MadisonRafah.org

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)

Posts

Jun 2, 2025

❝Random Quotes❞

The Palestinians, they were not the Nazis, they were not responsible for the Holocaust, but they were the ones that paid the price. ― Phyllis Bennis, Occupation 101, 2006

  • Dixon Hopes Israeli Settler’s Trial Draws Attention to Attacks on Palestinians

    Jerry Windley-Daoust, The Catholic Worker Movement, September 2, 2023 “These settlers act with impunity because Israel has impunity in the world, and they have that because of the U.S.,” Cassandra Dixon (Mary House CW) says. She hopes the September 7 trial of the Israeli settler who attacked her might help to change that. After being…

  • Tell Google: #NoTechForApartheid

    Backed by hundreds of community members, Google workers protested yesterday outside Google’s biggest cloud conference of the year to demand that their bosses stop doing business with Israel’s apartheid regime. Activists from JVP-Bay Area, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) chained themselves to the street and pedestrian walkway, calling…

  • Cat Cafe to De-Stress Residents Opens in Gaza Strip

    Owner hopes playing with felines will offer therapy to those scarred from the strip’s devastating wars and other hardships Mehr Jan, American Muslim Today, Aug 21, 2023 Following the popularity of the global cat cafe trend, a cat cafe has opened up in the besieged Gaza Strip, allowing visitors to enjoy their beverages while hanging…

  • Petition to Stop Cop City in Atlanta

    One underreported aspect of Cop City is the long and ongoing relationship between Georgia police agencies pushing this project and the Israeli police forces. The Stop Cop City campaign is supported by the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace. Will Atlanta City Officials Disqualify The Stop Cop City Petition? The city…

  • Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return

    [pdf-embedder url=”http://madisonrafah.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Teshuvah-A-Jewish-Case-for-Palestinian-Refugee-Return.pdf” title=”Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return”]

  • Cassandra Dixon Interview on WORT

    Sunday, August 27 on WORT’s World View The interview begins at 33:00. Cassandra talks with Gil Halstead about her upcoming trip to Palestine, where she will attend the September 6 trial of the Israeli settler who assaulted and seriously injured her last spring. She discusses that case and the broader situation in the Masafer Yatta…

  • Upcoming Events: August 29 — October 16, 2023

    Tuesday, August 29, 7 pm CT Reparations and the Palestinian Right of Return as Teshuvah (Repentence) for the Nakba: An online talk by Peter Beinart Organizers suggest you may want to read this article by Beinart in Jewish Currents before the talk. Details and registration here. Part of a series sponsored by Reconstructionists Expanding the…

  • Free Sami Huraini

    Started January 10, 2021 Petition to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ Why this petition matters Started by Palestine Partners Palestinian human rights activist Sami Huraini was convicted by an Israeli military court on August 22, despite video evidence and multiple witnesses proving he was not guilty…

  • New Masafer Yatta Project: Planting Olive Trees

    Dear Friends, I wanted to let you know that I will be returning to Palestine soon for the September 6th  trial of the settler who assaulted me and fractured my skull this spring.   I also wanted to let you know about an exciting new olive planting project in the village of Tuba. I am so…

  • September 16, 2023
    Bright Stars of Bethlehem’s Virtual Fundraising Gala

    Join us on Saturday, September 16th at 7 P.M. CDT for Bright Stars of Bethlehem’s Be The Hope 4th Annual Virtual Fundraising Gala! We’ll take you on a virtual trip to Palestine by sharing student stories, hearing from special guests, and getting Dar al-Kalima University updates from Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb. More information and registration

  • Will this band play on the ruins of a Palestinian village?

    Jewish Voice for Peace August 9 at 2:07 PM ·   Art by @/majdalrafie on Instagram   On August 29, Imagine Dragons is scheduled to perform in apartheid Israel. The venue the band is set to play at stands on the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village of Jarisha. Jarisha was once a vibrant Palestinian community. After…

  • The violent lies of Israel’s president

    When members of Congress applaud falsehoods about Israel being a vibrant democracy, they are aiding and abetting further oppression of Palestinians. By Yuli Novak,  +972 Magazine, July 31, 2023   Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Federation of Local Authorities conference in Tel Aviv, December 6, 2022. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90) Israel’s president stood before a joint…

  • Leading liberal Zionist voices call for ending U.S. aid to Israel

    A New York Times Op-Ed featuring liberal Zionist leaders calls to end military aid to Israel as the country passes a law gutting its judiciary. This is the moment people working to end U.S. aid to Israel have been waiting for. BY MITCHELL PLITNICK, MONDOWEISS, JULY 24, 2023 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter DANIEL…

  • Gaza Americans Urge Washington To Include Them In Israel Visa Deal

    Palestinian Americans Hani Almadhoun and his daughter Zayna sit in their home in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip August 2, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Wisconsin Muslim Journal, Aug 11, 2023 GAZA, Aug 3 (Reuters) – U.S. passport holders with Palestinian papers and families in Gaza are urging Washington to ensure they are treated equally…

  • Israel expanded an apartheid law last week. No one is talking about it.

