Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter   12 April 2020

 
Now available online: the film 'From Balfour to Banksy'

We showed this film in January at the 'Pig's Palace' to a full house. The final cut is now available to view on YouTube. This film gives a useful background to the dispossession of the Palestinian people, the occupation and Britain's role in this.
'From Balfour to Banksy' on YouTube.
'From Balfour to Banksy' website.    Report from the Hastings/Rye PSC film night.

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"For Us in the West, the Lockdown Is Meant to Save Lives. In Gaza It Will Kill Many"

"Doctors in the United States and Israel are warning that the number of available ventilators - 52 and 40 per 100,000 people, respectively, - is not sufficient. Meanwhile, in Gaza, there are three ventilators for every 100,000 people, a ratio that will prove to be a death sentence for many."

  • In Gaza: 1.3 beds for every 1,000 people. Israel has 3.3 beds available for every 1,000 people.
  • The infant mortality rate in Gaza (19.6 for every 1,000 births) and in Israel (2.6 per 1,000 births).
  • In Gaza 53 percent of the population - among them more than 400,000 children - subsist on an income that's less than the international poverty line of $4.60 a day.

    This is the print version as the article is behind a paywall:
    Haaretz article by Neve Gordon.

    Message to MPs: End the Siege of Gaza

    "COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Gaza. This is truly a nightmare situation." Over 6,000 signed the petition to the Foreign Office (in our last newsletter). Please sign this message to your MP:
    End the Siege of Gaza.

    Join Our Facebook Challenge: End the Siege of Gaza

    For those on Facebook, please join our challenge: Post A Pic Of Yourself With An "END The Siege" Poster:
    Facebook Challenge.
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    Apartheid in practice during the Covid-19 emergency

    Article in the Haaretz newspaper shows the 2-tier system of health care in Israel: "At the time of writing not a single drive-through station for coronavirus tests has been set up in Arab communities. The original plan for the drive-through points included seven Jewish communities, and not a single Arab one."
    The Reluctance to Test Israeli Arabs for COVID-19 Is a Ticking Time-bomb.

    Israeli apartheid factsheet

    The charity War on Want has put together a useful factsheet about apartheid in Israel:
    Why Do We Refer To Israel As An Apartheid State?
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    Petition to the International Criminal Court: Rule Now On The Question Of Palestinian Human Rights


    In December 2019, the International Criminal Court (ICC) concluded a lengthy and extensive preliminary examination of war-crime related allegations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the ongoing forcible Israeli displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.
    ICC: Rule Now On The Question Of Palestinian Human Rights.

    Petition: Dismantle the Ghetto: Take the settlers of out of Hebron

    Since 1994, Palestinians have been denied access to Shuhada Street, a former major economic hub, while settlements continue to expand. These actions are supported by the Hebron Fund. It's time to revoke their charitable status:
    Take the settlers of out of Hebron.

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    Our Twitter account

    We've now set up a Twitter account. Please come along and have a look, comment, like, follow:
    Hastings and Rye PSC on Twitter.

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    More news about Palestine and Covid-19


    Up to date information on Covid-19 and Palestine from the UN:
    UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
    Israeli forces 'steal coronavirus food aid for needy Palestinians, beat aid workers.'

    "In Palestine, we don't call our imprisonment a lockdown, but a 'military occupation' and 'apartheid:'
    Ramzy Baroud: A Palestinian guide to surviving a quarantine.
    Medics are coronavirus heroes. In Palestine, Israel attacks them with impunity.
    In the midst of global pandemic, Israeli occupation thrives.
    COVID-19 update: MAP's emergency coronavirus response in Palestine and Lebanon.
    Palestinian volunteers barred by Israeli soldiers from disinfecting old town of Hebron.
    UN: Settler violence against Palestinians has increased during COVID-19.

    Rights Groups Call On Israel To Halt Aerial Herbicide Spraying In Gaza Strip Amid Coronavirus Outbreak.
    The print version as this article is behind a paywall:
    Palestinian Street Cleaners Assaulted in Jerusalem in Unprovoked Attack.

    Palestine solidarity activism hasn't stopped: Watch these webinars, interviews, and virtual rallies while social distancing.
    Palestine in Pictures: March 2020. Palestine during the spread of Covid-19.
    Israel holds 200 child prisoners with minimum healthcare provision.
    China delivers 10,000 coronavirus kits to Palestine.
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    Here's 10 books on Palestine to read while on Lockdown

    Here's a useful article from the Mondoweiss website:
    10 books on Palestine to read while social distancing.
    We can think of quite a few other books worth a read. Here's 2 for a start:
    Tom Suárez' book State of Terror, based principally on declassified source documents in the National Archives in Kew, showing the violence used in the setting up of the Israeli state. Tom has spoken at 2 of our meetings - we like his work.
    Terrorism: How the Israeli state was won.
    Ghada Karmi's book 'Return: A Palestinian Memoir.' Ghada was due to speak in Hastings last week. In 1946 she was forced to flee from Jerusalem when she was a girl. For decades she has played an important role in the Palestinian solidarity movement. Ilan Pappé wrote of Ghada's book: "Beautifully written, it brings to the fore the human being behind the colonized, occupied and fragmented realities of present-day Israel and Palestine."
    Book Review: Return - A Palestinian Memoir.
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    Yasser Samman

    We've been informed of the sad news that Yasser died recently in Hove. He was a staunch anti-Zionist and great supporter of both the Palestinian and Syrian people. Also a great character! A member of the local PSC who knew him from 20 years ago wrote: "Sounds like he died fighting the good battle, what a hero!" Yasser was 69, and died of cancer. RIP Yasser!
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    News from and about the occupation:

    Palestinian Shed and Water Well Destroyed by Israeli Forces in West Bank.
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    BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) news:


    Italy Is Staying Home, but Solidarity Isn't. Israeli Apartheid Free Zone Network Grows to 200.

    70 Basque groups to Basque company CAF: get off Israel's apartheid train!

    Facebook webinar with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: Noura Erakat and Yara Hawari.
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    Hastings and Rye PSC online membership and donations

    Becoming a member of Hastings and Rye PSC is an important way of supporting our work.The annual subscription is £10 waged, £5 unwaged. We now have an
    online membership payment form. It can also be used to renew membership. The work of Hastings & Rye Palestine Solidarity could not continue without the generous donations from members of the public. If you would like to support our work without becoming a member please visit our shop page here and see the right hand column: Donate to Hastings & Rye PSC.
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    Recent Hastings PSC newsletters:

    28 March 2020
    25 March 2020
    28 February 2020

    Keep up to date with our website and Facebook and Twitter pages:

    Hastings/Rye PSC website  Hastings/Rye PSC Facebook  Hastings/Rye PSC Twitter

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