PEACE EVENTS.

PSC Weekly Update – Friday 3 July 2009

Take action:

1. 11 July: PSC National Conference, Birmingham

2. Tell Leonard Cohen – don’t play in Israel!



Weekly update:

1. Gaza: UN human rights mission
collects evidence of war crimes

2. ‘Free Gaza’ humanitarian workers
kidnapped by Israel – Vigil tonight in London

3. Gaza being sent ‘back to Middle Ages’

4. Amnesty reports on Israel’s war on Gaza

5. Casualties rising in Gaza's "buffer zone"

6. Demolition orders on Convent homes inside Old City

7. Pro-Israel lobby alarmed by growth of BDS…

8. … tourists to Israel down 22%

9. Spain drops Israeli war crime investigation

10. Ezra Nawi

11. Nine injured as Israel demolishes East Jerusalem home

12. Doctors call for head of World Medical
Association to quit as "matter of priority"

13. Israeli doctors accused of flouting ethics

14. Foul Play: Neglect of wastewater treatment in the West Bank

15. The elephant in the room: Israel's nuclear weapons



Take action:

1. 11 July: PSC National Conference, Birmingham

With a great speaker line-up, don’t miss this
unique opportunity – book your tickets now!

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/Index7b.asp?
m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=62&Content_ID=557


2. Tell Leonard Cohen – don’t play in Israel!

Actions are taking place on 11 July in Weybridge
and 14 July in Liverpool – for details:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/
Index8b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=62


Weekly update

1. Gaza: UN human rights mission collects evidence of war crimes

Ziad al-Deeb was one interviewee: "We were shocked
when we heard the loud noise coming from the
Israeli shelling, then one of the missiles
landed on top of us. There were 11 people killed,"
he said. "My legs were cut off, and then I looked
and saw my father and my family. Most of them
had been killed. The children were screaming."

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article997

2. ‘Free Gaza’ humanitarian workers kidnapped by Israel

Many thanks to all our members and supporters
who flooded David Miliband’s office with emails –
please continue to press the Foreign Office
to take action: telephone 020 7008 1500.

UN expert denounces Israel seizure
of boat carrying aid to Gaza

http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/56-news/983-falk

‘On 30 June, the government of Israel committed
an act of piracy when the Israeli Navy in
international waters illegally boarded the
"Spirit of Humanity," kidnapping its 21-person
crew from 11 countries.’

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?
opr=ShowDetails&ID=38970

‘Five Bahraini citizens participating in the Free
Gaza Movement’s voyage to Gaza were deported on
Friday, following their Tuesday afternoon seizure
by Israeli forces in international waters
off the Gaza coast.’

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.
php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=38991

Others still remain imprisoned by Israel.

Free Gaza activists get their message out from prison:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_
zVJXnTJxuA&feature=player_embedded

FYI: Family & Friends of Free Gaza detainee Alex
Harrison will be holding a protest outside the
Israeli Embassy in London today in support of
the immediate release of all the remaining
activists, and calling for the Spirit of Humanity,
its passengers and crew to be allowed to complete
its mission of traveling to Gaza.

Tonight; Friday, 3rd July; starting at 5 p.m.

at Israeli Embassy
2 Palace Green,
Kensington
London,
W8 4QB.

3. Gaza being sent ‘back to Middle Ages’

‘Karen Abu Zayd, the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) commissioner general, has
warned that the 24-month-old Israeli siege on the
Gaza Strip was bringing Gaza back to the Middle Ages.’

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?
xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7kxC%2b%
2fbt0ex%2f6z3LqadkaDAVQWq6oqJDWibnSnxsrWbI02w%2f%2f%
2bDfgmnn7oQjqqXhqUGK8H0IQHApeE2LtrVNHHFCa9qU5gSGZnhaEoYgKVyI%3d

In a speech in Vienna, she pointed out that
people ‘need light bulbs, they need washing
powder, children need new shoes — there's no
shoes allowed in’. She said that a recent
shipment of shampoo bottles had to be sent
back because they also contained conditioner —
an item that was not on the list of allowed
goods, and the amount of food allowed only
covered about 60 percent of people's needs.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/
ALeqM5hy9DGop5cbjlAAiC9UNs8683pQQgD995OOS80

And from the latest UN report: ‘This week, a
total of 417 truckloads of goods entered Gaza,
less than 18% of the weekly average during
the first five months of 2007’

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection
_of_civilians_weekly_report_2009_07_30_english.pdf

4. Amnesty reports on Israel’s war on Gaza

‘London-based Amnesty accused Israeli forces of
war crimes, saying they used civilians,
including children as human shields and
conducted wanton attacks on civilians during
the December-January Gaza offensive. Israel
called the report "unbalanced" and said it
presented "a distorted view of the laws of war
that does not comply with the rules implemented
by democratic states battling terror."’

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/
ALeqM5jYS81zite9SrnvR0teeJ4HXmW8JQ

For the report:

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/
asset/MDE15/015/2009/en/8f299083-9a74-4853-860f-
0563725e633a/mde150152009en.pdf

5. Casualties rising in Gaza's "buffer zone"

"There was an explosion, maybe 20 meters away.
Then another immediately after. I realized I
had been hit," said Saleh Ahmad al-Medani,
pulling aside the collar of his T-shirt to show
one of three places where he was punctured by
the metal darts known as "flechettes."

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10630.shtml

And a 17-year old girl is killed by Israeli forces on Gaza border

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8132274.stm

6. Demolition orders on Convent homes inside Old City
‘The Jerusalem Inter-Church Centre has learned of
new house demolition orders against at least
four Christian families living inside the old
city of Jerusalem where local Churches
accommodate more than 500 homes for Palestinian families.’

http://www.hcef.org/index.php?option=com_content&
view=article&id=790792522:demolition-orders-reach
-convent-homes-inside-the-old-city&catid=1:news

7. Pro-Israel lobby alarmed by growth of BDS…
According to AIPAC’s Executive Director, the
movement to call Israel to account for its
crimes against Palestinians is "invading the
mainstream discourse, becoming part of the
constant and unrelenting drumbeat against Israel."

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticlePrint/21807#_edn1

8. … tourists to Israel down 22%

Information provided by the Israel Hotel
Association and Israel Airports Authority,
suggests Israel's tourism industry has entered a recession.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096439.html

9. Spain drops Israeli war crime investigation

‘Spain's National Court yesterday shelved an
investigation launched by one of its judges
into a July 2002 air strike by the Israel
Defense Forces on a Hamas target in the Gaza
Strip, judicial sources said.’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096950.html

10. Ezra Nawi

From the Guardian editorial: ‘Born in Basra to
an Iraqi Jewish family, Ezra Nawi lives on the
modest wages he earns as a plumber. As such, he
comes from the same background which generates
the hardline views in Israel. So he was speaking
to his own kind when he told laughing border
police who had just demolished Palestinian
Bedouin shacks that all they would leave behind
was hatred. Not content with the Bedouin shacks,
the prosecuting authorities are now trying to
demolish Mr Nawi's life by threatening him
with a prolonged stay in prison.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
2009/jul/03/in-praise-of-ezra-nawi

11. Nine injured as Israel demolishes East Jerusalem home

Two women were taken to the hospital and seven
others were wounded as they clashed with Israeli
police, trying to prevent their house from getting demolished.

http://www.imemc.org/article/60991

12. Doctors call for head of World Medical
Association to quit as "matter of priority"

From the British Medical Journal: ‘More than 700
doctors from around the world have called for
the Israeli president of the World Medical
Association to step down, calling him "unfit for
office" and claiming that he has turned a blind
eye to the "institutionalised involvement of
doctors" in torture in Israel.

In a letter they say that the appointment of
Yoram Blachar, president of the Israeli Medical
Association since 1995, as president of the
World Medical Association last November is "a
matter of grave concern." The signatories, who
include professors and doctors from 43 countries,
say that the appointment "makes a mockery of the
principles on which the WMA was founded in 1947,
which was a response to egregious abuses by
Germany and Japan in World War Two."’

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/338/jun23_3/b2556

13. Israeli doctors accused of flouting ethics
Jonathan Cook writes: ‘Israel’s watchdog body on
medical ethics has failed to investigate evidence
that doctors working in detention facilities are
turning a blind eye to cases of torture, Israeli
human rights groups claim… The accusations will
add fuel to a campaign backed by hundreds of
doctors from around the world to force Yoram
Blachar, who heads the IMA, to step down from his
recent appointment as president of the World
Medical Association (WMA).’

http://www.thenational.ae/article/
20090629/FOREIGN/706289862/1002

14. Foul Play: Neglect of wastewater treatment in the West Bank

B’tselem’s latest report deals with the failure
to properly treat sewage from Israeli
settlements, East Jerusalem, and Palestinian
towns and villages.

‘Of the 2.8 million people currently living in
the West Bank and Jerusalem, the wastewater of
two million of them is not treated. About one-
third of settlements’ wastewater flows as raw
sewage into West Bank streams.’

The report's summary:

http://www.btselem.org/English/Publications/
Summaries/200906_Foul_Play.asp

The full report:

http://www.btselem.org/Download/200906_Foul_Play_eng.pdf

15. The elephant in the room: Israel's nuclear weapons

‘At a White House press conference on 18 May
2009, US President Barack Obama expressed
"deepening concern" about "the potential pursuit
of a nuclear weapon by Iran."… By his side was
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the
room with them, there was an elephant, a large
and formidably destructive elephant, which they
and the assembled press pretended not to see.
I am, of course, referring to Israel's actual
nuclear weapons systems, with which Netanyahu is
capable of doing to numerous cities in the Middle
East, including Tehran, what the US did to
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10621.shtml

************************************************

PSC weekly update

Action:

1. e-flyer and leaflets available for 11 July conference

2. places going fast on PSC’s sponsored walk

News:

1. Israeli government refuses to ease Gaza blockade

2. Gazans using mud to build schools…

3. PSC writes to President Obama

4. Israeli army kills Palestinian during protest against Wall

5. Israeli peace activist faces jail

6. Universal jurisdiction under threat

7. Court case in Canada against settlements

8. More on Israeli racism:

9. Ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities

10. Israeli towns adopt ‘loyalty oath’

11. Settlers attempt to confiscate East Jerusalem land

12. John Pilger on Obama’s speech

13. The peril of forgetting Gaza


Action:

1. e-flyer and leaflets available for 11 July conference

You should have already received an e-flyer –
please forward it on to anyone else who would be
interested in this unique national event,
taking place in Birmingham. Leaflets are also
available from the PSC office.


2. places going fast on sponsored walk

Book your place now on the sponsored walk from
3-5 July on Dartmoor – a fantastic opportunity to
meet other activists, get fit AND raise money for the PSC!


News:


1. Israeli government refuses to ease Gaza blockade

‘Israel's powerful security cabinet warned on
Wednesday it would hold Hamas responsible for
any attacks from its Gaza stronghold and kept
in place a crippling blockade of the Palestinian
territory. In the face of US pressure, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the cabinet
to consider easing the stifling blockade that
Israel slapped on Gaza after Hamas, a group
pledged to the Jewish state's destruction,
seized control of the territory two years ago.’

