Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter   8 July 2022
 
St Leonards Festival
Saturday 9 July
Warrior Square Gardens
Starting at 12.00

We will have a stall at the festival 12 until 6pm. Please come and say hello.

The festival is always worth a visit. There will be non-stop entertainment including Morris dancers, local drummers, even Pongo the world's only eight-foot baby Obobee bird! Lots of music including Ladies Swing the Blues (which includes Lynda Murray), Izzy Withers and headliner reggae band Gabbidon. Festival website.
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Information stalls

There will NO information stall in the town centre this Saturday 9 July.
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Hastings meeting: Amnesty International: 'Arrest Israeli Officials To Fight Apartheid'

Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting with Yara Derbas from SOAS and Garry Ettle from Amnesty International to hear the results of Amnesty's report, the reality on the ground and ideas as to how we can play a part in ending the system of apartheid.

Article by Bernard McGinley in the Hastings Online Times: Amnesty International explains its findings on segregation in Israel.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: 'ARREST ISRAELI OFFICIALS TO FIGHT APARTHEID'
We've just published a full description of the meeting. It sums up the 280 page Amnesty report, details Yara's description of life in Palestine and gives examples of grass roots solidarity activities. Well worth a read: Article here (Facebook).
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Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi:
Goat Ledge Does Gaza!
Thanks to everyone who came to last Thursday's event. It was a great day with great company and great food. It was just the right setting to celebrate the developing links between Hastings and the Palestinian coastal town of Al-Mawasi in Gaza. Thanks to Frank Moon (oud, violin, flute, percussion), Fatima for writing people's names in Arabic and the crew at Goat Ledge for your hospitality. Facebook report#1. Facebook report#2. Short video.

  
To find out more about how you can link your school, family or community group with people in Al-Mawasi; or if you would like to get involved in English language classes for people in Al-Mawasi, then please come along to the next organising meeting.
White Rock Hotel opposite Hastings Pier at 6pm on Monday 18 July. All ideas and contributions welcome!
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ANNOUNCEMENT: Palestine On The Pier

Palestine On The Pier returns with another UK first - the UK's first catwalk show of embroidered dresses from all over Palestine!

We are flying in a stunning collection of thobes, from Ramallah in the West Bank, embroidered with 'tatreez' cross stitch design - some over 150 years old - to form a spectacular live 'catwalk' centrepiece of the event.

See the Facebook event page for more details of the festival, tatreez embroidery workshops, artist announcements and the rest of the events.
Information here.
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Fact sheet: Masafer Yatta communities at risk of forcible transfer

A useful factsheet published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory. Information here.
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Family of Shireen Abu Akleh rejects US Government's statement

The US government issued a statement saying that gunfire from Israeli positions "was likely responsible for the death of Shireen Abu Akleh." But it dismissed the incident as the unintentional "result of tragic circumstances." Investigations conducted by the United Nations, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Associated Press and B'Tselem all concluded that an Israeli soldier fired the shot that killed Shireen.
Full text of the family's letter.
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Ghassan Kanafani - his main weapon was the pen

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Mossad assassination of Ghassan Kanafani. His writings have inspired entire generations of Palestinians and those in solidarity with their cause. Lebanon's The Daily Star wrote that: "He was a commando who never fired a gun, whose weapon was a ball-point pen, and his arena the newspaper pages."
The revolutionary life of Ghassan Kanafani.
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The Big Ride for Palestine 2022 fundraises for the Gaza Sunbirds, Paracycling Club

Alaa al-Dali, was an Olympic hopeful cyclist when his leg was shot to pieces by an Israeli sniper on 30 March 2018. He was standing alone in his cycling gear with his bike, as he watched a March of Return demonstration, 250 metres from the separation fence east of Rafah.
The Big Ride for Palestine 2022 Fundraiser.
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Israeli Killing of Palestinian Children Continues

Mohammad Abdullah Hamed, aged 16, died of wounds sustained the previous day during protests near Ramallah, when he was shot by invading Israeli forces. Mohammad Abdullah Saleh Hamed.
Ghaith Rafeeq Yamin, aged 16, was shot in the head by the Israeli forces during confrontations that broke out with the Israeli army at the site of Joseph's Tomb in the eastern part of Nablus. Ghaith Rafeeq Yamin.
Zaid Mohammad Said Ghunaim, aged 14, was shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank town of Al-Khader, located southwest Bethlehem. Zaid Mohammad Said Ghunaim.
Amjad al-Fayed, aged 17, was shot by Israeli troops in the neck and chest when Israeli forces stormed the Jenin refugee camp. Amjad al-Fayed .
Kamel Abdullah Kamel Alawneh, 17, was shot by Israeli forces in Jaba, a village located southwest of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank. He was shot multiple times, sustaining gunshot wounds to his elbow and, then, his abdomen as he fled. Kamel Abdullah Kamel Alawneh
Odeh Mohammad Odeh Sadaqa, aged 16, was shot with live ammunition in the back by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank village of Al-Midya, west of Ramallah. Mohammad Abdallah Salah Suleiman.
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Information stalls

We now have a range of keffiyehs from Hirbawi in Hebron, Palestinian flag umbrellas and a supply of T-shirts. In addition of course we have pamphlets, leaflets and publications about Palestine and apartheid Israel, also Free Palestine badges and Boycott Apartheid stickers. Sometimes we even have music! Please pay us a visit. We're always happy to have members and supporters to visit or stay and help. Every Saturday 12.00 noon until 2 pm (weather permitting) in the town centre near Millets.
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More news:

Ramzy Baroud: 15 Years of Failed Experiments: Myths and Facts About the Israeli Siege on Gaza: Article here.

US Presbyterian Church declares Israel 'apartheid state', create Nakba remembrance day: Article here.

Saadia Farajallah Matar: Palestinian mother's life taken by occupation medical neglect: Article here.

Why has Gaza's sea turned black?: Article here.

90 Organisations Urge the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Palestine to Recognise and Address Zionist Settler Colonialism and Apartheid as the Root Causes of Israel's Ongoing Violations:
Article here.
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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 and Rye PSC newsletters:

29 June 2022
24 June 2022
10 June 2022

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