ICAHD UK Members' Update & Minutes from AGM/EGM Important updates for members including minutes from our recent AGM & EGM... - This photo was taken at this years' AGM, chaired by Leonard Beighton (centre), minuted by Ruby Kvalheim (left) and with Director Linda Ramsden (right). Dear members, It was encouraging to see approximately 70 members at ICAHD UK’s AGM and EGM who were able to join us at Amnesty’s International Human Rights Centre in London on 28^th May despite it being a bank holiday weekend. Rather than waiting until our 2017 AGM, we are distributing the minutes from those meetings with this correspondence because we think these developments are significant and should be seen by all of our members. We hope that you will read this important update and this will encourage further feedback from those of you who joined us, and to provide others who did not get the chance to attend or speak up in the meeting to respond with any feedback or queries you may have. We would be happy to receive your comments. Standard business was addressed during the AGM however the EGM provided the opportunity to go into more detail regarding ICAHD’s altered status, the level of activity from the ICAHD chapters and the changes that are taking place within ICAHD UK. Several questions and comments were heard from our members. The major concerns communicated were about the level of involvement from Israelis because our memorandum and articles specifically state that we exist to support the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and with Linda wanting to concentrate on other aspects of work, who will run ICAHD UK. An update is that ICAHD continues to function as a grassroots organisation on the ground. Representing ICAHD, Jeff regularly gives briefings and media interviews, and ICAHD still provides alternative tours. In August, Jeff will be speaking at the World Social Forum in Montreal, and he and others will run a stall that will include ICAHD UK resources which will give us profile: we hope it will result in more supporters. Plans are progressing for the UK speaking tour for Eran Efrati, Executive Director, ICAHD USA. Eran is in high demand for events in the States however we hope he can fit us in during November. As soon as we have confirmation of his availability we will confirm the arrangements. Eran is committed to forging a strong bond between ICAHD USA and ICAHD UK to strengthen our message. A sad development is that Ruby Kvalheim has submitted her resignation. She writes, “After 3 years, at the end of September I will be leaving the post of Administrator to focus on completing my studies. I feel I have learnt so much, and have been extremely lucky to have taken part in the 2015 rebuilding camp as the media coordinator. I am honoured to have been working with such a dedicated, generous and passionate Director and Executive Committee, and am thrilled to be joining the Executive Committee to further its development and as such I will still be part of the ICAHD UK team, but volunteering in a less fundamental role. I have no doubt we will find a new Administrator with talent and enthusiasm to help us take ICAHD UK to the next level of our campaign to cease home demolitions and end the Occupation as we seek peace with justice for all people groups.” During the last few weeks, Richard Barnes from our executive committee has been active in his role of Communications & Research Coordinator and has worked closely with Ruby and Linda. He will be the first port of call for the new administrator therefore and with Richard, Terry and David taking on more responsibility, our hope is that Linda is being released from day to day administration and that this will allow her to pursue more lobbying and study tour development. She is retaining the director title to oversee the organisation during this time of transition. The good news is that Ruby will be joining the Executive Committee and that Elizabeth Jadon will rejoin it. We have been joined again by Kate Regan, who volunteered with us while she did her BA, and after volunteer work in Mexico will be starting her MA at UCL in human rights. This summer Arthur Molyneux is representing us as he researches material for our important ‘Judaizing Palestine’ campaign and the recapping project as he gathers stories from a range of families for whom ICAHD has rebuilt homes. Other news is that ICAHD UK responded to the call for submissions for the Shami Chakrabarti inquiry into anti-Semitism in the Labour party (see summary below or full submission here ) and we were present at the London rally for Gaza as well as two parliamentary meetings - Gaza: The Blockade and Its Impact and Palestine: Keys for Stability and Peace in the Middle East. Linda additionally spent a day with Kairos Britain to discuss response to the Palestinian call to action which reaches out to faith communities and calls for BDS. David represented us at the counter-attack summit called by PSC for organisations working on the issue of Palestinian human rights. There is, alas, little reason to believe that the new Government will be any more effective than the last in standing up for human rights or justice in Palestine and that the support for the BDS movement will continue to be attacked. In closing we would love to hear from more of those who attended our conference, so please find the feedback form here which we invite you to complete. (For those who have already completed a feedback form for the conference, please send your thoughts directly to us in an email). We are also attaching the announcement for a new administrator in case you know of someone with the qualifications we seek. Please look out for our July newsletter too which will soon be with you. With appreciation for your continued support, from all on the ICAHD UK Executive Committee. * Second: that training in anti-Semitism should not be in the hands of anyone who is politically committed: we suggested an independent source for advice on this. * Third: that any incident which is claimed by a participant to be racist should be investigated as such, but not that the result of the investigation should be prejudged. - ICAHD UK volunteer, Kate, speaking with speaker Haneen Al-Zoabi, outspoken Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset during a recent EuroPal Forum meeting: Palestine: Key to Stability and Peace in the Middle East. One of the other panel members for this meeting was ICAHD UK patron, Jenny Tonge. A Letter from the Director Best wishes, Linda Ramsden -- Postscript: We made three main points in our evidence to the Chakrabarti inquiry: * First: that any new definition of anti-Semitism should not include legitimate criticism of Israel, advocacy of a one-state solution in Israel/Palestine, support for BDS, or distinguishing Judaism from Zionism. — ICAHD (icahd.org) /newsletter/icahd-uk-members-update-minutes-from-agm-egm