MadisonRafah.org

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)

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May 15, 2025

❝Random Quotes❞

This is all this has ever been about. Not hostages. Not ending Hamas. Not self-defense. Not mass rapes. Not beheaded babies or babies placed in ovens. This has always been about taking land from the indigenous people of Palestine. ― Caitlin Johnstone, Oct 13, 2024

  • Nov 17, 2024: Andaleeb Cartonera Bookmaking Workshop

    Nov 17, 2024: Andaleeb Cartonera Bookmaking Workshop

    A Room of One’s Own2717 Atwood Avenue, Madison2-5 pm Everyone is invited to another Andaleeb Cartonera workshop to make cardboard covers for books, hosted once again by the great folks at A Room of One’s Own. Come and support Palestinian liberation and speaking truth to power with this amazing and beautiful new project. 

  • Nov 15, 2024: Rami Khouri on WORT

    Nov 15, 2024: Rami Khouri on WORT

    A Public Affair12 noon – 1 pmLive at 89.9 FM, streaming, or archived A Public Affair guest host Christa Bruhn interviews journalist and author Rami Khouri on the impact of Trump’s victory on U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East in particular, including how the situation on the ground could develop under a Trump presidency. Rami Khouri is a Distinguished…

  • Sole Survivor’s Stories, Episode 1: Mahmoud and Tayseer

    Sole Survivor’s Stories, Episode 1: Mahmoud and Tayseer

    Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) on Rabet, Nov 12, 2024

  • As Infested Flour Becomes a Staple, State Dept “Still Assessing” Israel’s Aid Restrictions to Gaza

    As Infested Flour Becomes a Staple, State Dept “Still Assessing” Israel’s Aid Restrictions to Gaza

    “I dream of food every day” ABUBAKER ABED, DROP SITE NEWS, NOV 12, 2024 This is the most difficult period I have endured since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began last year. Everyone is so hungry. Over the past week, my family and I have resorted to eating canned pet food mixed with poor-quality rice…

  • Tell the House: Vote NO on Bill H.R. 9495

    Tell the House: Vote NO on Bill H.R. 9495

    As early as Tuesday, November 12, the House of Representatives could vote on dangerous and unconstitutional legislation that would give the incoming Trump administration the power to unilaterally shut down nonprofit organizations it doesn’t like.  The Trump-chosen Treasury Secretary would be able to strip them of their nonprofit status — without due process.  This bill…

  • The West buries a genocide – by making victims of Israel’s football thugs

    The West buries a genocide – by making victims of Israel’s football thugs

    If the West was really worried about Europe’s Nazi past, it would be better advised to stop stoking an all-too-real new antisemitism: incitement against Arab and Muslim minorities Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye, 11 November 2024 There has never been a harder time to do political and media analysis than right now. Each day, the…

  • Carrefour closes all branches in Jordan due to BDS pressure

    Carrefour closes all branches in Jordan due to BDS pressure

    Carrefour Group is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, grocery, and convenience stores with 14,000 stores in 40 countries. It is the seventh-largest retailer in the world by revenue. (Wikipedia) Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), November 5, 2024 After a large scale and creative boycott campaign that contributed to huge financial losses and…

  • Amsterdam Thugs and Hooligans

    Amsterdam Thugs and Hooligans

    A Sham Enveloped in Brazen Hypocrisy Mouin Rabbani, @MouinRabbani, Nov 10, 2024 It’s now pretty clear what happened in Amsterdam this week. But first some background.  For over a decade the football governing bodies FIFA, the International Federation of Football Associations, and UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, have consistently rejected demands to suspend…

  • Nov 17 & 18, 2024: Rotem Levin and Osama lliwat in LaCrosse

    Nov 17 & 18, 2024: Rotem Levin and Osama lliwat in LaCrosse

    Rotem Levin and Osama lliwat – Israeli and Palestinian peace activists – will share their personal stories of transformation, lessons of joint work in Combatants for Peace, and the vastly different realities they face in the same land. The devastating escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine has left many feeling powerless, angry, and hopeless. But…

