Even after the silencing of Rasmea Odeh from giving a speech on Palestinian women in the struggle for liberation in Berlin on 15 March, the Israeli state is officially continuing its campaign of defamation and harassment. The Ministry of Strategic Affairs is headed by Gilad Erdan, who also heads the Ministry of Internal Security (which includes the Israel Prison Administration) . A prominent figure in the Likud party, Erdan has stepped up global defamation campaigns against BDS organizers and Palestine solidarity activists around the world in the months leading up to the Israeli elections.
Most recently, Erdan publicly claimed credit for pressuring Germany to issue a decision cancelling Rasmea Odeh’s Schengen visa and forcing her to leave the country. Erdan’s ongoing political attacks have especially targeted Palestinian human rights defenders as well as solidarity groups (including Samidoun) working to support Palestinian political prisoners. In this context, the attack on Rasmea Odeh comes as perhaps no surprise – but the German government’s decision to cancel her visa under the demands of Erdan and (far-right-linked) U.S. ambassador Richard Grenell remains shocking and appalling.
Rasmea is continuing her struggle in German courts and refusing to accept this unjust action. At the same time, Erdan’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which enjoys a multi-million dollar budget for attacking Palestine solidarity around the world, is defaming Odeh in paid ads on Twitter.
The ministry’s official Twitter account, @4ILorg, purchased paid “promoted” tweets in German and English attacking Rasmea as well as the BDS movement and Samidoun. It approvingly quoted German officials who conceded to the Israeli demand to silence Odeh, violating basic expressive rights in order to appease Israeli officials responsible for ongoing human rights violations, unjust detention, colonial occupation, settlement building, land confiscation and ongoing extrajudicial killings, both in the West Bank and in the targeting of popular protesters on the colonially-imposed “border” with Gaza every week in the Great March of Return.
“This vicious campaign reflects a deliberate exaggeration, attempting to portray the alliance of Zionist and imperialist forces in silencing a Palestinian speaker as a historic achievement. This is part of a clear policy of terrorizing the Palestinian and Arab communities in Europe. It is destined to fail inevitably, confronting the growing role of refugee movements, student organizing, youth movements and the growing popularity of the BDS movement. This is a reflection of the ongoing struggle for justice and liberation in Palestine that will end with the victory of the Palestinian people,” said Mohammed Khatib, Europe coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
He pointed out that the targeting of the Samidoun Network by the “anti-BDS ministry” is “a failing attempt to distort our image by the racist minister Gilad Erdan, who is also the Minister of Internal Security daily targeting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.” Khatib said that these attacks are part of an “ongoing campaign to criminalize Palestinian resistance in any form, targeting all voices and supporters of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and their daily struggle, as the prisoners stand at the forefront of the campaign to defend their rights and all of our rights as well.”
This demonstration commemorates Land Day, when in 1976 Zionist settler colonialists confiscted more than 1000 square kilometers of Palestinian land in order to settle more European colonialists. We also mark one year of the ongoing Great March of Return in Gaza and continue the struggle for the freedom of the prisoners.
Kundgebung um daran zu erinnern, dass die zionistischen Siedlerkolomialist*innen 1976 weitere mehrere 1000 KM² enteignete, um Siedler*innen und Kolonialist*innen aus Europa anzusiedeln!!! Gleichzeitig wollen Wir weiterhin den Kampf für die Freiheit der Gefangenen* weiterführen!!
On 30 March, Palestinian Land Day, we will mark one year of the launch of the Great March of Return in Gaza. Every Friday, Palestinians participate in mass demonstrations to demand their right to return to their lands in Palestine and the end of the siege of Gaza.
With massive courage, youth, women and men stand each week confronting the Israeli army, which has continued its massacres in total impunity.
Israel is not sanctioned despite the killing of journalists, medics, children and elders…200 Palestinians, 40 children have been killed and 7,800 injured, for asking to live free.
An independent international commission of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) accuses Israel, in a report released on 28 February 2019, of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine calls for a rally on Wednesday, 27 March:
Right of Return for all Palestinians! End the siege of Gaza!
Free Palestine! Boycott Israel!
Le 30 mars, Journée de la Terre palestinienne, il y aura un an qu’a commencé la Grande Marche du Retour à Gaza. Chaque vendredi, les Palestiniens ont manifesté en masse, réclamant le retour sur leurs terres en Palestine et la fin du siège de Gaza.
