The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) is delighted to announce a small but significant victory in the international struggle against Connex and the illegal Israeli tramline being built by them on occupied Palestinian territory. Connex had been planning to allow the Israeli staff of an illegal tramline project in occupied Easy Jerusalem to train on Dublin’s Luas light railway. Connex (who in Ireland now operate under the name Veolia) also runs the Luas system. The Luas has only been running for a few years and it is likely that the tramline currently being built by Connex in occupied East Jerusalem is a near identical system. Read more about Irish tramline forced to cancel contract with Israeli occupation authorities in Jerusalem
AIRPORT, AMSTERDAM — Today, fifty protesters staged a “die-in” at Schiphol Plaza, the main entrance of Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to demand an end to the transit of US arms through the Netherlands to Israel. There have been 76 cases of arms transit via the Netherlands to Israel in 2005 and 23 cases in the period between June and July 2006. The “die-in” symbolized the more than 1,000 casualties of the Israeli war on Lebanon and more than 150 casualties of the Israeli war on Gaza. Read more about Photostory: Protesters challenge US-Israel weapons flights through the Netherlands
As the conflict bore itself out feelings on the streets of the West escalated in response. Anger, frustration and the belief that something must change has brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of Europe. No where has this been more obvious then in Ireland where Trade Unions, NGOs, Solidarity Campaigns and Anti-War groups have been bringing people onto the streets in their thousands. All across Ireland people are out on the streets, cultural institutions are refusing to take sponsorship from the hafrada (apartheid) state and senior members of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) are calling for sanctions against Israel. The Irish Intifada has finally arrived. Read more about Photostory: The Irish Intifada - is Israel's latest war the tipping point?
On August 11th, 2006, at a little past 1 PM, around 400 people were marching in a peaceful protest towards the wall in Bil’in, the outskirts of Ramallah. International Solidarity Movement activists, Palestinians, and Israeli Anarchist Activists all join together in this weekly march to the wall in Bil’in. Soldiers surprised us by meeting us half way, they were aggressively stationed inside the village, outside Palestinian homes. Read more about Israeli activist wounded at Wall protest
Christian Peacemaker Teams members Dianne Roe and John Lynes were released about 11:30 last night after five hours of questioning at the Kiryat Arba police station. Israeli authorities confiscated the CPT video camera and tapes, promising they would return them unchanged Sunday or Monday. It is not certain where the investigation stands. The investigator indicated to Roe that the head officer may want to question her further before returning the tapes and camera. Read more about Christian Peacemaker Teams members monitoring home invasion detained for five hours
QUIT! (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism) condemns the decision by Jerusalem Open House and other promoters of World Pride Jerusalem to go ahead with the planned week of international pride events scheduled for August 6-12, despite Israel’s ongoing assault on civilian communities in Lebanon and Gaza. Israel, which killed 4 UN workers in Lebanon on July 26, has been accused by Human Rights Watch of using cluster bombs in civilian areas, in violation of international law. QUIT!, which is part of the newly formed “Break the Siege Coalition” which organized last Thursday’s large demonstration in San Francisco, calls for all LGBT people in the United States to protest our government’s complicity in the Israeli siege. Read more about Bay Area Queers: World Pride Should be Cancelled
1,500 members of the New York community, horrified at the senseless killing of Palestinians and Lebanese by the Israeli military, marched across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan today to demand an end to the violence. The Israeli military has killed nearly 200 Palestinians in a matter of weeks, including dozens of children. In less than two weeks in Lebanon, Israel has killed nearly 500 Lebanese and made one million more refugees in their own country. In both Palestine and Lebanon, Israel has targeted civilian infrastructure, such as power plants, roads, factories, schools, airports, and bridges. Read more about 1,500 Protesters March Across Brooklyn Bridge
Today, Palestinians in Gaza demonstrated against Israel’s military assault in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in front of the European Union office in Gaza City. In Gaza Palestinian artists have painted a mural during the demonstration. The EU Council of Foreign Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Tuesday in order to assess the situation in Lebanon and to prepare further EU action following the International Conference on Lebanon in Rome on 26 July. Finland’s Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the current EU presidency, and EU Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner will report on their visit to the region. Read more about Photostory: Gaza protests Israel's assault on Lebanon
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office in San Francisco on Thursday, July 27. Likely few if any of the protesters expect Dianne Feinstein do anything productive even as news of more and more atrocities committed by Israel in Lebanon come to light. Last Sunday, she organized a rally in San Francisco to support Israel’s actions against the Lebanese people. On July 20, Feinstein supported a resolution in support of Israel in the House of Representatives. The rally turned into a march to the offices of the San Francisco Chronicle to protest the newspaper’s lopsided pro-Israel coverage. Read more about Photostory: Hundreds Protest U.S. Aid to Israel in Front of San Francisco Senator's Office
On behalf of Merseyside trade unionists the Sacked Liverpool Dockworkers have been asked to circulate, coordinate and collate all responses to this message. We are trade unionists with a record of action within our own industries and in opposition to racism and war. We watch with horror and outrage as Israel has bombed Lebanon indisciminately since 12 July with hundreds of civilian casualties, and their army begins a major ground invasion. Similar atrocities are being committed against Palestinians by Israeli forces in Gaza. We know that the Blair government, including even the T&G sponsored Foreign Secretary, has given Israel a blank cheque to continue. Read more about Merseyside trade unionists call for sanctions against Israeli invasions of Lebanon, Gaza
