USACBI Statement and Announcement of Webinar on Climate Justice for Palestine

USACBI Statement and Announcement of Webinar on Climate Justice for Palestine During this time of climate crisis, which is an existential threat to the entire biosphere of the planet, participation in the BDS campaign remains a necessary and urgent endeavor, one that supports both a free Palestine and the global movement for climate justice. For Palestinians, environmental injustice is a key component of the ongoing Nakba. The list of Israel’s ecological violations and crimes is long and gruesome. It includes the systematic destruction of Palestine’s trees and fragile ecosystems, extensive toxic dumping, land grabbing, widespread flows of untreated sewage from West Bank settlements, outsourcing of dirty industries across the Green Line, uncontrolled pollution of air and surface water, and ethnic cleansing of populations from their ancient, sustainable habitats. All evidence suggests that Israel’s maintenance of political apartheid is everywhere reinforced by a pattern of practices best described as eco-apartheid. The history of greenwashing these crimes originates in settler mythologies about “making the desert bloom.” This history continued with the Jewish National Fund programs of planting non-native forests to cover over the Nakba’s destroyed villages. Today it takes its toll on Palestinian Bedouins through the Israeli campaign to “green the Negev.” Ecological debts accumulated from these injustices should rightly be added to the roster of reparations owed to Palestinians for losses from the Nakba onwards. In the context of the climate crisis, additional debts are due from Israel’s comprehensive denial and deliberate sabotaging of Palestinian access to solar and other renewable energy technologies. The conditions of the Occupation have made it all but impossible for Palestinians to pursue the kinds of sustainable or resilient lifestyles and industrial practices required to respond to the climate crisis. Climate justice demands that beneficiaries of carbon-driven development, like Israel, address their unmet obligations to populations that were exploited and underdeveloped as a result. In addition to making reparations for the ongoing colonial record of harms, they should transfer sustainable technologies to these communities and fully fund their need to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Israel won’t take any of these steps without sustained external pressure. Campaigns for fossil fuel divestment can and should be combined with BDS campaigns for divestment in companies and institutions that profit from the illegal occupation of Palestine. The names are often the same, and the campaign goals are compatible. USACBI urges the effort to coordinate these initiatives. In this time of climate crisis, BDS is not a separate or “side” issue. Israel’s practices of settler colonialism, occupation, and apartheid double as human rights violations, and as participation in the colonial and capitalist enterprises that are at the very center of our current climate emergency. In other words, to support a free Palestine is also to support climate justice. To promote public education on these issues, USACBI will host a webinar on September 9, 2020 from 11 am - 12 pm Pacific time, 2-3 pm Eastern time, 9-10 pm in Palestine. “BDS, Capitalism, Colonialism, and the Climate Crisis: Connecting the Dots” will feature Max Ajl (researcher at Wageningen University and author of A People’s Green Deal, forthcoming from Pluto Press), Mazin Qumsiyeh (Palestinian scientist, author, director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History), and Kalaniopua Young (Board member of KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance and the Ho‘opae Pono Peace Project, looking at ancestral knowledge resilience and contemporary grassroots organizing around climate change). Register to join on Zoom: https://bit.ly/palclimate Join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/658400308363695/ The webinar will also live-stream simultaneously on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/USACBI  and will be available there for subsequent (re)viewing. Zoom hosting provided through Pitzer College faculty member Daniel Segal.

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URGENT ACTION REQUIRED OVER DEMOLITIONS TODAY IN UMM AL-HIRAN

Um Al Hiran before and after the demolitions today, 18 January 2017

At 5am on Wednesday, 18^th January, Israeli bulldozers and hundreds of fully-armed Israeli police entered the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev region of Israel to carry out evictions and demolitions. Israeli aggression was reported with tear gas, sponge-tipped bullets, and live ammunition fired. Two people were killed –Erez Levy a member of the Israeli police and Yaqub Musa Abu Qi’an, a teacher and resident of Umm al-Hiran. Several others were wounded including Knesset member Ayman Odeh leader of the Israeli Arab Joint List.

More detailed news can be found in this article posted by ActiveStills https://972mag.com/two-killed-in-bedouin-village-slated-to-be-demolished-replaced-with-jewish-town/124514/  and on the ICAHD UK Facebook page. 


-  Villagers morn following the demolitions and deaths. Image: PNN 

Your help is needed urgently and we ask you to write to your MP (or Senator if in the US) about this incident with the request to contact the FCO. Below please find an example of a letter to use when contacting your MP. 

