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Hastings and District Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter 4 April 2025
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In this newsletter:
This Saturday 12noon - 2pm - Don't Buy Apartheid Day Of Action
Letter to MP Dollimore: We Want Welfare Not Warfare
Thursday 10 April - Presentation of our Open Letter to MP Dollimore
Emergency In Al-Mawasi - Distress Calls from our friends in Gaza
Media Response - Israeli Execution of Gazan Medics
Plus....Petition to East Sussex Council: Divest from Israeli War Crimes; Future activities in Hastings; Poetry for Palestine evening; Local fundraisers; books for sale; information sources....
DON'T BUY APARTHEID DAY OF ACTION
This Saturday 5 April. We will be at local supermarkets promoting the global boycott. We will be talking with shoppers encouraging them to join in the DON'T BUY APARTHEID campaign. If you want to take part please email us. Or you can turn up at our regular weekly stall in the town centre (noon until 2pm) and we can give you more information from there.
 
LETTER TO HELENA DOLLIMORE MP: WE WANT WELFARE NOT WARFARE
In recent weeks the Hastings and Rye MP has signed 2 letters - one supporting cuts to welfare benefits and another calling for investments in arms companies to be reclassified as 'ethical.' We don't want this MP promoting more government spending on weapons and war, or lobbying on behalf of arms dealers - we want her to stand up to companies like General 'genocide' Dynamics in Hastings which is arming Israel to carry out war crimes. Sign and share the letter here.
Thursday 10 April 11.30am The Stade TN34 3FJ. We will be handing in the letter at an open coffee morning being hosted by the MP to let her know that many, many of us care about people who are sick and disabled, and we care about promoting peace. Starting from the Stade we will be walking a short distance to the hall in All Saints' Street where the coffee morning will be taking place.
EMERGENCY IN AL-MAWASI - DISTRESS CALLS FROM OUR FRIENDS IN GAZA
On Monday as Israel's bombing campaign intensified, we received distress calls from Al Mawasi as they came under increasing attack as people in the surrounding area once more were forced to evacuate there. Our friends have been doing everything they can to stay alive and support the community during this genocide but now it seems conditions have become unbearable. Full report.
We have consistently raised funds to support our sister community in Al Mawasi, to help them buy food for the community, dig a well, buy solar panels and convert a bombed building into a bakery...but now all food, fuel and water is running out, prices have soared and thousands have fled there again on foot and under fire from Rafah. Our current fundraiser for Al-Mawasi is here. The money we send is saving lives.
ISRAELI EXECUTION OF CIVIL DEFENCE TEAMS AND RED CRESCENT AMBULANCE WORKERS
The Israeli attacks against the people of Gaza have continued with such a vengeance that it is hard to comprehend. Most people were appalled at Israel's execution of Civil Defence workers and Red Crescent ambulance workers in Rafah and the attempts to hide the evidence by literally burying the bodies. The role of the corporate media in its misleading headlines and its policy of sanitising this serious atrocity is outrageous. The media group Newscord has exposed this complicity: Newscord statement.
Article in the Middle East Eye:
Gaza medics killed by Israel found handcuffed and shot in mass grave.
PETITION TO EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL: DIVEST FROM ISRAEL AND STOP SUPPORT FOR GENOCIDE
We're still collecting signatures for our petition to get the council to divest its pension fund (and procurement contracts) from companies complicit in Israel's war crimes and genocide. We hope to reach the 5,000 threshold of signatures to guarantee a full debate is held on the issue at a future council meeting. East Sussex residents who wish to sign can do so here.
WALK THE SEAFRONT FOR GAZA
Monday 7 April 10.45am Rock a Nore Car Park. This sponsored walk is to raise money for the family known to one of our members. They live just east of Jabalia. They currently live in the bombed out remains of their home (a total of 21 family members!) The head of the family is a volunteer at his local hospital. The event is during the school holidays and is directed at schoolkids but everyone is welcome. For more information email here.
Sunday 13 April 7pm at the Pig, 37 White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JP
More information and tickets.
POETRY FOR PALESTINE OPEN MIC NIGHT - AN AL-MAWASI FUNDRAISER
Thursday 17 April 7.30pm. The Downstairs Bar, White Rock Hotel TN34 1JU
Share your poetry, listen to others, and support our friends in Gaza. Let's come together to celebrate the power of words and show solidarity with Palestine.
Online audience tickets are £15 (or £10 if finances are tight). Tickets can be bought at the door. For poets: £5 for 5 minute open mic slots (with some spaces reserved for low/no income poets). Please sign-up beforehand to ensure your slot. Pay it Forward option - if you would like to buy a ticket for another person/s to attend, you can Pay it Forward. This will allow us to offer these tickets to unwaged/low income poets and guests. Online tickets at Eventbrite. More information at our Facebook and Instagram pages.
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. The Hind Rajab Foundation.
Rania Khalek.
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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:
28 March 2025
21 March 2025
19 March 2025
Keep up to date with our website and social media:
Website Facebook X/Twitter Instagram YouTube Channel TikTok. Bluesky
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