Avec un courage énorme, des jeunes, des femmes, des hommes affrontent chaque semaine une armée israélienne qui continue les massacres en toute impunité.
Israël n’est pas sanctionné, alors qu’il assassine des journalistes, des médecins, des enfants en bas âge… Deux cents Palestiniens, dont 40 enfants, ont été tués et 7.800 autres blessés par balles, dont 130 mutilés, pour avoir demandé à vivre libres.
Une commission internationale indépendante, créée par le Conseil des droits de l’Homme des Nations Unies, accuse Israël, dans un rapport rendu public le 28 février 2019, de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l’humanité.
La Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine appelle à un rassemblement ce mercredi 27 mars :
Droit au Retour de tous les Palestiniens ! Fin du blocus de Gaza !
Saturday 30 March will not only be the traditional « Land Day » but also the one year anniversary of the weekly Gaza Return Marches. And we call you to join massively the march we are organizing in Paris that day, to show the Palestinians that the world has not forgotten them, unlike what they fear.
We must support them
*because they are courageous and resist unarmed with their flags and determination while confronted to an army which shoots men, women, children, health staff and journalists
*because 200 of them, including 40 children, have been killed and 7,800 others seriously injured (among them 130 maimed)
*because locking 2 million human beings behind barbed wire for 12 years, deprived of everything including drugs, is barbaric
*because our governments cooperate with the Israeli Apartheid State, that colonizes and massacres Palestinians, putting forward racist theories and laws.
We call you to bring your solidarity to this youth, to these mothers who don’t want to lose their children one by one, but who have no perspective of freedom to offer them, to these fathers who feel powerless in front of their distressed and desperate children.
MARCH WITH US FROM REPUBLIQUE TO OPERA !
ON SATURDAY MARCH 30
FROM 14:00 TO 18: 00
First signatories: CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, Droits Devant !!, Al-Rowwad, Campagne pour la libération de Georges Abdallah, Avec Naplouse, Désobeissants, ISM France… (and many Yellow Vests)
Samedi 30 mars prochain, nous ne célèbrerons pas seulement la traditionnelle journée de la terre Palestinienne, mais aussi un an, jour pour jour, depuis le début des Marches du Retour héroïques et hebdomadaires dans la Bande de Gaza. Et nous vous appelons à y participer très nombreux(ses), afin d’envoyer un signe aux Palestiniens, qui se croient oubliés du monde entier.
– Parce qu’ils sont courageux, n’ayant que leurs drapeaux et leur détermination face à une armée qui tire à balles réelles sur hommes, femmes et enfants, secouristes et journalistes
– Parce que 200 d’entre eux, dont 40 enfants ont été tués et 7800 autres blessés par balles, dont 130 mutilés, pour avoir demandé à vivre libres
– Parce qu’enfermer 2 millions d’êtres humains derrière des barbelés, en les privant de tout, même de soins, est d’une barbarie sans nom
– Parce que nos dirigeants collaborent avec cet Etat d’apartheid israélien qui colonise et massacre les Palestiniens, en affichant ses théories racistes
Nous vous appelons à montrer notre solidarité à cette jeunesse, à ces mères qui ne veulent pas perdre leurs enfants un par un, mais qui n’ont aucune perspective de liberté à leur offrir, à ces pères qui se sentent impuissants devant l’angoisse et le désespoir de leurs enfants.
Note: Charlotte Kates of Samidoun will join the panel discussion over Skype following the film along with several other speakers.
A STONE’S THROW FROM PRISON 65 mins, Raquel Castells Documentary, 2016 – Spain, Palestine Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/79281086
Between 2010 and 2014, nearly 3,000 Palestinian children were arrested by Israeli forces for reasons like throwing stones. Many are kept in solitary confinement for days, shackled and subjected to intimidating questioning without the presence of their parents or a lawyer. Mohammad Zedani, 14, has been arrested six times. The experience has left him traumatised: he struggles to sleep and displays symptoms of PTSD. The film tells his story, along with those of Rami and Ahmed, three out of thousands of children affected by the occupation. We also hear from those working to stop the abuses.
