For nearly a year, Khalil Ayoub, 67, Nabih Ayoub, 69 and Th�r�se Boulos Haddad, 62, have been living in the basement of Montreal’s Notre-Dame-de-Gr�ce church, facing arrest and deportation if they leave their place of sanctuary. Under imminent threat of deportation by immigration authorities, many Palestinian refugees in Canada have been forced to live underground or take sanctuary. We are asking you to give a few moments today to contact Canadian officials who have the power to stop these deportations and end this human crisis. Read more about Stop the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees from Canada
December 1. 2004 — Tuesday morning, Ahmad Nafaa was deported from Canada to the United States. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) turned Ahmad over to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS), who immediately locked him up in the Clinton County Jail in Northern New York. All of this occurred despite the week-long efforts of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees and allies, who had been working, since Ahmad was detained on November 23, to prevent his deportation. Read more about Denounce the deportation of Ahmad Nafaa, demand his return to Canada!
The four deported students are among the last Gaza students still studying in the West Bank.� In 2000, there were over 300 Gaza students studying at Birzeit University, in 2004 there are only 39.� Since October 2000, the Israeli Authorities have made it virtually impossible for Palestinians to gain or renew the permits required by Israel, the occupying power, to move between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.� Gaza students enrolled in universities in the West Bank have been forced to either overstay their original permits, facing all the ramifications that this entails, or to drop out of university entirely. � Read more about Four Birzeit University Students Illegally Deported to Gaza
Mordechai Vanunu may have been forgotten by the rest of the world; Israel may have used the death of Yasir Arafat as a diversion to arrest Vanunu again, but the students of the University of Glasgow are intent on bringing him back to the limelight. Mordechai Vanunu, the man who risked it all to draw the world’s attention towards the nuclear ambitions of Israel and was thrown into prison for an extended period, has been nominated to run for Rector at this institute which is one of the four oldest in Britain, and one of its most prestigious. Read more about Glasgow University students propose Vanunu for Rector
Caterpillar Inc., the U.S.-based heavy-equipment company, should immediately suspend sales of its powerful D9 bulldozer to the Israeli army, Human Rights Watch said today. As Human Rights Watch documented in a recent report, the Israeli military uses the D9 as its primary weapon to raze Palestinian homes, destroy agriculture and shred roads in violation of the laws of war. “Caterpillar betrays its stated values when it sells bulldozers to Israel knowing that they are being used to illegally destroy Palestinian homes,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Until Israel stops these practices, Caterpillar’s continued sales will make the company complicit in human rights abuses.” Read more about HRW: "Caterpillar Should Suspend Bulldozer Sales"
In May 2004, a group of activists blockaded EDO/MBM technology on the Home Farm Industrial Estate, Mouslecoomb, Brighton. EDO/MBM is an arms factory manufacturing bomb release mechanisms for F-16, Hawk Hurricane and Tornado fighter jets, tank diagnostic systems and the controversial Paveway IV precison guidance system used in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The factory supplies equipment to Lockheed Martin in the USA who equip human rights abusers like Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Israel and Turkey. On June 25th a group of activists including campaigners from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were arrested for protesting outside CATerpillar Financial HQ, Solihull. Support the defendents in both cases. Read more about Support UK protestors of Caterpillar and EDO/MBM
Ahmad Nafaa, a Palestinian refugee from Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon and active member of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees, was forcibly detained Tuesday evening around 9 PM, by Citizenship & Immigration Canada (CIC) at Metro-McGill. Ahmad is now facing deportation to the U.S, where he will be held in detention indefinately, before he is ultimately deported back to Ein el-Hilweh camp. Read more about Take action against the deportation of Ahmad Nafaa
We’re in a time of transition. Yasser Arafat died right after Kerry lost the presidential election. The opposition to the Presbyterian Church’s decision to investigate selective divestment from companies doing business with Israel’s occupation is growing. And support of them is growing. Meanwhile, Mustafa Barghouti has called for sanctions against Israel, and the Somerville, Mass. Board of Aldermen is debating divestment. It’s a time that calls for clearheadedness. New things are happening, and we need to be prepared to create new strategies. We need honor our despair and anger — they are the outward manifestation of our moral compass. Read more about The Panic
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee expresses deep concerned by the alarming hostility expressed by media commentators towards the Palestinian people in the wake of the death of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. These comments, with exceptions, contain a surprising array of dehumanizing and overtly racist comments against the Palestinian people. Comments such as the ones listed below can only be regarded as an incitement to ethnic hatred of the Palestinians. Surely the denigration of an ethnic group, a people who have been living under an ongoing 37-year Israeli military occupation, constitutes a violation of any system of journalistic standards. Read more about Protest Biased Media Coverage of Palestine and Palestinians
Tension and apprehension filled the air in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts on the night of Monday November 8, 2004. The Somerville Board of Aldermen held a public meeting to consider a non-binding resolution to divest from Israel bonds and from companies who profit from the human rights abuses carried out by Israel against Palestinian people. If it passes, it will be the first such resolution in the world to be passed by a city. The Presbyterian Church and the National Lawyers Guild have already voted to divest and The Anglican Church is considering it. Tom Wallace reports for EI. Read more about Sell-by date of war crimes about to expire in Somerville, MA?
