The website went offline several days ago due to internal technology issues, not external attempts to remove the site. We have been working to restore the site and upgrade software to insure more secure service into the future. The site has been receiving heavier traffic following Israel’s invasion of Gaza in January and this may have contributed to the problems.
Thank you for your patience and continued support. Everything will be restored in the coming days.
International Solidarity Movement
Press release from Cardiff Students Against War
— VICTORY!! —
Cardiff Students Against War is ENDING OUR OCCUPATION of the Large Shandon lecture theatre, Cardiff University Main Building! We’re about to leave, march around campus to declare our victory, and make our continued presence known to the university community. Banners and megaphones, BOOKS not BOMBS!
Following the open letter to Vice Chancellor David Grant, the BOOKS not BOMBS demonstration outside the Student Union and the subsequent occupation of the Large Shandon, Cardiff University has divested all shares from BAe Systems and the aerospace arm of General Electric! They have instructed their external fund managers to avoid future investments in the arms trade, and have promised to raise the issue of an ethical investment policy at the next Council Meeting on May 18th. They are also willing to discuss the provision of surplus computers and resources to institutions in Gaza.
The victory comes after three days of occupation which has been inundated with messages of support from all over the country, as well as further afield. This has included university staff, students and societies, local Plaid Cymru politicians and groups, activist groups such as CND Cymu, No Borders South Wales and South Wales Anarchists, and has had extensive press coverage, from the local papers and student publications to Indymedia and the BBC. We are extremely proud to have received a message of solidarity from Noam Chomsky!
We see this as the beginning, not the end. The occupation has attracted considerable interest and support from the Cardiff University community, and has succeeded in raising awareness of the effects of the arms trade and the horrific situation in Gaza. Cardiff Students Against War will continue to campaign on these issues, and to make sure that the university doesn’t go back on its promises.
So well done to everyone who has been involved!!
But it’s not over yet. The campaign will continue because we believe that Cardiff University should be doing more for Gaza, such as facilitating scholarships to Gazan students and boycotting Israeli products in protest at the treatment of Palestinians by the IDF, and the settlers occupying the West Bank.
Israeli forces open fire on Palestinian farmers and internationals in Al Faraheen eastern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip
Scottish activist Teresa McDermott has been found in Ramleh prison four days after she was “disappeared” by the Israel government after being forcibly removed from a seaborne Lebanese aid mission to Gaza.
In early February Teresa responded to a call for support from internationals from the organizers of a Lebanese humanitarian aid voyage to Gaza aboard the Togo flagged ship, Tali. Teresa was one of only 9 passengers aboard the cargo ship on February 4, 2009 when Israeli gunboats intercepted it, boarded and forced the ship to Ashdod port in Israel.
All the passengers and crew aboard were released on Thursday, February 5 except Teresa. Between Thursday evening and Sunday morning there was no word about Teresa’s whereabouts except several false stories saying that “Britons” had departed to London. Finally on Sunday, Teresa was able to call her brother John in Scotland to say she was in Ramleh prison in Israel.
According to Al Jazeera journalist Salam Khodr, when the ship was boarded, the passengers were beaten and kicked by Israeli soldiers before being removed from the ship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCb3apCJ4QI&hl=en&fs=1No information has been provided by Israeli officials about why Teresa has been detained, what the charges are if any and why her detention was concealed. When the British Consulate in Israel was contacted for assistance in finding Teresa, staff refused to help locate Teresa saying they couldn’t provide assistance to a UK citizen unless she personally requested it. Members of the Scottish Parliament including Pauline McNeil and Hugh O’Donnell who were part of a fall delegation to Gaza aboard the Free Gaza boat, Dignity, are working with the British government to ensure that Teresa receives the protection and assistance to which she is entitled.
Teresa went to Gaza with the first Free Gaza boats in August and returned with the ship Dignity for a second voyage. She is a respected, long time human rights activist who has worked with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine as well as with Free Gaza. At home in Scotland she works for the Post Office. The Israelis found only medical and other humanitarian aid on the Tali but refused to return the ship. The status of its humanitarian cargo is unknown.
6th February 2009
At 9am on Saturday 7th February 2009, 10 international Human Rights Activists will be accompanying Palestinian farmers in Al Faraheen village, east of Khan Younis. Farmers and international accompaniers were fired upon by Israeli Forces in the same area on Thursday, February 5th.
International Human Rights Activists will accompany Yusef Abu Shaheen, a Palestinian farmer, in Abassan Jedida of Al Faraheen village. Shaheen’s land is approximately 500 metres from the ‘Green Line’ and 5 kilometres south of Kissufim (Al Qarara) Crossing.
“We are accompanying these farmers to harvest their crops because they have a right to their land. Palestinians who live or have land within 1 kilometre of the Green Line are being driven out by Israeli military violence. We consider this to be a form of ethnic cleansing. With international accompaniment, these farmers are able to harvest their crops with a much greater degree of safety than if they were to come to these areas alone”
Andrew Muncie (Scotland) – International Human Rights Worker
This action comes after farm worker Arwan was shot and killed by Israeli forces as he worked his land close to the ‘Green Line’.
On Tuesday 27th January 2009, in Al Faraheen, Israeli forces shot at several farmers, killing one.
27 year old Arwan was working picking parsley and spinach in the village agricultural lands, approximately 700 m from the Green Line, when Israeli jeeps opened fire with machine guns from behind the Green Line – shooting more than 30 bullets in quick succession, eyewitnesses reported. Many of the seven farmers working in the area scattered, taking shelter from the shower of bullets. Arwan, however, was shot in the neck, dying instantly.
