20-23 September, NYC: The People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine and Save the Planet

19 September 2019

The US War Machine Will Rage On
Until We Rise Up to Stop It!

Join the People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine

The US War Machine must be stopped, and only we can stop it. That’s why we are organizing the People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine, a series of actions in New York City from September 20 to 23 while the United Nations General Assembly meets.

At a time when all of the world leaders gather, we will say we’ve had enough of the US War Machine.

We demand the US be held accountable for its destructive acts. It’s time for the US government to obey the United Nations Charter by stopping regime change operations, ending the use of unilateral coercive measures (aka sanctions) and ceasing military attacks.

We demand the US sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty, rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement and Paris climate treaty, disband NATO and close bases and outposts around the world.

We demand an immediate transition to a peace economy that uses our resources to meet human needs and protect the planet.

Sign up to be part of the People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine so we can keep you up to date as plans unfold and provide materials for you to spread the word in your community.

CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS.

Schedule of Events:

Plan to come to New York City for a full weekend of events. Facebook event page.

Can you volunteer? Sign up here.

Download a flyer here: PM 2-sided flyer Flyer for Sunday Rally and March: PM Sun Flyer

Saturday, September 21 – Race, Militarism and Black Resistance in the “America’s” from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Green Worker Cooperative, 1231 Lafayette Ave in the Bronx.

Sunday, September 22 – People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine and Save the Planet Rally and March, Northwest corner of Herald Square near 34th St.and 6th Ave., 2:00 pm. Featuring Cornel West, Roger Waters, members of the Embassy Protection Collective, Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Jesse Jackson (invited), music by Ben Grosscup plus many solidarity, climate crisis, and resistance groups. More special guests to be announced.

Monday, September 23 – Solidarity evening with UN representatives from countries targeted by US sanctions and intervention. “A Path to International Peace: Realizing the Vision of the United Nations Charter.” Location: Community Church of New York 40 East 35th St., New York City, 10016. Hear from UN representatives and social movements. The Peace Memorial Prize will be awarded and David Rovics will perform. Time: 6:30 pm (doors open at 6:00 pm). You must register in advance. Register at http://bit.ly/RSVPapathtopeace. The event is free but we will accept donations to help cover the costs.

Representatives of 120 nations met in July to reaffirm their support for the UN Charter in a revival of the Non-Aligned Movement. Some of those representatives plus grassroots groups will join us for a discussion of the ways the United States is violating the charter, how they are organizing and what we can do to hold the US accountable.

Schedule for Sept. 23:

Live music by David Rovics

Presentation of the 2019 US Peace Prize. The US Peace Memorial Foundation awards the US Peace Prize to recognize and honor the most outstanding American antiwar leaders. These courageous individuals and organizations have publicly opposed military interventions such as invasion, occupation, production of weapons of mass destruction, use of weapons, threats of war, or other actions that threaten peace. Previous recipients include David Swanson, Ann Wright, Veterans for Peace, Kathy Kelly, CODEPINK Women for Peace, Chelsea Manning, Medea Benjamin, Noam Chomsky, Dennis Kucinich, and Cindy Sheehan. Distinguished Americans and organizations under consideration for the 2019 US Peace Prize are Ajamu Baraka, Erica Chenoweth, Stephen D. Clemens, Thomas C. Fox, Bruce K. Gagnon, Jewish Voice for Peace, National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth, Sally-Alice Thompson, Women’s March on the Pentagon, and World BEYOND War. The US Peace Memorial Foundation publishes the US Peace Registry, awards the annual US Peace Prize, and is planning for the US Peace Memorial in Washington, DC. These projects help move the United States toward a culture of peace, as we recognize thoughtful and brave Americans and U.S. organizations that have taken a public stand against one or more U.S. wars, or who have devoted their time, energy, and other resources to finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts. We celebrate these role models to inspire other Americans to speak out against war and to work for peace.

Panel: Unilateral Coercive Measures as Threats to International Peace featuring representatives from impacted nations including Venezuela, Nicaragua and Syria. Moderated by Bahman Azad of the US Peace Council.

Panel: What Must be Done to Preserve Peace: Centering Power of Transnational Solidarity featuring Ajamu Baraka of Black Alliance for Peace on Human Rights and peace as historic areas of struggle for civil society within UN system, Taryn Fivek of the International Action Center on Havana and Caracas declarations – making the Americas a “Zone of Peace”, Margaret Flowers of Popular Resistance on sanctions as acts of war, H. E. Leon Siu of the Hawaiian Kingdom and Decolonization Alliance and Lorraine Liriano of A Call to Action on Puerto Rico on decolonization as imperative for peace and Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report on the North-South Divide, Climate Change and War: The International Threat to Peace.

Next steps and closing led by Joe Lombardo of the United National Antiwar Coalition.

We also encourage you to attend these events:

Friday, September 20 – People’s Climate Strike. Starts at Foley Square at noon and then march to Battery Park. We’ll bring messages connecting militarism and the climate crisis.

Saturday, September 21 – Puerto Rico Independence Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at the UN. It’s time to decolonize Puerto Rico!

The US War Machine is raging at a fevered pitch. It lurches from continent to continent seeking new opportunities to feed the insatiable weapons makers and military contractors. It overthrows governments, and even when it fails, as it has in Venezuela, it marches on in delirious denial. It jettisons diplomacy and international law to the trash heap.

Not content with wars abroad, the US War Machine rages at home through the militarization of our communities, schools and cultural institutions. It consumes more and more of the federal budget, now eating two-thirds of discretionary spending, cheered on by Congress members from both major parties. Every year, the war budget grows while cuts are made to housing, health care, food programs, and other necessities. Every year, more veterans kill themselves, leaving their families and loved ones to mourn.

