Despite Israel’s decades-long documented suppression of Palestinian voices and Palestinian human rights the Philadelphia Orchestra has made plans to perform in Israel this June. Despite the calls from the local community calling for the boycott of this trip, the Philadelphia Orchestra is claiming that their performance in Israel is a form “cultural diplomacy,” and not “a political mission.”
Inspired by the global cultural boycott that helped end Apartheid in South Africa, Palestinian civil society has called on the international cultural institutions to not perform in Israel. This cultural boycott is used as a means of popular non-violent activism to pressure Israel to end their occupation and apartheid policies.
Over 100 musicians, artists, scholars, union members and activists, as well as 33 social justice organizations have called on the Philadelphia Orchestra to cancel their planned June tour in Israel. Citing that such a tour would be regarded as the orchestra’s participation in what’s considered as the Israeli government’s, “Brand Israel propaganda strategy.”
Philly BDS invites you to learn about “Philly, Don’t Orchestrate Apartheid.”
What is a cultural boycott? How and why do they work?
What are some strategies for an effective cultural boycott campaign?
How to involve more Palestinians in the movement.
A TEACH-IN on CULTURAL BOYCOTT
Saturday, May 5, 2018
UPENN, Houston Hall Bodek Lounge
4:00 – 6:00 PM
Panelists:
Dr. Lawrence Davidson, retired professor of Middle East history at West Chester University. He is an Advisory Board member of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Hannah Mermelstein is a school librarian and Palestine solidarity activist based in Brooklyn, NY. She is an active member of Adalah-NY: Campaign for the Boycott of Israel and a founder of Librarians and Archivists with Palestine. She has led more than 25 delegations to Palestine and has been involved in many BDS campaigns in the US.
Karima Saab, a Palestinian American representing Philly BDS will talk about the group’s current campaign–demanding The Philadelphia Orchestra to cancel their upcoming performance in Israel. In addition, Karima will discuss the apparent misconnection present in the Palestinian-American community regarding activism as it is compared to non-Palestinian Activism in the Philadelphia area.
A moderated discussion will follow.
As growing protests enter their fifth week, join the Philly Don’t Orchestrate Apartheid Coalition at the Kimmel Center to continue broadcasting our demand that the Philadelphia Orchestra cancel its tour to Apartheid Israel. The Philadelphia Orchestra’s co-president Ryan Fleur has gone on the defensive in the op-ed section of the Philly Inquirer. And yet he has still refused to meet with the PDOA coalition.
This demonstration will take place immediately after a panel discussion on Penn’s campus hosted by Philly BDS. Please join us at both events!
Learn more about the implications and the struggle against the departure of the Giro d’Italia from Israel, in order to understand how the use of this cycle race is an attempt to conceal the military occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state. At the same time, it boosts Israel’s air of impunity, fueling a continuous denial of Palestinian rights with no international action. This is an opportunity to advance the struggle for the right of return, especially amid the March of Return taking place in Gaza and facing massacres by the Israeli army.
Un’occasione per approfondire insieme il significato della partenza del Giro d’Italia da Israele, per comprendere come tenere il “Giro d’Italia” in Israele occulta l’occupazione militare e la discriminazione contro i palestinesi da parte di Israele e al contempo ne incentiva la sensazione di impunità, alimentando la continua negazione dei diritti dei palestinesi sanciti dall’ONU.
Un’occasione per approfondire la tematica del diritto al ritorno e il significato della Marcia del Ritorno che si sta svolgendo a Gaza e del cecchinaggio portato avanti dall’esercito israeliano.
STAND WITH GAZA AND THE GREAT RETURN MARCH
STAND WITH PALESTINIANS FACING ISRAEL’S MASSACRES
Demonstrate and march this Saturday 5th May, 12pm Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
Another three Palestinian protesters killed and more than 950 were wounded last Friday as Israeli forces again open fire at Gaza border on Friday as the besieged territory entered the fifth week of demonstrations as part of the “Great March of Return”. A fourth victim, a 15-year old boy named Azzam Hillal, died of his wounds on Saturday. He was shot in the head by Israeli military during Friday’s protest.
