8 April, Berlin: Demo in Solidarity with the Great March of Return

4 April 2018

Sunday, 8 April
5:00 pm
Hermannplatz
Berlin, Germany
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2081634148828751/

On 30 March, the bloodiest day in the Gaza Strip since the 2014 war of agression, the Israeli military killed 17 people and injured 1,400 more with tear gas, live ammunition and even tanks. Palestinian civilians were attacked for just one reason, peacefully demonstrating for their rights. On Land Day, the people of Gaza commemorated the bloody crackdown on the 1976 Palestinian General Strike, resist land confiscation and dispossession, and uphold Palestinian refugees’ right to return. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, demonstrators marched to the border of the Gaza Strip to highlight their right to return. The response of the Israeli state was murderous. With extreme brutality and violence, the military shot down the unarmed demonstrators. Yet thousands of people continue to stand and the protest of the Palestinian people remains unbroken.

We say: Stop the massacres in Gaza! End the siege, end the occupation, end the settlement project! We are in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their call for freedom and human rights. The return of the Palestinian refugees is their irrevocable right!

Demo in Solidarität mit dem “Großen Marsch der Rückkehr” / مظاهرة تضامنية مع مسيرة العودة
#GreatReturnMarch

Am 30. März, dem blutigsten Tag seit dem Angriffskrieg auf den Gazastreifen 2014, tötete das israelische Militär 17 Menschen und verletzte 1.400 weitere durch den Einsatz von Tränengas, scharfer Munition und sogar Panzern. Angegriffen wurden die palästinensischen Zivilist*innen lediglich aus einem Grund: Weil sie friedlich für ihre Rechte demonstrierten. Zum „Tag des Bodens“ gedenkt die Bevölkerung in Gaza der blutigen Niederschlagung des palästinensischen Generalstreiks von 1976, dem Widerstand gegen Landenteignungen und Vertreibungen sowie dem Rückkehrrecht der Geflüchteten. In einem von Komitees organisierten „Marsch der Rückkehr“ zum 70. Jahrestag der ethnischen Säuberung Palästinas zogen die Demonstrant*innen gemeinsam an die Grenze des Gazastreifens, um auf ihr Recht auf Rückkehr aufmerksam zu machen. Die Antwort des israelischen Staates fiel mörderisch aus. Mit äußerster Brutalität und Gewalt schoss das Militär die unbewaffneten Demonstrant*innen nieder. Dennoch kampierten Tausende weiter und der Protest der palästinensischen Bevölkerung bleibt ungebrochen.

Wir sagen: Stopp den Massakern in Gaza! Stopp der Belagerung, stopp der Besatzung, stopp der Besiedlung! Wir solidarisieren uns mit der palästinensischen Bevölkerung und ihrem Ruf nach Freiheit und Menschenrechten. Die Rückkehr der palästinensischen Flüchtlinge ist ihr unwiderrufliches Recht!

5 April, Boston: Stand Out in Solidarity with the People of Gaza

4 April 2018

Thursday, 5 April
12:30 pm
Outside Israeli Consulate
20 Park Plaza
Boston, MA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/169167957076450/

Last Friday Israeli snipers killed 16 people and wounded more than 1400 (according to the UK Guardian) during unarmed mass demonstrations demanding the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Another person was killed a few days later. More than 70 percent of the 2 million people who live in the Gaza Strip are refugees expelled from their homes inside Israel and their descendants. The civil society protests are set to continue until Nakba day, May 15.

The Stand Out in Solidarity with the People of Gaza will demand an end to the murder of unarmed protestors, an end to the suffocating decade-long blockade of Gaza and the full implementation of international law and UN resolutions guaranteeing the rights of refugees.

Let Gaza live! Free Palestine!

Co-sponsors (list in formation):
Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights
Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine
Dorchester People for Peace
Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine (UMass Boston)
Grassroots International
Harvard Law School Justice for Palestine
Harvard National Lawyers Guild
Jewish Voice for Peace – Boston
Massachusetts Peace Action
National Lawyers Guild – Massachusetts Chapter
United for Justice with Peace
UUs for Justice in the Middle East – MA

8 April, Sydney: Stand with Gaza – Rally for Palestine

4 April 2018

Sunday, 8 April
1:00 pm
Sydney Town Hall
483 George St
Sydney, Australia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1868671156538417/

Stand with Palestine, take a stand against Israel’s massacre of 17 demonstrators on Friday!