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/
article/ALeqM5hYGMEaJr1TgqsrEOPDZ8_Jr_7CUw


2. Gazans using mud to build schools…

‘A sheaf of architectural plans lie spread across
the desk of Maher al-Batroukh. The concept is
simple: a three-storey school for 600 disabled
children. But it has become the most ambitious
project of his engineering career, for this is
Gaza after two years of a strict Israeli economic
blockade, under which the import of any construction
materials are banned. Desperation has prompted innovation:
Batroukh's principle building materials are
rough bricks made from Gazan clay.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/
2009/jun/09/gaza-rebuilding-after-war

3. PSC writes to President Obama

Betty Hunter, PSC’s General Secretary, has
written to President Obama: ‘As PSC’s late
patron, Edward Said, wrote, there are “not two
sides involved here, but only one state turning
all its great power against a stateless,
repeatedly refugeed and dispossessed people.’
[‘What Price Oslo?’ Counterpunch, March 2002].
If your endeavours are to be successful then
the US must convey effectively to the Israeli
government that international law must be upheld:
the Palestinian people must exercise their right
to self determination; settlements must be
dismantled; the right of return of refugees must
be recognised; and the civil rights of
Palestinians living inside Israel must be upheld.’

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b-2.asp?
m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=51&content_ID=677


Let President Obama know your views:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/


4. Israeli army kills Palestinian during protest against Wall

‘It took a single shot from an Israeli sniper to
kill Yousef “Aqel” Sadeq Srour. A popular
community leader in Ni’lin, Yousef’s only crime
was to demand what was rightfully his. Last
Friday the father of three became the fifth
person to be killed during non-violent
demonstrations against the Israeli Apartheid
Wall in the West Bank village.’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article980

5. Israeli peace activist faces jail.

‘Join Naomi Klein, Neve Gordon, Noam Chomsky and
thousands of others and tell Israel not to jail
Ezra Nawi, one of Israel’s most courageous human
rights activists. His crime? He tried to stop a
military bulldozer from destroying the homes of
Palestinian Bedouins in the South Hebron region.
Nawi, a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent, is a
threat to the settlers and the Israeli government
because he has brought international attention to
efforts to illegally remove Palestinians from
the Hebron region. He will be sentenced in July.’

For more information and to
send a letter to the Israeli authorities:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/
301/t/9462/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27357

6. Universal jurisdiction under threat

‘Currently, the fate of one of the only remaining
venues that offers a redress mechanism for
Palestinians is at stake. It is one that can
bring accountability of Israeli officials and
decision-makers who committed war crimes and
crimes against humanity… The pressure exerted on
the Spanish government to amend its law is an
example of the regrettable phenomenon of the
weakening of international law at the price of the individual.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10587.shtml


7. Court case in Canada against settlements

A court in Quebec, Montreal, will decide whether
a lawsuit against two Canadian-based companies
that are alleged to have illegally constructed
residential buildings for Jewish settlers on
disputed land in the West Bank can be heard in
Canada in a case starting on 22 June.

http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=17539


8. More on Israeli racism:

‘Avigdor Lieberman is much maligned for his racism,
but his line exemplifies one that had become
very mainstream in Israel: a Palestinian state
needs to be established – the sooner the better,
before Palestinians in the occupied territories
despair of nationalism and begin requesting the
vote. Yet the geopolitical situation as it stands
will, in such a scenario, still leave Israel as a
bi-national state. His solution is annulling the
citizenship of about half the Israeli Palestinians
and redrawing the maps so that they find themselves
within the new Palestinian state.

Lieberman's position is widely shared; even self-
proclaimed dove Tzipi Livni said, on several
occasions, that "once a Palestinian state is
established … we will be able to tell any
Palestinian wishing to realise his national identity
that he is now able to do it elsewhere".
More ominously, recent developments on the ground
suggest the machinery for carrying out
such an unprecedented task is already in motion.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
2009/jun/10/israeli-palestinians-jewish-state


9. Ill-treatment and torture of Palestinian
children by Israeli authorities.

Palestinian children among those bound, blindfolded
and beaten by Israeli troops:

Israeli soldiers testify that Palestinians in
the West Bank as young as 14 were targeted:
‘"The soldiers who took [detainees] to the toilet
just exploded [over] them with beatings; cursed
them with no reason. When they took one Arab to
the toilet so that he could urinate, one of them
gave him a slap that brought him to the ground.
He had been handcuffed from behind with a nylon
restraint and blindfolded. He wasn't insolent,
he didn't do anything to get on anyone's nerves
... [it was] just because he's an Arab. He was
something like 15 years old." The soldier said
he saw a lot of soldiers "just knee [Palestinians]
because it's boring, because you stand there 10 hours,
you're not doing anything, so they beat people up."
A second soldier described a "fanatical atmosphere"
during the search operations. "We would go into
a house and turn the whole thing upside down,"
he recalled, but no weapons were found.
"They confiscated kitchen knives."’

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/
bound-blindfolded-and-beaten-ndash-by-israeli-troops-1700194.html


And a new report out on torture of Palestinian
children from DCI-Pal: ‘During interrogation,
children as young as 12 years are denied access
to a lawyer and visits from their families.
These children will generally not be permitted
to see a lawyer until after they have provided
a confession to the interrogator. Whilst under
interrogation children are subjected to a number
of prohibited techniques, including the excessive
use of blindfolds and handcuffs; slapping and
kicking; painful position abuse for long periods
of time; solitary confinement and sleep deprivation;
and a combination of physical and psychological
threats to the child, and the child’s family’.

http://www.dci-pal.org/english/publ/research/CPReport.pdf


10. Israeli towns adopt ‘loyalty oath’:

‘A community in northern Israel has changed its
bylaws to demand that new residents pledge
support for "Zionism, Jewish heritage and
settlement of the land" in a thinly-veiled
attempt to block Arab applicants from gaining
admission. Critics are calling the bylaw,
adopted by Manof, home to 170 Jewish families in
the Galilee, a local "loyalty oath" similar to a
national scheme recently proposed by the far-right
party of the government minister Avigdor Lieberman.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10582.shtml


11. Settlers attempt to confiscate East Jerusalem land

‘Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem foiled
an Israeli attempt to confiscate seven dunums of
Palestinian land on the Mount of Olives during a
brief confrontation with settlers early Thursday morning.’

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?
opr=ShowDetails&ID=38492


12. John Pilger on Obama’s speech

‘In his latest column for the New Statesman, John
Pilger de-codes the "historic" speech President
Obama made in Cairo "reaching out to the Muslim
world", according to the BBC: in reality showing
the seductive face of American power as it
proceeds towards its unchanged goal.’

http://www.johnpilger.com/page.asp?partid=536


13. The peril of forgetting Gaza

By Sara Roy: ‘The recent meeting between
President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu
generated speculation over the future
relationship between America and Israel, and a
potentially changed U.S. policy towards the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Analysts on the
right and left are commenting on a new, tougher
American policy characterized by strengthened
U.S. demands on Israel. However, beneath the
diplomatic choreography lies an agonizing
reality that received only brief comment from
Obama and silence from Netanyahu: The ongoing
devastation of the people of Gaza.’

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?
m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=24&Content_ID=683

*************************************************

PSC weekly update

1. UN hearings to be held on Gaza war crimes
2. Oxfam report calls for lifting blockade on
Gaza, and ending politicisation of aid.
3. On Obama’s speech…
4. See speech by Hana Joma at PCS Annual
Conference, and report from Sawt el-Amel
5. More on Israel wiping Palestine off the map…
6. Scottish TUC supports Edinburgh Film Festival
decision to return Israeli Embassy funding
7. Israel declares Nablus area a closed military zone
8. Israel prepares laws to deepen discrimination


1. UN hearings to be held on Gaza war crimes

‘A UN team investigating possible war crimes in
Gaza says it will hold public hearings with
victims of the conflict in Gaza and Geneva later
this month. The team has spent the week
interviewing witnesses and visiting sites
damaged in Israel's three-week offensive, which
ended on 18 January. Richard Goldstone, who is
heading the team, said it had hoped to hold
hearings in Israel and the West Bank. But Israel
has refused to co-operate in the inquiry,
accusing it of bias.’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8084734.stm

2. Oxfam report calls for lifting blockade on
Gaza, and ending politicisation of aid.

‘In June 2009 the blockade on the Gaza Strip
enters its third year. The intense closure
policy, coupled with the government of Israel’s
recent military operation ‘Cast Lead’, has had a
devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods
of one and a half million Gazans, pushing them
further into poverty and aid dependency.

‘Parties to the conflict and the international
community have, to varying degrees, prioritised
their own political objectives over people’s
rights and needs, leaving Gazans sitting on the
ruins of their homes. By attempting to isolate
Hamas, the government of Israel and key
international donor governments and institutions
have in fact isolated the people of Gaza,
thereby reducing chances of securing a peaceful,
just and durable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.’

The report also makes clear that ‘For signatories
to the Geneva Conventions, it is not a choice of
whether or not to act, it is a legal obligation.’

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/
policy/conflict_disasters/bn-rebuilding-gaza.html

And Palestinian psychologists have warned
Wednesday that 98% of Palestinian children in
the Gaza Strip were suffering psychological
traumas, and feel unsafe following Israel’s war on Gaza.

‘In a workshop organized by the Gaza Community
Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) Palestinian
psychologists urged all concerned international
institutions to help protect the Palestinian
children in a more effective way in order to
minimize the effect of the war on them.’

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?
xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7vnol
Vzqr1e1GVIWdAuyEWPlAGV3mfJkdAt2EzlhTOPO6AVzVOofp9P
oKHHwJi5jq54jr193D933zQvgQlSqBKmnf10R3COl6bpHlVfO6n5Q%3d

3. On Obama’s speech…

Phyllis Bennis: ‘President Barack Obama's much-
anticipated Cairo speech reflected a significant
shift away from the ideological framework of
militarism and unilateralism that shaped the
Bush administration's war-based policy towards
the Arab and Muslim worlds… The shift in
discourse, away from justifying reckless imperial
hubris, unilateralism and militarism and towards
a more cooperative and potentially even
internationalist approach was potent. The actual
policy shifts were much smaller’.

http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/obama_in
_egypt_changing_the_discourse

Ali Abunimah: ‘Obama's speech shows little real change.
In most regards his analysis maintains flawed US policies.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
2009/jun/04/barack-obama-middleeast

For Barack Obama’s full speech:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/
middleeast/2009/06/20096410251287187.html

4. See speech by Hana Joma at PCS Annual Conference...
and read Sawt El-Amel's report

Available on the PSC website, Hana’s deeply
moving speech to the PCS Union’s conference:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?
m_id=1&l1_id=4&l2_id=24&Content_ID=661

And read Sawt El-Amel’s report of their
delegation to PCS Annual Conference:

http://laborers-voice.org/files/
090601-PCSBrighton.pdf

5. More on Israel wiping Palestine off the map…

Following our successful campaign against the
Israeli tourism advertisements on the London
Tube, the story went worldwide:

‘A very public controversy with regard to a map
of Israel erupted last month in London. The
Israeli Ministry of Tourism placed an advert'
throughout the London Underground showing a map
of Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the
Golan Heights in the same yellow color, giving
the impression that Israel's vast geography did
not include occupied Palestinian territory.
Obviously misrepresentative, because a British
tourist cannot sunbath on the pristine beaches of
Gaza or shop the markets of Ramallah, all the
while travelling from Eilat to Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem to Haifa. After mass protests, the
Israeli Ministry removed the posters, calling
them a "professional mistake." However, Ministry
officials most likely see the incident as a
market miscalculation rather than an issue
related to the borders of their country.

