Students for Justice in Palestine at University of Maryland

Why is Israel scared of accusations of apartheid? By: Nathan Feldman               Recently, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) released a human rights report on Israeli practices that concluded, from Reuters, that “Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole”. This report, published by Richard Falk, is the first of its kind originating from the UN. Soon after, the Israeli government, the Trump administration, and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres pressured Rima Khalaf, the head of ESCWA, to rescind the report. She refused and instead resigned in protest through a series of actions thoroughly outlined by Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept (article linked at bottom).               Now, my personal view is that this report is both accurate and long overdue, and it was a pleasant surprise that a UN age...

Bil’in village will hold a mass demonstration against the ongoing Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign 14 August 2009 For Immediate Release: Bil’in village will hold a mass demonstration against the ongoing Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign on Friday, 14 August 2009 at one PM. Bil’in residents along with Israeli and international supporters will attempt to march to the village land beyond the Apartheid Wall. At 2 AM on the 10 August 2009, Israeli forces raided the home of a jailed member of the Bil’in popular committee, Mohammad Khatib. The heavily armed solders, their faces daubed with black paint, entered and “searched” the home now occupied by Mohammad’s wife, Lamya, and their small children. The soldiers then ordered Lamya to take them to the house of Khatib’s elderly father, Abdel Karim. Lamya repeatedly refused to cooperate. The soldiers proceeded to raid Mohammad’s father’s home and summoned him to appear for interrogation with the Israeli secret service (...

From BBC : Sami Salameh has taken me to what used to be his home before the Israeli authorities flattened it. He insists this plot of earth belonged to his family dating back to Ottoman times. But Israel has claimed it as state land. He is not allowed to build here now. Mr Salameh's new home is in the Arab town of Majdal Krum, in northern Israel. It's illegally built, as is the whole neighbourhood. His family of 14 lives in three rooms. The sewage system is poor. He points out the problems Israeli Arabs face - overcrowding, poverty and the ways, he says, Israel's authorities strangle Arab towns, restricting construction, progress and growth. "You can see surrounding Sakhnin this military base - which of course prevents Sakhnin and the people from using these lands which they used to own," he says. "You can see there are only tens of metres between the houses of Sakhnin and the industrial zone. "Of course all the benefits of this industrial ...

Last March, poet, novelist and feminist Alice Walker joined a delegation organized by Code Pink, to travel to the Gaza Strip just weeks after the 22-day Israeli bombardment and invasion. Walker, globally acclaimed for her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Color Purple, had also traveled to Rwanda, Eastern Congo and other places where she witnessed cruel and barbaric behavior that left her speechless. "Rolling into Gaza I had a feeling of homecoming. There is a flavor to the ghetto. To the Bantustan. To the "rez." To the "colored section." In some ways it is surprisingly comforting. Because consciousness is comforting . Everyone you see has an awareness of struggle, of resistance, just as you do. The man driving the donkey cart. The woman selling vegetables. The young person arranging rugs on the sidewalk or flowers in a vase." We pass a hospital, bombed and gutted by fire. If one is not safe in a hospital, when one is already sick and afraid, wh...