The US War Machine threatens our very existence as it gobbles up more fossil fuels than any other institution, spewing greenhouse gases and driving climate chaos. It destroys the land, water, and air, and threatens the life of every species with its war games, weapons tests, military bases built in sensitive ecosystems and dumping of depleted uranium and other toxins. And, with nuclear weapons now on hair-trigger alert, the US War Machine has moved the doomsday clock dangerously close to midnight.

As US hegemony falters, the US War Machine is becoming more bellicose. Like a drunken jilted lover, it lashes out at everyone without regard for the consequences of its actions.

Sign up to be part of the People’s Mobilization to Stop the US War Machine so we can keep you up to date as plans unfold and provide materials for you to spread the word in your community.

Participating Organizations:

Embassy Protection Collective
ANSWER Coalition
Black Alliance for Peace
CODEPINK
International Action Center
Popular Resistance
United National Antiwar Coalition
US Peace Council
Veterans for Peace
World Beyond War
Pima County Green Party
Mt. Zion Church Ministries
The Raucous Rooster
Show Up! America
Environmentalists Against War
The Nuclear Resister
Canadian County Safe Water Coalition
North American Climate, Conservation and Environment(NACCE)
Western Massachusetts Venezuela Solidarity Coalition
Coop Anti-War Cafe Berlin
Green Party United States Peace Action Committee
Green Party of Bay County
Green Party of Monmouth County NJ
Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO) – Vancouver, Canada
Green Party of Allegheny County
The International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity
Red River Veterans For Peace Chapter 154
Veterans For Peace, Chapter 23, Rochester, NY
Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Solidarite Bonne Volonte
Mondeto
Peace and Freedom Party
Party of Communists USA
Movement 4 Peoples’ Democracy
White Rabbit Grove RDNA
Movimiento por un mundo sin guerras y sin violencia
Coalición de Derechos Humanos
Women’s Eco-Peace
Maryland United for Peace and Justice
People’s Climate Movement New York
Green Party United States
The Peace Pentagon
World Can’t Wait
United for Peace and Justice
CovertAction Magazine
BAYAN USA
Trade Justice Alliance
Workers World Party
Pro Libertad Freedom Campaign
Peoples Power Assemblies
Fight for Im/migrants and Refugees Everywhere – FIRE
Pakistan USA Freedom Forum
Jersey City Peace Movement
Canadian Peace Congress
Greater Boston Chapter of Green Rainbow Party
New York Peace Council
The Peace For Okinawa Coalition
Philadelphia Area Black Radical Congress
DSA Brooklyn for Peace
Baltimore Nonviolence Center
Black is Back Coalition
NJ State Industrial Union Council
U. S. Friends of the Soviet People
OWS Special Projects Affinity Group
Stand with Okinawa
December 12th Movement
Northwest Suburban Peace & Education Project
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
NYC War Resisters League
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – US
Struggle/La Lucha
Alliance for Democracy
Wolf PAC NY

18 September, NYC: Cancel the Saudi dictator’s event at the New York Public Library

18 September 2019

Wednesday, 18 September
3:30 – 6:00 pm
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plz., NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1341596466018201
Organized by Freedom Forward, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, Explore WESPAC, Action Corps, Peace Action New York State, and Action Corps NYC

PROTEST: Cancel the Saudi dictator’s event at the New York Public Library.

Join us this Wednesday 9/18 at 3:30 PM as we demand that the New York Public Library (NYPL) Board of Trustees cancel the propaganda event of Saudi dictator Mohammad bin Salman.

CONTACT: Rose@codepink.org

LOCATION:

40 Lincoln Center Plaza (65th St and Columbus Ave), NY

Google map: https://goo.gl/maps/2trQ9dfD5QqDBskK6

Photo: https://images.app.goo.gl/mNxFXWwKLZpqLvGq7

To reach Lincoln Center, take the 1 train to Lincoln Center. Alternatively, take the A / B / C / D / 1 to Columbus Circle and walk six blocks.

DETAILS:

Thanks to the NYPL, Saudi Arabia’s ruler “MBS” is holding a bogus event for youth at the library on September 23rd.

Yes, you read that right. This is the same Saudi dictator who has bombed and killed countless children in Yemen. The same guy who murdered Jamal Khashoggi and tortured women’s rights activists like Loujain al-Hathloul.

Join us as we protest the NYPL trustees and demand that they cancel this event. Saudi Arabia’s dictatorship imprisons, tortures, and kills people who dare to speak their minds. The dictator should not be allowed to use his bogus foundation to hold a propaganda event at one of the premier libraries in the U.S.

MORE BACKGROUND:

Cancel Saudi Dictator Event in New York
https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/cancel-saudi-dictator

“Two speakers drop out of controversial UN event co-hosted with MBS’s charity”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/speakers-drop-out-controversial-un-mbs-event

Video: UN spokesperson faces tough questions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY0AQwJQJvY

The Red Nation: “The Liberation of Palestine Represents an Alternative Path for Native Nations”

17 September 2019

Diné members of The Red Nation took direct action by raising a Palestinian flag, given to them by Irish Republican Socialist Party members in Belfast, alongside that of the Navajo Nation outside its presidential office in Window Rock, Arizona.

The Red Nation, a mass organization based in New Mexico and dedicated to the liberation of Native peoples from capitalism and colonialism, released the following statement.

The Liberation of Palestine Represents an Alternative Path for Native Nations

Adopted September 6, 2019

Rejecting Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Muslim Opportunism

Palestine is the moral barometer of Indigenous North America. While there is widespread agreement among Native people that European colonialism and Indigenous genocide is criminal and immoral, there are a surprisingly high number of Native politicians, elites, and public figures who don’t extend the same sympathies to Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. They range from outright Zionists who support Palestinian ethnic cleansing to liberal centrists who don’t support Palestinian rights of protest and resistance.

