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 East Sussex Council - ditch your toxic investments
While councillors arrived for last Tuesday's meeting we made clear the demand that East Sussex workers should not have their pension contributions invested in companies that supply Israel's war machine. East Sussex Council has invested £71 million in companies complicit in Israel's violations of international law and in its apartheid system. Most of these companies supply the Israeli military.
Our rally ran alongside the protest calling for the council to drop its investments in fossil fuels. Thanks to everyone who made the trip to Lewes. More information about the pension fund and the divest campaign: Article here.
This event was part of the national PSC Local Government Pension Schemes Week of Action
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Information stalls
Throughout December we are highlighting the products on the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) target list. We have information about dates, which products are from Palestine and which are grown in the illegal settlements. Please visit our stall this Saturday 18 December 12 until 2 (in the town centre near Millets).
The next information stall will be on 8 January (weather permitting).
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Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi - update
Members of the Resilience Committee in Al-Mawasi gave us a presentation in October about the history of their region and about how they have organised to survive under Israeli occupation and siege such as building their own community centre for vital education, training and medical services.
The Hastings Friends of Al-Mawasi has been set up to develop cultural and educational links between our two towns. We are now looking to organise fundraising events to support community projects initiated by the Al-Mawasi community. We have also launched a petition to call on Hastings Borough Council to formally twin Hastings with Al-Mawasi. The online petition is here. The Friends of Al-Mawasi Facebook page. More information on our website.
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 Israel completes its imprisonment of the two million residents of Gaza
Israel has announced "the completion of a sensor-equipped underground wall around Gaza which includes hundreds of cameras, radar and other sensors, and spans 65km. It was reported that the wall is more than six meters high and its maritime barrier includes electronic devices to detect infiltration by sea and a remote-controlled weapons system."
The construction of Israel's Gaza concentration camp is complete.
Gideon Levy: Two Million People Are Imprisoned for 15 Years. The New Barrier Will Remain There Forever.
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2021 is deadliest year for Palestinian children since 2014
Latest report by Defense for Children International Palestine (DCI-P) has shown that 61 children were killed in Gaza and 16 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
DCI-P Report.
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Escaping one hell for another: Why Gazans are dying at sea to be free Three Gazans drowned when their boat capsized between Turkey and Greece. The three had fled Gaza due to the dire situation brought about by 15 years of Israeli siege, punctuated by periodic Israeli military assaults. Article here.
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 Palestinian Christians in Gaza Launch Holiday Celebrations
Gaza's Christian community started its celebrations with both Christian and Muslim dignitaries by lighting the Christmas tree at the Young Men's Christian Association in Gaza City.
Fr Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest at Holy Family Church in Gaza said: "The Gaza Strip is the biggest prison in the world, but the sound of celebration that we are listening to today is proof of happiness and assurance this nation can live despite the wars, injustice and siege."
About 70 per cent of Christians in Gaza are Greek Orthodox, while the rest belong to the Roman Catholic community.
Palestinian Christians in Gaza Launch Holiday Celebrations.
Gazans gather to light up Christmas tree.
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 "Israel's misappropriation of land in the West Bank through settler violence"
Recent report by Israeli human rights group B'Tselem shows how Israeli military forces work hand in glove with illegal settlers using intimidation and violence against Palestinians. "Like state violence, settler violence is organized, institutionalized, well-equipped and implemented in order to achieve a defined strategic goal." Report here.
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Girls feel empowered at skate parks in Gaza
Gazan girls are encouraged to practice roller-skating and skateboarding at skate parks in the Gaza Strip. Article here.
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Bookseller Samir Mansour: "The new shop will be three times bigger."
Interview with Samir Mansour. His bookshop was destroyed by the Israeli military in May. Bookseller Samir Mansour: 'It was shocking to realise I was a target.'
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 Sami al Amour: dies in prison of 'deliberate medical negligence'
Sami al Amour, who was suffering from a congenital heart problem, died "as a result of the policy and crime of deliberate medical negligence," the Palestinian Prisoners Club has said. The number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli prisons has risen "to 227 martyrs since 1967, including 72 prisoners who died as a result of the crime of medical negligence." There are some 4,650 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons, with 550 of them suffering from chronic medical conditions.
Sami's fiancée Ghada Abu Jaame (above) had been waiting to marry him for 14 years, but Israel murdered him instead. Ghada's father Muhammad had been shot dead by Israeli forces three years earlier as he worked on farmland in southern Gaza. Article here.
