Freedom For Palestine

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Written by One World One World

Published: 06 June 2011 06 June 2011

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Walk, Bike, Summer in Palestine

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Written by George S. Rishmawi George S. Rishmawi

Published: 05 June 2011 05 June 2011

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Dear Friends,

Salaam and greetings.

Always new program and new opportunities to visit Palestine, always also we keep inviting our friends to join our annual programs starting with the Palestinian Summer Celebration 2011,bellow please find a number of opportunities to visit Palestine in a very special and unique way:

1-    The Palestinian Summer Celebration:  (Come and celebrate Palestine! The Palestinian Summer Celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life, culture, and politics of Palestine. Learn Arabic and study Palestinian history at Bethlehem University, spend time with local families and volunteer with a community organization.)
For more information: http://www.sirajcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=16&Itemid=1

2-    Palestine Justice Network Campaign: http://www.palestinejn.org/ July 8th- July 16th 2011

3-    Bike Palestine Tour September 2011 for more information www.bikepalestine.org

4-    Walk Palestine: www.walkpalestine.org we continue arranging walking a long the steps of Abraham in the Abraham Path in Palestine ( Masar Ibrahim) http://abrahampath.org/palestine.php and we will send you more information about it soon, please view the latest video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpyM1dB-uJ0

5-    Also walk the Nativity Trail from Nazareth to Bethlehem: http://www.sirajcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=142&Itemid=1


Siraj also partners with organizations and Travel Agencies globally in order to promote ethical and responsible travel to Palestine, please read bellow an invitation by our partner organization Global Exchange:

Meet the People – Learn the Facts – Make a Difference

Join a Reality Tour to move beyond mainstream media and contextualize socio-political issues around the globe!  For the past 21 years our delegations have strived to integrate and intimately engage participants with community struggles, by directly meeting face-to-face with local activists, individuals and organizations working for positive changes in their communities.  Commit yourself to social change and be sure to have a life changing empowering experience and recognize your own capacity to impact US foreign policy!

Palestine/Israel

Environment and Occupation:  Examine the affects that the Israeli Occupation has on the Environment of the Palestinian Territories and thus the livelihoods off Palestinians.  The group will explore issues such as freedom and access to water and sanitation in the West Bank, the impact of the occupation on the Jordan Valley, deforestation in relation to Israeli practices, impacts of the apartheid wall construction on environment as well as the impacts of illegal settlement construction on the environment and people.
July 15 – 25, 2011  $2,300

Prospects For Peace with Justice:  Experience the Palestine/Israel conflict from both sides of the Wall.  Participants hear from a spectrum of grassroots voices and learn new views on the conflict and hopes for a just solution.  Visit, Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, learning the role these places play.  Witness housing demolitions and settlement construction and the continuing toll they take on Palestinian livelihoods.  Hear and witness the non-violent resistance in many forms to counter the occupation.  Prepare to return to the US - forever changed.
July 1 – 11, 2011, December 2 – 12, 2011 and July 6 – 16, 2012  $2,450

Palestine Fair Olive Harvest:  Observe the first-hand effects of occupation on the Palestinian economy, tourism and day-to-day life by joining us on this unique delegation to the West Bank.  Learn how Fair Trade cooperatives are restoring hope and providing economic alternatives to the Palestinian people.  Harvest olives with farmers who use organic practices, witness community-building traditions and cultivate a greater appreciation and understanding of Palestinian culture.
October 14 – 23, 2011 and October 26 – November 4, 2012  $2,000

For more detailed information please see our website or contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

We look forward for having you with us in Palestine,  Salaam and best regards,

George S. Rishmawi
Coordinator,
Siraj, Center For Holy Land Studies
Beit Sahour, Schoold Street
P.O.Box 48
Palestine
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Websites:
http://www.sirajcenter.org
http://www.bikepalestine.com

http://www.walkpalestine.com
Tel: +972 2 274 8590
Fax: +972 2 274 8774
Mobile: 0599 180 872 or 0522 50 20 79
Skype: georgerish

Golan: Israel troops fire on pro-Palestinian protesters

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Written by BBC News BBC News

Published: 05 June 2011 05 June 2011

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The BBC's Kevin Connolly: ''There is gunfire every 10 or 15 minutes'

Israeli soldiers have opened fired on pro-Palestinian protesters in Syria as they marched on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Israel had vowed to prevent a repeat of a similar march last month, in which hundreds of people had managed to breach the border fence.

