The Gertrude Welch Peace and Justice Award was presented to San Francisco Bay Area activists and founders of the Free Gaza Movement, Greta Berlin, Paul Larudee, and Kathy Sheetz in a public ceremony on January 30. Greta Berlin started her work on Palestine immediately after the June 1967 war, co-founded the Free Gaza Movement in 2006, and sailed on the SS Free Gaza on the first daring voyage that broke the siege of Gaza in August 2008.

Dr. Paul Larudee, also a co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement, played a critical role in procuring the two small fishing boats for that first voyage and was among the 44 international human rights activists on board. Kathy Sheetz started her human rights work in the 1980s in Haiti. On the first voyage of the FreeGaza boats, she played a crucial role as a nurse in caring for passengers suffering from severe seasickness.

The San José Peace and Justice Center established the Gertrude Welch Peace and Justice Award to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to social justice and peace locally and globally. Milpitas Vice Mayor Pete McHugh presented Commendation plaques to each of the three Award recipients at the ceremony, saying, “It’s up to us to make a difference!” Congressman Mike Honda sent them Certificates of Special Congressional Recognition.

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San Jose Peace and Justice Center | Free Gaza Movement | Free Palestine Movement

February 7th marks the anniversary of Hampshire College's "divestment" from the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, the first institution of higher education to wash its hands of the systematic exploitation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state. Following a two-year campaign by Students for Justice in Palestine, the Board of Trustees agreed in 2009 to withdraw its investments from six companies targeted by SJP because they profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Officials at Hampshire college maintain that the withdrawal of investments from the companies was not a divestment from Israeli companies in general.

Traditionally, Hampshire College has advocated for the oppressed, taking unpopular stands when others have preferred to turn away. In 1977 Hampshire College was the first college in the US to divest from Apartheid South Africa. In 2001 Hampshire was the first college to object to the war in Afghanistan.

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Students For Justice In Palestine, Hampshire | Hampshire College first in US to divest from Israel

In January 2005, the Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI) presented a call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel to the 5th World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The launch of the campaign coincided with the first anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling on the Israeli West Bank barrier. On July 9th, 2005, 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations called "... for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights." The three stated goals of the campaign are: An end to Israel's "occupation and colonization of all Arab lands", as well as "dismantling of the Wall;" Israeli recognition of the "fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality;" and, Israeli respect, protection, and promotion of "the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194."

In 2009, Hampshire College held a national Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions conference from November 20th through the 22nd.

BDSMovement.net | Ali Abunimah: Campus BDS Conference keynote speaker | Wikipedia Entry On BDS

2009 Hampshire Divestment Coverage: Hampshire College Students Win Divestment of Companies Profiting From the Israeli Occupation | The Lessons of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

BDS Coverage: Israeli Supportive Occupation Companies to Boycott | TIAA-CREF Has Divested from Africa-Israel | World Social Forum has called for March 30 as Global Boycott Divestment Day from Israel | Pro-Israel Lobby Alarmed by Growth of Boycott, Divestment Movement | Targeting Israel with Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions and Prosecutions | Palestinian BDS Leader Omar Barghouti Speaks In SF | Queers Respond to Tel-Aviv Homophobic Violence, Call for BDS against Israel | Letter To AFL-CIO Leader To Boycott Apartheid Israel | Yes to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Against Israel: An Answer to Uri Avnery

On the first anniversary of the Israeli military assault on Gaza, the Gaza Freedom March, trapped in Cairo, marched not only against the Israeli siege on Gaza, but also against an Egyptian blockade. On New Year’s Day 2010, Gaza Freedom March delegates ratified the historic Cairo Declaration, launching a global boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign against Israeli apartheid.

The international delegation of the Gaza Freedom March had originally planned to arrive in Gaza on December 29, 2009, to join a march against the Israeli blockade together with residents of Gaza on December 31. Instead, most of its delegates remained in Cairo, having been blocked from going to the Rafah border by the Egyptian government, and found itself marching against the Egyptian blockade on Gaza instead.

The Gaza Freedom March sought to highlight the plight of the 1.5 million residents of Gaza on the first anniversary of the Israeli invasion of the densely-populated Palestinian territory by entering Gaza with humanitarian aid for water purification, school materials, medicines, and other much needed supplies. After Israel tightened its blockade on Gaza after the election of a Hamas majority in the elections of January 2006, Egypt has refused to give open permission for foreign citizens to enter Gaza through Rafah until the last minute.
Jan. 4 report by Sharat G. Lin, who traveled to Cairo from San Jose

On January 9th, Egypt announced it will ban all aid convoys travelling to Gaza, tightening its blockade against the people of Gaza. On January 8th, Egypt deported British MP George Galloway, who had been participating in the Gaza Freedom March. Galloway has now been banned from ever returning to Egypt.