Killed by Israel's negligence.
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Classified Documents Reveal Massacres of Palestinians in 1948 and 1956 - and What Israeli Leaders Knew
Historian Adam Raz has obtained classified documents showing the terror inflicted on Palestinian communities in 1948 and 1956. He shows the acts of murder committed by Israeli troops during the Nakba (catastrophe). "Minutes recorded during cabinet meetings in 1948 leave no room for doubt: Israel's leaders knew in real time about the blood-drenched events that accompanied the conquest of the Arab villages." Adam Raz also reveals the massacres carried out by the Israeli military in Gaza in 1956.
These accounts make grim reading but they are important if we are to understand the sheer terror inflicted by the Zionist forces. And to understand the actions of today's Israeli forces.
Massacres of Palestinians in 1948. Israeli troops in Gaza 1956.
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"22 people, including 15 children, lost their home in a single day"
A Day in the Life of the occupation. Israeli forces carried out a large-scale demolition campaign throughout the West Bank. And they destroyed a road used by residents to reach their farmland. Article by Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem.
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"By declaring Hamas a terrorist group, Britain deals a blow to peace prospects"
David Hearst shows that the search for a political solution will be much more complicated because of this ban. "Patel and the UK are sending a message: You can have democracy, just as long as you vote for the right party, and just as long as the party you vote for accepts the right of Israeli troops to raid and terrorise your homes and families every night." Article here.
Article by Samidoun, the Palestinian prisoners' organisation, states its position on the 'terror' designation and details the UK's policies against the Palestinians over the past 100+ years. Article here.
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Arrested development and poverty take a $57 billion economic toll in Palestine
Following Israeli closures, restrictions and military operations, the West Bank has suffered two decades of arrested development and poverty, according to a report published by the UN trade and development body, UNCTAD. Article here.
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2022 Growing Resistance Calendar
"Survival under siege is no small challenge. When that siege is accompanied by a collapsing infrastructure and recurrent violence, the challenge is exacerbated tenfold. This is what it is to live in Gaza today." The 2022 Calendar to support traumatised children in Gaza. More information.
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Israeli bombing of Syria continues
Yesterday Israel launched missiles into southern Syria. They killed one soldier and caused "material losses." These attacks are against international law and are deemed war crimes.
Article here.
UN tells Israel: Golan is occupied Syrian territory The UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution titled 'The Syrian Golan' (A/76/L.15) demanding that the Israeli occupation forces fully withdraw from the Syrian Golan Heights.
Article here.
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Not guilty: Palestine Action acquitted in first trial
Palestine Action has been targetting Elbit factories in the UK, closing them down for one or more days at a time. Elbit is a large Israeli armaments company which manufactures militarised drones used against the population of Gaza. Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori was quoted as sayin: "We're going to continue to take direct action in order to shut down and undermine Israel's arms trade."
Not guilty: Palestine Action acquitted in first trial. Palestine Action website.
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"It's Time to Admit It. Israeli Policy Is What It Is: Apartheid"
Israeli Bradley Burston changes his mind on the meaning of apartheid. 'What does apartheid mean, in Israeli terms?' It includes: "Apartheid means uncounted Palestinians jailed without trial, shot dead without trial, shot dead in the back while fleeing and without just cause." Article here.
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 More news:
Soldiers arrest two Palestinian children aged 11 for about 15 hours and hold them handcuffed and blindfolded at military base during most of the detention: Article here.
When will Israel stop torturing Palestinian prisoners? Article here.
Ramzy Baroud: From Pegasus to Blue Wolf: How Israel's 'Surveillance' Experiment in Palestine Went Global: Article here.
Israel escalates surveillance of Palestinians with facial recognition program in West Bank: Article here.
Ramzy Baroud: On 'Gassing the Arabs' and other diseases: Is Israel a 'Sick Society'? Article here.
Jonathan Cook: How UK Labour reversed 40 years of progress on Israel and Palestine: Article here.
German police remove pro-Palestinian students from campus meeting: Article here.
Report by the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights: The Gaza Bantustan - Israeli Apartheid in the Gaza Strip: Article here.
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Opposes IHRA, Supports Academic Freedom On Palestine: Article here.
Malaysian Authorities Deny Visas to Israeli Squash Players: 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:
6 December 2021
24 November 2021
18 November 2021
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