'Settlers', army, stop Hebron shops opening

e 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Around 8:30 this morning on Shuhada street in Hebron, Israeli settlers, soldiers, and border police arrived and put up a breakfast tent right outside of two shops owned by a Palestinian man. The settlers remained in front of his shops for around three and a half hours under Israeli police and army protection.

The owner of the shops, which will be used to grind wheat into flour, is Ghassan Azzedine Abu Hadid. HRC has been working with him to facilitate the restoration of his two shops. Because of the presence of the settlers, he has been prevented from working on his shops in order to make them ready for opening.

International Solidarity Movement activists were present and asked Ghassan for a statement on what was happening to which he replied “I cannot say anything, I just want to open my shops and continue my work.”

ISM report

Mass demo planned for Scotland Euro clash

copyright www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk

As reported in The Scotsman 15 June, a high-profile European qualifying match in the capitol is liable to be targeted by hundreds of protesters over the alleged detention of Palestinian football players. Campaigners are set to gather at Tynecastle Stadium as Scotland play Israel in a women’s Euro qualifier on Saturday. Organisers said that the demonstration would be mounted both outside the stadium and on the terraces during Saturday’s game. They refused to rule out the possibility of direct action such as a pitch invasion.
http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-evening-news/2355741


update: 
Not the BBC Sports News -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMnimP0o1NQ

Bad news - good news

Israeli incursions into the Palestine “Occupied Territories”; March 2011 Palestine in March was like most other months in the past 60-odd years. In the 31 days of the month there were:
29 air strikes by Israel (F16 fighter planes, Apaches Helicopter Gunships)
137 land-based armed attacks (tanks, armoured vehicles, troops)
539 other raids and house invasions (weapons present not used);
327 night/early morning disturbances (low-flying aircraft, vehicle-borne loudspeakers); and
7 curfews - all in occupied territories. As a consequence
24 Palestinians were killed,
170 were seriously injured,
55 others were beaten,
247 were taken prisoner,
532 detained for up to 24 hours and
2,467 had their movements restricted at road-blocks and arbitrary checks.
In addition, of course, tens of thousands had their lives made a misery by the continual harassment inflicted by the Israeli army and illegal settlers. To give a complete picture: there were Palestinian attacks on 14 days in March - missiles were fired towards the Green Line. There were no reports of injury. To illustrate the life of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, here are three examples taken at random: - on the 1st March at 13:10pm, Occupation troops cut down about 25 olive trees on land near the village of Al Fureidis, in so doing taking away the farmer's livelihood - on 16th March a fanatic from the colony of Maskiot held up Palestinian children on a road near the village of Al Malih, stole their horse and tied it to his vehicle, which he then used to drag the animal along the road until it died, and - on the 22nd at 9.00am a 12-year-old boy, Shadi Fayez Omar, was admitted to hospital with severe injuries following a beating by a group of Israeli soldiers near the village of Al Jib Despite this, our politicians give their tacit support to Israel. They refuse to allow open debate about Israel's breaches of International Law - and even its own skewed laws, they allow British exports used directly in furthering the Occupation, and are promoting changes to prevent citizens initiating legal action against Israeli war criminals; while in Europe there are moves to give even more preferential treatment to Israeli exports, despite Brussels lobbying by activists in March.
list compiled by Laura Stuart

At the same time, global activism continues to build. From America, here's a perfect condemnation of the Israeli apartheid system, and its source below: Jewish Voice for Peace co-coordinator Bryan James Gordon stated: “The U.S. and Israeli governments should realize that walls and guns do not stop peaceful, hardworking people from seeking a future, and they do not make national economies any stronger, fairer or more independent. They only cause violence, and trick one exploited class into fearing and attacking another exploited class instead of the elites that are exploiting them both.” http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/arizona-wall-5959

Land Day was marked all over the world by flash mobs and boycott incursions of varying sizes:

http://youtu.be/ZabFuP7EH3s

Pete Seeger joins BDS against Israel

Pete Seeger endorses BDS, shuns Jewish National Fund
By +972 staff, +972 Magazine

Legendary folklorist, singer, songwriter and long time political activist Pete Seeger has officially announced his support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, a press release by the Israel Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD) said [on the 28th February].

According to the press release, Seeger, 91, took part in a virtual rally sponsored by the Arava Institute in the Negev last November, despite requests from BDS groups not to participate. In January, he met with representatives of the BDS movement at his home, who elaborated on the relations between the Jewish National Fund and the Institute. After the meeting, Seeger said he now endorses the BDS approach.

Seeger’s decision appears to be at least partly linked by the actions of the Jewish National Fund in the “unrecognized” village of Al Araqib. The JNF insists on planting a new forest on the village site, despite the fact the project causes state authorities to evacuate and destroy the village time after time – 14 times and counting.

“I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I’ve felt that people should talk with people they disagree with,” Seeger is quoted as having told the activists. ”But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund. I misunderstood the leaders of the Arava Institute because I didn’t realize to what degree the Jewish National Fund was supporting Arava. Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can.”

ICAHD coordinator Jeff Halper is quoted in the press release as saying that “Pete did extensive research on this. He read historical and current material and spoke to neighbours, friends, and three rabbis before making his decision to support the boycott movement against Israel.”

more at http://972mag.com/breaking-pete-seeger-endorses-bds/

Photo by Anthony Pepitone

Edinburgh Council boycotts Veolia

Edinburgh Council has rejected Veolia's attempt to take over public services in the city!

A Council report published on 10th Dec 2010 indicates that Veolia is no longer being considered for any contracts in the city, despite having been seen as the leading contender for its environmental services bid.

