Category: Middle East

‘One, Two, Three, Four, Open Up the Prison Door’

by Stanley Heller, Middle East Crisis Committee

April 17 was Palestine Prisoners’ Day. In New Haven, it was marked by a march starting at the New Haven Green, going up Chapel Street and through Yale, passing by Yale Law School, and back to the Green. Some forty to fifty people marched and chanted despite a light rain. A number of Palestinian flags were carried as were two large banners that called for freedom for Dr. Abu Safiya, the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been locked in various Israeli prisons since December of 2024. Another banner said, “Resist with Palestine Until Liberation.”

An intersection was blocked by the marchers so that a short speech could be delivered.  At Yale, a chant arose demanding that the Yale Corporation divest from Israel and weapons makers.  Basel Al Najjar, who gave one of the speeches, called on the crowd to show no fear and take more actions. He claimed that supporters of Palestine were now the majority. A new poll by CNN does show that Americans are now more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israelis.

The march was sponsored by We Will Return, the CT Palestine Alliance, UCONN MSA, Students for Justice in Palestine, and American Muslims for Palestine. It began after a Muslim prayer service but march participants were of all creeds. Several TSVN [The Struggle Video News: thestrugglevideo.org] shorts of the march received thousands of views.

 

CT Treasury Buys Half-Million More Elbit Shares

by Stanley Heller, Middle East Crisis Committee

For a decade, activists have been asking the CT Treasury to tell us what investments it has in Israeli apartheid and to dump those investments. The Treasury holds the pension money of teachers and state and city employees. We’ve made moral arguments, legal arguments and appealed to their business sense. So far, we’ve failed. As of last June, Connecticut had $106 million invested in Israel. This month, we’ve learned that there are now $141 million in those tainted investments! They include $6 million in State of Israel Bonds. Israel can use that money for any purpose, for military, tractors to knock down Palestinian houses, prisons (that the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem calls “torture camps”), anything at all.  There’s also $250,000 in Cellebrite, which makes hardware and software for surveillance, that is, for spying. Another investment is in ZIM, a company that ships parts and supplies to Israel and exports Israeli weapons to other countries. $600,000 is invested in ZIM.

The worst investment, though, is in Israel’s biggest weapons maker, Elbit. The investment went up from $2.4 million last year to $4 million now. Lest you think that Elbit’s value nearly doubled in 6 months, realize that the Treasury’s fund managers bought 500,000 more shares in Elbit over that short time period.

On April 1, 2024, a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy of three cars drove on a route pre-approved and coordinated with the Israeli military in central Gaza. One car after another was targeted with missiles from a Hermes 450 drone and all seven WCK workers and volunteers were killed. Hermes is made by Elbit. This wasn’t the first time that an Elbit drone was connected to a human rights abuse. In 2014, a Hermes drone attack killed four children playing on a Gaza beach in front of dozens of journalists. Those are the massacres we know about. Palestinians are killed daily by drones. 85% of them are made by Elbit.

Officials at the Treasury have two excuses. They say they have a “fiduciary” responsibility to make money for the pension funds. They also say that they don’t pick stocks directly. They employ companies whose managers make the actual investments. Someone should tell them to read about Pontius Pilate and the washing of hands. Erick Russell is our Treasurer. Maybe you could tell them via state.treasurer@ct.gov.

Eyewitness Report on West Bank

by Victoria McEvoy, PAR reader, delegation member to West Bank

Dear PAR reader,

Imagine being the parent of a young child. Imagine having to teach them, “If our car is stopped at a checkpoint and soldiers want to talk to me, and if I leave the car for a very long time, you must go to the road and get into any car with a green-and-white (Palestinian) license plate. They’ll take you to our village police, where you’ll tell them the three ancestral names I’ve taught you, so our family can be contacted to come get you.” Then imagine telling that little one, with false bravado, “I’ll come home as soon as I can.” This is the daily reality under occupation, as I recently heard from a Palestinian mother.

Though I fancy myself a wordsmith, I’ve been trying but failing to adequately describe for you, in a short PAR newsletter article, my recent life-altering trip to the West Bank. Instead, I offer you that true story, and the below links to compelling, articulate summaries by my co-delegates.