This even is co-organized by Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) and Faculty for Palestine –
Pressemitteilung von Samidoun (Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network) zu der Veranstaltung „Palästinensische Frauen im Befreiungskampf“, 15.03.2019, Berlin
Illiberaler Angriff auf die Meinungsfreiheit
1. Der Rahmen
Die Veranstaltung „Palästinensische Frauen im Befreiungskampf“, organisiert von Samidoun, die am 15.03.2019 in der Dersim-Kulturgemeinde in Berlin stattfinden sollte, hatte zum Ziel die Lebensgeschichten von zwei palästinensischen Frauen unterschiedlicher Generationen sichtbar zu machen und den Internationalen Frauentag zu würdigen.
Die eingeladenen Sprecherinnen Rasmea Odeh (*1947) und Dareen Tatour (*1982) sollten Einblick in marginalisierte Narrative von Erfahrung von Folter, Inhaftierung, sowie Kunst und gesellschaftlichem Engagement als Formen des gewaltfreien Widerstands geben. Im Anschluss waren Tanz-und Theatervorführungen geplant, sowie Austausch und Diskussion mit dem vielfältigen Berliner Publikum.
2. Die Sprecherinnen
Rasmea Odeh ist eine palästinensische Frauenrechtsaktivistin, die 1969 von einem Militärgericht der israelischen Besatzung verurteilt wurde, nachdem sie unter Folter und sexualisierter Gewalt die Beteiligung an einem Anschlag zugegeben hatte. Ihr Geständnis widerrief sie vor Gericht, sowie vor dem UN-Sonderkomitee für Untersuchungen israelischer menschenrechtsbeeinträchtigender Praktiken in den besetzten Gebieten. 1979 kam sie im Rahmen eines Gefangenenaustausch frei. Odeh hat in Chicago das Arab Women’s Committee mitbegründet. Ihr wurde für ihre Arbeit im Bereich der politischen Bildung 2013 der „Outstanding Community Leader Award“ von der Chicago Cultural Alliance verliehen.
Dareen Tatour ist eine palästinensische Dichterin mit israelischer Staatsbürgerschaft, die im Oktober 2015 für die Veröffentlichung ihres Gedichts “Resist, My People, Resist Them” vor einem israelischen Gericht für Aufwiegelung und Unterstützung von Terrorismus zu Hausarrest und einer fünf-monatigen Gefängnisstrafe verurteilt wurde. PEN America forderte die unmittelbare Entlassung der Dichterin.
3. Die Verhinderung der Veranstaltung
Am Nachmittag des 15.03.2019 untersagte die Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Inneres und Sport Odeh die Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung. Die Ausländerbehörde behauptete wahrheitswidrig, dass Rasmea Odeh durch ihre bloße Präsenz in Berlin eine Gefahr für die Sicherheit darstelle und hob ihr Schengen-Visum auf.
Bereits einige Tage vor der geplanten Veranstaltung wurde Rasmea Odeh in mehreren tendenziösen Artikeln ungeprüft als „Terroristin“, „Hasspredigerin“ und “Antisemitin“ gebrandmarkt. Hier gilt festzuhalten, dass bis zum heutigen Tag kein/e einzige/r Journalist/in den direkten Kontakt zu Rasmea Odeh für eine Stellungnahme oder ein Interview gesucht hat. Weiterhin ist festzuhalten, dass in dem Großteil der Artikel der lokalen Presse (Tagesspiegel, Berliner Zeitung, Berliner Morgenpost) die Tatsache, dass Odehs Geständnis unter Folter und sexualisierter Gewalt stattgefunden hat, nicht erwähnt wird. Die Artikel fanden rasch und ungeprüft große mediale Verbreitung. Auch Politiker wie der Berliner Innensenator warfen Odeh „antisemitische Propaganda“ vor, der US-Botschafter sogar „Mord“ und „Terrorismus“. Bisher gab es nur einen Artikel in der taz, der festhält, dass die Meinungsfreiheit durch das Verbot der Veranstaltung in Gefahr ist.
Rasema Odeh, Dareen Tatour und die Organisator*innen der Veranstaltung stellen klar, dass sie jegliche Form von Gewalt, Antisemitismus, Rassismus und Sexismus strikt ablehnen.
5. Rechtliche Stellungnahme
Am 18.03.2019 wurde ein Eilverfahren am Verwaltungsgericht Berlin beantragt. Ziel ist, die Ausweisung von Rasmea Odeh zu verhindern.
