.

This arbitrary administrative detention is legally incompatible with the most basic international standards of human rights, because it is without any specific charge against the prisoner. These arbitrary detentions depend on the military file and “secret evidence” which cannot be seen by the detainee or defense lawyers. This file is prepared by Israel intelligence and is “collected” illegally.

This type of detention is internationally banned and is impacting lawmakers in the Palestinian Legislative Council, members of local councils, university students, political activists, academics, trade unionists and even women and children.

The imposition of administrative detention by Article 111 of the military state of emergency imposed by the British colonial authorities of Palestine September, 1945 is illegal on the grounds that Article 43 of the Hague international agreement of 1907 prohibits an occupying power to change the legislative reality of the country occupied.

Administrative detention is the endless suffering of the prisoners because they may de detained for a decade, physically and psychologically impacting the detainee and their family based on the expectation that the next decision will be an extension of detention.

The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights received from the Israeli military court in Ofer, that the number of additional administrative detentions issued by the Israeli military governor reached a total of 5,971 since the beginning of 2004 until the end of 2010.

We in the Tanweer Enlightenment Forum, call for the release of our colleague Dr. Yousef immediately from behind bars, and we hold the Government responsible for the conditions of Israel’s occupation, in respect to his health. We demand the end of the administrative detentions which are contrary to international law..

On this occasion, we declare our solidarity with the prisoner hero Khader Adnan, who is continuing his hunger strike battle in his 55th day to end the administrative detentions. We also call on international institutions and the Arab and local media to expose the policy of administrative detention. We uphold the work of a united front for the release of Palestinian prisoners including lawyers, members of the Legislative Council, academics, students, children and women.

We call for the end of administrative detentions forever.

Freedom for political prisoners.

Close the detention camps and prisons and abolish administrative detention.

This year, Palestinian activists in Hebron are planning a week of activities to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein Massacre and demand the opening of Shuhada Street. The planned activities in Hebron are as follows:

Monday :       20/02/2012
Photo Exhibition about the Ibrahim Mosque Massacre and Non-violent Resistance in Palestine

Tuesday :      21/02/2012
Tour For Israeli Parliament Members (if Possible )

Wednesday : 22/02/2012
Film screening about Shuhada Street

Thursday :     23/02/2012
Presentation about Apartheid System in Hebron

Friday:          24/02/2012
Main Demonstration

Saturday :     25/02/2012
Visit to The Families of the Massacre Victims and Families in H2

As we have done for the past few years, we urge all people who are against Israeli Apartheid in Hebron to organize solidarity actions on February 25, 2012.

Below is a list of suggested solidarity actions that we hope you will consider.

1. Demonstrations, Marches, Vigils, Flashmobs

2. Presentations about Apartheid in Hebron

3. Photo Exhibitions concerning Apartheid in Hebron

4. Twitter: Use this hashtag #OpenShuhadaSt to spread the word and educate the masses about Hebron.  This is especially important during the week of actions.

5.Video Message: Create and send video messages to community forums, media, and social media outlets urging the international community to use diplomatic pressure to re-open Shuhada Street.

6. Letter-writing and Petitions to the Israeli Ambassador and elected officials in your country asking them to intervene

7.Write letters to the Palestinian Families in Hebron to show solidarity

8.Close roads to show the public the effects of closing the main road in Hebron.

9.Visit Hebron to gain an understanding of the situation and the daily suffering of the people living there.

10. Any other non-violent activity you feel supports the cause, be as creative as possible!!

Please reply to let us know if/how you plan to participate!

Thank you!
Open Shuhada Street Coalition

Khader Adnan, an imprisoned Palestinian activist held under administrative detention, has engaged in an open-ended hunger strike since December 17, 2012. Now at fifty days into his hunger strike, he is facing severe health consequences and has been moved to a hospital, continuing to refuse food in protest of torture, isolation, and the use of arbitrary detention against Palestinians.

Khader Adnan needs international support and solidarity to make it clear to the Israeli occupation that the eyes of the world are on his case and that of his nearly 5,000 fellow Palestinian political prisoners. He is currently in a hospital bed and being force-fed liquids over his objection.

Send a letter now to Israeli officials demanding his freedom.

TWEET NOW to share this action alert by clicking here!

Addameer, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, details the experience of Khader Adnan with the Israeli occupation on their page dedicated to his case. Adnan, a spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad party, is currently held under administrative detention, which is arbitrary detention without charge or trial, based on secret evidence, and renewable indefinitely for repeated periods of up to six months. Khader Adnan was issued a four-month administrative detention order on January 8. This is the eighth time Adnan has been detained, and he has served a total of six years in Israeli prisons – mostly without charge or trial under the administrative detention scheme. 280 fellow Palestinians are also held without charge or trial under Israel’s administrative detention mechanism.

