The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)
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May 15, 2025
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Of the 500 Palestinian villages in what became Israel in 1948, 400 were destroyed. ― Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University historian, Occupation 101, 2006
Students for Justice in Palestine – UW Madison Memorial Union 5 pm More information
Palestine Solidarity Campaign Last week we wrote to you about our ongoing work to expose and oppose Israel’s apartheid regime and crimes against the Palestinian people. Israel’s apartheid policies include the use of arbitrary arrest and detention– a tool of political repression aimed at quashing the Palestinian struggle. Please share this video about the campaign…
JB PRITZKER AND BRUCE RAUNER (ARMANDO L. SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE) FRAN ZELL, MONDOWEISS, FEBRUARY 10, 2022 A coalition of Palestinian rights activists in Illinois believes it is past time to overturn the state’s anti-BDS law and do away with the small board dominated by right-wing extremists that enforces it. The Ben & Jerry’s issue was the…
Our collective advocacy is working On February 1st, we reached out to you about an anti-BDS bill in Virginia, HB1161 Virginia Public Procurement Act; required contract provisions, prohibition, and you understood the assignment! This week, thanks to YOUR advocacy and unwavering dedication to the Palestinian cause, HB-1161, a VA law that would’ve been amended to…
After it was destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, Samir Mansour’s beloved book store has been rebuilt and restocked, as tens of thousands of books flood in from around the world The ruins of the Samir Mansour bookshop in May 2021. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images) Alison Flood, The Guardian, 28 Jan 2022 Tens of thousands of…
Attacks by settlers and Palestinians have both reached a five-year high. But unlike Palestinian suspects, violent settlers are rarely prosecuted. Palestinian farmers harvesting olives last fall under the eye of Israeli soldiers. Some farmers are afraid to tend their groves without military protection. (Samar Hazboun for The New York Times) Patrick Kingsley, New York Times,…
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Raise your voice to tell Congress to vote NO to stop normalizing ethnic cleansing! The Israeli government, funded by our tax dollars and backed by our diplomacy, has in the past few weeks inflicted cruelty across all of Palestine: Israeli forces mass arrested Bedouin Palestinians in the Naqab, killed Palestinian…
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In May 2021, Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, began protesting against Israel’s plan to forcibly evict them from their homes to make way for Jewish settlers. Many of the families are refugees, who settled in Sheikh Jarrah after being forcibly displaced around the time of Israel’s establishment as a…
If Americans Knew, YouTube, Feb 28, 2017 A lecture by journalist Alison Weir at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists on February 16, 2017. Her book, Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the US Was Used to Create Israel, is available at http://iakn.us/AOBJ-book. The article she mentions near the end of her…
If Americans Knew, YouTube, Oct 6, 2021 Part one of a three-part series. Part two is at https://iakn.us/VidBetray. For citations see https://iakn.us/3Ded9MU. If you don’t want U.S. politicians to give Israel over $10 million per day and spend an additional $10 million per day of our tax money on behalf of Israel, tell your Congress…
Breaking the Silence, 1/27/22 An autopsy conducted following the recent death of 78 year old Omar As’ad found “bruises on his head, redness on his wrists from being bound, and bleeding in his eyelids from being tightly blindfolded,” and concluded that the cause of death was a “sudden cessation of the heart muscle caused by…
Ali Velshi, MSNBC, Jan. 22, 2022 Al Haj Suleiman al-Hathaleen was a shepherd in the West Bank and a well-known anti-occupation activist. Suleiman was a small man with no weapons. He resisted the occupation through civil disobedience. While Israeli bulldozers destroyed the homes in his neighborhood, he stood in peaceful defiance with a Palestinian flag…
Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad’s death after being detained during a raid on an occupied West Bank village is a tragedy that demands answers. We need an investigation into how his death happened and why.https://t.co/UpuByQv7V6 — Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) January 25, 2022
Details of an army investigation obtained by Israeli media indicate troops didn’t seek aid for the unresponsive detainee, but none are likely to be prosecuted. Mourners attend the funeral of Omar Assad, a 78-year-old Palestinian American who was found dead after being detained and handcuffed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Jiljilya.…
Archbishop Desmond Tutu used his moral stature to call out and oppose Israeli apartheid, but the New York Times, Washington Post, and NPR are leaving it out. ARCHBISHOP TUTU AND JIMMY CARTER VISIT PALESTINE WITH “THE ELDERS,” A GROUP OF EMINENT GLOBAL LEADERS. THEY STAND IN FRONT OF THE ISRAELI BARRIER DURING A VISIT TO…
Everywhere but Washington FADI QURAN, PETER BEINART, AND LARA FRIEDMAN ON FMEP WEBINAR ABOUT POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF ISRAEL PALESTINE AT YEAR’S END. PHILIP WEISS, MONDOWEISS, DECEMBER 26, 2021 The Foundation for Middle East Peace had a webinar about the state of U.S. politics on Israel/Palestine as the year ends, and here are some of the…
