Tag: Global Actions

#TweepStrike: A call from Gaza to support Palestinian prisoners

11 October 2011 | The Electronic Intifada, Rana Baker

In solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held under harsh conditions in Israel’s jails, a new twitter trend emerged today from Gaza. The trend is #TweepStrike and is an open invitation to everyone across the globe to go on a hunger strike on Wednesday Oct. 12th.

A few months ago, I was on visit to one of the prisoners’ families. With moist eyes and a shaky voice the prisoner’s mother told me that she had, for many times, tried to visit her son but “Mr. Kalb,” Mr. dog, had always been there to turn her back home.

My instinct told me then that Mr. Kalb must be a nickname of a cruel Israeli officer. I was wrong.

Join the #TweepStrike

“Mr. Kalb is a huge police dog and he is responsible for the prison’s visits.” She had told me. “According to his mood, we’re either allowed to see our loved ones or ordered to escort ourselves back home. If Mr. Kalb is in a bad mood and barks a lot, we have to understand that visits are not allowed, if he is friendly, officers will let us in” her explanation followed.

To be humiliated to such extent, to be jailed without reason (as most cases have proved to be), and to prevent ICRC experts from testing jails’ conditions are nothing but illegal acts of a racist state that enjoys severe impunity and support of world powers, ahead  of them of course,  the United States.

Because Palestinian prisoners are denied their rights stipulated in international law and the Geneva accords, we have decided to turn this coming Wednesday into a day of solidarity with nearly 11,000 Palestinian prisoners jailed under harsh conditions.

To spread the word out we are using the following form to state our intention to join the strike:

My name is ( ___________ ) and I will go on a hunger strike on Wednesday in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.  #TweepStrike #HS4Palestine .

Please act now! Pro-Israel groups censor Palestinian children’s art

13 September 2011 | Middle East Children’s Alliance

On Thursday, September 8, 2011, the Museum of Children’s Art (MOCHA) in Oakland decided to cancel an exhibit of art by Palestinian children in Gaza, titled “A Child’s View From Gaza.” The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) had established a partnership with MOCHA and spent several months planning the exhibit, which was slated to open on September 24.

Board President Hilmon Sorey cited vague museum guidelines on appropriate content as reasons for canceling the exhibit, but both board members and pro-Israel groups later admitted that the latter placed pressure on the museum to censor the artwork of Palestinian children.

It is likely that the censorship here was yet another example of a $6 million dollar nationwide campaign by the Jewish Federation of North America, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and its local proxies, to silence the Palestinian perspective, even in “cultural institutions.”

It is very sad and disturbing that MOCHA, which has in the past courageously displayed artwork by Iraqi children featuring U.S. tanks and weaponry, has now chosen to censor artwork of similar content by Palestinian children, and succumb to financial pressure. But it is an outrage that these pro-Israel groups are using their considerable political and financial power to intimidate a local non-profit organization into silencing Palestinian children and censoring their art.

Tell MOCHA to Show “A Child’s View From Gaza”!

Help us release Ni’lin’s Ibrahim Srour from Israeli prison

11 September 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

When I was in prison for organizing protest in my village of Bil’in, I knew that if I make bail or have to pay a fine to be released, someone would pay it. Worrying about such technicalities was literally the last thing on my mind. But now that I am free and other protesters are in prison, that knowledge has turned into a responsibility. My responsibility is to make sure other don’t have to worry about it as well.

Ibrahim Srour, a resident of Nil’in, has been imprisoned by Israel for nearly two years for participating in local protests. He will be released from prison on October 2nd, if the immense 12,000 NIS (3,250 USD) fine placed by a military court judge is raised in time.

Ibrahim Srour, 20, was arrested on January 7th, 2010, during a nighttime raid on his village, Ni’ilin. The soldiers who snatched him from his bed at gunpoint had been sent to arrest him for his participation in demonstrations held in protest of the construction of the Wall and the theft of some 30% of Ni’ilin’s lands. Protests, in which five unarmed protesters, including a 10 year-old boy, were killed by the Israeli army.