Odehs Anwältin resümiert: „Ein Visum aufzuheben aufgrund einer Sache, die so weit in der Vergangenheit passiert sein soll, ist juristisch gesehen ein völliges Novum, zumal es ja hier um ein erfoltertes Geständnis geht, was sogar das UN-Sonderkomitee für Untersuchungen israelischer menschenrechtsbeeinträchtigender Praktiken in den besetzen Gebieten festgestellt hat.“
6. Zusammenfassung
Rasmea Odehs Rechte wurden auf mehreren Ebenen verletzt:
1. Durch tendenziöse Berichterstattung und Verleumdung als „Terroristin“, „Mörderin” und „Antisemitin” wurde Odeh schwer in ihren Persönlichkeitsrechten verletzt.
2. Durch die Verhinderung der Veranstaltung wurde Odeh in ihrem Recht auf freie Meinungsäußerung eingeschränkt.
3. Durch die Entziehung ihres Visums wurde Odehs Recht auf Bewegungsfreiheit beschnitten.
7. Aussicht
Eine Zurücknahme der haltlosen Vorwürfe gegen Rasmea Odeh seitens des Berliner Senats, des Berliner Bürgermeisters, Michael Müller, sowie des Senators für Inneres, Andreas Geisel, steht aus. Ebenso wie eine differenzierte und objektive Berichterstattung.
Wir würden uns eine Kontaktaufnahme von Seiten des Senats mit uns wünschen, sowie eine Bekennung zur verfassungs-und völkerrechtlich verbürgten Meinungsfreiheit.
Angesichts der Geschehnisse können wir nicht umhin eine Einschüchterung und Kriminalisierung von palästinensischen und migrantischen Stimmen und Narrativen in dem Umgang mit der geplanten Veranstaltung zu erkennen.
Samidoun, sowie die Anwältin Rasmea Odehs, stehen jederzeit zu klarstellenden Gesprächen zur Verfügung.
Rasma Odehs Aussagen vor dem UN-Sonderkomitee 1979:
„Frau Odeh wurde in der Nacht vom 28. Februar 1969 mit ihrem Vater und zwei Schwestern verhaftet. Das Familienhaus wurde einige Tage später in die Luft gejagt. Nachdem sie 45 Tage lang im Russian Compound in Jerusalem und im Ramle Gefängnis verhört wurde (inklusive 25 Tage ununterbrochene Verhöre am Tag und in der Nacht), wurde sie am 22. Januar 1970 zu einer lebenslangen Freiheitsstrafe verurteilt, obwohl sie die Vorwürfe, eine Bombe in einem Supermarkt gelegt zu haben, verneint.
(…) Frau Odeh gab eine detaillierte Beschreibung ihrer Folter während der Verhöre ab. Sie beschrieb auch die psychische Folter die sie erfuhr, als sie die Folter ihres Vaters, ihrer Schwester, ihres Verlobten und anderer Angehöriger mit ansehen musste. Sie beschrieb wie die physische Folter der sie ausgesetzt war, unter anderem zwangsweise Entkleidung und Nacktheit, Fesselungen, Schläge mit Stöcken und Metallstangen auf ihren Kopf und ihren Körper, zu Hörproblemen führten, die über 1 Jahr andauerten.
Frau Odeh gab auch an, dass sie Opfer sexualisierter Gewalt wurde, und zwar während sie mit den Verhörbeamten alleine war, und auch in der Anwesenheit ihres Vaters. Sie gab an, dass der Verhörbeamte den Vater dazu zwingen wollte sie zu vergewaltigen, und dass der Vater aufgrund dieser Aufforderung das Bewusstsein verlor. Ähnliches wurde ihr in Anwesenheit anderer Kollegen angetan. Frau Odeh erklärte, dass sie während der Verhöre gezwungen wurde nackt zu bleiben, bzw. dass ihr die Kleider vom Leib gerissen wurden.“
As part of the Festival “Palestine in Cinema” organized by the association AGIR POUR La Palestine
Samouni Road, a film by Stefano Savona (Award for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival 2018) France, Italy – 2018 – duration 2h08 – VOSTFR
Screening followed by a meeting with Hisham Abu Shahla, a Palestinian from Gaza, a young researcher in political science who is researching the Palestinian question and served on the film’s working team as a consultant.
In the rural outskirts of Gaza, the Samouni family is about to celebrate a wedding. This is the first party since the last war. Amal, Fouad, their brothers and their cousins lost their parents, their homes and their olive trees. The neighborhood where they live is rebuilding. They replant trees and plow the fields, but a more difficult task still lies with these young survivors: rebuilding their own memory. Throughout their memories, Samouni Road paints a portrait of this family before, during and after the event that changed their lives forever.