Egyptian Riot Cops Attack Humanitarian Workers in Viva Palestina Aid Convoy to Gaza | Video of the attack on Viva Palestina‏ | Blocking Freedom Marcher/Viva Palestina Aid to Gaza | Viva Palestina Convoy Enters Gaza

Gaza Freedom March: detained at the US embassy | Will Egypt's underground wall end the Gaza tunnel trade? | Galloway Deported, Banned From Egypt | Egypt bans Gaza aid convoys

Clare Bayard, from Dialogues Against Militarism, writes: "In Silwan, a neighborhood of East Jerusalem adjacent to the Old City, Palestinian families sometimes demolish their own homes when the notice comes because they can't afford to pay the fines levied upon people after the army bulldozes their houses. Sometimes the eviction notice gives them days, and other times a few hours to pull out several generations' of possessions before the house is demolished. Sometimes people are given 15 minutes to get out of their house before tear gas is fired through the windows.

"Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, 'transferring' thousands of Palestinians from West Jerusalem, which legally obliges the Israeli government to follow the Geneva Conventions that prohibit destruction of housing and property of occupied people. Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized, as is Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem as its unified capital. But Jerusalem, the Palestinian capital known in Arabic as al-Quds, is a key battleground in the demographic war that Israel is waging to 'reduce density' of Palestinians, with housing struggle as a primary weapon. The goal is to create a solid Jewish majority throughout Occupied East Jerusalem, with contiguous connections to the massive illegal settlement blocs spreading out into the West Bank. Half a million Israeli settlers currently colonize the West Bank, with more than a third of those in East Jerusalem." Read more

First They Came For the Palestinians.... Sheikh Jarrah as the Embryo of a Future Society | Israeli Police Charge Protesters in Sheikh Jarra‏h, Beat and Arrest 23 people | More than 50 Palestinians Evicted from Jerusalem Homes

On Friday, December 11th, more then 150 people marched to Sheikh Jarrah to show support and solidarity with the families who have been evicted from their houses, and those facing evictions. Upon arriving at the neighborhood, the protesters continued to the Al-Kurd’s home where settlers have taken over parts of the house, making the Al-Kurd lives a living hell.

The Israeli courts, who never acknowledge the rights of Palestinian refugees, have ruled that four families who were evicted from their homes and land in the Nakba ("disaster") of 1948, are to to be evicted again from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah, since the land was owned by Jews some 50 years ago. The court never dealt with the houses and land that were taken from these Palestinian families (and that are now populated by Israelis) since Israeli laws allow for the confiscation of properties of Palestinians refugees. The Palestinian families were removed not to house the descendants of the land's original owners, but for settlers from an extremist organization (Ateret Cohanim) working to expel all Palestinians from Jerusalem.

After an Israeli flag, which represents colonialism and more then 60 years of apartheid and ethnic cleansing, was removed from the stolen settler house window, the police charged the protesters, beating and arresting 23 people, three of them internationals. Requests by some arrestees for medical attention after being pepper-sprayed and beaten were ignored by the police immediately after the arrests.

Update: This Friday (December 18) again, a peaceful demonstration of around 300 people, held in solidarity with the evicted Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, was violently dispersed by the Israeli police.

Read more | Another weekend in Sheikh Jarrah | Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem- What Can Be Done From Abroad | Sheikh Jarrah is no fairy tale

Older Coverage: More than 50 Palestinians Evicted from Jerusalem Homes

David Shulman writes: "I’ve been trying to explain in my talk why I keep going down to the South Hebron hills when, after all, our impact on the situation there is so minimal, so pointillist, the task so Sisyphean, the sense of futility so overwhelming. I claimed that despite all this, there is something good about being there, in those landscapes and with those people, and that it had something to do with the difference between truth and falsehood.

"There are, it seems, situations when the distinction is truly palpable. I listen to my prime minister, Mr. Netanyahu, say that he hopes the Palestinians 'will get their act together, so that negotiations can begin.

"You hear the lie at once, and you can’t help noticing how thin and superficial it is, how lacking in any human depth; also, of course, how astonishingly twisted and corrupt. We live in the midst of swirling clouds of lies. 'That’s the thing about South Hebron,' Amiel says. 'It exposes the lie and reveals the truth in all its clarity.'"

