Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter   21 October 2022
 
Come Dine for Palestine
Saturday 26 November 7pm - 10pm
Ore Community Centre 455 Old London Road, Hastings TN35 5BH


We're pleased to announce the details of our Come Dine for Palestine fundraiser. This evening of Palestinian cuisine, live musical entertainment and a fantastic raffle will raise much needed funds for the community in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Here's the chance to taste authentic vegetarian Palestinian cuisine, lovingly prepared by Chef Momo. His dishes have been inspired by his Syrian and Palestinian heritage and we are thrilled he has designed a bespoke menu for our event.

We will be raising funds for the medical centre that the residents of Al-Mawasi have built. More information about Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi: Click here.

Limited availability - early booking advised. For more details including how to buy tickets (either online or at our information stalls):

COME DINE FOR PALESTINE

Come Dine Raffle
Even if you don't plan to come to the event, entering the raffle supports our fundraising efforts while giving you chance to win some terrific gifts. The list of raffle prizes and details of how to buy tickets are on our website:

COME DINE RAFFLE

______________________________________________________________________

Barclays - it's time to divest from apartheid

Thanks to everyone who came to support our picket outside Barclays. This was one of more than 25 actions throughout the UK.

Barclays has invested £1.3 billions in 9 arms companies that supply Israel with weapons and military technology used to kill Palestinians. One of the companies is the Israel drone manufacturer Elbit which makes the militarised drones that are used to target and kill civilians in Gaza. This is part of the ongoing campaign: Barclays - it's time to divest from apartheid.
______________________________________________________________________

Palestine on the Pier: Heritage Dress Display

We've put together a video record of this year's heritage dress display, the centrepiece of this year's Palestine on the Pier. YouTube video.
______________________________________________________________________

Information stalls

Our weekly Saturday information stalls are in the town centre near Millets 12.00 noon until 2 pm (weather permitting). Please pay us a visit. We're always happy to have members and supporters come to visit or stay and help.
______________________________________________________________________

Israeli forces lay siege to multiple Palestinian localities. Israeli settlers protected by the Israeli military rampage through Palestinian towns. Palestinian resistance grows
12 year old Mahmoud Muhammad Khalil Samoudi killed by the Israeli military in Jenin. Source.
Since the start of October, the Israeli military has killed 15 Palestinians - four of them teenagers and children. According to PA Ministry statistics, a total of 174 Palestinians, including 41 minors, have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of 2022; 123 in the West Bank and 51 in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israel has imprisoned around 5,300 Palestinians so far in 2022. This includes 620 children, 111 women and 1,610 Palestinians held in administrative detention (detention without charges or trial with no evidence produced). Source.

Settler attacks increase
Settlers have become more brazen in their attacks on Palestinians. According to the United Nations, more than 400 Palestinian properties were damaged in more than 500 attacks this year until October 10. Two Palestinians were killed, including a teenager, in those attacks. One attack was carried out against the Huwwara Secondary Boys School, south of Nablus city. They beat staff members and students and smashed cars and class windows before retreating. One of the settlers pulled out a gun and pointed it at the teachers and students. The settlers are often protected by the Israeli military in these attacks as shown in this article. In the village of Qasra, south of Nablus, settlers burnt down poultry farms which led to the deaths of 30,000 birds. Source.

The Resistance is Growing
Residents of Shu'fat refugee camp confront Israeli occupation forces. Source.
Israel's siege of both the Shuu'fat refugee camp and of Nablus have entered their second week. Palestinians there have launched a massive civil disobedience campaign to oppose Israel's policy of collective punishment.

Resistance operations are increasing and expanding across the occupied West Bank. Not only is the PA losing grasp of the narrative, it is also losing whatever vestiges of control it has left in the West Bank, especially in Nablus and Jenin. The rise of the Areen Al-Usud (Lions' Den) and other Palestinian armed groups are but a few manifestations of the dramatic changes underway in the West Bank, as explained in this article:
What is happening in the West Bank right now: a full breakdown.
______________________________________________________________________

How Israeli forces poisoned water wells in Palestinian villages and cities during the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe)

While the Israeli security establishment has been trying for years to block any embarrassing historical documents that expose its war crimes against Palestinians, documents have come to light showing how Israel was involved in a systematic campaign to poison water wells and spread typhoid bacteria in Palestinian villages and cities during the Nakba. The article starts with more recent Mossad biological warfare attacks. Meshal Poisoning Provided Only a Glimpse Into Israel's Biological Warfare Arsenal.
______________________________________________________________________

University of Aberdeen votes against using IHRA definition of anti-Semitism

After a two-year consultation, the university has rejected the controversial IHRA definition of anti-Semitism and adopted the Jerusalem Declaration of Antisemitism (JDA).

