23 February 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Tel Aviv
Samira Khoshbakht.
Tel Aviv, February 21, 2024 – Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport have denied entry to a Swedish foreign national and Palestinian human rights defender arbitrarily citing “Public security or public safety or public order considerations”. Samira Khoshbakht, 42, a textile artist and craft teacher working with children, has started a hunger strike in protest of their detention after being denied entry to Israel/Palestine. Samira’s phone was taken, they have not been allowed to contact the Swedish embassy and are now held in a moldy cell.
Samira has stated: “Amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank endure daily brutality from Israeli settlers and soldiers. The media coverage of these violations is highly deficient, only a small fraction of the most extreme cases are reported. Just in the past few months, sixteen whole communities have been displaced. Therefore, the presence of human rights activists is crucial. Israel’s imprisonment and deportation of international human rights defenders under the guise of terrorism are unjustifiable actions. In accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Israel is obliged to protect and promote our work. Our contribution is to observe and document what is happening on the ground and we are determined to continue doing so.”
Israel controls all access points to the Palestinian territories it occupies. Being denied entry by occupation authorities entails interrogation, forcible deportation and most often a ban on returning. In an extension of the oppression of Palestinian human rights, Israeli authorities continue targeting human rights defenders who speak out against its violations of international humanitarian law. Israel has denied entry to UN Special Rapporteurs on the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPT) since 2008. Lately, Israel has refused to extend the UN ResidentCoordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the oPT’s visa. At the end of November 2023, human rights defender Allison Russell, a Scottish-born Belgian citizen, was arrested and then deported due to her work in reporting the ongoing attacks of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Far more brutal consequences for those that Israel wants to silence are implemented in the Gaza strip, where Israel has carried out targeted executions of journalists, outspoken academics, human rights defenders and their families.
We demand the immediate release of detained human rights defender Samira Khoshbakht and the cessation of tactics of violence and harassment against human rights defenders on the ground.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza are at risk of famine and preventable death from disease as the world’s observant retreat into family and faith to mark the birth of another Palestinian child. In a lightless, treeless Bethlehem, haunting displays capture the specter of a collective grief. Christ lies in the rubble. And just over 70 kilometers away in Gaza, many thousands of Palestinians are entombed in the very same reality.
Christmas falls quiet on Bethlehem. Photo Credit, ISM
Through the doorway of a thousand checkpoints, the children of the West Bank avoid the binding of their hands and the breaking of their bones as occupation forces have leapt in tandem with the perpetrators of the Gaza genocide, exacting spasms of violence on their own long descent from humanity. To the immediate west of the place of Christ’s birth, a Palestinian child’s life was stolen by the bullets of the occupation just days ago. Mahmoud Mohammad Zaaoul lay murdered in the village of Husan. In occupied East Jerusalem, faithful Muslims endured beatings and pursuit on horseback by occupation soldiers energized by their greenlit domination of the indigenous population, arbitrarily blocking prayers from being spoken in Al Aqsa Mosque by Palestinian worshippers.
It is Christmas in Palestine.
16 year old Mahmoud Mohammad Zaaoul was killed on 12/20 west of Bethlehem by occupation forces. Photo Credit: WAFA
According to a UNICEF press release dated December 22nd, the latest statistics “warn that acute food insecurity puts all children under five in the Gaza Strip—335,000—at high risk of severe malnutrition and preventable death.” As a traumatized population of genocide-displaced, the people of Gaza have been forced between districts with bombs and drones biting at their heels. Public health and sanitation conditions are non-existent.
Frigid wind and rain have exacerbated illness and flooded small handmade structures that displaced Gazans are existing within as their homes lie in ruins. The World Health Organization has been sounding the alarm about the dangerous prevalence of diarrhea in children; the swelling statistic of instances is nearing 60,000 affected. This is further worsening the already horrific sanitation conditions and rising dehydration with many spending endless days searching for water, albeit contaminated and fueling illness.
Gaza is being ravaged by not only bloody diarrhea, but a host of other illnesses which are tearing through the traumatized population. Hepatitis A, jaundice, meningitis and respiratory infections as dangerous smoke from the burning of found materials to stay warm wafts across densely packed makeshift shelters peppering the gouged landscape.
Pre-existing medical conditions did not cease to be a battle impacted Palestinians were fighting prior to the gears of genocide thrusting towards them through the joint American-Israeli operation. Dialysis and cancer patients, diabetics in need of regular insulin and the means with which to maintain and monitor their blood glucose levels, disabled Palestinians needing around the clock care, stroke and cardiac patients reliant on medication to sustain life- every normal function of their medical support system lies broken among the wreckage.
In the occupied West Bank, flashes of violence strike across heavily targeted communities from Jenin to Nablus. From Tulkarm to al Khalil. The violent raids have been ramping up with the world viewing the horror through both the careful and courageous documentation of Palestinians on the ground as well as through countless antagonistic and cruel tiktok videos shared by occupation forces, mocking and dehumanizing Palestinians as they raid and desecrate a Mosque while using its amplification for prayer to sing Jewish songs. As they sit smoking on the couches of a Palestinian family home laughing and filming bound and blindfolded Palestinians gathered on the ground before them.