They go again this Friday, facing the same barrage of exploding bullets, and tear gas, as they demand freedom from Israeli imprisonment and a return to their homes. We will be out in support again this Saturday in Manchester.
46 Palestinians in Gaza have been murdered and 1000s shot and injured since the Great Return March began on 31st March – and still they go out, unarmed to face the Israeli snipers, jeeps, drones and tanks shooting them at the Gaza border. The least we can do is stand with them.
Palestinians have been mobilising for the Great Return March to protest the ongoing occupation and siege of Gaza and despite Israel’s brutal massacre, they have remained resilient and determined to protest their oppressors and plan to march every Friday until 15th May 2018, which marks 70 years since the Al-Nakba – the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Israeli forces have been ruthlessly murdering Palestinian protesters with impunity, and using this as a source of entertainment, with images coming out of Israeli forces treating the massacre as a spectator sport.
We will keep marching in Manchester and continue to oppose all UK companies and organisations complicit in Israel’s massacres of Palestinians. We will stand against those investing in Israeli Arms companies whose profits increase the more bombs are dropped and the more protesters they kill.
Join the emergency protest/ march calling for an end to complicity in Israel’s military regime. We will meet at Manchester Piccadilly gardens at 12pm, and at 1pm will begin the march.
Demonstration called by:
Manchester Palestine Action
Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism
Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign
BDS University of Manchester
Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine
No to the sport-washing of Zionist attacks against the Palestinian people! No to the launch of the Giro d’Italia in Israel!
This is not just about sport – this is a tribute to Israel by the Italian state, which makes itself an accomplice to the theft of the land and freedom of a people.
This is not just about sports – it is a business! Israel has paid 4 million for this event, an investment to clean its image soiled by its criminal policies against the Palestinian people to find a return in tourism and international legitimacy.
Israeli Zionist violence cannot be justified by the “right to defend itself” – Israel is occupying Palestinians’ rightful land.
Let’s mobilize against the launch of the Giro d’Italia from Israel. Solidarity with the Palestinian people and all those who resist imperialism. Free Palestine!
North-East Committee to Curb the Wheels of Occupation
FRENIAMO LE RUOTE DELL’OCCUPAZIONE SIONISTA!
ISRAELE MAGLIA NERA!
No allo sport-washing delle barbarie sioniste contro il Popolo Palestinese!
No alla partenza del Giro d’Italia 2018 in Israele!
Non si tratta di sport: questo è un omaggio ad Israele da parte dello stato italiano, che in questo modo si rende complice del furto della terra e della libertà di un popolo.
Non si tratta di sport: questo è business! Israele ha pagato 4 milioni per questo evento: un investimento con cui pulisce la propria immagine sporcata dalle politiche criminali contro i palestinesi e che gli ritornerà in termini di turismo e legittimazione internazionale.
Le violenze sioniste israeliane non si giustificano con “diritto a difendersi”: Israele occupa una terra che è di diritto dei Palestinesi.
Mobilitiamoci contro la partenza del Giro d’Italia da Israele.
Solidarietà al popolo palestinese e a tutti i popoli che resistono all’imperialismo.
Palestina libera!
Organizza: “Comitato del Nord-Est Freniamo le ruote dell’occupazione” – un insieme di realtà del Nord Est che si stanno mobilitando contro la partenza del Giro d’Italia da israele.
Per info e adesioni: freniamoisraele.nordest@gmail.com
ALL OUT IN COMMEMORATION OF THE NAKBA AND THE ONGOING STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION AND RETURN
March 30th, Land Day, marked the first day of the Great March of Return, a 46 day struggle leading vup to Nakba Day on May 15th. From now until then and beyond, we in New York and around the globe must support the ongoing struggle in Palestine. As the struggle escalates throughout historic Palestine and the diaspora, join NY4Palestine as we reiterate our commitment to the liberation and the right of return of all of historic Palestine from the strangles of the settler colonial Zionist state of “israel.”
