This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Demonstrations and commemorations are planned in different cities around the world to mark what has become the longest standing occupation in the world today and one which “the West” still supports through military aid and weapons sales. EI offers this flier as a means of highlighting the occupation’s impact on the the lives of those forced to live under it. Print and post it to help educate the public and to spread the word about EI. Read more about EI Download: 40th Anniversary of Occupation Flier
June 5th 2007 marks the 40th year of Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. The impact of this occupation, which includes poverty, violence, social disintegration and internal conflict, continues to this day. As part of this occupation, Israel began the construction of a 700-kilometre wall that cuts through Palestinian communities, dividing families and their lands, keeping farmers from their crops, children from their schools, the sick from urgent medical care and denying people freedom of movement. Read more about Trócaire campaigns to knock the wall
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the historic decision by the University and College Union (UCU) Congress today to support motions that endorse the logic of academic boycott against Israel, in response to the complicity of the Israeli academy in perpetuating Israel’s illegal military occupation and apartheid system. Academic boycott has been advocated in the past as an effective tool in resisting injustice. Read more about British academics endorse logic of boycott
British university lecturers are to vote again this week on an academic boycott of Israel — will the new union this time around protest from its ivory tower or take a definitive stand against ritual human rights’ abuse? EI contributor Nick King looks at the debate over boycott and the campaign of the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine to get the boycott vote on the British academia agenda, and the counter-efforts being made by Israel’s apologists. Read more about Boycotts and Academic Freedom and Responsibility
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the courage and moral consistency of British academics who support an institutional academic boycott of Israel similar to that imposed on apartheid South Africa in the past. We specifically welcome the motions submitted to the upcoming University and College Union (UCU) Council in Bournemouth that recognize the complicity of the Israeli academy in the occupation, and urge academics “to consider the moral implications of existing and proposed links with Israeli academic institutions.” Read more about Boycott the Israeli Academy Now!
As a result of the Zionist aggression against Palestine, the plight of the Palestinian people is accumulative and ongoing. Now, in the 59th year of our forced displacement, we are threatened with new forced displacement due to the construction of the Apartheid Wall and policies of siege and starvation intended to break the Palestinian people, and to end our demands and struggle for our rights under international law and, in particular, under UN Resolution 194. Read more about "There is no Substitute for the Return to our Homes"
On 17 April the Olympia, Washington City Council voted 4-2 against official recognition of the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project. Of the few news organizations following the story, that was the headline. But it wasn’t really the news. Possibly noteworthy was that more than 300 people attended the standing-room only public hearing on the project. People waited outside the building to get in to comment and observe. Forty-eight people spoke in support, 24 people expressed opposition. Read more about Bringing the discussion home: The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project
The National Union of Journalists’ Centenary Annual Conference last week debated more than 200 motions on topics ranging from opposition to plans to neuter the UK Freedom of Information Act, to launching a Stand Up for Journalism campaign against low pay and job cuts throughout the media industry. The conference condemned press freedom violations in China, Russia, Pakistan and Zimbabwe, and a special session was held on the kidnapping of Alan Johnston in Gaza and the safety of journalists. Read more about UK Journalist Union: Support boycott of Israeli goods
Persistent violations of medical ethics have accompanied Israel’s occupation. The Israeli Defence Force has systematically flouted the fourth Geneva convention guaranteeing a civilian population unfettered access to medical services and immunity for medical staff. Ambulances are fired on (hundreds of cases) and their personnel killed. Desperately ill people, and newborn babies, die at checkpoints because soldiers bar the way to hospital. The public-health infrastructure, including water and electricity supplies, is wilfully bombed, and the passage of essential medicines like anti-cancerdrugs and kidney dialysis fluids blocked. Read more about UK Physicians call for boycott of Israeli Medical Association
Commemorations of the 59th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba in May, followed by the 40th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in June, and the ongoing struggle against the Apartheid Wall and Palestinian displacement from the occupied city of Jerusalem result in a surge of activity and events. Palestinian civil society networks and political organization and movements from the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories and Israel have agreed to combine forces for effective coordination and maximum impact. The establishment of a national coordination committee was announced in the Palestinian press on 19 April. Read more about Palestinians unite for freedom from occupation and the right of return