Read More | Photos: The People of Bir al-Eid Return Home, attacked by settlers after less then a week | B'Tselem: Means of Expulsion - Violence, Harassment and Lawlessness Toward Palestinians in the Southern Hebron Hills

From Dialogues Against Militarism, "On Saturday, November 7, About 25 of us trudged towards military prison 400, just outside of Tel Aviv, coils of razor wire and lookout towers looming above us, fields of mud and dry grass to our right. we began setting up the sound system and preparing for the day’s goal of reaching earshot of Or Ben-David, a young Israeli being held in prison for refusing the army draft.

"Our gathering consisted predominantly of young Israelis who had themselves been conscientious objectors, some of whom had been held in that same prison quite recently, some of whom had just refused and were scheduled to report to prison in a few months. The crowd also included some older radicals, a smattering of internationals, and of course us – U.S. War resisters, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and anti-militarist organizers, here to lend our support to Israeli and Palestinian movements against occupation.

"Israeli youth find themselves situated in the middle of one of the world’s most contested occupations. With mandatory conscription for all graduating high school seniors, their bodies are used to enforce Israeli occupation and war: 18 and 19 year-olds become the arms of an apartheid state. In the United States, young people, often from low income or marginalized communities, are sent off to die in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, with sharper distinctions maintained between military and civilian life. Here, the war is in your face, with every city, town, bus station, and beach crawling with teenagers with machine guns slung over their shoulders."

Read More | Photos

Dialogues Against Militarism | Dialogues Against Militarism writings from Palestine

Israeli Youth and Allies Demonstrate in Support of The Shministim

On Thursday, October 29th, Israelis and internationals joined Palestinians for a quiet protest against the destruction of olive trees near the village of Susya, South Mountain Hebron. The Hoshia family who own the land in this area, had more then twenty olive trees cut down by settlers in October. During the recent months, settlers destroyed hundreds of olive trees own by Palestinians in the West Bank.

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125 Grapevines and Fruit Trees Destroyed by Israeli Settlers in Saffa, West Bank | B'Tselem video, Oct 09: Settlers harass Palestinians and steal crops during olive harvest in the West Bank

Following a landmark referendum, students at Sussex University have voted to boycott Israeli goods. The decision will become part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which calls upon Israel to respect international law and end the occupation of Palestine. The referendum result mandates the Students’ Union to remove all Israeli produce from its stores, and review its sources for food outlets. This makes Sussex Students’ Union the first in the UK to implement a full boycott of Israeli goods. The vote was one of the largest and closest contested in the Union’s history, with 562 votes for and 450 against the boycott.

The referendum received messages of support and thanks from Jewish and Israeli academics and non-governmental organisations that oppose Israel’s policy of occupation in Palestine. Author and scholar Norman G. Finkelstein described the referendum result as ‘a victory, not for Palestinians but for truth and justice’. He continued by saying, ‘Let us hope the boycott transmits the message to Israel that it should end the occupation, so that Palestinians can lead a decent life and amicable relations can be restored between Israelis and other peoples.‘

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Sussex Students Boycott Israeli Goods

From a statement by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine"Protests have recently greeted the leaders and representatives of the occupation state wherever they have traveled - former occupation prime minister and war criminal Ehud Olmert has been chased from city to city, shouted down in every venue and exposed for his war crimes. Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon was protested and his speech interrupted at the London School of Economics. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine salutes all of these protesters and calls upon all Palestinian and Arab communities and international activists for justice to shut down these war criminals, racists and oppressors wherever they go!

"Every leader and representative of the occupation state must be shut down wherever they speak and met with the loudest cries of unwelcome. Prevent them from speaking - let it be made clear that the people of the world stand with the people of Palestine and will not accept these criminals, racists and occupiers, that they will not be allowed to speak as normal, when the only place they should be speaking is before an international tribunal, on trial for their crimes against humanity!

"The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine calls upon all popular organizations and progressive forces in the world to do their utmost to completely internationally the occupation state in all forms and venues. Israel must be a pariah state, completely unwelcome in every international venue and arena. Every Israeli product, business, official, government, cultural or academic institution complicit with Zionism can and must be boycotted, divested from, subject to complete sanction and entirely shamed and isolated. Read more

Activists Call for the Prosecution of Israel's Former Prime Minister for War Crimes

PFLP Calls for Dec. 25 Solidarity Action for Imprisoned Leader Ahmad Sa'adat | Seven Years Ago, PFLP Assassinated Rehavam Zeevi

On Wednesday, October 21, youth in Israel marched through the streets of Tel Aviv in support of the Shministim- youth that is refusing to join the Israeli military. In Israel military service is mandatory at the age of 18, and the refusal to enlist caries jail sentences.

