Last month, over a thousand Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad in protest at the building of a separation wall in the poor, mainly Shi'ite neighbourhood of al-Washash.
It is not the first wall to be built in the city: the US military - which regards separation walls as a centrepiece of its strategy to end sectarian violence in the area - began construction of a three- mile, 3.6-metre-high concrete wall in April and are currently in the process of erecting more in at least five…
Three British women were arrested and jailed for over 30 hours in Al Masra'a al Qibliya on 26 October for attending an “illegal demonstration” against the seizure of Palestinian land.
Sarah Cobham, Caroline Bailey, Kate Harrison and seven other members of the Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group marched with some 40 villagers to the recently confiscated land to remove the grape vines that were planted by the villagers before it was seized.
Settlers and soldiers…
On first approach, Hollow Land appears to be very much an academic study, aimed at architecture/political science/anthropology students.
The language is convoluted, and challenging and demands much of the reader's existing understanding of both post-modern academic discourse and the history and context of the Israeli occupation.
But stick with it. Hollow Land deconstructs and reconstructs architecture and archaeology as never neutral - but instead fundamentally political -…
Residents of the Palestinian village of Bil'in were celebrating last month after the Israeli High Court decided in favour of their petition calling for a change in the route of the illegal separation wall which encircles their village. The victory comes after 30 months of weekly nonviolent resistance actions by locals as well as Israeli and overseas activists. X At the beginning of September, two intrepid activists set off on an ambitious six-month journey through Europe in search of small-…
The Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow has been hailed, rightly, as one of the most important protests of our time.
Climate change is not simply one of the greatest threats facing future generations of humanity, it is one of the greatest threats facing the people of the Global South, whose homes and livelihoods are being destroyed today - as a consequence of the power and greed of Western corporations and states, and the apathy and irresponsibility of Western consumers.
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Palestinian refugees living in the Baddawi and Nahr al-Bared camps of North Lebanon have organised die-ins, demonstrations and illegal press conferences in order to expose the systematic use of torture by the Lebanese Army against them, and the way in which they are caught in the crossfire between the army and the Sunni group Fatah al-Islam.
I have a friend who's daughter became a peace activist. She was sending emails back from Palestine, and this focused my mind on what was happening there.
When she returned she start ed selling Zaytoun products with the Olive Coop in Manchester. They were distributing Palestinian olive oil, soap, knickknacks, and organising tours to visit the producers.
I started using their olive oil as a way of positively supporting communities under threat. The sales help to sustain the…
The Arab League Peace Plan of 2002 is what was called the “Saudi Plan” in the US. It has just been renewed.
In 2002, the US and Israel simply dismissed it, and I don't recall media commentary. It is pretty much a version of the international consensus that was articulated clearly for the first time in January 1976 at the Security Council, in a resolution brought by the major Arab states, vetoed by the US (again in 1980). International isolation With the Security Council eliminated by…
Seven British doctors recently embarked on a 10-day visit to the Dove and Dolphin International Medical Centre in Gaza to spend time with Palestianian doctors and medical students. The doctors hope to collect information on common medical problems which they will then collate and offer for publication in medical journals.
In March, 138 academics from 17 countries signed an open letter to academic publisher Reed Elsevier, demanding an end to its role in the arms trade. Reed's…
Aims and objectives:
Enough! is a major coalition effort to work for peace and freedom for Palestinians and Israelis alike. It begins this year, on the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War and the Israeli occupation of the rest of Palestine. Enough! is bringing together range of UK-based groups that value nonviolent campaigning.
Established: The Enough! coalition was launched on 30 January during a rally in central London. The coalition is 41 groups strong and growing: various…
Five of the 17 Prestwick weapons inspectors were acquitted on 1 December after the Crown failed to prove that they did not have permission from the US Air Force to be on their plane!
The five had entered Prestwick Airport on 7 August this year looking for evidence of bomb shipments from the US to Israel. Prestwick is an apparently civilian airport near Glasgow, but it also has military traffic. At the height of the bombing of Lebanon it became clear that the UK authorities would not…
In response to the continual, daily attacks, three pieces of nonviolent action by Palestinians have marked a tactical shift in resistance to the occupation.
On 3 November women surrounded a mosque in Beit Hanoun where men were sheltering from the Israeli military. To widespread international condemnation, the soldiers opened fire on the women, killing two and injuring at least 10. A couple of weeks later, hundreds of civilians surrounded two houses that were about to be destroyed by…
One form of control commonly used by the Israeli military is to carry out night-time raids on people's homes, dragging away family members - often for little or no reason. When there is suspicion that this is going to happen, perhaps because the same families are repeatedly targeted, internationals sometimes stay in the house - their presence can often offer some protection.
In Balata Refugee Camp, east of Nablus, I stayed overnight in a family home where the father had been arrested…
I was told, as this current conflict began, that we - the opposition - are more than we were 25 years ago, during the previous invasion of Lebanon. Thousands went to the streets to try to stop this war. Anarchists and communists, Jews and Arabs, the older generation of war resisters and the newest generation, most of which weren't even born when the previous war took place.
Gender, power and violenceThis was a battle of women trying to stop this war. It was women who organised the…
In January, Hamas - the Palestinian “Islamic Resistance Movement” that became notorious during the 1990s for its suicide attacks on Israeli civilians - won the legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Since then the US and Israel - aided and abetted by the EU - have waged an unremitting campaign to punish Palestinians for their choice at the ballot box and to destroy the new government. But who are Hamas and what do they want? Is a two-state solution still possible…
