On Saturday 25th November the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) mounted a successful picket outside the entrance to the Limerick branch of the Atlantic Homecare chain store in Ireland. After refusing to move the picket when approached by security guards the protestors eventually agreed to call off their action after the store manger removed from sale all of the Israeli manufactured Keter Plastic products in the store. Within two hours of the commencing the action IPSC members witnessed pallet loads of the Israel made plastic storage boxes, wheelbarrows and garden sheds being taken off the sales floor. Read more about Significant Victory on Boycott Front in Ireland
Early this morning, Palestine solidarity activists blockaded the Israeli Company Carmel Agrexco’s UK headquarters. This was part of a non-violent protest against recurrent breaches of human rights and international law in the occupied territories of Palestine. Carmel is complicit in war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 (ICC Act). They import fresh produce originating from illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories. The purpose of the protest is to highlight Agrexco’s illegal activity in court. The action follows a legal warning letter to Carmel stating clearly why they are in breach of the law. Read more about Carmel Agrexco's UK headquarters in Hayes blockaded
Irish academics were thanked this week in an open letter, signed by over 100 academics and 1,000 students of Birzeit University near Ramallah, Palestine. The thanks were addressed to the 61 Irish academics who wrote a public letter in September calling for a moratorium on EU aid to Israeli universities, until Israel abides by international law and basic human rights norms. The letter, published in the Irish Times on September 16th, has caused a public stir in Israel; the education minister Yuli Tamir has travelled to England to ‘verify if they [the signatories] are lecturers who have influence’. Read more about Palestinians hail Irish academics' support of Palestine
November 18 - A 19-year old Swedish human rights worker had her cheekbone broken by a Jewish extremist in Hebron today. Earlier the same day at least five Palestinians, including a 3-year-old child, were injured by the settler-supporting extremists, who rampaged through Tel Rumeida hurling stones and bottles at local residents. Palestinian schoolchildren on their way home were also attacked. The Israeli army, which was intensively deployed in the area, did not intervene to stop the attacks. Tove Johansson from Stockholm walked through the Tel Rumeida checkpoint with a small group of human rights workers (HRWs) to accompany Palestinian schoolchildren to their homes. Read more about Swedish human rights worker viciously attacked by Jewish extremists in Hebron
Last Saturday activists of the Flemish Palestine Solidarity Committee campaigned for a boycott of Israeli products, in front of several supermarkets. They asked the customers to sign a petition to the supermarkets’ directors, and built a ‘living slogan’. The activists want to pressure Israel to enforce its respect for international law. The profits of every Israeli product sold, allow Israel to maintain the occupation of Palestine. Since the international community doesn’t impose sanctions against these violations, VPK calls for a consumer’s boycott of all Israeli products. Some of the well-known trade marks in Belgian supermarkets are Carmel, Jaffa and Tivall. Read more about Flemish Palestine Solidarity Committee campaigns for a consumer's boycott of Israel
We, activists and organizers from the Palestinian community in the US holding diverse organizational affiliations, geographical and political backgrounds, met in Cleveland, Ohio Nov 10-12, 2006 in follow up to the initial meeting held in Detroit on June 23, 2006. In these historic times, we reiterate our commitments to affirm our Palestinian narrative and assert our rights to: — Self-determination and equality for all Palestinians — Return of the Palestinian refugees to their original homes, lands, properties and villages (a natural right supported by international law and UN Resolution 194) — End of Zionist occupation and colonization of Palestine, including Jerusalem. Read more about Palestine unites us: Towards the first Palestinian Popular Conference in the US
National unity was a theme of the commemoration of Yaser Arafat’s death on November 11, 2006. Many people came from various parts of the occupied Palestinian territories for the commemoration, those who were able to get past the checkpoints. Predictably, there were bottlenecks at Huwwara (Nablus) and Qalandiya (Jerusalem). Nevertheless, busloads of school children were ferried in and several scout groups had prepared to march. The main ceremony took place in Al Muqata’a, close to where Arafat is buried. The photographs in this photostory illustrate the commemoration and youth at the site in the days following. Read more about Photostory: Palestinian Youth at Yasser Arafat's Memorial
On Saturday, November 11th, the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Justice in the Middle East and DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving) held a workshop in Manhattan highlighting the parallels between the wall on the US-Mexico border and the Apartheid Wall in Palestine. The workshop was immediately followed by a spirited march through Manhattan with protesters carrying a long black cloth “wall” as they snaked through the crowded New York City streets. Dena Qaddumi of the Ad Hoc Coalition introduced the workshop by noting that the event was being carried out in conjunction with the International Week Against the Apartheid Wall called by Stop the Wall: Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. Read more about New Yorkers Resist the Apartheid Walls from Palestine to Mexico
MONTREAL: As Israeli continues its brutal assault on the Gaza Strip, Montrealers took the streets to voice solidarity with the Palestinian people. Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the heart of Montreal reflecting growing international outrage toward the latest attack on Gaza. “Intifada! Intifada! Long Live the Intifada!” shouted demonstrators marching under rainy skies, in contrast to the silence of Canadian politicians in response to Israeli war crimes committed in the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Read more about Montreal in Solidarity with Beit Hanoun
As part of the International Week of Action Against the Apartheid Wall, Australians for Palestine took part in a Stop the Wall rally today and contributed an amazing mock wall. The wall was assembled before the rally began and attracted many curious onlookers who soon learned that this wall was only a third of the height of the actual wall being illegally built by Israel in the West Bank. The 3 metre-high wall had been designed and constructed by three Palestinian brothers - Nasser, Moammar and Kamahl Mashni and then re-assembled with the help of Amin Abbas, Joe Lui and Robert Martin. Read more about Photostory: Australians protest Apartheid Wall
