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HUDDERSFIELD UNI PALESTINE AWARENESS WEEK - 15th-18th MARCH

Huddersfield University Friends of Palestine are having a Palestine Awareness Week from 15th - 18th March with a programme of films, speakers and collections.  Further details here.

PETITION : ALLOW PALESTINIAN FARMERS TO PARTICIPATE IN FAIR-TRADE FORTNIGHT

Three Palestinian farmers denied visas by the government for fair-trade fortnight. These farmers, whose olive oil is the only one in the world to carry the Fair-trade mark have been invited by a UK social enterprise, Zaytoun, and were to be accompanied by a leading British NGO. The shocking refusal to allow those producers from newly certified Fair-trade Cooperatives into the UK to attend events across England, Wales and Scotland, comes exactly one year after the Prime Minister endorsed the scheme. Sign the petition here.

APARTHEID - FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO ISRAEL/PALESTINE

The Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights has produced an excellent resource on the history of South African and Israeli apartheid. It overviews the common features of oppression under the apartheid system and makes important connections between the two struggles for self determination and justice.  The booklet (in the form of a pdf document) can be found here.

URGENT - SUPPORT MOHAMMAD BAKRI

Mohammad Bakri, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and one of the country’s most prominent actors and directors, has been fighting for his democratic right to free expression since 2002 when he made the world-famous film Jenin Jenin. The government of Israel censored his film for 2 years, and in a remarkable move for a government, recently joined a group of Israeli soldiers in an ongoing lawsuit against him for defamation.  A group of filmmakers are calling for the nomination of Bakri for the first Free Speech Bear Award at the 2010 Berlinale to call attention to his fight for free expression.  Please support them by signing the petition here.

B'LIN AVATAR PROTEST

The indefatigable villagers of B'lin added a new twist to their weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall grabbing their land by dressing as characters from Avatar. See photos here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/feb/14/west-bank-barrier-avatar-protest?picture=359309724

THE ONLY DEMOCRACY?  - NEW BLOG

Jewish Voices for Peace have launched a new blog called The Only Democracy? which questions the very notion of Israel as “the only democracy” in the Middle East, and puts a spotlight on the intensifying struggle for human rights largely ignored by the mainstream media.  Well worth subscribing to for news of what's really going on in the Occupied Territories.

THE SECOND BATTLE OF GAZA - JEFF HALPER

"We are in the midst of the second battle of Gaza, a campaign not only to refute and defame the UN’s Goldstone Report and sanitize Israel’s actions there but to change international humanitarian law in a way that protects the powerful states and their armies while removing the fundamental rights of the world’s poor and downtrodden to resist. The stakes are high."  read the rest of Jeff Halper's important article here.

IN THE WAKE OF WAR : GAZA ONE YEAR ON

Watch MAP's film made in the run up to the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead. In the Wake of War is testimony-based, telling but some of the stories of survival, tragedy, and ongoing hardship in Gaza - with no effective action to end the blockade, no reconstruction, no accountability here

DISCOVER PALESTINE FESTIVAL BLOG

Discover Palestine have launched a new Festival Blog:  http://discoverpalestine2010.wordpress.com/  to keep you up to date with what's happening with the festival of Palestinian culture which culminates in the Piece Hall on July 10th.

RICH WILES BOOK LAUNCH

Rich Wiles will be launching his new book Behind the Wall: Life, Love and Struggle in Palestine at the Hebden Bridge Library on Wednesday 17th March at 6.30pm.  The book brings together for the first time in one volume a collection of Wiles’ articles of everyday life for Palestine’s refugees, told in their own words, and written between 2006-2007.  Also included is a small selection of intimate black and white photographic portraits taken by the author.

ANTI-WALL ACTVISTS FREED!

Jamal Juma', coordinator of Stop the Wall, and Mohammad Othman, youth coordinator for Stop the Wall, have been freed after having been detained without charge by the Israeli authorities. Their release marks a massive victory for international solidarity.  Further details here.

ACTION - STOP ARMING ISRAEL - WRITE TO YOUR MP

Israel's assault on the people of Gaza in 2009 was conducted by a powerful Israeli army using disproportionate and indiscriminate force against civilian populations in clear breach of humanitarian law. Yet the UK government continues to license the export of military equipment for use by Israel.  Please write to your MP and help us end the UK's material support for Israel's aggression.  Details here.

NEW PSC FACTSHEET - 'GAZA TODAY'

Download the latest Palestine Solidarity Campaign factsheet on Gaza here.

1948 - LEST WE FORGET

Have a look at this interesting website with a wealth of information about the Nakba which aims to expose the lies which have, for too long, been presented and accepted as the true scenario of how Israel came to be in 1948.

