Tag: Global Actions

Tulkarem Farmers in Boycott of Israeli goods

Palestinian traders and farmers will gather in the Tulkarem Refugee Camp on September 20th for a Palestinian goods market, boycotting Israeli products as a statement of resistance against Israel’s ongoing occupation, The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign said.

The Campaign said that The Tulkarem trade fair will gather over a hundred businesses and farmers, many of them from Tulkarem Camp itself, as part of a growing movement to boycott Israeli goods and promote Palestinian produce.

“Seizure and destruction of land and property has made life almost impossible for many Palestinian farmers, and restrictions on movement have devastated trade,” it said.

The Trade Fair will run from September 20-23, from 9.00 – 4.00 every day in The Hall of the Martyr Kamal Saleem, Main Street, Tulkarem Refugee Camp.

The Trade Fair is organised by the Tulkarem Refugee Camp organising committee with the support of the Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign.

During the first intifada Palestinians created ‘victory gardens’, mostly famously in Beit Sahour, in an effort to feed themselves without relying on Israeli goods.

Meanwhile, in the latest international boycott action, shops and supermarkets across Ireland were picketed last Saturday by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) to mark the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. Shops were targetted by pickets which handed out leaflets as well as by trolley actions, which involved activists filling up trolleys with Israeli products and taking them to the checkout to vociferously demand that these products no longer be sold. Actions took place in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Sligo. Especially targetted was the Irish-owned supermarket chain Dunnes Stores as this was where workers first refused to handle goods from Apartheid South Africa in 1984.

These actions coincided with a call in a letter to the Irish times signed by 61 Irish academics for a moratorium on EU support for Israeli academic institutions until Israel abides by UN resolutions and ends the occupation of Palestinian territories.

International Peace Mission receives a frosty reception from Israel

After a full month of gruelling cycling, the Peace Cycle finally arrived in the West Bank tonight, September 6th. The cyclists left Damascus 3 days ago and toured the Palestinian refugee camps in the south of Syria before entering Jordan. In both Middle East countries, as in Europe, the group enjoyed courteous treatment and a warm welcome.

The climate changed dramatically, however, once they reached the border between Jordan and the Occupied Palestinian West Bank.

The cyclists arrived at the Jordanian side of the “Allenby Bridge” crossing point at 11.30 this morning local time. On the Palestinian side of the border, their coach and tour guide waited for them…and waited. The cyclists, 21 of them British, two Austrian and one Palestinian, were held at the border by the Israeli authorities and were given no information or explanation, although they were eventually given a sandwich.

Some of the Peace Cycle team as they set off from London

The Palestinian man among the group was taken away and questioned for almost 3 hours before he was allowed to enter the West Bank, where he lives with his family in a village near Ramallah. He had taken part in the Peace Cycle so that he could “tell the world about life under occupation” in his country.

At 6pm the border crossing officially closed for the night, with the remaining group of cyclists still being held in no man’s land between Jordan and Palestine, by a frustrated Israeli border staff who admitted they “just wanted to go home”. Eventually, eight hours later, and after frantic ‘phone calls between the Peace Cycle’s London office and the British Consulate in Jerusalem, the cyclists were allowed through to the Palestinian side of the border. Tired and hungry, they were relieved to finally board their coach and look forward to a meal in El Fa’raa in the north of the West Bank, where the villagers had planned a welcome dinner for them.

However, their relief was to be short lived when they encountered first hand experience of military occupation, just outside the village of El Fa’raa. As their hosts awaited them, the cyclists’ coach was stopped at an illegal Israeli checkpoint just minutes away and the group was told it could not proceed. Spurious explanations were given by the soldiers on duty, and despite ‘phone calls to the Israeli authorities from the British Consulate and an Israeli Knesset (Parliament) member, the peace group was held for 3 hours and then told they would not be permitted to cross the checkpoint, indefinitely.