Addameer reports:

Khader was arrested on 17 December 2011, when Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) raided his home outside Jenin at 3:30 am. Before entering his house, soldiers used the driver that takes Khader’s father to the vegetable market, Mohammad Mustafa, as a human shield by forcing him to knock on the door of the house and call out Khader’s name while blindfolded.

A huge force of soldiers then entered the house shouting. Recognizing Khader immediately, they grabbed him violently in front of his two young daughters and ailing mother. The soldiers blindfolded him and tied his hands behind his back using plastic shackles before leading him out of his house and taking him to a military jeep. Khader was then thrown on his back and the soldiers began slapping him in the face and kicking his legs. They kept him lying on his back until they reached Dutan settlement, beating him on the head throughout the 10-minute drive. When they reached the settlement, Khader was pushed aggressively out of the jeep. Because of the blindfold, Khader did not see the wall right in front of him and smashed into it, causing injuries to his face.

Following his arrest, he was taken to interrogation, refused medical care and treatment despite Israeli prison officials’ knowledge of his health conditions, subject to physical abuse and mistreatment including being tied to a chair in a stress position, causing extreme back pain, and pulling on his beard so hard that his hair was ripped out. Khader was subjected to abusive language about his family, and refused to speak any further to interrogators, as well as refusing food. In retaliation, he was placed into isolation and solitary confinement, denied family visits, awakened in the middle of the night and strip-searched. He has refused to end his strike, protesting the illegitimacy of his arbitrary detention by an illegal occupation authority as well as cruel and inhumane treatment and abuse.

This is not his first hunger strike – in 2005 he protested his isolation in Kfar Yuna with a 12-day hunger strike. Khader Adnan’s hunger strike has sparked solidarity tents in Gaza and protests in Ramallah. Ten of his fellow prisoners in Ofer prison have joined him in his hunger strike, six fellow Islamic Jihad activists and four imprisoned members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; dozens of prisoners have refused food or participated in civil disobedience inside the prisons in support of Adnan. Students in Gaza are organizing a solidarity hunger strike outside the Red Cross building.

On Tuesday, February 7, Palestinian lawyers will boycott military courts to protest the treatment of Adnan Khader and demand an end to international silence around his case.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners participated in a 23-day hunger strike in October 2011, demanding an end to isolation, abuse, denial of family visits, and the long-term isolation of Palestinian leaders such as Ahmad Sa’adat; Israeli promises to end isolation, aimed to secure the end of the strike, proved to be false.

TAKE ACTION!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges the Palestine solidarity movement in North America and around the world to publicize the case of Khader Adnan and raise up the voices of Palestinian political prisoners. Palestinian prisoners’ struggle for freedom is central to the struggle for a free Palestine.

Addameer has issued a call to action - we encourage you to distribute and act on Addameer’s call, linked here, and also to

Organize a picket or protest outside the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Khader Adnan and all Palestinian political prisoners. Make it clear that the eyes of the world are on the situation of Khader Adnan and demand an end to the use of isolation, torture solitary confinement, and administrative detention against Palestinian political prisoners. Send us reports of your protests at Israeli embassies and consulates at samidoun@samidoun.ca.

Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to urge them to act swiftly to protect Khader Adnan and all Palestinian political prisoners. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at JER_jerusalem@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Khader Adnan. Make it clear that arbitrary detention without charge or trial is unacceptable, and that the ICRC must act to protect Palestinian prisoners from cruel and inhumane treatment.

Share this alert on Twitter and use the #FreeKhaderAdnan and #KhaderAdnan hashtags.

TWEET NOW to share this action alert by clicking here.

2 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

The recent Arab uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa have proven that the Arab people are no longer willing to tolerate oppression and tyranny. They send a strong message to Western hegemonic powers and their oppressive regional allies that a new wave of nonviolent civil resistance will ultimately prevail over injustice and occupation. In addition, the Arab uprisings also send an important message to all people of the world that armed resistance is no longer the only option for pursuing change.

One must acknowledge that the recent successes of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions are a reminder that this inspirational movement for nonviolent civil resistance was actually born in Palestine. As American University of Beirut Professor Rami Zurayk notes, “The Arab uprisings have of course taken their inspiration from the Palestinian Intifada.” But as he further clarifies, the reverse is also true: there is “a constant feeding in from the Arab uprisings to Palestine and from Palestine to the Arab uprisings.”