Unconfirmed reports on Syrian state TV said 14 people had been killed and more than 200 wounded.

The protesters were marking the 44th anniversary of the 1967 Mid-East war.

Several hundred demonstrators - Palestinians and their Syrian supporters - marched to the razor-wired fencing and freshly dug trenches close to the frontier village of Majdal Shams at around noon.

Many carried Palestinian flags and threw rocks and rubbish over the fence.

Israel's military said its soldiers shouted warnings in Arabic and fired warning shots in the air, before aiming at the legs of those who had reached the fence.

After live gunfire failed to disperse the crowds, Israeli troops fired volleys of tear gas over the border. Many people fled while others lay on the ground.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told The Jerusalem Post they were only aware of 12 injuries.

Ahead of Sunday's march, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not allow "extremists" to breach Israel's borders.

"I have instructed our security forces to act with determination and restraint in order to protect our sovereignty our borders, towns and citizens," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Another Israeli military spokeswoman, Avital Leibovich, told reporters: "This is an attempt by the Syrian regime to divert the world's attention from the Syrian bloodshed that has been taking place in recent weeks."

She added that Israeli forces were better able to stop border protests now than they were last month as they had since prepared "for a variety of operation scenarios".

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the closing stages of the 1967 war, along with other territories including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The anniversary is known in Arabic as the Naksa, or "setback".

On 15 May, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched on the borders with Israel, in the Palestinian territories, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

They were marking the 63rd anniversary of Nakba, which in Arabic means "catastrophe" - when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes amid the fighting after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.

At least 12 people died during the 15 May demonstrations, which at one point saw hundreds manage to cross into the Golan Heights.

VIDEO: Flash mob targets New Seasons’ ethical image, Israeli products

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Written by Peter Miller Peter Miller

Published: 05 June 2011 05 June 2011

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Flash mob targets New Seasons’ ethical image, Israeli products

Saturday, June 4th, 2011

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI6MY2qeKH0

Media contact: Wael Elasady, 602 446 9444, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

June 4th, Portland, OR— Shoppers at Portland’s Concordia New Seasons were greeted with an unexpected performance over Memorial Day weekend when about two dozen Portlanders broke into song and dance. “New Seasons, you say you’re local but you buy into Israeli occupation,” participants sang, referencing the 19 Israeli products New Seasons carries. The flash mob, coordinated by the Portland BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) Coalition, was part of an ongoing campaign calling on New Seasons to stop selling Israeli products.

“New Seasons cannot claim to be friendly and local while it continues to stock products made by Israel, a gross violator of international law,” said Wael Elasady, member of Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights and flashmob participant. “There’s a glaring discrepancy between their ethical image and the products they profit from.”

The now-burgeoning BDS Coalition, endorsed by groups such as Jews for Global Justice and the ILWU Local 5, has submitted a petition with over 500 signatures from New Seasons shoppers. The petition asks New Seasons to respect the boycott call issued by Palestinian civil society in 2005, and stop selling Israeli products until Israel complies with international humanitarian and human rights law. Additionally, hundreds of customers have submitted “comment cards” supporting the boycott.

New Seasons has been under recent scrutiny for its decision to remove photographs by Jewish artist Stephen Kerpen. Images of Palestinians and Bedouins from Kerpen’s recent trip to Israel and the West Bank were removed by New Seasons management just hours after being installed in the Seven Corners’ local artists gallery. Kerpen was told that the abrupt reversal came in response to the complaint of a single customer.

“New Seasons immediately removed Stephen’s images after one complaint, yet refuses to address the hundreds of customers who have supported the boycott,” said Elasady. “The store chose to stop selling Rockstar energy drink on ethical grounds, so the precedent for this type of action has been set. It’s time for New Seasons to live up to its image and respect the demands of hundreds of customers.”

The Portland BDS Coalition is part of the growing international movement calling for a boycott of Israel until it complies with international humanitarian and human rights laws. The Palestinian-led BDS movement is a moral, nonviolent campaign for human rights modeled on the worldwide boycott movement that helped to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa.

For more information on the Portland BDS Coalition, see: pdxbds.org. For more on the Palestinian-led BDS movement see: www.bdsmovement.net and www.pacbi.org