A similar incident occurred when I was travelling
through Israel a few months ago. I noticed that
my travel map, published by Hertz, all but erased
the existence of the occupied Palestinian territory.’

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
michael-shtenderauerbach/
the-cartographic-crux-of_b_208264.html

6. Scottish TUC supports Edinburgh Film Festival
decision to return Israeli Embassy funding

Mary Senior, the Scottish TUC’s Assistant Secretary,
has written ‘The Scottish Trades Union Congress
(STUC) applauds the decision of the Edinburgh
International Film Festival to return funding
from the Israeli Embassy, and welcomes the
intervention on this matter from British director
Ken Loach (your report, 19 May). Standing up to
the State of Israel is not "extremist",
"sanctimonious" or "self glorifying".

Rather, it is about exposing the illegitimate
actions of the Israeli government, for example
in Gaza, in the continued construction of the
separation wall, and in the growing settlement programme.’

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/
Pressure-on-Israel.5337562.jp

7. Israel declares Nablus area a closed military zone

‘In an attempt to prevent Israeli peace activists
from entering the Nablus area, the head of the
Central Command of the Israeli Army, Gadi
Shamni, declared Nablus a closed military zone.’

http://www.imemc.org/article/60652

8. Israel prepares laws to deepen discrimination

BADIL writes: ‘For decades Israel has practiced
discrimination and forced displacement against
its Palestinian citizenry with impunity. But now
it seeks to impose consent for its crimes upon
its Palestinian victims. Three bills currently
making rounds in the Israeli Knesset reveal an
obscene and dangerous targeting of the individual
and collective rights of Palestinian citizens.’

http://www.badil.org/Publications/
Press/2009/press507-09.htm

For more news, information and details of more
events across the country, see the PSC website:

www.palestinecampaign.org

***********************************************

PSC Weekly Update – Friday 29 May 2009

News

1. International support for victory
over Israeli tourism posters

2. UCU passes policy supporting BDS

3. UN fact finding mission to Gaza –
Amnesty on Israeli war crimes

4. Israel refuses to accept Obama’s demands on settlements

5. Israeli plans to make illegal, Nakba
commemorations, and impose ‘loyalty’ tests

6. Israeli settlements – ‘political dynamite’

7. Israel’s theft of Palestinian water

8. Groundbreaking report out on Israeli Apartheid

9. Analysis on Abbas’ new government

10. Fundraising bike ride from Montpellier
in Bristol to Montpellier in France

11. Palestinian rights deserve Anglican action

Action

11 July – PSC National
Education Conference, Birmingham

1. International support for victory over Israeli tourism posters

We have had emails from people across the world
congratulating all those who worked to remove the
Israeli tourism ad, and its attempt to wipe
Palestine off the map, from London Underground
sites – so many thanks to all of you!

We have been told by CBS Outdoor that all the
adverts would be taken down during the course
of this week, but have had complaints that some
are still up – if you see a poster, please do
complain to CBS Outdoor and Transport for
London, and copy the PSC into your complaint.

Please email or phone:

1. Transport for London:

Email: enquiries@tube.tfl.gov.uk
Tel: 0845 330 9876

2. CBS Outdoor Ltd

Email: richard.ashman@cbsoutdoor.co.uk

Tel: 020 7482 2863


The story had significant media coverage,
including the BBC and Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/may/22/
israel-underground-ads-occupied-territories-map

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8063435.stm

2. UCU passes policy supporting BDS

The University lecturers’ union, UCU, voted
overwhelmingly at its conference this week to support BDS

A number of motions were passed on 27 May at the
UCU’s conference, including one from the UCU
National Executive which condemned the Israeli
military attacks on Gaza, and others that agreed
to disseminate the report of the President of UCU
Scotland, who had recently taken part in the
STUC visit to Palestine, for “recognition of the
democratically elected Gaza government”, for
Israel to be tried for human rights violations,
and for the British government to ban “arms sales
and economic support to Israel”. Congress also
voted overwhelmingly for an amendment which
affirmed support “for the Palestinian call for a
boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign”
despite a statement from the General Secretary
that on legal advice this amendment would be
treated as being “void and of no effect” if carried.

However, the UCU also voted to urge “branches to
discuss prior to Congress 2010 the Palestinian
call for a boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign”.

This support for BDS follows support at
conferences of the Scottish TUC, FBU and PCS,
and is a sign of the growing support for the
movement for boycott, sanctions and divestment.

Dr Amjad Barham, president of the Palestinian
Federation of Unions of University Professors
and Employees (PFUUPE), addressed conference,
and wrote in the Guardian before the debate
urging British lecturers to back a boycott in
support of the Palestinians’ struggle for justice:

http://www.guardian .co.uk/education /2009/
may/ 26/why-boycott- israeli-universities

3. UN fact finding mission to Gaza –
Amnesty on Israeli war crimes

Between 1-5 June, a fact-finding mission from
the UN was in Gaza, ‘with a mandate to
“investigate all violations of International
Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian
Law that might have been committed at any time
in the context of the military operations that
were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27
December 2008 and 18 January 2009, whether
before, during or after.”’

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/
specialsession/9/docs/Public_Advance_Notice.pdf

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused Israel
of repeatedly violating the rules of armed
conflict during its war on the Gaza Strip.

According to Haaretz, "Israeli forces repeatedly
breached the laws of war, including by carrying
out direct attacks on civilians and civilian
buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian
militants that caused a disproportionate toll
among civilians," the human rights watchdog
said in its annual report.’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088912.html

4. Israel refuses to accept Obama’s demands on settlements

‘Increasingly fractious relations between the US
and Israel hit a low unseen in nearly two decades
yesterday after the Jewish state rejected
President Obama's demand for an end to
settlement construction in the West Bank,
and the president responded by suggesting that
Israeli intransigence endangers America's security.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/28/barack-
obama-jewish-settlements-israel-palestine-relations

5. Israeli plans to make illegal, Nakba
commemorations, and impose ‘loyalty’ tests

Rachel Shabi writes in the Guardian: ‘Life for
Palestinian citizens of Israel, always a testing
experience, seems to be getting more precarious
of late. This is a section of society that, since
Israel's creation, spent 20-odd years under direct
military rule and thereafter continued to be
treated as second rate and a potential fifth
column. Recently, Arab-Israelis, the identity-
blurring label for this 20% sector of the
population, have had to contend with threats
that they must swear loyalty to a Jewish and
Zionist state as a precondition of citizenship.
Now, Israel's ministerial committee has approved
a draft law that would ban the commemoration of
Nakba day in Israel. The day marks the dispossession
of some 700,000 to 800,000 Palestinians who fled
or were forced out of their homes in 1948.
Arab-Israelis remember Nakba day with demonstrations
in Israel – but if the proposed law goes through parliament,
such action would result in a three-year prison sentence.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
2009/may/28/israel-palestine-nakba-day

6. Israeli settlements – ‘political dynamite’

‘In an important article in the Israeli liberal
daily Haaretz, Uri Blau revealed that over the
past four years, the defence ministry carried
out a secret survey of settlements. Blau said
that one of the reasons for conducting the survey
was to be ready to “contend with legal actions
brought by Palestinian residents, human rights
organisations and leftist movements challenging
the legality of construction in the settlements
and the use of private lands to establish or expand them”.

The data, stated, Blau, was “political dynamite”
and was suppressed by Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
It was “dynamite” not because of what it revealed
about expropriations - which Peace Now has
faithfully tried to document - but because it
showed that construction in the “vast majority
of settlements - about 75 per cent - has been
carried out without the appropriate permits or
contrary to the permits that were issued”.’

http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=17053

7. Israel’s theft of Palestinian water

‘Access to water is fundamental to life and
perhaps the most basic human right. For
Palestinians living under occupation, it is yet
another human right which is controlled by Israel.
The human right to water refers to domestic needs,
however by denying Palestinians access to water,
the Israeli government is also denying the human
right to food which incorporates water for
agriculture, and the human right to sanitation…
According to the recent World Bank report,
Assessment of Restrictions on Palestinian Water
Sector Development… Gaza and parts of the West
Bank suffer "chronic" water-related humanitarian crises.’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article962


8. Groundbreaking report out on Israeli Apartheid

A new report from South Africa’s Human Sciences
Research Council looks in detail at how Israel
practices Apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories – research by leading international
lawyers on this matter makes this a must-read
for everyone. The report, ‘Occupation, Colonialism,
Apartheid’ is at http://www.hsrc.ac.za/DG.phtml

9. Analysis on Abbas’ new government

MIFTAH has written an analysis on this:
‘New Government Faces Challenges on all Fronts’:

http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?
DocId=19663&CategoryId=10

10. Fundraising bike ride from Montpellier
in Bristol to Montpellier in France

Mo and friends will be cycling on Sunday 31st May
and are intending to cover the 900 miles
in about a month, raising funds for PSC and MAP.

Please either consider sponsoring Mo,
or doing something similar yourself!

Find out more about the cycling trip on the Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/
group.php?gid=72921642352

To donate please use the following link:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/Index5b_
donate.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=23

then choose the “Montpellier Fundraising Bike Ride” option.
All donations received will be shared equally between PSC and MAP.

11. Palestinian rights deserve Anglican action

Ben White writes: ‘At the 14th Anglican Consultative
Council (ACC) meeting, held in Jamaica earlier this month,
a resolution on the Middle East was passed,
criticising the Israeli occupation.
An original version of the resolution was
originally submitted by the Anglican Peace and
Justice Network (APJN), but as the language
was felt by some to be too "strong", a new
resolution was put forward and adopted.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/
2009/may/21/palestinian-anglican-israel-resolution

Event

11 July – PSC National
Education Conference, Birmingham

This will be a great opportunity – with a
fantastic range of speakers. Book your ticket
now! Online booking is now available:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/store/
index2.asp?origin=UK&m_id=1&l1_id=22&l2_id=49


=====================================

PSC Weekly Update – Friday 22 May 2009

News:

Vote for Zaytoun!

Gaza – the siege

Israeli house demolitions update

Events

=====================================


Vote for Zaytoun!