Dans le cadre du Festival “La Palestine au Cinéma” organisé par l’association AGIR POUR La Palestine
Samouni Road, un film de Stefano Savona (Prix du Meilleur documentaire au Festival de Cannes 2018) France, Italie – 2018 – durée 2h08 – VOSTFR
Projection suivie d’une rencontre avec Hisham Abu Shahla, palestinien de Gaza, jeune chercheur en sciences politiques qui effectue ses recherches sur la question palestinienne et a fait partie de l’équipe de travail du film comme consultant.
Dans la périphérie rurale de la ville de #Gaza, la famille Samouni s’apprête à célébrer un mariage. C’est la première fête depuis la dernière guerre. Amal, Fouad, leurs frères et leurs cousins ont perdu leurs parents, leurs maisons et leurs oliviers. Le quartier où ils habitent est en reconstruction. Ils replantent des arbres et labourent les champs, mais une tâche plus difficile encore incombe à ces jeunes survivants : reconstruire leur propre mémoire. Au fil de leurs souvenirs, Samouni Road dresse un portrait de cette famille avant, pendant et après l’événement qui a changé leur vie à jamais.
The event “Palestinian women in the liberation struggle,” organized by Samidoun, was planned to take place on 15.03.2019 in the Dersim Cultural Center in Berlin. This event aimed to highlight the life stories of two Palestinian women of different generations and honor Palestinian women’s struggle around International Women’s Day.
The invited speakers Rasmea Odeh (born 1947) and Dareen Tatour (born 1982) would provide unique insights and perspectives, revealing marginalized narratives of torture and detention, as well as art and social engagement as forms of non-violent resistance. After the main presentations, dance and theater performances were planned, as well as dialogue and discussion with a diverse Berlin audience.
2. Speakers
Rasmea Odeh is a Palestinian women’s rights activist who was sentenced in 1969 by an Israeli military tribunal after being convicted of participating in an attack. Her confession was extracted under torture and sexual violence. Her confession was revoked in court, as well as before the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories. In 1979, she was released as part of a prisoner exchange. Odeh co-founded the Arab Women’s Committee in Chicago. She was awarded the Outstanding Community Leader Award by the Chicago Cultural Alliance for her work on political education in 2013.
Dareen Tatour is a Palestinian poet with Israeli citizenship, who spent years in house arrest and was sentenced to a five-month jail term after initially being arrested in October 2015 for publishing her poem “Resist, My People, Resist Them.” She was put on trial in an Israeli court for incitement and support of terrorism. PEN America and many freedom of expression organizations internationally demanded the poet’s immediate release.
3. The prevention of the event
On the afternoon of 15.03.2019, the Berlin Senate Department for Internal Affairs and Sport prohibited Rasmea Odeh from taking part in the cultural event. The immigration office claimed that Rasmea Odeh, by her mere presence in Berlin, posed a danger to security and revoked her Schengen visa.
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan has claimed that this ban was implemented through the intervention of his ministry and the Israeli ambassador as well as a number of Jewish organizations.
A few days before the scheduled event, Rasmea Odeh was branded unchecked in several sensationalist articles as a “terrorist”, “hate preacher” and “anti-Semite”. It should be noted that to date no journalist has sought direct contact with Rasmea Odeh for comment or interview. It should also be noted that most of the articles in the local press (Tagesspiegel, Berliner Zeitung, Berliner Morgenpost) do not mention the fact that Odeh’s confession was made under torture and sexual violence. The articles found rapid and unchecked widespread distribution. Even politicians such as the Berlin Interior Senator accused Odeh of “anti-Semitic propaganda”, and the US ambassador even used the terms “murder” and “terrorism”. So far, there was only one article in taz, which indicates that freedom of expression is endangered by the ban on the event.
Rasema Odeh, Dareen Tatour and the organizers of the event make it clear that they strictly reject all forms of violence, anti-Semitism, racism and sexism.
5. Legal statement
On 18.03.2019, an urgent hearing was requested at the Berlin Administrative Court. The aim is to prevent the deportation of Rasmea Odeh.
Odeh’s attorney sums it up: “Cancelling a visa based on what has happened so far in the past is a completely novel concept from a legal point of view, especially as it is based on a confession condemned even by the “The Special Committee to investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories”.”