  • No, there were no ‘antisemitic pogroms’ in Amsterdam

    No, there were no ‘antisemitic pogroms’ in Amsterdam

    Here’s what really happened. Media claims of ‘antisemitic pogroms’ against Israeli fans in Amsterdam are the latest in a pattern of false narratives fueling anti-Muslim violence and justifying the genocide in Gaza. BY SANA SAEED, MONDOWEISS, NOVEMBER 9, 2024 “Olé, olé!Olé, olé, olé!Let the IDF win and fuck the Arabs!Olé, olé!Olé, olé, olé!Why is school out in…

  • Settlers steal sheep and dreams of a peaceful life in Masafer Yatta

    Settlers steal sheep and dreams of a peaceful life in Masafer Yatta

    By Hamdan Ballal, HUMANS OF MASAFER YATTA, NOV 10, 2024 Masafer Yatta is living through very difficult and dangerous days, in light of the repeated violence of settlers. The danger posed by them has become greater due to the lack of justice and lack of accountability. The settlers do what they want, and the goal…

  • UK police arrest Israeli academic Haim Bresheeth after pro-Palestine speech

    UK police arrest Israeli academic Haim Bresheeth after pro-Palestine speech

    Retired Jewish professor arrested for alleged support of a ‘proscribed organisation’ after he said ‘Israel cannot win against Hamas’ By MEE staff, Middle East Eye, 4 November 2024 A Jewish academic who grew up in Israel was arrested by London’s Metropolitan police following a speech he gave at a pro-Palestine demonstration in the British capital, during which he said…

  • Children Playing in Gaza

    Children Playing in Gaza

    View this post on Instagram A post shared by وديع ابو السعود (@wadeaa_.9) Journalist Wadeaa_.9 on Instagram, September 21, 2024

  • 30 Jewish Organizations Support UN Human Rights Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

    30 Jewish Organizations Support UN Human Rights Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

    The Bullet, November 8, 2024 As Jewish organizations and groups, we express our support for Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967. Ms. Albanese has been under relentless attack from politically motivated organizations like ‘UN Watch’, which have been waging toxic smear…

  • There must be “due reckoning” for horrific violations, possible atrocity crimes in Gaza

    There must be “due reckoning” for horrific violations, possible atrocity crimes in Gaza

    7 in 10 Killed in Gaza Were Women or Children. It is likely that the widespread disregard for civilian protections under international law amounts to genocide. — Sharon Zhang, Truthout OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, 08 November 2024 GENEVA – The UN Human Rights Office today published a report detailing the horrific reality that has unfolded…

  • UN: 7 in 10 Killed in Gaza Are Women or Children, in “Grave Violations” of Law

    UN: 7 in 10 Killed in Gaza Are Women or Children, in “Grave Violations” of Law

    Women and children were the vast majority of those slaughtered by Israel in the Gaza genocide By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT, November 8, 2024 Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation. Women and children make up the vast majority of those slaughtered by Israeli forces…

  • Nov 11 & 25, 2024: Children’s African Story Hour

    Nov 11 & 25, 2024: Children’s African Story Hour

    Children’s African Story Hour: Egyptian LullabyFrom the Middle East Studies Program at UW-MadisonNovember 11, 4 -5 pm: Pinney Library, 516 Cottage Grove Rd. MadisonNovember 25, 2- 3 pm: Goodman South Library,  2222 S Park St, MadisonWe are thrilled to be partnering with the African Studies Program at UW-Madison to present a children’s book entitled “Egyptian Lullaby” by Zeena M. Pliska (Author) and Hatem Aly (Illustrator). We…

  • Nov 10, 2024 Update: Ali Awad from Masafer Yatta on WORT

    Nov 10, 2024 Update: Ali Awad from Masafer Yatta on WORT

    World View5:00 pmLive at 89.9 FM, streaming, or archived Ali Awad is a community organizer and journalist living in Tuba, in the Masafer Yatta region of the West Bank. No One To Call For Help NOVEMBER 10, 2024 BY WORLD VIEW WORT 89.9FM Madison · No One to Call for Help World View talked with Ali Awad in March…

  • Israeli Forces Declare Plan for Ethnic Cleansing of Northern Gaza

    Israeli Forces Declare Plan for Ethnic Cleansing of Northern Gaza

    Israeli forces have announced their intention to block any Palestinians from returning to north Gaza. By Sharon Zhang , TRUTHOUT, November 6, 2024 Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation. Israeli forces reportedly announced a plan this week for the total ethnic cleansing of a…

  • Nov 10, 2024: Concert for Palestine Relief

    Nov 10, 2024: Concert for Palestine Relief

    Gamma Ray Bar, 121 West Main Street, MadisonDoors: 3:30pm, Show: 4:30pm$10 donation at the door, 21 and over event You are invited to a concert where local artists and businesses will collaborate to raise funds for children and families devastated by war in Palestine and Lebanon.  It’s an opportunity to come together for this cause,…

  • UNRWA on north Gaza: An entire society now a graveyard.

