The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)
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Until the early 1930’s the Jewish population of Palestine remained under 17%. ― Occupation 101, 2006
Help Harun Abu Aram Heal Rebuilding Alliance is organizing this fundraiser and will be working with the family to meet their needs. They are a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to realize a just and enduring peace in Palestine and Israel founded upon equal rights, equal security, and equal opportunity for all. Hamed Qawasmeh,…
Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism Grave implications for free speech, distracts from actual racism UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN. (INSTAGRAM) OPEN LETTER, Mondoweiss, DECEMBER 23, 2020 As faculty and staff within the University of Illinois system, we are writing to renew our outrage at the rampant anti-Semitism and racism at the University of Illinois…
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, December 27, 2020 Three Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded and many civilian buildings were damaged due to IOF air strikes in a densely populated area in Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 00:40 on…
As 2020 comes to a close, we are writing to ask for your end-of-year contribution to two great efforts: one for Rafah and the other right here in Dane County. RAFAH The economic situation in the Gaza Strip was already terrible due to the Israeli occupation and blockade. Lockdowns, curfews and other measures taken to…
BLACK LIVES MATTER RESOURCES MRSCP supports the Black Lives Matter movement, both because of its inherent demand for justice and also because of the similarities between how the U.S. treats its citizens of color and how Israel treats Palestinians whether they are citizens of Israel, residents of Gaza and the West Bank, or refugees in…
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Establish Sisterhood Cities Between Dayton, OH and Salfit, Palestine While they have been focusing on local support in Dayton, they are now also looking for wider support in the U.S. Please sign and circulate the petition broadly.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make a joint statement after meeting in Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, Pool) Tsela Barr and Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, The Cap Times, Dec 4, 2020 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in another lame-duck effort to tie the hands of the…
Please thank Rep. Pocan for participating in the town hall and for being a champion for Palestinian rights. His DC office line is (202) 225-2906. The town hall was an amazing event that you don’t want to miss. The situation for Palestinians is so dire in so many ways, and hearing their stories directly should…
Dear Friends, Last year at this time my friend Laila was visiting the US, bringing the fabulously beautiful hand embroidered work of Women in Hebron to Fair Trade holiday craft shows and church basements and the homes of friends. Laila can’t travel here from Palestine now, and the cooperative can no longer sell their work…
This week Pompeo broke with longstanding U.S. policy and visited illegal Israeli settlements. On his trip, he made several announcements, including that the State Department is designating BDS as antisemitic and calling for the U.S. Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism to create what is essentially a blacklist of organizations that support BDS. We will…
Over 50 progressive organizations endorse Rep. Joaquin Castro for Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC). At the end of November, Democratic House members will vote on who takes leadership of this important committee. HFAC makes decisions on arms control and disarmament issues, international funding and aid, deployment and use of armed forces, drug…
Well, this is interesting. From State's readout on @SecPompeo visit to a settlement in occupied West Bank: "The Secretary’s visit highlights US government support of Israeli businesses in the West Bank to operate free from international sanctions as part of the Pompeo Doctrine" — Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) November 19, 2020
November 13, 2020 I’m writing with some urgent news from East Jerusalem that hits very close to home – we’ve just received word that new eviction orders have been issued to four families in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, and they may be forcibly removed as early as Saturday. Sadly, this is a story…
Our online store, Madison-Rafah Marketplace, has added crafts to our olive oil sales. We offer ceramics, embroidery, jewelry, kufiyas, woodcrafts, and calendars. For the month of November make this your one-stop shopping for holiday gift giving. Spend your money on products that support your values. Give gifts that give twice, once to the producer and…
Ref: 115/2020, 02 November 2020 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights follows with grave concern the deteriorating health condition of Maher al-Akhras, as he enters the 99th consecutive day of his open hunger strike in protest to his administrative detention by the Israeli occupation authorities without charge or trial. PCHR holds the Israeli occupation fully…
Adalah Justice Project, October 29, 2020 Today is the anniversary of the 1956 massacre at Kafr Qasim. Kafr Qasim is one of hundreds of Palestinian villages occupied by Israel during the 1948 ethnic cleansing campaigns. Located near the militarized border of Israel’s expanding colonial rule in 1956, Israeli “border police” enforcing an unannounced early curfew…