I can talk with you (and/or your group) about my experiences in the West Bank, how the situation in Palestine is connected to everything of concern in our world today, and the many doable options for positive change. Feel free to call me at 203-589-5429, or send me an email at vmcevoy@gmail.com.

Here are the links to other delegates’ stories.

Come & See in Palestine by Jessica Sun:

https://bit.ly/462QFz9

Interview with Anthony Donovan, Brian Terrell, and Mark Colville, the co-founder and co-director of New Haven’s Amistad Catholic Worker:

https://bit.ly/3NxKVY1

Meanwhile, here are ways to support Palestinian workers:

  • Palestinian olive oil from Equal Exchange:

https://shop.equalexchange.coop

  • Fair-traded sustainable gifts hand crafted by Palestinian artisans:

https://handmadepalestine.com

  • Bethlehem University’s Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability (PIBS), founded and run by former Yale professor Mazin Qumsiyeh and his wife Jessie Chang Qumsiyeh:

https://www.palestinenature.org

48′-Wide Billboard Says ‘Stop Arming Israel’

by Stanley Heller, Middle East Crisis Committee

There’s an electronic billboard over the highway just as I-91 flows into I-95 going towards New York City. Since Feb. 10, for eight seconds out of every minute of the day and night, drivers and passengers will see the urgent message “Stop the War, Stop Arming Israel.” The billboard directs people to the website StopArmingIsrael.org. It will be on display through March 9.

A coalition of groups and individuals thought of using the method of billboard to reach people not usually seen in progressive areas. It’s expensive but at the very least we hope this billboard display will normalize the idea of stopping the guns to Israel.

The Coalition is made up of the Middle East Crisis Committee, Palestine Solidarity Committee of Danbury, Health Care Workers 4 Palestine – Connecticut, CT for a World BEYOND War, Veterans for Peace Chapter 18, Connecticut Palestine Alliance (CTPA), Justin Paglino, MD–PhD, Tree of Life Education Fund, Hassan Fouda, and Promoting Enduring Peace. A score of other people made donations.

On behalf of the Palestine Solidarity Committee of Danbury, Dr. Justine McCabe said, “The imperial and immoral actions of the US—in arming Israel’s genocide as well as in its support for autocratic regimes in the region—dangerously collide with the persistent striving for democracy by ‘decolonized’ people who overwhelmingly identify with Palestinians.” She continued, “While working as an anthropologist and psychologist in Gaza and West Bank, I witnessed the intense frustration and disgust among Palestinians for US unconditional support for Israel—long before this genocidal war. In fact, US support for apartheid Israel as its geopolitical proxy to control the Middle East makes both Israelis and Americans less safe, less secure. Tragically, in their ‘special relationship’ as hyper-militarized cultures, the US and Israel dehumanize their own citizens by their brutalizing dehumanization of Palestinians.”

Besides messaging the general public, the coalition will alert each member of the CT legislature, the governor and federal elected officials about the billboard and the need for each of them to act to stop weapons from going to Israel.

Yale Students Overwhelmingly Pass Divestment Referendum

by Nora Moses, Dec 08, 2024, Yale Daily News

The Yale College Council announced today that the student body has passed the divestment referendum by a large margin.

The referendum, proposed and written by the pro-Palestine Sumud Coalition, asked three questions. The first two ask whether Yale should disclose and divest from its holdings in military weapons manufacturers, “including those arming Israel,” and the third asks whether Yale should “act on its commitment to education by investing in Palestinian scholars and students.”

The first question received 83.1 percent “yes” votes, the second 76.6 and the third 79.5.
For all three questions, the total number of respondents who voted “yes” also amounted to over one-third of the student body. All three referendum questions therefore met the requirements set by the YCC constitution to officially pass.

Read the entire article at yaledailynews.com/blog/2024/12/08/yale-students-overwhelmingly-pass-divestment-referendum.

CT Jews Commend Sen. Chris Murphy for Voting to Block Arms Sales to Israel Fueling Gazan Genocide

by Miranda Rector, JVPNH and Sarah White, HJOC

Jewish Voice for Peace of New Haven (JVPNH) and the Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective (HJOC) commend U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy for his vote Nov. 20, 2024, to block the sale of weapons to Israel such as Joint Direct Attack Ammunitions and 120 mm mortar rounds that are being used to kill thousands in Gaza in the ongoing Israeli genocide.