    UNRWA on north Gaza: An entire society now a graveyard.

    vocalpolitics, YouTube, Nov 7, 2024 UNRWA official Louise #Wateridge published footage revealing the horrific amount of destruction in northern #Gaza as a result of the Israeli war on the Strip. Commenting on the video, she said: “No matter from what direction you enter #GazaCity, homes, hospitals, schools, health clinics, mosques, apartments, restaurants – all completely…

  • Oct 19, 2024: Madison Video of Gazan Poet Mosab Abu Toha

    Oct 19, 2024: Madison Video of Gazan Poet Mosab Abu Toha

    Wisconsin Book Festival Video View this post on Instagram A post shared by Read Palestine (@read_palestine)

  • Hello from Masafer Yatta

    Hello from Masafer Yatta

    Cassandra Dixon, November 6, 2024 I am extremely grateful to the back here in Masafer Yatta in the southern end of the West Bank. I can’t begin to tell you how terrible the situation is here.   It is completely unbelievable what has been lost in the last year – HUGE areas of land, road access,…

  • South Africa’s memorial to the ICJ: More evidence on Israel’s genocide

    South Africa’s memorial to the ICJ: More evidence on Israel’s genocide

    Dr Binoy Kampmark, Middle East Monitor, November 3, 2024 The timing, as with so much in the ongoing wars in Gaza and Lebanon, was most appropriate. The Israeli Knesset had signalled its intent on crippling and banishing the sole agency of humanitarian worth for Palestinian welfare by passing laws criminalising its operations by 92 to…

  • Erasing ‘Any Sign of Life,’ Israeli Demolition Teams Raze Entire Villages in Lebanon

    Erasing ‘Any Sign of Life,’ Israeli Demolition Teams Raze Entire Villages in Lebanon

    “This is a scorched-earth policy, a violation of the Geneva Conventions,” said one reporter.  BRETT WILKINS, COMMON DREAMS, NOV 04, 2024 As the death toll from Israel’s 13-month assault on Lebanon passed 3,000, satellite imagery analyses published by multiple media outlets in recent days revealed that nearly a quarter of all buildings in 25 municipalities in…

  • Gaza hospital ‘last distress call’ as fresh Israeli attack wounds patients

    Gaza hospital ‘last distress call’ as fresh Israeli attack wounds patients

    Gaza’s health ministry says it seems a ‘decision has been made to execute’ staff remaining at Kamal Adwan hospital By MEE staff, Middle East Eye, 4 November 2024 Northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital has issued a final plea for help after Israeliforces launched a fresh attack on it on Sunday, targeting its paediatric ward with artillery fire and…

  • MECA Aid to Gaza, Feb 1 – Nov 5, 2024

    MECA Aid to Gaza, Feb 1 – Nov 5, 2024

    $21,287 of $20,000 on 11/05/24 Please give now to allow MECA to provide medical aid, clean water, food, psychological support, and more. “Death is coming, not just from bombs, death is coming from starvation, from dehydration, and from diseases. Using starvation and thirst as a weapon is hitting hard especially in these hot summer months.” …

  • A Special Appeal for Masafer Yatta

    A Special Appeal for Masafer Yatta

    My dear friends, As I return to Masafer-Yatta in the West Bank, I would gratefully welcome your help towards the cost of travel, and towards helping families replace blankets, food, cars, schoolbooks, livestock and animal feed destroyed and stolen by settlers, as well as to pay for medical care when they are assaulted  in their homes and…

  • Exterminate, expel, resettle: Israel’s endgame in northern Gaza

    Exterminate, expel, resettle: Israel’s endgame in northern Gaza

    Debates over the details of the ‘Generals’ Plan’ distract from the true brutality of Israel’s latest operation — one that drops the veneer of humanitarian considerations and lays the groundwork for settlements. By  Idan Landau, +972 Magazine,  November 1, 2024 All the signs indicate that Israel is not planning to let the displaced return.  In this sense, the destruction…

  • As winter begins in Gaza, will we survive in tents?