Last month, Gaza experienced an 84% increase in COVID-19 cases. You know what would help Palestine & Israel? If @SecPompeo immediately released humanitarian aid & medical assistance for the people in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/ws9cYmdiWE — Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) October 23, 2020
Dear Members and Friends of MRSCP, Mark your calendars for the upcoming Madison Fair Trade Holiday Festival, which has gone virtual this year due to the pandemic. The sale will be during the month of November. Make this your one stop shop for all your holiday gift giving. Spend your money on products that support…
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam are included John Hudson, Washington Post, Oct. 21, 2020 The Trump administration is considering labeling some of the most prominent humanitarian organizations in the world, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam, as “anti-Semitic,” according to two people familiar with the discussions. A declaration by the State…
The diplomats tour today. (Photo: B’Tselem – Breaking the Silence) B’Tselem, 19 October 2020 The representatives of 17 countries, including EU members as well as other countries, are currently visiting Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills, whose residents Israel is seeking to expel. Since 2000 the residents have been waging a legal struggle in…
Yesterday progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) was headlined in the Palestine news-sphere as word came out about her speaking at a Peace Now event memorializing former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. For Palestinians, this news was triggering. For us, Rabin is not known as the “peacemaker” as U.S. history memorializes him, but as a colonial…
Please consider an urgent appeal for support from We Are Not Numbers grassroots activists in Gaza, as the coronavirus crisis escalates in Gaza Palestinian youth tell the human stories behind the numbers in the news Israa Mohammed Jamal, Gaza, We Are Not Numbers, September 8, 2020 The sky is full of many stars and an…
Announcing the First-Ever Nationwide Virtual Gaza 5K+Digital Festival Art Auction! Everyone’s mental health is being tested as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we won’t all suffer the same. From the United States to Palestine, no person should have to suffer constant distress. And while the global pandemic has caused events, travel, and even…
Did you know that food giant General Mills is manufacturing Pillsbury products on stolen Palestinian land? That is not OK. The Pillsbury factory is located in Atarot Industrial Zone, an illegal settlement near the infamous Qalandia Checkpoint that separates East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank. Stand up for Palestinian rights! Join AFSC…
Ref: 85/2020, 02 September 2020 Three siblings from al-Nuseirat refugee camp, Central Gaza Strip, died after fire broke out in their house caused by a lit candle used for light during power outage on Tuesday, 01 September 2020; a manifestation of Gaza’s chronic electricity crisis. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep…
Attacks on Palestinian-American Delegate Linda Sarsour After DNC delegate and Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour spoke at an official DNC event of the Muslim Delegates and Allies Assembly on August 18th, 2020, Andrew Bates, a spokesperson for the Joe Biden campaign, issued a statement saying, “Joe Biden has been a strong supporter of Israel and a…
Warning of Gaza Power Plant Shutdown Ref: 75/2020, 17 August 2020 The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) expresses its deep concern over the repercussions of the Gaza Power Plant scheduled shutdown on Tuesday, 18 August 2020, on all basic services for the Gaza Strip population, especially health and sanitation services, industrial, commercial and agricultural…
Celine Jaber, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), August 16, 2020 Dear friends, A month ago, I checked my inbox, and my stomach sank. An older woman from Gaza wrote to me: “Please, I have an urgent appointment at a hospital in the West Bank – radiation therapy for uterine cancer. Civilian coordination has…
Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (Ahdaf Soueif for PalFest) Massive Attack, Steve Coogan, Peter Gabriel, Maxine Peake, Philip Pullman and Benjamin Zephaniah are among 60+ cultural figures to put their names to an open letter condemning attacks on key Palestinian cultural centres. The letter says the attacks are ‘part of a well-documented campaign of…
Fuel Entry Suspended and Fishing Area Reduced Ref: 72/2020, 13 August 2020 On Wednesday, 12 August 2020, Israeli authorities announced new restrictions on the movement of goods entering the Gaza Strip and reduced the fishing area, in alleged response to the launch of incendiary balloons towards Israeli settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli…
Palestinians in the southern Hebron mountains Credit: Eliyahu Hershkovitz Amira Hass, Haaretz, 03/08/2020 Next Monday the justices of the High Court of Justice will discuss the State of Israel’s demand to destroy eight Palestinian hamlets in the southern West Bank. I should say: will once again discuss, because the government’s demand is not new. For…
‘I didn’t make the cave. It has existed since antiquity,’ says Ahmed Amarneh from West Bank village of Farasin Ahmed Amarneh and a neighbor chat outside his home, built in a cave in the village of Farasin, west of Jenin, in the northern West Bank on August 4, 2020. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)…