SAMPLE LETTER FOR MP
 
[Your Address]
 
 
 
Dear Mr/Ms [MP’s name],
 
I am writing to you regarding home demolitions today, 18^th January, in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev region of Israel.  The violence there is yet another demonstration that Israel is not serious about providing equal rights to its citizens who are not Jewish.
 
The residents of Umm Al-Hiran were originally the inhabitants of the village of Khirbet Zubaleh, who were moved by Israeli military order in 1956 to the land where Umm al-Hiran currently stands. Despite being forced onto this land by the Israeli state, the village remained officially unrecognised — as is the case with roughly half of all Bedouin villages — and as it was constructed on Israeli state land, the Israeli government claims it has the legal right to destroy it. The residents of Umm Al-Hiran recently lost their 13-year long legal battle over their claim to this land granted them by the Israeli government, a verdict they deem unfair.  
 
The purpose of today’s demolitions was to evict more of its 500 residents, including many children and a 100-year-old man Musa Hussien Abu Al Qian. Israel wants to build a new town called “Hiran” for religious Jewish residents in its place. The Bedouin residents of Umm Al-Hiran have repeatedly expressed their willingness to accept new Jewish neighbours in a location next to them. Much of the Negev desert is uninhabited and therefore a new developments could be built anywhere on this vast stretch of empty land. The Israeli state plans to move the residents of Umm Al-Hiran to the Bedouin towns of Hura or Rahat, where due to lack of space they will be forced to lose their rural way of life and sources of income, such as cattle grazing. Furthermore, the residents of Hura and Rahat have expressed their concerns at the addition of hundreds of new residents into their communities due a severe shortage of land, exemplified by a waiting list of 2000 for 140 available plots in Hura.
 
Today hundreds of fully-armed police officers entered Umm Al-Hiran. They fired tear gas, sponge-tipped bullets, and live ammunition. In addition to the demolitions, two people were killed – one Israeli member of the police and one Palestinian resident of Umm al-Hiran and several others were wounded. Among those wounded was a Knesset member Ayman Odeh leader of the Israeli Arab Joint List.
 
On 23^rd November 2016, the Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood, called for renewed negotiations where, “Israeli authorities and [the] Bedouin community work together to find a solution that meets the needs and respects the rights of the people affected”.  The Bedouins of Umm Al-Hiran have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to speak with Israeli authorities and to live alongside Jewish Israelis. However it is clear that the motivation behind today’s demolition is purely political and that Israel is not honest in its talk of co-existence.
 
I urge you to contact Tobias Ellwood at the Foreign Office to request that our government make an immediate representation to Israel to stop the continued oppression of non-Jewish residents of Israel and specifically the evictions and demolitions in Umm Al-Hiran.
 
Thank you.
 
Sincerely,
 
[Name]


-  Locals accused police of using excessive force to remove the protesters . Image: BBC News 

Over the years ICAHD UK has distributed information about the threat to Umm Al-Hiran. We also provided platforms at public meetings for Khalil Al-Amour from Al-Sira, representing Adalah, and for Haia Noach from the Negev Coexistence Forum whom we also took for briefings at the FCO Recently we have highlighted information and a petition sent out by Haqal – Jews and Arabs in Defence of Human Rights. 

Call to EU - Act now on Israeli military training

http://jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php/news-2/news2015/824-call-to-eu-act-now-on-israeli-military-training

Today, May 4 2015, the Land Defense Coalition and the Jordan Valley Solidarity has submitted a letter to the EU Commission and diplomatic missions of member states asking for urgent action and denouncing the military exercises that Israel is holding to an unprecedented length and extent in the Jordan Valley occupied Palestinian territory.

The organizations ask for clear actions, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and the immediate exclusion of Israeli military and security companies from the EU funding cycle Horizon2020. Read the full text of the letter in the following.

We are asking all our international friends to put pressure on your elected representatives to put pressure on the Occupation Forces to STOP THE MILITARY TRAINING in the Jordan Valley

Jordan Valley Solidarity, May 4 2015

To: The Office of the European Union Representative West Bank and Gaza Strip,

       Diplomatic missions of EU member states

Subject: Urgent action against large scale military training in the Jordan Valley

Dear sir/madam,

We are writing to ask you to a) urgently intervene through the appropriate diplomatic channels with the Israeli authorities to ensure an immediate stop of the military training exercises Israel is holding in the Jordan Valley to an unprecedented extent and length since yesterday, Sunday May 3, until likely Thursday, May 7, b) pressure for an end to all Israeli military training in Palestinian occupied territory and the revocation of the military zones and firing zones c) take effective steps to stop Israel’s ongoing population transfer in Area C, including the exclusion of all Israeli military and security companies from funding within the framework of Horizon2020 and the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Since yesterday, Sunday May 3, in the area of Twayyel, in the Aqraba area of the Jordan Valley, a heavy military exercise has started which, according to witnesses, includes over 100 military vehicles, including helicopters and other heavy military equipment. The population had not been informed but alerted by the construction of a military camp in the area roughly a week ago and suffers currently threats to their lives, properties and livelihoods.