Zaytoun, which exports fair trade olive oil from
Palestine, and makes a big difference to
Palestinian farmers, is now in the news with its
director Heather Gardner-Masoud a candidate for
the Times ‘Women in Ethical Business Awards’.
Please go to the link, read the fifth page of
the article and press on the blue link in order
to vote for Heather of Zaytoun:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/
movers_and_shakers/article6250324.ece?token
=null&offset=48&page=5

As the Times says: ‘Heather Gardner-Masoud is a
director at Zaytoun the company she was inspired
to set up after a visit to Palestine when she
joined human rights observers accompanying
farmers to harvest their fruit - she learnt
about the scale of injustice first hand and was
determined to find a UK market for the olive oil
and other products.’

For more details on Zaytoun:

http://www.zaytoun.org/

Gaza – the siege

From the latest OCHA report: ‘Israel’s blockade,
now in its 23rd month, continues to affect all aspects of life...

Israel continues to restrict access of goods to
and from the Gaza Strip. Essential items,
including clothing, school textbooks,
agricultural products, and construction materials
needed to rebuild thousands of homes damaged
during Israel’s “Cast Lead” military operation in
Gaza, remain unavailable in the Gaza Strip.
Tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border continue to
function as a means of compensating for shortages
of necessary items that are restricted from
entry through Israeli controlled crossings.’

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_
protection_civilians_weekly_19_05_2009_english.pdf


Israeli house demolitions update

A new paper on house demolitions in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories is now available,
detailing the scale of demolitions and expansion
of settlement-building: ‘ Israel plans for
significant extensions of illegal settlements in
the West Bank that will add 73,000 housing units
to existing settlements, 15,000 of which have
already been approved.’

http://www.cohre.org/opt


Events:

The horrific war on Gaza has led to the
postponing of the upgrading of the EU-Israel
Trade Agreement – now is the time to make your
voice heard to MEPs after June 4th!

Further details are on the PSC website –
please come along and get involved !

For briefings, model letters
and other campaigning information visit:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/
Index5b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=51.

PSC has also produced a poster for you to do a
photocall with your local MEP calling on Europe
to obey international law. Contact the office for a copy.


Education conference, Birmingham

PSC National Education Conference

Justice for the Palestinians - the Moral Issue of our Time

Birmingham 11 July 2009
10.30 – 4.00

With: Prof Ilan Pappe, Karma Nabulsi, Samia Botmeh,
Dr. Rita Giacaman, Victoria Brittain and Daniel Machover

To hear about: The Reality of Occupation, Lessons
from the Anti Apartheid Movement, Israeli War Crimes
and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and much more!

Please book your place with the PSC office at:

Tel: 02077006192
Email: psc.admin@palestinecampaign.org


=====================================

PSC Weekly Update – Thursday 14 May 2009

Actions

1. Birmingham education conference 11 July


News

1. Protests as Lieberman visits London

2. Lieberman’s party proposes to imprison
anyone commemorating the Nakba

3. Pope calls for end to Israel’s siege on Gaza
and for Palestinian ‘sovereign homeland’

4. Gaza – dialysis supplies running out,
families on one meal a day

5. Amira Hass banned from reporting the truth from Gaza…

6. but criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza continues

7. Twenty Israeli organisations call for Norwegian disinvestment

8. Arab railway workers in Israel have scored a first victory

9. New book on Israel’s attempt to assassinate Khalid Mishal



Actions

1. Birmingham education conference 11 July (NOT June!)

Ilan Pappe, Karma Nabulsi, Daniel Machover, Samia
Botmeh, Victoria Brittain, Dr. Rita Giacaman,
Professor Manuel Hassassian are among the
speakers at PSC’s education conference in
Birmingham on 11 July (NOT June, as was wrongly
advertised in our members’ newsletter).
The conference will take place from 10.30am-4pm at Carrs Lane Centre
– for further details and to register, go to:

www.palestinecampaign.org

For other events, visit

www.palestinecampaign.org



News

1. Protests as Lieberman visits London

Openly racist Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
visited London this week on his European tour
and was met with lively and angry protests.
Despite the secretive details of his visit,
we were able to find out that he had a meeting
in the Foreign Office on the morning of 13 May,
and at very short notice, over 200 people gathered,
joined by MPs Richard Burden, Jeremy Corbyn,
Martin Linton and Baroness Jenny Tonge, in a
protest by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jews
for Justice for Palestinians, British Muslim
Initiative, Stop the War Coalition and the
Palestinian Forum in Britain. Labour Friends of
Palestine and the Middle East lent their active support.

Avigdor Lieberman met with both Foreign Minister
David Miliband and Shadow Foreign Secretary
William Hague. A lively and vocal protest
publicised by Jews for Justice for Palestinians
outside Lieberman’s meeting was hosted by the
Jewish National Fund on the evening of 12 May.

2. Marking 61 years since the Nakba

‘Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party wants
to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary
of what they term "the Catastrophe" or Nakba,
when in 1948 some 700,000 Arabs lost their homes
in the war that led to the establishment of the
state of Israel. The ultranationalist Yisrael
Beitenu party says it is proposing legislation
next week for a ban on the practice and a jail
term of up to three years for violators.’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1085588.html

Palestine Monitor writes on the Nakba:

‘For 61 years, the Palestinian people have had to
deal with a life most westerners cannot even imagine.
Being driven out of their homes, villages, and cities.
Millions of Palestinians having to leave their land
completely in the Diaspora. The continuing theft of
their land because of the separation wall and the
illegal Israeli settlements that are still expanding
in the West Bank. Arbitrary beatings, arrests,
and torture by Israeli soldiers. Targeted killings,
or murders, by the Israeli military leading to walls
being filled with posters of martyrs — some of
them teenagers or younger. Hundreds of checkpoints
and road barriers making travel inside the West Bank
humiliating and long. And so much more…’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article945


3. Pope calls for end to Israel’s siege on Gaza
and for Palestinian ‘sovereign homeland’

On his visit this week, ‘the pope made his
strongest call yet for a "sovereign Palestinian
homeland". He said mass in Bethlehem's Manger
Square and offered his "solidarity" to the
Palestinians of Gaza, telling them he wanted to
see the Israeli blockade of the coastal strip lifted.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/
may/13/pope-benedict-palestinians-gaza

And speaking in Aida refugee camp, standing
against the backdrop of the Apartheid Wall, he
said: ‘I know how much you have suffered and
continue to suffer as a result of the turmoil
that has afflicted this land for decades.’

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-
east/pope-challenges-israel-to-give-palestinians-
homeland-1684587.html

And Israel tried to hide the reality of its occupation:
‘An official Palestinian Media Centre was set up
at the Ambassador Hotel in East Jerusalem;
however on Monday Israeli police and intelligence
forces shut the centre down... In his welcoming
speech to Pope Benedict XVI on Monday, President
Shimon Peres declared that "Israel safeguards
the absolute freedom of religious practice and
free access to holy places. We are always happy
to receive pilgrims from throughout the world in
the Holy Land". However for Palestinian Christians
living under occupation, Israeli-issued permits
must be obtained to visit their holy shrines in
Jerusalem and Nazareth. Many Palestinian Christians
living in the West Bank were refused permits to
attend yesterday’s Mass led by the Pope at the
Garden of Gethsemane. Israel granted 93 permits
to Gazan Christians to attend the Mass, but
refused permits to more than 400. Israel cited
security reasons for refusing permits to all
Gazans below the age of 35. Further, Israel
controls access to Bethlehem and it is very
difficult for Christians outside the West Bank
to obtain visas to visit or to study there.
Even Palestinians within the West Bank have to
pass through checkpoints to go there.
Father Hijazin, a Jordanian, was illegal in the West Bank for
some time as the Israeli authorities refused to grant him a visa.

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article943

4. Gaza – dialysis supplies running out,
families on one meal a day

With only three days’ supplies of dialysis
solutions left, the Palestinian health ministry
says that ‘more than 600 Palestinians are
treated for kidney failure and have weekly
dialysis sessions including 200 children.’
It ‘previously reduced the dialysis sessions
for each patient from three to twice weekly’.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en

And Gaza families are ‘down to one meal a day’:
‘Umm Abdullah cannot remember the last time she
was able to feed meat to her eight children. She
does know that for the past week the single meal
she cooked for them each day consisted only of
lentils. And that on one day, she had received
aid coupons from the United Nations, which she
subsequently sold to buy tomatoes and eggplant
at the local market.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10526.shtml

With construction materials banned by Israel,
Gaza’s government is looking at ‘plans to kick
off a state home building project that
encourages locals to rebuild out of clay bricks’

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?
opr=ShowDetails&ID=37675

5. Amira Hass banned from reporting the truth from Gaza…

On 12 May, Israeli police detained Haaretz
correspondent, Amira Hass, as she left the Gaza
Strip. Haaretz reported that Hass was released on
bail after promising not to return to Gaza for 30 days.

http://www.imemc.org/article/60370

Her latest article in Haaretz – ‘Israel knows
that peace doesn’t pay’, focuses on the advantages
Israel gains by maintaining the occupation:
‘Successive Israeli governments since 1993
certainly must have known what they were doing,
being in no hurry to make peace with the Palestinians.
As representatives of Israeli society, these
governments understood that peace would involve
serious damage to national interests.’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084656.html

6. But criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza continues

Gideon Levy also wrote in Haaretz: ‘The Israel
Defense Forces returned from Operation Cast Lead
and, of course, denied everything. The people
applauded it for its bogus victory and no one
paid much attention to the awful price paid by
the Palestinians. But after the smoke (in this
case, white phosphorus) cleared a bit, the blood
began crying out from the ground. Foreign journalists
and human rights groups investigated and reported
their findings. The UN said the IDF intentionally
targeted its facilities, Human Rights Watch and
Amnesty International accused the army of illegally
using phosphorous bombs, the International Red Cross
reported on the injured being denied medical attention
and strikes on medical crews, officers at a
premilitary course spoke of civilians killed,
and Amira Hass wrote for Haaretz about the
killing of people flying white flags, the use of
flechette shells and the annihilation of entire families…’

‘But let's assume Amnesty is lying, Human Rights
Watch is fabricating, B'Tselem is embellishing,
the UN is anti-Israel and the media is full of
hatred against us - isn't there enough in the
IDF's own figures to shake us to the core? Three
hundred civilians killed, including 90 children -
isn't that enough to expose the propagandistic
lie of "the most moral" army? How many innocent
people must be killed for that to happen?’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084418.html

7. Twenty Israeli organisations call for Norwegian disinvestment

A wide alliance of Israeli civil society and
grassroots organizations has sent a letter to the
Norwegian Pension Fund, urging it to support
their efforts for a just peace and equality in
Israel/Palestine by divesting from all companies
involved in the Israeli occupation.

http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/articles/norway-fund

8. Arab railway workers in Israel have scored a
first victory: Israel Railways forced to act!

The Israeli labour court ordered Israel Railways
to review its new policy requiring army service
as an employment condition in consultation with
Israel’s Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.
On May 6, 2009, Israel Railways submitted a new
policy proposal to the court. However, no action
will be taken while the lawsuits are pending as
the court has ordered a temporary injunction.
The date for the next hearing is still to be determined.

