solidarity with palestine

first libya, now qatar. when exactly will the un or europe challenge this siege? when will it send aid directly to gaza? this could be an excellent move for the boycott campaign. if you look at photographs of what exactly tends to be in those aid trucks there is way too much hebrew for my taste.

Palestinian legislator, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege, Jamal El Khodary, stated on Thursday that a new Arab ship from Qatar will sail from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip in the coming days.

The ship will carry humanitarian supplies and is the second Arab ship after the first sailed from Libya and is expected to arrive at the Gaza port on Monday.

The ship carries humanitarian supplies estimated by fifteen million US Dollars.

El Khodary said that these ships are the new “Intifada of peaceful ships to break the Israeli siege imposed on the Gaza Strip”.

The statements of El Khodary came on Thursday morning during the opening ceremony of a pictures gallery that documents the effects of the Israeli siege on the coastal region.

The gallery includes pictures of the victims of the siege and its effects on the essential services in Gaza. A movie documenting the effects of the siege was also screened at the gallery.

The independent legislator thanked Libya and Qatar for their support to the Palestinian people and voiced an appeal to all Arab states to support the Palestinians and act actively against the illegal Israeli siege.

He added that Israeli must open the crossings in order to allow goods and humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

El Khodary further said that allowing some aide into Gaza is not sufficient and is only used by Israel in deceiving the public opinion and pushing the world into believing that the siege had been lifted.

& tomorrow is the international day of solidarity with the palestinian people. you may read below at my earlier post about the hunger strike and candlelight vigil we’re holding in nablus–which i hope will be replicated elsewhere. the origin of this united nations day comes from the partition of palestine in united nations resolution 181 (even though it was against the un’s charter to partition a country, thus ostensibly rendering the resolution illegal to my mind: imagine the un deciding that it was going to partition the u.s. into red states and blue states?). here is the history of this day:

In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (resolution 32/40 B). On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II)).

In resolution 60/37 of 1 December 2005, the Assembly requested the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights, as part of the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November, to continue to organize an annual exhibit on Palestinian rights or a cultural event in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN. It also encouraged Member States to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the Day of Solidarity.

here are some other suggestion actions for tomorrow:

* Sponsor Olive Trees, through our Olive Tree Campaign – Keep Hope Alive, or organize an event to fundraise for this campaign.

* Write letters to your elected members of Parliament or government officials and encourage them to Keep Hope Alive for the Palestinian people by sponsoring an olive tree, visit Palestine to witness reality and show solidarity, and initiate or join actions or resolutions concerning the BDS Campaign.

* Arrange a debate, workshop or public talk on the situation in Palestine. We would be glad to provide online resources and information for your use.

* Contact women’s groups in your area and organize a talk/workshop to raise awareness of how the occupation affects women and children.

* Organize a public, as a candlelight vigil, demonstration…etc., on the 29th of November, the International Solidarity Day with the Palestinian people. Use our “Solidarity Prayer Booklet” (or parts of it) in your meetings or church services in that week, to raise awareness of the Palestinian situation and to pray for Peace and Justice.

* Contact and communicate with human rights, international law and solidarity groups in your country or area as to unify efforts and create a local or national committee or movement that works for Palestine.

* Organize an eye-opening tour or program to Palestine, and/or participate and/or encourage others to participate in the JAI organized annual programs including the youth Journey for Justice Program, Olive Picking program and Olive Planting Program.

* Send volunteers and establish an exchange or internship program to join the Joint Advocacy Initiative team and advocacy efforts and program, as a mean to create advocacy leaders.

* Join the Boycott – Divestment – Sanctions Campaign against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights.

many of my links on the sidebar can help you organize such activities. and the link to the original article above can as well.

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