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We would like to send to all our members and contacts our seasonal greetings and to thank everyone for all your support this year - either through online messages or presence at our information stalls and public meetings (when we were allowed to have them!). For Palestinians it has been a year where we have had to give solidarity more than ever. We hope to do much more next year with your support. Best Wishes, keep safe!
MAP calls on UK to help Gaza breathe as oxygen supplies dwindle
 Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has issued an emergency briefing as the current spike in COVID-19 cases is stretching the capacity of Gaza's beleaguered health system to breaking point.
'Two million people, 70% of whom are refugees, live in approximately 365km2, making Gaza one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Israel has imposed an illegal closure and blockade on Gaza since 2007 which, combined with repeated military offensives and the significant injury and death toll of Israel's use of force against the 'Great March of Return' protests of 2018-19, has led to economic de-development, crumbling infrastructure, and massive pressure on essential services.'
COVID-19 emergency update. MAP donation page.
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US Policies Cause Acute Hardship in Shu'fat Refugee Camp
Israel's demolition of 18 Shu'fat Camp shops in 2018. |
The outcome of the brutal policy of the US defunding UNRWA in 2018 is clearly seen in Shu'fat Refugee Camp.
With unemployment reaching 70% in the camp, UNRWA was meeting the basic needs for the 32,000 Palestinians living there. Most importantly, Dr Salim Anati, director of the only medical clinic in the camp, points out: teachers, social workers, medical staff rely on UNRWA for their salaries which cannot be paid this month because UNRWA's loss of funding.
It is clear that the poverty caused by the Israeli Occupation is further deepened by the callous US policy aimed at supporting Israel in a political move to delegitimise the refugee status of the Palestinians. Shu'fat Refugee Camp: Broken Promises in the Promised Land.
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Information stalls
We won't be having any information stalls for the time being because of the worsening Covid situation locally.
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Boycott Puma - Day of Action
 Puma sponsors the Israel Football Association (IFA) which has football clubs in illegal Israeli settlements - on land stolen from Palestinians. Every settlement is a war crime under international law - pushing indigenous Palestinian families off their land.
More than 200 Palestinian teams have called on Puma to end its support of Israel's military occupation by terminating its sponsorship deal with the IFA.
Thanks to everyone who visited our stall to say hello and support. The report on social media received a lot of interest with 17,000 hits on Twitter.
Mahmoud Sarsak, Palestinian footballer: "Tell Puma that if it opposes racism, then it must oppose the Israeli occupation" Article here.
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Online meeting with Ilan Pappé and Ghada Karmi
Ilan Pappé is Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at Exeter University. Ghada Karmi was born in Jerusalem and was forced to leave her home with her family as a result of Israel's creation in 1948. Ghada is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.
Make a note of our forthcoming meeting date: 20 January. More information to follow.
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Fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ali Abu Aliya a 'grave violation of international law', says UN Human Rights Office
United Nations experts condemned the Israeli military for killing a Palestinian child during a protest in the occupied West Bank earlier this month, calling the shooting of 15-year-old Ali Abu Aliya a "grave violation of international law." Article here.
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Israel's isolation of Palestinian child prisoners amounts to torture
 The Defense for Children International - Palestine has issued a major report documenting 108 cases of child detention: "Isolated and Alone: Palestinian children held in solitary confinement by Israeli authorities for interrogation." The report concludes that the physical and social isolation of Palestinian children for interrogation purposes by Israeli authorities is a practice that constitutes solitary confinement, amounting to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international law norms. Report here.
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PSC Statement on UK-Israel Military Cooperation Agreement
The Israeli Chief of General Staff met with the UK Chief of the Defence Staff and signed a joint agreement to "formalise and enhance" military co-operation between the UK and Israel.
Palestinian civilian society has repeatedly called for states to enact measures to hold Israel to account under international law, and end the climate of international complicity with Israel's human rights violations. This includes ending all military-security co-operation with Israel and a ban on arms trade.
PSC statement and petition calling on the UK to revoke the cooperation agreement, and instead enact a two-way arms embargo: Click here.
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Jerusalema Dance Challenge - - from Jerusalem
Probably old hat to most of you here, but where better to get this year's dance craze than from Jerusalem. Good excuse to leap around to during this year's festivities!
The Popular Art Centre (PAC).
Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Collective liberation from Palestine.