    As winter begins in Gaza, will we survive in tents?

    As temperatures drop and rains begin, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians confront life in failing tents with no protection from the elements.  BY SERENA AWAD, American Friends Service Committee, OCT 31, 2024 As the genocide in Gaza continues unabated, winter is fast approaching and threatening to worsen the catastrophe. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in…

  • BDS The U.S.

    BDS The U.S.

    The World Must Hold the U.S. Government to the Rule of Law By World BEYOND War, March 4, 2024 We don’t need a “Rules-Based Order.” We need a U.S. government that obeys laws. The Problem The Vetoes Since 1972, the U.S. government has been far and away the leading user of the veto in the…

  • Nov 16, 2024: Live from Palestine: Ongoing Israeli Genocide and Nakba

    Nov 16, 2024: Live from Palestine: Ongoing Israeli Genocide and Nakba

    Online 12 Noon – 1:30 pm Central As the Israeli Genocide surpasses the 1-year mark, and the ongoing Nakba 76 years, it is more crucial than ever to recognize the root causes of the Palestinian question: the Israeli regime is founded on the pillars of forced displacement and transfer, colonization, and apartheid.  More information and…

  • Nov 13, 2024: The Unfolding Middle East War and the New Presidency

    Nov 13, 2024: The Unfolding Middle East War and the New Presidency

    Online 7-8 pm Central A long Middle East war is on the horizon and we will look at building the anti-war resistance. This webinar will address the contours of the war unfolding in the context of an incoming administration’s foreign policy, and Khury Petersen-Smith will speak to some of the underlying dynamics at work to…

  • Nov 4, 2024: Education Under Genocide: Gaza’s Phoenix School

    Nov 4, 2024: Education Under Genocide: Gaza’s Phoenix School

    Online 11 am Central Susan Abulhawa has courageously visited Gaza twice in the past year. She will share her journey, the inspiration behind the Phoenix Elementary School and the transformative power of writing for Gaza’s children. Eyewitness Palestine will match all donations raised from this event to support the Phoenix Elementary School’s mission. Together, let’s empower Gaza’s young…

  • Turkish anti-genocide protesters prevent container shipment to Israel

    Turkish anti-genocide protesters prevent container shipment to Israel

    In Turkey, anti-genocide protesters seized a container set to be shipped from Istanbul to Israel’s Haifa Port. The back of the container shows Haifa Port, Israel, as the destination. Container Identification Number: USA/148-AB/21 Company: ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.… pic.twitter.com/wV4WForono — Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) November 1, 2024 Flotilla protesters in Istanbul port have cordened off…

  • Israel pummels Lebanon and Gaza, killing dozens in fresh waves of airstrikes

    Israel pummels Lebanon and Gaza, killing dozens in fresh waves of airstrikes

    BY WAFAA SHURAFA AND SALLY ABOU ALJOUD, Associated Press, November 1, 2024 BEIRUT (AP) — Israel launched dozens of intense airstrikes across Lebanon’s northeastern farming villages on Friday, killing at least 52 people and wounding scores more, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported. In central Gaza, Palestinians recovered the bodies of 25 people killed in a barrage of Israeli aerial attacks…

  • How To Make Supporters of Israel’s Genocide Feel Safe on Campus

    How To Make Supporters of Israel’s Genocide Feel Safe on Campus

    Emergency Teach-In S48 EP1, Jadaliyya, Nov 1, 2024 Featuring Sinan Antoon, Cultural Landscape Specialist; Adel Iskandar, Media Landscape Specialist; and Bassam Haddad, Social Science Specialist   Learn how to develop sensitivity to supporters of Genocide on U.S. campuses so they can feel comfortable as they stand together with Israel (and the U.S.) on the heads of all human beings. Because my…

  • Israel has all but ended medical evacuations from Gaza

    Israel has all but ended medical evacuations from Gaza

    For the past 6 months, only 237 patients have been evacuated out of Gaza AMBA GUERGUERIAN, DROP SITE NEWS, NOV 01, 2024 An increasing number of Palestinians in Gaza, including children, are dying as a result of Israel severely curtailing the number of medical evacuations it grants, according to the United Nations, international NGOs, the…

