Friday November 9 5:30pm – 7pm in front of New York, N.Y. 10065 Palestinian Authority Mission 115 East 65th Street (between Lexington & Madison Ave) New York, N.Y. 10065
Join us for a demonstration in front of the Palestinian Mission to stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are holding a rally in front of the Palestinian Embassy in Beirut tomorrow, Friday (11/9). Check out their event: https://www.facebook.com/events/379685725442614/
We firmly stand against Mahmoud Abbas’s recent statement regarding the Palestinian right of return and the right to all of Historic Palestine. His declarations are a criminal blow to the face of Palestinian history and struggle.
Palestinians in Palestine and the shatat insist that the Palestinian right of return is non-negotiable. Abbas’s declarations are an eternal wound to every Palestinian prisoner who has sacrificed his/her freedom for the sake of our freedom from occupation; to the refugees in every corner of the world, and to the blood of the martyrs who gave their lives for the liberation of Palestine.Join us to demonstrate in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Lebanon and stand with us as we affirm our stance on the Palestinian right of return.
In recent days, protesters demanding civilian rule in Egypt have again been murdered, maimed and tortured by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) and the Interior Security Forces (ISF).
The conspiracy, being brutally implemented in Egypt, is part of a global conspiracy to suffocate mass movements for socio-economic justice and is being done with direct assistance of the American government and the private interests which direct that government. We have word from friends in Egypt that SCAF, ISF and their hired thugs — armed by ongoing shipments of $1.3 billion in weapons from the U.S. government — plan to execute one by one all the leaders of the revolution, and as many activists as they can.
Accordingly, we need to ensure that people and organizers in the US and internationally are involved in closely monitoring the events unraveling in Egypt. By keeping track of the atrocities committed by SCAF and ISF, keeping track of those detained, tortured or targeted, and continuously contacting officials in Egypt and the US to demand accountability, cessation of the atrocities and justice, we can add pressure on SCAF, ISF and the forces they represent. In this way we may be able to play a role in helping save the lives of our Egyptian brothers and sisters.
Evidence of the conspiracy to execute the leaders and participants of Egyptian freedom movement, includes in very small part the following:
Sheikh Emad of Al Azhar was killed by a bullet entering his right side from short range. This was seen at first hand by witnesses known to members of our coalition. Sheikh Emad was one of a small number of Azhar Imams issuing decrees in support of the revolution. His murder was no accident.
Sally Tooma, Mona Seif, Ahdaf Soueif, and Sanaa Seif, all female friends and relatives of imprisoned blogger and activist Alaa abd El Fattah, and all known internationally for their political and/or literary work, were detained, and beaten in the Cabinet building.
A woman protesting against General Tantawi, head of SCAF, was detained and then tortured by having the letter “T” in English carved into her scalp with knives.
Detainees are being tortured while in courtroom holding pens. Two men (Mohammad Muhiy Hussein is one of them) were killed in those pens.These are only a small number of the horror stories we are hearing. And we continue to receive reports from Cairo about a massive army presence in Tahrir Square and the constant sound of gunshots.These are only a small number of the horror stories we are hearing. And we continue to receive reports from Cairo about a massive army presence in Tahrir Square and the constant sound of gunshots.
In every way, Egypt’s fight is our fight. Just like us, Egyptians are the 99%, fighting for social, political and economic justice.
The same 1% that arms the Egyptian dictatorship commits systematic violence in this country against the Occupy movement; antiwar and solidarity activists; and Arabs, Muslims, and other communities of color.
As the US Palestinian Community Network recently observed, “the same US-made tear gas rains down on us in the streets of Oakland, Cairo and Bil`in.”
Because of Egypt’s key strategic location, the fate of its revolution echoes across the world. Its success will bring us all closer to achieving economic and social justice. But its defeat would be a major blow to social justice movements everywhere, including Occupy.
In short, Egypt is key to the continued success of the Arab Revolution, and movements she has inspired.
For all these reasons, we ask Occupy and all U.S. social justice activists to join us in mobilizing to defend our Egyptian brothers and sisters by immediately organizing mass convergences on Egyptian embassies, missions, consulates, and at U.S. government offices, to demand:
Cancel all US aid and shipment of military and police materiel to Egypt!
Existence is Resistance sends our deepest condolences to the Tamimi family, the village of Nabi Saleh and to the nation of Palestine for the loss of our dear brother Mustafa Tamimi.
Mustafa Tamimi was a 28 year old man from the village of Nabi Saleh who was critically injured when an Israeli soldier fired a tear gas canister ten meters away which hit him in his face. He was unarmed and passed away from the injuries the next day.
Nabi Saleh is a small village in the West Bank with a population slightly over 500 whose residents have been facing constant harassment by Israeli settlers and soldiers.
In 2009, Israeli fanatics from the settlement of Halamish took control over a vital water spring owned by a Palestinian member of the village and denied access to this spring and the surrounding land to the owners and villagers of Nabi Saleh.
This illegal seizure and theft led to the people of Nabi Saleh staging weekly demonstrations every Friday where Israeli troops in defense of these settlers have fired tear gas, rubber bullets, even live ammunition and have murdered demonstrators. Mustafa Tamimi was the latest victims.
In February of 2011, volunteers with human rights group B’Tselem filmed actions of IDF soldiers, who came to the homes of Arab residents in Nabi Saleh, woke all the children over the age of 10 and photographed them.
According to a B’Tselem report released in September 2011 Israel’s security forces have infringed the rights of the Palestinian demonstrators in Nabi Saleh in three fundamental ways. – Violation of the right to demonstrate. B’Tselem’s documentation indicates that Israel does not recognize the right of a-Nabi Saleh’s residents to demonstrate. Israeli security forces declares the demonstration illegal at the outset, sometimes even before the procession begins. The Israeli military routinely issues orders declaring the entire village a closed military area, blocks the roads leading to it, thus denying people coming from outside the village their right to join in the demonstration. – Harm to the civilian population. The army and the Border Police handles the demonstration deploying great amount of forces at the main intersection of the village and using a disproportionate amount of means to disperse the demonstrations. This occurs also when the demonstrators are nonviolent and pose no threat. The forces fire enormous quantities of tear gas inside the built-up area of the village, which is home to hundreds of persons. – restrictions on movement in the area that creates difficulties for residents of all the nearby villages every Friday.
[To a killer] If you had contemplated the victim’s face
And thought it through, you would have remembered your mother in the
Gas chamber, you would have been freed from the reason for the rifle
And you would have changed your mind: this is not the way
to find one’s identity again. – Under Siege by Poet Mahmoud Darwish
