The Gaza Strip is effectively the world’s largest prison camp.
Zionist terror gangs drove its population from their homes during the creation of Israel in 1948.
That event – known in Arabic as the Nakba (catastrophe) – saw 750,000 Palestinians ethnically cleansed. They fled to the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and to other countries.
Come to hear Palestinian activist speak on the roots and causes of today's situation in Gaza. Questions and contributions welcome.
Around 20 (i would say there was 12 of us inside!!) campaigners from the Stop the War Coalition (SOAS StW society) walked (actually we stormed) into the lobby of the central London building with a large banner proclaiming Hands off Gaza (the only banner we could find!).
They were removed by police before continuing a (fairly) noisy protest outside, during which some of them set fire to their television licences
 Complain about BBC decision >>Donate to DEC Gaza Crisis Appeal >>Tony Benn, many MPs and celebrities and thousands of concerned citizens today delivered a letter to the BBC at Broadcasting House The letter addressed to the BBC Chairman, Director General and Chief Operating Director urges the BBC to reverse what government Health Minister Ben Bradshaw calls its “inexplicable decision” to refuse a broadcast for an emergency appeal to raise desperately needed aid for Gaza. Tony Benn, President of Stop the War, said, “To deny the help that the aid agencies and the UN need at this moment in time is incomprehensible. I appeal to the chairman of the BBC Trust to intervene to reverse this decision to save the lives of those who are now in acute danger of dying through a lack of food, fuel, water and medical supplies." |
BBC occupation 25.01.2009, originally uploaded by Duncan Brown.
Over 150 supporters of Stop the War Coalition and Palestinian solidarity groups occupied the BBC's headquaters in Glasgow on Sunday evening.
The protesters say they will not end their occupation until the BBC reverses its decision to block an emergency humanitarian aid appeal for Gaza. They are demanding to meet with a senior representative of the BBC.
The following should be read alongside this article:
» Eyewitness report: Israel is guilty of war crimes
» Gordon Brown gives Israel a licence to kill
» Israel’s bloody war fails to achieve aims
» Beirut conference calls for solidarity with Palestine
» A revival of student militancy over Gaza
» Activists take to the streets against the slaughter in Gaza
» Councillors condemn Israeli terror
» London demo targets Israeli embassy
» Mass march in Middlesbrough
» Gaza protests continue around Britain
» Pictures of Gaza protests around Britain (1)
» Pictures of Gaza protests around Britain (2)
» Pictures of Gaza protests around Britain (3)
» Student occupations in solidarity with Gaza spread around Britain
» Outrage as BBC blocks charity appeal for Gaza
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ITV and Sky have also said they will not show the appeal, with an ITV spokesman saying that no consensus could be reached.
Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland. The last two months have seen a new upsurge of student struggles, leading French president Nicolas Sarkozy to recall the student uprising in Paris in May 1968. He warned his fellow rulers of a “European 1968”.
In Britain students were central to the huge demonstrations against the Iraq war six years ago and they have been a vital component of the protests against the Israeli slaughter in Gaza.
The role of students will be no less vital in the period ahead. The “war on terror” still means the bombing of peasant villages in Afghanistan and North West Pakistan.
The instability that leads to these wars will only be increased by the development of the most serious economic crisis since the 1930s.
Read the rest HERE
The following should be read alongside this article:
» Victory to the movement
» Occupations spread across Britain
» Fighting for a better world
» Resist the 'war on terror'
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Socialism, not Zionism, was once the dominant political force among European Jews. It’s time to reclaim that tradition, writes Dan Mayer
I have two Jewish great-grandfathers, Leon Simon and Gustav Mayer. Their different political trajectories cast a light on the history of Jewish people in the first half of the 20th century.
Leon Simon’s family fled Russian antisemitism and came to Britain in the late 19th century. Leon became an active Zionist and took the minutes at the 1917 meeting of British Zionists where the Balfour declaration was drafted.
Gustav Mayer was a German social democratic historian who wrote a biography of Frederick Engels and attended the Zimmerwald conference of anti-war socialists in 1915.