Find inspiration and hope reading this full-page ad from the July 29 Wisconsin State Journal. In an expression of moral solidarity, 39 leaders of local faith organizations clearly state why they oppose bringing F-35 Striker Force jets to our county and our country. Calling on our Senators to stop supporting these deadly war machines, these…
July 27, 2020 July 27, 2020, New York – Students asked New York’s Appellate Court on Friday to reject an effort by Fordham University to overturn a decision ordering the school to recognize the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) club. The students are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Palestine Legal, and cooperating…
Israeli soldiers watched construction on desperately needed facility for two months before sending in the bulldozers Palestinian engineer Raed Maswade inspects the rubble of the testing centre after it was demolished by Israeli authorities in Hebron (AFP) Akram Al-Waara and Mustafa Abu Sneineh, Middle East Eye, 21 July 2020 Israeli authorities have demolished a Palestinian…
American Jews playing klezmer in front of House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco to demand she take action against annexation. Over the past few weeks, IfNotNow has organized a series of coordinated, powerful actions to tell our elected officials at both the local and national levels that words alone cannot stop annexation. We…
Date: 23 July 2020 Time: 09 30 GMT On Wednesday, 22 July 2020, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided Yabous Cultural Centre and Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM) in the center of occupied East Jerusalem and confiscated thousands of documents, files, PCs, tablets, and surveillance cameras. At the same time, IOF raided a house…
THE ANCIENT BAPTISMAL FONT ALLEGEDLY STOLEN FROM TUQU BY ISRAELI FORCES. (PHOTO: MA’AN NEWS AGENCY) YUMNA PATEL, Mondoweiss, JULY 20, 2020 Palestinians from a Bethlehem-area town are accusing Israeli forces of illegally seizing an ancient artifact from their town in the predawn hours of Monday morning. The incident took place in the southern occupied West…
Ahmad Erekat was unlawfully killed by Israeli occupation forces 24 days ago. His body, among those of 63 other slain Palestinians, is still being held hostage by the Israeli government. This petition is demanding to #BringAhmadHome & #BringThemAllHome: https://t.co/SzvamsnFaZ pic.twitter.com/moAzX1YZFs — IMEU (@theIMEU) July 16, 2020 Even in death, we are not free – we…
SAM BAHOUR, CounterPunch, July 16, 2020 The timer is now ticking on Israel. While Israel historically put Palestinians on the slow burner, gnawing at their lands and livelihoods, time was in Israel’s favor as the world turned a blind eye. Those days are over. Israel must now choose, allow the state of Palestine to emerge,…
Join Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin virtually on August 6 at 7:30 PM for activism, sing-along, and live lantern launch. This will be live streamed on PSR Wisconsin’s Facebook page or you can register to watch through Zoom. Due to COVID-19 risks, the commemoration event for the lives lost 75 years ago in the bombing…
JULY 27 Pandemic and the Creative Response: How can art pave the way for justice? In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed a global cry for justice in face of systemic racism. How can art be a catalyst for social change? We’ll hear from students and faculty of Dar al-Kalima as they share how art provides a…
Institute for Palestine Studies, July 14, 2020 Recent police violence in the US has sparked anti-racism protests around the world and ignited a discussion of systemic racism within many societies and political systems. Despite major differences in the regimes of oppression and discrimination in the US and Israel, certain parallels exist and serve to shed…
Oscar Rennebohm Park, Madison 6 pm Vegan Food by JustVeggies 7 pm Community Education 8 pm Vigil Vigil for all Black Lives lost to white supremacy and police brutality, and to support recent victims of racist violence in our community. Meet neighbors and learn multiple ways to support Black people in our community. We are…
A virtual summit on building a united racial justice movement from the U.S. to Palestine Eyewitness Palestine (formerly Interfaith Peace-Builders) JOIN US July 18 for a day of: Powerful Analysis, to better understand the current places in our society where connections across movements can be made and where we should be acting in the US,…
For decades I argued for separation between Israelis and Palestinians. Now, I can imagine a Jewish home in an equal state. Israeli soldiers interacting in the West Bank last month with a Palestinian woman protesting the demolition of an unapproved animal shed. (Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA, via Shutterstock) Peter Beinart, The New York Times, July 8,…
The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council renews the call for targeted sanctions
Israel's annexation of occupied territory would be a disaster for international law, self-determination, freedom and equality. I stand with @AOC and House progressives. We cannot allow U.S. tax dollars to be used to violate Palestinians' human rights. https://t.co/UkrTcWhHvy — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 30, 2020
Congressman, @repmarkpocan just issued a statement on Israeli annexation: "Congress must put conditions on U.S. funding to Israel to demonstrate opposition to annexation and the violation of Palestinian human rights." pic.twitter.com/ZNiypRTBGM — Mairav Zonszein מרב זונשיין (@MairavZ) June 30, 2020