In a large area around the Hamra checkpoint, which includes Humsa Fouqa, Khirbet Ibziq, al Borj, al Meeta and al Maleh areas and Ras ar Ahmar, last Thursday, April 30, Israeli military forces addressed the Bedouin and farming communities living there forcing them to sign papers that obliged them to leave the region starting from today Monday 4th of May to Thursday 7th of May, as the army intends to conduct training. These communities comprise 47 extended families. Since this morning, heavy explosions are being heard that are similar to another military training in the same area of Humsa Fouqa, held on April 28. That military exercise had resulted in the destruction of 3,000 to 4,000 dunams of crops and trees after the shootings and ammunitions of the Israeli army started fire on the land and Palestinian firefighter crews were prevented from reaching the area.

While some of the families are currently leaving the area, part of the population in the area around the Hamra checkpoint has decided to stay in the area during the training and is risking immediate threat to their lives. All of the affected population is deeply concerned about their livelihoods. Their harvest may be destroyed even further through fires ignited during the military training and abandoning or moving their livestock during the current lambing season would risk the survival of large part of the animals. The communities further fear for their property, including homes, animal sheds and water storage may be damaged.

Military trainings in the Jordan Valley have increased dramatically since 2012 and are part and parcel of Israel's systematic and forced transfer of the Palestinian population from the Area C, which is implemented through a variety of means including demolitions, denial of access to water, movement and access restrictions. Bedouin communities as the above are to be forcibly transferred in the so-called 'relocation zones' currently under construction in the area of Abu Dis and in planning around Jericho. In May 2014, Col. Einav Shalev, operations officer of the Central Command told the subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that "the goal of preventing illegal construction is one of the main reasons the Israel Defense Forces has recently increased its training in the Jordan Valley". Once people are transferred, the area is ready to be annexed and Palestinians will be left with some 13% of their historic homeland, reduced to ghettos and Bantustans. 

The equipment used during these operations is provided partially by Israeli military companies, which find in the military trainings held in the West Bank another opportunity to further develop and showcase their technology.

According to UN OCHA, approximately 18% of the West Bank has been designated permanently as a closed military zone for training, or “firing zone”. This is roughly the same amount of the West Bank under full Palestinian authority (Area A, 17.7%). Some 5,000 Palestinians reside in the firing zones. They live in 38 communities and are mostly Bedouin tribes that have been expelled to this area during the ethnic cleansing of the Naqab (Negev) from 1948-52. The declaration of military firing zones comes together with a series of human rights violations and grave breaches of Israel’s obligations under international law, including the right to life, adequate housing, access to water and sanitation as well Israel’s obligation to protect the occupied population and not to alter the demographic composition of the area it holds occupied.

The International Criminal Court has defined the forcible and arbitrary transfer of population as a crime against humanity when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, such as is the case of Israel’s policies against the Palestinian people. The crime of forcible transfer of populations can be carried out through a large range of 'coercive pressures' forcing people to flee their homes. Displacement of individuals when undertaken on discriminatory grounds may amount to persecution. Transfer of population “designed to divide the population along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos for the members of a racial group or groups” as well as “the deliberate creation of conditions preventing the full development of such a group or groups, in particular by denying to members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including [...] the right to freedom of movement and residence” is a core part of the policies that constitute the crime of apartheid.

Already in 2011, EU Heads of Mission report on Area C and Palestinian State-Building has underlined that Israeli policies in Area C “result in forced transfer of the native population” and pointed out that the Israeli practice of maintaining over decades closed military and ‘firing zones’ is illegal and has grave consequences for the population. In 2012, the UN Secretary-General stated that the implementation of the proposed 'relocation' would amount to individual and mass forcible transfers and forced evictions, prohibited under international humanitarian law and human rights law. The 2012 Council conclusions on the Middle East process express “deep concern about developments on the ground which threaten to make a two-state solution impossible”, in particular Israeli policies of forced transfer in Area C. The resolution of the 2012 EU parliament on policy on the West Bank and Jerusalem “calls on the Council and the Commission to continue to address these issues at all levels in the EU's bilateral relations with Israel and the Palestinian Authority; stresses that Israel's commitment to respect its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law towards the Palestinian population must be taken into full consideration in the EU's bilateral relations with the country”. The policy briefing on Area C by the policy department the director-general for external relations of the EU concludes that “nothing of substance has been accomplished to implement the minimal recommendations set out by the EU's 2011 report on Area C. While the EU has expressed its concern about the state of affairs, decisive effective action is long overdue”, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