The group had no choice but to divert to Jerusalem where they will spend the night before attempting to restart their tour of the West Bank tomorrow morning.

Whatever the reason behind today’s appalling treatment of the men and women of the Peace Cycle mission, they are more determined than ever to work for an end to the occupation of Palestine as being the only way to a lasting peace for all people of the Middle East.

For more information, contact Laura Abraham, founder of the Peace Cycle, on +44-(0)-794-1056616.

If you would like to arrange phone interviews with the cyclists at any point please contact TPC Press Officer Claire Ranyard (07801 263322) or Laura Abraham the founder of the Peace Cycle (07941056616) .

For more information visit their website or the following Indymedia UK stories:
http://www.thepeacecycle.org
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/08/347165.html
http://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/09/350167.html

Israeli Company Refuses to Prosecute British Protesters Over Fear of Examination of the Lawfulness of its Business in Court

Early Wednesday morning, Palestine solidarity activists blockaded the Israeli company Carmel Agrexco’s UK headquarters. This was part of a non-violent protest against recurrent breaches of human rights and international law in the occupied territories of Palestine. Protesters locked themselves inside large metal cages in the entrance and exit of Agrexco’s UK depot causing serious disruption to dispatches from and deliveries to the depot.

The company advised police that they did not wish to have protesters prosecuted and after eleven hours locked on the company’s property the protesters left. Protester Tom Hayes said “Agrexco do not want to prosecute us because when a nearly identical protest was carried out two years ago Agrexco-Carmels’ dealings with illegal settlements in the West Bank were forced to be disclosed in court. The experience was very embarrassing and damaging for them”.

Carmel is complicit in war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 (ICC Act). They import fresh produce originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.

The action follows a legal warning letter to Carmel stating clearly why they are in breach of the law.

The action took place at Agrexco UK, Swallowfield Way, Hayes, Middlesex, Israel’s largest importer of agricultural produce into the European Union. It is 50% Israeli state owned.

Before taking part in the blockade, many of the protesters had witnessed first hand the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli military occupation.

This followed on from an action of 11th November 2004, when seven Palestine-Solidarity protesters from London and Brighton were arrested after taking part in a non-violent blockade outside the same company.

Last September a Judge ruled that Agrexco (UK) must prove that their business is lawful. The acquittal of the seven activists before they were able to present their defence meant that the court did not have to rule on the legality of Agrexco-Carmel’s involvement in the supply of produce from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

Yesterday’s blockade aimed to draw attention to this company’s complicity, in murder, theft and damage of occupied land, collective punishment, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and other breaches of International Law.

More protests against the company are anticipated.

For more information call any of these numbers:
+44 7723 055070
+44 7845 039980
+44 7701 034887

Links:

Another report of the day with more pictures on Indymedia UK
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/08/349756.html

Text of letter sent to Carmel Agrexco
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/london/2006/08/347361.html

Report on Carmel’s Involvemnt in the Jordan Valley:
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/09/322537.html

Press release from previous trial (with links):
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2006/01/331851.html

War on Want?s Report “Profiting from the Occupation”:
http://www.waronwant.org/?lid=12671

Israeli Company Blockaded in Britan For the Second Time in Bid to Gain Ruling on Illegality of Settlement Products

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Early Wednesday morning Palestine solidarity activists blockaded the Israeli company Carmel Agrexco’s British headquarters. This was part of a non-violent protest against recurrent breaches of human rights and international law in the Israeli occupied territories of Palestine.

Carmel is complicit in war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 (ICC Act). They import fresh produce originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories.

The action follows a legal warning letter to Carmel stating clearly why they are in breach of the law.

The action took place at Agrexco UK, Swallowfield Way, Hayes, Middlesex, Israel’s largest importer of agricultural produce into the European Union. It is 50% Israeli state owned.

Protestors used wire fencing and bicycle D-Locks in a well planned blockade at the two entrances to the building.