    Israel broadened a racist law that allows communities to exclude non-Jews based on “social and cultural cohesion.” Whereas judicial overhaul laws have caused an uproar, this passed with hardly any opposition. THE SWEARING IN OF THE 37TH GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU. (PHOTO: ISRAEL NATIONAL PHOTO COLLECTION) JONATHAN OFIR,…

  • Settler attacks and their impact on the Palestinians by Hamdan Huraini

    HUMANS OF MASAFER YATTA AUG 11, 2023 “Saleh Awad, this is my name. I live in the village of Wadadah, in the South Hebron Hills, with eleven members of my family. My life is a simple and beautiful life. I rely on our sheep to earn a decent life for my children and my family,…

  • The only answer to the Israeli right’s war: A state for all its citizens

    Israel’s protest leaders are strengthening an ethnocratic identity that lacks all consistency with their ‘democratic’ mission. But an alternative exists. Anti-government protesters march against the government’s judicial overhaul, Tel Aviv, July 29, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90) Ameer Fakhoury, +972 Magazine, July 30, 2023 In his recent article in +972, Prof. Menachem Klein wrote about the sociological…

  • The narcissism that blinds Israelis to Jenin’s oppression

    Not only did the anti-government protests not condemn the assault on Jenin, its leaders even praised the ‘brave men’ who took part in the invasion. Israelis block the Ayalon Highway during a protest against the Israeli government’s planned judicial overhaul and in response to the removal of Tel Aviv District Commander Amichai Eshed in Tel…

  • Masafer Yatta Update

    MASAFER YATTA UPDATE

  • Freedom Flotilla 2023 Canadian Boat to Gaza

            Dear friends and supporters,   The Freedom Flotilla vessel Handala, sailing against the blockade of Gaza, has been visiting English and Welsh ports this month. Supporters of human rights for Palestinians, especially for the Palestinians of Gaza who are mostly children and refugees, have greeted Handala at events in Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol and…

  • Stand with Masafer Yatta!

    $2,000 of $2,000 on 7/27/23

  • Upcoming Events: July 23-25, 2023

    Sunday, July 23: Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour on WORT Radio Monday, July 24: Online: Taking on AIPAC to Fight for our Future Tuesday, July 25: No Way to Treat a Child Campaign Webinar Sunday, July 23: Dr. Abdelfattah Abusrour on WORT Radio’s World View 5:30 pm (approximately) 89.9 FM or listen live on line Dr. Abdelfattah…

  • Israel does not have a right to self-defense for its occupation

    Israel’s “right to defend itself” is invoked constantly by its supporters, but international law says Israel cannot simultaneously occupy Palestinian land and attack it as a “foreign” threat, or treat those resisting as enemy combatants. AN ISRAELI SOLDIER AIMS AT PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS DURING A DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE EXPANSION OF JEWISH SETTLEMENTS, ON JUNE 16, 2023,…

  • Jenin by American Jewish Cartoonist Eli Valley

    Jenin by Eli Valley, July 7, 2023 Jewish Cartoonist Eli Valley Sparks Angry Debate About anti-Semitism His comics often employ Nazi imagery satirically and he’s explicit about the point: To him, Trump and his allies are modern-day Nazis, and their Jewish supporters are ‘worse-than-kapos’ Eli Valley (Credit: Loubna Mrie) JTA and Ben Sales, Haaretz, May…

  • Searching for Saboun Nabulsi

    The olive oil soap that connects Palestinian-Americans like me to home. For the diaspora community, this commodity has become a love letter, written in sun and air and earth. The author’s mother holding a bar of Saboun Nabulsi. (Photo courtesy of the author) NATALIE JABBAR, SALON, JULY 8, 2023 In every small Middle Eastern store…

  • Masafer Yatta on the cover of The Nation

    In recent years, our team at Local Call and our partners at +972 Magazinehave been reporting from ground zero in Masafer Yatta — a community of over 1,000 Palestinians living under the imminent risk of mass expulsion ever since the Israeli army declared their lands a “firing zone.” The Nation is now featuring the community’s…

  • ‘Why did this happen?’

