16th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is placing a call out for volunteers to join us in the West Bank now, and for the olive harvest beginning in October.
We need solidarity activists to support the Palestinian popular struggle by joining protests and demonstrations, to document and report on the crimes committed by both the Israeli military and the colonial settlers living on Palestinian land throughout the West Bank, and to stand alongside Palestinian communities as they face occupation and apartheid.
Photo by ISM
ISM is also sending an urgent call for volunteers to join the 2014 olive harvest campaign, beginning in October.
ISM volunteers join Palestinian farming communities each year to harvest olives in areas where Palestinians face settler and military violence while working their land. Palestinian communities state that the presence of international volunteers reduces the risk of extreme violence from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army. Your presence can make a big difference.
The olive tree is a Palestinian national symbol, and the Israeli military systematically prevents agricultural fruition in order to make life for Palestinians more difficult. The Israeli occupation provides a platform for Palestinian rights to be violated in an array of ways; the attack on agriculture is at the forefront.
Already documented this year, and to list a few cases; the trees have suffered settler sewage runoff, sabotaging fires, and being cut down. Olive trees comprise of an essential 14% of the Palestinian agricultural economy.
We support Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihoods and be present on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent intervention and documentation and practical support, which enables many families to pick their olives.
The campaign will begin in October and will last around 6-8 weeks. We ask that volunteers start arriving at the end of September, so that we will be prepared when the harvest begins. Usually we require a two week commitment from volunteers, however during the olive harvest a one week commitment is sufficient. All volunteers must attend a two-day training before they join ISM, trainings run on Wednesdays and Thursdays as long as the trainers are available. Please see the join ISM page or contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.
Aftermath of Israeli airstrike on Palestinian home in Gaza.
Gaza Calling: All out on Saturday 9 August Day of Rage
Join the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Movement today. Demand Sanctions on Israel Now.
As we face the full might of Israel’s military arsenal, funded and supplied by the United States and European Union, we call on civil society and people of conscience throughout the world to pressure governments to sanction Israel and implement a comprehensive arms embargo immediately.
Take to the streets on Saturday 9 August with a united demand for sanctions on Israel.
From Gaza under invasion, bombardment, and continuing siege, the horror is beyond words. Medical supplies are exhausted. The death toll has reached 1813 killed (398 children, 207 women, 74 elderly) and 9370 injured (2744 children, 1750 women, 343 elderly). Our hospitals, ambulances, and medical staff are all under attack while on duty. Doctors and paramedics are being killed while evacuating the dead. Our dead are not numbers and statistics to be recounted; they are loved ones, family and friends.
While we have to survive this onslaught, you certainly have the power to help end it the same way you helped overcome Apartheid and other crimes against humanity. Israel is only able to carry out this attack with the unwavering support of governments – this support must end.
This is our third massacre in six years. When not being slaughtered, we remain under siege, an illegal collective punishment of the entire population. Fishermen are shot and killed if they stray beyond a 3 km limit imposed unilaterally by Israel. Farmers are shot harvesting their crops within a border area imposed unilaterally by Israel. Gaza has become the largest open-air prison, a concentration camp since 2006. This time, we want an end to this unprecedented crime against humanity committed with the complicity and support of your own governments!
We are not asking for charity. We are demanding solidarity, because we know that until Israel is isolated and sanctioned, these horrors will be repeated.
Take action this Saturday
Make boycotts, divestments and sanctions the main message at every protest around the world. Take banners and placards calling for sanction on Israel to every protest. Tweet them using the hashtag #GazaDayofRage. Email us your pictures and action details to GazaDayofRage@gmail.com.
While news of all the mass protests outside Israel’s embassies around the world have given us hope, after weeks of protests, we urge you to intensify your actions. Occupy Israeli embassies, challenge Israeli officials (and others) supporting the current aggression against Gaza whenever they appear in public and stage sit-in in government buildings.
Boycott all Israeli products and take action against corporations profiting from Israel’s system of colonialism, occupation and apartheid. March to boycott targets in your city and educate the public about companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing military assault and illegal siege of Gaza.