The Shministim (Hebrew for “twelfth-graders”) are an informal group of young Israelis who openly declare their refusal to join the Israeli military. Every year, the Shministim sign a different letter, a tradition harkening back to the 1970s when the first Shministim class expressed their dissent in a letter to Prime Minister Golda Meir. The 2008 letter, declares, “We cannot be moral and serve the occupation.” Read more

Shministim: Why We Refuse Tour Hits UC Berkeley

On Wednesday, October 21st, Ezra Nawi was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 750 Shekels fine (about 150$), 500 Shekels compensation to each of the two Israeli soldiers who accuse him of attacking them, and another 6 months in jail if he is convicted in the next three year of “illegal gathering”. Illegal gathering can be declared by any police officer, and basically means that Ezra will not be allowed to keep doing his solidarity work in occupied Palestine.

A couple of months ago, Judge Eilata Ziskind, found Ezra guilty of assaulting two border police officers and participating in a riot, during a house demolition in the West Bank, in the village of Um el-Hir in February, 2007. Ezra was convicted based solely on the the border police officers' testimonies, while the video footage from the event clearly showed that Ezra did not use violence in his protest against the injustices of the occupation.

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Ezra Nawi, a Solidarity Activist to Receive his Sentence on October 21

On Thursday, October 22nd, Ehud Olmert, a war criminal and Israel's former prime minister, will be speaking at the The Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco for the World Affairs Council. During his last weeks as Prime Minister of Israel, Olmert unleashed a horrific war on the people of Gaza, that left over one thousand dead, a majority of them unarmed civilians, and hundreds of them children. It destroyed thousands of homes, leaving tens of thousands homeless. A demonstration organized by Stop AIPAC, calling for Olmert's prosecution for war crimes will be held at Union Square at 5:30 PM.

During Israel's offensive on Gaza many hospitals, schools and homes of civilian people were devastated. Israeli forces used explosives containing white phosphorus which are forbidden by international law in civilian fields.

During his presidency Olmert have also approved the 2006 Israeli invasion into Lebanon, after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by the Hizbulla. Olmert refused to negotiate an exchange of POW, and instead pushed for a full attack on Lebanon where more then 1,200 people were killed. Currently, Olmert is facing charges in Israel for corruption and bribery. Read more

Citizens arrest and mass disruption of former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in San Francisco | 22 Bay Area residents arrested for disrupting former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's

EI exclusive video: Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago

Gaza "ceasefire" reveals more dead and more than 50,000 left homeless | Gaza: Over 600 Palestinians Killed. Humanitarian Crisis Faces 1.6 Million | Israel ’s Prime Minister Announces Resignation After Two Investigation For corruption

On Wednesday, October 21, Ezra Nawi, a Palestinian solidarity activist will receive his sentence at the Shalom Court in Jerusalem. Ezra's trial stems from an event two years ago, in which he was trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home by the Israeli occupation forces. Although a video capturing the event shows clearly Ezra's nonviolent actions, he was found guilty of assaulting a police officer. In the movie Ezra can be heard saying: "Yes, I was also a soldier, but I did not demolish houses... The only thing that will be left here is hatred..."

Ezra Nawi has been active for years in the area known as South Mt. Hebron. The Palestinians in this small desolate area in the very south of the West Bank have been under Israeli occupation for almost 42 years; they still live without electricity, running water and other basic services, and are continuously harassed by the Jewish settlers who constantly violate both Israeli and International law, and are backed by a variety of Israeli military occupation forces, all of which operate in an effort to cleanse the area from its Palestinian inhabitants and create a new demographic reality in it.

In personal letter on Support Ezra, he writes:"I have been harassed and targeted throughout the years, because I embody three elements which provoke bigotry in the Israeli society: I am a homosexual, I am a Mizrahi Jew, and I devote all my time to fighting for the human rights of Arab Palestinians....I am a simple person. I did what my heart told me to do...I feel that now the Israeli authorities are punishing me on a personal level. I would like to believe that my personal adversity will inspire and motivate individuals to actively oppose the occupation. Read more

Ezra Nawi: The Face of Israeli Human Rights Activism | Breaking the Silence tour to South Hebron | Strangers at Home-Breaking the Silence tour to Hebron

On October 11th, Palestinian and Jewish LGBT/queer activists held a protest against promoting LGBT tourism to Israel in front of the Tel Aviv gay center. The protesters intercepted a group of travel agents and other guests attending a conference that took place inside the gay center. The conference was organized by various Israeli institutes and International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA).