Sen. Murphy joined 18 other US Senators in voting to approve Senator Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block the Biden administration’s 20 billion dollar arms sale to Israel. Although the resolutions did not pass, this was the first Senate vote ever to stop arms sales to Israel. Sen. Murphy was among the 7 of the 11 Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that voted in favor. Three of the nine Jewish members of the Senate also voted in favor. The vote signals growing support within the Democratic party that cutting off the flow of weapons to Israel is the only way to end the US-backed genocide that has killed more than 44,000 Gazans so far, including at least 16,000 children, with the actual death toll far higher.

JVPNH and HJOC joined organizations across the state in urging Sen. Murphy to vote in favor of the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, including by organizing a constituent letter with over 440 signatures, hosting a Children’s Day where participants colored drawings for Sen. Murphy, organizing more than 60 Jews to call Senator Murphy at a Shabbat dinner, canvassing local neighborhoods, and participating in numerous phone banks.

“The organizing that went into persuading Sen. Murphy is a huge victory. We showed both that Connecticut Jews and allies support blocking weapons to Israel and that we’re a powerful voice for change,” says Miranda Rector, a Chapter Coordinator for JVP New Haven. “We must continue to use our collective power to stop arming Israel and end the genocide.”

“The U.S. government is actively enabling the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign, offering it unconditional funding and weapons, as well as impunity, in direct violation of international laws. This makes every taxpayer complicit in this ongoing genocide and the Israeli military’s more recent assaults on Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen,” says Sasha Zoldessy, an organizer with HJOC.

To contact Jewish Voice for Peace of New Haven, phone Miranda Rector at 203-850-7183 or email newhaven@jewishvoiceforpeace.org.

To contact Hartford Jewish Organizing Collective, phone Sarah White at 206-388-7222 or email hartjoc@gmail.com.

300 Activists for Palestinian Rights at All-Day Hartford Conference

by Stanley Heller, Middle East Crisis Committee

The pews were filled at the Hartford Unitarian Society for a major conference about U.S. activism during a time of immense killing of Palestinians and Lebanese. Thunderous chanting filled the hall. The best part was that 80 to 90% of those attending seemed to be under 30. Participants were members of a score of activist groups in Connecticut and Massachusetts. A workshop of nearly 40 people founded a Labor for Palestine chapter. Our group and members of Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven took part in a panel on Jews confronting Zionism. I gave a slide show based on my book Zionist Betrayal of Jews using photos to show how Zionist leaders consistently allied with far-right parties, even groups that were violent antisemites, in their single-minded quest to drive out Palestinians and create a Jewish state.

In speeches to the whole assembly, Hesen Jabr, a Palestinian-American nurse, described how she was fired right after being given a nursing award because of her remarks and social media posts about the attacks on Palestinians. Sultana Hossain, who is part of the Amazon Labor Union and Labor for Palestine spoke about efforts to organize for Palestinian rights in the one unionized (Long Island) Amazon plant.

The conference took place among new threats of repression. The radical right is pushing for a bill that would give the Secretary of the Treasury the power to designate any nonprofit as “terrorist supporting.” If it passed, the Secretary (who serves at the pleasure of the President) could on his/her own devastate a group. There would be no need to show any evidence or provide due process. A group so designated would lose its tax-exempt status. That might be the least of its problems. Once designated as supporting terrorists it would no doubt be demonized and attacked in social media or worse. It’s believed groups supporting Palestinian rights would be the first targets.

Breaking Chains, Building Bridges, 9 am – 6 pm Sat. Nov. 16, Hartford.

Register here — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/breaking-chains-building-bridges-ct-for-palestine-tickets-1002651446467

 

Wesleyan University, Middletown CT: Breaking Chains, Building Bridges will bring together activists, organizers, students, workers, artists and all those ready to stand in solidarity with Palestine and grow the movement for collective liberation. We invite people of conscience from across Connecticut and the greater region to join us in political education, skill-building and strengthening relationships for the struggle ahead. Free Palestine! Mask up and see you there – Unitarian Society of Hartford, 50 Bloomfield Ave. Hartford, CT 06105.