6. Summary
Rasmea Odeh’s rights were violated on several levels:
1. By sensationalist, inaccurate reporting and slander as a “terrorist,” “murderer,” and “anti-Semite,” Odeh suffered a serious injury to her personal rights.
2. The prevention of the event restricted Odeh’s right to freedom of expression.
3. The withdrawal of her visa curtailed Odeh’s right to freedom of movement.
7. Prospective
We are calling for a withdrawal of the baseless allegations against Rasmea Odeh made by the Berlin Senate, the Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, and the Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel. We are also calling for objective and fair reporting.
We would like to receive a contact from the Senate on this matter, as well as a commitment to constitutional and international law protecting freedom of expression.
In light of what has taken place, we cannot help but to recognize the intimidation and criminalization of Palestinian and migrant voices and narratives in the approach to the planned event.
Samidoun and Rasmea Odeh’s lawyer are available for clarification and comment at any time.
“Miss Rasmiah ODEH (A/AC.145/RT.262 and 264) was arrested on the night of 28 February 1969 with her father and two sisters. Their house was blown up several days later. After being interrogated for 45 days (including 25 days of non-stop interrogation night and day) at the Russian Compound, in Jerusalem and at Ramle prison, she was sentenced, on 22 January 1970, to life imprisonment on charges (which she denied) of planting explosives in a supermarket….
Miss Odeh gave a detailed description of the physical ill-treatment to which she was subjected during her interrogation. She also described the psychological torture that she had experienced when her father, sisters, fiancé and other comrades were ill-treated in front of her or nearby. She stated that the physical torture to which she had been subjected included being stripped naked, chained and beaten with sticks and metal bars, on her head as well as on her body thereby causing her hearing problems for over one year.
Miss Odeh stated that she had been subjected to sexual abuse while alone with her interrogators and also in the presence of her father. She alleged that her interrogators had forced her father to violate her but that he had fainted before he could do so. Similar treatment was meted out to her in front of her colleagues, including Aisha Odeh. Miss Odeh stated that during her interrogation she was forced to remain naked or have her clothes torn off her.”
“They demolish our houses while we build theirs.” This is how a Palestinian stonemason, in line at a checkpoint outside a Jerusalem suburb, described his life to Andrew Ross. Palestinian “stone men,” utilising some of the best-quality dolomitic limestone deposits in the world and drawing on generations of artisanal knowledge, have built almost every state in the Middle East except their own. Today the business of quarrying, cutting, fabrication, and dressing is Palestine’s largest employer and generator of revenue, supplying the construction industry in Israel, along with other Middle East countries and even more overseas.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews in Palestine and Israel, Ross’s engrossing, surprising, and gracefully written story of this fascinating ancient trade shows how the stones of Palestine, and Palestinian labour, have been used to build out the state of Israel—in the process, constructing “facts on the ground”—even while the industry is central to Palestinians’ own efforts to erect bulwarks against the Occupation. For decades, the hands that built Israel’s houses, schools, offices, bridges, and even its separation barriers have been Palestinian. Looking at the Palestine–Israel conflict in a new light, this book asks how this record of achievement and labour be recognised.
Stone Men: The Palestinians Who Built Israel by Andrew Ross is available from Verso on March 26: https://www.versobooks.com/books/2926-stone-men
Speakers:
Andrew Ross is Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University and a social activist. A contributor to the Nation, Village Voice, New York Times, and Artforum, he is the author of many books, including, most recently, Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City and Nice Work if You Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times. He lives in New York.
Lamis Deek is a human rights attorney, activist and strategist.
Nerdeen Kiswani is a Palestinian organizer from NYC. She’s the founder and chair of Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, a youth organization that has been organizing the Palestinian diaspora in NYC for the past 3 years. She has been centrally involved in multiple coalitions for Palestine both locally in NYC, building multiple Palestine student organizations in different universities and participating in the national student movement in the US, and internationally, having participated in conferences around the world and across the US to further the Palestinian struggle.
Even after the silencing of Rasmea Odeh from giving a speech on Palestinian women in the struggle for liberation in Berlin on 15 March, the Israeli state is officially continuing its campaign of defamation and harassment. The Ministry of Strategic Affairs is headed by Gilad Erdan, who also heads the Ministry of Internal Security (which includes the Israel Prison Administration) . A prominent figure in the Likud party, Erdan has stepped up global defamation campaigns against BDS organizers and Palestine solidarity activists around the world in the months leading up to the Israeli elections.
