Hastings and Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter   20 January 2023
 
Boycott PUMA Day of Action!
12.00 Saturday 21 January
Assemble: Outside Owens (Debenhams), Town Centre

On Saturday there will be actions throughout the world protesting against Puma's sponsorship of the Israel Football Association (IFA). Join us outside Owens (ex Debenhams). We then plan to visit and picket local stockists of Puma products.

PUMA is the main international sponsor of the IFA which governs teams in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land. Every settlement is a war crime under international law - pushing indigenous Palestinian families off their land, robbing natural resources, and denying Palestinians their right of movement.

Just a few weeks ago the Oakland Roots Sports Club in California became the latest professional team - first in the US - to drop PUMA following a year of engagement with local grass roots groups and fan clubs. They join a host of football clubs, including many in the UK, who have severed ties with PUMA during the course of the international campaign. Please share our Facebook event page
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Filmshow: 'Boycott'
Wednesday 25 January 7pm
The Pig, 37 White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JP
Free Entry.

Article in the Hastings Online Times:
Exclusive screening of real-life thriller 'Boycott' at The Pig.

This is the re-scheduled date from December. 'Boycott' traces the impact of state legislation in the USA designed to penalize individuals and companies that support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions) movement.

The implications for UK Palestine solidarity campaigners are clear - especially in view of the government's anti-BDS legislation, and other plans to limit the right to protest.

Our speaker is Zeyn Mohammed, who is coordinating the UK 'Right to Boycott' campaign.

  • This will be a great opportunity to find out more about the BDS/Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Discover how we can all get involved in BDS.
    This is our Facebook event page. Please share widely.
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    Life Under Apartheid meeting at the Nest

    Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting with Hana Al Bidaq who spoke about life under Israeli military occupation. Hana gave a very thorough account of the fear of Israeli soldiers and settlers, and the fear of carrying out basic tasks such as travelling and walking. Hana showed how the Apartheid Wall divides communities, and how the illegal settlements - or colonies - are rapidly growing.

    We were left in no doubt as to the disaster the Oslo Accords have been for the Palestinian people. This allowed Israel to continue state-building as it chipped away at Palestinian autonomy and freedoms over the next few decades. This, she says, was the real catastrophe, the 'real Nakba' for Palestinians.

    The last section of Hana's talk was about the response of the international community and the BDS/Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. In fact most of the follow-up discussion was about BDS and what actions we can and should be carrying out in the UK.

    There is a very comprehensive report of Hana's presentation at the Medium/Palestine Project website. It's well worth a read to understand the realities of life under occupation and apartheid.
    'We want to live without fear; we want our freedom.'

    The website Hana mentioned in her talk: Stop The Wall.

     
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    Information stalls

    Our stalls are every Saturday 12.00 noon until 2 pm (weather permitting) in the town centre near Millets. Please pay us a visit. We're always happy to have members and supporters come to visit or stay and help. Apart from a range of leaflets, pamphlets and stickers, we have keffiyehs from Hirbawi in Hebron, a range of T-shirts and Palestinian flag umbrellas.
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    2022 was the deadliest year for West Bank Palestinians since the Second Intifada
    The mother of Ghaith Yamin, 16, who was killed by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, mourns over his body.

    Israel killed at least 220 Palestinians, 167 were from the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 53 were from the Gaza Strip. 52 teenagers were killed, 31 of them were under the age of 18. In the West Bank, at least 95 Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers while participating in anti-occupation demonstrations or as bystanders during army raids. In 2022 there was a large increase in attacks by settlers - at least 755 attacks against Palestinians.
    The Deadliest Year.

    In 2023 the Israeli military has continued its campaign of slaughter - already killing 17 Palestinians, including 4 children. The most recent murder is of Palestinian teacher 57 year old Jawad Farid Bawaqta, shot as he administered first aid to Adham Mohammad Jabarin (28), who had just been fatally shot by the Israeli military. Aricle here.
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    Save Masafer Yatta

    The Israeli army has announced imminent plans to forcibly expel more than 1,000 Palestinian residents, including some 500 children, in the Masafer Yatta area of the southern occupied West Bank. This is a background to the latest Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing:
    Palestinian villagers face immediate expulsion.

    Save Masafer Yatta: Write to the Foreign Office: Link here.
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    Lebanon's forgotten Palestinians

    A recent documentary about Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. It shows the serious level of poverty that refugees have to endure. Video here.
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    Palestinian political prisoner Karim Younes has been released after 40 years in Israeli prisons

    Karim had been the longest consecutively-held Palestinian prisoner, imprisoned since 1983.
    There are still 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners, including 150 child prisoners, held in Israeli prisons.
    Salutes to Karim Younes, Palestinian prisoner, on his liberation after 40 years.
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    Re-posted from our last newsletter: £4,750 still to go

    Pro-Israel media, UK university again smear Palestinian lecturer

    The campaign by both the Sheffield Hallam University and the Israel lobby against Palestinian lecturer Shahd Abusalama has carried on after the apparent resolution to the case and her reinstatement earlier this year. Article here.

    This is the crowdfunder for Shahd's legal case against Sheffield Hallam University: Crowdfunder.
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    Palestinian female referee prepares for FIFA Women's World Cup

    Heba Saadia has been selected as the first Palestinian and Arab referee to officiate at the FIFA Women's World Cup matches. She will participate at the competition in Australia and New Zealand this summer.

    Following in Saadia's footsteps, Yasmine Nairoukh from Hebron will be obtaining her international referee badge in early 2023. Article here.
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    Why anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism

    Here's a useful video by Nora Barrows-Friedman of the Electronic Intifada: Video here.
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    More news:

    Background to the Israeli killings of the sons of Beit Rima: Article here.

    Israel Arrest 15 Palestinians, Demolishes 6 Structures in West Bank: Article here.

    Palestinian loses eye after police stun grenade explodes in his face: Article here.

    Israeli army vehicles flatten land inside Gaza's southern borders: Article here.

    How Palestinian Prisoners Defied Israel to Have Children Behind Bars: Article here.

    Palestine and Ireland: A history of shared struggle: Article here.

    Five-fold Increase in Immigration to Israel From Russia, Ukraine in 2022: Article here.

    The Palestinian and Levantine cuisine that Israel tries to appropriate: 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:

    30 December 2022
    13 December 2022
    2 December 2022

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