Palestinian trade unions are calling on our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement internationally to stop handling goods imported from or exported to Israel. The trade union movement has a proud history of direct action against Apartheid in South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions has joined us in the call for direct action to end Israel’s impunity.
From occupied and besieged Gaza
Signed by
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions
General Union of Palestinian Women
University Teachers’ Association in Palestine
Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (Umbrella for 133 orgs)
Medical Democratic Assembly
General Union of Palestine Workers
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women’s Work Committees
Pal-Cinema (Palestine Cinema Forum)
Youth Herak Movement
Union of Women’s Struggle Committees
Union of Synergies—Women Unit
Union of Palestinian Women Committees
Women’s Studies Society
Working Woman’s Society
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
Gaza BDS Working Group
One Democratic State Group
Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
BNC includes: Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), Palestinian National Institute for NGOs, Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition, Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS), Federation of Independent Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Workers, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, General Union of Palestinian Women, Union of Palestinian Farmers, General Union of Palestinian Teachers, General Union of Palestinian Writers, Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE), Union of Professional Associations, General Union of Palestinian Peasants, Union of Public Employees in Palestine-Civil Sector, Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW), National Committee for Grassroots Resistance, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), National Committee to Commemorate the Nakba, Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem, Coalition for Jerusalem, Union of Palestinian Charitable Organizations, Palestinian Economic Monitor, Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps, Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Initiative
4th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
UPDATED:
Thanks to all the people who contacted their representatives and the foreign offices of the UK, Sweden, and the USA! The Palestinian human rights defenders, joined by international volunteers, safely delivered mattresses, food, and water to citizens in Rafah today.
Photo by Charlie AndreassonPhoto by Charlie AndreassonPhoto by Charlie Andreasson
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Call your representatives and the foreign offices of the UK, Sweden, and the USA to inform them that citizens of these countries are travelling to Rafah to deliver aid. Demand that Israel cease targeting medical personnel rescue teams and civilians, and immediately provides an evacuation route to transfer humanitarian aid to Rafah and to evacuate patients to other hospitals in Gaza for treatment.
Some contact information is provided below.
Palestinian human rights defenders, joined by international volunteers, are now travelling to western Rafah with a Red Crescent truck to deliver food, mattresses, and water.
“The situation in Rafah cannot continue, people are left with nothing. There is a small window of time, that will dissolve in two hours, and then no one knows what will happen to all the civilians- the families- who need support. That’s why we’re going with mattresses, water, and food, these supplies are desperately needed right now.” Stated Swedish International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer, Charlie Andreasson.
The group of international volunteers, including Swedish, U.S and UK citizens, are travelling from Jabalya down the Beach Road to western Rafah, with supplies donated by al-Fatiha Global and Project Akhirah.
Arwa Wael, resident of western Rafah, spoke to the ISM and stated that, “thousands of people were forced to leave the eastern side of Rafah travelling to what they thought to be the safer western side, taking shelter in UNRWA schools, in relatives and friends homes. In spite of this, these places were attacked by Israeli warplanes and many people were killed in a very short period of time, including ten members of the Zorad family. Now we are without electricity, without water and without food. Due to the shelling of the Abu Yousef hospital, the patients were evacuated to two clinics, one of which is also in the western part. The clinic doesn’t have a morgue, so ice-cream and vegetable fridges are being used to hold the dead bodies, generators are powering these fridges and are swiftly running out of fuel.”
A press release issued by the Gaza Ministry of Health on August 3rd reports that at least 170 people have been killed and dozens injured in Rafah in recent days. The two maternity hospitals in Rafah, the Kuwaiti Maternity Hospital and the Emirati Red Crescent Maternity Hospital, are not equipped to deal with the large number of wounded and dying people, and there is no safe evacuation route to transfer patients to other hospitals in Gaza for treatment.