An Israeli soldier seen during an army raid on the Palestinian village of Burqa in the West Bank next to a spray-painted symbol of The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). (Oren Ziv) Israel’s new secret document still fails to tie Palestinian NGOs to ‘terrorism’ +972 Mag “For the better part of the…
The area is on high alert following the demolition of a Palestinian house north of the neighbourhood, which has been widely condemned
Since 1948, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been planting trees to displace Palestinians from their lands. They are currently carrying out an afforestation project in the Negev/Naqab (Southern Israel) on land used by Bedouin communities for agriculture. They aim to drive the Bedouins from their lands. The U.S. State Department must tell the JNF…
Text by David Shulman Photographs by Margaret Olin Touching Photographs, January 20, 2022 He was like one of those rocky hills in South Hebron, a living, breathing, feeling mass of sunlight, rain, wind, earth, and stone. Though he wasn’t all that tall, he always dwarfed everyone around him. The soldiers and the border police were…
Palestinian Administrative Detainees Declare Boycott of Israeli Military Courts Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, January 20, 2022 Palestinian Administrative Detainees Letter [English].pdf In 2021, the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime deployed extraordinary violence against the Palestinian people, a key feature of which has been the expansion of the mass arbitrary arrests and detention…
Visualizing Palestine, 1/19/22 Systems of colonialism & militarism destroy both human rights + the environment. This series depicts the intersection between the Palestinian human rights movement and the environmental and climate justice movements. Learn from Palestinians’ experiences living under Israeli apartheid in a part of the world warming faster than the global average. Understand how…
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, January 19, 2022 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm GMT At 3am last night, Israeli security forces raided the Salhiya family house in Sheikh Jarrah, arresting and injuring multiple family members. After the family – who have lived in the house since 1956 – refused to be expelled, Israeli troops barricaded then stormed…
Lital Salhiyeh, whose family home in Sheikh Jarrah was demolished on Wednesday morning, has no idea where she and her family will go now. Yuval Abraham, +972 Magazine, January 19, 2022 The remains of the Salhiyeh family home that was demolished by Israeli authorities, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, January 19, 2022.…
7amleh monitored the hate speech and incitement against Palestinians and Arabs in Hebrew on the Internet during 2021. The results revealed an increase in hate speech towards Arabs by 8% since 2020, as it monitored 620,000 conversations including violent and inciting speech against Arabs. The results show violent speech against Palestinians, Arabs and their representatives…
MRSCP Statement on the Death of Omar Abdulmajeed As’ad in Israeli custody The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is deeply saddened and outraged by the death of US citizen Omar Abdulmajeed As’ad at the hands of Israeli soldiers. Mr. As’ad was a Palestinian-American businessman who spent four decades of his life in Milwaukee before retiring with…
Dear Friends– Happy Martin Luther King Day! I hope it finds you well. This week, on Friday, Just World Ed will be launching our new podcast series, “The World From Palestine”. In each episode of this ten-week series the Palestinian scholar Yousef Aljamal and I will explore different aspects of the intersection between Palestine’s liberation…
Palestinian activist Suleiman al-Hathalin dies at Hebron hospital two weeks after police truck ran him over Suleiman al-Hathalin pictured in a protests against settlements and land confiscation, near Yatta village south of Hebron city in the occupied West Bank, on 15 January 2021 (AFP) Shatha Hammad, Middle East Eye,17 January 2022 Ramallah, occupied Palestine —…
Dispossession, Settler Violence, & Resistance in Masafer Yatta Occupied Thoughts, Foundation for Middle East Peace, 1/12/2022 In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with activist and author Ali Awad about the threats of dispossession and state-backed settler violence facing Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills. Ali's most…
Al Fakheit is one of 12 villages located in the Masafer Yatta area that Israel claims as Firing Zone 918. The Palestinians living in these villages have fought a long legal battle to remain in their homes. On January 3 the Abu Sabha family lost their last legal appeal in an Israeli court. The Abu…
His family wants an investigation Mourners carry the body of Omar Assad during his funeral in the West Bank village of Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Israel is investigating after Assad, a Palestinian with U.S. citizenship, died after being detained by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank. (Associated Press) Sarah Volpenhein,…
Men stand next to a poster announcing the death of Omar Asad in the village of Jiljilya BBC News Services, January 13, 2022 Omar Asad's relatives say he was out in his village of Jiljilya until late and was returning home when he was detained using rough treatment. According to Palestinian health officials, he died…
