Feature Archives

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.

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.

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 - in October 2009 in the United States, 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 on October 26, 2009. 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! protests against Israeli officials

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.

On Wednesday, October 21st, Ezra Nawi was sentenced to 30 days in jail, a 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.

On Wednesday, October 21,Ezra Nawi, 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..."

On Thursday, October 22nd, Ehud Olmert, a war criminal and Israel's former Prime Minister, will be speaking at 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 calling for Olmert's prosecution for war crimes will be held at Union Square at 5:30 PM.
UPDATE: 22 Bay Area residents arrested for disrupting speech