“Red washing” is a useful academic term used to describe how Zionists recruit Indigenous people to normalize the Israeli settler project. We use the term “anti-Palestinian opportunism” to describe how profitable and career-advancing it is for Indigenous people to align with the Zionist project.

Indigenous leaders frequently and falsely equate aspirations of Indigenous peoples with the Zionist settler project, which requires the displacement, removal, and continued banishment of Native Palestinians from their homelands.

First Nations Indigenous leaders, such as Wab Kinew, Phil Fontaine, and Ron Evans (all powerful men), have taken pro-Zionist and anti-Palestinian positions by aligning with Israeli settler colonialism. In the United States, Ben Shelly, Myron Lizer, Tom Cole, and Deb Haaland have made anti-Palestinian statements as part of their political platforms.

Even self-described “progressive” Native leaders make pro-Zionist statements and positions for political gain.

Last year during her run for US Congress, Haaland equated Native Americans getting the right to vote in New Mexico in 1948 to the creation of the state of Israel as “parallel” experiences. And when US representative Ilhan Omar, a black muslim woman and refugee, spoke out against AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee), a pro-Zionist, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab lobby group, Haaland criticized Omar’s remarks as a “type of anti-semitism” emphasizing that as Democrats, “we support Israel.” To advance her own standing with Zionist liberals like Nancy Pelosi, Haaland aligned herself with the rightwing of the Democratic party that has frequently maligned and smeared progressive Muslim women like Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. Haaland’s opportunism demonstrates that she is anything but an ally to Palestine and more of an opportunist willing to throw Palestinians under the bus when it benefits her political career.

Pro-Zionism isn’t confined to the world of politicians. Indigenous artists, athletes, and academics have also chosen to ignore Palestinian rights to advance their careers.

In 2012, poet Joy Harjo ignored Palestinian calls for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) of Israeli institutions when she toured Israel. This year, the Library of Congress made her the US poet laureate. In 2017, international jurist and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, S. James Anaya crossed the BDS picket-line to give a lecture on Indigenous rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Last year, while unarmed Gazans were gunned downed by Israeli snipers during the Great March of Return, the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team refused Palestinian calls to boycott an international lacrosse tournament in Israel because they claimed Israel recognized “Iroquois sovereignty.”

The refusal of the United States and Canada to recognize Indigenous sovereignty is not an excuse to trample the rights of Palestinians. And no artistic expression, sports tournament, or academic talk trumps the right of Palestinians to live in peace in their own homeland.

These examples show that Indigenous artists, athletes, celebrities, and politicians are rewarded for pro-Zionism and anti-BDS positions. In other words, it’s lucrative for Indigenous peoples in settler societies to be anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, or anti-Muslim — because that’s the status quo for US imperialist interests. After all, to be anti-Palestinian is to be pro-United States, pro-Israel, and, therefore, pro-settler colonialism.

On Settler Colonialism

Settler colonialism presents itself as a shield, as a protector. What they don’t tell you is that it shields occupation and protects occupiers. Palestinians have resisted Israeli settler colonialism since 1948 and European colonialism since 1917. Israel’s violent occupation of historic Palestine is typically framed as a “conflict.” This is a distortion of history that erases the actual truth: Israel’s very existence depends upon the elimination of Palestinians. This is called settler colonialism. Israel is a violent settler nation that should be condemned for its crimes against humanity.

And like its patron, the United States, white historians in the United States have long framed the history of settler colonialism in this nation as a “conflict” between two equal sides: cowboys and Indians; settlers and savages. Dakota scholar Elizabeth Cook-Lynn reminds us there are no two sides to a story of colonial dispossession and genocide. In a settler nation, there is a clear perpetrator: the settler state. Like Palestinians, Native people continue to resist systematic colonialism by the U.S. We refuse to be uprooted. Refusal is the basis of all forms of anti-colonial resistance, and we, as the original peoples and nations of these lands, extend unwavering solidarity and support to our Palestinian relatives who struggle for liberation from the same violence that threatens to erase our histories and our futures.

There is a prominent tendency within US-based Palestine solidarity work to foster peace and reconciliation as a model of justice. We strongly object to this tendency. Israeli colonization perpetuates violence, regardless of the liberal niceties about “peace” and “respect” you place on it. Peacemaking is not a bilateral responsibility in a settler colonial state that perpetuates war crimes against the colonized. The notion of “mutual” peace implies that the colonized holds equal responsibility for justice. In a colonial context, colonialism is the original crime, and colonizers the aggressors. When did invasion become self-defense? The only form of justice that matches this crime is decolonization. The decolonization of Israel requires withdrawing the Zionist occupation from occupied Palestine, removing the blockade from Gaza, and honoring the Palestinian right of return (all tenets of BDS, which we detail below). And those who advocate for justice in Palestine are also obligated to advocate for our liberation and decolonization from US occupation.

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions

Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid in the world. They offer their citizens complete healthcare coverage paid for by U.S. dollars, while Palestinians die on a daily basis because they are unable to access healthcare in the occupied territories, much less pay for it. Israel commits atrocities against Palestinians with impunity because the U.S. allows it to happen. We are citizens of Native nations that endure despite violent colonial occupation by the United States. We have not achieved decolonization and the national liberation of our homelands because the U.S. has sought to thwart our freedom dreams at every turn. It is thus no surprise that it bankrolls Israel’s efforts to do the same to Palestinians. U.S. occupation gains strength and legitimacy through Israeli occupation, and vice versa.

