Actions Bulletin - May 2024 * Attend the National Demonstration - Nakba Day * View Jeff Halper's May update * Read Michael Spath's ICAHD USA Article on the First 200 Days * Know about the demolitions in the Negev * Study the April Demolition and Displacement Report * Note the Dates for Your Diary
Next London National Demonstration for Palestine
Saturday 18 May
The next national demonstration for Palestine in London will be on Saturday 18 May.
The Jewish Bloc will assemble in Cavendish Square (at the corner of Margaret Street), W1G 0PW at 11.45am before joining the main demo which leaves to BBC in Portland Place, London at 12 noon.
In the short- to medium-term, the major issue facing us is normalisation of relationships between Israel and the international community as soon as the fighting ends, a process in which the Palestinians will be sacrificed. Jeff discusses the large-scale geopolitical situation. Normalisation leads to the international acceptance of the Israeli aparthed state with Palestinians limited to small 'islands' in Areas A and B and in Gaza, the latter being essentially uninhabitable. Biden has already announced that the Palestinian Authority will receive $26 billlion and other sweeteners if they sign off on this 'deal', allowing normalisation to continue, which, Jeff argies, is the death knell for the Palestinians. There will be an apartheid two party state with Palestinians locked into small bantustans.
This has to come into our calculations in terms of protest and speaking out, Jeff ending by considering the possible response of the international activist community.
"200 Days"
ICAHD USA's Co-Chair, Michael Spath, reflects on 200 days of the war in Gaza in this article originally published by the Indiana Center for Middle East Peace.
200 days.
Let that sink in.
200 days this week of Israel’s genocidal assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.
In Gaza 40,000 murdered by Israel, more than 18,000 children, 20,000 children orphaned.
Massacres happening every day, mostly children. 100’s of bodies in mass graves found in Khan Younis. More than 300 bodies found in a mass grave on the grounds of Gaza’s Nasser Hospital.
Israeli drones playing recordings of babies crying and mothers screaming to lure Palestinians out of hiding to target and shoot them as they respond to help. Automated murder!
Israel has killed 85 children a day for six months and not once has the US or any other Western state intervened.
As a matter of fact, what has the US government done instead? Congress and the President approved another $17billion in military aid to Israel adding to the billions of dollars already supplied to them.
It was pouring down rain this past Tuesday, April 23, as 19 of us, mostly young people, like we have every Tuesday since October 7, gathered in front of the Allen County Courthouse to protest Israel’s continuing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and in the West Bank.
Photo: TBC
Since the early hours of the morning of 8 May 2024, some 600 policemen have blocked route 60 and all entrances to the unrecognised Bedouin village Wadi al Khalil, in the Naqab desert, in order to demolish 47 residential homes, which will lead to the forcible displacement of 320 people.
Residents of the village have been ordered to evacuate their homes and to move to another village (although they were not provided with alternative housing) in order to build a segment of route 6 that will pass through the village's land.
The road isn't planned to be built in the near future, and a budget hasn't even been allocated for it yet, nonetheless authorities are going ahead with the demolitions.
It has been reported that several residents have burned their own homes this morning, stating they'd rather burn their own home then seeing it be demolished by Israeli authorities.
Israeli authorities demolished structures in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Naqab desert, where the village of al-Araqib was demolished for the 224th time.
In East Jerusalem, almost all the demolished structures have been self-demolished by their owners, after repeated threats from Israeli authorities, leading to a sharp rise in self-demolitions in Jerusalem.
Read the April Demolitionand Displacement Report here
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
Jeff Halper's May Update
In his May update, Jeff Halper considers the beginning of the Israeli invasion of Rafah which has led to the renewed displacement of some 350,000 Palestinians. This has resulted in an increase in protests, particularly amoung young people, with student protests streading from the United States into Europe, Latin America and the Arab world. Some of the protests have been met with violent actions by law enforcement, becoming a focus to shift public opinion and subsequently, potential government shifts as well.
Watch Jeff's 10 minute May update here
Read the full article here...
Mass Demolitions in the Naqab Desert - Happening Now
Read moreRead ICAHD's April Demolition
and Displacement Report Al 'Isawiya, East Jerusalem, demolished store, 16 April 2024, photo by OCHA oPT During April, the overall number of demolitions was lower than in previous months but this was due to a number of Jewish holidays falling during the month.
Dates for Your Diary
Saturday 18 May - National Demonstration for Palestine in London. Details to be announced Saturday 19 October – ICAHD UK Annual Conference - from 10.00am to 4.00pm (times TBC). Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EP. Details to be announced but note the date in your diary.
4 – 14 November – ICAHD Recommended Study Tour to Palestine/Israel
Many thanks for your ongong support. If you're not already a member of ICAHD UK, please join us (https://icahd.org/join-us/) or make a donation (https://icahd.org/donate-now/) to enable our campaign to spread at this critical time in history.