While entering, the guests went by the protesters, who were wearing T-shirts that read "Queers Visit Palestine, Not The Occupiers & Oppressors". Some of the protesters faces were covered with dirt, contrasting the concept of a "tourist attraction," putting themselves on display, not as shining examples of gay Israeli privilege but as wounded dirty queers, embodying the ugly side of the occupation being masked by the gay tourism initiative.

Haneen, one of the protesters said: "These conferences are trying to create an aesthetic facade that everything is rosy, when minutes from here there is poverty, exploitation, discrimination and occupation. We are against an event that bluntly deny and hide the dirt of our realities. It is our duty as queers not to overlook the oppression of others and to engage in their struggles".

"At a time when Israel still holds Gaza under siege, controls, segregates and divides the West Bank - there is no place for a 'business as usual' attitude", added Ayala Shani.

Read more

Queer Activists Disrupt StandWithUs I-Pride, Refuse to be a Propaganda Tool for Israel | Gavin Newsom and Zionist Contingents Confronted During 2009 SF Pride Parade

On Tuesday, October 13th, Shlomo Zand will be speaking about his newly translated book The Invention of the Jewish People, at 4pm in UC Berkeley's Dwinelle Hall. In this new book, Zand shows that the Israeli national myth has its origins in the nineteenth century, rather than in biblical times - when Jewish historians, like scholars in many other cultures, reconstituted an imagined people in order to model a future nation. Zand dissects the official story - and demonstrates the construction of a nationalist myth and the collective mystification that this requires.

A bestseller in Israel and France, Shlomo Sand’s book has sparked a widespread and lively debate. Should the Jewish people regard themselves as genetically distinct and identifiable across the millennia - or should that doctrine now be left behind? And if the myth of the "Jewish state" is dismantled, could this open a path toward a more inclusive Israeli state, content within its borders?

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Shlomo Sand speaks on The Invention Of The Jewish People | Israel's surprising best seller contradicts founding ideology | An invention called 'the Jewish people'

Palestine Freedom Walks are taking place in almost 30 cities across the United States on Saturday, October 10th. The Palestine Freedom Walks will be silent marches, on behalf of an equitable U.S. policy toward Palestine that advances freedom for the Palestinian people. In San Francisco the march will start at 11am at UN Plaza sidewalk near the Civic Center.

The purpose of the march, organized by the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights, is to to raise awareness about the situation in Palestine among Americans, and to raise founds for an online advertising campaign calling for freedom for the Palestinian people. Read more

On September 28th, Mutulu Olugbala aka M1 of dead prez was interviewed by Boots Riley of The Coup about his recent trip to Gaza, Palestine and Cairo, Egypt. The event, a fundraiser for the San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper and Block Report Radio, was held at Santa Cruz Barrios Unidos and co-sponsored by the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC), Barrios Unidos and the Watsonville Brown Berets.

Read more with photos and audio

Avital writes:, "Last week I spent Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) in the Tel Aviv/Petach Tikva area, bouncing back and forth between family and friends, and again no one around cared too much about actually observing the holiday. Of course, as an officially Jewish state, most businesses and transportation services shut down on these days. But that doesn’t stop most Israelis from maneuvering their way around these ‘inconveniences ‘and taking shared taxis, crowding into the few open coffee shops, and going to the beach."

Seeing this overwhelming secular side of the Israeli public always makes me wonder why people are so insistent on maintaining the Jewish character of the State and why the Orthodox Rabbinate is given so much power to dictate policy here. Why is it that my friends must bring proof that they are Jewish to the Ministry of Interiors in order to obtain a volunteer visa for the year? Why is it that this proof must come in the form of a letter from a Rabbi who must meet strict Orthodox standards which frown upon converts and children of mixed marriages and anyone who belongs to any other Jewish denomination? How can such a secular Israeli public allow the government to support, both financially and politically, religious fanatics creating settlements in the Palestinian territories?

A few days ago I went on a tour of East Jerusalem and was exposed first hand to the reality of settlements right in my back yard (almost literally). The tour also highlighted the incredibly unequal distribution of funds and the ironic fact that Palestinian residents who are always first to pay their city taxes, still do not have a reliable waste collection service or enough schools for their kids to attend, and the only nice roads and sidewalks seen in the Arab areas are paved only to serve the new settlements that are constantly being constructed there. The tour ended with a view of the Shoafat Refugee Camp, which is technically within the municipal borders of the city of Jerusalem, but has been cut off from the city by the wall that was built around its perimeter. Read more

Israel: Not a Jewish State, A Zionist State

On Friday, September 18, about 300 protesters -- Israeli, Palestinian and international -- attended the weekly demo against the apartheid wall in Ni‘lin. In a joint collective action the protesters succeeded in moving one of the wall blocks (weighing a few tons), causing substantial damage to the wall, and opening a gap in which a person can pass.

