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Hastings and District Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter 24 January 2025
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In this newsletter:
Saturday's information stall
Saturday 1 February 12 noon - Protest Rally and Memorial Vigil
Report: Victory to the Hastings3
Tuesday 11 February 9.20 am - East Sussex Council: Divest from Israel Rally and Petition
Saturday 15 February - Meeting: Jewish not Zionist
Report from Al-Mawasi - the bakery has started production!
Plus...Dates for your diary; local news and events; books for sale....
SATURDAY'S INFORMATION STALL Saturday 25 January 12.00 noon until 2pm Town Centre. Please visit and support our information stall. All the usual information, East Sussex Pension Fund petition, plus keffiyehs, books, badges, boycott stickers and Palestine Cola.
PROTEST RALLY AND MEMORIAL VIGIL FOR PALESTINE Saturday 1 February 12.00 Town Centre, Wellington Place TN34 1NN
 There may be a ceasefire in Gaza, and people there can finally sleep without fear of being bombed, but Israel has now moved its genocidal war to the West Bank. Meanwhile, the UK continues to arm Israel. And we have two General Dynamics factories in Hastings - this is a company that is a major supplier of weapons and equipment to the Israeli military.
We will hold a rally in the town centre, followed by a march to the peace garden in Alexandra Park where we will lay flowers in a solemn act of remembrance for all the innocent lives taken over the past 15 months. Please join us.
Bring flowers, friends and your home made signs - for justice, for freedom and for the full rights of all Palestinians from the river to the sea.
More Information: Facebook.
VICTORY TO THE HASTINGS THREE!

We are thrilled to report that on Wednesday the Hastings Three were found not guilty during their 'sham trial' at Brighton Law Courts.
Not only did Laurie Holden, Clem McCulloch and Thomas Delves fight back against the malicious prosecution, they each spoke in court to state clearly the purpose of their actions was to disrupt arms supplier General Dynamics to stop the genocide in Gaza. Their humanity and courage was on full display.
By contrast, General Dynamics' head of security gave evidence behind a screen, ashamed perhaps to be defending the manufacturer of death and destruction.
We would like to thank every single person who supported our friends, donated to the legal fighting fund, stood outside court, shared posts and publicized the case. Please do share the articles below with equal enthusiasm to give courage and confidence to all who are facing political repression.
Peaceful protest is not a crime - it is our democratic right!
And if anyone was in any doubt over the power of protest, note the following statement from General Dynamics submitted to the court ahead of the trial:
'The frequency and presence of unauthorized individuals on our sites, in combination with flags/placards referencing 'Genocide Dynamics' as opposed to 'General Dynamics' has likely damaged our business's reputation. If this negative perception continues this could result in a decline in patronage and a loss of trust within the community... These ongoing incidents of trespassing have significantly disrupted our operations and had a detrimental impact on our business, employees and third parties in a number of ways.'
Read the full court report on our website, Swawkbox and the Canary and see our video here.
EAST SUSSEX COUNCIL - STOP INVESTING IN ISRAELI WAR CRIMES Tuesday 11 February 9.20 am County Hall, St Anne's Crescent, Lewes BN7 1UE

11 February is the date of the next East Sussex County Council meeting. We hope you can join us to: Demand that the East Sussex Pension Fund divests from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid and war crimes. The East Sussex Pension Fund has investments in excess of £68 million [Source] in companies that are complicit in Israel's violations of international law, in Israel's war crimes carried out against the Palestinians. Many of these companies directly supply the Israeli military forces.
PETITION TO EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL
 "We, the undersigned, petition the council to divest the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), and end procurement contracts, with companies enabling Israel's grave violations of Palestinian rights."
The printable version of the petition can be downloaded here. For more information contact Grace on the WhatsApp group or email us.
Please sign and share the petition:
PETITION - EAST SUSSEX COUNCIL: DIVEST
JEWISH NOT ZIONIST - DISCUSSION WITH AUTHOR MARILYN GARSON Saturday 15 February 6pm. The White Rock Hotel, Hastings TN34 1JU
 We're really pleased to be hosting a talk and discussion with author Marilyn Garson on this subject and we invite you to bring all the questions you've ever wondered but been afraid to ask. We are jointly hosting this meeting with Hastings Jews for Justice. More information: Facebook, Instagram.
Silenced, excluded, defamed and erased: Anti Palestinian Racism today with Dr Zahira Jaser. Saturday 22 February. 3pm at the White Rock Hotel. More details to follow.
The bakery has produced its first bread! Local people working with the Al-Mawasi Resilience Committee have built this bakery in a bombed out building in nearby Khan Younis. This bakery is desperately needed as the Israeli military has destroyed so many.
If Israel allows the ceasefire to hold, this will hopefully be the beginning of many successful ventures to come in the re-building of Gaza.
The next stage of the project is to redevelop another floor to create a space for recycling adult clothes into children's clothes. And the third stage is to build a classroom for students.
A big thank you to everyone who has contributed with your time and money. There's lots of ways to help, but money sure helps! Money can still be sent through the Gifts for Gaza Winter Appeal. Or through Paypal. More information on our website.

ONLINE WELLBEING SESSIONS Clinical hypnotherapist Chris Dindar is running 30 min relaxation sessions to help decompress, process our emotions, and find a moment of peace and deep relaxation amidst the chaos. Chris is offering his services for free, as a token of his solidarity, to help nurture the well-being of our local group and maintain our collective resolve.
Please email Chris directly if interested in taking part. The sessions are the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month at 12 noon.
BOOKS AVAILABLE AT OUR STALLS AND MEETINGS



Now available at our stall, a number of great books to deepen our knowledge of the history of Palestine and Israel. We're grateful to Lee at Printed Matter in Hastings, for generously discounting the price for us in support of the work of PSC. Thanks to Kay Green for providing us with Marilyn Garson's Jewish not Zionist.
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: 17 January 2025 11 January 2025 20 December 2024
Keep up to date with our website and social media:
Website Facebook X/Twitter Instagram YouTube Channel TikTok.
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