2nd August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine
Urgent call to action
In response to calls from our fellow human beings and comrades in Gaza who ask that we bring an end to the Egyptian government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza:
To all of you who understand the interconnectedness of our many human struggles for justice and dignity, we implore you to act in solidarity with Palestine as Gaza burns and bleeds, gathers and buries the lifeless bodies of her children, and contends with carnage, despair, and loss for which there is no language.
More than 1.8 million human beings have been under a suffocating, deadly siege imposed by Israel and accommodated by the Egyptian government, that severely restricts all movement of people and products.
It is creating in Gaza what has been described as the biggest open air prison in the world, subject to frequent Israeli attacks and used as a laboratory to test and market new Israeli weapons.
The average age in Gaza is 17 years, with half the people under the age of 16. This is a defenceless civilian population, densely packed into this besieged enclave with no place to run or take refuge from Israel’s full-on military onslaught.
The cynical claims that Palestinians are forcing Israel to kill their children lack the basic requirements of logic and minimal vestiges of humanity. No one is forcing Israel to commit genocide or to target infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and the only power plant in Gaza.
Purposefully, of their own volition, Israelis are using the most sophisticated death machines against civilians: children, families, medical facilities and aid workers. Meanwhile Israel maintains a violent and brutal aerial, land and sea siege on Gaza, continuous since 2006.
Despite a call from Egyptian citizens to lift the siege, the Egyptian government which controls one border and has the option to be part of a humanitarian response to the besieged people of Gaza, has instead supported the Israeli plan for return to the status quo of slow genocide.
Many people in Gaza are desperate to avoid slow death by savage siege, hunger and lack of medical care and demand to live like normal human beings, but feel the only option Israel gives them is to die quickly by carpet bombings and wanton mass destruction which Israel now mercilessly executes.
Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry stated that the Rafah Crossing into Egypt is “open.” “We receive injured daily from Gaza, as we pass more than 600 tons of aid through.”
However, between the 10th and 27th of July, the Egyptian government has allowed an average of just nine wounded people a day to cross the border from Gaza to Egypt to receive medical treatment.
Several aid shipments of medical supplies, and even doctors, were denied entry. In light of the actual number of wounded in Gaza, at least 8,265 as of 31 July 2014, the Egyptian government’s allowance is condemnable.
Egypt must help their sisters and brothers in Gaza. The Egyptian government must refuse complicity in Israel’s genocide of a population they hold captive.
Here’s how you can help:
Go to your local Egyptian Embassy or consulate and demand the Egyptian government open Rafah crossing immediately and end its complicity with Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza.
Flood embassy phone-lines/email with messages of protest. Write letters to print media holding Egypt complicit and similarly deluge radio/TV and Facebook etc.
Raise your concerns with your political representatives.
Please communicate your actions and the Embassy responses to us via email at: openrafahnow@gmail.com.
Updated list of endorsers:
Ahmed Kathrada, Former Robben Island inmate, anti-Apartheid icon, ANC leader – South Africa
Mr. Ronnie Kasrils Former ANC Minister for Intelligence Services – South Africa
Luisa Morgantini Former Vice President of the European Parliament – Italy
Richard Falk Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
Breyten Breytenbach, anti-Apartheid writer, painter, novelist and icon – South Africa
Noam Chomsky, linguist, philosopher,political commentator and activist – USA
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) – South Africa
Mosireen – Egypt
Abu Dis Popular Committee – Palestine
Adalah- NY (the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel) – USA
Al Eizariya Popular Committee – Palestine
Alternative Information Center – Palestine
Alternative Tourism Group – Palestine
Al Walaja Popular Committee – Palestine
Al Mufakara Popular Committee – Palestine
Al Masara Popular Committee – Palestine
Assopacepalestina – Italy
At Tuwani Popular Committee – Palestine
Australians for Palestine – Australia
Autónomos de Palestina – Spain
Badil – Palestine
BDS Catalunya – Catalunya
BDS Italy – Italy
BDS Kampagne – Germany
BDS Los Angeles for Justice in Palestine – USA
BDS Madrid – Spain
BDS – Netherlands
BDS – South Africa
Bil’in Popular Committee – Palestine
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign- Vancouver – Canada
