Activism News

Largest Dutch trade union will increase pressure on Israel



Since 1994 Palestine has been part of the largest Dutch trade union, FNV ABVAKABO’s international solidarity policy. In a letter to Palestinian unions it refers to a resolution of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions which was adopted in December 2004. The ICFTU has 241 affiliated organizations in 156 countries with a membership of 155 million. The resolution calls for the immediate ending of the occupation of 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza, including the existence of the wall and Jewish settlements. 

Solidarity in Tubas



“The clinic is modern, light, open and clean. Coming from a dark, dirty hospital with MRSA [the superbug] stalking the wards I almost felt we should send our managers to learn from the people here,” reflected Lucy Collins, a midwife from the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. She had spent two days in the Red Crescent primary health care center in Tubas. Such positive reflections on the grinding reality of life under occupation in the West Bank are rare. But there are many stories of a resilient people who still have the energy to welcome visitors and reassure them when things become particularly heavy. Alice Cutler reports. 

The One State Declaration



“For decades, efforts to bring about a two-state solution in historic Palestine have failed to provide justice and peace for the Palestinian and Israeli Jewish peoples, or to offer a genuine process leading towards them.” So begins a statement calling for a one-state solution signed by among others prominent Palestinian and Israeli scholars and activists. The statement, issued to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the UN Partition Resolution sets out principles for “a just, and thus enduring, peace in a single state.” 

Hundreds converge on Ramallah for boycott summit



An important milestone in building the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign was achieved in Ramallah on 22 November 2007. Some 300 activists, members of unions, associations and NGOs in towns, villages and refugee camps of the occupied West Bank, with monitors from the global solidarity movement in Britain, Canada, Norway, Spain and South Africa, convened for a day of discussion and debate about ways to promote all forms of boycott against Israel among Palestinian community organizations, unions, as well as political, academic and cultural institutions. 

PLO takes Veolia Transport and Alstom to court in France



At the end of October 2007 European corporations Veolia Transport, and Alstom were taken to court by Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS), because of their involvement in the Israeli light rail or tramway project that is planned to link West Jerusalem with the ring of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Veolia has been under international pressure to withdraw from the project, but so far refuses. Now the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, has joined AFPS in the legal action against the two companies. Adri Nieuwhof and Maria Lherm report for EI

Don't honor Peres' war criminal history

The following is an open letter to Professor Ali Dogramaci, Rector of Bilkent University, Ankara: The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel views with grave concern your university’s intention to honor Shimon Peres with an Honorary Doctorate. We feel certain that you do so without the knowledge of his personal history and his history as president of a state that practices the most pernicious form of colonialism and apartheid. 

New York activists crash settler funder's Madison Avenue gala



Over 100 well-dressed, well-heeled New Yorkers attending the invitation-only opening of diamond mogul Lev Leviev’s Madison Avenue jewelry store this evening appeared stunned and aghast to find their evening derailed by a noisy protest against Leviev’s construction of illegal West Bank settlements. Gala attendees set down their champagne glasses and gathered by windows to view the signs and Palestinian flags, and hear protesters’ chants. 

Palestinian, Israeli scholars to advance one-state solution in London



Leading Palestinian and Israeli scholars and activists will be among the speakers at an unprecedented conference to explore a one-state solution, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London on 17-18 November. Organized by the London One State Group and the SOAS Palestine Society, the conference, “Challenging the Boundaries: A Single State in Israel/Palestine,” will explore new models for a just peace including binationalism, secular democracy, a ‘state of all its citizens’ and federalism. 

Campaign: End the siege on Gaza



On 25 October, a Palestinian patient died at Erez crossing while awaiting being allowed to cross to an Israeli hospital. A week ago, a woman died in Gaza hospital with her newly born baby, while awaiting a permit to be transferred to Israel for medical treatment. These are not the first victims, and will certainly not be the last should the current situation continue to prevail. A statement from a new Palestinian campaign called, “End the Siege,” calls for Palestinians and internationals to take action against Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. 

Diaspora Palestinians to Abbas: Right of return not negotiable



We the Palestinian Canadian community assembly at the Palestinian National Voice Preparatory Conference in Hamilton, Canada, issue this letter out of profound concern regarding the present state of the Palestinian national struggle and the November 2007 “peace” conference to be hosted by the United States in Annapolis, Maryland. 

Pages