The best method of resisting–and ultimately undoing–the collusion between the US and Israel is to enforce Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). BDS is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality founded in 2005 that upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. The BDS movement is a form of non-violent advocacy to demand the state of Israel 1) end its occupation of all Arab-Palestinian lands, 2) recognize the equal rights of Arab-Palestinians, and 3) respect the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

BDS is inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement that helped to put international pressure to end apartheid. The US and Israel backed the racist South African apartheid regime when the rest of the world morally opposed it. Indigenous peoples were made a category in the UN Decade to Combat Racism, Racial Discrimination, and Apartheid, which began in 1974. Zionism as a form of racism was also part of the initial agenda (which was later removed after the 1993 Oslo accords) and gave a platform for Palestinian rights. US presidents from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush boycotted the UN programs on racism, most likely over the questions of apartheid in South Africa and Palestine. This boycott included the two UN decades to combat racism and apartheid from 1974-1993.

Nevertheless, the connections between the South African anti-apartheid movement, Palestinian rights, and Indigenous rights cannot be ignored or dismissed. Without this lateral solidarity, Indigenous peoples would not have made such historic gains, like the drafting of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). It should come as no surprise that Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States (all settler colonial regimes) initially voted against UNDRIP, maintaining their decades-long position of hostility towards Indigenous people at the UN. Israel was absent from this vote.

Across the world, student groups and university faculty have called for the academic boycott of Israeli universities, which participate in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and dispossession of Palestinian land. Dozens of U.S.-based Native scholars have pledged to honor the academic boycott of Israel by not collaborating with Israeli universities.

Another key part of the BDS movement is the economic boycott of, and divestment from, U.S., international, and Israeli companies that profit from Israel’s occupation. Israel argues that boycotting Israeli companies hurts Palestinians whom they employ; however, Israel controls natural resources, has intentionally destroyed Palestinian businesses, and has restricted Palestinians’ ability to steward their own lands and support their people. Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip–nearly 2 million people–are completely restricted from visiting family in the West Bank or in other countries or seeking crucial medical care. Israel profits from its blockade of the Gaza Strip by allowing its own exports into Gaza for sale on the market and simultaneously destroys Palestinian agricultural land and severely restricts Gaza’s exports.

The BDS movement also calls for a cultural boycott in addition to academic and economic boycotts. Israel deliberately uses culture, entertainment and the arts to normalize and whitewash their occupation of Palestinian lands. BDS calls upon artists and entertainment performers to refrain from going to Israel.

With this history of solidarity in mind, we urge all Native people and Nations to respect the Palestinian call for BDS by pledging NOT to collaborate with universities, institutions, or organizations that promote and normalize the occupation. Don’t allow yourselves to be redwashed by Israel and its apologists to justify ethnic cleansing. Don’t cross the picket line!

Political Boycotts

While BDS calls for a cultural, economic, and academic boycotts, Indigenous nations are typically drawn into supporting Israeli settler colonialism because Israel offers recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and nationhood, when settler colonial states like the United States and Canada refuse to do so. We urge Indigenous nations to not only culturally boycott Israel, but to also refuse its recognition of our Indigenous nationhood. Instead, we urge Palestinians and Indigenous nations in North America to create, foster, and strengthen political ties through mutual recognition, aid, and support. Allying with Palestinian nationhood offers an alternative path for anti-colonial Indigneous nationhood that doesn’t normalize settler colonial regimes—whether its Israel, the United States, or Canada.

BDS activists have successfully pressured U.S. politicians to not participate in AIPAC-sponsored Israel trips. We urge Native leaders and politicians to refuse participation in Israeli- and Zionist-sponsored delegations and instead participate in Palestinian-led and -sponsored delegations only.

Anti-Semitism

According to Jewish Voice for Peace, it is anti-semitic to claim that all Jewish people are aligned with the aims and goals Zionism and to equate support for Israel with the idea that Israel is a Jewish-only homeland. While anti-semitism is a real issue and on the rise as a central tenet of rightwing authoritarianism and fascism, BDS and justice for Palestine are not anti-semitic. To say otherwise is to minimize and obfuscate the crimes of Israel and the suffering of Palestinians. We condemn pervasive anti-Indigenous, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim sentiments, beliefs, and practices in the US and Israel with a rigor and veracity that equals our condemnation of anti-Jewishness worldwide.

Our Commitment

We, The Red Nation, pledge to fulfill our commitment to Palestinian liberation by doing the following:

Holding Native celebrities, politicians, athletes, and artists accountable when they choose to cross the BDS picket line.
Supporting the Palestinian right of return without hesitation or apology.
Supporting BDS at all turns.
Offering full solidarity to Palestinians in the diaspora by giving them space for organizing and speaking about Palestinian liberation.
Extending Indigenous hospitality and kinship to our Palestinian relatives whenever they are in, or traveling to, our homelands.
Supporting Palestinian resistance in any and all forms; when people are occupied, resistance is justified.
Educating our membership about Palestine through delegations, readings, and events.
Educating Native Nations and other colonized people about Palestinian Liberation and Resistance efforts.

In solidarity with all colonized peoples of the world,

The Red Nation

International call for an action month for Georges Abdallah

9 September 2019

Please see the full call for the week of action, with translations in 11 languages, at: http://freeabdallah.red/

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is a Lebanese communist activist. He was arrested in Lyon in 1984 and convicted in 1987 as the alleged founder of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions (FARL). In 1982, as Israel launched with support from France and USA, a murderous invasion in Lebanon to annihilate the Palestinian Resistance, FARL replicated by bringing the war to the imperialist centres, its sponsors, its funders, its ruling elite order givers and its arms dealers. Thus, FARL executed the head of Mossad in Paris and the US military attaché in France.