It has been 70 years since nearly 1 million Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes by Zionist forces during the Al-Nakba (Arabic for the Catastrophe) To this day they and their descendants are still barred from returning. Israel has recently escalated its racist and genocidal policies, with the detention and killing of children increasing whilst Al-Quds, the capital of Palestine, is under threat. In reaction to the increase in these policies of ethnic cleansing the resilient Palestinian people, alongside their international allies, are organizing to let the world know that the land, from Haifa to Jerusalem to Gaza and all in between, will be liberated and that a sovereign, independent, free Palestine is inevitable as long as its people remain beacons of resistance.
While we mourn the Nakba, we celebrate the resistance and its steadfast sacrifices in ensuring that the question of Palestine gets an answer. The Zionists did not expect that 70 years later Palestinians would still be fighting for their freedom and dignity. As the fight for liberation continues in the homeland, the fight for liberation continues from inside the belly of the beast. We will be rallying to demand the right of return for ALL Palestinians in the diaspora, to demand Israel keep its hands off al-Quds, to celebrate 70 years of resilience and resistance, and to denounce the settler colonial state of “israel.”
The Nakba did not end in 1948, nor did the resistance.
Nyle Fort, Newark-based minister and activist & Fatin Jarara, Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
In the wake of yet more police shootings of people of color in the U.S. and Israel’s recent massacres in Gaza, this panel event will discuss the commonalities between Black and Palestinian movements for freedom, equality, and justice — from the Movement for Black Lives in the U.S. to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel (BDS).
As part of the struggle for racial justice in SOMA, please join us to explore how connecting these efforts makes us stronger together.
Co-hosted by: SOMA for Palestine, Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine – NJ, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Palestinian American Community Center.
Note: The Maplewood Public Library does not advocate or endorse the viewpoints of meetings or meeting room users.
Samia Halaby is a renowned artist whose work is collected by the British Museum, the Guggenheim and other galleries around the world.
The 1956 Kafr Qasem massacre was carried out by the Israeli Border Police under cover of the tripartite attack on Egypt by England, France, and Israel. Two other massacres took place during the ensuing days in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, where over 400 Palestinian civilians were slaughtered by Israeli troops on their way to Egypt. In Kafr Qasem, an artifice was created to provide a fig-leaf excuse for the killing of innocent people — a curfew announced less than a half an hour before it was implemented. Workers returning home, tired and hungry, unaware of the curfew, were cold-bloodedly shot dead by members of the Israeli Border Police. Based on interviews with survivors, Samia Halaby created a set of documentary drawings on the subject. The emotions of anger and fear leap from every page of this book, enabling the reader to bear witness to the terrible suffering endured by the inhabitants of this small Palestinian village.
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), the Journalist Support Committee is pleased to invite you to a discussion on
“THE PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS CHALLENGES”
DATE: 3rd May 2018 (Thursday)
TIME: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
VENUE: SOAS University of London, Room S209, Paul Webley Wing (Senate House), Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Moderated by Muhammad Ali Carter
With speakers including:
Jehan Farra, Prominent Journalist and Writer
Daz Chandler, Award Wining Filmmaker and Multimedia Artist
Roshan Salih, Journalist at Press TV and editor of British Muslim news website 5Pillars
Daniel O’Brien, Media Analyst
Light refreshments will be served.
Schedule of the event:
7:00 – 7:10 Welcome and Opening Speech (Robert Carter)
7:10 – 7:16 Execution of Eyewitnesses (Short Film)
7:16 – 7:30 First speaker Jehan Farra
7:35 – 7:55 Second speaker Roushan Saleh
7: 55 – 8:00 Short Video summarizing the violations
8:00 – 8:20 Third speaker Daz Chandler
8: 25 – 8:45 Fourth speaker Daniel O’Brien
8:45 – 9:00 Closing session with a serving of light refreshments
An Israeli court in Nazareth convicted Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour of “incitement” and “support for terror” for posting on Facebook and creating a poetry video on Thursday, 3 May. The conclusion of the trial – in an Israeli civil court – came after years of a lengthy trial and years of house arrest and confinement for the 36-year-old Palestinian poet. According to Yoav Haifawi, reporting from the court, “The judge wrote that if Tatour mentioned Palestinian innocent victims in her poetry ‘any reasonable person can only understand this as incitement to violent revenge.'”
