Freedom and Justice for Palestine and its People.
Political prisoner Khalida Jarrar shares the essential role literature plays for Palestinian prisoners struggling to retain their humanity and remain connected to the outside world.
https://mondoweiss.net/2020/12/khalida-jarrar-smuggles-a-letter-for-palestine-writes/
Excellent article by Antony Loewenstein detailing Australia’s terrible record of support of Israel despite blatant human rights abuses and the illegality of their actions. All the more reason why Australians need to actively pressure their politicians. Australia’s policies in relation to Israel adversely affect the lives of Palestinians.
“Australia is almost unique globally in its consistent support for Israel in diplomatic forums like the United Nations.”
Why is this the case? Why does the Australian government have an opinion regarding Israel that differs from almost every other country?
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/12/australia-israel-palestine-conflict-oppression
A group of 122 Palestinian and Arab academics, journalists and intellectuals express their concerns about the IHRA definition
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Did you know that HP and their spin-off companies supply Israel with the technology, equipment, and information used to perpetrate human rights violations against Palestinian people? Our friends at @BDSAustralia have put together a pledge that you can sign to the Managing Director of HP to let them know that you will not purchase any HP products until they cancel all contracts that violate the basic human rights of Palestinians. Sign the pledge here: https://bdsaustralia.good.do/boycotthp/boycotthp-pledge/
They are running a social media campaign this Saturday 28/11/2020 and asking people to share these campaign tiles. Save a tile by right-clicking on the image, selecting “save image as …” and saving to your hard drive. Then you can send and share.
FPM on our facebook will share these 7 tiles throughout the day. Please watch our facebook on Saturday and share too.
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Some information on the HP Boycott call – because HP are involved in:
Dear fellow humanitarian,
Nuclear terrorist Apartheid Israel existentially threatens the world but the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will shortly further place this serial war criminal rogue state and its supporters outside International Law and subject to global Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).
Stephen Hawking: “We see great peril if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change”. The 24 October ratification by a 50th state, Honduras, of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) means that it will take effect from 22 January 2021, from which time the 9 nuclear terrorist states and 32 complicit states will be grossly violating International Law.
Key TPNW prohibitions are to: “(a). Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices… (e). Assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty”.
Estimates of stored nuclear weapons are as follows together with the population of each country: US (5,800-6,185; 331.6 million), Russia (6,372-6,490; 145.0 million), China (300-320; 1,439.3 million), France (290; 65.3 million), UK (200-215; 68.0 million), Pakistan (160; 222.3 million), India (150; 1,384.4 million), Apartheid Israel (90; Jewish Israeli population 6.7 million but ruling Palestine, total population 14.1 million), and North Korea (30-40; 25.8 million).
The relative moral depravity of the nuclear terrorist states is given by the ratio of “number of nuclear weapons” to “population in millions” : Russia (44.4), US (18.1), Apartheid Israel Jewish population (13.4), France (4.4), UK (3.1), North Korea (1.4), Pakistan (0.7), China (0.2), and India (0.1).
Under the extreme right-wing, serial war criminal and climate criminal Coalition, Australia opposes the TPNW, is deeply complicit in US and UK nuclear terrorism, is second only to America as a fervent supporter of nuclear terrorist Apartheid Israel, is among world leaders in 16 areas of climate criminality, and faces global Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). The Labor Opposition and the Greens support ratification of the TPNW.
For details and documentation see Gideon Polya, “Nuclear terrorism – US & Israeli lackey Australia to violate Treaty on Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons”, Countercurrents, 30 October 2020: https://countercurrents.org/2020/10/nuclear-terrorism-us-israeli-lackey-australia-to-violate-treaty-on-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/ . Please disseminate to everyone you can with attribution.
Yours sincerely, Dr Gideon Polya, Melbourne, Australia
Palestinian National Day event 2020
presented by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP)
Sunday November 15th, 7.30-8.30pm (AEST)
Webinar with Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al Haq speaking on
MC – Dr Nahed Odeh, convenor CJPP
Join us online to celebrate Palestinian National Day and showcase Palestinian culture. The event will include poetry, music, Dabkeh performances, short speeches and videos from young Palestinians, as well as a live-stream of the raising of the Palestinian flag!