  • What we learned from UW-Madison’s pro-Palestine encampment

    What we learned from UW-Madison’s pro-Palestine encampment

    How this protest fits into recent history, what to carry moving forward, and what to leave behind. This article is more than 5 months old. BY CHRISTINA LIEFFRING & EMILY MILLS, TONE MADISON, MAY 27, 2024  The tents are gone from Library Mall, and after just short of two weeks of encampment, protest, and negotiations, UW-Madison administrators and…

  • Progressives Demand Biden Explain US Military Involvement in Israel’s ‘Expanding Wars’

    Progressives Demand Biden Explain US Military Involvement in Israel’s ‘Expanding Wars’

    Float Israel War Powers Resolution Reps. Tlaib, Bush and others tell the US president he “cannot continue to ignore the law without Congressional intervention” in letter obtained by Zeteo. PREM THAKKER, ZETEO, NOV 1, 2024 Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Cori Bush (Mo.) pressed President Joe Biden in a letter on Friday to explain…

  • Nov 1, 2024: A Gaza Nurse and Israel’s Plans for Northern Gaza on WORT

    Nov 1, 2024: A Gaza Nurse and Israel’s Plans for Northern Gaza on WORT

    A Public Affair with Esty Dinur NoonLive at 89.9 FM, streaming, or archived Wilhelmi Massay, a critical care and trauma nurse based in Omaha, talks about the six weeks he spent working in Gaza and the ever-worsening situation.  Then Raed Jarrar, advocacy director for the nonprofit DAWN founded by slain writer Jamal Khashoggi, discusses Israel’s  ‘General’s’ and ‘Eiland’ plans…

  • Human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 

    Human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 

    Genocide as colonial erasure Francesca Albanese, A/79/384, 01 October 2024 Summary In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Francesca Albanese, examines the unfolding horrors in the occupied Palestinian territory. While the wholesale destruction of Gaza continues unabated, other parts of the land…

  • UN Expert Says Israel Seeks ‘Eradication’ Of Palestinians

    UN Expert Says Israel Seeks ‘Eradication’ Of Palestinians

    Agence France Presse (AFP), October 29, 2024 Outspoken UN rights expert Francesca Albanese reiterated Tuesday an allegation that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza, charging that the country is seeking the “eradication of Palestinians” from their land. “Today, the genocide of the Palestinians appears to be the means to an end: the complete removal or…

  • Rapporteur urges Israel’s UN membership suspension

    Rapporteur urges Israel’s UN membership suspension

    ‘I do believe that the impunity that has been granted to Israel has allowed it to become a serial violator of international law,’ says Francesca Albanese Servet Günerigök, Anadolu Agency (AA), Oct 30, 2024 WASHINGTON  A UN rapporteur urged the suspension of Israel’s UN membership on Wednesday, citing repeated violations of international law and the…

  • This activist group chat has been blocking a weapons shipment to Israel for weeks

    This activist group chat has been blocking a weapons shipment to Israel for weeks

    A South African WhatsApp group working with BDS has sparked a movement to block a ship carrying military explosives bound for Israel. Madison Bannon, Waging Nonviolence, October 28, 2024 For a few hours between Oct. 17-18, a cargo ship called the MV Kathrin had “gone rogue” just outside of Malta’s territorial waters. To “go rogue,” in shipping terms,…

  • Kamala Harris Protest at Alliant Energy Center, Madison

    Kamala Harris Protest at Alliant Energy Center, Madison

    View this post on Instagram A post shared by CODEPINK Madison (@codepinkmadison) Photos: Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement CODEPINK Madison, Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, and Students for Justice in Palestine- UW Madison

  • Nov 3, 2024: Stop the Genocide Zoom

    Nov 3, 2024: Stop the Genocide Zoom

    Stop the Genocide! Dear Friends, Please join the Global Solidarity for Peace in Palestine Coalition (GSPPC), for the 2nd EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION on Sunday, November 3rd at 6-8npm Palestine time and 11 am – 1 pm New York time.  At the conference, Palestinians on the ground in Gaza will be joined by speakers Raji…