Prior to his arrest, Ibrahim was the main breadwinner to a large and poor family, including a sick father. Based on flimsy evidence, he was eventually sentenced by a military tribunal to twenty months in prison and a 3,250 USD fine. Ibrahim’s family cannot afford to pay the fine. Please help us raise the money to secure his release.

Ibrahim was arrested and charged based on statements drawn from a mentally challenged youth from the village. These coerced statements were used to against not only Ibrahim, but dozens of Ni’ilin’s protestors. The statements themselves and the man who gave them were so unreliable, that even a military judge was forced to disqualify them and acquit a defendant in another case.

The practice of pressuring weak individuals into making incriminating statements in order to put protesters and protest leaders behind bars is in common use by the Israeli army, as in the case of Nabi Salah, where the coerced confession of a 14 year-old boy during an unlawful interrogation brought about the arrest of more than 20 people.

Please click here to make a donation that will help us finally release Ibrahim from prison and fight Israeli repression.

Sincerely,
Mohammed Khatib

Global actions target Egyptian embassies to break Israel’s closure of Gaza

26 August 2011 | International Campaign to Open the Rafah Border

Fed up with the closure of Gaza that has kept more than a million and a half Palestinians locked in to the strip’s tight borders, a beacon call is coming from Gaza and resonating across to Egypt, to break Israel’s siege and re-open the border with Egypt immediately.

Activists from South Africa, to youth leaders of the Egyptian revolution, to European, North and South American, and Asian supporters will present signatures to their respective Egyptian Consulates starting Friday August 26th to demand the permanent re-opening of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt without conditions.

Despite promises by the Egyptian government to open it, approximately 35,000 people wait daily to cross the border. Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes last week killed at least 21 people, including 2 children, and injured at least 80 more.

Actions:

Launching the campaign internationally, on Friday, August 26, South Africans in Pretoria have delivered the petition to their Egyptian embassy, in solidarity with Gazans who share similar circumstances to those under the Apartheid regime. This delegation will be supported by faxes, emails and calls to Pretoria from around the world.

The Egyptian ambassador in South Africa received the delegation, was receptive and promised to follow up. He cited security reasons for the slow flow at the crossing.

Each Friday until September 30, international actions in solidarity with Gaza and in support of the on-going Egyptian people’s movement will request that the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces honor the human dignity and freedom of its own people and the people of Gaza by opening the Rafah Crossing permanently and unconditionally.

Today, the South African embassy is receiving emails, faxes and calls from across the globe in support of the delegation to Pretoria.

The full text of the petition and signatories is available at: petition.

Click to see the petition’s Facebook page

Email contact: rafahcrossingcampaign@gmail.com

Call from Gaza: open the Rafah crossing permanently and unconditionally

Today, a call demanding the re-opening of the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Palestine has come from Gaza. It is propelled by support from Egypt and has been endorsed by dozens of organizations, citizens’ groups, associations and coalitions in many countries, as well as by distinguished international personalities.

The call to action underscores the Geneva Conventions which entitle all people to freedom of movement and protection from collective punishment such as the arbitrary closure of the Crossing. Fulfilling a demand of the Egyptian revolution, supporters urge their governments to re-open the gates that have turned Gaza into an ‘open air prison’.

The Rafah Crossing is Gaza’s only exit to the external world. Israel’s continued siege of Gaza includes closure of its six other crossings

Building on the momentum of a year’s international activism to break the deadly siege of Gaza, supporters of the call to action include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate; Richard Falk, Professor of International Law Emeritus, Princeton University; Ronnie Kasrils, former South African Chief of Intelligence and Justice Minister; Egyptian novelists and activists Ahdaf Soueif and Radwa Ashour; author Tariq Ali and others.

To sign the petition
Signatories will be updated on further actions in support of this campaign as they are announced.

Call From Gaza: Open The Rafah Crossing Permanently And Unconditionally

Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Article 13 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly states that:

  1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
  2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

This article follows others that unequivocally recognizethe inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of ALL members of the human family, which naturally includes Palestinians.The inalienable right to freedom of movement of the more than 1.5 million Palestinian men, women and children who make up the population of the Gaza Strip has been denied by successive Israeli governments and the Mubarak regime which imposed a barbaric siege. Mainstream human rights organizations describe the Gaza Strip as the “largest open-air prison on earth.”