Running from the terror of flying rockets, earth shattering explosions and buildings collapsing around them, 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are among those fighting to survive. Over 180 births are taking place each day in genocide-torn Gaza. They are taking place in the rubble, in packed lobbies of shelters, in makeshift tent structures. The conditions are beyond horrific with only a fraction of hospital beds available from before October 7th across all Gaza’s districts. This says nothing of Palestinians ability to access one of the few medical facilities left in the devastated Gaza Strip.
The situation swells to new heights of crisis as the observant mark the day that Mary, having nowhere to stay in the town, utilized a makeshift crib to lay down her infant as angels sang the birth of the Christ lying in a Bethlehem manger.
Like so many children in Gaza, in today’s Bethlehem, Christ lies in the rubble.
As the Israeli army continues its genocidal war on Gaza, and as the Israeli occupation forces and settler militias carry out ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, people around the world are taking to the streets, engaging in direct actions and BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) and pressuring their governments to enforce an immediate permanent ceasefire, an end to the blockade of Gaza and an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid.
This post will cover the ongoing solidarity with the Palestinian struggle around the world. It will be updated with media and reports of direct actions, demonstrations, vigils and other forms of solidarity currently happening around the world, so that we can inspire each other, learn from each other and connect struggles.
Jewish Voices for Peace launches a Week of Action (11-15 December)
Jewish Voices for Peace and partner organisations are launching a week of mobilisations for the week (11th – 15th December). Their toolkit includes guidelines on how to take action during the week in the US:
#1 – Organize a protest at your elected official’s office
#2 – Organize a protest or creative direct action at a weapons manufacturing and corporate targets.
#3 – Tell Congress: stop arming this genocide and Vote NO on sending more weapons to Israel, and join us every Tuesday and Wednesday to make calls to Congress.
#4 – Host a teach-in or create a zine on the role of U.S. militarism and Palestine in your community.
#5 – Something else! Plan a creative action!
Students in Queen’s University Belfast vote for divestment from military and colonial projects, ending all ties to arms firms (December 8th)
An overwhelming majority of students (88.71%) at Queen’s University Belfast student union voted for a position that called for divestment from military and colonial projects and the ending of all ties with to arms firms. The motion also called for the removal of Hillary Clinton as chancellor, and for giving more power to students and staff over senior appointments, partnerships and investments of the University.
French activists protest in front of manufacturer supplying Israeli army (December 7th)
Activists from the group Stop Arming Israel France blocked the entrance to the offices of Exxelia, a company that manufactures components of Israeli missiles, such as position sensors.
During the 2014 war on Gaza, an Israeli bomb killed three Palestinian children from the Shuheibar family, leaving other two seriously injured. The bombing occured on July 17th, during a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire brokered by the UN, and targeted what was evidently a civilian target — a rooftop where children were playing. Relatives of the three child martyrs found a residue of the bomb read “Eurofarad France“. Experts have since determined that the component is a Hall effect sensor made by Exxelia Technologies.
The family has since brought Exxelia to court for complicity in war crimes.
Groups take UK government to court over arms exports to Israel (December 5th)
Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) are taking the British government to court for violating its arms export regulations, which obligate the government to suspend licenses for arms exports if there is a clear risk that the exported weapons might be used in breach of international humanitarian law.
According to the organisation Campaign Against Arms Trade, the UK provide “15 percent of the components of the F35 stealth combat aircraft which Israel has used to bomb Gaza in recent weeks. They also supply missiles, tanks, small arms and ammunition”.
British activists halt operations at LondonMetric, which rents property to arms manufacturer Elbit Systems (December 5th)
Activists from the British group “Palestine Action” have targeted LondonMetric, a British property company that rents lands and buildings to Elbit Systems. Elbit Systems is the primary provider of the Israeli military’s land-based equipment and and unmmaned aerial vehicles.
BREAKING🚨🚨🚨Palestine Action halts operations at London Metric—who rent property to Elbit Systems. If you do business with Israeli weapons manufacturers, you should expect us. No more business as usual for genocide profiteers! pic.twitter.com/SFyxGRi7UM
“LondonMetric owns the land and building at Unit F, Meridian Business Park, Meridian E, Leicester LE19 1WZ, from which Elbit operates their UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS) drone factory. U-TacS exports millions of pounds worth of drone technologies annually to Israel, including parts for armed Hermes drones. These drones have well-documented links to war crimes and are sure to play a significant role in the ongoing genocide in Gaza”. (from: Elbit’s drone factory landlords targeted – Freedom News)
Protesters target COP28 summit in Dubai with peaceful direct action (December 4th)
Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the venue of the COP28 Climate Summit in Dubai for a peaceful action of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Protesters demanded for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and read the names of the victims of the Israeli attack.
