The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project (MRSCP)
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Apr 3, 2025
❝Random Quotes❞
The pre-eminent obstacle to peace is Israel’s colonization of Palestine. ― Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Mar 10, 2006
Palestinian Rights Groups Cheer Berkeley’s Decision to Divest from Private Prisons Friends of Sabeel – North America, FOSNA Voice, July 22, 2016 To see if your city invests or has a contract with G4S, or to launch a campaign, contact Rochelle@fosna.org. Berkeley, CA, July 19, 2016 — The City of Berkeley will divest from corporations…
Gaza Summer Camp — July 17, 2016 [slideshow_deploy id=’3304’] [slideshow_deploy id=’3304′] Dearest Friends, I would like to thank you all so much for your support to our project “Gaza Summer Camp”. I would also like to inform you that we have achieved our goal. Again your support is much appreciated. Here are some pictures of…
JAMES GLANZ, The New York Times, JULY 21, 2016 Avigdor Lieberman, an ultranationalist, said that Army Radio should not have aired a show about Mahmoud Darwish, who is considered the Palestinians’ national poet A memorial for the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish in the West Bank city of Ramallah in 2008. He occupies a unique place…
Our photo (above), taken by Mohammad Mansour, was selected as a finalist in Global Giving’s 2016 Photo Contest! This picture was taken while the first pallet of Luci Lights that we sent was being distributed at the Women’s Project Center in Rafah, Gaza. If we win the competition, we will put the prize money towards…
Rabbi Brant Rosen, Shalom Rav, July 17, 2016 This past Friday, I had the honor to participate in an incredible, unprecedented mass action of civil disobedience in the H2 section of Hebron – in the heart of Israel's unjust and illegal occupation. I'll start with a little bit of history: In 1968, a year after…
Women’s Boat to Gaza, July 20, 2016 Gaza has been under Israeli blockade for the past decade during which Israel has also launched countless attacks against the besieged population, turning their life into a nightmare and a continuous struggle. Through Freedom Flotillas and other naval missions we have brought international attention to their suffering and…
Next we meet Hani Amer, whose farm lay on the route of the infamous wall. After a long struggle, Amer won the right to have his house and some of his land preserved . . . The Israeli Army built a gate that they opened for 15 minutes every 24 hours. . . Most disturbing…
Join over 150 renowned writers, poets, translators, editors, artists, public intellectuals and cultural workers. These signers, from Alice Walker and Claudia Rankine to Naomi Klein and Jacqueline Woodson, represent some of the most respected individuals in the arts and literary worlds. For the list of signers, please scroll down. Dareen Tatour has been charged with…
Palestinian BDS National Committee, July 7, 2016 Palestinian campaigners have launched popular boycott campaigns across the West Bank in recent months The Palestinian-led, global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was launched eleven years ago as a nonviolent and effective means for progressive people and organisations across the world to support the struggle of the…
Sarah Irving, The Electronic Intifada, 7 July 2016 Native: Dispatches from a Palestinian-Israeli Life by Sayed Kashua, Grove Press (2016) When novelist and columnist Sayed Kashua announced in 2014 that he and his family would be leaving Jerusalem for the US, the announcement was a minor blip in a summer of death and turmoil in…
His Last Column for Haaretz Everything people had told him since he was a teenager is coming true. Jewish-Arab co-existence has failed. Sayed Kashua, Haaretz, Jul 04, 2014 Illustration by Amos Biderman. I’m incapable of writing a word. I’ll wait until my boys get back from day camp, then maybe I’ll be able to calm…
Kevin Walsh, July 6, 2016 A 2009 study of the legal status of Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip concluded that Israel’s practices constitute colonialism and apartheid and are illegal under international law.6 The study took 18 months, and contributors included jurists, academics and international lawyers from Israel, the occupied…
Sara Roy, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, June 28, 2016 During a brief pause to hostilities in July 2014, families returned to eastern Gaza, which saw some of the heaviest bombings. Photo Credit: Oxfam / Flickr Palestinians in Gaza are largely forgotten. They are an invisible people inhabiting a world without rights and possibilities. Over…
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, July 2, 2016 The Occupation of the American Mind [Trailer] from Media Education Foundation on Vimeo. Dear Friend, I need to let you know about this amazing film and a special opportunity. As you know, nothing shapes American public opinion on Israel/Palestine like the coverage of the issue…
Khalida Jarrar greets speaks to reporters in her hometown, the West Bank city of Ramallah, following her release from an Israeli jail on June 3, 2016 (AFP) ANADOLU AGENCY, Daily Sabah, June 3, 2016 RAMALLAH, Palestine — Israeli authorities on Friday released a Palestinian female lawmaker who spent the last 15 months in Israeli jails.…
Mohammed Abu Saha’s arrest sparked an international campaign by circus performers for his release. Though no charges have been filed against him, Shin Bet claims he’s a member of the PFLP terrorist group. Haaretz, Jun 13, 2016 Mohammed Abu Saha, a circus performer and teacher, has been under administrative detention since December 14, 2015 IN…
