Author: Kairos Puget Sound Coalition

A challenge to evangelical pastors and leaders in the United States to listen to Palestinians just as they are listening now to their African American brothers and sisters.

By Wissam Al-Saliby | Arab Baptist Theological Seminary | June 18, 2020

‘Symbolically, we relate to [George Floyd’s] experience because we also ‘cannot breathe.’ The wall, the [Israeli] colonies and checkpoints suffocate us.’
—Munther Isaac, Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College

Amid the protests to the killing of George Floyd, many Evangelical pastors and leaders are speaking up and supporting racial justice, reconciliation, and public institution reform in the United States through Sunday sermons, peaceful protests, and social media.

I would like to challenge these pastors and leaders to weave the injustices in the Holy Land into their narrative for the following reasons.

Reason 1: There’s police and military brutality in the Holy Land.

Continue reading “From George Floyd to Iyad al-Hallaq: Can the American church also engage with the Palestinian?”

As July 1st deadline approaches, 30 of the 47 Democrats in the Senate are warning Israel against annexation.

By Ron Kampeas  | Jewish Telegraph Agency | June 19, 2020

‘I understand that the Israeli coalition agreement stipulates that annexation will only proceed under ‘full agreement with the United States’ and, in my capacity as a U.S. senator, wanted to notify you that I must withhold my agreement at this time,’
—Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York

Three of Israel’s most stalwart boosters among Democrats in Congress are warning the country against annexing parts of the West Bank.

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and Sens. Ben Cardin of Maryland and Robert Menendez of New Jersey released a statement Friday saying they were “compelled to express opposition to the proposed unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to launch the process to annex parts of the West Bank on July 1.

Continue reading “Chuck Schumer and 2 other key pro-Israel Democrats warn Israel against annexation”

 

A hasbarist argues there’s nothing wrong in the killing of Eyad al-Halaq.

By Yossi Gurvitz  |  Mondoweiss |  June 7, 2020

The comparison between the policeman nonchalantly stepping on a citizen’s neck for nine minutes and one hounding an autistic person into a garbage room is automatic and immediate.

Israeli militants murdered Eyad al-Halaq last Saturday in Jerusalem, and for many Israelis this particular murder– of an autistic person begging for his life in an outdoor garbage room where he vainly sought refuge, with his mentor screaming at the militants that he is an invalid, with him crying “I’m with her”– penetrated all their defensive layers. Defensive layers lovingly built by the hasbara apparatus for years, convincing people what they see is not actually what it seems, that what looks like murder is in fact a necessary military action.

Continue reading “The inevitable cruelty of Hasbara”

The largest Palestinian boycott coalition released a statement to announce its resolute solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter protesters.

By The New Arab staff | The New Arab | June 1, 2020

‘To our Black brothers and sisters, your resilience in the face of brutal dehumanisation is a source of inspiration to our own struggle against Israel’s regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid.’
— Palestinian BDS National Committee

The Palestinian BDS National Committee [BNC] has come out to support the anti-police brutality protests in the United States, confirming its unwavering support for black organisations and the Black Lives Matter movement.

BNC, the largest coalition in Palestinian society that leads the global Boycott, Divest and Sanctions [BDS] movement, extended its “solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters across the US who are calling for justice in the wake of the latest wave of insufferable police murders of Black Americans”, a statement released by the organisation on Sunday evening said.

“The genocidal destruction of native American nations, the pillage of their wealth and resources, and the savage enslavement of millions of Africans constitute the most profound pillars of what became the US.

Continue reading “‘We can’t breathe until we’re free’: Palestinians stand in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter US protests”

On June 1, join people around the world for a social media day of action to honor Palestinian health care workers.

By Michael Merryman-Lotze | Mondoweiss | May 26, 2020

Between March and August of 2018, more than 400 Palestinian medical personnel were injured by Israeli attacks at those protests while 61 medical vehicles and two health clinics were damaged, according to Medical Aid for Palestine.