Boycott Israel Network – UK
British Muslim Initiative – UK
Campagne BDS France – France
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament – UK
Canadian Boat to Gaza – Canada
CODEPINK – USA
Collectif Palestine Libre (Toulouse) – France
Complicitats que Maten – Catalunya
Diensten Onderzoek Centrum Palestina – Netherlands
European Jews for a Just Peace – Europe
Felagid Island – Palestina – Iceland
Fourteen Friends of Palestine, Marin – USA
Free Gaza – International
Freedom Flotilla Italia – Italy
Gaza’s Ark – International
Global Peace and Justice Auckland (GPJA) – New Zealand
Hawai’i Coalition for Justice in Palestine – USA
Holy Land Trust – Palestine
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network – International
International League for Human Rights – Germany
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Ireland
Irish Anti-War Movement – Ireland
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation – Turkey
International Solidarity Movement Northern California – USA
International Solidarity Movement Estado Espano – Spain
International Solidarity Movement – Palestine
Italian Peace Research Institute (Civil Peace Corps) – Italy
Izquierda Anticapitalista – Spain
Jews Against Genocide – International
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return – USA
Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost – Germany
Just Foreign Policy – US
Kenya Palestine Solidarity Committee – Kenya
Kufr Qaddum Popular Committee – Palestine
Labor for Palestine NY – USA
Lluita Internacionalista – Catalunya
Ni’lin Popular Committee – Palestine
Nabi Saleh Popular Committee – Palestine
Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative
One Democratic State Group – England
Palestine Festival of Literature – Palestine
Palestine Forum in Britain – UK
Palestine Solidarity Alliance – South Africa
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Scotland
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – South Africa
Palestinian-American Women’s Association of Southern California – USA
Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People – Palestine
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall) – Palestine
Palestinian Union of Social Workers and Psychologists – Palestine
People for Peace, London – Canada
People for Peace London – Canada
The Ahmed Katharda foundation – South Africa
PFB – Friends of Al Aqsa – UK
Plataforma de Boicot Acádemico contra Israel – Spain
Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina Madrid – Spain
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee – Palestine
Red Sparks Union- Vancouver – Canada
Red de Solidaridad contra la Ocupación de Palestina – Spain
1st August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Update 2nd August:
Thanks to every one who responded to our urgent action alert, the Egyptian authorities opened the gate to allow the trapped group of foreign passport holders in!
Lets keep the pressure up on the Egyptian government until it opens the Rafah crossing to everyone and ends it’s complicity with Israel’s genocide.
See the Action alert issued by civil society organizations and public figures to demand the opening of the Rafah crossing here.
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This morning a group of over 70 people, mostly women and children carrying foreign passports, planned to take advantage of the ceasefire to leave Gaza and enter Egypt. Israel began bombing Rafah and the Egyptian personnel closed the Egyptian side of the border, leaving them trapped at the crossing, as the bombs fall around them. The Red Cross is not being allowed to reach them due to the bombing in the area.
Their nationalities include German, Norwegian, Bulgarian, and Egyptian.
Call the German, Norwegian, Bulgarian foreign office and political representatives to demand that the Egyptian government opens the crossing and allows civilians to take refuge.
“The situation is very scary, the borders are closed and we are here, 70 people, mostly women and children trapped. I can see the smoke and fire, and I can hear the explosions very close to where we are,” said Nalan, one of the women trapped at the Rafah Crossing, talking to The Real News.
Listen to the audio recording of a phone call with Nalan Al Sarraj, correspondent for The Real News Network, trapped at the crossing here.
A call issued by civil society organizations and public figures including African National Congress (ANC) leaders Ahmed Kathrada, Ronnie Kasrils, and former vice president of the European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini and Richard Falk states that “Despite a call from Egyptian citizens to lift the siege, the Egyptian government which controls one border and has the option to be part of a humanitarian response to the besieged people of Gaza, has instead supported the Israeli plan for return to the status quo of slow genocide.”
Egypt must open the Rafah crossing. Photo by Eyad Al Baba /APA images.