Professor Zurayk is one of the Lebanese delegates for the Global March to Jerusalem (GMJ), a groundbreaking nonviolent civil resistance initiative scheduled for March 30, 2012 in Palestine and the four neighboring countries: Egypt, Lebanon Jordan and Syria. The GMJ is comprised of a diverse coalition of Palestinian, Arab and international activists who are united in the struggle to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem from illegal Zionist occupation. While the GMJ is made up of grassroots movements in each participating country, the march is also internationalized through a central coordinating committee with elected delegates from each region. More than thirty of these delegates met in Amman last December and in Beirut in January to discuss plans for hundreds of thousands of people to peacefully march to the holy city of Jerusalem, or to the nearest point possible according to the circumstances of each neighboring country, for not only Palestinian rights, but the rights of all humans.

In many ways the GMJ has the potential to be a movement of epic proportions, and thus coordinating the march will not be easy. Up until now, most political solidarity movements at both the global and grassroots level have failed to include the majority of Palestinians living in Palestine as well as those countries that border Occupied Palestine. And yet now Palestinians themselves are taking a leading role in the GMJ. Considering the scope of the initiative, internal disagreements are bound to happen. However Ali Ayoub, a Palestinian activist with the Right to Return Committee in Lebanon, stresses that while “there are differences in politics between the many Palestinian parties, what unites them is Jerusalem and Palestine.” Furthermore, he says that the movement also takes strength from the fact that “all the free people of this world are suffering” from what is happening in Jerusalem and in Palestine.

It is very important that a strong contingent of American activists participate in the GMJ. In the United States, American tax dollars are endlessly being funneled into war, military occupation, and dictatorship throughout the Middle East. In addition to financing and arming oppressive regimes that have already been challenged by the Arab uprisings, U.S. tax dollars also continue to finance Israeli settlement expansion in Jerusalem and other such crimes against the Palestinian people. This is why it is essential for Americans to remain active in the push for a free Palestine through non-violent means, and they increasingly are. College campuses across the United States are organizing students to oppose Israeli oppression through non-violent campaigns such as the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement. Hundreds of Palestine solidarity activists from around the U.S. converged last October for a student conference at Columbia University to organize a national campaign. Palestine continues to be a priority for those in the U.S. who seek justice in the Middle East. So while the U.S. government continues to harass American solidarity activists, they must remain steadfast in their support for their Palestinian counterparts through initiatives such as GMJ-NA, the North American division of the Global March to Jerusalem.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The GMJ is focusing on the particular issue of Jerusalem because the holy city has come to embody the violence of an enduring occupation. As Professor Zurayk explains, “What is going on in Jerusalem today symbolizes everything that the Zionist movement has been doing for the past 65 years,” where the state of Israel has “been trying to take the land of Palestine by force as well as through more insidious strategies and tactics.” In this way “Jerusalem symbolizes the struggles of the Palestinian people in opposing the Zionist control and hegemony over their land.”

While the international community has been concentrating on the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations, and solidarity activists have been engaged in the struggle to end the siege of Gaza, the situation for Palestinians living in the holy city of Jerusalem has been deteriorating at an incredible rate. Over the last few years, Zionist efforts to “Judaize” the city have quickened pace, erasing Jerusalem’s physical, cultural and spiritual characteristics. According to a report released by the Middle East Monitor, this process of Judaization has involved the unrestricted expansion and funding of illegal Israeli settlements, the continued dispossession and demolition of Palestinian property, and the construction of a Separation Wall surrounding the city, all of which have changed the demographics of the holy city from a Palestinian to Jewish majority.

In response, Palestinians have now called upon the international community to join them in this peaceful march on March 30, Palestine Land Day, so that they can preserve the status of Jerusalem as a holy city for all humans. Ayoub says that Jerusalem “means a lot to me as I am Palestinian,” but he also adds that it means something to “all of the humans and free people of this world.”

Indeed, the GMJ principles of unity assert the importance of Jerusalem politically, culturally and religiously to the Palestinian people and to humanity as a whole. These principles of unity also require a commitment to nonviolent civil resistance in this struggle to liberate Jerusalem from Zionist occupation.

The international participants of the GMJ represent a diverse coalition of voices from various Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other religious and non-religious communities. The GMJ now has endorsements from individuals including Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, Palestinian-American author Susan Abulhawa, Palestinian democracy activist Mustafa Barghouti, who speaks about the GMJ and its urgency:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also joining these international participants is former US ambassador and counter-terrorism deputy chief Edward Peck, anti-war activist Medea Benjamin, international law professor Richard Falk, and public intellectual Tariq Ali.