This deadly siege should have ended when the revolutionary Egyptian movement ousted Hosni Mubarak and his murderous regime during which Egyptians in their millions made clear that their emancipation and the freedom of Palestine were their joint and connected goals.

This raised the hopes of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, 1948 Palestine and the shatat (diaspora), as well as millions of others around the world, that the Egyptian government and the Supreme Military Council would finally break the blockade ofGaza, as Egyptians clearly wanted. We expected the Rafah Crossing to be treated as a sovereign border between two states, as open as all other Egyptian border crossings, including those with Libya, Sudan and Israel. This would ensure the dignity and free movement of Palestinians, and all travelers, to and from the Gaza Strip.

Former Egyptian Foreign Minister, Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi, made very encouraging initial statements that the previous Egyptian government’s treatment of Gaza was “disgraceful” and that the Rafah Crossing would be opened permanently. On 25 May 2011, Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency announced the permanent opening of Rafah.The former rules at the Crossing were to be reinstated, thus allowing Palestinians with passports to cross into Egypt every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for Fridays and holidays. According to a statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Palestinian women and children would be able to leave Gaza without restrictions, while men between the ages of 18 and 40 would have to obtain visas to enter Egypt. Thus more than 60 per cent of Gazans would be able to cross without requiring visas.

This decision of the government post-revolution was implemented for just two days: 28-29 May 2011, and this Rafah Crossing policy was in reality retracted without any formal announcement. The current number allowed to pass each day has been reduced to an arbitrary figure of between 160-300 travelers.

The sudden about-turn comes in the midst of the worst medical crisis that Gaza has ever suffered. Most operations have been put on hold as needed basic supplies are not available. Thousands of students have lost the opportunity to further their studies abroad because they have not been able to travel to their universities. Residency permits for Arab and foreign countries of thousands of other Gazans expired when they couldn’t leave Gaza.

The current system requires every potential traveler to register online with the Gaza Ministry of Interior and confirm this registration with the Ministry of Transport. The number registered to cross as of the end of June exceeds 20,000, and with the daily rate of travelers at the Crossing restricted to a maximum of 300, the possibility of crossing before mid-September is almost nil.

Those who travel via Rafah face inhumane conditions: standing for long hours in the heat, then escorted by police to Cairo airport, and then waiting in a holding cell until departure. No other citizens in the world have to endure this humiliation, uncertainty and indignity by another country when they choose to exercise their right to leave their own country.

Palestinians demand freedom of movement now

These restrictions should no longer be imposed on Palestinian people. It is an offense to the immense ongoing struggles of the Egyptian people in pursuit of human rights for the present Egyptian authorities to so quickly break promises made to them.

Under the Geneva Conventions we are all entitled to freedom of movement and protection from collective punishment such as the arbitrary closure of the Crossing.

Our demand, therefore, is the permanent and free movement of Palestinians, without distinction or limitation of any kind, through the Rafah Crossing.

  • Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU)
  • University Teachers’ Association in Palestine (UTAP)
  • Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)
  • General Union of Youth Entities (GUYE)
  • Palestinian Youth Against Israeli Apartheid (PYAIA)
  • Arab Cultural Forum
  • One Democratic State Group (ODSG)
  • Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, Palestine
  • Campaign for the Right to Enter the Occupied Palestinian Territory
  • Karama Campaign for the Free Movement of Palestinians
  • Palestine Justice Network
  • Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People (Beit Sahour)
  • Al-Rowwad Center (Aida Refugee Camp)
  • Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, Egypt
  • People’s Socialist Alliance Party (PSAP), Egypt
  • Democratic Workers Party, Egypt
  • Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
  • The Free Egyptian Movement
  • National Front for Justice and Democracy, Egypt
  • Popular Democratic Movement for Change, Egypt [HASHD]
  • ElNadim Centre for the psychological rehabilitation of victims of violence and torture, Egypt
  • Hisham Mubarak Law Center, Egypt
  • Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
  • Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, Egypt