In the past month the army constructed the cement wall (similar to one in the Kalkilia area) that separates between the villages‘ agricultural lands, in which weekly demonstrations have taken place, and the electronic wall that is situated in the heart of the area.

Earlier, protesters placed rubber tires in the Palestinian side of the wall and set them on fire. The impressive fumes reached the Israeli side (and probably the ozone layer as well). Soldiers fired gas grenades on the protesters, using a multi-barrel gas grenade launcher capable of firing 32 gas grenades simultaneously. One Palestinian protester was lightly injured from the gas grenades. The protesters threw stones at the soldiers.

(Hebrew translation): כ-300 מפגינים ישראלים פלסטינים ובינלאומיים השתתפו ביום שישי בהפגנה נגד חומת האפרטהייד בנעלין. בסוף ההפגנה, הצליחו המפגינים - בפעולה קולקטיבית מרשימה ומאומצת - להזיז את אחת מאבני הבטון של החומה (משקלה כמה טונות!). בכך גרמו נזק משמעותי לחומה והצליחו לפעור בה חור שמאפשר מעבר אדם. הצבא בנה בחודש האחרון את חומת הבטון (בדומה למבנה החומה באזור קלקיליה) שהמפגינים הזיזו. החומה החדשה חוצצת בין השטחים החקלאיים של הכפר, בהן מתקיימות ההפגנות, לבין הגדר האלקטרונית שהוקמה בלב האדמות ומנתקת אותן מבעליהן. המפגינים הניחו צמיגים בצד הפלסטיני של הגדר והבעירו אותם. תמרות העשן השחור הגיעו לצד הישראלי (וככל הנראה גם הלאה משם לשכבת האוזון). החיילים ירו רימוני גז לעבר המפגינים, בין היתר באמצעות ”המדוכה“ שמשגרת 32 רימונים במטח ירי אחד. מפגין פלסטיני אחד נפצע קל מהרימונים. המפגינים ידו אבנים לעבר הצבא הישראלי. Read more

Nil'in anti-wall protest damages wall, marchers pass into stolen land

Anarchists Against The Wall

Former Coverage: Yousef Akil Srour, Fifth Ni’lin Residents to be Murdered by the Israeli Army in Ni’lin

On Wednesday, September 16, Maya Wind and Netta Mishly from the refusenik group "Shministim" spoke at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Building at UC Berkeley. Maya Wind and Netta Mishly both signed the 2008 Shministim Letter: a declaration by Israeli high school students that they would not enlist in the IDF to occupy Palestinian territories and rule over Palestinian life. Since military service is mandatory for Israeli Jews upon completing high school, Maya, Netta, and many of the dozens of teenagers who signed the letter have been sentenced to military prison, sometimes for multiple terms.

The Shministim (Hebrew for “twelfth-graders”) are an informal group of young Israelis who openly declare their refusal to join the Israeli military. Every year, the Shministim sign a different letter, a tradition harkening back to the 1970s when the first Shministim class expressed their dissent in a letter to Prime Minister Golda Meir. The 2008 letter, signed by both Maya and Netta, declares, “We cannot be moral and serve the occupation.”

Read more | Why We Refuse | Sahar Vardi, a Refusenik, Sentenced to Seven Days in Jail

Ayman T. Quader, writes: "every time, she tries to understand what happened to her, she asks herself: what was my fault?, what’s going to happen to me in my tent? Ilham, a 30 years old mother of 6, lives in Al-atatra district , in the northern part of the Gaza strip. The Israeli war (in 2008) had a huge impact on her, it destroyed her house, her parent’s house and killed her brother."

"Ilham and her family spent 25 days in one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency’s schools (UNRWA), to take shelter from phosphorous missiles of death that were chasing the population of the strip. She says: 'Israeli armed forces bombarded our house with many missiles, destroyed its walls, set fire in its rooms, and spread darkness all around us (she meant the missiles fumes), to a point that we couldn’t breathe anymore… and after hours, during which we were facing death, the ambulance transported us to the hospital.'

