Congress of South African Trade Unions23 March 2004
The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemned the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. “This murder of the spiritual leader of Hamas, carried out under the personal order of Prime Minister Sharon, is further proof that the Israeli regime will stop at nothing to deny self-determination, democracy and human rights to the Palestinian people.” COSATU called on governments “to condemn Israel’s act of terrorism” and to withdraw all support from Sharon’s government until “he concedes to the legitimate demands of the Palestinian people. This week, South Africans commemorate the Sharpeville massacre. Read more about Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns assassination Sheikh Ahmad Yassin
On the one-year anniversary of the killing of 23-year old American ISM activist Rachel Corrie, twenty international activists from ISM and CPT remembered their friend by performing a ‘die-in’ at the Erez checkpoint to protest the atrocities of the Israeli Occupation. The activists carried signs and wore T-shirts representing the many casualities of the Israeli Occupation. Representations of the power of Israel, the United States, and the Occupation symbolically ‘killed’ all the other participants. The victims included peace and justice, nonviolence, Palestinian homes, educational rights, water rights, farming, and innocent civilians among others. An ISM press release. Read more about One Year Later: Internationals honor Rachel Corrie and all the victims of Israeli occupation
In the early morning hours of March 11, the Israeli Ministry of Interior denied Christian Peacemaker Team member Greg Rollins (Surrey, BC) entry to Israel at Ben Gurion airport and returned him as far as Amsterdam. “I’m surprised, we have a very strong court order, it seems the Israeli security people at the airport made a mistake,” said Sani Khoury, with the law firm of Kuttab and Khoury. A settlement in writing said that there are no restrictions on Greg’s entering Israel. Read more about Israel denies entry Canadian peace activist
Olympia, Washington is the hometown of peace activist Rachel Corrie who was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces on March 16, 2003. This article looks at the impact of Rachel’s death on her community both in the period immediately following her death and in the year to come, focused on a peace camp which began its existence the day bombs started falling on Iraq. Camp Rachel was a bittersweet legacy of her death, one she would have both been proud of and proudly taken part of, most likely in a leadership role. It was a live and personal call to activists to rally in her name, to use her heroism as inspiration and strength for the actions, protests, petitions, letter writing and civil disobedience to come. candio. writes for EI. Read more about One Year Later: Olympia after Camp Rachel
March 16 is the sad one year anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old American International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist crushed to death at Rafah, Gaza Strip. IWPS commemorates the courageous spirit of Rachel Corrie, and calls for an end to the illegal and brutal Israeli military occupation of Palestine. More and more activists (Palestinian, Israeli and International) are having to put their bodies between bulldozers and trees and homes in an attempt to stop Israel’s massive destruction of homes and land for the Apartheid Wall. Read more about One Year Later: IWPS statement on the first anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie
Israelis and Palestinians are discussing the direct link between the protection of Palestinian refugee rights and the establishment of a lasting peace at a conference in Haifa from 26 to 28 March, marking the 28th anniversary of “Land Day”. The conference brings together Israeli and Palestinian academics, supporters of human and civil rights groups to coordinate their efforts in advancing the rights of Palestinian refugees in general and internally displaced Palestinians in Israel. The three-day meeting will include lectures, debate, films and participants will visit six destroyed Palestinian villages in Israel. Read more about Israelis and Palestinians discuss protection of refugees
As Israel’s construction of the “wall” has renewed debate in the United States on impediments to peace in the region, Washington DC peace activists are organizing a memorial on March 16, 2004 to bring Israel’s Occupation to the forefront of American public consciousness. March 16 will mark one year since the first American peace activist was killed in the Occupation. Hence, event organizers, who represent over 20 national and local organizations, will hold a memorial for Rachel Corrie, as a timely issue in the debate on U.S. policy towards the Middle East. Rachel Corrie was killed on March 16, 2003 when an Israeli soldier ran over her with a US-made Caterpillar D9 bulldozer, as she tried to nonviolently prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home. Read more about D.C. area organizations hold memorial for Rachel Corrie
Following a series of Action Items by the Electronic Intifada, beginning on 5 March 2005, McDonald’s Corporation headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois has been sending out form letters to those who wrote to the company about the issue. The letter claims “Regarding the recently fired employee, her employment was terminated for performance reasons by her supervisor, a Palestinian Arab who also speaks Arabic. No one has ever been let go for speaking his own language” and reiterates that “Hebrew is spoken when employees are conducting business.” Read more about McResponse: Form letter sent out by McDonald's in response to EI's Action Items
McDonald’s Israel has reportedly reversed it prohibition on its Arab workers speaking Arabic to each other and to customers, but its US headquarters continues to stonewall and provide contradictory information. According to the Arabic-language newspaper in Israel, Hadith an-Nass, the reversal of the no-Arabic policy was announced in a letter sent by McDonald’s Israel to the Mossawa center for Arab rights. In this alert, EI explains the latest developments, and urges readers to continue with their effective action. Read more about McConfusion: McDonald's Israel reportedly backs down, while McDonald's HQ stonewalls
The Electronic Intifada today publishes an exclusive investigative report by Jonathan Cook detailing evidence that supports the claim by a former worker at McDonald’s Israel that she was fired for speaking Arabic on the job. We renew our call on our readers to contact McDonald’s Corporation about this disturbing matter and demand justice for this and all its workers. Last week, Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s Corporation admitted in a statement sent to EI that its licensee in Israel maintains a policy requiring all its workers to speak only Hebrew. But the company asserted that it was “absolutely not true” that the worker, Abeer Zinaty, who had previously been recognized as an outstanding employee, was fired for speaking Arabic on the job. Read more about McBusted: Mounting evidence supports claim McDonald's Israel fired worker for speaking Arabic
