Alex Kane

Hundreds of student activists from dozens of colleges and universities across the US are expanding the grassroots movements for Palestine solidarity activism despite aggressive smear campaigns by pro-Israel groups.

Final preparations are underway for the next big flotilla to Gaza, which is scheduled to occur in late June. The US Boat to Gaza will take part in the largest planned fleet yet, with an estimated 1,000 passengers from an array of countries collaborating to break Israel’s blockade.

Jawaher was not the only member of the Abu Rahmah family whose life was taken by Israeli military violence. In April 2009, during a similar protest against the wall, an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister directly at Bassem Abu Rahmah, Jawaher’s brother, which hit him in the chest and killed him. The Electronic Intifada contributor Alex Kane interviews Soubhiya Abu Rahmah, the mother of Bassem and Jawaher, in Bilin.

Sixty-seven members of the Abu Eid family were displaced when Israeli forces destroyed their seven homes on 14 December 2010. Alex Kane reports from Lydd.

Last New Year’s Eve, Debbie Mardon did not celebrate with noise makers or confetti — instead, she headed to Cairo’s main square to participate in the Gaza Freedom March with her son and daughter. It was an unlikely place to be for a previously apolitical mother who voted for George W. Bush and as recently as three years ago relied on right-wing radio hosts to help her make sense of the world. Alex Kane reports.