7 April, Milan: Assemblea #CambiaGiro

4 April 2018

Saturday, 7 April
7:00 pm
Centro Occupato Autogestito T28
Via dei Transiti,28, Milan, Italy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1627628317334089/

Stop the wheels of occupation! Presentation on the campaign against the Giro d’Italia, along with a buffet of Arab and Palestinian food and solidarity with the Palestinian people.

12 April, Derry: Palestinian Child Prisoners in Apartheid Israel’s Prisons with Nery Ramati

4 April 2018

Thursday, 12 April
7:30 pm
Sandinos Bar/Club
Water Street
Derry, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2072245102987863/

Palestinian Child Prisoners in Apartheid Israel’s Prisons with Nery Ramati, Human Rights Lawyer from Israeli Law firm Gaby Lasky & Partners (The Legal team representing Palestinian Child prisoner Ahed Tamimi).

700 children detained and prosecuted every year. Institutional torture. Forced confessions. Systematic Human Rights violations.

Please join, share and invite your friends to this event on Facebook & Twitter, thanks!

6 April, Aarhus: Palestinian Land Day

4 April 2018

Friday, 6 April
6:00 pm
Star festlokale
Holmstrupgardsvej 18
8220 Braband
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/180748505904846/

The Palestinian Society of Aarhus invites you to a commemoration of Palestinian Land Day, with song, entertainment and poetry. Speakers will include Rabih Azad-Ahmad, a member of the city council in Aarhus, Majed al-Zeer, director of the Palestine Return Center, and Adel Abdallah.

Kære alle,
De Palæstinensiske Foreninger i Aarhus inviterer jer til en festival for den Palæstinensiske Jordens dag.
Sted: Stars Festlokale – Aarhus
Fredag den.06-04-2018.
Tid: 18:00
Vær med til palæstinensisk underholdning, dans sang og poesi. Vigtige personer vil gæste os på aftenen:
1. Advokat Rabih Azad-Ahmad, medlem af byrådet i Aarhus.
2. Direktør Majed Alzeer for Al-Awda Center i London
3. Projektleder Adel Abdallah, der har stået for at oprette palæstinensiske fagorganisationer i og uden for europa

7 April, Bordeaux: Rally to Support Gaza!

4 April 2018

Saturday, 7 April
3:00 pm
Place de la Victoire
Bordeaux, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1979983668884940/

We want to send a message to the occupier! We are standing, we exist!

Tens of thousands of Palestinians protested Friday a few meters from the “border” fence in Gaza. At least 16 were killed and over 1400 wounded by Israeli occupation forces.

Come in numbers to express our anger at the violence of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people and the silence of the international community!

ON VEUT ENVOYER UN MESSAGE A L’OCCUPANT »
« ON EST DEBOUT, ON EXISTE ! »

Des dizaines de milliers de Palestiniens manifestaient vendredi à quelques mètres de la clôture qui les sépare d’Israël. Au moins seize d’entre eux ont été tués et plus de de 1400 ont été blessés.

Dans chacun des cinq lieux de rassemblement prévus le long de la frontière a conflué le peuple gazaoui dans sa diversité, et son dénuement. Vieillards et gamins, femmes voilées et jeunes étudiantes apprêtées, mais surtout jeunes hommes sans avenir : ils ont marché des kilomètres, ou bien ils ont pris un bus. Ils ont juché les enfants sur les épaules, grimpé à l’arrière de camionnettes ou tenté de se tenir en équilibre, à dix, sur un tracteur épuisé.

Dans le bruit confus des klaxons et des sonos, ils se sont lentement approchés de cette zone frontalière d’habitude évitée, redoutée, où l’armée construit un mur pour remplacer une clôture jugée trop vulnérable. La plupart sont restés sagement à distance, loin de la frontière, mangeant des glaces ou picorant des graines, s’interrompant pour la grande prière.