    Israel’s raid on Jenin, through the eyes of one family Hussein Shibly looks out Saturday from his home, which was damaged in the Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank this month. (Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post) Steve Hendrix and Sufian Taha, The Washington Post, July 9, 2023 JENIN REFUGEE…

  • Emergency Aid for Jenin and Petition to Congress

    As you know Jenin recently endured an especially deadly and destructive assault by the Israeli armed forces.  (See this AlJazeera link for details, pictures and videos). Please consider donating to the emergency relief campaign organized by our friends at the Middle East Children’s Alliance, details below. You can also send a check to MECA’s mailing address…

  • July 16, 2023 Webinar on the Film My Tree

    Event Date: July 16, 2023 Time: 3 pm ET/ 2 pm CT/ 12 noon PT Using children’s donations collected via “little blue boxes,” the Jewish National Fund has planted more than 250 million trees in Israel/Palestine. Ostensibly to “make the desert bloom,” the planting has radically altered the land’s biodiversity. My Tree follows filmmaker Jason…

  • In Jenin, Israel is unveiling the next phase of apartheid

    Palestinians in West Bank cities are fast discovering that if their expulsion won’t be possible, Gazafication will be their future. Palestinians gather around parts of an Israeli armored vehicle after it was destroyed during clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in the West Bank city of Jenin, June 19, 2023. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90) Amjad Iraqi,…

  • The Armed Revolt: Why Israel Cannot Crush the Resistance in Palestine

    Palestinian residents confront Israeli occupation forces in the Shuafat refugee camp. (Photo: via Activestills.org) Ramzy Baroud, July 1, 2023 Numbers can be dehumanizing. However, when placed in their proper context, they help to illuminate wider issues and answer urgent questions, such as why is Occupied Palestine at the threshold of a major revolt. And why…

  • Israel’s raid left Jenin in rubble. Palestinians are blaming their leaders.

    Drone footage showed the extent of destruction after Israel ended a two-day operation in the Jenin refugee camp on July 5. (Video: Reuters) Steve Hendrix, Shira Rubin, Sufian Taha and Hazem Balousha, The Washington Post, July 5, 2023 JENIN REFUGEE CAMP — Israel on Wednesday ended a two-day operation in the Jenin refugee camp that…

  • Israeli forces invade West Bank city, killing at least 8 Palestinians

    West Bank residents reported gunfire, drones and explosions as Israel launched extensive air and ground attacks on occupied Jenin early July 3. (Video: Reuters) Steve Hendrix and Niha Masih, The Washington Post, July 3, 2023 JERUSALEM — About 1,000 Israeli soldiers backed by drone strikes stormed Jenin on Monday, targeting a militant “operational command center”…

  • Israeli Discrimination against Palestinian Americans and the Visa Waiver Program

    As a Palestinian-American I know the stress of facing unjust interrogation when I travel through Israel. This discrimination should disqualify Israel from joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. WELCOME TO ISRAEL, BEN GURION AIRPORT, TEL AVIV LAYLA GANTUS, MONDOWEISS, JULY 1, 2023 As a Palestinian-American, I have dealt with the stress of traveling in and…

  • Upcoming Events: June 28 – July 5, 2023

    Wednesday, June 28: No Visa Waiver Program for Israel Wednesday, June 28: First Madison Banner Drop for ‘Stop Cop City’ campaign Sunday, July 2: Webinar: Gaza’s Ongoing Catastrophe Wednesday, July 5: Resisting Lawfare Webinar: Building on a Win Wednesday, July 5: Second ‘Stop Cop City’ banner drop AND…Article of the Week #1: Why We Are…

  • 400 Israeli Settlers Attacked the Palestinian Town of Turmus’ayya

    Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Omar Qatin, a 27-year-old US-resident and husband and father to a Palestinian American, was shot and killed by the Israeli army during a settler invasion of his town yesterday. Turmus'ayya is home to hundreds of Palestinian Americans. 🧵Members of Congress have been speaking out: https://t.co/FtMexxz46T — IMEU (@theIMEU) June…

  • The Appaling Case of Palestinian-American Omar Asaad

    Killers walk free after farcical internal ‘investigation’ June 17, 2023 Yesterday, the Israeli military announced it was closing the case over the death of Omar Asaad, the Palestinian-American octogenarian killed under brutal circumstances in January 2022. The soldiers involved in detaining Asaad in the Palestinian town of Jiljilya had dragged him from his vehicle, zip-tied…