"we used to walk many miles each week or every other week, as a group of women, just for bathing, I had a feeling of humiliation and despair, especially when we were forced to leave the hospital, because of the high numbers of martyrs and victims, their bodies took over the whole place, moreover, the hospital is not a place for taking baths…In the war, my house was destroyed, all I own now is a tent that does not exceeds a few meters, my children and I sleep on the sand. My nights became like my days, everything has changed in my life after the 27th of December 2008. All I have now are memories on which I live me and my children, till this day, I feel deeply oppressed . What was my fault? And why do I live in this humiliation? Who could bear what we are all facing? Read more

voice from Gaza, to bring the Palestinian suffering to the whole world

Gaza Solidarity Day on the 42nd Anniversary of Israel's Seizure of Gaza | Free Gaza Activists, Donna and Darlene Wallach, Welcomed Home to San Jose | Gaza "ceasefire" reveals more dead and more than 50,000 left homeless | Activists Lockdown at Israeli Consulate in San Francisco as Gaza Massacre Intensifies | January 10th Gaza Protest In San Francisco | Gaza: Over 600 Palestinians Killed. Humanitarian Crisis Faces 1.6 Million

On August 23rd, Cynthia McKinney, former US Congresswoman and member of the Free Gaza movement, gave a talk at the San Francisco Lunacy Theater. The event was part of a Bay Area benefit tour for the San Francisco Bay View Newspaper, an independent monthly that covers a variety of local and international stories. She also spoke in Oakland at the Grand Lake Theater and the Black Dot Cafe, Sonoma, and El Cerrito. Her speaking tour follows her recent expedition on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza under siege.

“Gaza lives,” McKinney said. “The people are vibrant and alive despite F-16 bombings, deformed children, depleted uranium. I didn’t think about what could happen to me before going. I’ve been involved in life-threatening political activity for some time, so when I got the call I didn’t think about my safety. Operation Cast Lead sickened me. I just went, and I’m so happy I did, even when my boat was rammed and I was kidnapped by the Israelis. They took us to Israel and then charged us with illegal entry! I spent seven days in prison with Ethiopian immigrants facing similar charges. Meanwhile, the Congress and White House said nothing. We had a boatload of $500,000 worth of trucks, cars, medical supplies for Gaza, but Egypt denied entry. They’re still sitting in the port right now.”

She spoke of the “two Americas” --one inhabited by the wealthy elite and the other the impoverished majority, and urged Americans to cultivate a stronger resistance movement in order to respond to political corruption and election fraud. She cited the Haitian uprising against the kidnapping of democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide as well as the social unrest in Mexico City following 2006 election as model examples of mobilization for the United States. Read more

Interview with former presidential candidate and former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney | FREE GAZA 21 UPDATE - Cynthia McKinney, prisoner 88794, speaks from Israeli jail | Cynthia McKinney, the Israeli Navy, and $4 billion worth of natural gas off Gaza

On August 18th, the Israeli Ministry of Defense informed American activist Tristan Anderson’s family and legal counsel that it considers his shooting during a nonviolent protest in the West Bank village of Nil’in, which left him critically injured, an “act of war,” absolving the soldiers responsible from any liability under Israeli law. Anderson was shot directly in the forehead with a high-velocity tear gas canister by Israeli forces on March 13th, 2009, suffering several condensed fractures and necessitating several life-saving surgeries. To date, he remains unconscious at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv; his prospects for recovery are as of now unclear.

According to Michael Sfard, "If a process by which unarmed civilian demonstration is classified by Israel as an ‘act of war,’ then clearly Israel admits that it is at war with civilians. International law identifies the incident as a clear case of human rights abuse. As such, Tristan and his family are undoubtedly entitled to justice and compensation. We will pursue this matter and take the government of Israel to court. In addition to filing a criminal complaint against the State of Israel for the shooting of their son, the Andersons have submitted a notice of intent to file a civil suit."

Leah Tsemel, the civil suit attorney, stated, "This is another occasion where the Israeli government is alluding responsibility. The demonstrations that take place in Ni’lin and Bil’in are not acts of war. We will pursue, in Israeli courts and international courts if necessary, justice for the Anderson family." Several eyewitnesses have given testimony that Tristan was shot when he could not have been perceived as any threat to the forces in the area. He was shot from around 60 meters while standing with a few internationals and Palestinians, hours after the demonstration had dispersed from the construction site of the Wall. Read more

Israeli Authorities Declare Shooting of Tristan Anderson an “Act of War” | Smearing Tristan Anderson | Shooting Tristan Anderson

Solidarity with Tristan Anderson

As Tristan Anderson Fights for His Life, Protests in Ni'ilin Continue | Solidarity with Tristan and Palestine Events Around the World | Tristan Anderson Critically Injured After Demonstration Against Israeli Wall

Over the weekend the weekly demonstrations against the apartheid wall in Palestine continued. In Bal'in , some 20 Israelis and 50 internationals joined Palestinians and marched chanting slogans against the annexation wall, the occupation and the arrest of Bil'in's youth and popular struggle leaders, accompanied by a marching poem written by one of the local leaders. speeches were made in Arabic, English and French.

