ICAHD UK March 2020 Newsletter A special message to our supporters. At a time when more than a quarter of the world’s population is living under restrictions to curb the coronavirus, we find that we all must face the result of a world driven by profit rather than having lived under egalitarian systems that recognize our shared humanity and the need to respect and nurture our planet. As you each face unprecedented challenges in your lives, we hope that you are settling into a new routine with your needs being met and we urge you to take care and stay well. We also know that where possible, you will be amongst those who also reach out in the service of others. May you be protected, given wisdom for the decisions you must make and then daily find joy in the simple things in life. As the coronavirus also sweeps through Palestine/Israel, instead of the Israeli government doing all it can to help the entire human population in that region, it continues its cruel discrimination and apartheid policies which is unleashing yet more catastrophe upon the Palestinians. In this newsletter, ICAHD’s Jeff Halper provides insight into some of the latest developments on the ground so please take note of it and then follow through by writing to your MP, a link to our sample letter is found below. Don’t miss the section on Demolitions and Displacements which is now recorded in the new chart form for easier assimilation of this monthly review. With this newsletter, we also want to share some positive news which is found in the articles about ICAHD Germany and in the interview that we had with Awad Abdelfattah, a key Palestinian leader of the One Democratic State Campaign who despite hardship and suffering has dedicated his life to serve his people and with an inclusive vision for the future. ICAHD UK, along with ICAHD and its other supporting chapters, continues to work for an alternative reality which is part of what we hope will emerge as a new world order following the way that this pandemic has brought a halt to life as we have known it. Our determination for peace with justice has only been strengthened. Stay with us. Can you tell us about yourself? Awad: I was born to a hard-working farming family in Kawkab, a village in the north of Palestine, today Israel. Since childhood, my father told me stories about its history. My family is one of those who survived the expulsion and the ethnic cleansing which the Zionist gangs carried out during and after the 1948 war, the Nakba. At the time, the population of the village was 400 and most of the people remained thanks to the wisdom of a charismatic and influential figure who conducted successful negotiations with the gangs’ officers that occupied my village. However about 20 percent of Kawkab’s residents, many of whom are my relatives, fled as soon as they learned the gangs had gathered village men in front of my grandfather’s house. They were subjected to torture and everybody expected them to be massacred as had happened in many other places. Women were screaming and crying; it was very frightening. At the time, my grandmother had just lost one of her sons while engaged in defending the This means that there is no central group or office and that most activities are organized locally. The only coordination is made possible by the "German Coordination Circle Palestine-Israel“ (KoPI) that has 30 member groups (all those mentioned above except BDS Germany) including ICAHD. It has five representatives from different organisations and I was elected to be one of them in my capacity as speaker for ICAHD Germany. KoPI provides an open mailing list for members that is the most important means of exchange on the topic in Germany. KoPI also organizes conferences on a national level. There are two KoPI members that also organise conferences for all of Germany: the German-Palestinian Society and the Alliance for Justice between Israelis and Palestinians, the latter has invited Jeff Halper to their September conference. Read more All the demolitions and confiscations were carried out on grounds of lacking an Israeli-issued building permit, other then the demolition of a house in Jenin (on 6 February) that was carried out as a punitive act. Most of the demolished structures supported agricultural, herding and commercial livelihoods. Read more The demolition and displacement report can also be Join the zoom rally and twitterstorm on Monday, 30 March, from 6 – 8pm in the UK calling for the end of the Gaza blockade. The action is organised by Jewish Voice for Peace to learn, plan, share our message of justice, bring media attention to the unfolding crisis in Gaza, #SpreadSolidarity, and be together. Details here . Sign the petition to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Following the preliminary examination accusing Israel of war-crimes in the Occupied Palestine Territory, the Prosecutor concluded that the Court has “reasonable basis to proceed” but asked it to decide whether it has jurisdiction on the matter. The petition demands that the Court settles the matter of jurisdiction quickly and positively. This petition has been prepared by Jahalin Solidarity which advocates for the rights of the Bedouins who live under occupation and who suffer from demolitions and displacement. Sign the petition here . Sign the petition to stop Israeli killer drones from intensifying the EU’s border militarisation. On 30 th March, Palestine Land Day and the anniversary of the start of the Great March of Return demonstrations in Gaza, a European coalition of NGOs, trade unions and migrant organisations, including ECCP (the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, of which ICAHD UK and ICAHD Finland are members) has launched a petition to the European Union to stop Israeli drones from intensifying the EU’s border militarisation. Sign the petition here . Watch the series of Webinars prepared by Stop the JNF (Jewish National Fund). This international campaign seeks to remove the charitable status of the JNF which, since its inception, has acted as one of the primary agents of the colonisation of Palestine, with the resultant ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Its conference on the Stop the JNF campaign, planned for April 18th, has had to be postponed due to the Coronavirus. To continue the campaign, it is in the process of devising a series of monthly Webinars which will have an education / action focus and will focus on a specific theme related to the JNF. Follows news by connecting with http://www.stopthejnf.org/. Many thanks for your ongoing support. 