In response to the authority’s ban on raising Palestinian flags, the protesters held banners and flags with watermelons painted on them. The watermelon is a well-known symbol of the Palestinian struggle — since it bears the colours of the Palestinian flag — and it has been widely used to evade restrictions on Palestinian symbols both in Palestine and around the world.
Find more about the watermelon and other symbols of the Palestinian struggle here
Human rights organisations bring Dutch government to court over complicity in Israeli war crimes (December 4th)
Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, are bringing the Dutch government to court over its export of reserve parts for fighter jets to Israel, which has continued in the past weeks, despite the figther jets being the backbone of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Palestinian Boycott National Committee publishes statement putting forward grass-root policies to enact Palestine solidarity (December 2nd)
The BNC published a statement putting forward a guide to grass-root policies that activists around the world can push in their local unions, organisations and city councils to put solidarity into action. The policies, which are laid out with practical resources and examples, include: Call for a Permanent Ceasefire, Apartheid Free Pledge, Divestment policies.
South Africans march for International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (November 29th)
March in Johannesburg, South Africa [Kim Ludbrook/EPA]South Africans marched through Johannesburg on November 29th, crossing Nelson Mandela Bridge and calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Veteran South African anti-apartheid activist Ronnie Kasrils called for the boycott and isolation of Israel over the current war:
“All over the world, millions and millions are coming out and saying no, no, no. We will boycott and isolate Israel until it hurts them, and we stand by the Palestinian people fully, in our total support”
13 November, 2023, Wadi Tiran in the occupied West Bank, Palestine
The village of Wadi Tiran was given a 24 hour warning, “leave or we kill everyone”.
Residents, along with a handful of international and Israeli human rights defenders, are gathered in a large tent awaiting their fate. The Israeli police were called but they refused to attend.
The village of Wadi Tiran is a small herding community located next to what was the larger village of Zanuta, whose 150 residents were forced to leave their homes on 31 October under similar, persistent and violent Israeli settler attacks.
Seven colonial settlers from the Havat Yehuda illegal outpost that lies above the village arrived in Wadi Tiran two nights ago: “You have 24 hours to leave or we will kill everyone”. This threat has become the standard threat issued to herding communities across the Occupied West Bank. Fifteen of these communities have already been wiped off the map. After 24 hours passed, settlers entered the community and destroyed cars, a solar panel, a tractor, and anything they could get their hands on.
Now that night has fallen, the entire village has gathered in one tent waiting for the settlers to complete their threats.
We ask people around the world to pressure their governments to take immediate action to stop the displacement of Wadi Tiran.
If you are a US citizen, please contact your local representatives and embassies:
Script for communication to Embassies and Representatives:
I am writing to demand rapid action be taken by this body to defend human rights in the West Bank. As violations of International Humanitarian Law continue to be committed against occupied Palestinians, world leaders who do not take every action to defend human life and dignity are complicit in the denial of them.
Daily incidents of violence committed by Israeli settlers against isolated and vulnerable Palestinian families in the South Hebron Hills are being documented and transmitted to the world. Daily transgressions of the rights of Palestinians to live their lives without being harassed, searched, arbitrarily arrested and held without charge, raided, shot at and humiliated by the army and settlers -who are being emboldened by the silence of the international community. These violations are being reported by human rights organizations across the globe. With the whole world watching, what side of history will you be on?
1 November 2023 | Jenin | International Solidarity Movement
By Diana Khwaelid
On Sunday, October 29, a huge column of military vehicles stormed the city of Jenin in an overnight raid, killing four Palestinians, and destroying a monument for Jenin’s martyrs.
Israeli soldiers invaded the city’s Jenin camp at 12.30am, accompanied by an armed Caterpiller bulldozer (D), as part of the occupation army’s ongoing campaign of arrests of young Palestinians in the camp.
After failing to make arrests, the occupation forces destroyed and demolished the memorial monument of the camp, bearing photos and names of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli soldiers in Jenin.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, four Palestinians were killed during the invasion of the camp, and five other young people were injured. Two are in serious and unstable conditions.
We report the name of three of the martyrs: Amir Shabrawi, 25, Nourse Bejawi, 27, Musa Jabarna, 23.
During the raid, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) also bulldozed and destroyed all the main roads leading to the camp.
The floor of a residential building was blown to pieces and set on fire. The Grand Mosque in Jenin camp was also invaded and vandalised.
Eyewitnesses said that the occupation forces, especially Israeli snipers, were firing indiscriminately at civilian cars in the camp and at buildings, residential houses, and the mosque.
Mahmoud Abu Issam – one of the camp residents – said that the destruction witnessed by the residents of the Jenin camp is only a fraction of that experienced by Palestinians in Gaza. “No matter what happens, we will remain strong and steadfast and we will not give up,” he said.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been burying the bodies of the four Palestinian martyrs since Sunday morning.
The death toll of martyrs in the West Bank keeps rising, and it has now reached more than 120 since the start of the war on Gaza.