Georges was legally eligible for release after 14 years in prison. On October 24th, Georges will have spent 35 years behind bars. All attempts for his release have been sabotaged by the French public authorities under open pressure from the USA. But the fury aimed at Georges should not surprise us:

First because he embodies the history of FARL and the end of impunity for imperialist powers, on their own ground.
He’s an example of the imprisoned revolutionaries who never surrendered their identities despite decades of detention and blackmailing.
Georges remains a defender of the revolutionary left historical project for Palestine, a project which is radically different from those of the various Islamist tendencies and of the Oslo surrenderers. This project is a united Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, where belonging to a confession, a community or a nationality wouldn’t result in privileges or oppression.

We support Georges Abdallah, not only because he’s been offering an inspirational example of resistance for 35 years, but also because as we support him we are supporting our own identity, history and political project. Considering the issues at stake, no-one should be surprised by the fury aimed at Georges.

However, what should catch our attention is that the mobilisations of the solidarity movement -which we belong to- are too unequal and insufficient given the brevity of the issues at stake, and we have to acknowledge this to move forward. Let’s not settle for a few press articles, a signature at the bottom of a call or a delegation in a demonstration. Let’s intensify the support campaign, everywhere and by all means, let’s mobilize more widely while defending Georges’ political identity.

That’s why Samidoun, the “Palestine Will Win” collective and the French-speaking sections of the International Red Help:

commit themselves to intensify their efforts in the campaigns for the liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
call upon all solidarity forces to massively, consistently and radically fight for that liberation.

Like every year a demonstration will be organised for the anniversary of Georges’ arrest, in front of his prison in Lannemezan (High Pyrenees). This year, the demonstration will take place on Saturday October 19th at 2pm. We call for a massive participation in that demonstration.

We also call for a month of solidarity actions, everywhere in France and across the World. Solidarity initiatives in all countries and at all levels must be organized during that month. We call upon all solidarity forces to join this call and to engage in the October mobilization with all their strength.

Against imperialism, Zionism and Arab reactionary forces and regimes ! A Free, secular and democratic Palestine from the Jordan River to the Sea ! Freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah !

Red Help (Brussels, Geneva), Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Samidoun.

Palestinian prisoner Bassam Sayeh latest killed by Israeli medical neglect

9 September 2019

Palestinian prisoner Bassam al-Sayeh is the latest Palestinian prisoner to lose his life in Israeli prisons on Sunday night, 8 September. Sayeh, 47, from Nablus in the northern West Bank of occupied Palestine, was one of the most severely ill Palestinian prisoners, suffering for years from leukemia and bone cancer. HE suffered a heart attack in late July 2019 and also experienced pulmonary congestion, edema, liver inflammation and fourth-degree heart failure. Sayeh is the 221st Palestinian prisoner who has died in Israeli occupation prisons.

With the additional deterioration of his heart in the past months, it was operating at only 15% of strength. He worked for “Falasteen” newspaper in the West Bank before being arrested by Israeli occupation forces on 8 October 2015, accused of organizing a Palestinian armed resistance attack on the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar near the village of Beit Furik. He first showed symptoms of cancer in 2009, during political detention by the Palestinian Authority; he had previously spent around 3 years in PA jails and one and a half years in Israeli occupation prisons.

All Palestinian political forces issued strong condemnations of Israeli policies of medical neglect and mistreatment against Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinian prisoners’ movement collectively announced three days of mourning for Sayeh, declaring that “we hold the Zionist occupation and the prison administration fully and directly responsible for the martyrdom of al-Sayeh, due to medical negligence against him and the policy of slow death.”

The prisoners’ movement announced that all sections of the prisons would be closed and meals returned in memory of Sayeh. In a statement, the prisoners noted that “the martyr prisoner Bassam Sayeh remained handcuffed, hand and foot, despite his illness until his martyrdom.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement, saying that “this latest crime should motivate all to support the prisoners and confront the policies of slow execution practiced by the occupier against dozens of sick prisoners.” The statement also called for a day of strike and protest on Monday to mourn Sayeh and support the prisoners fighting for freedom.

The Front also condemned international institutions, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross, for failing to take action and hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its violations against the Palestinian people. “If there were serious deterrent measures taken internationally, the occupation would not dare to continue its crimes against the prisoners’ movement.”

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society issued a statement saying that the violations practiced against the prisoners, particularly medical neglect and the case of Bassam al-Sayeh, “should be brought before the International Criminal Court to hold the leadership of the Israeli occupation accountable for the institutionalized crimes committed against our prisoners by a number of malicious mechanisms, including deliberate medical neglect.”

The Health Work Committees echoed this call, saying that “the crimes against the prisoner Bassam Sayeh and crimes against all prisoners at the hands of the interrogators and jailers are crimes against humanity that require action and prosecution in international courts. The occupation’s treatment of sick prisoners is only a policy of slow execution that requires all to uphold their responsibilities. They are denied the minimum elements to sustain human life, putting their lives at risk even after liberation.”

There are approximately 700 sick Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 160 seriously ill with chronic diseases who require specialized treatment and 25 with cancer.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the loss of Bassam Sayeh. His life was not taken by cancer alone, but by systematic abuse, mistreatment and neglect. We note that his death is part of the systematic violence of medical mistreatment and abuse in Israeli prisons. The Israeli state holds full responsibility for the death of Bassam al-Sayeh and must be held accountable. We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine to organize and demand freedom and justice for nearly 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails – and freedom and justice for Palestine.