Il y avait, évidemment, une avant-garde plus téméraire. Des centaines d’adolescents qui s’escrimaient à se rapprocher le plus possible de la clôture de sécurité, sans la franchir, conformément à la consigne diffusée.

Mais personne ne contrôlait cette foule éclatée, coupant à travers champs. Certains jeunes avaient des lance-pierres de fortune, qui ne pouvaient guère atteindre les soldats. Les autres cherchaient à planter un drapeau palestinien, ou bien à organiser un sit-in de quelques minutes, avant que le gaz lacrymogène, largué par des drones, ne les éparpillent.

Le face-à-face a duré toute la journée du vendredi 30 mars, le long de la bande de Gaza. Alors que des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont afflué pacifiquement vers les zones prévues par les organisateurs de la « grande marche du retour », au moins seize manifestants ont été tués et près de 1 400 ont été blessés, dont beaucoup par balles réelles. Un bilan lourd, hélas attendu.

Il est tentant de dire que ces jeunes défiaient la mort. En réalité, ils défiaient la vie, la leur, qui ressemble à une longue peine : celle des victimes du blocus égyptien et israélien, enfermés depuis bientôt onze ans dans ce territoire palestinien à l’agonie.

SOYONS NOMBREUX (SES) A DIRE NOTRE COLERE FACE A LA VIOLENCE PERPETREE PAR L’ETAT ISRAELIEN ENVERS LE PEUPLE PALESTINIEN ET AU SILENCE DE LA COMMUNAUTE INTERNATIONALE.
Samedi 7 avril 2018 – 15 heures – Place de la Victoire à Bordeau

7 April, Clermont-Ferrand: Rally for the Palestinian People

3 April 2018

Saturday, 7 April
2:00 pm
place de Jaude
Clermont-Ferrand, France
More info: http://www.agencemediapalestine.fr/blog/2018/03/31/gaza-rassemblements-dans-plusieurs-villes-de-france/

AFPS 63, BDS France 63 and the Coalition BDS 63 call for a demonstration in Clermont-Ferrand in support of the Palestinian people and against Israeli massacres in Gaza.

Global protests denounce Gaza massacre, demand justice for Palestine

3 April 2018

Following the Israeli massacre of at least 17 Palestinians and wounding of over 1,400 Palestinian civilians on Friday, 30 March in the Gaza Strip, protests have taken place in cities and towns around the world. The protesters in Gaza were part of tens of thousands participating in the Great March of Return, a mass, popular demonstration upholding Palestinian refugees’ right to return home, demanding an end to the siege of Gaza and commemorating Land Day.

Many additional protests are scheduled in the coming days, including events and actions in Victoria, Cagliari, Bristol, Copenhagen, Boston, Brussels, Albertville, Albany, Vancouver, Melbourne, Manchester, London, Derry, Dublin, Jersey and Bordeaux among many others.

Dozens of cities have already held commemorations and actions, and photos and videos from several of these events are shared below:

In Athens, a spirited crowd of demonstrators marched to the Israeli embassy on Saturday, 31 March. There, they chanted and sang Palestinian songs, carrying Palestinian flags and banners and demanding the Israeli embassy leave Greece. In response, the protesters were attacked by police surrounding the embassy. Tear gas was fired on the demonstrators and several protesters were beaten by police after they fell to the ground.

The demonstration was organized by the Solidarity Initiative with the Palestinian people, and many organizations participated including the Ghassan Kanafani Solidarity and Resistance Front and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

In Berlin, demonstrators gathered at Hermannplatz in the Neukolln neighborhood on Sunday, 1 April to honor the martyrs and demand an end to the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Organized by the Palestinian National Action Commission in Berlin, the protesters held candles and signs calling for freedom for Palestine. Participants carried banners and waved Palestinian flags on the cold, rainy evening.

In Amsterdam, the Palestinian House organized a commemoration of Land Day in Dam Square on Saturday, 31 March. After the massacre on Friday, a large crowd attended the event, which included demands for an end to the massacres and siege in Gaza as well as dabkeh and cultural performances.

In Milano, over 100 people joined the demonstration on 31 March to stand with the Palestinian people and demand an end to the attacks on Gaza. Despite pouring rains, crowds came out to carry the Palestinian flag and demand justice.