We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with this demand for basic human rights of the people of Gaza and Egypt:
Click to add your support

  • Tariq Ali, author and activist, UK
  • Radwa Ashour, author, Egypt
  • Mona Baker, St. Jerome Publishing, UK
  • Oren Ben-Dor, School of Law, Southampton, UK
  • Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies, US
  • Haim Bresheeth, University of East London, UK
  • Martin Caton, Member of Parliament, UK
  • Richard Falk, Professor of International Law, Princeton University, USA
  • James C. Faris
  • Bill Fletcher, Jr.,BlackCommentator.comeditorial board, USA
  • Keith Hammond, University of Glasgow, Scotland
  • Nelly Hanna,American University in Cairo, Egypt
  • Richard Hudson, FBA, London, UK
  • Colin Imber
  • Najaty Jabary, Medico, Spain
  • Fanny and Sonja Karkar, Australia
  • Ronnie Kasrils, former South African government minister, author and activist
  • Muhammad Ali Khalidi, York University, Toronto
  • Erwin Lanc, Federal Minister of the Republic of Austria,
  • Yosefa Loshitzky, London, UK
  • Ian Macdonald, QC, UK
  • Mike Marqusee, author, UK
  • Nur Masalha, St. Mary’s University College and SOAS, University of London, UK
  • Hajo Meyer, Holland
  • Christl Meyer, Women In Black, Vienna, Austria
  • Gail Miller, Women of A Certain Age, U.S. Ship To Gaza
  • Fanny-Michaela Reisin, International League of Human Rights-FIDH, AEDH;
  • German Section (President), Jewish Voice for a Just Peace (EJJP Germany)
  • Dalia Said Mostafa, University of Manchester, UK
  • Mai Perez Apraiz, Empresaria, Spain
  • Steven Rose, Open University, UK
  • Ibrahim Jabary Salamanca, Empresario, Spain
  • Pilar Salamanca, Escritora, Spain Waltraud Schauer, Austria
  • Suleiman Sharkh, University of Southampton, UK
  • Lidon Soriano, Spain
  • Ahdaf Soueif, author, Egypt
  • Baroness Jenny Tonge, UK
  • Waltraud Torossian
  • Desmund Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Peter & Joan Unterweger
  • Angela Waldegg, Austria

Organizations:

  • Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition
  • Al-Awda New York: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
  • Americans Against the War, France
  • American Muslims for Palestine
  • Arab Resource and Organizing Center, USA
  • Artdialog, Italy
  • Artists Against Apartheid, South Africa
  • Association Des Universitaires Pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine, France
  • Australians for Palestine
  • Bay Area Coalition to End Israeli Apartheid, USA
  • Bethlehem Group, Glasgow, Scotland
  • Black Alliance for Just Immigration
  • BRICUP- British Committee for the Universities of Palestine
  • British Writers in Support of Palestine (BWISP)
  • Canadian Boat to Gaza Campaign
  • Caribbean Labour Solidarity, UK
  • Catalyst Project, USA
  • Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), USA
  • Center for Encounter And Active Non-Violence, Austria
  • Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA)
  • CODEPINK, USA
  • Collectif Judéo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Paix- Strasbourg, France
  • Comitato Varesino per la Palestina, Italy
  • Comite De Solidariedade Com A Palestina, Portugal
  • Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
  • Davis Committee for Palestinian Rights, USA
  • En Nuestro Nombre No- Tucumán, Argentina
  • Farrah France-Strasbourg, France
  • Frantz Fanon Foundation, France
  • Frauen in Schwarz (Wien) – Women in Black, Vienna, Austria
  • Free Palestine Movement
  • Friends of Deir Ibzi’a, USA
  • Gaza Foundation-Rotterdam, Holland
  • Global Compliance Research Project
  • Global Exchange, USA
  • Global Women’s Strike, (GWS)
  • Goldsmiths College (University of London) Students’ Union, UK
  • Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, USA
  • Hadeel Palestinian Fair Trade, Scotland
  • Handicap Solidarité- Strasbourg, France
  • Headlines Theatre, Canada
  • International Forum for Secular Bangladesh, UK
  • International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, France
  • International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, UK
  • International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN), USA
  • Independent Jewish Voices, Canada
  • International Payday Men’s Network
  • International Solidarity Movement
  • International Solidarity Movement – Northern California, USA
  • International Solidarity Movement – Chicago, USA
  • Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)
  • Israel Divestment Campaign (California), USA
  • Italian Peace Research Institute – Net for Civil Peace Corps, Italy
  • Kritische Jüdische Stimme (Österreich) – Critical Jewish Voice (Austria)
  • Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG), UK
  • Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost, EJJP (Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East) , Germany
  • Jewish Voice for Peace, USA
  • Jews Say No! USA
  • Justice for Palestinians, USA
  • LA BDS for Justice in Palestine
  • Labor for Palestine, USA
  • Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign, UK
  • Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, USA
  • Merseyside Jews for Peace and Justice, UK
  • Middle East Children’s Alliance
  • Middle East Crisis Committee Of Connecticut, USA
  • New York City Labor against the War, USA
  • Netherlands Palestine Committee (NPK)
  • NION – Not in our name – Jews opposing Zionism
  • Our Developing World, CA, USA
  • Palcrafts Charity, Scotland
  • Palestine Action Group, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
  • Palestine Solidarity Campaign, UK
  • Palestine Solidarity Committee, South Africa
  • Palestine Solidarity Alliance, South Africa
  • Palestine Solidarity Committee (PKR)-Rotterdam, Holland
  • Peace for Life, Johannesburg
  • Red Internacional Judía Antisionista (IJAN), Argentina
  • Red Thread, Guyana
  • RESCOP, the Spanish network of organizations in solidarity with Palestine:
    • Asociacion Al Quds (Malaga)
    • Asociacion Hispano Palestina Jerusalen (Madrid)
    • Asociacion Paz Ahora
    • Asociacion Paz con Dignidad
    • Castello per Palestina
    • Coordinadora de apoyo a Palestina Rioja (La rioja)
    • CSCA (Comite de Solidaridad con la Causa Arabe)
    • Ecologistas en Accion (Madrid, Valladolid)
    • Grupo de ONG por Palestina (Plataforma 2015 y Mas y Federacion de Asociaciones deDefensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos- Espana) + ACSUR
    • ISM Cataluna/Valencia
    • Interpueblos (Cantabria)
    • Izquierda Anticapitalista
    • Komite Internazionalistak (Euskadi)
    • MEWANDO (Euskadi)
    • Mujeres en zona de conflicto (MZC)
    • Mujeres por la Paz- Accion solidaria con Palestina (Canarias)
    • Palestinarik Elkartasuna (Euskadi)
    • Plataforma Palestina (Ibiza)
    • Plataforma Solidarida con Palestina (Sevilla)
    • Red de Jovenes Palestinos
    • Red de Judios Antisionistas (IJAN)
    • REMCODE
    • Sodepau
    • Sodepaz
    • Sodepaz Balamil- Valladolid
    • Talua Per Palestina (Baleares)
    • Xarxa d’enllaC amb Palestina (Barcelona)
    • Xarxa Solidarida Palestina (Valencia)
  • Right to Return, (DAR), France
  • Sabeel-DC, USA
  • Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights, USA
  • Scottish Friends of Palestine
  • Scottish Palestine Solidarity Committee (Edinburgh)
  • Siege Busters Working Group
  • Silicon Valley De-Bug, USA
  • SOAS Palestine Society, UK
  • Stop Agrexco Roma
  • Stop the Jewish National Fund Campaign, UK
  • South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU)
  • Trade Union Friends of Palestine (ICTU), Ireland
  • Un ponte per, Italy
  • US Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
  • US Citizens for Peace & Justice
  • US Palestinian Community Network
  • Vic to Gaza first Convoy, Italy
  • War Times/Tiempo de Guerras, USA
  • Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace, USA
  • WESPAC Foundation, NY, USA
  • Women in Black- Strasbourg, France
  • Women of Color in GWS
  • Women for Justice and Peace, UK
  • Women for Palestine, Australia
  • 14 Friends of Palestine, Marin, California, USA