15 September, Paris: Fete de la Humanite – Meeting with Salah Hamouri

8 September 2019

Sunday, 15 September
1:00 pm
Fete de la Humanite
Parc Georges-Valbon
La Courneuve, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/677012639466525/

As part of the 2019 festival:

Popular resistance in occupied Palestine and the role of BDS – Focus on Jerusalem
Meeting and Discussion with Salah Hamouri, French-Palestinian lawyer from Jerusalem

Sunday, 15 September, 1 pm to 2:30 pm at the joint UJFP-BDS France stand
Village of the World – Avenue Charlie Chaplin
Park Georges-Valbon
La Courneuve

Dans le cadre de la Fête de l’Huma 2019

Résistances populaires en Palestine occupée et rôle du BDS – Focus sur Jérusalem
Rencontre-débat avec Salah Hamouri, avocat franco-palestinien de Jérusalem

Le dimanche 15 septembre 2019 de 13h00 à 14h30 au stand conjoint UJFP-Campagne BDS
Village du Monde – Avenue Charlie Chaplin
Parc départemental Georges Valbon
93120 La Courneuve

12 September, Dublin: Palestinian Film Night – Imprisoning a Generation

6 September 2019

Thursday, 12 September
6:15 pm
The Pearse Centre
27 Pearse St
Dublin, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/748895315555179/

On Thursday 12th September 2019 you are invited to a special screening of ‘Imprisoning A Generation’, an important documentary about Palestinian child prisoners in Apartheid Israel’s jails. There will also be a screening of the short film ‘Breaking The Generations’. The films will be shown from 6:15pm in The Pearse Centre, 27 Pearse Street, Dublin 2 (map here).

PLEASE JOIN, SHARE & INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK, THANKS!

Today there are some 5,500 Palestinian political prisoners, including 500 interned without charge or trial, 50 women, and 200 children. Every year Israeli occupation forces arrest around 6,000 people, including an average of 700 children. The imprisonment regime is an important aspect of Israel’s total domination of the lives of Palestinians.

Israel tries Palestinians – including children – in apartheid non-jury military courts which are inherently unfair and which have a 99.7% conviction rate where trials last an average of five minutes. Amnesty International says these “proceedings do not meet international standards for fair trial”.

Israel also uses a form of indefinite internment without trial called Administrative Detention “to suppress the legitimate and peaceful activities of activists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories”, according to Amnesty.

We invite you to come along and learn more about the plight, struggles, hopes and fears of generations of Palestinian political prisoners – especially children – whose lives have been invaded by Apartheid Israel, even as Israel holds the entire Palestinian people captive under occupation or in enforced exile.

DOORS 6.15pm
First Film Begins at 6:30pm SHARP

Breaking the Generations
Dir. Bill Parry & Caroline Rooney, 25min, English & Arabic with English Subtitles

A film that explores Israel’s widespread and systematic use of detention, and explores the consequences on the health of Palestinian prisoners, who face widespread, institutionalized medical negligence inside Israel’s prisons.

Imprisoning a Generation
Dir. Zelda Edmunds, 50min, English & Arabic with English Subtitles

This film follows the stories of four Palestinian children who have been detained and imprisoned by Israel. Their perspectives, along with the voices of their families, combine to create a lens into the entangled structures of Israeli oppression that expand well beyond the prison walls.

Hosted by the Dublin branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign

14 September, UK-wide: National Day of Action – HSBC #StopArmingIsrael

3 September 2019

Saturday, 14 September

Locations nationwide
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/358857941702734/

Manchester action:
12:00 pm
Picadilly Gardens
Manchester, UK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1573675719435674/

HSBC invests in and provides financial services for companies providing military technology and weapons to Israel, which the Israeli military has used to commit war crimes and systematically violate international law. This includes investments of nearly £100million in the company Caterpillar.

Caterpillar supplies the Israeli military with bulldozers which are weaponised and used to assist in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, schools, villages and civilian infrastructure – in order to make way for the ever-expanding illegal Israeli Jewish-only settlements.

Since 1967 the Israeli military has demolished nearly 50,000 Palestinian houses, and Caterpillar equipment has been involved at many of these demolitions, which amount to war crimes. Currently Caterpillar Bulldozers are being used by the Israeli military to aid in the demolition of 70 Palestinian homes in the Sur Baher village in East Jerusalem. Over 1000 Palestinians are being displaced from their homes, forcing them to live in exile

Caterpillar also provides equipment used to reinforce Israel’s apartheid infrastructure, including Israel’s checkpoints, separation wall alongside the West Bank as well as the wall in Gaza, and for the construction of illegal settlements and settlement infrastructure on stolen Palestinian land.

Public pressure led HSBC to divest from Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company, but HSBC remains deeply complicit with Israel’s war crimes.

Mobilise and take creative action at your local HSBC branch, join in with local actions, spread the word on social media and call on HSBC to #StopArmingIsrael!

9 September, Bordeaux: Meeting with Salah Hamouri

1 September 2019

Monday, 9 September
8:00 pm
Municipal Athenaeum
Place Saint-Christoly
Bordeaux, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2379026099007887/

Palestine 33 is organizing a meeting with French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, with the support of UJFP Aquitaine, MRAP 33, ARAC 33, Solidarity 33, NPA 33, Allies of Peace, PCF 33, UD CGT 33, EELV, PG 33, MCJF 33, Ensemble! 33, AC! Gironde and LDH 33.

Salah Hamouri’s life story is emblematic of the situation of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. He was jailed twice by the Israeli occupation. Come to learn much more about this situation and the struggle of Palestinians held behind bars!