Implementation of the IHRA has lead to the stifling of criticism of Israel including the cancelling of events and the sacking of employees. Even the man who first drafted the document, Kenneth Stern, has become one of its most vocal critics. He has stated that the definition has been abused, warned of its "chilling effect" on free speech, and that instead of targeting acts of antisemitism, the code was being used to "restrict academic freedom and punish political speech." University of Aberdeen votes against using IHRA definition.
______________________________________________________________________

British apology sought for atrocities and crimes against Palestine

Historical evidence has been published detailing arbitrary killings, torture, the use of human shields and the introduction of home demolitions as collective punishment carried out by the British during its rule in Palestine from 1917 until 1948. Article here.
______________________________________________________________________

BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) news

Ireland's leading university has divested from arms and weapon companies complicit with Israel: Article here.

Uruguayan National Football Team Cancels Trip to Israel:
Article here.

700 musicians join pledge to support for Palestinian freedom: Article here.

BDS movement congratulates Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux: Article here.
______________________________________________________________________

Katie Halper sacked by the US media 'the Hill' for describing Israel as an apartheid state

Katie outlines the background to her sacking. I Was Canceled for Criticizing Israel.
The Video That Got Me Fired: Israel IS An Apartheid State.
______________________________________________________________________

The Labour Files - there's more

In our last newsletter we had links to the series 'the Labour Files' which examines the bitter internal war fought by Labour Party officers to silence supporters of Jeremy Corbyn and supporters of Palestinian rights. It probes the trove of internal Labour Party materials described as "the largest leak of documents in British political history."

There is now a fourth part which shows how the Labour Party used hacked data from a journalist to investigate and discipline its own members who were critical of the party. Part 4 - The Spying Game.

Asa Winstanley: "What Jeremy Corbyn should have done to fight the Labour anti-Semitism smears"

The corporate media seems to have ignored 'the Labour Files.' So it's useful to hear commentators such as Asa Winstanley (who we hosted on a Zoom meeting last year) analysing the series: Asa Winstanley interviewed on the George Galloway's MOATS programme.
______________________________________________________________________

Palestine Action: Not guilty verdict

Three Palestine Action activists were found not guilty after a rooftop occupation at the Bristol HQ of Elbit Systems. The defendants stated that Elbit "...was unable to marshal any convincing evidence, failing to answer questions effectively and leaving the judge with no choice but to dismiss the case. Elbit is guilty, and we won't stop until their secrets are dredged to light and all their sites are shut down." Report.

This was a month after the case against five Palestine Action activists collapsed. The five had shut down Elbit's UAV Engines factory in Shenstone, Staffordshire. Lawyers for the activists successfully argued that while the actions constitute damage to the factory, it was not criminal in nature, but a proportionate action to prevent much more serious crimes in Palestine. Report.

Elbit supplies roughly 85 percent of Israel's militarised drone fleet.
______________________________________________________________________

More news:

Four Palestinian teens killed by Israeli forces in 24 hours: Article here.

Israeli navy opens fire at Palestinians in Gaza: Article here.

Louis Allday - the Palestinians' inalienable right to resist: Article here.

Ahed Tamimi talking about life under Israeli occupation and apartheid: Article here.

Rights group: Israel holding 800 Palestinians without trial: Article here.

Israeli forces shoot dead two Palestinians in West Bank: Article here.

British Quakers capitulate to Israel lobby lies: Article here.

Recruiter of 'Volunteers' for Israeli Military to Face Charges in Canada: Article here.

The return of the two-state solution illusion: Article here.

Breaking the Silence's New Report On Inhumanity of Occupation: Article here.

Nobel laureate Ernaux believes Israel is the coloniser and Palestine is colonised: Article here.

Academics in Canada face harassment, intimidation for pro-Palestinian speech: Article here.
______________________________________________________________________

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.
______________________________________________________________________

Recent Hastings and Rye PSC newsletters:

30 September 2022
21 September 2022
2 September 2022

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

Website      Facebook      Twitter      Instagram      YouTube Channel.