Hastings and District Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Newsletter   18 April 2026
  In this newsletter:
  • Saturday, today's information stall
  • Thursday 23 April - Film show: the Voice of Hind Rajab
  • Thursday 23 April - Stand Up for Gaza
  • Friday 1 May - May Day International Workers Day
  • Check if your councillor has signed the Pledge for Palestine
  • Forthcoming local and national solidarity actions.

    HASTINGS TOWN CENTRE INFORMATION STALL

    Saturday 18 April 12noon until 2pm Town Centre.
    We will be running our weekly information stall as usual. Please come and visit. With all the usual information sheets, the petition calling on Hastings Council to ditch the General Dynamics' lease, boycott stickers, keffiyehs, books and badges.

    FILMSHOW: THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB

    Thursday 23 April 11am. Electric Palace Cinema, 39a High Street, Hastings TN34 3ER.


    This is a 'not to be missed' film. The Voice of Hind Rajab tells the harrowing story of a five-year-old Palestinian girl trapped during the Gazan genocide. "About as powerful as cinema gets. Its hybrid blend of documentary audio and devastating dramatisation is heart-wrenchingly, shatteringly effective." John Nugent, Empire Magazine.

    Hastings and District PSC is collaborating with the Electric Palace to show the Voice of Hind Rajab. We will have an information stall at the screening, also selling books on Palestine and keffiyehs, and will be collecting donations for the community in Al-Mawasi, southern Gaza. More information and tickets: More information.

    STAND UP FOR GAZA

    Thursday 23 April 7.15pm The Printworks,14 Claremont TN34 1HA.


    "Come along and have the craic while raising funds for our brothers and sisters in Gaza." Standard tickets £15. Option to pay less if you're skint. If you're feeling flush, you can pay more. More information and tickets: Jokepit.com.

    EYEWITNESS FROM LEBANON

    Tuesday 28 April 7pm Hastings Quakers House, 5 South Terrace, Hastings TN34 1SA


    A visual presentation by photo journalist Guy Smallman recently returned from Lebanon. This is a great opportunity to find out the latest situation in Lebanon. Looking at Israel's carpet bombing of Lebanon it would be difficult to believe that there's been 17 months of a so-called ceasefire. Organised by Hastings Stop the War. Please share: Facebook and Instagram

    MAY DAY INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY

    Friday 1 May 5.30pm. Cornwallis Gardens TN34 1LR. March, and Rally at the Pig.
    NO TO RACISM NO TO WAR! Rally at the Pig 37 White Rock, Hastings TN34 1JP. More information.

    NAKBA 78: MARCH FOR PALESTINE

    Saturday 16 May 12noon. Central London.
    March for Palestine in London to commemorate 78 years of the ongoing Nakba. More information.

    THE PHOENIX OF GAZA - FILM SCREENING AND DIRECTOR Q&A

    Sunday 17 May 2026 3PM Stade Hall, Hastings, TN34 3FJ.


    Award-winning documentary from Palestinian-British journalist Yousef Alhelou showing rare footage of Gaza's beauty, culture and people, filmed just weeks before the genocide began. Yousef visited Gaza in the summer of 2023 to reconnect with the city of his birth, meet his large family and promote Gaza to the outside world as a resilient and vibrant place.

    The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director and a chance to sample his homemade falafel sandwiches.This will be Yousef's second visit to Hastings - he gave us a talk about life in Gaza back in 2014.
    Ticket information at Ticketsource. Please share our Facebook and Instagram pages.

    DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

    Forthcoming events. More information to follow:

  • Saturday 9 May. Film Show: Palestine 36. Southborough Civic Cenre, Southborough TN4 0NA. Organised by West Kent PSC. More information Facebook and tickets.
  • Sunday 10 May. The Pig, Hastings. David Rovics. Ministry of Culture tour.
  • Thursday 21 May 7pm. King John's Nursery, Etchingham TN19 7AZ. Palestinian Cultural Evening. Burwash Palestine Solidarity Group. More information and tickets.

    COUNCILLOR PLEDGE FOR PALESTINE

    The PSC is asking councillors to make a commitment to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people. The PSC will be building on this momentum in the May local elections in England where we will be calling on council candidates to pledge for Palestine. You can check whether your councillor has signed the pledge using this tool on the PSC website.
    This is the number of councillors that have signed locally:
    5/24 East Sussex county councillors
    7/31 Hastings Borough councillors
    2/37 Rother District councillors

    Ask your Councillor/s to Pledge for Palestine:

    PLEDGE FOR PALESTINE.

    HELP GAZA'S CHILDREN RECLAIM THEIR CHILDHOOD THROUGH SWIMMING

    Amjed Tantesh's lifetime aim is to teach as many children to swim as possible. He has already made big progress with this pool in Deir al Balah. Since starting this project he has made plans to build swimming pools in other parts of Gaza. We will hopefully be working with Amjed with this year's Swim With Gaza, possibly in September. Please read and donate.

    PETITION: EXPEL ALL US MILITARY PERSONNEL AND CLOSE ALL US MILITARY BASES IN THE UK

    This is a UK government petition: "We call on the UK Government to cancel all UK-US agreements that permit US personnel and bases to operate in the UK, in order to prevent the UK from being used as a base for any unilateral military action."

    SIGN THE PETITION.

    PETITION: DEMAND THE UK EUROVISION CONTESTANT WITHDRAWS

    "Whilst Palestinians are still facing Israel's genocide against them, it's obscene for events like Eurovision to include Israel, giving it a stage to conceal its atrocities." Please sign this PSC petition which calls on Sam Battle to follow the lead of the five countries that have pulled out of Eurovision this year.

    SIGN THE PETITION.

    PETITION: URGE THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT TO STOP THE LAW ALLOWING THE EXECUTION OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

    A UK Government and Parliament petition: "The UK Government must act urgently to urge the Israeli Government to stop the proposed law which would permit the execution of Palestinian Prisoners, past, present and future."

    SIGN THE PETITION.

    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.       Craig Murray.       The Canary.       Double Down News.
    .......................................

    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.
    ........................................

    Recent Hastings and District PSC newsletters:
    Keep up to date with our website and social media:

    Website    Linktree    Facebook    X/Twitter    Instagram    YouTube Channel    TikTok.    Upscrolled


  •