Palestine 33 organise une rencontre avec l’avocat franco-palestinien Salah Hamouri, avec le soutien de L’UJFP Aquitaine ; le MRAP 33 ; l’ARAC-33 ; Solidaires 33 ; NPA 33 ; Les Alliés de la Paix ; le PCF 33 ; l’UD CGT 33 ; EELV ; PG 33 ; MCJF 33 ; Ensemble! 33 ; AC! Gironde et la LDH 33.
Les organisations seront ajoutées au fur-et-à-mesure de l’annonce de leur soutien…

Salah Hamouri, dont le vécu est emblématique de la situation de centaines de prisonniers palestiniens, a été incarcéré à deux reprises en Israël sur ordre du gouvernement. Né d’une mère française et d’un père palestinien de Jérusalem, c’est en mars 2005 que les autorités militaires israéliennes l’arrêtent lors d’un contrôle d’identité, et qu’il est inculpé pour avoir prétendument projeté de tuer un rabbin et pour son appartenance au Front populaire de libération de la Palestine, puis condamné à 14 ans de prison.
En France, l’AFPS, des élus, associations et partis politiques créent des comités de soutien à Salah, dont un en Gironde, pour protester contre cette condamnation. Il sera libéré en décembre 2011 avec 550 autres prisonniers dans le cadre de l’échange « Gilad Shalit », conclu avec l’Égypte.
En avril 2012, pour nos « 8 heures pour la Palestine », Salah Hamouri, récemment libéré, était venu témoigner sur son parcours et de la condition des prisonniers politiques palestiniens.
Après sa sortie de prison, il suit des études de droit et devient avocat en août 2017. Salah sera de nouveau arrêté à son domicile à Jérusalem-Est dans la nuit du 22 au 23 août 2017 et placé en détention administrative pour une période de 6 mois (renouvelable indéfiniment) car soupçonné d’avoir renoué avec une organisation politique illégale : le Front populaire de libération de la Palestine (FPLP). Le 24 octobre 2017, la Cour suprême d’Israël estime que Salah Hamouri est « un haut responsable d’une organisation terroriste » et « constitue bien un danger important et réel pour la sécurité publique », et que « la détention administrative pour la période donnée est justifiée ».Après treize mois d’incarcération, il sera libéré le 30 septembre 2018.
En décembre 2013 il déclarait : « Voilà deux ans que j’ai retrouvé la liberté, après sept années passées en prison. Ce jour-là, en respirant ma première bouffée d’air de liberté, j’ai compris que cette occupation ne comprend qu’une seule langue, celle de la lutte, de la résistance et de la solidarité… »

Mais comme nous l’apprend ce message de Ziad Medoukh, l’injustice se perpétue et dans le silence assourdissant de la communauté internationale, 6000 prisonniers d’opinion continuent à lutter, souffrir et mourir dans les prisons israéliennes :
« Le prisonnier palestinien Nasser Tfatqua, âgé de 31 ans, originaire de Bethléem au sud de la Cisjordanie occupée, détenu dans les prisons israéliennes depuis deux mois, est décédé ce mardi 16 juillet 2019 dans sa cellule individuelle isolée dans la prison israélienne Ramla.…. Cet État d’apartheid continue sa politique agressive contre les prisonniers, comme contre toute notre population civile. Il poursuit ses crimes contre des prisonniers isolés qui sont de plus en plus abandonnés à l’arbitraire et à l’acharnement criminel des autorités pénitentiaires, sans suivi médical, ni visites.
Dans ces prisons, leur situation se dégrade jour après jour, et les autorités israéliennes aggravent encore leur souffrance par des mesures illégales et des provocations permanentes. Une mort lente attend les six mille prisonniers qui sont toujours derrière les barreaux israéliens…
Un prisonnier palestinien est mort …
…mais le combat de nos prisonniers continue jusqu’à la liberté, et pour la justice ».

VENEZ NOMBREUX ET NOMBREUSES!

Samidoun stands in solidarity with Al Janiah social and cultural center in Brazil

1 September 2019

*Al Janiah organizers outside the social center and restaurant in Sao Paulo*

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands in solidarity with Al Janiah, a refugee-run and -organized restaurant and social center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Al Janiah is not only a central organizing space for the Palestinian community and Palestine solidarity movement in Brazil, but also a space for music, cultural resistance and activism for all struggles for justice and liberation in Brazil and around the world.

In the early morning hours of 1 September, Al Janiah was attacked by a fascist group who approached the doors with sharp blades and threw bottles at the building’s windows. All five of the people involved in the incident – recorded on security cameras and blocked by the Al Janiah security team – have a long history of connection to far-right groups, according to media reports. This is not the first time Al Janiah was attacked – in 2016, military police threw tear gas bombs at Al Janiah that affected workers and customers during protests against the “constitutional coup” against then-President Dilma Roussef.

The attack on Al Janiah by far-right, fascist forces cannot be delinked from the ongoing project of repression, environmental devastation and political attacks being emboldened by the Brazilian government, especially under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has actively associated his presidency with the Israeli state responsible for the dispossession of the very Palestinian refugees who formed Al Janiah as a critical social space for democratic expression and organizing. The Israeli state has returned Bolsonaro’s support, with effusive welcomes provided to Bolsonaro and the Brazilian far-right by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionist regime as a whole. Of couse, Israeli-Brazilian military cooperation predates Bolsonaro, as does the use of Israeli military and surveillance technologies to repress popular movements and marginalized peoples.

Bolsonaro has threatened to label indigenous organizations and popular social movements like the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) as “terrorist organizations,” taking a page out of the Israeli state’s attack on Palestinian resistance to over 70 years of colonization, occupation, apartheid and dispossession. His regime has supported and emboldened racist, misogynistic and anti-indigenous organizations and individuals while promoting free, destructive reign for corporations and wealthy ranchers, policies that have played a significant role in creating the devastating fires sweeping the Amazon. Brazil’s former president Lula da Silva remains a political prisoner, while social movements are coming under official repressive attacks by police and intelligence forces.

Al Janiah is a critically important Palestinian and Brazilian space that belongs to the international movement for justice and liberation, guided by the traditions and struggle of the Palestinian liberation movement. Samidoun has participated in multiple events at and with Al Janiah and MOP@T, the Palestinian Movemnt for All. We extend our strongest solidarity with Al Janiah and urge all supporters of Palestine around the world to support this important cultural, social and political institution’s work.

