17 Nov Webinar, JCB, Christian Zionism, Tours

Featuring:

Sharen Green – Protecting Palestinian Families, webinar moderator Martin Kemp – UK Palestine Mental Health Network Hilary Smith – Boycott Israel Network Annie O’Gara - Stop the JNF Linda Ramsden – ICAHD UK

Register for this webinar here BREAKING NEWS ABOUT JCB!

On 12^th November the UK National Contact Point, a governmental body, confirmed that JCB ‘s business practises do violate human rights in that their machinery has been used in illegal activities – both the demolition of Palestinian homes and properties and the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, each are war crimes according to international law. Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights which brought the case of JCB before the NCP responds here . An update on ICAHD UK’s JCB campaign will be included in our webinar on 17^th November – don’t miss it.

The statistics in this report illustrate the wide variety of ways that Israel uses demolition and confiscation to deliberately harass and damage Palestinian communities- by rendering families homeless, by destroying access to agricultural land, by destruction of essential infrastructure like water supplies and by targeting schools.

Once a demolition order has been issued it can be carried out at any time, leaving the families in a daily state of uncertainty for unpredictable lengths of time about when the bulldozers will arrive. This combined with a worrying increase in settler violence simply adds to the daily trauma of life under the oppressive control of the Israeli state. This year's olive harvest season has been the hardest in recent memory for Palestinian families subjected to attacks by settlers while working on their land and picking olives. Monica Wusteman

Encourage your MP to attend a special online parliamentary briefing on the Jewish National Fund’s new attempt to use discriminatory laws to claim ownership of hundreds of Palestinian properties, in an attempt to forcibly dispossess Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, similar to what has been happening in Sheikh Jarrah.

Arranged by PSC, the briefing will hear from expert speakers on the ground, and will cover how MPs can hold Israel, and bodies like the KKL-JNF, accountable for violations of international law.

Contact UK MPs here .

Delegates were approached as they entered the conference – those with black and brown faces were much more likely to engage than Europeans. A Panamanian bishop, activists from Bangladesh and several journalists showed real interest.

Sharen was actually staying Edinburgh as were many others and the train trip back and forwards afforded excellent opportunities for conversations and leafleting.

Several universities were targeted – Edinburgh, Heriot Watt, Strathclyde, Caledonian, Warwick (via a student on a train) and Glasgow School of Art. Three Quaker Meeting Houses took flyers and a Catholic Cathedral, and a Church of Scotland church also received flyers.

Palestinian fair-trade shop Hadeel in Edinburgh and LUSH shop managers in both cities extended a warm welcome. Others were left at the cafe in the National Library of Scotland.

The march on Saturday was very wet and no one wanted to accept flyers. It was so huge that neither Sharen nor ICAHD UK member Graham Ogden who had offered his services was able to find the Palestine bloc – or each other!

However, by standing on some steps above the crowds – whilst waiting for the bloc which never arrived – Sharen received many thumbs-ups, victory signs and messages of support for the ICAHD banner. Photos and video clips were also taken.

Efforts on leafleting continued until the journey home – the remainder of about 40 will find a good home in Dorset. Sharen Green

Eileen Cairns, Dennis McEldowney & Norma Cohen at the COP26 march in London on 6th November

ICAHD's alternative tours and rebuilding camp resuming in 2022 Since 1997 ICAHD has provided: * Top-quality issue-based political tours – both half-day and extended study tours * Knowledgeable guides and encounters with both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis * A grounded approach to the Occupation and settler colonialism * Insight into the difficulties of Palestinian life and vision for a just and peaceful future * Rebuilding opportunities done as non-violent political resistance that brings internationals together with Palestinians and Israelis who refuse to be enemies

Half-day toursresuming in January 2022 and the next study tour and camp scheduled for May. “These tours through their many and varied visits and opportunities to meet activists, provides an excellent opportunity for both beginners and more seasoned campaigners to extend their knowledge and understanding of the issues and priorities for campaigning back home.” (A Mitchell, UK)

Critical political texts, particularly on an issue like Palestinian liberation, are seldom available to the public, even to grassroots activists. Among the Palestinian and wider Arab public, where relatively few critical books are translated from English and other languages, access to cutting-edge political analysis is even more restricted.

Getting books written in Hebrew by anti-colonial Israeli writers but translated into Arabic is crucial for building the kind of political solidarity and joint struggle necessary for the creation of a single democracy in historic Palestine, just as translating books by Palestinian and Arab writers is essential if Israelis are to grasp Palestinians needs for freedom and a new society.

Jeff Halper’s Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine was written in conjunction with the One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC), a Palestine-led initiative to free Palestinians from Zionist/Israeli colonization and occupation while also offering equal rights to Israeli Jews in a shared democracy. Sharing such texts, analyses and political programs is key to building the foundations for a joint Palestinian/Israeli struggle for liberation.

Please donate now on the Crowdfunding site - Donations of £50 will receive a free copy of Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine. Watch the inaugural ICAHD USA webinar

Christian Zionism: What is it? How does it impact on the Palestinian question? How do we combat it?

A large international audience was attracted to the inaugural webinar arranged by ICAHD USA. Christian Zionism is a religious movement that justifies racism, segregation, apartheid and settler colonialism. Its followers believe that modern Israel is a continuation of biblical Israel so should be given uncritical support. They outnumber Jewish Zionists ten to one and have influenced American government policy therefore this is a serious movement and one that endangers Palestinian lives.

View the recordinghere .

Saturday, 20 November at 3.45pm (UK) - UK Palestine Mental Health Network Cafe Palestine. 'The Law - weapon of oppression, or of liberation'. Join webinar here

Saturday, 23 April 2022 – ICAHD UK Annual Conference – Amnesty Human Rights Centre, London – mark your diary and details to follow

Monday, 16 May – Thursday, 26 May 2022 – Study tour to Palestine/Israel + optional rebuilding activity

From all at ICAHD UK. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Israeli-Committee-Against-House-Demolitions-UK/366423593418140 Facebook https://www.twitter.com/ICAHDUK/ Twitter http://icahduk.org Website mailto:info@icahduk.org Email