Category: Press Releases

A call from Palestinians in Palestine to join the Global March to Jerusalem

 

29 January 2012 | Global March to Jerusalem

Join us as we intensify our struggle against forced exile and the system of Israeli apartheid on Land Day 2012. We Palestinians have been ethnically cleansed and uprooted from our lands starting in the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) which resulted in the creation of the millions of refugees who are now living in the Diaspora. Nineteen years later, in 1967, Israel illegally annexed East-Jerusalem and the West Bank in a move which marked the Naksa (Setback), and subjected the remaining Palestinians to a brutal military occupation.

We are now in 2012, and we are still living in exile or under the Israeli apartheid regime, the illegal construction of colonial settlements is confiscating the remaining parts of Palestine, the Separation Wall divides and separates villages and towns, and Palestinians in Jerusalem are threatened of being driven out of their homes and lands for the mere purpose of the Judaization of this sacred city.

But we will not leave. We will stand and be firm. We will not permit thousands of years of our attachment to our land and our Holy City to be broken. We therefore invite and call upon all persons of courage and good will around the world to stand up and walk, with your fellow human beings, regardless of religion, of political affiliation – to stand up as responsible human beings and walk peacefully towards Jerusalem on the 30th of March, 2012.

We therefore ask all our brothers and sisters throughout the world to join Palestinians on Land Day, 30 March, 2011, in challenging the barriers, borders and procedures that separate Palestinians from Jerusalem and from their homes and lands in all of historic Palestine.

 

Palestinian National and Islamic Organizations
Al-Rowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Centre
Al-Walaja Popular Resistance Committee
The Alternative Information Center – AIC 
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
Beit Ummar Popular Resistance Committee
Bil’in Popular Resistance Committee
Friends of Freedom and Justice, Bil’in
Handala Center
Holy Land Trust

International Solidarity Movement

Nabi Saleh Popular Resistance Committee
Ni’lin Popular Resistance Committee
Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
Palestine Justice Network
Palestine Solidarity Project
Popular Struggle Coordinating Committee
Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies
Youth Against Settlements (Hebron)
Youth Activity Center


Live ammunition fired at peaceful demonstrators in Gaza No Go Zone

24 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement


Image from Poica.org – Click here for more information
In a peaceful demonstration into the Gaza no go zone that began around 10:30am today, January 24 2012, demonstrators report that at least 50 rounds of live ammunition were fired directly at Palestinian and international solidarity activists.

Contact:

Nathan Stuckey, International Solidarity Movement activist
Phone Number: 00970597650864
Email: GazaISM@gmail.com

 

At least two Israeli soldiers have been visible on the ground, while a large military tank also took position approximately 15 minutes following the initial shooting of live ammunition.  With a momentary pause in gunfire that lasted for approximately 15 minutes, shooting of live ammunition has resumed in Gaza’s No Go Zone. At least 50 bullets have been shot thus far.

Every Tuesday Palestinians and supporters march from Beit Hanoun into the buffer zone , where the fertile land has been made inaccessible to Palestinians due to the imminent danger of violence by the guarding Israeli military, who also bulldoze land that has been an agricultural resource for many locals in the northern Gaza Strip.

Connect with the Palestinian Students’ Campaign for Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)

23 January 2012 | US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

A collective of students in Gaza has formed the Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI). These students are seeking to expand their collaboration and participation in events and activities with solidarity activists at international universities.

PSCABI members participate in many activities here in Gaza and are heavily involved in supporting the international student solidarity movements, especially with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaigns. PSCABI members frequently write letters out of Gaza, some of which we have listed below, encouraging people to participate in the boycott and thanking people who have supported the Palestinian cause.

PSCABI members are available to share ideas, participate via Skype or other technology in remote events, organize and strategize together, hear about your activities and provide information and narratives as Palestinian university students for your distribution, and provide access to voices speaking directly from besieged Gaza.

If you are interested in:

  • communicating with PSCABI
  • hosting a Skype conference with a PSCABI member
  • developing your organization’s relationship with PSCABI

please contact us at pscabi@usacbi.org.

Past Letters from PSCABI:

A call from Gaza fishermen

11 January 2012 | Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Photo: Rosa Schiano, Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA)

>Do not forget Palestinian fishermen who are prevented from fishing beyond the unilaterally imposed Israeli limit of 3 nautical miles and whose life is constantly under threat from the Israeli Naval Forces.

We are waiting for you to lift the naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and its seawaters and to force Israel to respect international legal obligations.

We the Palestinian fishermen of the Besieged Gaza Strip, the CPSGAZA, the Union of Fishermen in Gaza City, the Palestinian Association for Fishing and Marine Sports and Al Tawofeek Society are calling on the word to force Israel to lift the naval blockade which restricts the Palestinian fishing area to 3 nautical miles and to support the Oliva and similar peaceful civil missions aimed at monitoring Israeli violations and at ensuring Palestinian fishermen the possibility of fishing in safe conditions.