Before taking part in the blockade, many of the protesters had witnessed first hand the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli military occupation.

This follows on from an action of 11th November 2004, when seven Palestine-Solidarity protesters from London and Brighton were arrested after taking part in a non-violent blockade outside the same company.

Last September a Judge ruled that Agrexco (UK) must prove that their business is lawful. The acquittal of the seven activists before they were able to present their defence meant that the court did not have to rule on the legalityof Agrexco-Carmel’s involvement in the supply of produce from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

Today’s blockade aims to draw attention to this company’s complicity, in murder, theft and damage of occupied land, collective punishment, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, and other breaches of International Law.

Links:
Text of letter sent to Carmel Agrexco

Report on Carmel’s Involvemnt in the Jordan Valley

Press release from previous trial

War on Want’s Report –”Profiting from the Occupation”

Lebanon Articles and Sites Round-up


Demonstrators Rally for Victims in Lebanon in Ramallah, West Bank July 31

Lots of people have asked us for information about Israel’s current aggression against Lebanon. ISM works in Palestine and as such we are not directly involved in Lebanon. However, the terrible situation there is of great concern to Palestinians, many of whom live in refugee camps in South Lebanon. We try to keep up to date with events. The following is a list of some of the most interesting of the articles we’ve been reading. We urge you to not forget that the situation is also getting worse in Gaza and the West Bank right now.

The current phase of the violence started when Israel abducted two Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Jonathan Cook, a British journalist living in Nazareth in the north of Israel, has been writing a brilliant series of articles about the current situation and exposing a lot of the myths appearing about it in the mainstream media There are several other commentators who effectively demolish the false chronology about the current conflict being perpetuated in the mainstream media right now.

While targeting civilians, the Lebanese army (who it claims to support) and UN observers, Israel’s aggression has been aided diplomatically and materially by the US and UK throughout. This attack has included cluster bombs – weapons banned under international law. Although Israeli politicians are publicly saying that the attacks will end soon, it appears that the military is digging in for the long term.

Although the “international community” of governments refuse to call for an immediate ceasefire, there is international disgust and protest against the massacres perpetuated by Israel. Protest in Scotland seems to have even yielded some results. The massacre of 54 civillians in the Biblical city of Qana could yet pale in comparison if Israel is permitted to continue its war of choice in Lebanon.

Meanwhile in Gaza, it looks as if Israel’s non negotiation with Hamas for a prisoner release was simply posturing. It seems that Israel is close to accepting just such an agreement, which Hamas has been offering from the start.

Finally on Hizbullah, it is obvious that despite Israel’s ambitions, Hizbullah is a genuinely popular movement, and driving them out of the south of Lebanon is not a realistic goal. The only way to do so would be to ethnically cleanse the entire Shi’a population of Lebanon. Which is most likely the reason that Hizbullah does not seem too worried right now.

The following is a list of news sources covering the situation there. This list is presented for information purposes only. We are not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion on this list is not an endorsement of the sources or groups they respresent.

Electronic Lebanon
A new project from Electronic Intifada. Highly recommended.
http://www.electronicintifada.net/lebanon

Tadamon!
A Montreal-based collective working to build relationships of solidarity with grassroots political movements for social and economic justice between Beirut & Montreal. Maintains a list of blogs reporting from the ground.
http://tadamon.resist.ca

Indymedia Beirut
Independent reports from the grassroots in Beirut.
http://beirut.indymedia.org

From Israeli to Lebanon
Photos of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon (warning – some graphic images).
http://www.fromisrael2lebanon.info

Blogging the Middle East
A Lebanese anarchist’s blog. Also maintains an extensive list of links to blogs and other news sources (from many different political perspectives).
http://meastpolitics.wordpress.com

Islamic Resistance Lebanon
Understand the Hizbullah perspective
http://www.alghaliboun.net/english

Israel Defence Forces: the Official Site
Understand the Israeli Military Perspective
http://www.idf.il