She was first arrested in October 2015 after posting several Facebook statuses, including news information on the rising popular movement and intifada, a photo of Israa Abed and the words, “I am the next martyr,” and her poem, “Resist, my people, resist them.” (Abed is a Palestinian woman, also from ’48 Palestine, who was shot by Israeli police at a bus station; allegations against her were later dismissed.) She is one of hundreds of Palestinians – mostly from the West Bank and Jerusalem, but also from Palestine ’48 – arrested and imprisoned for posting their political positions and, in this case, their art, on Facebook and other social media.
Dareen Tatour in court, 3 May. Photo: Yoav Haifawi
Of couse, Dareen Tatour is far from the first Palestinian poet – including a number of poets from ’48 Palestine – targeted by the Israeli occupation for arrest and imprisonment. The jailing and trial of Dareen Tatour is an echo of the arrests and imprisonment of Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, Tawfiq Zayyad and many others, not to mention the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani, Wael Zuaiter, Kamal Nasser and other Palestinian poets and writers.
Indeed, at times, the trial has been somewhat surreal, as the meaning of words like “intifada” (uprising), “shahid” (martyr) and “qawem” (resistance) are debated in the courtroom between translators. Palestinian existence, expression and experience has become a subject for judicial debate about its inherent “violence.” The very act of a Palestinian writing poetry about her experience and the collective experience of her people is blatantly criminalized and labeled “terror” before the world.
After her arrest in October 2015, Tatour was jailed for three months before entering house arrest. Under the conditions of her house arrest, she has been barred from using the internet and communicating electronically. For months, she was restricted to an apartment in Tel Aviv and her brother and sister-in-law had to leave work to “guard” her before she was allowed to return to her home village of Reineh. She was monitored using an electronic ankle bracelet and was denied even visits to her family’s home for months.
Her case has drawn attention to the suppression of Palestinian literary and artistic voices. Hundreds of internationally renowned writers and artists, including Edwidge Danticat, Ahdaf Soueif, Alice Walker, Eve Ensler, Ariel Dorfman, Russell Banks and Barbara Hammer, have called for Tatour’s release and the dropping of charges against her, a call endorsed by PEN, the international freedom of expression association.
PEN Center USA joined with PEN International to issue a call to action and petition in support of Tatour and demanding the dropping of all charges against her. “After reviewing the charge sheet and the evidence against her, PEN has concluded that Dareen Tatour has been targeted for her poetry and activism and is calling for her immediate and unconditional release.” Jennifer Clement, president of PEN International, said that “Dareen Tatour is on trial because she wrote a poem. Dareen Tatour is critical of Israeli policies, but governments that declare themselves as democracies do not curb dissent. Words like those of Dareen Tatour have been used by other revolutionary poets, during the Vietnam war, during other liberation wars, and they can be found in the works of Sufiya Kamal of Bangladesh, of Ernesto Cardenal of Nicaragua, and so on.”
In an interview at Mondoweiss the day before the verdict, Tatour discussed her involvement with the marches of return inside Occupied Palestine ’48, especially now as the Marches of Return in Gaza are facing brutal repression and building worldwide support. She noted that she had been involved in creating documentary footage tracing Palestinian history and remembering the Nakba as well as organizing events at the marches. “As the annual March of Return events evolved to draw tens of thousands participants, they now also include tents with special exhibitions. In the last marches before her arrest Tatour maintained her own tent, with an exhibition of more than 500 photos from the destroyed villages and towns, under the title’ tell me about my village.’ This was not a one time event–but an annual exhibition during the March of Return that ran for several years.”
Dareen Tatour participates in a Return March prior to her arrest
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces the unjust conviction of Dareen Tatour for her poetry and literary expression. The arrest, trial and conviction of Dareen Tatour once again exposes the nature of the Israeli court system and its role as a fig leaf at best for a systematic attack on Palestinian rights and existence. Whether facing the military courts that convict 99.74 percent of the Palestinians that come before them, the administrative detention hearings that send Palestinians to prison without charge or trial or the “civil” courts that criminalize poetry and impose extreme sentences on the children of Jerusalem, the entire Israeli system is based on the dispossession and denial of Palestinians and is fundamentally unjust and racist at its core.
