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Palestinian on Hunger Strike in Berlin for Family Rights in East Jerusalem

From the Palestinian rights group Al Haq. (Ed’s note: As many of us celebrate the ruling supporting marriage equality in the case of California, it bears remembering how Palestinians still face discrimination based on who they choose to wed.) 12 August 2010 As a Palestinian NGO committed to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Al-Haq is deeply concerned about Firas Al-Maraghi’s hunger strike that he has been holding since 26 July 2010 opposite the Israeli embassy in Berlin, Germany. Firas, a Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem who is married to a German national, is protesting a decision which was taken by the Israeli embassy to ban the couple’s … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination

Summing-up Sheikh Jarrah solidarity day

Summing-up Sheikh Jarrah solidarity day

reprinted from the Just Jerusalem Blog. August 8, 2010. A year has passed since the eviction/expulsion of the Ghawi and Hanoun families from their homes. A year in which we have struggled together, not only in solidarity with the families, but also for the future of us all: against the attempt to bury the possibility for a just solution for our peoples; against the injustice and oppression, which are part and parcel … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports

It’s getting deep in here…

It’s getting deep in here…

Last month a post appeared on the Jewish Daily Forward’s blog “the sisterhood: where jewish women converse” entitled “Code Pink: Slinging Mud and Hate at Ahava,” which got the target of CODEPINK’s boycott campaign correct, but not much more. Debra Nussbaum Cohen’s blog presented a falsely black-and-white portrayal of the campaign, declaring it “anti-Israel”. Cohen singled me out as a Jewish woman in support of the boycott, which was “most distressing” to her … Read entire article »

Filed under: Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs, Talkback

Israeli and Palestinian Women Find New Way to Challenge The Occupation

Israeli and Palestinian Women Find New Way to Challenge The Occupation

I will forgo my tendency for long introductions, and start with the actual news. We Do Not Obey More women follow Ilana Hammerman`s footsteps: we shall not obey illegal and immoral laws. (posted as a paid advertisement in Hebrew on Haaretz, August 6) On Friday, July 23, we went on a trip – a dozen Jewish-Israeli women with a dozen West-Bank Palestinian women and four of their children, one of them a baby. We drove through the interior hill … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, Human Rights Activists in the Crosshairs

Travel Warning: Israel Offended

Travel Warning: Israel Offended

Reading Ha’aretz this morning, my eyes were diverted to an article about the indignation of the Israeli Tourism Ministry about – guess what? Anti-Israel bias, of course.   Apparently, in the wake of the rocket attacks earlier this week, the US government issued a travel warning to Israel (particularly Eilat and the rest of Southern Israel), the West Bank, and Gaza without mentioning the Jordanian city of Aqaba, the only place with an actual fatality in … Read entire article »

Filed under: Discrimination, Talkback

TODAY: Day of Solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah!

Today has been declared a Day of Solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah, and activists from all over Israel will protest the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in this East Jerusalem neighborhood.  What’s happening in Sheikh Jarrah is just one example of the harmful Israeli policy of building settlements in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhoods located in close proximity to the Old City – a policy which is making it harder and harder to imagine how Jerusalem could ever be divided into the capital of two nations, a necessary component of almost every single proposed plan for peace. Israeli activists will hold vigils and protests today in the cities of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Wadi Ara, Beer-Sheva,  Kfar Yasif,  Gan Shmuel Junction, Tira, Taybe, Raanana, West Jerusalem, and of course, Sheikh … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports

“If I needed something to confirm I am going in the right direction…” an interview with Yonatan Shapira

“If I needed something to confirm I am going in the right direction…” an interview with Yonatan Shapira

By Jesse Bacon I inteviewed about Yonatan Shapira of Boycott from Within and Combatants for Peace after he was called in for an interrogation by the Israeli Security Services. Part 1: Yonatan talks about his activism with the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement, and how the Gaza War changed his mind. Part 2: Backlash against Israelis and the interview by Israeli security services, and people who have been treated even worse. “I would have been still there.” Part … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports

The Only Democracy? summer vacation: enjoy some boycott music

The Only Democracy? summer vacation: enjoy some boycott music

by Jesse Bacon I keep meaning to make a mix tape of the ever growing “cultural intifada” of artists refusing to perform in Israel, maybe including a Meg Ryan film clip? In the mean time, here’s where Gorillaz went after refusing to play in Israel. While Syria certainly has its own injustices, it sounds like an inspriing event. … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports

Interview with Khalil Alamour, organizer of protest at demolished village UPDATED with video

Interview with Khalil Alamour, organizer of protest at demolished village UPDATED with video

By Jesse Bacon I spoke with Khalil Alamour at the protest tent at Al-Araqeeb, the village demolished by Israel this week. Protestors plan to return tomorrow and rebuild it. Here’s video from Max Blumenthal of the subsequent razing of the village for the 3rd time. Sign a petition against these demolitions. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports

Daniel Dukarevich: Eyewitness Account of the Razing of Al-Araqeeb: ‘You Will Not Erase It’

Daniel Dukarevich: Eyewitness Account of the Razing of Al-Araqeeb: ‘You Will Not Erase It’

By Daniel Dukarevich. On the ground report from Daniel who was previously interviewed here, reposted from Tikkun Olam. Uprooting the olive trees of Al-Araqeeb Yesterday, Daniel Dukarevich posted an eyewitness account (Hebrew) of the eradication of the Bedouin Negev village of Al-Araqeeb by the Israeli police and military.  It is disturbing and moving and worth reading to learn how this evil decree was implemented: Translation: Dena Shunra I don’t have a fully congruent recollection of this night and this … Read entire article »

Filed under: On The Ground Reports