In 1967 there were 350,000 Palestinians living in what is now Area C. Today there are only 150,000 left. Some Israeli politicians consider this number “acceptable to integrate into the Jewish state”. The population transfer is a de facto annexation making any formal steps redundant. The EU cannot wait any longer before taking strong responses and effective measures to be taken, including:

• Intervening immediately to stop the military training.
• Pressuring Israel to revoke all military orders establishing ‘closed military zones’ and ‘firing zones’, which are in their practice in contravention of international law and a mechanism of forced population transfer.
• Excluding immediately Israeli military and security companies from funding within the framework of Horizon2020.
• Suspending immediately the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

The Land Defense Coalition                      Jordan Valley Solidarity

Land Defence Coalition member organizations:

The Popular Council to Protect the Jordan Valley

Stop the Wall Campaign

Palestinian Farmers Union

Palestinian New Federation of Trade Unions

Palestine Youth Forum

Association for Farmers’ Rights and for the Preservation of the Environment

Women Center for Social Development

Association Jadayel/Palestinian Center for Culture

Arts and Creativity

Palestinian Farms Society-Tulkarem

N'lin Society for Development Community Work

Al-Amal Association for Childhood and Development 

[1]http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.591881

[2]https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_firing_zone_factsheet_august_2012_english.pdf

[3]http://thecepr.org/images/stories/pdf/area c  final report july 2011.pdf

[4]https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/130195.pdf

[5] European Parliament resolution of 5 July 2012 on EU policy on the West Bank and East Jerusalem (2012/2694(RSP)),http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2012-0298&language=EN

[6]http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/briefing_note/join/2013/491495/EXPO-AFET_SP(2013)491495_EN.pdf

[7]http://www.undp.ps/en/newsroom/publications/pdf/other/Bedouins%20in%20the%20occupied%20Palestinian%20territory.pdf

   

PSC update: Urgent Action - Winter Crisis in Gaza

Please take urgent action for Gaza – we need to increase political pressure

In Gaza, 1.8 million Palestinians are being pushed even further into a humanitarian crisis. The terrible winter weather, combined with the ongoing siege and the constant attacks by the Israeli army, with the harshest phase of this winter, is killing Palestinians. Children and the elderly are most at risk.

 

Please email/write/phone your MP now and ask them to write to David Cameron urgently on your behalf to raise the following points:

 ·         Six months since the start of the Gaza war, which resulted in massive destruction and hardship, but the UK government appears not to be taking any steps to bring the blockade of Gaza to a complete and immediate end. Palestinians are dying as a result.

·         Israel and the UK must both uphold UN Security Council Resolution 1860 on Gaza access which obliges Israel to open Gaza’s port, and facilitate free movement of goods and people between Gaza and the West Bank, and obliges the UK governments to provide arrangements and guarantees to bring this about. The UK is failing to do this, let alone step in and help negotiate a ceasefire and access agreement before another war starts. The UK is quick to act when other countries breach UN Security Council resolutions on humanitarian access, but on Gaza it has failed to go to the Security Council.  

·         Palestinians in Gaza remain homeless, struggle to find access to clean water, are jobless and farmers and fishing boats are regularly being shot at by Israeli government to go about their trade.  Over 700,000 truckloads of construction materials are needed to rebuild the homes and schools the population need but only a few hundred truckloads were allowed over the past six months.   The blockade is not about security. Israel demolished the Karni crossing which used sophisticated x-ray technology with a capacity to allow nearly a thousand truckloads of goods every day to transit Gaza. Why should Palestinians wait decades to rebuild their homes?   

·         MPs and the UK government received more correspondence on the Gaza than any other international issue, and MPs have been very vocal, yet ministers have been silent on Gaza for months and I cannot find any information about UK efforts to end the blockade.  

Urge the PM to take the following urgent steps:

-           urgently act to end Israel’s blockade 

-           support genuine Palestinian reconciliation and not condition the delivery of assistance on political actions ensuring aid reaches all civilians in need without discrimination.  

-           end all arms trade with Israel

-           seek compensation from Israel for damage they have caused to UK and EU funded aid projects

To find your MP's contact details: www.writetothem.com

Please let us know their response – many thanks!