As it has been the case with the buffer zone on land, since the beginning of the second Intifada Israel has been progressively implementing restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical mile permissible fishing area, agreed under the 1994 Gaza-Jericho Agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), was reduced to 12 miles under the never implemented 2002 Bertini Commitment. In 2006, the fishing zone was reduced to 6 miles off the coast. Following the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip ‘Operation Cast Lead’, Israel banned Palestinian fishermen from sailing beyond a distance of 3 nautical miles, preventing them to access 85 per cent of the maritime areas they are entitled to according to the 1994 Gaza-Jericho Agreement.

Despite pledges by the Government of Israel in June and December 2010 to ease the ongoing blockade, the restrictions at the sea continue to paralyze the Palestinian fishing industry, forcing thousands of fishermen to abandon their work because the area within 3 nautical miles is markedly over-fished.  Restricting the work of the Palestinian Fishermen by limiting the permissible fishing area to only 3 nautical miles denies them access to the sole source of income available for them and their families.  This is inconsistent with Israel’s international legal obligations.

Recently, the Israeli Naval Forces have place large buoys to serve as limit markers for the 3 nautical mile allowed area and have warned Palestinian fishermen not to sail beyond such limit markers; otherwise, they will be subject to shooting, detention and confiscation of boats and fishing equipment. Palestinian fishermen expose themselves to high risk every day at sea, they are frequently harassed and arrested by the Israeli Naval Forces under the pretext of sailing beyond the 3 nautical miles.  This has been documented and denounced by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Israeli violations in Gaza’s water have been also documented by the  Oliva, the boat sponsored by dozens of local and international organizations, which accompanies fishermen in their activities since June 2011. While trying to document the Israeli violations in Gaza’s seawater, the Oliva herself has been also attacked several times by the Israeli Naval Forces.

We call on the International Community to condemn the continuous attacks by the Israeli Navy against Palestinian fishing boats and to exert pressure on Israel to open the fishing area up to 20 nautical miles. We also call on the International community to support peaceful civil missions with the presence of international observers and entirely legal tools, such as the Oliva, to continue monitoring the violations of human rights in Gaza’s seawaters and allow Palestinian fishermen to work in safe conditions.

Signed:

Civil Peace Service Gaza (CPSGAZA)
The Union of Fishermen, Gaza
The Palestinian Association for Fishing and Marine Sports, Gaza
Al Tawofeek Society, Gaza
Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), Gaza

Join our campaign: Help stop the construction of a national park on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem!

12 January 2012 | Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity

The planned national park, located adjacent to the E1 area, on the slopes of Mt. Scopus, would constitute an insurmountable obstacle to any possible future peace agreement involving Jerusalem.  Most immediately, it would “choke off” a number of Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, and deny residents access to their private lands.  For detailed information on the plan for the national park, click here.

Solidarity’s campaign agaist the park-construction has already recorded some success. Following an investigative report in Ha’aretz, and an appeal by Solidarity to the Municipality of Jerusalem, construction work on the park has been temporarily stopped.  This construction work, which was illegally started by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, is taking place on private lands of the East Jerusalem residents of Issawiya.

Overseas
We need your help now!

Get the word out to your community and public officials Help us raise awareness of this issue with Jewish community representatives, elected officials, members of Knesset, and local Israeli embassies. Click here for a letter and call to action.

In Israel
Take action this week:
Join our demonstration, study tour, and clean-up efforts!

In the coming week, the Solidarity movement, together with residents of A-Tur and Issawiya, is organizing a series of protests, a study tour, and a call to action in order to prevent the continued construction of this park.  We need your help! Here’s what you can do:

Help residents of Issawiya
On Friday, January 13, join Solidarity activists and the residents of Issawiya in repairing the damage already caused by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Meet at 11:15 next to the Aroma Cafe on Mount Scopus (by Hebrew University). Contact: Daniel 054-6236609

Protest in Safra square
On Tuesday, January 17, we will demonstrate together with hundreds of residents of East Jerusalem in front of City Hall to protest the city’s support of the National Park plan. Meet at Safra Square at 4:00 PM. Details about transportation are forthcoming.  For the Facebook event, click here.

Join the Study Tour
The tour, which is scheduled on a weekly basis, will be led by “Solidarity” activists and residents of Issawiya and A-Tur. This week the tour will take place on Wednesday, January 18, and begin at 4:00 PM.  Meet next to the Aroma Cafe on Mount Scopus (by Hebrew University).  For information and registration: Roi 054-5858625

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For more information, we recommend reading the following:

A call for action: Stop the Slopes of Mount Scopus “National Park”

A New Plan to Establish a National Park Threatens to Choke Issawiya and A-Tur

“New Jerusalem park a ‘ruse’ to set up new settlement, activists say”, Ha’aretz

“National park in east Jerusalem stirs controversy”, Jerusalem Post