Most Jews living in Europe at the time suffered from poverty and oppression. But there was a vibrant debate among Jews over how to fight this oppression. And Gustav’s response was more typical than Leon’s.
Of the four million Jews who left Russia between 1880 and 1929, just 120,000 emigrated to Palestine – and half of them didn’t stay. Meanwhile Jews were heavily involved in the socialist movements, and in the leadership of those movements.
Read the middle bit HEREAfter the Second World War many Jews continued to join socialist movements and take a principled stand against Zionism, not least Ygael Gluckstein – also known as Tony Cliff, a Palestinian Jew who founded the Socialist Workers Party.
Many Jews who did not question Zionism nevertheless opposed what they saw as Israel’s “excesses”. But these currents were marginal to mainstream Jewish opinion.
Now things are beginning to change. The global anti-war movement, the breakdown of the “peace process” and Israel’s invasions of Lebanon and Gaza have created the first major cracks in Zionism’s domination of the Jewish community since the creation of Israel.
Gerald Kaufman, a Labour MP who was once a staunch Zionist, denounced Israel’s leaders as “mass murderers and war criminals” in parliament last week. “They bring shame on the Jewish people whose Star of David they use as a flag in Gaza, but whose morals go completely against what this Israeli government are doing,” he added.
Israel’s latest massacre in Gaza has created turmoil within the Jewish community. Many Jews, especially the younger generation, simply refuse to associate themselves with a country synonymous with racism, militarism and barbarity.
For some, participation in the mass anti-war demonstrations will lead them to the rediscovery of a rich Jewish tradition of socialist anti-Zionism, one that has lain nearly buried for decades.They will see that Leon Simon’s dream was destined to become a nightmare – and that Gustav was right all along.
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We 're devoting the whole of our monthly residency at the Foundry this month over to Gaza,
in order to contribute to building a movement to free Palestine and stop the Zionist project,
hopefully similar to the one that smashed apartheid in the eighties...
FEATURING footage from the heart of the protests including: demos at the Israeli embassy
the huge marches the current wave of occupations, including SOAS and LSE arguments to counter the Israeli propoganda machine
PLUS Ilan Pappe on the history of Palestine,
AND the brilliant film "The Iron Wall" - essential viewing for understanding the situation.
SPEAKERS from the campaigns will be present to contribute to a discussion on where the movement goes from here...
| By Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents | |
 | |
Tags: Gaza, Israel News  | |
European attorneys have reportedly petitioned a Belgian court to arrest Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni upon her arrival in Brussels later Wednesday, according to the Jawalan.com Web Site. The complaints was apparently lodged on behalf of Belgian and French nationals with relatives who were either wounded or killed in Gaza, and calls for Livni to be arrested for war crimes. The Foreign Ministry is looking into the report and the Israeli embassy in Brussels has not yet been involved in the matter, sources said. | |
“Students from LSE have sent a powerful message. People will not sit idly by while Gaza burns. We will take direct action to break the link between Britain and Apartheid Israel.”
Students at LSE have ended their six day occupation after winning a substantial victory.
This includes:
1) Officially School-endorsed day of charity for MAP (Medical Aid for Palestine) co-sponsored by LSE SU Palestine Society
2) Old books and computers shipped to Gaza by LSE
3) Scholarships: Discussion with school to find suitable candidates for scholarships sponsored by 4) LSE-PSI and LSE SU PalSoc with an official school committee
5) Disinvestment: Representation on the committee of the Council discussing an ethical investment policy to make the case for divestment (presented by a school official to give it extra weight)
6) A personal statement from the director on Israel’s assault on Gaza
7) No victimisations of students involved in the occupation.
This is a fantastic victory and shows what occupations can achieve. The key to LSE's success was that they involved large numbers of students by having a constant rolling programme of meetings and lectures in the ‘liberated space’, plus going out and leafleting, petitioning and doing lecture shouts to build up support.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OCCUPY BUILDING IN SOLIDARITY WITH GAZA
In the first week of term, over 80 Oxford University students have occupied the historic Bodleian building to demand that the university releases a statement condemning the attack on Gaza and cancel the lecture series at Balliol College inaugurated by Shimon Peres.
