ICAHD UK July 2020 Newsletter

July 2020 Newsletter * Be entertained by Mark Thomas in his ‘Walking the Wall’ show and join in this fund-raising event for ICAHD UK. * Read Jeff Halper’s article on Peter Beinart a liberal Zionist who has opened-up the one-state discussion in Zionist circles. * Get to know Dr Nadia Naser-Najjab who is featured in our monthly interview with Palestinians who call for one state. * Register for our webinar on 12^th August on ‘Demolitions within Israel and the Impact on Women and Children’. * Receive the latest news about the campaign to stop the Jewish National Fund from evicting the Sumarin family from their home in Silwan – time is now critical. * Order your postcards to send to the NSPCC so it stops taking tarnished money from JCB. * Celebrate the achievement of the summer camp for youth in the Jordan Valley held at the community centre whose construction began during ICAHD’s building camp for internationals. * Dates for your diary.

'Walking the Wall' with Mark Thomas - 11 August at 7.30pm (UK time)

Photo: David Shulman - Amal Sumarin with son Ala and three grandchildren

ICAHD UK is delighted to announce that our friend Mark Thomas is putting on a live-streamed show for us on August 11th, 2020. The original live show ‘Walking the Wall’ was performed in many UK theatres and filmed in 2011 and was followed by a best-selling book.

ICAHD was involved in briefing Mark before he started his journey walking the entirety of the Israeli separation barrier and the first excepts from the show were performed at ICAHD UK’s annual conference in 2010. The show on August 11^th will begin at 7.30pm with a live introduction from Mark (with BSL interpreter), a stream of the filmed show (with captioned option), followed by a live interview with Colin Green, Founder of IMET2000 and ICAHD UK Patron, around the theme ‘Child Victims of War and Pandemics’, in turn followed by a Q&A (with BSL interpreter). A recording of the whole evening will be available for 24 hours after the livestream. Mark and his great team are also offering a free bonus recorded discussion with Mark and Phil Stebbing, who accompanied Mark and filmed the walk, which will be available for a week after the livestream.

Three organisations will benefit from the show: IMET2000, Firefly International and ICAHD-UK, who will share equally any proceeds from the show (20% of each ticket sold and any donations kindly made to this cause). Payment in different currencies is accepted to include an international audience.

To purchase tickets: please click on link http://gofasterstripe.com/cgi-bin/website.cgi?aff=41161&id=42798

To donate: we welcome donations however small which can be made on https://imet2000.org/donate/

IMET2000 is dealing with the finances on a pro bono basis and every penny will go into the projects. Now that all our other live fund-raising events and activities are impossible because of the CV19 pandemic, these on-line events are essential lifelines to the survival of our many projects.

‘Walking the Wall’ is a terrific show that combines comedy and information for raising awareness of life today for Palestinians. Please spread news of this opportunity to spend an evening with award-winning Mark Thomas - comedian, presenter, political satirist, and journalist. 'Peter Beinart Doesn't Go Far Enough' by Jeff Halper

Jeff writes, “These are extraordinary positions to espouse in the American Jewish community, particularly since Beinart has for years been an ardent supporter of the "two-state solution" and is still a professed liberal Zionist (no, that is not considered an oxymoron). Read more... ICAHD UK Interview with Dr Nadia Naser-Najjab who says that without hope, the coloniser wins Photo: Stephen Sizer Nadia, the first time I heard you speak was at the ICAHD UK annual conference in 2018 and since then, I’ve heard you talk at other events, including in British parliament. But I know nothing about your background. Where were you born and where did you spend your childhood?

I was born in Kuwait which is where I grew up. My parents moved there when my father got a job with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), but he and my uncles used to work at the port in Haifa, where they had purchased a house. But the house was taken in 1948 and a Jewish family moved into it. We are originally from Burqa near Nablus, but my father sought a job in Kuwait to avoid living in poverty. I came along seventeen years later followed by my three younger sisters. As a youngster, I had a nice life in Kuwait. When my father retired, he decided to take his family and return to Palestine. We moved to Burqa, which is where the extended family lived. I was a teenager at the time so that is where I went to high school. Was it a shock to move to a place that was under Israeli military occupation?

Photo: John Hastings-Thomson Demolition in Umm al-Hiran

Within the state of Israel, communities in the Naqab (Negev) desert and the Galilee that are not officially recognized by Israel are termed unrecognized villages and as a result, they do not benefit from state support for basic services and infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity, schools and health clinics. Of the approximate 200,000 Bedouins in Israel, more than half live in unrecognized villages and many pre-date the establishment of the state of Israel. Unrecognized villages are especially vulnerable to demolition by the Israeli military which annually can total between 900 – 1000 homes and structures. An acute example of this is al-Araqib that has been demolished in whole or in part over 170 times since July 2010. Another stark case is Umm al-Hiran, which Israeli authorities seek to raze so that the Jewish town of Hiran can be constructed on its ruins.