  • Why we are anti-Zionist Jews

    JUDITH LAITMAN AND TSELA BARR — GUEST COLUMN, JUNE 14, 2023 This year on April 26, millions celebrated the 75th anniversary of Israel’s creation on Israel Independence Day. However, we, as anti-Zionist Jews, did not celebrate. Instead, on May 15, we stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people by commemorating the Nakba, or “catastrophe.” The…

  • Video of Apartheid-Free Webinar

    Allison Tanner, American Friends Service Committee I am happy to share with you the recording of our June 6 webinar and the press release for our campaign. I encourage you to keep sharing these with others! Also, check out our website apartheid-free.org to find the pledge, ways to take action, educational resources, our FAQ, downloadable…

  • I saw Israel’s ‘final solution to the Palestinian problem’ in Lebanon 41 years ago, and I see it again today

    I witnessed the aftermath of the Sabra and Shatilla massacre, carried out with Zionist complicity as a preview for the “final solution to the Palestinian problem.” With the present Israeli government, this goal is within reach. LEFT: TWO PALESTINIAN WOMEN WEEP IN THE SABRA REFUGEE CAMP IN LEBANON, SEPTEMBER 19, 1982, AFTER THEY FOUND BODIES…

  • Israel’s protest leaders give the anti-occupation bloc the cold shoulder

    A protest marking the occupation’s 56th year was rejected by mainstream organizers, showing how messages about Palestinians are still being silenced. ​Demonstration by the anti-occupation​ bloc of Israel’s anti-government protests, marking 56 years since the start of the military occupation, on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, June 3, 2023. (Oren Ziv) Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine,…

  • Hebron Emergency Caves Project

    We are getting closer to our goal of providing emergency housing to one family in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills. The need is urgent; since we first took this on, demolitions have proceeded including the Sfai school, which was demolished for the third time in spite of international appeals. Please read…

  • Bowing to BDS pressure

    Update: G4S to divest completely from apartheid Israel Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), June 1, 2023 In a major win for human rights activism against corporate complicity, the world’s largest private security company Allied Universal, which owns G4S, has decided to sell all its remaining business in apartheid Israel. This follows years of an effective…

  • Apartheid-Free Communities – Cut Your Ties to Israeli Apartheid

    All people are equal and should be treated with dignity and respect But for decades, the Palestinian people have faced Israeli settler colonialism and occupation enforced through racist and discriminatory legal regimes, forced displacement, blockade and movement restrictions, and systematic human rights abuses. According to legal scholars and the international human rights community, this situation…

  • There’s No Pride in Apartheid!

    US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

  • Israeli agents conducted raid against militants in civilian area, killing a child

    Videos from a March 16 raid in Jenin show increasingly deadly tactics by Israeli officers See the Washington Post article for videos and a 3D reconstruction of the March 16 Israeli raid in central Jenin in the West Bank. (Telegram/The Washington Post) Imogen Piper, Meg Kelly and Louisa Loveluck, Washington Post, May 26, 2023 The traffic was…

  • Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition hosts Nelson Mandela’s grandson at launch of Nakba tour

    Sandra Whitehead, Wisconsin Muslim Journal, May 23, 2023 Photos by Mouna Photography Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of globally respected icon of resistance against injustice Nelson Mandela, meets members of Milwaukee’s Muslim community. About 40 community and interfaith leaders joined the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition at the Islamic Resource Center in Greenfield May 15 to…

  • Upcoming Events: May 21-28, 2023

    Sunday, May 21: WORT Show Her Turn with Cassandra Dixon Sunday, May 21: Zoom Film & Talk Back: Two Kids a Day Tuesday, May 23 – Thursday, May 25: Online: Palestine Digital Activism Forum Tuesday, May 23: Webinar on Palestinian Children & Families Act Thursday, May 25: Rev. Don Wagner discusses his book Glory to…

  • In First, Palestinian Displacement Commemorated at United Nations

    The event, marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians when Israel was created, was condemned by the Israeli ambassador to the world body.   Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, spoke at the event for the 75th anniversary of the Nakba at the United Nations headquarters on Monday. (Ed Jones/Agence France-Presse…

  • Actions for May 15: Marking 75 years of Nakba

    As salaamu alaykum — On this Faith & Action Friday, my heart is heavy as we approach Nakba Day.  The Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic, is what Palestinians call the violent displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land. May 15 marks 75 years of loss. But the Nakba isn’t just a past…