In Nil'in the demonstration started in the village's small olive grove, what is left to the village after tens of years of Israeli land grabs. Protesters marched towards the newly built fence and dispersed along the route of the separation fence and expressed loudly their protest - each in their own preferred way.

In Al-Mas'ara dozens of Palestinian protesters against the apartheid Wall and the settlements were joined by a group of around 80 internationals from all over the world and some Israeli activists. They marched towards the Apartheid Wall carrying Palestinian and Fatah flags as a message to the members of Fatah from the popular resistance movement to adopt the popular resistance as strategy for the future and also as a message that unity is a priority for the Palestinians.

A candlelight vigil in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, was also held to protest against the eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes.

Late last night demo in front of the west bank military commander's house in Tel Aviv

Village of Bil'in calls on Amnesty International to withdraw from Leonard Cohen Concert | Who Profits from the Occupation Newsletter, The Cellular Companies and the Occupation | Gaza Haunts Israeli Officer in South Africa

Jen Marlowe writes: "I heard the jangle of ankle and wrist cuffs before I saw them. The detainees (five Israeli, four Palestinian and four international) were being led into a small court room. One woman had a black eye. They had been arrested the night before at a demonstration against the eviction of the Hannoun and al-Ghawe families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem. At 5:00 Sunday morning, the families were removed from their homes by Israeli police, leaving 53 people homeless — 20 of them children."

"I walked to Sheikh Jarrah. It was easy to locate the houses. They were blocked off and guarded by police forces. I found the father of the Hannoun family, Maher, sitting on the pavement across from his home with his family, friends and supporters. A pile of thin foam mats were stacked up behind them."

"I asked Maher the details of what had taken place the previous morning. 'A lot of policemen came with weapons,' Maher told me. 'My son was standing guard outside. When he saw them, he came inside and locked the door. The soldiers broke the door to the gate, the main door and the windows. They got in by force and they kicked all the family out of the house. Seventeen people.' Read more

Also see: Evicted Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah Remain Dispossessed but Determined | Another Day Sleeping Under the Sky: The Situation in Sheikh Jarrah and the Uncertain Destiny of The Gawi and Hannoun Families | UN concerned over potential further evictions in East Jerusalem

Other articles by Jen Marlowe: The Ordeal of Suleiman Jamous Trapped in Darfur | Gaza Struggling under Siege | Death in Darfur | In Gaza, Circles of Hell

DS writes: "On Monday night, about one hundred people assembled honoring the youth were killed and injured in the Tel Aviv LGBT Center last week.To be honest, I was dreading this event. I needed to mourn – for the youth who were killed, and also for the sense of safety that I lost, years ago, when I first realized that my own LGBTQ youth center was an unsafe space for me. I worried, though, that I wouldn’t be able to mourn, but would instead be distracted by anger and alienation at the Zionist rhetoric that almost always accompanies any public Jewish event. I was pleasantly surprised in so many ways."

"Monday’s vigil focused entirely on the tragedy of the youths’ lost lives. Speakers from the Jewish community and the broader community emphasized the need to stand up for queer youth in our own communities and worldwide. One speaker talked about creating safety for “all residents” of Tel Aviv – not “all citizens,” as pro-Israel speakers usually say."

"Only two Israeli flags were present, one of them the rainbow version created for this June’s Jews March For Pride contingent– which, despite my dislike for all national flags and especially this one, I can see the relevance of for this particular vigil. Nobody used this event as an excuse to repeat the nonsensical rhetoric of many official Israeli sources, that this level of violence is “unheard of” in Israel. In fact, people hardly mentioned Israel. And that is as it should be – these youth were targeted because they were queer, not because they were Jewish, not because they were Israeli. The organizers of this vigil did an amazing job of keeping Zionist politics out of it, to an extent I have never seen at any Jewish event." Read more |

Jewish LGBT Community Commemorates the Death of Two at a Gay Center in Tel Aviv | Painful Irony in Tel Aviv LGBT Teen Center Shooting

Berlin solidarity with LGBT Tel Aviv - Demo against homophobia | Queers Respond to Tel-Aviv Homophobic Violence, Call for BDS against Israel

No Pride in Apartheid or Gavin Newsom's Budget Cuts | StandWithUs I-Pride Protested by Queer Activists for Exploiting Gay Issues