Follow Al Janiah on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/aljaniah01/ or visit the Al Janiah website at: https://www.aljaniah.com.br/

The statement from Al Janiah follows below:

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Confirming what has been circulating on various media outlets, Al Janiah- Bar, Restaurant, and Cultural Center, suffered from an attack early Sunday morning (1/9).

Around 3h30 am, a group of five approached the establishment’s main entrance, armed with a knife and pepper spray.

Our security cameras registered in detail the cowardly attack. The members of the group fled in consequence.

No one maintained any injuries; our team managed to contain the attack and all whom were present are in good health.

We will not remain silent in the face of attacks of such motivation, in a context of an ever growing discourse of intolerance and hate gripping the country.

Ever since its birth, Al Janiah is known to be a democratic space, one which puts itself at the total disposal of the defense of political minorities, and hosts refugees. Our history follows in the path of the Liberation of Palestine.

Institutionally, we are taking the necessary legal steps with our team of lawyers.

We appreciate the support received from all corners of Brazil. The destruction of strong and enduring solidarity and the democratic spaces we built will not be an easy task for those seeking it.

From the Palestinian Resistance, we seek inspiration:

“O you who pass between fleeting words
As bitter dust, go where you wish, but
Do not pass between us like flying insects
For we have work to do in our land:
We have wheat to grow which we water with our bodies’ dew
We have that which does not please you here:
Stones… or shame.” Mahmud Darwish

In moments such as this we will remain strong and alert, continuing ahead firm in our necessary struggle in this context of attacks on democracy. Our resistance continues as does our cultural program, in defense of Culture and in celebration of diversity.

Management- Al Janiah.

NOTA OFICIAL

Como tem sido noticiado em parte da imprensa, o Al Janiah – Bar, Restaurante e Centro Cultural sofreu um ataque na madrugada do domingo (1/9).

Por volta das 3h30 da manhã, um grupo de cinco pessoas se aproximou da porta principal do estabelecimento portando uma faca e spray de pimenta.

As câmeras de segurança registraram o momento do covarde ataque. Os membros do grupo fugiram na sequência.

Ninguém ficou ferido, nossa equipe conseguiu conter o ataque e todos os presentes estão bem.

Não podemos nos calar diante da motivação deste ato, num contexto de crescente discurso de intolerância e ódio que acomete este pais.

Desde o inicio, o Al Janiah sempre foi conhecido por ser um espaço democrático, de defesa das minorias políticas e acolhimento de refugiados. Sua historia se liga a luta pela Libertação da Palestina.

Institucionalmente estamos tomando as devidas providências por meio de nossos advogados.

Agradecemos o apoio que temos recebido de todos os cantos do Brasil. Não vai ser fácil destruir a solidariedade e os espaços democráticos que foram construídos.

Da resistência palestina, buscamos inspiração:
“Vocês que passam com palavras efêmeras,
como a poeira amarga, passem onde quiserem, mas
não passem entre nós como insetos com asas
temos o que fazer na nossa terra
temos trigo a criar e regar com o orvalho do nosso corpo
temos o que a vocês aqui não agrada:
temos pedra… e perdiz!” (Mahmud Darwish)

É preciso estar atento e fortes. Seguimos!
Nos mantemos firmes na luta, tão necessária nesse contexto de ataque à democracia. Nossa resistência continua e nossa programação cultural segue normalmente, em defesa da Cultura e celebração da diversidade.

Direção do Al Janiah

-ملاحظة رسمية-

كما ورد في جزء من الصحافة ، تعرض مطعم الجانية – البار والمطعم والمركز الثقافي لهجوم في الساعات الأولى من يوم الأحد.

في حوالي الساعة 3:30 صباحًا ، اقتربت مجموعة مكونة من خمسة أفراد من الباب الأمامي للمنشأة يحملون سكينًا ورذاذ الفلفل.

سجلت الكاميرات الأمنية لحظة الهجوم الجبان. فر أعضاء المجموعة بالتسلسل.

لم يصب أحد ، تمكن فريقنا من احتواء الهجوم والجميع على ما يرام.

لا يمكننا الصمت في مواجهة الدافع وراء هذا العمل ، في سياق الخطاب المتزايد للتعصب والكراهية الذي يؤثر على هذا البلد.

منذ نشأتها ، عُرِفت الجانية دائمًا بأنها مكان ديمقراطي للدفاع عن الأقليات السياسية والترحيب باللاجئين. يرتبط تاريخها بالكفاح من أجل تحرير فلسطين.

مؤسسياً نحن نتخذ الإجراءات المناسبة من خلال محامينا.

نحن نقدر الدعم الذي تلقيناه من جميع أنحاء البرازيل. لن يكون من السهل تدمير التضامن والمساحات الديمقراطية التي تم بناؤها.

من المقاومة الفلسطينية ، نسعى إلى الإلهام:
“أيها المارّون بين الكلمات العابرة
كالغبار مرّوا أينما شئتم ولكن
لا تمرّوا بيننا كالحشرات الطائرة
خلنا في ارضنا ما نعمل
و لنا قمح نربّيه ونسقيه ندى اجسادنا
و لنا ما ليس يرضيكم هنا
حجر .. أو خجل!” (محمود درويش).

يجب على المرء أن يكون في حالة تأهب وقوي. نحن نتابع!
إننا نقف بحزم في الكفاح ، وهو أمر ضروري للغاية في هذا السياق من الهجوم على الديمقراطية. تستمر مقاومتنا وتستمر برامجنا الثقافية في الدفاع عن الثقافة والاحتفال بالتنوع.

إدارة الجانية

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