http://www.laborers-voice.org/article_details.
aspx?TopID=998&catid=46 voice.org/article_details.aspx?TopID=998&catid=46>

9. New book on Israel’s attempt to assassinate Khalid Mishal

Review of Paul McGeough’s book on Mossad’s
attempted assassination of Khalid Mishal:
In early September 1997, Danny Yatom, the head
of Mossad, arranged a special screening for
Binyamin Netanyahu, who was then prime minister.
The film, shot on the streets of Tel Aviv,
presented the plan for the assassination of Khalid Mishal,
the head of Hamas’s political bureau in Amman.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n09/shtz01_.html

=====================================


PSC Weekly Update - Friday 8 May 2009

News

1. Lieberman faces European protests

2. pro-Israel lobby mobilises

3. UN exposes Israeli war crimes

4. And the latest report from the UN on Gaza

5. Israel attacks May Day march

6. Transcript of Khaled Meshal’s interview with New York Times

7. Latest boycott developments

8. Only 13% of Bethlehem available to Palestinians

9. Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations
call for an end to international donor complicity

10. Israel’s sick tourism industry


Action

Events are regularly added on our website:

www.palestinecampaign.org


News

1. Lieberman faces European protests

Angry protests met Lieberman as he toured Europe:

Video of protest in Paris:

http://www.euronews.net/2009/05/06/israel-s-
lieberman-gets-angry-reception-in-paris/

Analysis by the Guardian and Palestine Monitor:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/04/
israel-europe-middleeast-lieberman

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/
spip/spip.php?article936


2. pro-Israel lobby mobilises

‘US congressional leaders and the most powerful
pro-Israel lobby group in the US are attempting
to forestall a significant shift in
the White House's Middle East policy.

The move comes amid growing signs that the US
president, Barack Obama, intends to press for
urgent efforts to be made towards the creation
of a Palestinian state.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/06/
us-israel-palestinians-middle-east


3. UN exposes Israeli war crimes

UN accuses Israel of Gaza ‘negligence or recklessness’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/
05/israel-gaza-united-nations

And Ban Ki-Moon defends "watered down" Gaza report:
‘A detailed 184-page report critical of Israeli attacks
on UN personnel and buildings during the Gaza conflict
last December-January has been meticulously stripped down
to a 27-page document -- mostly due to
political sensitivities and on security grounds.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10515.shtml

… and rejects the report’s recommendations
to investigate further Israeli attacks on Gaza

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/
05/ban-ki-moon-gaza-inquiry

Summary of the report:

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/
documents/2009/05/05/4MayGltrtoSCBrd.pdf

‘President Shimon Peres said yesterday that Israel
would never apologize for its military offensive
in the Gaza Strip earlier this year, calling a
damning United Nations report on its conduct
there "unfair and one-sided."’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083668.html

‘the UN report contained secret information
supplied by Israel about an incident in which
more than 40 Palestinian civilians were massacred
when Israeli shells fell "outside" a UN school
where many Palestinians were taking shelter.
The secretary-general is reportedly considering
how much of the information he can release
without revealing the information supplied by Israel’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10511.shtml

4. And the latest report from the UN on Gaza:

‘Israel’s 22-month blockade continues to affect
all aspects of life. This week, 418 lorryloads
of goods, 26% of which were designated to
humanitarian aid agencies, were allowed entry to Gaza.
This represents only two thirds of the 2009
weekly average of truckloads (622). Construction
materials, spare parts for public infrastructure
and industrial, agricultural inputs including
livestock, IT/computer-related items and others
remain barred from entering Gaza.

Almost no new items were allowed entry into Gaza
during the week. The ban on concrete and other
construction materials, and limitations on cash
allowed into Gaza, continue to hinder Gaza
reconstruction efforts to rebuild homes and
necessary infrastructure destroyed during “Cast Lead”.’

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection
_of_civilians_weekly_2009_05_05_english.pdf

The UN sends a team on the 11th of May....
to look at the environmental disaster Israel is
creating in Gaza: ‘Environmental hazards in the
Gaza Strip, such as sewage contamination, have
intensified since Israel's recent war on Hamas
there because even basic infrastructure repairs
are stalled by an ongoing border blockade of the
territory, the UN's environment chief said’.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?
itemNo=1079950&contrassID=0&subContrassID=0

5. Israel attacks May Day march

‘On May 1, people from the village of al-Ma’sara
and the neighbouring villages in Bethlehem area
commemorated Workers Day with a march in protest
against the Apartheid Wall. The Wall continues
to encroach on their land and isolates their villages.
The demonstration and Workers Day festival was
organized by the popular committees of the Anti-
Apartheid Wall Campaign in al Ma’sara and Bethlehem
district, in cooperation with the Bethlehem branch
of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU).

‘Israeli Occupation forces repressed the mobilization
and fired on the crowd with tear gas, sound bombs
and rubber coated steel bullets. Nine people were
injured, among them the head of the PGFTU, Shaher Sa’ad.
Soldiers arrested ‘Azmi Sheukhi from Hebron,
Mustafa Fawagreh from Um Salamoneh and Muhammed
Brajiya, Mahmoud Zawahreh, Hasan Brajiya, all
members of the popular committee in al Ma’sara.
They are still held in prison.’

http://stopthewall.org/latestnews/1934.shtml


6. Transcript of Khaled Meshal’s interview with New York Times

Khaled Meshal says in the New York Times: ‘The
world must deal with what Hamas is practicing today.
Hamas has accepted the national reconciliation document.
It has accepted a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders
including East Jerusalem, dismantling settlements,
and the right of return based on a long term truce.
Hamas has represented a clear political program
through a unity government. This is Hamas's program
regardless of the historic documents.
Hamas has offered a vision. Therefore, it's not
logical for the international community to get
stuck on sentences written 20 years ago.
It's not logical for the international community
to judge Hamas based on these sentences and stay
silent when Israel destroys and kills our people.’

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/world/
middleeast/05Meshal-transcript.html


7. Latest boycott developments

Putting words of support into boycott action:
‘In the UK, several local campaigns are sprouting
to derail Veolia from a number of large public
works contracts. From Hampshire County to Liverpool
to Camden to South Yorkshire, local authorities
are facing mounting political, and sometimes legal,
pressure from Palestine solidarity groups,
mainly associated with PSC, to exclude Veolia
from bidding for public projects. Sandwell
Metropolitan Borough Council decided not to
consider further Veolia's bid for the "Waste
Improvement Plan" contract in March 2009.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10505.shtml


8. Only 13% of Bethlehem available to Palestinians

‘The combined effect of Israeli annexation, the
West Bank barrier, settlements, settler bypass
roads, closed military zones and Israeli nature
reserves, has left only 13% of the 660 sq km
Bethlehem governorate available for Palestinian
use, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of
Humanitarian Affairs says.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/
may/06/israel-army-bethlehem-un

For the report:

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_
bethlehem_shrinking_space_may_2009_english.pdf


9. Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations
call for an end to international donor complicity

Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations
have responded to the meeting in March to discuss
reconstruction funds to Gaza:

‘by agreeing to reconstruction without specific,
binding assurances from the State of Israel,
international donors are effectively
underwriting Israel’s illegal actions in
the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
International law – including, international
human rights law, international humanitarian law
(IHL), and the law of state responsibility for
wrongful acts – places specific, binding obligations
on the State of Israel (based, inter alia, on
its duties as an Occupying Power) with respect
to the maintenance and development of normal life
in occupied territory. By repeatedly restricting
their action to providing aid, without holding
Israel accountable for its specific obligations,
international donors are relieving Israel of its
legally binding responsibilities.’

http://www.badil.org/Publications/statements/Joint-Statement
-End-International-Donor-Complicity(May09).pdf


10. Israel’s sick tourism industry –
the ‘Ultimate Mission’ tour of Israel

‘instead of fighting the fact that tourists avoid
the country because of the ‘terrorist threat’,
Israel now uses it to attract a new, more extreme
kind of tourist. This effort has culminated with
a new tour called “The ULTIMATE Mission to Israel.”
This tour will begin on June 8, 2009 and last
for one week. The point of these new tours is to
sell the Israeli model for counterterrorism —
and is a sick effort to glorify the killing of
Palestinians, and the ongoing occupation,
in the name of ‘pre-emptive self-defense’.’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article930

11. Israel to Gaza patients:
Be a TRAITOR and you can get medication!

Israel’s Shin Beth internal security service has
increased its interrogations of people seeking to
leave Gaza for medical treatment, said a report
from Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.

‘"Between January 2008 and March 2009, at least
438 patients have been summoned for interrogations
as a precondition for the review of their applications
for an exit permit for the purpose of accessing
medical treatment outside of the strip," it said.

‘Whereas in January 2008, 1.45 percent of people
who had submitted applications to Israeli authorities
to leave Gaza were questioned, that number rose
to 17 percent in January 2009, the group said.’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article931


=====================================

PSC Weekly Update – Thursday 30 April

Actions

Stop Veolia running the London Cycle Hire scheme!


News

Gaza depends on tunnels for food, fuel, medicines

Watch Seven Jewish Children online

Israel’s secret plan for West Bank expansion

Israel continues using Palestinians as human shields

Israel’s imprisons more Palestinian children

Visiting Daddy in Prison: A Palestinian Ordeal

Israel harasses peace activists


Actions

1. Exclude Veolia from the London Cycle Hire Scheme!

Transport for London (TfL) is in the process of
selecting a contractor to build and operate a
public cycle hire scheme similar to the one in
Paris. The contractor is anticipated to be
selected by June this year and the scheme will
start operating in May 2010. Boris Johnson,
Mayor of London is Chair of transport for London.

The French multinational Veolia recently set up
a subsidiary called Veloway to run cycle hire
schemes and is highly likely to have bid for
such a lucrative and prestigious contract.

Whether you live in London or not,
please write or email a letter to the Mayor

(mayor@london.gov.uk)

asking for Veolia and all its subsidiaries,
including Veloway, to be excluded from this
contract on the grounds of grave misconduct,
namely aiding and abetting Israeli war crimes.
Veolia is involved in building and operating
a tramway linking Israel with its illegal
settlements in East Jerusalem, binding these
settlements more firmly to Israel, and so
helping to perpetuate war crimes.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/
cycling/cycle-hire-scheme/

gives a description of the cycle hire scheme.
A suggested letter is on our website:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b-2.asp?
m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=51&content_ID=607

London is the capital and we all have an interest
in its transport system. This will be a high
profile scheme and a great opportunity to put
more pressure on Veolia to pull out of the
Jerusalem project and show Israel that it can
no longer break international law with impunity.

If you live in London, please also write to your
Assembly Member, asking them to oppose this and
raise their opposition with Boris Johnson.
For details of your Assembly Member:

http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/lams_facts_cont.jsp

xxxxxxxxx

News

1. Gaza depends on tunnels for food, fuel, medicines:

‘The tunnels that provide Gaza with food, fuel,
medicine and other consumer goods may have
become even more crucial as an economic lifeline,
the World Food Programme (WFP) says.’

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46629

2. Watch Seven Jewish Children online

Watch Jennie Stoller perform Caryl Churchill's
play, Seven Jewish Children, which was written
in response to the situation in Gaza in January
this year, thanks to the Guardian who have put it online:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/video/
2009/apr/25/seven-jewish-children-caryl-churchill

3. Israel continues using Palestinians as human shields

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has released
an important update to its July 2008 report on
the IOF practise of hiding behind Palestinian
human shields. The use of civilian human shields
is customary Israeli practice in gross violation
of international law, in which the practice is a
war crime and crime against humanity, as well as
a violation of Israel’s own High Court ruling of 2005,
which itself came after a 3-year legal battle.

The Al Mezan report also takes the international
community to task for its "continued failure
to fulfil its obligations and its silence on
Israeli violations [which] encourages Israel
to proceed with its crimes."

http://pulsemedia.org/2009/04/28/hiding-behind-civilians/

4. Israel’s secret plan for West Bank expansion

‘Israel has taken a step towards expanding the
largest settlement in the West Bank, a move
Palestinians warn will leave their future state unviable
and further isolate its future capital, East Jerusalem’.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-
east/israels-secret-plan-for-west-bank-expansion-1674759.html

5. Israel’s imprisons more Palestinian children

‘The Global Movement for the Defence of Children’s
Palestine Branch reports that Israeli imprisonment
of Palestinian children is up.

‘Over the past two months Israeli forces have
increased campaigns against children. At the end
of February 2009 the number of Palestinian
children detained in Israeli prisons was up to 423.
This is the highest number since the beginning
of the Al Aqsa Intifada in 2000.’

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=5148

6. Visiting Daddy in Prison: A Palestinian Ordeal

‘Spending time with her dad requires that six-
year-old Jinan undertake a bizarre and arduous
odyssey. Usually, she travels alone, but last
Monday, the Palestinian girl with the rosebud
smile and bouncing energy was accompanied by her
younger sisters, Dania, 4, and Noor, 2, on the
journey to the Israeli prison that holds her father.’

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/
0,8599,1893620,00.html


7. Israel harasses peace activists

‘On April 26, 2009, a number of Israeli peace
activists had their computers confiscated, were
called for interrogations, and were only released
upon signing agreements not to contact their
political friends for 30 days. We are asking
you to contact the Israeli Attorney General
to demand an immediate stop to this harassment.’

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/
301/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27127

=====================================

PSC Weekly update – 23 April 2009

News:

1. Scottish TUC votes to support boycotts,
divestments and sanctions on Israel;

2. Government admits Israel used British
military equipment in Gaza;

3. War crimes charges for Olmert and Livni;

4. Israel says it won’t pursue peace until US stops Iran;

5. Remembering Bassem Abu Rahme, killed by Israel;

6. Child malnutrition increases in Gaza;

7. Foreign Office accused of hindering
human rights lawyers in Gaza;

8. Guardian guide claims Jerusalem is
‘de facto capital of Israel’


Actions:

European Elections – lobby candidates on the EU-Israel upgrade;

==================================

1. Scottish TUC votes to support boycotts,
divestments and sanctions on Israel

The Scottish TUC conference votes to endorse
‘a position of: supporting boycotts and disinvestment
against lsrael, calling for sanctions against lsrael,
encouraging positive investments in the occupied territories.
The General Council is recommending this action
because of lsrael's attacks on the human rights
of Palestinian people, and its failure to comply
with agreed international law.’

Before the debate, STUC General Secretary, Grahame Smith:
“On our recent visit to Israel and Palestine we
witnessed the human rights violations experienced
by ordinary Palestinians on a daily basis.
We saw how restrictions on movement and checkpoints
prevent people from going to work, to school and to
visit their families – even when they are sick and dying.”

Betty Hunter, PSC’s General Secretary, congratulates
the Scottish TUC for passing this policy, and says
‘this decision paves the way for even more unions
standing firm for Palestinian rights, and adopting
similar policies calling for boycotts, divestments
and sanctions on Israel until it abides by international law.
Trade unions affiliated to PSC played a critical role
in ensuring this policy was passed’.

This highly significant development follows the findings
of a STUC delegation to Palestine and Israel earlier this year.

http://www.stuc.org.uk/files/Palestine/
Delegation%20Report%202009.pdf

The press release from the Scottish TUC
issued prior to the debate:

http://www.stuc.org.uk/news/633/
stuc-debates-boycott-of-israel


2. Government admits Israel used
British military equipment in Gaza

The Guardian reports on 22 May:
‘Britain announced last night that it is to review
all its military exports to Israel in the light
of the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip
which killed around 1,400 Palestinians…

[David] Miliband said Britain provided less than 1%
of Israel's military imports. But he acknowledged
that some components supplied by Britain were
"almost certainly" used by Israel in its military offensive.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/
apr/22/israel-gaza-military-exports

David Miliband’s statement is at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/
pa/cm/cmtoday/cmwms/archive/090421.htm#hddr_8


3. War crimes charges for Olmert and Livni.
‘Former prime minister Ehud Olmert and opposition leader
Tzipi Livni may face war crimes charges in Norway
over their role in Israel's offensive against Hamas
in Gaza, AFP reported Tuesday.

The news agency said six Norwegian lawyers announced
plans Tuesday to accuse the pair, as well as
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and seven senior
Israel Defense Forces officers, of the crimes.

The lawyers, who planned to file their complaint
with Norway's chief prosecutor on Wednesday,
were quoted as saying they would also call for
the arrest and extradition of the Israeli leaders.’

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1080189.html


4. Israel says it won’t pursue peace until US stops Iran

‘The new Israeli government will not move ahead on
the core issues of peace talks with the Palestinians
until it sees progress in U.S. efforts to stop Iran's
suspected pursuit of a nuclear weapon and limit Tehran's
rising influence in the region, according to top
government officials familiar with Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu's developing policy on the issue.’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/
article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103998.html


5. Remembering Bassem Abu Rahme, killed by Israel

Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahme was killed by an Israeli
tear gas canister fired at his chest on 17 April
whilst he was protesting against the Apartheid Wall
in Bili’n: links to two articles commemorating
his life and struggle are below.

Sayed Mohamed Dansay writes in Bassem’s memory:
‘Suddenly a tear gas canister whizzes past the
camera making an audible "clunk" as it hits
something to the right. He tries to let out a scream,
but all he manages is a stifled yelp. One can
almost hear his breath being cut short as the
projectile punctures his chest. Another muted
scream of pain. He falls to the ground then jumps
up quickly, running a few steps before collapsing again.

His body rolls a few times as he hits the ground,
his limbs flapping loosely underneath him. Two
fellow demonstrators run to him, looking almost
surprised and unsure of what has just happened.
They turn him over, lifting his shirt and calling
his name. But he is unresponsive. His eyes are open
but his body lies motionless. His bright yellow shirt
now quickly growing a wet red stain over his heart.

And so the occupied people of Palestine sacrifice
yet another one of their young men. Another one.
Again. Just like that. In an instant.
Caught live on camera for the world to see.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10476.shtml

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article919


6. Child malnutrition increases in Gaza

‘ Rising poverty, unemployment and food insecurity
in Gaza, compounded by the recent 23-day Israeli offensive,
have increased the threat of child malnutrition,
say UN agencies, health ministry officials and
healthcare non-governmental organizations in Gaza.’

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10479.shtml

7. Foreign Office accused of hindering human rights lawyers in Gaza

‘British lawyers attempting to build a war crimes case
against Israel have been blocked from entering
the Gaza Strip because the Foreign Office has
refused to support their work, the Guardian has learned.

A number of the lawyers, who have travelled to
the region on fact-finding trips, could not get
into the Palestinian territory because they
cannot cross the border without letters from
the British government authorising their visits.

One lawyer, whose MP, Diane Abbott, wrote to the
Foreign Office on her behalf, was told her effort
would be better spent contributing to humanitarian work.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/
2009/apr/21/gaza-lawyers-foreignoffice

8. Guardian guide claims Jerusalem is
‘de facto capital of Israel’

Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s General Secretary,
Betty Hunter, and PSC executive members Gill Swain
and Hilary Wise wrote the following complaint to the Guardian:

‘The assertion that Jerusalem is the ‘de facto capital of Israel’
contained in your World Factfiles, makes shocking reading
in view of Israel’s brutal campaign to ethnically cleanse and annex
Jerusalem. There are currently 211,000 illegal Israeli settlers
living in and around Jerusalem on land stolen from Palestinians.
Even Hilary Clinton recently referred to Israel’s house demolitions
and expulsions of Palestinians as ‘unhelpful.’
Yet your ‘Factfile’ bolsters Israel’s campaign of colonisation.

‘The Foreign Office website states:

“... in 1980 [..] Israel enacted its 'Jerusalem Law',
formally declaring East and West Jerusalem together,
'whole and united', to be 'the capital of Israel'
.... The UK rejects these Israeli measures
to change the status of Jerusalem.”

The UN General Assembly has passed various
resolutions stating explicitly:

“All legislative and administrative measures
and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power,
which have altered or purported to alter the character
and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, in particular
the so-called "Basic Law" on Jerusalem and the proclamation
of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, were null and void
and must be rescinded forthwith”.

‘We find it distressing that the Guardian
appears to be rendering assistance to the apartheid system
perpetrated by Israel in defiance of international law,
including The International Court of Justice ruling
declaring the apartheid Wall illegal and instructing
the International Community “not to render any aid or assistance
in maintaining the situation created by it.”

‘Swift action to retract and correct this
misinformation would be greatly appreciated
by all concerned with justice in the Middle East.’


Actions

1. LOBBY ON THE UPGRADE OF THE EU-ISRAEL TRADE AGREEMENT

In spite of the Israeli massacres and the continuing
blockade of Gaza, and despite the fact that the last
Council of Foreign Ministers halted the upgrading
of EU-Israel Agreement in December, the European
Commission continues to prepare a new ACTION PLAN
which will bring Israel vital new economic, commercial
and social benefits, bringing it closer than ever
to full entry into the EU Community Programmes.

(http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/
israel/index_en.htm).

The freezing of the work on the Action Plan is
only temporary. We urgently need to press the
new European Parliament.

We need to keep demanding the complete suspension
of the 9 year old Association Agreement on the grounds
that Israel violates Article 2, which states that
the ‘provisions of the Agreement itself shall be based
on respect for human rights and democratic principles’.

Ask your MEPs to require the External Affairs
Commissioner, Benita Ferrero Waldner, to explain
why the EU is continuing to work on the Action Plan
with an Israeli government that opposes the 2 state solution
and the whole Annapolis peace process.
Does the Commission intend to reward the war crimes
that Israel committed during Operation Cast Lead
with even greater financial benefits and closer
relations with the EU? Does one usually reward
states that refuse to accept the elements that
are central to Europe’s declared position? No!

We must press the EU to take this opportunity to
express the outrage that European civil society
feels towards Israel in a suspension of relations
with Israel until it ends its human rights abuses
against the Palestinian people and abides by international law.

WRITE TO MEPs and to the European Parliament.
- Find your MEPs at:

www.writetothem.com

The Foreign Secretary,
The Rt Hon David Miliband MP,
House of Commons,
London
SW1A OAA.

The European Commissioner, Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner

fax number 003222981299,
email: benita.ferrero-waldner@ec.europa.eu

Copy your letter to your MEPs.

Express your strong wish to see the European Commission
acting exclusively within the framework of
human rights standards set by International Law.

PSC has an Action Plan and what you can do
– which is available on the website:

www.palestinecampaign.org


2. Events listings

Other events are on the PSC website:

www.palestinecampaign.org


==================================

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Day Conference in Birmingham

Saturday 11 July 2009

Keep this date free for a wonderful opportunity
to hear speakers on the key issues
for supporters of Palestine including:

• 1948 and after — ethnic cleansing and the refugees

• The Reality of Occupation: Politics, Economy, Health, Education, Land

• Lessons from the Anti Apartheid Movement

Confirmed speakers: Karma Nabulsi, Rita Giacaman,
Samia Botmeh, Daniel Machover, Victoria Brittain.

More details to be announced very soon.

==================================

Other upcoming events:

Please check the PSC website
for more events and actions around the UK.

www.palestinecampaign.org


***********************************************

PSC Weekly update – 17 April 2009

1. Aid to Gaza ‘totally inadequate’
2. Dutch party calls for sanctions against Israel
3. The Hebron-ization of Silwan
4. US sends more arms to Israel
5. Israel worsens Palestinian prisoner’s conditions
6. Provoking non-violence: settlers enter Al Aqsa Mosque
7. Settlement goods – take action!
8. Palestinian art for sale
9. George Galloway writes to the Charity Commission
10. Solidarity with Palestinian railway workers in Israel
11. Canadian filmmaker turns down offer to premiere film in Tel Aviv
12. Interpal refused account by Co-op Bank
13. Support the Gaza 6

========================

1. Aid to Gaza ‘totally inadequate’

John Ging, head of UNRWA in Gaza, has described
the amount of aid being allowed into Gaza by
Israel as ‘wholly and totally inadequate. It's
having a very devastating impact on the physical
circumstances and also the mindset of people on the ground’.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) has reported that on average 127 aid trucks a day
are entering Gaza, compared to 475 that entered
daily prior to June 2007.

Israel's three-week war on the Gaza Strip left
437 children dead and 1872 more wounded, the
Ministry of Social Affairs in Gaza has said.

2. Dutch party calls for sanctions against Israel

Members of Holland’s second largest party, Labor,
have insisted that the government impose economic
sanctions against Israel if the government insists
on thwarting a peace process with the Palestinian Authority.
A leading member of the party, Martijn van Dam,
went on to discuss the need to bring Hamas
into the process of dialogue.

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article905

3. The Hebron-ization of Silwan

An article in last week's Haaretz detailed the
process of creating ‘facts on the ground’ to
remove Silwan off the map – including settlement
and dispossession, re-naming of roads, and
harassment of local residents.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1076058.html

4. US sends more arms to Israel

The new delivery to Israel of arms from the US
has been exposed by Amnesty International.
Reportedly over 300 containers of weapons were
unloaded on 22 March, having left the US on 20
December, one week before Israel started its war on Gaza.

Brian Wood, Amnesty International's arms control
campaign manager, said:

'Legally and morally, this US arms shipment
should have been halted by the Obama administration,
given the extent of the evidence showing how
military equipment and munitions of this kind
were recently used by the Israeli forces for
war crimes.’ He continued: 'We are urging all
governments to impose an immediate and comprehensive
suspension of arms to Israel and to all Palestinian
armed groups, until there is no longer a substantial risk
of serious human rights violations.'

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=18136

5. Israel worsens Palestinian prisoners conditions

17 April is International Day of Solidarity with
Palestinian Prisoners – and the need to focus on
Palestinians held imprisoned, particularly those
with health conditions. One of these is Raja Al-Ghoul.

Raja Al-Ghoul, who used to be in charge of the
file of Palestinian women prisoners for the
centre, was suffering from tight coronary
arteries and needed constant medical follow up.
She was arrested on 31 March by Israeli forces
after encircling her home in Jenin refugee camp.
The conditions she is being kept in, according
to the centre, are endangering her life.

http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en

The latest OCHA report also takes up the issue of
Palestinian prisoners, noting that ‘on 17 March,
following the collapse of the Egyptian-mediated
prisoner exchange negotiations with Hamas, then
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert established a
ministerial committee explicitly charged with
identifying ways of worsening detention conditions
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad prisoners held in
Israeli jails’. It points out that human rights
groups have warned that ‘conditions of detention
for Palestinian prisoners already fall below
accepted international standards’. The committee’s
recommendations, subsequently accepted by the
Israeli government, included reducing the number
of family visits; preventing the pursuit of higher
or secondary education; denial of access to television,
radio and newspapers, and restricting their canteen accounts.
As OCHA points out, the new measures related to
family visits do not affect Gaza prisoners, who
have been denied their right to such visits by
Israel since July 2007.

http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_
humanitarian_monitor_2009_15_03_english.pdf

6. Provoking non-violence: settlers enter Al Aqsa Mosque
‘On April 12th, Israeli police allowed 50 right-
wing, extremist settlers to enter Al-Haram As-Sharif.
They went in without permission during the time
of day tourists are allowed to visit. Palestinians who witnessed the event
called the intrusion “provocative.”

The next day, more than 130 right-wing, extremist
settlers stormed the mosque—during prayer time.
They did this with the support of the Israeli
police. When some of the Palestinians, who were
praying inside, tried to stop the settlers; the
Israeli police arrested one man.’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article906

7. Settlement goods – take action!

Decisions are being taken in April on the
labelling of goods in supermarkets from illegal
Israeli settlements - write to Hilary Benn TODAY

Lawyers from the Department of Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs the Food Standards Agency
(Minister- Hilary Benn) and the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (Minister- David Miliband)
are right now drafting new guidelines on how
goods from illegal Israeli settlements in the
Palestinian Occupied Territories are labelled and
sold in the UK. These guidelines are crucial in
that they determine how supermarkets label
produce form the illegal West Bank settlements.

Feedback from the supermarkets makes it clear
that consumer action is having a significant
effect on their attitude towards settlement
goods. It is therefore urgent that we keep up
the pressure on the government during the next 2
weeks. In particular we must pressure the
Government to obtain, and publish, an expert
legal opinion on whether or not trading with the
settlements is itself legal.

Please write immediately to Hilary Benn
(Hilary.Benn @defra.gsi.gov.uk), copying your
letter to your MP, demanding that the labelling
of settlement produce clearly indicates its
illegal origins. There is a model letter
available which includes the postal address:

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/index7b.asp?
m_id=1&l1_id=2&l2_id=14&Content_ID=575

8. Palestinian art for sale

Occupied Space 2008 – Art for Palestine

We still have some wonderful art for sale, both
donated works and work from Palestinian artists.
This is your chance to put your savings to use –
much better than money in the bank!

Look at the website: www.occupiedspace.org.uk
and click on the artworks to see what is still available.
If you are interested please email the office.

9. George Galloway writes to the Charity Commission

I have become increasingly concerned about the
abuse of your powers displayed in your brazenly
obvious political double standards. About your
attempts, under the guise of regulating British
charities, to police the democratic efforts of
political activists in Britain in a way never
envisaged by parliament. About your preparedness
to waste large sums of public money in political
stunts, either at the behest of others or in the
hope that you are properly anticipating their wishes.
And above all, in the context of this issue,
your almost laughably obvious prejudice against
the Palestinian cause and against Britain 's
two million-strong Muslim community.

http://www.vivapalestina.org/alerts/GGCC_140409.htm

10. Solidarity with Palestinian railway workers in Israel

Israel Railways’ new policy requires army service
as an employment condition! This policy is clearly
discriminatory: it disqualifies Palestinian workers
because Palestinian citizens of Israel are exempt
from service in the Israeli army.

Download and endorse the appeal at:

http://www.laborers-voice.org/article_
details.aspx?TopID=964&catid=46

11. Canadian filmmaker turns down
offer to premiere film in Tel Aviv

In his letter explaining his rejection of the
offer to premiere his film at the Tel Aviv LGBT
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) festival,
John Greyson said: ‘I feel I must join the many
Jews and non-Jews, Israelis and Palestinians,
queers and otherwise, who are part of the
growing global BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions)
movement against Israeli apartheid. I’ve come to
the conclusion that, in this moment, to not take
this stand is unthinkable, impossible.

Why this moment? I could answer: Another
Palestinian home bulldozed in East Jerusalem.
Palestinian children recovering slowly from
phosphorous burns. Civilian killed on Friday in
Gaza by Israeli soldiers. Child born at checkpoint,
because ambulance was held for three hours.
These were some of today's headlines, but they’re
also eerily reminiscent of so many headlines,
over so many decades.’

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/1831-
canadian-filmmaker-john-greyson-turns-down-offer-
to-premiere-film-at-the-tel-aviv-international-
lgbt-film-festival.html


12. Interpal refused account by Co-op Bank

Ibrahim Hewitt, chair of the board of Trustees of
Interpal, has written: ‘As you know, Interpal
has been the subject of sustained efforts to
close down our humanitarian work for Palestinians
in desperate need. A month ago the Charity Commission's
latest Inquiry Report found no evidence to link us
to terrorists or terrorism. That, however, does
not seem to be enough for the Co-op Bank, which,
I have just been told, has this week refused to
open an account for Interpal. The Co-op Bank
prides itself on its ethical policies but... enough said.
Ethics appear to be fine for some people but not others.’

Please write to the Co-op Bank, particularly if
you have an account there or are a member of the
Co-op, to urge them to change their decision.
Please also encourage any trade unions with links
to the Co-op, or Co-op sponsored MPs, to write.

13. Support the Gaza 6

On Jan 17th, while Israeli bombs were still
raining down on the people of Gaza, six people
gained entry to EDO MBM/ITT, a factory in Brighton
manufacturing military equipment being used by
the Israeli air force, and smashed machinery and
computers causing at least 300 000 pounds worth
of damage and closing the factory for nearly a week.

The 6 people surrendered to the police when they
arrived and have been charged with conspiracy to
cause criminal damage along with three others
arrested nearby. 2 people, Elijah Smith and Robert Alford,
have been remanded in custody since January.

The trial of the Gaza 6 may last several months
and hinge on whether the jury accepts that crimes
were committed by Israel. The next hearing will
be on May 8th. Details: smashedo@riseup.net
or http://www.decommisioners.wordpress.com

Two people remain on remand, please write to them:

Elijah Smith VP7551,
HMP Horfield,
19 Cambridge Road,
Horfield,
BS7 8PS

Robert Alford VP7552,
HMP Lewes,
1 Brighton Rd,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 1E

=====================================

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) aims to
raise public awareness about the occupation of
Palestine and the struggle of the Palestinian
people. PSC seek to bring pressure on both the
British and Israeli governments to bring their
policies in line with international law.
PSC is an independent, non-governmental and non-
party political organisation with members from
communities across the UK. Join PSC today!

Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Box BM PSA
London
WC1N 3XX

Tel: 020 7700 6192
Fax: 020 7609 7779

Email: info@palestinecampaign.org

Web: www.palestinecampaign.org

************************************************

PSC Weekly Update – Friday 27 March

1. Focus on Israeli war crimes in Gaza

2. PSC letter in the Guardian

3. Veolia binned in Sandwell

4. Palestinian workers tour Britain

5. Israel arrests five more MPs

6. Israeli settler and state violence increases
as Israeli Labor Party votes to join Likud and Yisrael Beitenu

7. Israel prevents Jerusalem capital of culture celebration

8. Dr Daud Abdullah and the Muslim Council of Britain under attack

9. Video of launch of Russell Tribunal on Palestine now online

10. Waitrose Complaint Procedure


=====================================


1. Focus on Israeli war crimes in Gaza

This week, the Guardian ran a series of articles
and video clips on Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
As Seamus Milne described, ‘The films provide
compelling testimony of Israel's use of
Palestinian teenagers as human shields; the
targeting of hospitals, clinics and medical
workers, including with phosphorus bombs; and
attacks on civilians, including women and
children – sometimes waving white flags – from
hunter-killer drones whose targeting systems are so powerful
they can identify the colour of a person's clothes.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/gaza-war-crimes-investigation

A UN report issued on 23 March detailed how Israel
targeted civilians, with a long list of incidents.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Secretary-General’s
Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict,
said that “Civilian targets, particularly homes
and their occupants, appear to have taken the
brunt of the attacks, but schools and medical
facilities have also been hit”.

She cited cases including one where ‘Israeli
soldiers shot a father after ordering him out of
his house and then opened fire into the room
where the rest of the family was sheltering,
wounding the mother and three brothers and
killing a fourth’, and in ‘Tal al Hawa south-west
of Gaza City, Israeli soldiers forced an 11-year-
old boy to walk in front of them for several hours
as they moved through the town, even after they
had been shot at.’

Following the claims on Monday by Gabi Ashkenazi,
the chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces,
that the Israeli army was “the most humane army
in the world”, the Financial Times ran an article
on 24 March titled ‘Israel dismissive as fury mounts’.
It followed a report by a UN human rights panel
on Israeli war crimes, with one of the report’s
authors saying “Violations were committed on a
daily basis, too numerous to list”.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da3ae842-189a-11de-
bec8-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1


2. PSC letter in the Guardian

A letter from Betty Hunter, General Secretary,
was published in the Guardian on 26 January
welcoming the Guardian’s investigation on
Israeli war crimes. Betty pointed out that
‘the most chilling aspect of the onslaught is
the confirmation by Colonel Daniel Riesner that,
"If you do something long enough the world will accept it".
This is what successive Israeli governments
count on, and so far their impunity has been
confirmed by the international community's inaction’,
and concluded that ‘It will be criminal for the
world to ignore these war crimes at a time when
Binyamin Netanyahu, who denies the Palestinian
right to a state, is about to construct a
coalition government making Avigdor Lieberman, an
illegal settler living on stolen Palestinian land
in the West Bank, his foreign minister, and
including Ehud Barak, the architect of the attack on Gaza.’

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/26/letters-gaza


3. Veolia binned in Sandwell

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council has decided
not to consider further Veolia’s bid for the
‘Waste Improvement Plan’ contract, a contract
worth £1 billion over 20 years.

Veolia is complicit in the continued Israeli
occupation of Palestinian territory, as a
leading partner in the CityPass consortium,
contracted to build a light rail tramway system
linking west Jerusalem to illegal Jewish settlements
in occupied east Jerusalem. This is a great
victory to those who have campaigned against
Veolia, and PSC nationally and locally will
continue to work to ensure that councils do not
issue contracts to firms such as Veolia that are
aiding Israeli crimes.

4. Palestinian workers tour Britain

Two representatives from Sawt el-Amel have been
travelling around Britain this week as guests of
the PCS union. Sawt el-Amel is an NGO based in
Nazareth working principally with Palestinian
and migrant workers – they will be discussing a
legal issue of gaining return of money for
workers from Gaza from Israeli based employers.

For further information on Sawt el-Amel:

http://www.laborers-voice.org/home-e.aspx

5. Israel arrests five more Palestinian MPs

Dr Mustafa Barghouthi writes of the arrests:
‘Yesterday [18 March], the Israeli army raided
the West Bank and arrested 5 members of the
Palestinian Parliament. With a third of the
plenary assembly now in prison, Palestinian
democracy is on hold, under Israeli bars.
For over two years, no plenary sessions have
taken place, no laws have been voted on or
debated. The core of democracy is in jail.’

http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article878

6. Israeli settler and state violence increases
as Israeli Labor Party votes to join Likud and Yisrael Beitenu

The Israeli Labour Party voted to join a coalition
with Likud and Yisrael Beitenu on 25 March.
Their vote followed the arrest of 13 Palestinian
protesters against an Israeli extreme right march
including settlers through Umm al-Fahm, a
Palestinian village in northern Israel, led by
Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, both formerly
of the outlawed Kach movement. The Umm al-Fahm
municipality released a unanimous statement that
the city's inhabitants and the entire Arab public
had "with the support of the Jewish forces of
peace and democracy, stood together to stop this
provocation and managed to curb racism and fascism".
Israeli troops also attacked a press conference
held by the parents of Tristan Anderson, the
American peace activist who was shot in Ni’lin
last week, beating Palestinian activists and
journalists. The press conference was held in
the ‘protest tent’, in Sheikh Jarrah, where the
Al Kurd family has taken up residence for months
after being evicted from their home. The Israeli
army had demanded that the event be shut down,
but when people refused, they assaulted the audience,
beating and detaining activists, media crews and officials.

7. Israeli forces prevent East Jerusalem
Capital of Culture celebrations

From the latest UN OCHA report:

‘On 20 March, Israeli police prevented celebrations
marking the declaration by the Arab League of
East Jerusalem as the ‘Capital of Arab Culture
for 2009’, on the grounds that they were being
held under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority.
Large numbers of Israeli police dispersed crowds,
confiscated flags and arrested at least ten Palestinians
. They also entered a school and stopped the students
from flying balloons.’

8. Dr Daud Abdullah and MCB under attack

The statement below in support of Dr Daud Abdullah,
freedom of speech and independence from government interference,
has been signed by a number of individuals and organisations:

We the undersigned consider the decision of the
government to demand the removal of Dr Daud Abdullah
from his elected post of Deputy General Secretary
of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) an attack on
the democratic right of freedom of speech of every British citizen.

It is our right to express whatever lawful views
we wish in relation to the government's foreign
policy and the criminal actions of Israel in
relation to the Palestinian people. We note that
the government proposes no sanctions against
those who supported the military attack of Israel
on Gaza and its ongoing siege despite Israel's
routine flouting of international humanitarian
law. It is clear that double standards are being
applied which discriminate against Muslim
supporters of justice for the Palestinians.

We note that there is no suggestion by the government
that Dr Abdullah has broken any British law.
It is falsely claimed that he has advocated
attacking British forces. In fact, both the MCB
and Dr Abdullah have stated publicly their opposition
to any attacks on British forces and there are no proposals
to deploy any British forces in any part of Palestine.

We further consider the decision by the government
to suspend relations with the Muslim Council of Britain,
which is the main umbrella group representing Muslims
in Britain, to be an act of crude bullying
which no independent organisation should tolerate.
This is all the more perverse as the MCB has
consistently urged British Muslims to work with
the police to help prevent any terrorist attacks in Britain.

We believe that the government's actions in this
matter only serve to assist those who will claim
it is impossible for Muslims in Britain to support
justice in the Middle East by democratic means.

We urge the government to respect the right of
all British citizens, irrespective of their race
or religion, to exercise their democratic right
within the law to express their own opinion on
domestic or foreign policies. To this end we urge
the government to end its attack on Dr. Abdullah
and re-instate its relations with the MCB.

Ken Livingstone; Tony Benn; Lauren Booth; Bruce Kent;
Jeremy Corbyn MP; Baroness Jenny Tonge; Anas Altikriti;
British Muslim Initiative; Kate Hudson Chair, CND;
Andrew Murray, Chair, Stop the War Coalition;
Lindsey German, Convenor, Stop the War Coalition;
Betty Hunter, General Secretary, Palestine
Solidarity Campaign; Sarah Colborne, Campaigns
Officer, Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Canon
Garth Hewitt; Muhammad Habib-Rahman, Islamic
Forum of Europe; Faisal Hanjara, Federation of
Students Islamic Societies; Zaher Birawi,
Palestinian Forum of Britain; Pat Stuart,
Executive Council Member of Unite the Union
(personal capacity); Bellavia Ribeiro-Addy, NUS
Black Students Officer; Bill Speirs; Naeem Darr,
Muslim Directory; Maulana Maudud Hassan, Da’watul
Islam UK; Muhammad Akram, UK Islamic Mission;
Majid AlZeer, Palestinian Return Centre; Ismail
Patel, Friends of Al-Aqsa; Sajid Miah, Young
Muslim Organisation UK; Mahera Ruby, Muslimaat
UK; Najah Muhammad, Sri Lanka Islamic Forum UK;
Mohammed Kuxbar, Lebanese Muslim League;
Musaddiq, Council of Mosques – Tower Hamlets;
Yvonne Ridley; Friends of Lebanon


9. Video of launch of Russell Tribunal
on Palestine now online

Videos of the speeches from speakers launching
the Russell Tribunal on Palestine are now online:

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.net/
pages/Press_Conference_Brussels-1153430.html

10. focus on Waitrose and Tesco

Call Waitrose Customer Services on 0800 188 881
and Tesco Customer Services on 0800 505555
to complain about their sale of Israeli products
and illegal Israeli settlement products.

Waitrose Complaint Procedure

Waitrose appear to have an internal store procedure
of bagging up and sending produce to head office
for which a product complaint form has been completed.
This does not require purchase of the product
but may require you to push for a product complaint form
to be filled in and the product to be sent off
as the store personnel may not be aware of procedure.

You can use the form to object to the labelling, and spell out why.

We recommend that someone selects 2 to 3
different "West Bank" products
and asks at customer services for a product complaint form
to be completed and for the products to be sent to head office.
If you have success, then send someone else in to do the same.

Further details:
http://www.bigcampaign.org/index.php?mact=Calendar,
cntnt01,default,0&cntnt01event_id=15&cntnt01display=event&cntnt
01detailpage=73&cntnt01return_id=103&cntnt01returnid=73


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