Palestine mourns yet another 23 martyrs killed during the night. Massacres in Palestine far from over while the world continues to maintain silence. Last night, Occupation Forces attacked the people of Beit Hanoun in their sleep, shelling indiscriminately at houses, killing 18 Palestinians and leaving many more injured, most of them women and children. It comes just 24 hours after Occupation Forces had ended another invasion which led to the killings of over 50 people in the Gaza strip and almost 200 injured.
In Beit Hanoun, two doctors were killed as ambulances were sent to treat those injured during the invasion. People were left bleeding to death as Palestinians were prevented from reaching hospitals. Read more about Stand up and Stop the Massacres in Palestine!
“We are willing to talk to any Israeli academic at any time about the boycott and the Israeli policies that have generated it. What we are not willing to do is to continue with ‘business as usual’. They need to see that not only complicity but also silence have their consequences.” Jonathan Rosenhead has been a member of the British Committee for Universities of Palestine for the past two years. He has been a member of staff at the London School of Economics since 1967 and Professor of Operational Research from 1987. Birgit Althaler speaks with him about recent developments in the academic boycott. Read more about Academic Boycott: "We do not want to continue business as usual"
The Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund is pleased to announce that it was able to sponsor a party for the children of Jayyous to celebrate the Eid during the month of October 2006. The party was held in the center of the Jayyous Charitable Society where more than 100 children received bags that contained toys, crayons, children’s books and candy. Most of the children belonged to the English program that PCWF sponsors in Jayyous and funds the salaries of the teachers, books and computer equipment for the last three years. Funding of the program comes from generous sponsors such as Antar and Abla from Palestine and Lebanon and Dubai Women’s College and private donors who want to see an end for the suffering of the children in Palestine. Read more about Palestine Children's Welfare Fund announces Jayyous support efforts
Standing at 6’1, with strong build, a full beard, and long dark hair, Yehuda Shaul seems like an unassuming young man. Wearing dark cargo pants, and a long-sleeved blue shirt, he paces back and forth taking in the whole room. It’s hard to notice at first but his blue velvet kippa (skull cap) rests easily on his head. His voice is mellow and calm. He has a disarming smile that lights up his entire face when he’s happy and talking about the things he loves (one of which is football). But behind the smiles and the passion for the world’s most popular sport is a young man who has seen and done things no young person should ever have to endure. Read more about Interview: Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence
Omri Evron, a 19-year-old from Tel-Aviv, is weeks away from earning his B.A. in ethical philosophy from the Tel-Aviv University. Omri is considered a criminal by Israeli authorities because he refused to enlist to the Israeli military, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). National military service is compulsory for all Jewish citizens of Israel, which means every Jewish Israeli must enlist in the IDF at the age of 18. But Omri Evron decided early on at the age of 16 that he would not become “a soldier in the forces of the occupation”. He reached this decision after many visits to the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). Read more about Refusenik Omri Evron: "Why I can't become a soldier in the IDF"
Over 600 people attended the landmark conference, Boycotting Israeli Apartheid: The Struggle Continues, held from 6-8 October in Toronto, Canada. The conference represents a watershed moment in the Palestinian solidarity movement, with leading anti-apartheid activists from Palestine, South Africa, Canada and England addressing the way forward in the global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. The conference was organized by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), a broad movement formed in response to the call by 171 Palestinian civil-society organizations in July 2005 for the international community to implement a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions strategy against apartheid Israel as the focal point of solidarity efforts with the Palestinian people. Read more about 600 Attend Landmark BDS Conference in Toronto
Education plays a big part in Barbara Lubin’s life. In fact it was a broad-based education that made her realize that she was getting a distorted view of what went on in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Lubin was born into a conservative Zionist family. She had been taught that the Jews needed to establish a state of their own; that what had happened to her relatives during WWII; when their land was occupied, and family members murdered in camps, should never happen again. For much of her life Barbara Lubin felt that the Zionist ideal was the right thing. However, in 1982 her eyes were open to a new horror. Read more about "You never know what's next": An interview with activist Barbara Lubin
A two-day United Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People adopted a Plan of Action that commits civil society organizations to ending the Israeli occupation and to achieving the rights of self-determination and return of the Palestinian people. The plan includes marking the 40-year anniversary of the occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The Plan also commits them to expanding the global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions to ever broader sectors of countries and regions, including an urgent campaign to end the sanctions against the democratically-elected Palestinian Authority. Read more about UN conference adopts action plan to support Palestinians
Shops and supermarkets across Ireland were picketed on Saturday as the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) commemorated the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres with a National Boycott Israel Day. IPSC members targetted retail outlets in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Sligo, to send a message to Irish retailers that continuing to trade with Israel while it obliterates Palestine is grossly unethical and gives both financial support, succour and legitimacy to Israel’s escalating and unchecked violations of Palestinian human rights. The National Boycott Day was also intended to educate consumers as to the extent of Israeli goods in their shops. Read more about National boycott action targets Irish stores selling Israeli goods
Research undertaken by United Civilians for Peace, a Dutch NGO-platform dedicated to promoting justice and peace in Palestine and Israel, has revealed that Dutch company Lima Holding BV, in Spijkenisse, is involved in the construction of the illegal Wall that Israel is building in the occupied West Bank. Lima Holding, which operates in Israel under the Riwal brand name, provides mobile cranes for putting into place the up to 9-metres high concrete elements that make up the Wall. The exact scope and nature of the company’s involvement in the construction of the Wall is yet to be determined. Read more about Dutch company involved in construction of the Separation Wall