Activists gathered Oct. 7 Action on Gaza at Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s Office

On Oct. 7, peace and justice activists gathered in front of Rep. DeLauro’s New Haven office at 59 Elm St. for a community reading of the open letter to Pres. Biden and Vice Pres. Harris from American medical professionals who served in Gaza. The letter was then given to her aide Lou Mangini to read to her. The reading was organized by the Greater New Haven Peace Council.

Below are excerpts. The entire letter is online at www.gazahealthcareletters.org/usa-letter-oct-2-2024.

I’ve never seen such horrific injuries, on such a massive scale, with so few resources. Our bombs are cutting down women and children by the thousands. Their mutilated bodies are a monument to cruelty. Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, trauma and critical care surgeon, Veterans Affairs general surgeon

I saw so many stillbirths and maternal deaths that could have been easily prevented if the hospitals had been functioning normally. Dr. Thalia Pachiyannakis, obstetrician and gynecologist

Gaza was the first time I held a baby’s brains in my hand. The first of many. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, orthopedic and hand surgeon

Open Letter from American Medical Professionals Who Served in Gaza

October 2, 2024

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris,

We are 99 American physicians, surgeons, nurse practitioners, nurses, and midwives who have volunteered in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. Combined, we spent 254 weeks volunteering in Gaza’s hospitals and clinics. We worked with various nongovernmental organizations and the World Health Organization in hospitals and clinics throughout the Strip. In addition to our medical and surgical expertise, many of us have a public health background, as well as experience working in humanitarian and conflict zones, including Ukraine during the brutal Russian invasion. Some of us are veterans and reservists. We are a multifaith and multiethnic group. None of us support the horrors committed on October 7 by Palestinian armed groups and individuals in Israel. …

…[T]he human toll in Gaza since October is far higher than is understood in the United States. It is likely that the death toll from this conflict is already greater than 118,908, an astonishing 5.4% of Gaza’s population.

Our government must act immediately to prevent an even worse catastrophe than what has already befallen the people of Gaza and Israel. A ceasefire must be imposed on the warring parties by withholding military support for Israel and supporting an international arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups. We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under American law and International Humanitarian Law. We also believe it is the right thing to do.

Read the letter in its entirety here: https://www.gazahealthcareletters.org/usa-letter-oct-2-2024

Marking One Full Year of Genocide and Escalating Violence Across the Region, New Haven Jews Call for the US to Stop Arming Israel

by Jewish Voice for Peace

During the Jewish High Holidays, 50 New Haven Jewish community members gathered for a public ritual action, mourning the dead, fighting for the living, and demanding that the U.S. stop arming Israel.
October 7, 2024 — …Today New Haven Jews and other community members gathered to perform a tashlich ritual action, casting off support for the Israeli military.

Dressed in traditional white, New Haven Jews and community members sang niggunim [Ashkenazi religious songs], read poetry by Mosab Abu Toha and Rabbi Brant Rosen, participated in a communal casting ritual, and called for the U.S. government to stop arming Israel. They carried a banner that said, “Mourn the dead, fight for the living. Stop Arming Israel.” The message was clear: we must turn our grief into action…

Every life taken in the past year — Palestinian, Lebanese, Israeli — every parent, child, grandchild that was killed in the past year was someone else’s entire world. At Jewish Voice for Peace our commitment to Palestinian liberation is grounded in our belief that every human must have the right to live in safety and freedom. The Jewish tradition teaches us that the preservation of life, pikuach nefesh, is the single most important commandment. For decades, the Israeli government has exploited and distorted our thousands-of-years-old Jewish tradition to justify the occupation, war crimes, and mass slaughter of a 76-year-old apartheid state…

The Israeli military has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, including more than 15,000 children. We know the numbers are likely much higher.

The U.S. government is actively enabling the Israeli government’s genocidal campaign… in direct violation of international laws…

The action concluded in a call to demand that Senator Chris Murphy vote yes on the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval introduced by his colleagues Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch, and Senator Jeff Merkley. The Joint Resolutions of Disapproval, which cite U.S. and international law, would block $20 billion in weapons to Israel approved by the Biden administration.

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