'DISCOVER PALESTINE' - EMBROIDERY WORKSHOPS

'Discover Palestine' have released details of the embroidery workshops which will create a wall-hanging to be exhibited at their Festival on July 10th and then sent as a token of friendship from the women of Calderdale to the women of Bethany are available here.  The first will be held at Ribbon Circus in Hebden Bridge on February 28th.  All welcome!

SIGN MAP'S OPEN LETTER TO GORDON BROWN - GAZA: END THE BLOCKADE, LET THE AID IN

Medical Aid for Palestinians is asking supporters to sign their open letter to Gordon Brown calling for an immediate end to the blockade to end the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza.  Click here to sign the letter.

LEEDS PSC

Leeds PSC's are promoting their new internet presence - full details here.

URGENT - NO IMMUNITY FOR WAR CRIMINALS - CONTACT YOUR MP NOW!

Following the news that Tipi Livni, who served as Foreign Minister in the Israeli government that planned and executed Israel ’s brutal bombing and massacre in Gaza , faced arrest if she entered Britain (see below), tell the government there must be no impunity for Israeli war criminals.  Please act URGENTLY - if possible e-mail your MP today.  Details here.

SETTLEMENT GOODS VICTORY - NOW CAMPAIGN FOR A COMPLETE BAN!

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has issued guidelines regarding the labelling of goods produced in the occupied West Bank advising that a distinction should be made between Palestinian goods and those from illegal Israeli settlements.  Read the Guardian repoport here.  Read the Defra advice here. This is an excellent move in the right direction but we need to keep the pressure up - toward a government ban on settlement goods and a complete boycott of Israeli goods.

MY FATHER WAS A FREEDOM FIGHTER: GAZA'S UNTOLD STORY

Watch a beautiful tribute to Ramzi Baroud's father and the people of Gaza here which publicises his new book - "You will laugh, and you will cry, and you will never forget what he has written or his love for Gaza and his mother and father" - then buy the book.

BETHLEHEM UNIVERSITY STUDENT LOSES FIGHT TO COMPLETE STUDIES IN BETHLEHEM

Berlanty Azzam, a 21 year-old Christian woman from Gaza studying at Bethlehem University who was arrested by the Israeli military on October 30th and - blindfolded and handcuffed - moved her from Bethlehem to Gaza against her will has lost her legal case to return to Bethlehem to complete her studies.  Read more about the case here.

SIGN THE PETITION - BRITAIN MUST IMPLEMENT THE GOLDSTONE REPORT

 One year since Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, raining bombs on 1.5 million Palestinians, killing over 1400 and wounding over 5,000, the Israeli government has tightened its blockade on Gaza , creating a dire humanitarian disaster. Appallingly, the British government abstained on the votes at the UN on the Goldstone Report, which called for an end to the blockade, and for war criminals to be brought to justice.

Please sign the petition here calling on the British government to implement the Goldstone Report – the Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be presenting the petition to Gordon Brown in January.

HEBDEN BRIDGE CO-OP STOCKING PALESTINIAN OLIVE OIL

Good news!  You are now able to buy Fairtrade Palestinian Olive Oil again in the Hebden Bridge Co-op.  The product was removed from the store when the recent refurbishment took place but the Co-op has agreed to restock it after pressure from one of our supporters.   Now we need to persuade the Co-op to joint the boycott by removing Israeli goods from their stores.

HELP SAVE THE PALESTINIAN VILLAGE OF LIFTA FROM TOTAL DESTRUCTION

Lifta, a most picturesque Palestinian village, lies on the slopes of West Jerusalem below the highway linking it to Tel-Aviv. It has been abandoned since the invading Hagana underground forces backed by the Stern Gang drove the last of its Palestinian inhabitants in 1948 during the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.  Now the Jerusalem Municipality has produced plans to turn Lifta into a luxurious and exclusive Jewish development – reinventing its history in the process. Read more here.

IMPORTANT NEW WEBSITE

For those of you interested in the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement there is an important new website set up after the recent gathering of activists in Wooler, Northmberland. The Boycott Israel Network aims to be a communication network connecting all the organizations that are committed to working for BDS and wish to join in.

AMNESTY REPORT ACCUSES ISRAEL OF DENYING PALESTINIANS WATER

In a new report published on 27 October Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to access adequate water by maintaining total control over shared water resources and pursuing discriminatory policies. Read about the report here or download a copy (pdf) here.

UM QASSIM AND THE NEW GENERATIONS

Rich Wiles has sent us a moving article about an outing by the children of Aida Camp who seldom get to see the sea. If all goes well, we shall be hosting a group from the camp next July and they will be performing in our 'Discover Palestine' Festival on July 10th, 2010. Read the article here.