Hear Khalil Alamour from Al-Sira in the Naqab and Nabila Espanioly from Nazareth provide the latest information about demolitions and displacement in the Naqab and the impact that this cruel policy has on women and children. For more information and to register to attend the webinar, please follow this link .

* 22 July – Demolitions in the West Bank with Jeff Halper and Rashid Khudairy from the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign

JNF, Do Not Evict the Sumarin Family

ICAHD UK is part of the international campaign to pressurize the Jewish National Fund to stop its planned eviction of the 18-member Sumarin family from their home in Silwan, East Jerusalem which is set for August the 16th. The family’s home ownership was taken way under the draconian interpretation of Israel’s absent property law.

In the 1990's, an Israeli court and a government commission determined that the expropriation of their property was in violation of Israeli law and yet the JNF has continued to try to evict the family. On June 30^th, the family lost its appeal to the Jerusalem District Court however a world-wide fund-raising drive has resulted in nearly $40,000 being raised which has enabled the family to apply to take their case to the Israeli Supreme Court. On August 2^nd, the family will be told whether the Supreme Court will take up its case (with a restraining order being placed on the eviction) or whether the eviction will happen on 16^th August or shortly after.

Through different methods, more than 10,000 people, including some prominent Israeli Jews, have sent messages to the JNF calling for it to immediately renounce all claims to the Sumarin property, cease legal proceedings against the family, and let the family live in peace and safety in their own home so the JNF is feeling the pressure. Remember that the JNF is an international Zionist organisation and front for Israel which seeks to displace Palestinians from their homes. The JNF has charitable status in the UK so our taxes contribute to the tax relief the JNF receives.

In the UK, 70 MPs have signed Early Day Motion 529 about the family, which is very encouraging, but we still want that number to grow so we need every one of you to help us. If we lose, then it will strengthen the JNF and the Israeli government because it will create a dangerous legal precedent that will likely increase the number of Palestinians classified as “absentees” with their homes also taken from them. However, we have the potential to win this campaign and if so, then this can lead to success stopping other evictions and demolitions. We are in a critical period on the run-up to 2^nd August, and your action is needed immediately. Please go to our website and follow the easy steps you can take for contacting your MP and for pressurizing the Jewish National Fund. * Website page about the family https://icahd.org/2020/05/21/jnf-do-not-evict-the-sumarin-family/

Postcard Campaign to the NSPCC

ICAHD UK is now going another step by supporting an initiative taken by Protecting Palestinian Families, an offshoot of Stop the Demolitions, by sending postcards to NSPCC to persuade it not to take tarnished money. Two postcard designs with accompanying text have been prepared. Because Covid-19 remains with us, it is impossible to distribute cards on street stalls or at solidarity meetings therefore we are looking for "hubs" - i.e. people willing to receive 10, 15, or more postcards which can be shared directly between friends and sympathisers. All people need to do is sign, give their postcode if they wish, add a stamp, and post the card.

To view the postcards and learn more about safety procedures in handling the cards go to our website https://icahd.org/2020/07/22/postcard-campaign-to-nspcc/ To order the postcards, please email info@icahduk.org ; include your postal address and state the number of postcards you can deliver. The deadline for placing orders is August 14^th.

To help end Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes and displacement of the Palestinian people, winning these campaigns are a meaningful step in reaching our bigger goal. Please join us by acting today. Good News to Celebrate

In October 2018, ICAHD partnered with the Torat Tzedek and the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign (JVSC) to construct a community centre in Bardala to serve the locality and 13 herding communities from Area C. Twenty internationals joined the camp and construction on the eco-friendly mud brick construction began. Since then the centre has been enlarged with the addition of a small kitchen and toilet facilities which has enabled it to be used in a variety of ways. In July, the first summer camp for youth in the north of the Jordan Valley was provided and part of it was based at the community centre in Bardala. It was a great success and has inspired them to develop more ways to work with the youth. To see more photos and read the camp report go to http://jordanvalleysolidarity.org/events-action-call-outs/community-education-summer-camp/. Dates for Your Diary

11 August – Walking the Wall with Mark Thomas – entertainment and fund-raiser for ICAHD UK. Beginning at 7.30pm UK. Details above.

12 August – ICAHD UK Webinar on Demolitions within Israel and the Impact on Women and Children. Beginning at 5pm UK. Details above.

22 August – UK Palestine Mental Health Network – webinars begin with live music arranged by PalMusic UK followed by a guest speaker. Beginning at 10.45. To register https://ukpalmhn.com/

Advance Notice: ICAHD UK’s 2021 annual conference is set for Saturday, 24 April, at Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre, London. Many thanks for your ongoing support. If you're not already a member of ICAHD UK, please consider joining us to enable our campaign to spread at this critical time in history. 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