Students organised the sit in after attending an emergency meeting in Oxford organised to discuss the war on Gaza and the precarious ceasefire. Members of the University entered the Clarendon building and sat down at 1200, British time, on Thursday 22nd January. Their demands were presented to University officials.
This article should be read after: » Eyewitness report: Israel is guilty of war crimes
The Israeli army’s murderous assault on Gaza has been carried out with weapons made in Britain.
The British government licensed £24 million of British arms exports to Israel in the first half of last year – a £6 million increase on exports licensed during the whole of 2007.
Exports included components for combat aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, naval radars, electronic warfare equipment, weapon sights and military communications technology.
Human rights group Amnesty International recently highlighted evidence that engines for Israel’s unmanned military aircraft are being manufactured in Britain. United Nations agencies in Gaza have reported that these “drones” were used in the assault on the Palestinian population.
Britain’s Labour government also licences components for use in Apache combat helicopters and F-16 fighter planes, both of which are used by the Israeli army.
Britain also imports arms from Israel. The Campaign Against the Arms Trade notes that the government spends “millions of pounds each year on ‘battle-tested’ arms from Israeli companies, including 2,000 cluster shells that were used in Basra in 2003”.
Israel is one of the most militarised and highly armed states in the world. It has repeatedly committed atrocities against Palestinians.
Yet Gordon Brown has refused to issue any kind of serious arms
embargo on Israel. Instead he offers the services of the British navy to help stop the “smuggling” of arms to Palestinian resistance fighters.
We should fight to force Brown to break all diplomatic, military and commercial links with Israel – including the British arms trading that helps to fuel Israel’s terrorist war on the Palestinians.
The following should be read alongside this article:
» Eyewitness report: Israel is guilty of war crimes
» Israel’s bloody war fails to achieve aims
» Beirut conference calls for solidarity with Palestine
» A revival of student militancy over Gaza
» Activists take to the streets against the slaughter in Gaza
» Councillors condemn Israeli terror
» London demo targets Israeli embassy
» Mass march in Middlesbrough
» Gaza protests continue around Britain
» Pictures of Gaza protests around Britain (1)
» Pictures of Gaza protests around Britain (2)
» Pictures of Gaza protests around Britain (3)
» email article | » comment on article | » printable version
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 Click to download leaflet Israel Out Of Gaza Now: Lift The BlockadeAssemble 2pm, BBC Broadcasting House There will be a rally with speakers in Portland Place from 2pm before the |
A protest during the Iranian revolution
Thirty years ago Iran’s revolt struck a blow against US imperialism and showed the power of workers in the Middle East, writes Simon Basketter
The US government hates Iran. One reason for this is that when the Iranian people overthrew a brutal dictator in 1979 they also inflicted a massive blow to US imperialism in the Middle East.
Up until the revolution, Iran – alongside Saudi Arabia and Israel – was central to upholding US policy to ensure the stability and safety of Western oil supplies in the region.
Iran’s ruler, the Shah, was a despotic monarch brought to power in 1953 by a coup organised by the CIA and British intelligence.
Read the middle bit HERE...
The left’s failure to organise independently among workers and the poor to fight for socialism allowed Khomeini to consolidate power.
But the 1979 Iranian revolution sent shockwaves around the world.
It showed that Western-backed dictators could be overthrown by a revolution from below.
It also showed the power of workers in the Middle East and raised the possibility of workers’ control of society.
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"The reason for Gaza's endless youth bulge is that a large majority of its population does not have to provide for its offspring. Most babies are fed, clothed, vaccinated and educated by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. "and further:
"As long as we continue to subsidize Gaza's extreme demographic armament, young Palestinians will likely continue killing their brothers or neighbors."So, what is he suggesting? Stop sending them food and aid? No wonder the IDF has been targeting UN aid ships and hospitals. The only way that the fighting will stop is if Israel ends the occupation of Palestinian land, frees the thousands of prisoner held without charge, stops bombing refugee camps, ends the seige of gaza, opens the border crosses and above all else respects the democratic choices of the palestinian people and their human rights...