PRESS RELEASE: "This Week in Palestine" offices thrashed by IDF

PRESS RELEASE

On Sunday, 22 June, at around 4:00 AM, Israeli Occupation Forces broke into the

company premises of Turbo Computers and Software Co. Ltd., a graphic design firm

established in 1985 and publisher of This Week in Palestine magazine, and into the

premises of its sister company, Jeel Publishing Co. Ltd., publisher of the Arabic youth

magazine Filistin Ashabab. Seven computers including the servers were confiscated,

severely hampering the companies' operating capacity.

As private-sector companies, we deplore such an action which not only clearly violates

our personal rights, including freedom of expression, but also jeopardizes the livelihood of

our employees. During our 28-year history, we have had no affiliation with any political

faction. Our work includes graphic design and print-management services offered to a

large number of institutions, both local and international, including the Office of the

President. This Week in Palestine is a 15-year-old nonpolitical cultural publication that

promotes and documents Palestine, and Filistin Ashabab is a platform for Palestinian

youth to express and develop their writing skills as well as their photography and artistic

skills.

We call upon the international community, particularly the US and the EU authorities that

have been trying to encourage the development of the Palestinian private sector, to voice

its opinion on these barbaric actions and recognize the obstacles that we face as a people

under military occupation. Our full economic potential will never be realized if actions like

this continue – actions that threaten our investments and, more importantly, the livelihood

of our people.

The attack on This Week in Palestine and Filistin Ashabab is a message to our readers

that they might be deprived of access to these two independent Palestinian publications.

But we want to assure them that we will continue to publish both magazines, despite the

hardships, in order to continue to play our part in building the independent, secular, and

pluralistic society that we all dream of.

We question the uncivilized manner in which we were violated and our computers

confiscated. With today's technology anyone with adequate resources can easily tap into

any system and have total access to its files. As totally transparent companies, we have

nothing to hide and we pose no security threat to anyone.

We demand the immediate restoration of our computers, and we hold the Israeli

authorities responsible for the integrity of the data that we have collected and worked on

for over two decades. Finally, we reserve the right to claim reparation for damages

incurred, and to consider legal action, both locally and internationally.

Sani Paul Meo

General Manager

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter from Sani Meo   30 June 2014         Ramallah, Palestine

“WHAT? Have they gone mad?” Was practically the unanimous reaction to the raid of the Israeli army into our offices on the 22^nd of June at 4:00 AM and confiscating practically all the computers in the company. Incidentally, it was my reaction too when I found our through a phone call from the office building doorman last Sunday morning; our day off. Please read the attached press release that we distributed a few days after the incident.

I was a fool to think that sitting in downtown Ramallah, having lead a non-violent life-style approach, both personally and in my business, being liberal and secular, would make me beyond the reach of direct contact, much less a confrontation, with the Israeli army. What happened on the 22^nd of June was a clear reminder that the occupation of Palestine is real and the open prison we are living in is exactly that; a prison.

The fact that you are reading this message which announces a new edition of This Week in Palestine, the July 2014 edition, is a message in itself. A good friend of mine just posted something wise Robert Frost had said about summing up everything he had learned from life in three words; it goes on.

The current (threatening) July 2014 issue, the “Where to Go” issue, takes our readers on trips to various Palestinian destinations to explore their beauty and charm. We’ve included lots of images to make the edition more attractive. I do hope you will enjoy reading it.

To remind you, “Social Media in Palestine” is our theme for the upcoming August 2014 issue, and that of September 2014 issue is “An Eye on Science.. As always, if you feel you can contribute to any of the mentioned issues, by all means, do contact us. Finally, the theme of our upcoming October 2014 issue is “Habitat in Palestine.”

Before ending I would like to pay tribute to our exiting content editor, Dr. Riyam Kafri-AbuLaban who truly did a marvelous job throughout being part of the editorial team, and has added tremendous value to each edition she has worked on. Actually, Riyam will not leave us totally; she will still be responsible for our new permanent section TWIP’s Kitchen since cooking is something she loves to do apart from teaching Organic Chemistry! Equally, I would like to welcome Ahmad Damen, a bright young director of the two documentaries Forbidden Pilgrimageand The Red Stone, a musician, and now the new TWIP’s content editor.

With the scorching heat, today is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan. I wish all a merciful, and a peaceful month. Ramadan is a reminder to us all to search our souls to become better human beings in being kind, and thoughtful to others whom we have done them wrong by being unjust.

Thank you all again for your continued support.

 Warmly,

Sani P. Meo / GM

www.thisweekinpalestine.com

www.filistinashabab.com

The Last Word – July 2014; Gentlemanly Manners

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4309&ed=232&edid=232