Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter   25 September 2020

 
Information stalls in Hastings

We are re-starting our information stalls in Hastings town centre, with this Saturday's stall 12.0 - 14.00. Near Debenhams.

We plan to run them every fortnight, weather permitting. Come along to find out the latest on the campaign to Stop Arming Israel - and information about the campaign to get the East Sussex Pension Fund to divest from all companies complicit in Israel's abuses of Palestinian Human Rights.

Please note this will be a socially distanced event, recognising all Government guidelines.
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East Sussex Pension Fund

East Sussex County Council has approximately £111,005,766 invested in 63 companies complicit in Israel's war crimes. Source

We will shortly be announcing the next stage in the campaign to get the East Sussex County Council to divest from these companies.

We are targetting companies that the United Nations has recently highlighted in its list of companies involved in Israel's illegal settlement economy. Israel's settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law and the International Criminal Court prosecutor has decided to investigate their construction as a war crime.

Recently the Most Rev'd John Davies - the Archbishop of Wales - joined a number of charities, trade unions, religious groups and civil society organisations - in calling on local authorities, churches, Local Government Pensions Schemes, universities, and businesses to guarantee that they are not complicit in the Israeli occupation through their investments and procurement practices.
Statement here.

The Local Government Pension Scheme Divest website: Click here.

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Stop Arming Israel

Our vigil was part of a nationwide series of events calling for an end to the two-way arms trade with Israel. We organised the midday vigil in the town centre, one of 40 demonstrations up and down the country. As a major target of our action was social media, we were pleased to see our post on Twitter receive more than 20,000 hits.

The event marked six years since Israel's aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza which left 2,251 Palestinians dead, a quarter of whom were children. The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza invasion found credible allegations that Israel committed war crimes through its indiscriminate attacks on densely populated civilian areas, which left over 100,000 Palestinians homeless. Names of some of the 551 child victims were read out at the vigil, followed by a minute's silence to remember the dead. Gaza remains under a crippling 13-year air, land and sea blockade.

Thanks to everyone who attended. Over 40 protests took place across the UK on the #StopArmingIsrael day of action. PSC article.
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Israeli drone manufacturer Elbit closed down for 3 days

Activists from Palestine Action closed down the Elbit Systems UAV Engine factory in Shenstone for three days after climbing on top of the factory roof. Elbit manufactures the Hermes-900 drones that are deployed on Palestinians, notably in the besieged Gaza strip, where they are then sold on the international arms market as "field tested," that is field tested on a population that consists mostly of refugees and children.

There are ten Elbit sites across the UK, where actions have already occurred at a number of them. Members of our branch have been involved in closing down the Elbit subsidiary Instro in Broadstairs for one day.

Article in a local paper on day 2 of the occupation: Shenstone protest is "for the sake of human rights, justice and freedom." Fundraiser for Palestine Action.
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Zoom meeting - Hands Up project in Gaza

Tuesday 6th October. 6:50 for 7pm. This is a joint meeting between Hastings against War and the Hastings & Rother Interfaith Forum.

"The Hands Up Project offers Gazan kids a powerful way to make direct online video contact with same age classes in the rest of the world, to talk about their lives, tell stories, find out about others, and to do it in English which they see as a valuable entry to the international community." The principal speaker is Adrian Underhill.
More information.
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"Normalisation deals between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Israel are nothing to celebrate"

The normalisation deals with Bahrain and UAE do nothing to bring the realisation of the core collective rights of the Palestinian people closer. They will not end the demolition of Palestinian homes, the arbitrary arrest and harassment of human rights defenders and children, or the expansion of illegal settlements. Instead, they give formal approval to Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people. Send a message to your MP demanding sanctions now: Reject UAE/Bahrain deals with Israel.
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News from and about the occupation:

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD): September 2020 newsletter.

FOA: Ban Trade with Illegal Israeli Settlements.

Racist to deny us right to oppose Zionism, British Palestinians tell Labour.

Israel is frustrated at the failure to tackle the BDS movement.

Jonathan Cook: How Israel Wages War on Palestinian History.

Pro-Israel lawyer faked graffiti attack.

Docaviv film festival in apartheid Tel Aviv rocked by cancellations in closing week after BDS appeals.

Tell Puma that if it opposes racism, then it must oppose the Israeli occupation.

84 percent of Canadians want war crimes probe into Israel.

YouTube, Zoom and Facebook censor Leila Khaled for Israel.

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Hastings and Rye PSC online membership and donations

Becoming a member of Hastings and Rye PSC is an important way of supporting our work.The annual subscription is £10 waged, £5 unwaged. We now have an online membership payment form. It can also be used to renew membership. The work of Hastings & Rye Palestine Solidarity could not continue without the generous donations from members of the public. If you would like to support our work without becoming a member please visit our shop page here and see the right hand column: Donate to Hastings & Rye PSC.
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Recent Hastings and Rye PSC newsletters:
21 August 2020
3 July 2020
17 June 2020

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