This event will be streamed on both Zoom and facebook live. Below is Zoom registration link. You can also join and share the facebook event.
It will be held at 5pm (AEDST) {4.30 SA; 4pm QLD; 3.30pm NT; 2pm WA}.
This event is hosted by Palestinian community and advocacy organisations in Melbourne – Australia Palestine Advocacy Network; Palestinian Community Association; Beit Jala Palestinian Association; Australians for Palestine; Casey Friends of Palestine; Free Palestine Melbourne. When November 15th, 2020 5:00 PM through 6:00 PM Location *Online*
Australia
Dear Friends
This is the petition we have made in support of Palestinian children who are being ill-treated by Israel. If you could sign and share it with your friends/groups It would be much appreciated. We are aiming to get enough signatures and interest to allow us to present this petition to the Australian Senate. When presented, the petition will be read out in the Australian Senate and entered into hansard.
Below is link to on-line-petition:
http://chng.it/yz2W8rs4JD
Warm regards,
Defend Palestinian Children
Kathleen Halfpenny
kathleenhalfpenny(OMIT,ANTI-SPAM)@{DELETE_ME}bigpond.com.au
Related further reading:
https://www.dci-palestine.org/palestinian_children_in_the_israeli_military_detention_system
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il
http://www.militarycourtwatch.org/page.php?id=a6r85VcpyUa4755A52Y2mp3c4v
by K. Blackman 07 05 2020
What then should Britain, the UN and Israel’s Western backers fess up to re the C20’s most enduring colonial act: Palestine?
The Congolese have got their country back – much abused, but still… Maybe a few stolen works of art, and multi-million Euros, should follow.
This mea culpa rates as headline news. Yet how many more weaseling ‘plans’ will be imposed on the Palestinians before Australia finally headlines that a bunch of shrunken land-locked bantustans is no nation – imposed after a munificent White House media flourish for acceptance, the decades-long ‘peace process’ with Israel having died of ignominy…
‘Plans’ and ‘processes’ that have done years of sterling duty as cover for settler towns and farms that creep ever eastward, now far beyond both Apartheid Wall and Green Line. Already Israel in domestic law, and soon to be in shameful international fact.
OK, so Russia did annexation recently in Crimea! True. At least we don’t search for obfuscating phrases to excuse them at the UN. And we imposed sanctions, still in force.
But what historically-twisted guilt-ridden personality disorder afflicts the US and its Australian satrapy when it comes to Israel?? With the US, we lead in blocking UN action to call Israel to book for its litany of colonial abuse of human rights and arrogant unilateralism as occupier of conquered territory. (We eventually got past condemnation of Mandela’s ANC when we opened our eyes to the deeply brutal reality of apartheid South Africa, and understood the roots of the former’s ‘terrorism’).
By staying silent, or curbing our critique, we condone Israel’s actions; by maintaining close and friendly relations with its Zionist government we are implicated, up to our neck. What better opportunity than now, as Israel finesses its roll-out of new annexations, to call an Aussie spade a very bloody shovel?
KB 050720
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Belgian King regrets suffering and humiliation in Congo’s colonial past
James Crisp
July 1, 2020 SMH
Brussels: The King of Belgium has become the first monarch to express remorse over his country’s brutal colonial past.
King Philippe offered his “deepest regrets” over atrocities during Belgian rule in the Congo in a letter to Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi. It was published on Tuesday, on the 60th anniversary of the DRC’s independence.
The king’s great-great-great-uncle, Leopold II, ruled a region containing the whole of the DRC as a private rubber-producing slave state. More than 10 million Africans are estimated to have died there.
A campaign is being waged to remove statues of Leopold in Belgium, and some have been vandalised in Black Lives Matter protests.
“Acts of violence and atrocity were committed that continue to weigh on our collective memory,” Philippe said in his letter. “I want to express my deepest regret for these past injuries, the pain of which is regularly revived by the discrimination that is still all too present in our societies.”…
King Leopold was forced to surrender direct control of the Congo Free State in 1908 and Belgium annexed it, calling it the Belgian Congo. Congo achieved independence in 1960.
Millions of Congolese are estimated to have died between 1885 and 1908 after King Leopold II declared it his personal property.
During Leopold’s rule acts of cruelty were committed, while the subsequent colonial period “caused suffering and humiliation”, Philippe said…