On June 1, 2018, 21-year-old Razan al-Najjar was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper while working as a volunteer paramedic with the Great March of Return in Gaza, providing care and assistance to people injured during protests. Razan was wearing a white medical vest and, according to witnesses, had her arms raised above her head when she was killed. Nobody has been held accountable for her killing.

Razan was one of three medical personnel killed by Israeli soldiers while aiding protesters during the first year of the Great March of Return. Between March and August of 2018, more than 400 Palestinian medical personnel were injured by Israeli attacks at those protests while 61 medical vehicles and two health clinics were damaged, according to Medical Aid for Palestine. Nobody has been held accountable for these attacks, either.

Continue reading “Honor Razan al-Najjar and other Palestinian health care heroes”

Samelys Lopez hopes to bring her brand of working-class politics to Washington and that includes supporting Palestinian rights and the right to boycott Israel.

By Alex Kane | +972Magazine | May 26, 2020

‘I stand against colonization and human rights abuses in every continent and will fight for liberation from occupation for all people,’
— Samelys López,  New York 15th District congressional candidate 

As one of 12 Democratic candidates running to represent New York’s 15th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives this June, Samelys Lopez has to distinguish herself. One way the community organizer from the South Bronx is doing so is by speaking out on Palestine.

Unlike her main opponents — New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres, who has pitched himself as a progressive for Israel, and Ruben Diaz Sr., whose Israel support stems from his evangelical background — Lopez is staunchly committed to Palestinian human rights. Her pro-Palestinian stance has won her the endorsement of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, the political and advocacy arm of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Continue reading “Meet the South Bronx congressional candidate speaking out on Palestinian rights”

Palestinians have relied on mutual solidarity and support to overcome a long history of injustices and grief.

By Rana Nashashibi |  Truthout | May 10, 2020

With the spread of COVID-19, collective solidarity is on display across the occupied Palestinian territory.

As a Palestinian woman from Jerusalem and a mental health professional, I am both treating and experiencing the extensive impact and far-reaching ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Across the world, communities are dealing with the unbearable pain of death and serious illness, compounded by not being able to comfort or even mourn the victims. On a global scale, people are facing what for many are unprecedented restrictions on freedoms, insecurity and anxiety about the future.

In these testing times, I feel compelled to share our special, decades-long Palestinian caregivers’ experience with dispossession, displacement, denial of basic rights, uncertainty and visceral grief while still maintaining a sense of joy, beauty and finding collective responses that give us realistic hope.

Continue reading “What can the pandemic-stricken world learn from Palestinians’ resilience?”

A monthly reflection on Palestine from Ed Crouch, member of University Congregational United Church of Christ (Seattle), Palestine Action Group (PAG).

By Ed Crouch | Holylandjustice.org | May 25, 2020

Words are used to cleverly to rewrite history. Israel has boasted for decades that Palestine was ‘land without a people for a people without a land.’

A World War III pandemic has begun, and will wreak havoc for years. Just a hint of what Palestinians have been living with for decades. Let’s list some items:

Living with Rage: This May 15th was the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (translated Catastrophe). From 1947 to 1949, 750,000 Palestinians became refugees. Zionist forces ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 villages and cities. In the process they killed about 15,000 Palestinians in a series of 70 massacres. Now Israel claims 85% of the land.

Living with Fear: A vibrant 85 year old Palestinian friend of mine in Seattle lived in Jerusalem as a girl. In the summer of 1946, 12 year old Huda visited a friend who lived across from the King David Hotel. They were chatting on the girl’s front steps when there was a large explosion at the hotel. They saw the south wing, which housed the British administration of Palestine crumble. 91 were killed by a bomb planted by the Irgun. This Zionist terror organization was trying to get Britain to give up control of Palestine. Huda’s family fled to Egypt. Months later the Zionists succeeded in gaining control of 56% of historic Palestine and the state of Israel was born.

Continue reading “May 2020 persevering Palestinians”