Anna Baltzer, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, June 25th, 2016 I cannot remember a more significant day in church activism for Palestinian rights than the past 24 hours. The largest gathering of UUs in the country just voted on whether to endorse the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)’s recent divestment from companies complicit in the…
Ramah Kudaimi, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, June 29th, 2016 Musician Carlos Santana is scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv on July 30. Santana is committed to the welfare of children and founded the Milagro Foundation in 1998, whose name means miracle and was inspired by the image of children as divine miracles…
Elizabeth Kucinich in Gaza (UNRWA USA) Elizabeth Kucinich, The Hill, June 23, 2016 This month, U.S. congressmen, including Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), were refused entry into the Gaza Strip at the Erez crossing while on a fact-finding mission in Israel-Palestine. Israeli authorities, without elaboration, claimed that their application had not met…
Saban and Clinton, on an earlier occasion Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, June 27, 2016 Have you had an espresso yet today? Have you had a drink? Make that a double! Brace yourself for the news over the weekend from the Democratic Platform Committee. The platform this year will be even worse than previous platforms on Palestine.…
Amira Hass, Haaretz, June 26, 2016 With Israel having cut the Palestinians’ water supply, I visited two settlements where the people are supposedly suffering too. Thus tweeted MK Bezalel Smotrich (Habayit Hayehudi) on Friday: “No joke: We’ve gone back 100 years!” He reported on five stations for providing drinking water that were placed that morning…
An Egyptian wears a T-shirt with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) logo in 2015. The state of New Jersey is expected to pass legislation Monday, which would boycott companies that support BDS.(Amr Nabil/AP) Aidan Quigley, June 27, 2016 The New Jersey state legislature is expected to pass legislation on Monday that will prevent the…
“There’s no such thing as a Palestinian person,” key Israel lobbyist says Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 25 June 2016 “Why are we using the word Palestinian? There’s no such thing as a Palestinian person,” Brooke Goldstein declared to enthusiastic applause at a meeting of key Israel lobby operatives in New York earlier this month.…
Jeff Halper, Facebook, June 25, 2016 This is an important piece by Ali Abunimah, posted on the The Electronic Intifada. It exposes a dark, little-known campaign by the Israel government, Israeli “human rights” lawyers and their allies in the US and elsewhere to pursue a campaign of what they call “Lawfare.” The goal is not…
Churches are making history Anna Baltzer, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, June 23rd, 2016 I just arrived in Columbus, Ohio, where Unitarian Universalists from around the country will have the chance to affirm the recent decision by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) to divest from companies involved in the Israeli occupation. The UUA’s historic…
Sunday 6:00 – 6:30 pm Jewish Voice for Peace, national and Madison, will be the topic of conversation on Sabi Atteyih’s Salamat program. Amanda Hoffman and Fran Zell will represent the local chapter. Salamat WORT’s Arab-American show, Salamat seeks to create bridges of communication, education, entertainment, and understanding of Arabs in general and Arab-Americans in…
Water is the only issue in which Israel (still) finds it difficult to defend its discriminatory, oppressive and destructive policy with pretexts of security and God Amira Hass, Haaretz, Jun 21, 2016 Israeli spokespeople have three answers ready to pull out when they respond to questions on the water shortage in West Bank Palestinian towns…
Israel says region’s intense heatwave combined with Palestinian Water Authority’s refusal to approve additional infrastructure had led to ‘old and limited pipes being unable to transfer all the water needed.’ A water tanker in the Palestinian village of Halhul, near Hebron. Michal Fattal Amira Hass, Haaretz, Jun 21, 2016 Since the start of this month,…
Just Foreign Policy, June 21, 2016 Your Representative, Mark Pocan, was one of 20 signers of the Congressional letter to President Obama urging his administration to take steps to “address serious human rights abuses against Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation.” The letter, organized by Rep. Betty McCollum, calls for a Special Envoy for…
While strengthening the settlements, Israel has continued to demolish unlicensed Palestinian homes and livestock pens Money for “construction of hotels in the main tourism areas in Judea and Samaria,” referring to the West Bank Israeli troops demolishing unlicensed sheds belonging to Palestinians near Yatta in the West Bank on Sunday.(Mussa Issa Qawasma/Reuters) Isabel Kershner, New…
Israeli government insists there is ‘no truth’ in claims and says shortages down to faulty water lines Peter Yeung, The Independent, 17 June 2016 Palestinian children fill bottles with water from a public tap in Khan Younis due to water shortages (file pic) Getty Images Israel has cut off the water supply to large areas of the West Bank,…
Josh Ruebner & Tamar Ghabin, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, June 16th, 2016 Tell DNC & RNC to Put Palestinian Rights in Their Platforms Last week former Rep. Robert Wexler delivered a banal justification of Israel’s oppression of Palestinians before the Democratic National Convention’s platform drafting committee. Dr. Cornel West, a member of…