As Indian solidarity activist and GMJ architect Feroze Mithiborwala says, “This year in Jerusalem.” We hope to see all of you there in spring.

 Marusek and Gupta are both actively involved with GMJ-NA, an independent and autonomous coalition of North American groups planning to join this non-violent march. Details of this effort can be found at: www.gmj-na.org

Martyrs are not numbers. It is essential for us and for supporters of the Palestinian cause to remember the stories behind the names and numbers.

For this reason, we offering this space as a platform where your voices will be heard regarding the first martyr the village of Nabi Saleh has sacrificed.

Write a message to Mustafa Tamimi’s family here. We will collect, translate, and print them all into a journal which we will then present to Mustafa’s family.

Let us not forget Mustafa.

On December 9th, 2011 a freedom fighter was ruthlessly murdered defending his village and the principles of freedom and justice which he fought and was previously imprisoned for by the Israeli occupation.

Mustafa Tamimi, the 28 year old resident of the tiny village of Nabi Saleh, was shot by an Israeli soldier who opened the back door of the armored jeep and fired a tear gas canister directly to his face from a distance of 3 meters.

Let us not forget Mustafa.

Villagers, locals, and other familiar activists remember Mustafa as one of the first to greet them in the village, before the popular protests started. He was the oldest of four brothers and one sister, and was engaged to be married the next month. He had the initial of his fiance tattooed on his chest, and was preparing to build another story above his parents’ house to live with his future wife there, following the traditional norm.

Let us not forget Mustafa.

The Israeli army has never been held accountable to the murder of Palestinian civilians. It continues to act with impunity and demonstrates a complete disregard for Palestinian suffering. 10 days after Mustafa’s murder, three Israeli jeeps surrounded his parents’ house, and 25 soldiers got out with the pretense to check the license of the car outside, but with the intention to arrest Mustafa’s younger twin brothers. Mustafa’s father shouted at them that if any arrests were to take place it would be over his dead body. The soldiers left. Let us not forget also the army spraying skunk water, firing tear gas, arresting activists, and beating people up on the day of Mustafa’s funeral.

Mustafa was killed on the 24th anniversary of the first Intifada, and the second anniversary of Nabi Saleh’s popular resistance protests, which started after settlers from the neighboring illegal settlement of Halamish- built upon the village’s land- further expropriated the main spring, al-Kaws.

Let us not forget Mustafa.

His murder only succeeded in strengthening the resolve of the Palestinians against occupation. Israel kills one, and a 100 rise up in his or her place.

We ask you to show your support and love to Mustafa’s family by writing messages of solidarity addressed to them either through this link or to this email: lifeonbirzeitcampus@gmail.com. There are no guidelines to this, other than including your name and the city or country you are from.

Let us not forget Mustafa.

The Jewish National Fund has designated Sunday 5th February as ‘Green Sunday’, when it encourages people to donate money to ‘plant trees in Israel’.  The JNF claims to have environmental objectives.  Don’t be taken in.  The JNF’s tree planting is a cover for ethnic cleansing.

The JNF exists to acquire land in Israel/Palestine for the sole use of Jewish people.  For more than 100 years, the JNF has been complicit in expulsions of Palestinians from their homes, the destruction of their villages and prevention of the return of refugees – by planting trees over the remnants of the destroyed homes.

Environmentalists are asked to use the opportunity of the JNF’s ‘Green Sunday’ to take a stand against this greenwash, when ethnic cleansing masquerades as environmental action.  Don’t support the JNF’s ‘Green Sunday’, but publicly denounce the JNF.

Environmental groups throughout the world are adding their support to the international call from Palestinian civil society to Stop the JNF.

Don’t support the JNF’s ‘Green Sunday’. Instead, use the opportunity to:

• Endorse the call against the JNF
• Read the Open Letter to Environmentalists by Eurig Scandrett
• Read the testimony from Friends of the Earth Palestine
• Protest the JNF’s presence at environmental events such as Rio+20 this year
• Help the ecological rehabilitation of Palestine by planting a tree in Palestine
• Find out more about the JNF’s greenwash from the e-book Greenwashing Apartheid: The Jewish National Fund’s Environmental Cover Up
• Take action – get involved in Stop the JNF through www.stopthejnf.org and by emailing info@stopthejnf.org
• If you are involved in environmental justice, contact us at environment@stopthejnf.org