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Hastings and District Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter 30 August 2024
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In this newsletter:
This Saturday's information stall
Saturday 7 September 12 noon - National March for Palestine - End the Genocide
Sunday 8 September 1pm - Online meeting with members of the Al-Mawasi Resilience Committee
Thursday 12 September - Zoom Call with Palestine (West Bank)
Future BDS actions and public meetings
Reports: Swim With Gaza; Hastings Pride; Trial of the #Hasting3; Gig For Gaza raises £1,400
INFORMATION STALL THIS SATURDAY
DIVEST FOR PALESTINE
Hastings town centre 12.00 - 2pm
As part of the campaign to make local councils divest from Israeli apartheid, we will be distributing information about East Sussex County Council's pension fund which has £68 million investments in companies complicit in Israel's oppression of Palestinians. This includes companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology used in its genocidal attacks on Palestinians in Gaza, such as Lockheed Martin £2.3 million, BAE Systems £2.4 million and Honeywell £1.5 million.
NATIONAL MARCH FOR PALESTINE - END THE GENOCIDE
Pall Mall (London). Saturday 7 September 12 noon.. As Israel commits genocide and threatens regional war, join us on the national march to demand our government immediately end all complicity in Israel's violence and apartheid and push for a permanent ceasefire. Catch the 10.31 train to London. If you would like to go but need help towards the cost of a ticket, contact us directly. We match donors with marchers. More information.
ONLINE MEETING WITH MEMBERS OF THE AL-MAWASI RESILIENCE COMMITTEE
Sunday 8 September 1pm. Details to follow. This will be an important opportunity to learn how the people in southern Gaza have been dealing with eleven months of Israel's genocidal onslaught.
ZOOM CALL WITH PALESTINE - BUILDING SOLIDARITY WITH THE WEST BANK
Thursday 12 September 6pm. The largest invasion in the West Bank this week since 2002 is a reminder that Israel's expansionist goals do not end with Gaza. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine is rapidly escalating, which is why we must build and strengthen our links across the West Bank.
Please join us to hear courageous activists describe the reality they are facing right now of violent repression, settler violence, and the constant threat of military detention - and hear their proposals for co-ordinated global actions including protests, legal work and educational campaigns. Whether you are an individual campaigner or a representative of an organisation, join the discussion about what you can do to support global action in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for justice. Register for meeting via this link.
BDS (BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS) TOUR
Saturday 14 September. Details to follow. Previous tours: Hastings town centre and Ravenside.
'ONE STATE - THE FUTURE FOR PALESTINE-ISRAEL' WITH GHADA KARMI
White Rock Hotel. Saturday 21 September 2.30pm. We are thrilled to be hosting British Palestinian doctor, activist and author Ghada Karmi next month on the topic of her latest work: One State: The Only Democratic Future for Palestine-Israel, a bold, incisive and necessary effort to set out a positive vision for the future.
Gaza, we are with you!
Thanks to everyone who braved the wind, rain and pollution last Saturday to show our boundless solidarity and love for our brothers and sisters in Gaza, for whom every day is a struggle for survival right now. Videos are still in coming from the 40 or so Swim With Gaza locations from New Zealand, to Malaysia, Europe to Vancouver. There was even an underwater Swim With Gaza off the coast of Catalonia! Video of the Hastings Swim With Gaza: here (YouTube).
We had a contingent at Sunday's Hastings Pride. There was a good turnout, lively and noisy; and our group got a great response. And we gave out hundreds of leaflets about Israeli pinkwashing. More about pinkwashing.
REPORT: TRIAL OF THE HASTINGS THREE
 Photo: Hastings Online Times.
Thanks to all who came to support the #Hastings3 on Tuesday. Incredibly, the much-anticipated trial of the three for their part in a peaceful protest outside arms factory General Dynamics in February was delayed until 2025!
Retired train driver Laurie Holden, 71, NHS worker Clem McCullough, 33, and artist Thomas Delves, 24, were due to plead not guilty to the charge of aggravated trespass at Hastings Magistrates Court in a one-day hearing. The charge, which carries a maximum tariff of a three-month jail term and £2,500 fine, relates to our peaceful, community protest outside the General Dynamics site in Sidley Little Road on 29 February.
Ahead of the trial around 50 supporters of the #Hastings3 gathered at the steps of the court for a rally to 'show solidarity and demand an end to arm sales to Israel.'.A video from the day and our press statement.
The case will now be heard in front of a District judge in Brighton on 22 January 2025 at 10am. We'll be in Brighton bigger, louder and stronger than before. The #Hastings3 aren't guilty- General Dynamics is guilty!
REPORT: GIG FOR GAZA RAISES THE ROOF - AND £1400!
It was an amazing night on Tuesday for our Gig for Gaza at The Pig - the fourth musical fundraiser we have hosted since the genocide began.
We were treated to a dazzling array of local talent including Tom Cole, Jude Montague, Oli Spleen and the Smithmanthers and Tom Fryer & Friends, featuring Kid Kapichi's Ben and George and Lily from Message from the Ravens.
The whole place was jumping by the end and one guest wrote on their Instagram post: 'Solidarity with everyone at the fundraiser for Gaza. I love the music, the immense heart and generosity shared and the thriving Hastings community spirit. How I love my home town, BIG LOVE!'
We raised a fantastic £1400 which will go to our friends in Al Mawasi as well as help with legal costs for the #Hastings3. Huge thanks to the talented musicians who gave their time for free, our friends at The Pig and all those who came and supported the event. Short video of the evening (Facebook).
BOOKS AVAILABLE AT OUR STALLS AND MEETINGS
 
Now available at our stall, two great books to deepen our knowledge of the history of Palestine and Israel leading up to October 7. We're grateful to Lee at Printed Matter in Hastings, for generously discounting the price for us in support of the work of PSC.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oneworld, 2007) £13 by Ilan Pappé, renowned Israeli historian, scholar and author who was forced from his position at the University of Haifa after publishing this book, and is now Professor of History and Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter. In this book he exposes the facts behind the Nakba of 1948 with meticulous research into Israeli archival documents, making clear that ridding the land of its Palestinian inhabitants was always central to the founding of the State of Israel.
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017, Rashid Khalidi (Profile Books, 2020) £12. Khalidi is Palestinian American and the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University in New York City. He tells this history from the perspective of his own prominent Jerusalem Muslim family using his family's extensive archives in Jerusalem, along with multiple other sources, documenting the extensive Palestinian resistance to colonization that began with the arrival of European Jews to Palestine and has continued to the present.
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PALESTINE - ISRAEL: FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Much of the 'information' in the corporate media is misleading. Here are some useful sources:
Middle East Eye. Electronic Intifada. Al Jazeera. Middle East Monitor.
Mondoweiss. Palestine Chronicle. Al Mayadeen. Mintpress. The Grayzone.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Jonathan Cook.
The Cradle. MediaLens. Declassified UK.
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Hastings and District PSC online membership and donations
Becoming a member of Hastings and District 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. If you would rather not use Paypal, you can pay directly to our bank: please contact us for the details. Or alternatively pay at one of our events.
The work of Hastings and District PSC could not continue without the 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 and District PSC.
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Recent Hastings and District PSC newsletters:
23 August 2024
16 August 2024
9 August 2024
Keep up to date with our website and social media:
Website Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Channel TikTok.
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