ADC Statement on Sanctioned Israeli Murder of Palestinian American Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | January 13, 2022 – The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) extends its deepest condolences to the family of Arab-American Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, who was murdered by Israeli forces on Wednesday January 12, 2022. The news of his death is a…
Eyewitnesses say Omar Muhammad Asaad, 80, was driving home when he was stopped by soldiers, dragged out of the car, assaulted and left lying unconscious on the ground Abd al-Ilah Asaad holding a photo of his cousin Omar Muhammad Asaad, 80, who died on Wednesday morning (Shatha Hammad/MEE) Shatha Hammad, Middle East Eye, 12 January…
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh), 2022-01-10 1,033 violations of Palestinian digital rights on social media platforms Development and use of surveillance and spyware technologies by Israeli authorities against Palestinians Use of technologies to hack the mobile phones of Palestinian citizens by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas 7amleh – the Arab…
Malak Mattar was 13 and living under Israeli bombardment in Gaza when she decided to direct her ‘negative energy’ into painting Indlieb Farazi Saber, Middle East Eye, 5 January 2022 When Family is the Only Shelter In 2014, Malak Mattar was a 13-year-old in Gaza whose career as an artist was about to begin amid…
Jewish Voice for Peace, January 4, 2022 We are overjoyed that he will return to his family and moved by his courage and perseverance in the face of unjust detention. He is continuing his hunger strike until he sees the signature of release on his documents. Hopefully, he can end the strike soon and make…
For Over 11 Years The new unit providing clean water to the kids in Shuka, Rafah (MECA, 12/29/21) Help us give the gift of Clean Water to the Children of Rafah There is a water crisis in Palestine that affects the health of virtually every adult and child. In the Gaza Strip poor sanitation and…
As 2022 dawns, Hisham Abu Hawash — Palestinian prisoner jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention — is on his 138th day of hunger strike. His life and health are at risk at every moment, and the Israeli occupation bears full responsibility for his survival. Abu Hawash, the father of five, is putting his life…
Ref: 61/2021 Date: 30 December 2021 Due to the serious deterioration in the health condition of administrative detainee, Hisham Abu Hawash, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) sent an urgent letter to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention…
Health of Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash deteriorates as he enters 135th day of hunger strike. Abu Hawash is protesting his indefinite incarceration without trial under Israel’s controversial administrative detention practice. pic.twitter.com/kSUMvMtCKo — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 28, 2021
The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project supports the efforts of the Wet’suwet’en nation to exercise their rights as a sovereign nation to manage and protect their lands and waters. In particular, they have the right to disallow construction of the proposed TC Energy Coastal GasLink pipeline. As advocates for human rights in Palestine, we see the…
American Muslims for Palestine honors the legacy of a moral giant, an icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He left a legacy of unwavering commitment to justice for oppressed people everywhere. From his efforts to calm the political violence in Kenya in 2007, to characterizing the Iraq war as “immoral,”…
Online Hub Provides Information and Calls to Action Aimed at Reversing Ban on Six Palestinian NGOs 14 December 2021, Ramallah – The Palestinian civil society organizations (CSOs) targeted by the Israeli government alongside partners have today launched a new website www.PalCivilSociety.com as part of their #StandWithThe6 campaign. This follows Israel’s escalation of its systemic efforts…
Many South Africans see a boycott of the Miss Universe pageant in Israel as a chance to stand up for Palestinians and against injustice Lalela Mswane walks across the stage during the Miss South Africa beauty pageant in Cape Town, South Africa on Oct. 16, 2021. AP Ryan Lenora Brown, Christian Science Monitor, December 9,…
A visit by Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Mark Pocan to my Palestinian village affirmed the value of politicians learning about Israel’s policies on the ground. Palestinians protest the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin to the heritage site of ancient Susya, in Yatta, near the West Bank city of Hebron, March 14, 2021. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)…
Screening & discussion Sun, Dec 12, 2021, 1:00 PM CST With severe medicine shortages and an overstretched health care system in Gaza, children in need of medical treatments can only find them outside the strip. Yet Israel’s convoluted, arbitrary permit process leaves them waiting in pain, often missing life-saving care. To Treat Kids Like Me…
Rasmy Hassouna, a Palestinian American, is suing the state over a provision that bans him or his company from protesting Israel or its products Rasmy Hassouna: ‘If I don’t want to buy anything at WalMart, who are you to tell me not to shop at WalMart?’ Photograph: Courtesy Rasmy Hassouna Erum Salam, The Guardian, 7…