The case also highlights the criminalization of Palestinian political expression as a shared experience of all Palestinians, including Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and occupied Palestine ’48, as well as Palestinians in exile and diaspora that face surveillance, visa denials, deportation and imprisonment for their own political expression – all too frequently labeled as “terror,” as in Tatour’s case. The targeting of Palestinian resistance includes the targeting of Palestinian creative and literary expressions of resistance – and so must its defense.
Freedom and justice for Dareen Tatour and all imprisoned and persecuted Palestinians!
TAKE ACTION!
Dareen Tatour has been involved for almost two decades in documentation and mobilizing to remember the Nakba and demand the right of return of Palestinian refugees expelled from their homes and lands. Today, the Great Return March in Gaza and the mobilization of tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees – and the brutal murder of 45 and the wounding of thousands while participating in these marches to the colonial “border” once again highlights the core demand of the Palestinian struggle.
You can take action at these events to highlight Dareen’s case specifically:
1. Read Dareen’s poem, “Resist, my people, Resist them.” A translation was created for ArabLit.com by poet Tariq al-Haydar, reproduced below. Stop the Israeli state from silencing and criminalizing Dareen’s poetry by reading it around the world over the microphone at Nakba rallies and Great Return March solidarity events.
2. Create a “return tent” like Dareen’s at your local Nakba event or memorial. Put up photos and images of destroyed Palestinian villages and accompany them with signs calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees as well as a note honoring Dareen’s contribution to the struggle.
Dareen Tatour’s poem: “Resist, My People, Resist Them”
>On 15 May, we gather to commemorate 70 years since the Nakba, the great catastrophe, and to protest Israeli occupation and apartheid. We note that it is 70 years since over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and over 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed in order to proclaim the state of Israel. Today, millions of Palestinians are refugees around the world despite UN Resolution 194 that secures the right of Palestinian refugees to return.
Den 15 maj samlas vi för att uppmärksamma att det är 70 år sedan början på al Nakba – den stora katastrofen – och för att protestera mot Israels ockupation och apartheid.
I år är det 70 år sedan fler än 750 000 palestinier fördrevs från sina hem, över 400 palestinska byar jämnades med marken och staten Israel utropades. Ännu i dag lever miljoner palestinier som flyktingar runt om i världen. Detta trots att FN:s resolution 194 ger flyktingarna rätt att återvända.
Al Nakba var inte en enskild händelse, utan är en pågående verklighet. Fördrivningen av palestinier pågår fortfarande. Skolor och bostadshus rivs, gamla olivlundar förstörs och mark konfiskeras. I Östra Jerusalem tar Israel över bit för bit och situationen för palestinierna är mycket kritisk.
Vi samlas för en lugn och värdig demonstration med tal och musik. Röda, svarta, gröna och vita ballonger kommer att släppas upp mot himlen. Vi samlas för att minnas al Nakba, men framför allt för att visa solidaritet och stödja den palestinska kampen mot ockupationen och för en rättvis fred.
Inga andra flaggor än palestinska är tillåtna, vare sig från partier eller andra länder. Vi ber alla att respektera detta.
Välkomna!
Palestinagrupperna i Sverige, Palestinagruppen i Stockholm och Palestinska organisationer i Stockholm.
Learn more about the implications and the struggle against the departure of the Giro d’Italia from Israel, in order to understand how the use of this cycle race is an attempt to conceal the military occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state. At the same time, it boosts Israel’s air of impunity, fueling a continuous denial of Palestinian rights with no international action. This is an opportunity to advance the struggle for the right of return, especially amid the March of Return taking place in Gaza and facing massacres by the Israeli army.
STAND WITH GAZA AND THE GREAT RETURN MARCH
No to the sport-washing of Zionist attacks against the Palestinian people! No to the launch of the Giro d’Italia in Israel!
ALL OUT IN COMMEMORATION OF THE NAKBA AND THE ONGOING STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION AND RETURN
Panelists (Q & A to follow):
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), the Journalist Support Committee is pleased to invite you to a discussion on