Just Foreign Policy, 6/16/16 The Forward reports that former Congressman Robert Wexler is putting pressure on the Democratic Platform Committee not to include language about the occupation of the West Bank in the Democratic Party Platform. Addressing J Street’s annual conference in March 2015, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said: “An occupation that…
Alex Nabaum As a Jew who has lived in Israel and has many relatives there, I feel that the government should not be dictating how I relate to the Jewish state and in what ways I voice my objection to its policies DANIEL SIERADSKI, New York Times, JUNE 12, 2016 IN 1985, Gov. Mario M.…
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Palestinian child’s drawing (GMHF) We are launching a project to help Rafah build a Mental Health Library of professional books requested by providers. This is a critical need: the Gaza Strip — one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with two thirds of the population refugees and half younger than 16 years…
Gaza boy needs specialized medical treatment abroad The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) is bringing Ahmad and his mother to Madison for treatment at American Family Children’s Hospital. See the PCRF web site for information about their health care programs and to donate. The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is looking for volunteers to help in…
Granate Sossnoff, Jewish Voice for Peace, May 24, 2016 This is easy and important. We just released a 90-second video showcasing the #StolenHomes campaign, which is working around the world to get Airbnb to stop hawking rentals in illegal settlements. Airbnb has shown that we’re going to need to really work for this change. And…
Having failed to stop the rise in worldwide support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality, Israel is now launching a desperate and dangerous fight back. Take action now: Sign our appeal to the UN about Israel’s war of repression on BDS At Israel’s request, governments in the…
Jewish Voice for Peace On May 9th, 2016 the Israeli government confirmed that it has refused to renew travel documents for Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement — a nonviolent, Palestinian-led movement for equality, freedom, and justice. This is a blatant act of political repression that effectively imposes a travel…
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation Dear Friend, This is very exciting! We are witnessing a benchmark moment in the fight for freedom, justice, and equality for Palestinians. For years, we have worked to cultivate a shift in the way people talk about and relate to Palestinians; educating and empowering Americans to push for…
Dr. Milena Rampoldi, MintPress News, June 2, 2016 Israeli soldiers and relatives of new Jewish immigrants from the U.S. and Canada, wave Israeli flags to welcome them as they arrive at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 23, 2013. (AP) I interviewed Jennifer Loewenstein, a journalist with years of experience in the Middle East.…
An Israeli military checkpoint near Abu Dis. Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, The Progressive, May 10, 2016 Jeff Halper, anthropologist and Israeli peace activist, does not shy from unconventional positions. In his latest book, “War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification,” he argues that nations around the world allow Israel to continue its repression of…
Wednesday, May 4, 2016 7:00 pm DeLuca Forum, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery 330 N. Orchard Street, Madison Book Signing to Follow In his new book, War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification, Jeff Halper argues that Israel’s need to continuously suppress and dispossess the Palestinians has led to the militarization of everyday…
This is a big deal. Senator Patrick Leahy, along with 10 Congressional representatives, has written to the State Department, urging them to investigate “gross violations of human rights” by Israel and Egypt. This letter happened because Rep. Hank Johnson organized it — but it got 11 signatories, including, crucially, Senator Leahy himself — because we…
Hello from Gaza. My name is Anees Mansour, one of a group of volunteers working with at-risk children in Rafah, Gaza. With your help we’ve already done so much this year, we’ve put on a summer camp, a series of educational workshops, art therapy and performance sessions. From the photos below you can see some…
7:00 – 9:00 pm The Crossing 1127 University Ave. Madison, WI Linda Sarsour is a working woman, racial justice and civil rights activist, every Islamophobe’s worst nightmare, and mother of three. Ambitious, outspoken and independent, Linda shatters stereotypes of Muslim women while also treasuring her religious and ethnic heritage. She is a Palestinian Muslim…
Noga Kadman speaks about her book Erased from Space and Consciousness: Israel and the Depopulated Palestinian Villages of 1948 7:30 pm, Elvehjem L150, UW-Madison Campus. “Poignant, sensitive, and compassionate, Kadman’s deeply-informed inquiry exposes graphically the process of ‘demographic Judaization’ of Palestine, in physical reality and cultural comprehension.” – Noam Chomsky A dramatic transformation took place…
March 16 marked 13 years since 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli Army bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of the Nasrallah family home in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine. While some measure of accountability and justice has been achieved for UK citizens Tom Hurndall and James Miller,…