This morning, DePaul University students in Chicago began the third day of their sit-in at DePaul President Fr. Holtschneider’s office. The students have spent two nights sleeping in the office, a rally is to be held today in solidarity with them and it is possible that the DePaul University Faculty Council will pass a vote of no confidence in the president of the school. The students are protesting the denial of tenure to two professors who are critical of the Israeli occupation as their university becomes a battleground for academic freedom. Matt Muchowski writes for EI. Read more about Students sit-in to demand tenure for Palestine supporting professors
In an organic grocery in Amsterdam, Natuurwinkel, which has 70 locations all over Holland, a customer noticed several Israeli fruits and vegetables on the shelves. The customer asked about the exact origin of the fruits and vegetables, but the manager of Natuurwinkel could not give a clear answer. Through the Internet the name of the director and importer to the Natuurwinkel chain, Udea — the leading Dutch wholesaler of organic and frozen products and trades with ten European countries — was found, and in several emails clarification was requested on the origin of the Israeli organic products. Read more about Ban products with a criminal flavour
The story of the village of Budrus is noteworthy because it reminds us that unarmed people are not powerless. Confronted with an Israeli plan to confiscate 1,000 dunums of village lands to erect a wall that would ultimately enclose area villages in a canton, Budrus residents put their bodies in front of the bulldozers that came to raze their farmlands. Unarmed, and abandoned to their fate by the increasingly useless and indifferent Palestinian Authority, the villagers quickly realized that the wall would stifle the area and make their lives unsustainable. EI contributor Ida Audeh interviews Budrus resident and activist Abd al-Nasser Marrar. Read more about A Village Mobilized: Lessons from Budrus
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
We drove up to Baddawi refugee camp Sunday morning at the request of the women of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp who are now among the thousands of internally displaced Palestinians (IDPs) in Lebanon. They asked Lebanese and internationals to join them in a die-in at the southern checkpoint of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. We painted our t-shirts with red paint and we made signs in English and in Arabic; each sign had one of the seventeen known names of Palestinians who have died as a result of the Lebanese army’s siege of the Nahr al-Bared camp. Read more about Die-in at Lebanese army checkpoint at Nahr al-Bared entrance
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
In March, over 100 members of the LGBT/queer community sent the following letter to Frameline, organizer of the San Francisco International Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans Film Festival, which according to its website is the largest LGBT cultural event in the world. The letter asks Frameline to honor calls for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not cosponsoring events with the Israeli consulate. Read more about San Francisco Queers Say No Pride in Apartheid
Today the Lebanese army gave the PLO 72 hours to take out Fatah al-Islam or else the violence will be escalated in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. It is not clear if this means that they will enter or if they will use heavier artillery, but I fear that they will raze the camp. This would not be the first time that it has happened. The Dbeyeh refugee camp was destroyed in 1976 during the Civil War in Lebanon when most of the Palestinian refugees living there were killed or forced out. The shelling in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp has resumed yet again; more Palestinians are trapped inside and many of them seem to be men. Read more about Seventy-two hours