Veolia works with Israeli authorities in Occupied Palestine to provide waste and transport services to Israel's illegal settlements. The French multinational has already lost contracts across Europe due to sustained protest over its complicity in Israel's war crimes.

This comes on top of similar losses throughout Europe and beyond as it becomes ever more clear that it no longer pays to profit from Israel's Occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.

Read SPSC media release

Mike Leigh boycotts Israel

British director Mike Leigh, who was scheduled to visit Israel from November 20-27 to teach a master class in Jerusalem as part of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School’s "Great Masters" programme, cancelled for political reasons. He last visited Palestine/Israel in 1990.

In a letter announcing his decision, Leigh, the director of Abigail’s Party, Secrets & Lies, Happy Go Lucky and the just-released Another Year, cited several of Israel’s policies, including the proposed “loyalty oath”, plus the so-called 'settlements' and the attack on the Freedom Flotilla as the reason for his change of heart. In his letter to the School he said,"I have become ever-increasingly uncomfortable about what would unquestionably appear as my implicit support for Israel were I to fulfil my promise and come."

"I have absolutely no choice. I cannot come, I do not want to come, and I am not coming,"


For an in-depth comment on this, visit Youth Against Normalisation:

While the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against apartheid Israel continues to grow, its opponents continue to resort to the same old canards in trying to defend Israel. In a Jerusalem Post article published on 17 October 2010, columnist Hannah Brown gives us a good example of some of the Israeli talking points ("British director Mike Leigh cancels Israel visit". In her concluding paragraph she writes...
http://youthanormalization.blogspot.com/2010/11/bds-debunking-pro-israeli-arguments.html

Picture: BAFTA.org

Shopping? Download this useful BARCODE for future reference:

Gary Moore boycotts Israel

Belfast man Gary Moore has announced that he would never visit Israel, describing it as a criminal state during a press conference in Moscow.

The PIC [Russian language] quoted Moore, who recently arrived in Russia to perform at a number of concerts, as saying that he had visited a lot of countries, offering the opinion that music is without boundaries but adding that he would not visit Israel.

He told the press conference that his refusal to visit Israel was because of its racist policies against the Palestinian people, adding that he could not accept Israel's policy and lies about Palestine and its people.

The renowned guitarist, whose blues/rock career stretches back to the late Sixties, said that Israel was exerting big efforts to display itself as a victim of war, while it is "absolutely not".

Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0nKJFVVoYM&feature=related

New propaganda turns truth upside down, and a look at Gaza

World-wide boycott and disinvestment activities have been making themselves felt in Israel, despite the refusal of our governments to get off the fence. As a result, a piece of “news” has been circulated to media contacts by the Israeli propaganda office, as an attempt to limit damage and muddy the water, and which is included here in full:

Successful Results of Boycott of Palestinian Goods and Services

Organizers of the new world-wide campaign to boycott imports of goods and services from so-called Palestine today expressed satisfaction with the spectacular results they have registered in this regard.

Newly-elected CEO Waleed Abu Ish of the Boycott of Palestinian Goods and Services Commission (BPGSC) said he is delighted that global distributors have been shifting their imports of agricultural and horticultural products from the Arab settlements in Gaza and the West Bank towards more deserving sources in the developing world.

"The reactionary Islamist neo-Nazi regime in Gaza and the corrupt gangster regime in Ramallah are enforcing apartheid rule against 120,000 Palestinian Christians and over 2 million women. This heinous religious and gender apartheid is illegal under international law and must stop at once," he said.

He noted that the multinational business community is sensitive to handling tainted products from Palestinian entities which Judge Goldstone identified as engaging in war crimes. Accordingly, there has been a dramatic decline in Palestinian shipments to Western markets, including the UK, of flowers, soap, olive oil, figs, dates, pita, Cremisan wine, strawberries, couscous and handicrafts.

Last year, two-thirds of this trade was lost due to cancelled orders in the amount of $48 million. For the first three quarters of 2010, $45.6 million in sales were forfeited. This included rejected Palestinian promotions of fair trade chocolate bars [chocolate?!] and many apparel categories. The forecast for the entire year for overseas Palestinian exports is an astonishing 52 per cent plunge.

Abu Ish also reported on successful discussions with the services industry in Canada, Australia, the United States,Ireland and the UK. "There is a growing realization that fostering business dealings and exchanges in the travel, educational, professional and medical sectors with these apartheid-based regimes is counter-productive." For example, reputable travel agencies no longer book tours to the Palestinian territories.

"We are also grateful to the British and Canadian authorities for acting on our requests to deny entry to incoming trade missions and fairs from 'Palestine,' Abu Ish stated. "This ensures that Palestinian commerce will never gain a foothold in Western markets to lubricate these odious regimes," he said.

The BPGS campaign is proud to be receiving the support of thousands of consumers in trade unions, churches, women's groups, and volunteer organizations. It is confident that just as South Africa, the apartheid paradigm, was brought to its knees by the boycotts led by international civil society, so too will the brutal Hamas and Fatah oligarchs of Gaza and the West Bank be defeated by NGOs like us world-wide.

For Editors: Waleed Abu Ish is a Palestinian Arab engineer from the town of Beit Hanoun in Gaza. His parents were thrown to their deaths from the 14th floor of an apartmentbuilding by the Hamas gang currently ruling Gaza. He converted to Christianity in 2003.

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Now, back to real life: here is a brief look at how life is still being lived, day by day, in the huge prison of Gaza, as they hope for the arrival of the next Convoy: