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Samidoun España speaks out for Palestine in multiple cities

Samidoun España joined a number of organizations in the Spanish capital Madrid to mark 73 years of ongoing Nakba and 73 years of ongoing Palestinian resistance with 73 hours of actions, demonstrations, presentations and artistic interventions.

On Friday, 28 May, Hadeel Shatara, the coordinator of Samidoun Network in occupied Palestine, addressed a gathering in Rivas-Vaciamadrid over a video link. Her presentation on the current situation in Palestine on the ground came alongside films, performances and presentations by activists based in Madrid, including Jaldía Abubakra, founder of Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization and member of Samidoun España.

On Saturday, 29 May, Jaldía Abubakra, Daniel Lobato (of Samidoun and Unadikum) and Khaled Mursi (of Samidoun and Al Yudur Palestinian Youth) spoke about the Palestinian people’s struggle at an event in Hortaleza, Madrid. They discussed the prisoners’ movement, the siege on Gaza, the fight to defend homes in Jerusalem and the movement for return and liberation for Palestine, including the upcoming Alternative Palestinian Path (Masar Badil) conference in Madrid.

On Tuesday, 1 June, many Palestine solidarity groups in Madrid will gather for a demonstration at 7 pm at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, calling for the Spanish government to take action to free Juani Ruiz Rishmawi, the Spanish aid worker with the Health Work Committees unjustly imprisoned by Israel as a political detainee since April.

Block the Boat! International Week of Action, 2-9 June 2021

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is republishing the following call from AROC (Arab Resource and Organizing Center.) Samidoun members and chapters will be participating in Block the Boat activities in their locations and urge all supporters of Palestine to join in the call! To get all of the latest information, sign up to organize an activity or receive updates, please reach out to AROC and visit the official Block the Boat website! 

Block ZIM Everywhere! Profiteering from Israeli Apartheid is not Welcome Anywhere!

For the past 10 days, the threat of our #BlockTheBoat protest has kept a cargo ship operated by ZIM – apartheid Israel’s largest and oldest shipping company – from docking at the Port of Oakland. We are winning! Our people power is working, and sending a clear message that Israel’s ongoing settler-colonialism, occupation, and violence against the Palestinian people will come with a heavy price. Every hour that ZIM cargo ships remain undocked and unloaded is a huge victory, as it means that the apartheid state of Israel is losing enormous amounts of money.

We are now calling on communities everywhere to organize solidarity actions with Oakland, and hold a community picket to block a ZIM-operated ship at your port during this week of action against the apartheid-profiteering ZIM shipping line! Take action to stand in solidarity with our victorious #BlockTheBoat effort in Oakland, and amplify the impacts against the Israeli ZIM company everywhere. Build with port workers in solidarity, and encourage them to heed the call from labor unions in Gaza asking workers everywhere not to handle Israeli cargo or engage with Israeli businesses. Together, let’s demonstrate that we will no longer watch as the U.S. and countries all over the world continue their business as usual to enable Israeli apartheid. Let’s make clear that ZIM’s apartheid-profiteering will not be welcome at ports anywhere!

Just as the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement helped turn the tide and bring down apartheid in South Africa, so too will our international solidarity and actions today help Palestinians bring about a free Palestine, from the river to the sea.

To let AROC know about your event and action, fill out the form and sign up at: https://bit.ly/btbsolidarity

Statement of Palestinian Student Organizations in Support of CUNY Boycott Campaign

Photo: Joe Catron

CUNY4Palestine launched its campaign to demand the City University of New York system divest from corporations complicit in Israeli occupation, apartheid, settler colonialism and war crimes at a press conference and rally on Friday, 28 May in New York City, The CUNY Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, signed by hundreds of faculty, students and organizations in the CUNY community, also demands that the university system implement the Palestinian call for academic and cultural boycott of Israel and support the rights of students to organize for Palestine.

Palestinian student and youth organizations inside occupied Palestine issued a letter of support to the CUNY campaign, which was read out at the press conference by Reihan Ahmed of John Jay College. At the press conference, hundreds of CUNY students, faculty and supportive New Yorkers rallied in support of the demands to university administration.

The letter text and signatories follow:

Statement of Palestinian Student and Youth Organizations in Support of CUNY Boycott Campaign

We, Palestinian students living under occupation, apartheid and settler colonialism, wholeheartedly endorse the City University of New York Community Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. For over 73 years, our people have been confronting all forms of oppression, and our students and universities have come under repeated assault.

Palestinian universities and students, throughout occupied Palestine from the river to the sea, face mass incarceration and repression, armed raids, bans on activities, racist regulations and fundamental violations of our right to education. Hundreds of Palestinian students are jailed by the occupation, subjected to detention without charge or trial and tortured under interrogation, while Palestinian students in Gaza are living under siege for over 14 years.

We know that Palestinian students and students supporting Palestine around the world, including in New York City, are also fighting against repression, injustice and attacks of all forms for standing up for Palestinian liberation.

We join you in demanding that CUNY immediately divest from corporations that aid the colonization, war crimes and occupation directed against the Palestinian people. We further demand the full implementation of the academic and cultural boycott of Israel; Israeli universities are built on our stolen land and are deeply involved in the research and development processes that build the bombs, tanks and bulldozers that destroy our villages and target our homes. We salute your organizing in the United States, where you confront a government that provides over $3.8 billion in support to the occupier every year.

We demand accountability and justice, on the road to liberation. We stand with you today in your campaign as you stand with us, the Palestinian people and our resistance, on the road to victory, liberation and return for Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Student Council – An-Najah National University

Student Council – Bir Zeit University

Student Council – Al Quds Open University

Student Council – Arab American Universtity/Jenin

Progressive Student Action Front — Gaza, Palestine

Fateh Youth Movement – Palestine

Islamic Bloc – Gaza

Student Organization for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Almubadara Student Association

Union of Palestinian Student Struggle Committees

Palestinian Liberation Youth

Union of High School Students — Gaza, Palestine

Almuntada – Arab Law Students Forum — occupied Palestine ’48

National Democratic Alliance Students – Haifa University

National Democratic Alliance Students – Technion

Taliba Student Movement — Jerusalem

Edward Said Forum

Samidoun Network in Occupied Palestine

Palestine solidarity groups condemn anti-Palestinian hate and reject conflation of Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism

Photo credit: Andy Ratto

To sign on to this Statement, please use the form at this link. The Google Document of this statement will be updated with signatories.

Human rights groups condemn the surge of racism against Palestinians and denounce the violence that has been waged and initiated by pro-Israeli groups.  As officials ignore these crimes, NY4Palestine has launched a taskforce to receive complaints at LegalNY4Palestine@gmail.com.

Palestine solidarity groups reject, as racist and defamatory, claims that the Palestinian liberation and solidarity movement is anti-Semitic. “We reject any equivalence between Jewish people and Israel or Zionism, and so we reject the racist contention that Palestinian identity and the Palestinian struggle for liberation and defense against Israeli violence is anti-Semitic,” said Fatin Jarara, member of Al-Awda and PYM, which are part of the NY4Palestine Coalition.

“Racism drives Israeli regime practices in Palestine so our movement is grounded in anti-racist work, –  but we are not equally protected from racist hate in NY,” added Gigi Mohammed, of Al-Awda.

“Pro-Israelis have been hurling racial slurs and violence at Palestinians in NYC to provoke a response which they manipulate to further demonize their victims. This is part of Israeli campaigns [i] to undermine the mushrooming global movement against Israeli violence, colonization, and Apartheid. It is intended to and is daily hurting Palestinians, it’s also endangering Jews facing real anti-Semitism and has to stop,” said attorney Michael Letwin.

“Anti-Palestinian hatred and racism by (pro-) Israelis is so deeply normalized here even government officials engage in it regularly- from Schumer to Yang and Yeger. This city has an anti-Palestinian racism problem which is endemic to all sectors of society from courts to campuses to media. It is grossly unequal protection when a system is itself dedicated to mobilizing anti-Palestinian racism,” said human rights attorney Lamis Deek.

“We also demand NY and US government officials preempt and prosecute pro-Israeli and Zionist New Yorkers who were filmed invading and stealing Palestinian homes, and openly calling for pogroms in Palestine. These are crimes under US and NY law, and they are war crimes under international law. This silence is empowering racism and violence against Palestinians,” Deek added.

Over the past two weeks, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim hate crimes by pro-Israeli groups in NY surged launching the hashtag #everdayIslamophobia. In the presence of NYPD and press, pro-Israelis threatened to kill and rape Palestinians, snuck into Palestinian rallies to physically assault youth, stalked youth on the streets and beat them, entire blocks of residents threw trash and full bottles from windows at them. In one incident, a middle aged pro-Israeli woman accosted a Palestinian teenager, maced him for several seconds and returned to chanting racist slurs with other Israeli and Zionist agitators – echoing Israeli pogrom chants of “death to Arabs” in Palestine. 

Ex-Israeli occupation soldiers were caught on camera initiating assaults on Palestinian youth on several occasions [ii] another pro-Israeli yelled racist slurs against Palestinian youth inciting an inappropriate violent response from his targets.[iii ] Both incidents were racistly portrayed as anti-Semitism although nothing identified the provocateurs as Jewish before or after the altercation. “The erasure of pro-Israeli, white, racist provocations and the manipulation of anti-Semitism have life devastating impact on its victims.  It also privileges and protects white violence by way of the NYPD which itself has a long track record of abusing Arab and Muslim youth,” said Suzanne Adely, president-elect of the National Lawyers Guild.

   **  More detailed report with context and footage of similar incidents is forthcoming in addendum to be released in the coming weeks

To sign on to this Statement, please use the form at this link. The Google Document of this statement will be updated with signatories.

[i] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jdl-toronto-assault-palestinian-anti-semitic-1.6029953

[ii] https://twitter.com/protest_nyc/status/1395517369414524928?s=19 

[iii] https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1396204203211636740?s=19

NY4Palestine is receiving complaints at LegalNY4Palestine@gmail.com  

Donations for jail/legal support can be made to https://palestinefreedomfund.org/ 

ISSUED BY:      

NY4PALESTINE, a coalition of organizations working for Palestinian rights and liberation, and includes:

  • Al-Awda: The Palestine Right To Return Coalition-NY;
  • American Muslims for Palestine-NJ;
  • Existence Is Resistance
  • Jews for Palestinian Right to Return;
  • La Lucha;
  • Labor For Palestine;
  • Palestinian Youth Movement-NY;
  • Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network;
  • Within Our Lifetime: United for Palestine. 

SPONSORED & ENDORSED BY:

Organizations:

  • Majlis Ash-Shura: ILCNY
  • National Lawyers Guild
  • Jewish Law Students Association- CUNY Law
  • US Palestinian Community Network

Individuals:

  • Suzanne Adely, Attorney
  • Moira Meltzer-Cohen, Attorney
  • Lamis J. Deek, Attorney
  • Sheikh Ibad Wali
  • Michelle Munjanattu
  • May Arjomand
  • Shalu Arjomand
  • Bibi Areej
  • Yaser Jawaid
  • Tahsina Islam
  • Rowan Rabah
  • Monadel Herzallah
  • Hadil El Wahidy
  • Burhan Ghanayem
  • Shireen Quaizar
  • Maysoun Ahmad
  • Manal Fakhoury
  • Syed W Quadri
  • Zahi Abdein
  • Nazim Uddin

Support the Palestine Freedom Fund: Defending NY Palestine activists facing repression

In a number of cities around the world, the massive demonstrations taking to the streets for Palestine have faced police repression, brutality, criminalization and attempts to suppress the growing movement for Palestinian liberation. In particular, Palestinian and Arab youth have been targeted in many of these incidents, from New York to Berlin to Copenhagen.

In response to the attacks on Palestine demonstrations, the NY4Palestine coalition – of which Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is a member – launched the Palestine Freedom Fund, with the call:

“Our Palestinian communities are under attack. Help us stand together to fight criminalization and support targeted youth!

Every day, Palestinian youth and activists for Palestine are targeted for criminalization, surveillance, protest arrests and police brutality.

The Palestine Freedom Fund works to support bail and legal expenses for Palestinian organizers, activists for Palestine and community members targeted for persecution. Your donation will help to protect our communities and support the movement for Palestinian liberation. Let’s get our detained and arrested activists FREE!

As a first initiative, we are fundraising for bail/legal support funds for Palestinian youth arrested at New York City demonstrations for Palestine.”

The Palestine Freedom Fund has already received significant support from the community and is accepting donations now at: https://palestinefreedomfund.org

Support the Palestine Freedom Fund

 

Your donation will be processed by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network through our fiscal sponsor, the Alliance for Global Justice, a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The Palestine Freedom Fund is managed by the NY4Palestine Coalition, an alliance including Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition – NYSamidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network; and Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine.

 

29 May, Berlin: Internationalist left demonstration for Palestine

Saturday, 29 May
3:00 pm
Hermannplatz
Berlin, Germany
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/184707570222112

Join the internationalist march for the liberation of Palestine!

The Palestinian cause is an internationalist, anti-colonial, anti-Zionist, anti-fascist, anti-racist and anti-imperialist cause, and struggling peoples everywhere confronting oppression, exploitation, imperialism and capitalism stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle for a liberated Palestine from the river to the sea. We call upon all of our communities to take to the streets to stand together to confront repression and criminalization and demand justice and liberation!

From Turkey to the Philippines to Colombia to occupied Palestine, people’s movements rising up for justice face severe repression, criminalization and imprisonment. The political prisoners behind bars are true internationalist militant and vanguard of our struggles for justice. We will march together in Berlin on Saturday, May 29 to tear down the prison bars and join hands of solidarity and struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

We know that the Palestinian liberation struggle does not only confront the Zionist project in occupied Palestine, the Israeli regime. The Palestinian movement is confronting imperialism and the reactionary regimes that carry out its agenda, an internationalist alliance of fascist, racist, colonialist forces.
Here in Europe, the imperialist powers of the European Union — including Germany — further mete out repression against internationalist people’s movements. Palestinian communities are targeted for repression, demonstrations banned, and police attacks unleashed against Palestinian and Arab youth. Meanwhile, Turkish and Kurdish comrades are jailed as political prisoners from Turkey to Greece to Germany for struggling for liberation.

Today, we join together in a united mobilization for justice and liberation from Palestine to the Philippines, from Turkey to Colombia, to the streets of Europe. Join us to march for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, for equality and justice in free and democratic Palestine. We will be together to confront Zionism, racism, fascism and imperialism, and to express our principled internationalist vision of revolutionary solidarity.

Samidoun Deutschland | Netzwerk Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen | Freiheitskomitee

Berlin: Internationalistische Linke Solidaritätsdemo für Palästina

Samstag 29. Mai 2021
15 Uhr
Hermannplatz
Berlin, Deutschland

Beteiligt euch an an der internationalistischen Demonstration für die Befreiung Palästinas!

Die Palästinensische Sache ist eine internationalistische, anti-koloniale, anti-zionistische, antifaschistische, antirassistische und antiimperialistische Sache, und die kämpfenden Völker die überall in der Konfrontation mit Unterdrückung, Ausbeutung, Imperialismus und Kapitalismus sind, stehen an der Seite der Palästinensischen Menschen in ihrem Kampf für ein befreites Palästina, vom Fluss bis zum Meer. Wir rufen in all unseren Communities auf, sich die Straßen zu nehmen und gemeinsam gegen Repression und Kriminalisierung zu stehen um Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit zu fordern!

Von der Türkei zu den Philippinen, zu Kolumbien, zum besetzten Palästina, die Bewegung der Menschen die sich für weltweit Gerechtigkeit erheben erwarten schwere Repression, Kriminalisierung und Inhaftierung. Die politischen Gefangenen hinter Gittern sind die wahren internationalistischen Militanten und Vorreiter:innen unseres Kampfes für Gerechtigkeit. Wir werden am 29. Mai gemeinsam in Berlin laufen, um die Gefängnisgitter nieder zu reißen und uns die Hände zu reichen in Solidarität und im Kampf für die Befreiung Palästinas.

Wir wissen, dass der Palästinensische Befreiungskampf nicht nur das zionistische Projekt im besetzten Palästina konfrontiert, die israelische Regierung. Die Palästinensische Bewegung konfrontiert den Imperialismus und die reaktionären Regime, welche ihre Tagesordnung austragen, die einer internationalen Allianz aus Faschisten, Rassisten und Kolonialen Kräften.

Hier in Europa, führt die imperialistische Macht der Europäischen Union – Deutschland eingeschlossen – die Repression gegen die internationalistische Bewegung der Menschen weiter. Die Repression zielt auf Palästinensische Gemeinden, Demonstrationsverbote und entfesselte Polizeiangriffe auf die palästinensische und arabische Jugend. Während Genossinnen und Genossen aus der Türkei und Kurdistan als politische Gefangene für die Organisierung des Befreiungskampfes in der Türkei, Griechenland und Deutschland eingesperrt werden.

Heute schließen wir uns zusammen, in einer gemeinsamen Mobilisierung für Gerechtigkeit und Freiheit, von Palästina zu den Philippinen, von der Türkei nach Kolumbien bis zu den Straßen in Europa. Nehmt an der Demo teil, für die Befreiung Palästinas von Fluss bis zum Meer, für Gleichberechtigung und Gerechtigkeit in einem freien und demokratischen Palästina. Wir werden gemeinsam den Zionismus, Rassismus, Faschismus und Imperialismus konfrontieren um unsere Prinzipien einer internationalistischen Vorstellung von revolutionärer Solidarität auszudrücken.

Samidoun Deutschland | Netzwerk Freiheit für alle politischen Gefangenen | Freiheitskomitee

 

Berlin: Filistin için Enternasyonalist Sol Dayanışma

Gösterisi 29 Mayıs 2021 Cumartesi
Saat 15 Hermannplatz
Berlin, Almanya

Filistin’in kurtuluşu için enternasyonalist gösteriye katılın!

Filistin davası enternasyonalist, anti-sömürge , anti-Siyonist, anti-faşist, anti-Irkçi ve anti-emperyalist bir davadır ve her yerde baskı, sömürü, emperyalizm ve kapitalizmle karşı karşıya olan mücadele eden halklar, Filistin halkının yanında yer almaktadır. Nehirden denize özgürleştirilmiş bir Filistin için savaşıyorlar. Adalet ve özgürlük talep etmek için tüm toplumlarımızı sokaklara çıkmaya, baskı ve suç sayılmaya karşı birlikte durmaya çağırıyoruz!

Türkiye’den Filipinler’e, Kolombiya’dan işgal altındaki Filistin’e kadar, adalet için ayaklanan halk hareketleri, şiddetli baskı, suç sayma ve hapis cezasıyla karşı karşıya. Parmaklıklar ardındaki siyasi tutsaklar, gerçek bir enternasyonalist militan ve adalet mücadelemizin öncüsüdür. 29 Mayıs Cumartesi günü Berlin’de hapishane parmaklıklarını yıkmak ve Filistin’in kurtuluşu için dayanışma ve mücadelede el ele vermek için birlikte yürüyeceğiz.

Filistin kurtuluş mücadelesinin sadece işgal altındaki Filistin’deki Siyonist projeyle, İsrail hükümetiyle karşı karşıya olmadığını biliyoruz. Filistin Hareketi, emperyalizm ve gündemlerini, faşistlerin, ırkçıların ve sömürgeci güçlerin uluslararası ittifakının gündemini yürüten gerici rejimlerle karşı karşıyadır.

Burada Avrupa’da, Avrupa Birliği’nin emperyalist gücü – Almanya dahil – halkın enternasyonalist halk hareketine karşı baskıyı sürdürüyor. Filistin topluluklarını hedef alıyor, gösteri yasakları ve Filistinli ve Arap gençliğe yönelik polis saldırıları başlatıldı. Türkiye ve Kürdistan’dan yoldaşlar ise Türkiye, Yunanistan ve Almanya’da kurtuluş mücadelesini organize ettikleri için siyasi tutuklular olarak hapsediliyor.

Bugün Filistin’den Filipinler’e, Türkiye’den Kolombiya’ya, Avrupa sokaklarına kadar ortak bir adalet ve özgürlük seferberliğinde bir araya geliyoruz. Özgür ve demokratik bir Filistin’de eşitlik ve adalet için Filistin’in nehirden denize kurtuluşu için gösteriye katılın. Enternasyonalist devrimci dayanışma fikri ilkelerimizi ifade etmek için Siyonizm, ırkçılık, faşizm ve emperyalizmle birlikte karşı karşıya geleceğiz.

Samidoun Almanya | Tüm Siyasi Mahkumlar için Özgürlüğü | Özgürlük komitesi

 

المسيرة الأممية الثورية من أجل تحرير فلسطين

 

السبت 29 أيار 2021

ساحة الهيرمان، برلين

الساعة الثالثة بعد الزوال

 

انضموا للمظاهرة الأممية من أجل تحرير فلسطين!

 

إن القضية الفلسطينية هي قضية أممية مناهضة للاستعمار والصهيونية والفاشية ومعادية للعنصرية والإمبريالية وإن كل الشعوب المناضلة في أنحاء العالم التي تقاوم الظلم والاستغلال والرأسمالية تقف مع كفاح الشعب الفلسطيني من أجل تحرير فلسطين من النهر إلى البحر. نحن ندعو كل أنصار الحق الفلسطيني للنزول إلى الشوارع والوقوف صفا واحدا ضد القمع وكل محاولات تجريم النضال الوطني، حتى نرفع الصوت عاليا تأكيدا على إصرارنا على تحقيق العدالة والتحرير والعودة!

من تركيا إلى الفليبين مرورا بكولومبيا وفلسطين المحتلة، تواجه الشعوب الثائرة القمع والاعتقال ومحاولات تجريم نضالاتها. إن المعتقلين السياسيين خلف القضبان هم مناضلون أمميون يقفون في طليعة الحركة العالمية المناضلة من أجل العدالة. سنمضي سويا يوم السبت، التاسع والعشرون من أيار، في المسيرة الأممية الثورية حتى نتغلب على قضبان السجون وتتشابك أيدينا مع الحركة الأسيرة في نضال واحد من أجل تحرير فلسطين.

نحن نعلم أن حركة التحرر الوطني الفلسطيني لا تواجه فقط المشروع الصهيوني على أرض فلسطين ولكنها أيضا تواجه الإمبريالية العالمية والأنظمة الرجعية التي تخدم مصالحها وأن الصهيونية والامبريالية والرجعية تشكل معا مكونات معسكر العدو العنصري والفاشي والاستعماري.

هنا في أوروبا وألمانيا تتعرض القوى الأممية الثورية إلى القمع والملاحقة تماما كما يتم قمع جماهير شعبنا الفلسطيني والعربي وملاحقته، من قبل البوليس الذي يعتدي على المتظاهرين والسلطات التي تحاول منع المظاهرات. بالتوازي يتم سجن المناضلين الأتراك والأكراد في سجون ألمانيا واليونان وتركيا ويتواصل احتجازهم كمعتقلين سياسيين لأنهم يناضلون من أجل الحرية.

اليوم ننزل معا إلى الشوارع في نضال واحد ومشترك، من فلسطين إلى الفليبين، من تركيا إلى كولومبيا، من أجل العدالة والحرية. انضموا لنا من أجل تحرير فلسطين من النهر إلى البحر، من أجل العدالة والمساواة في فلسطين الحرة الديمقراطية. سنكون معا لمجابهة الصهيونية والامبريالية والفاشية والعنصرية وحتى نعبر بوضوح عن رؤيتنا الأممية وتمسكنا بمبادئ التضامن الثوري.

 

صامدون ألمانيا

29 May, Paris: Advance premier of “Fedayin: The Struggle of Georges Abdallah”

The documentary film  Fedayin, the Struggle of Georges Abdallah  will be screened in preview on Saturday, May 29 at 6 p.m. at the Luminor cinema in Paris as part of the Festival Ciné-Palestine and with the participation of the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah .

Tickets for the screening are already sold out! However, you can catch other events of the Festival – see the schedule and more info on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FestivalCinePalestine/

Fedayin, the Struggle of Georges Abdallah  retraces the course of an indefatigable Arab communist and fighter for Palestine. From the Palestinian refugee camps who forged his conscience, to the international mobilization for his release, we are going to discover the man who became one of the longest-held political prisoners in Europe.

Do not hesitate to contact Vacarme (s) Films if you wish to organize a screening or for more information by email to vacarmesfilms@gmail.com. The film is available in English, French, German, Arabic, Italian and Spanish (with subtitles).

The list of the first organized screenings:  https://fedayin-lefilm.com/projections/

 

May 28, NYC: CUNY Must Divest! Rally and Press Conference for Palestine

Friday, 28 May
3:00 pm
John Jay College
524 W 59th St
New York City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2951785921811362/

This event will publicize the CUNY Statement for Palestine and then march to CUNY offices. See latest statement updates at the link.

CUNY Community Statement of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

[To add your name, please click here or email cuny.solidarity.letter@gmail.com]

We, members of the City University of New York community, stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine resisting the violence and oppression of Israeli settler colonial and apartheid rule.

We condemn the brutal bombing of Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated areas, by Israeli forces. This represents the latest chapter of a nearly-fifteen-year illegal blockade that has transformed the territory into a prison for its two million inhabitants, most of whom descend from refugees expelled and driven from their homes during the Nakba that resulted from the establishment of the settler colonial state of Israel.

We condemn the forced removal of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah—part of the broader colonial project of dispossession and expulsion, including unequal residency rights and discriminatory planning policies designed to advance the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem. We oppose the raiding of the al-Aqsa mosque, and the de facto annexation of East Jerusalem, which is illegally occupied territory. 

We mourn all loss of life. But we do not subscribe to a “both sides” rhetoric that erases the military, economic, media, and global power that Israel has over Palestine. This narrative  ignores and conceals the meaningful differences between Israel—one of the most heavily militarized states in the world that receives $3.8 billion of military aid annually from the U.S.—and a Palestinian population resisting colonial occupation and oppression. We pledge to do all in our power to change the conversation.

We assert that this is not a “conflict” that is too “controversial and complex” to assess. Since its inception, Israel has used violent force, punitive bureaucracy, and its legal system to expel Palestinians from their rightful homes and to remove Palestinian people from their land. Israeli law systematically discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel. Palestinians are cut off from each other by a network of checkpoints, laws, settler-only highways, and a separation wall that swallows illegally occupied Palestinian land. Both Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem have recently concluded that Israeli policies and practices towards Palestinians amount to apartheid, reinforcing a decades old analysis of Palestinian and international solidarity organizations.

We wholeheartedly endorse the “Palestine and Praxis” open letter and call to action, affirming our own commitment to speaking out in defense of “the Palestinian struggle as an indigenous liberation movement confronting a settler colonial state,” as well as foundational principles of scholarly integrity and academic freedom. We vow to support those who are most vulnerable to attack for organizing and speaking out on our campuses, including Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and other students, faculty, and staff of color.

We unequivocally endorse and amplify the call from the Palestinian Feminist Collective for “feminists everywhere to speak up, organize, and join the struggle for Palestinian liberation” and the solidarity statement from gender studies departments.  

We hail the fortitude and determination of the Palestinian people, who remain, despite the fragmentation of their populations, united in their demands to end their oppression. May 15 marked the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba, an ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine that drove over 750,000 Palestinians out of their homes, villages, and cities between the years 1947-1949. Today the vast majority of these Palestinians and their descendants are refugees in bordering countries and in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. We take our stand with Palestinians who have been resisting settler colonialism for more than one hundred years.

Therefore, we pledge to:

  • Initiate, support, and amplify campaigns in solidarity with Palestinian calls for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid, at CUNY and in our wider communities. In particular, we echo the demands of the John Jay Student Letter to Demand BDS and Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance and stand with any and all student-led resolutions demanding CUNY’s immediate divestment from companies that aid in Israeli colonization, occupation, and war crimes. As of 2014, CUNY invests at least $1,093,900 in weapons manufacturers such as Boeing, General Electric, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon; tech and security companies such as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, G4S, and Motorola Solutions; and construction firms such as Caterpillar and Cemex.
  • Demand that our individual campuses, and CUNY as a whole, endorse and support the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
  • Stand in solidarity with students, staff, and faculty organizing for justice in Palestine at CUNY and everywhere. In particular, we pledge to push back against attempts to repress Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, and similar student-led efforts, at CUNY or anywhere. The “Palestine exception to free speech” needs to end!
  • Highlight Palestinian scholarship on Palestine in syllabi, our writing, and through invitation of  Palestinian scholars and community members to speak at departmental and university events, and extend this approach to any and all indigenous scholars within the university and in our communities.
  • Support community efforts and legislation to pressure our government to end funding for Israeli military aggression.

Against the rain of bombs, against the roving murderous mobs, against settler colonialism, against the support of complacent Western governments, we stand with the people of Palestine. We join together in rededicating ourselves to working against all forms of racism, colonialism, and injustice at CUNY, in the classroom, on campus, in our communities, and beyond.

[To add your name, please click here or email cuny.solidarity.letter@gmail.com]

 

May 29, Washington DC: National March for Palestine endorsed by 100+ organizations #March4Palestine

Saturday, May 29
3 pm – 8 pm
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, DC
Info page: https://www.ampalestine.org/NationalMarch

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is honoured to join American Muslims for Palestine and over 100 organizations nationwide to march on Washington on Saturday, May 29 and demand to #SanctionIsrael.

As the call to the rally notes: “We need to go big and bold right now for Palestinian liberation now that a ceasefire has gone into effect. No return to the status quo. It is time for Israeli settler-colonialism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, military occupation, and blockade to be dismantled now!” We’re also endorsing the campaign to #SanctionIsrael that will be highlighted at the March!

Bus Information

Follow American Muslims for Palestine for the full list of endorsers and latest transportation info!

 

Call for Action from Occupied Palestine ’48: Resist colonial imprisonment and repression!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is sharing the following call from Haifa, occupied Palestine ’48. Hirak Haifa has distributed this appeal for international action to Palestinian communities and supporters of Palestinian liberation around the world: 

Israel has declared war against Palestinians who dare to resist its colonial project and demand freedom.

Today, the Israeli police announced their intent to arrest over 500 Palestinian citizens of Israel over the next 48 hours. This wave of mass arrests will take place as part of what Israel calls a “law and order” campaign. Thousands of police officers will carry out violent arrests, kicking into doors, brutalizing families and kidnapping our brothers and sisters.

This is not just an attempt to intimidate and discipline those who participated in the Unity Intifada for justice and liberation. This is a declaration of war. It is the settler colonial project’s way of attempting to crush our people’s spirit, resistance and resilience.

Over 1400 have already been arrested since May 9th. At least 200 people will be charged. Israel’s arrest campaigns have primarily targeted minors and working class youth from impoverished communities.

Do not remain silent. Speak about this and make it a priority for your solidarity campaign. Write to your representatives and force them to condemn this. Tweet about it. This cannot be allowed to pass quietly.

**

TAKE ACTION: 

Protest at the Israeli Embassy or Consulate in Your Country!

Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Take to the streets: Organize a protest in solidarity with Palestine!

Hundreds of thousands – millions of people – around the world have marched and protested with Palestine, its people and its liberation over the past week. Your protest and organizing is also key to supporting this strike!  Take to the streets and join the actions on our full list of events, which is constantly being updated as new actions are announced! Organize your own if there is none in your area, and send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Boycott Israel

The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries. Products grown and produced on stolen Palestinian land are marketed around the world while Israel attempts to force Palestinians from Jerusalem, demolish homes, and imprisons thousands more. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism. Download our Boycott Flyer to distribute at supermarkets, stores and other venues in your community!

Demand Your Government Sanction Israel!

The racist, settler colonial state of Israel and its war crimes against the Palestinian people are enabled and backed extensively by the over $3.8 billion each year given to Israel by the United States — targeted directly to support the Israeli occupation military killing children, women, men and elders throughout occupied Palestine. From Canada to Australia to the European Union, Western governments and imperialist powers provide ongoing diplomatic, political and economic support to Israel as well as selling billions of dollars of weaponry to the settler-colonial state. Meanwhile, they also purchase billions of dollars in weaponry from the Israeli state. Governments in league with imperialist powers, such as in the Philippines, Brazil, India and elsewhere, also buy weapons and “security” services — all “battle-tested” on the Palestinian population. Call your representatives, MPs, political officials and demand your government sanction Israel now, cut off all aid, expel its ambassadors, and stop buying and selling weapons!