In Istanbul, BDS Turkey organized a demonstration on 30 March to commemorate Land Day and protest the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Protesters gathered to support Palestine and denounce U.S. imperialism. They read a press statement in Arabic and Turkish in front of the Israeli consulate. The organizers also protested in solidarity with the Great Return March and to honor the Palestinians killed by occupation forces in Gaza.

Protests took place in a number of cities around Ireland, including Derry and Dublin. As part of Easter Rising commemorations throughout Ireland, participants carried Palestinian flags and honored the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle alongside the Irish one, while in Waterford, an action on 2 April organized by Anti-Internment Munster as well as local chapters of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign called for the expulsion of Israeli diplomats from Ireland.

In Copenhagen, dozens of demonstrators gathered in Gammeltorv on Monday, 2 April against the Israeli massacre and in solidarity with the Great Return March. Additional events are planned on 5 April and 7 April in solidarity with Palestine in the Danish city.

Protests were planned across France in multiple cities in response to the Israeli massacre. In Paris, demonstrations were organized on both 31 March and 1 April in solidarity with Palestine with the involvement of EuroPalestine and Palestinian associations.

In Lille, a large crowd came out on Sunday, 1 April for a morning protest to denounce the massacre and call for boycott of Israel. Participants included AFPS, EuroPalestine and many members of the Young Communists and France Insoumise, while in Lyon, another crowd gathered on 2 April, including Collectif 69 Palestine, EuroPalestine, AFPS and UJP. They saluted the Great Return March and highlighted the importance of Palestinian refugees’ right to return home.

Many more protests took place in cities around the world, with events in Helsinki, Belfast, Edinburgh, San Francisco, San Diego, Montreal, Zaragoza, Boston, Strasbourg, Saint-Etienne and a number of towns and cities.

Send your events and actions to us at samidoun@samidoun.net, on Facebook, or use the form to tell us about your actions in response to the Land Day Massacre and for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. We will be publishing an international list of events and actions that will be regularly updated. See the list of events.

London protest demands end to British support for Israeli massacres and colonialism

3 April 2018

Protesters gathered in London on Saturday, 31 March following the massacre of at least 17 Palestinians and the wounding of over 1,400 by Israeli occupation forces on 30 March, Land Day. The occupation forces brutally attacked a mass popular demonstration on the colonial “borders” of the Gaza Strip, the Great March of Return. The demonstration both commemorated Land Day and underlined Palestinian refugees’ commitment and determination to return to their land even after 70 years of forced exile.

In commemoration of Land Day and in protest of the massacre, several organizations, including Victory to the Intifada and the Revolutionary Communist Group, organized a march down Oxford Street in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding that British imperialism end its support for Israel. The protest also highlighted corporations and banks that do business with and profit from Zionist violence, apartheid and colonialism, urging a boycott of these institutions.

“We are here to salute the 17 martyrs and thousands of wounded who rose up against occupation and came out to assert their legitimate rights, as we come out to demonstrate today to call on the British to boycott occupation,” said Toby Harberson of Victory to the Intifada. The protest marched by a number of corporations doing business with the occupation, including Marks & Spencer, Boots, Victoria’s Secret, Barclays and HSBC. Following the march, protesters joined in an action outside the Israeli embassy.

The protesters also highlighted their support for Irish political prisoners and the unity of the struggle of the Palestinian and Irish people confronting colonialism, Zionism and imperialism. Easter Sunday marks the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising against British colonialism, an occasion widely commemorated by Irish republicans and their supporters.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was one of the groups represented in the demonstration. Participants carried Palestinian flags, banners and signs with slogans including “Boycott the occupation,” “Zionism is racism” and “Victory for the Palestinian resistance.” Some carried signs featuring Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani as well as the red banners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Additional events are being organized in the coming days in London in support of Palestine, including a demonstration on Saturday, 7 April as well as several events commemorating Palestinian Prisoners Day. Samidoun is a co-sponsor of a protest on 14 April in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and a talk on 17 April featuring Palestinian leftist writer Khaled Barakat, the international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat.

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