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Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck - beaten and arrested by the Israeli police
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Hirsh visits Palestinian prisoner and hunger striker Maher Al-Akhras in Jerusalem. |
Fascinating article about Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck - from dodging Nazi soldiers at 10 years old, later beatings by Israeli police, and a firm supporter of the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
Rabbi Beck was beaten and arrested by the Israeli police on many occasions during protests against the Zionist state, and while plastering anti-Zionist posters on walls. "The danger was never the Arabs, only the Zionists," he added. "The very idea of the Zionist state is heresy."
Miko Peled: Rabbi Moshe Ber Beck Endured a Nearly a Century of Struggle for His Beliefs. Article here.
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Ronnie Kasrils: against the witch-hunt
Ronnie Kasrils is a former ANC freedom fighter and was Intelligence Minister in South Africa. Ronnie is from South Africa's Jewish community. This is from a talk he gave at a London online Free Speech Rally recently.
'Criticising Zionism, an exclusivist ethnic-based political doctrine, is not anti-semitic. It is the valid criticism of a reactionary political theory. Zionism, not the Judaic religion; Israel, not the Jewish people is the focus of criticism.'
'The Apartheid regime's use of anti-communism as a blanket device to smash opposition, along with Joe McCarthy's witch hunting, is mirrored in manipulating "anti-semitism" as a shield to protect Israel. It is an umbrella formula to delegitimise the Palestinian cause and BDS campaign.'
He also spoke of the pitfalls of the controversial IHRA 'definition of anti-semitism.'
Against the witch-hunt.
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Former general who called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians picked to head Israel's Holocaust museum
If Effi Eitam is picked 'it will allow the Holocaust, like antisemitism, to be weaponized against human rights activists and left-wing critics of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians.'
'And it will embolden dictators and fascist politicians around the globe who seek to cosy up to Israel. They will be able to secure Israel's absolution from their countries' ugly recent past, and join Israel in glorifying ethnic supremacist policies that could usher in a repetition of the very same crimes the memory of the Holocaust was supposed to proscribe.' Article by Jonathan Cook here.
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Apartheid Israel: Court ruling allows Israeli city to block access to schools for Palestinian children
Palestinian children refused access to schools in the northern city of Karmiel. "There is no single constitution in the world today that declares in its laws that it will act to advance the interests of the dominant group...." Article here.
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UAE investment in upgrading Israeli checkpoints only entrenches occupation
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor: "Checkpoints are a symbol of Palestinian subjugation and repression. They should only be dismantled, rather than merely improved. A gilded cage is still a cage." Article here..
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Elbit Systems helps develop remote-control slaughter app
Between 2018 and this year, the British defense ministry ordered around $61 million worth of Elbit's products or services. The East Sussex Pension Fund is one of only 3 government pension funds to have investments in Elbit systems. App makes killing Palestinians as easy as ordering pizzas
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Letter: Palestinian rights and the IHRA definition of antisemitism
A group of 122 Palestinian and Arab academics, journalists and intellectuals express their concerns about the IHRA definition: Letter here.
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Israel demolishes historic stairway leading to Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israeli forces demolish a historic stairway leading to the Lions' Gate which in turn leads to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. A UK made JCB digger was used in the demolition. Article here.
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 News from and about the occupation:
Khalida Jarrar smuggles a letter for Palestine, Writes.
Victory! Seville cancels Electronic Warfare Europe arms fair.
San Francisco State student government passes Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution.
A racist endeavor: Zionist Israel's Black Jewish victims of color.
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV): Who's against adopting the IHRA antisemitism definition?
Israeli forces break Palestinian boy's jaw during arrest.
Israeli weapons are heading for the East - with no concern for human rights.
EU: 200 Palestinian families threatened with eviction from Jerusalem homes.
Jewish members say Starmer's pursuit of them 'makes a mockery' of claim to be making Labour safe for Jews.
With this flawed antisemitism definition, Britain is closing down academic freedom.
Legal analysis blows apart EHRC's "Labour anti-Semitism" report.
"Refusing to serve in the army is my small act of making change."
Ghada Karmi: Starmer's silence on Palestinian solidarity day speaks volumes.
Constituency Labour Parties "banned" from discussing motions supporting charity bike ride for Palestinian children.
How Israel deployed an intelligence deception to justify killing Iranian Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Palestinian student released from Israeli jail after 15 months.
When the People Rose: How the Intifada Changed the Political Discourse around Palestine.
Labour purges veteran Israeli anti-Zionist Moshé Machover.
Craig Murray: The State You May Not Criticise.
From Myth to Reality: Zionist Archeologists Are Using the Bible to Rewrite History.
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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:
11 December 2020
11 November 2020
4 November 2020
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