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 Palestine / Israel in a Time of 'Plague' - Jeff Halper, Director ICAHD Although we are all understandably focused on the coronavirus crisis, the world goes on, and so does the Zionist colonization of Palestine. There were some brief hopes that the virus might aid in bringing some peace to the region. After all, oil prices have fallen making it hard for Saudi Arabia to throw its oppressive weight around; Iran has been hard-hit by the virus, the drop in oil prices and US sanctions, perhaps causing it to pull back a bit from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other places; and Israel is cooperating with the PA in controlling the corona spread (fairly successfully so far, although we have to see what happens in Gaza). But it is naïve to expect any real change from coming out of this crisis except more misery. As the Israeli public hunkers down, its army pushes ahead with repression in the Occupied Territory: demolitions, including make-shift clinics as well as homes, an increase in settler attacks on Palestinians under the protective gaze of the army, and continued preparation on the ground for annexation. In fact, the crisis has provided a convenient cover for establishing new facts on the ground” as we look towards life – and a renewed colonial push – to reaffirm themselves after the corona leaves us or gives us a summer break. Read more... For several years ICAHD UK has provided platforms to present arguments for the one democratic state position on the basis that the two-state position is dead. Last year the ICAHD family updated its strap line to Resisting Apartheid, Building a Shared Democracy and recently the ICAHD UK Executive Committee formally adopted the one-state position therefore from now on, Palestinian and Israeli voices who call for one state will be profiled in our newsletters and on the website. In this newsletter we begin our focus with an interview with Awad Abdelfattah, one of the founding members of the One Democratic State Campaign. ICAHD UK's Interview with Awad Abdelfattah village, and she expected that her three remaining sons and husband would also be massacred by the Zionists; thankfully they were spared. My father remembers how his brother bled for hours before he died, and he carried the trauma with him for many years. Read more... ICAHD Germany and the Palestine Solidarity Movement in Germany Claus and Doris (ICAHD Germany) In Germany there are many local groups that work for a just peace in Palestine/Israel, most major cities have a group or two. On a national level there are a few committees of national organisations that speak up about Palestine/Israel, like Pax Christi (a Catholic organisation) or IPPNW, and there is a German-Palestinian Society and an Association of Palestinian Communities, the Jewish Voice for Peace (mainly in Berlin) and the Alliance for Justice between Israelis and Palestinians, and there is BDS (Boycott, Divestments, Sanctions) Germany. February Demolition and Displacement Report During the month of February 2020, at least 41 structures were demolished in the occupied Palestinian Territories (including East Jerusalem) by Israeli forces, displacing at least 72 people- including 26 children- and affecting a further 191 people. viewed in a new tabular format here Actions You Can Take Write to your MP about Israel’s repressive policies against Palestinians which continue with added cruelty during the coronavirus pandemic. Find a sample letter on the ICAHD UK website here (https://icahd.org/2020/03/30/sample-lobby-letter-to-mps-highlighting-israels-repressive-policies-against-palestinians-despite-the-current-coronavirus-pandemic/) . Contact details for your MP can be found here (https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/) . Donate to ICAHD UK’s ongoing campaign. Even though we are unable to hold events our work continues. Please donate via this link. Dates For Your Diary The Friday 29 May 2020 - ICAHD UK Members' Dinner (scheduled for 29 May), the ICAHD UK Annual Conference (30 May) and the planned national speaking tour by Atta Jaber have unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. * 28-31 August 2020 - ICAHD UK at Greenbelt Festival - Join us at the Greenbelt Festival on the Broughton Estate just outside Kettering. Northamptonshire. Full details available here (https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/) . Subject to review. * 2-12 November 2020 - Extended Study Tour - Join this political study tour that will change your life. No amount of reading, attending lectures or watching films can convey a genuine understanding of the facts on the ground compared to being there. Option to extend your stay for either 2 or 5 days to participate in ICAHD’s next rebuilding camp in the South Hebron Hills. Further details and how to book (https://icahd.org/extended-study-tours/) . Subject to review. — ICAHD (icahd.org) /newsletter/icahd-uk-march-2020-newsletter