Trip To Palestine

Leave a reply

If you want to do something exciting and fulfilling this summer, look no further!

SJP are organizing their annual trip to beautiful Palestine.

This is a great opportunity to taste Palestinian culture, find out more about the situation on the ground, and make fantastic new friends!

The trip will take place a couple of days after Ramadan.

If you are keen in joining please say so on the comment section below and we will add you in the facebook group!
also enjoy this piece of nice music, “Une vie de moins”

solidarity

Israeli Apartheid Week: Palestinian Youth Speak on Israeli Apartheid

1 Reply

Join us in Appleton Tower LT2, Edinburgh University, Wednesday 22nd February, 7pm
We are hosting a panel discussion with three young Palestinian activists:

Aghsan Barghouti

Aghsan is a coordinator with Stop the Wall, and active in the independent Palestinian youth movement, campaigning around BDS and against normalisation

Wassim Ghantous

Wassim is from Haifa and active with many Palestinian youth movements inside 1948 Palestine. He is currently living in Belgium, where he is active with a number of NGO’s and campaign groups working on BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions)

Murad Jadallah

Murad is a young Palestinian activist working with Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Human Rights and Support Association

This Semester’s Events!

Leave a reply

It’s a busy and exciting few months for Edinburgh SJP, here’s what we have planned (so far!):

January 24th: Professor As’ad Abu Khalil, the ‘Angry Arab’, on ‘The Case Against Israel’. 7pm, Old College, Edinburgh University.

February 7th: Dr Norman Finkelstein, on ‘How to Solve The Israel-Palestine Conflict’. 7pm, George Sq Lecture Theatre.

February 20th – March 10th: Israeli Apartheid Week, featuring a talk from a Palestinian Student from ’48.

Plus… Dabke Dance Lessons! Details TBC.

The society will also be meeting every Monday, at 6pm, in the Teviot Study. Come along!

Right to Education Week in Edinburgh!

Leave a reply

Join EUSA and Students for Justice in Palestine for Right to Education Week!

This week of events aims to highlight the difficulties Palestinian students face in accessing education while they continue to live under occupation, to give an introduction to the political situation and to life in Palestine, and to mobilise students and the wider community to campaign on these issues.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS:

    …
    MONDAY 14th 6pm
    APPLETON TOWER LECTURE THEATRE 3
    A Beginner’s Guide to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories – suitable for those with a wealth of knowledge and none, this is an opportunity to get a really good background of the situation in Israel and Palestine in a really informal setting, and ask lots of questions!

    TUESDAY 15th 2pm
    SEMINAR ROOM 4, CHRYSTAL MACMILLAN BUILDING
    Video link with students at Birzeit University in the West Bank – chat to students in Birzeit, find out more about their University, their experiences and students, and what we can be doing here.

    WEDNESDAY 16th 6pm
    APPLETON TOWER LECTURE THEATRE 2
    A Palestinian Perspective – Palestinian students at Edinburgh University share their experiences of life under occupation. A great opportunity to hear in person about life in Palestine, followed by an informal Q&A.

    THURSDAY 17th 6pm – 9pm
    WEE RED LOUNGE, EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART
    POP-UP CINEMA
    A series of short films, and informal discussion about Palestine. Drop in at any stage to catch some great short movies and chat to other interested students.

    FRIDAY 18th 6pm
    APPLETON TOWER ROOM 2.14
    VISIT PALESTINE…?
    Find out about SJP’s annual trip to Palestine, experiences of students who have been on the trip, and what we’d like to do this year. This is a really exciting opportunity to see for yourselves what Palestine is like and to meet people out there – not to be missed!

    ALL WEEK!
    TEVIOT STUDY
    Photo exhibition
    Edinburgh University students who have been to Palestine have submitted photographs for this exhibition – this is a unique chance to see Palestine through the eyes of an Edinburgh Uni student. Drop in at any time to check it out!

    Edinburgh University Students’ Association is twinned with Birzeit University Student Union in the West Bank, Palestine, and with this week and other events throughout the year we aim to show solidarity with fellow students in Birzeit and throughout Palestine, and to campaign for young people in Palestine to have the same rights we do.

Edinburgh University Students Vote to Ban G4S From Campus

Leave a reply

In a victory for the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) yesterday overwhelmingly passed a motion through its Student Council to block their contract with security firm G4S, and to lobby the University to follow suit.

G4S currently provide security services to Edinburgh University library, which prompted Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to begin a campaign to forcethe University to tear up its contract with the security firm. It was then recently discovered that EUSA were also in the process of hiring the firm for money collecting services. This led to a motion quickly going before Student Council and it was clearly passed, meaning the Union’s trustee board must now look for an alternative.

The Danish-British security firm have been under huge scrutiny following the disclosure earlier this year of their role in Israel’s occupation by ‘WhoProfits?’ (1), a project by the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace. The group revealed that the company supplies equipment and services to Israel for use at checkpoints, police stations, and settlements in theoccupied West Bank and at Israeli prisons. Over the past month Palestinian prisoners have embarked on an open-ended hunger strike to protest the conditions in G4S supplied prisons.

In March of this year, due to pressure from the BDS campaign, G4S announced that it would exit from some of its contracts in the West Bank (2). However it will still deliver security services to illegal settlements in the West Bank and prisons in Israel.

G4S are also involved in running 4 detentions centres in the UK and received over 700 complaints against it in 2010 (3). The company could also faces charges over the death of Jimmy Mubenge,who died whilst in the process of being deported and in G4S custody (4).

The campaign to get G4S off Edinburgh University campus is part of a wider campaign for BDS by the SJP society on campus. Recently the group protested the Careers Fair for a second time to protest the presence of arms dealers BAE (5). Last March, at a EUSA General Meeting, a motion to Boycott Israeli Goods was passed by a landslide, with over 90% of the students present voting in favour (6). This came after the society shut down a talk by Ishmael Khaldi at the University, an advisor to Israel’s racist foreign minister Avidgor Lieberman (7).

The society, working now with EUSA and other ethical campaigns on campus, will now demand that the University’s contract with G4S is ripped up and for no further contracts to be given to those companies involved or complicit in the continued suffering of the Palestinian people.

For Media Contact 07519575060 and edinburghsjp@gmail.com

1) http://www.whoprofits.org/articlefiles/WhoProfits-PrivateSecurity-G4S.pdf

2) http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/g4s-ends-some-5472

3) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/17/g4s-immigration-detention-700-complaints

4) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/16/mubenga-g4s-face-charges-death

5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lx4f7vZNRI

6) http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/edinburgh-students-vote-5402

7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7ZznKXpwnM

BBC – Don’t Censor Palestine! – Saturday 21st May

don't censor palestine

When: 21 May · 06:00 - 23:30
Where: Your TV, Your Radio, Your Computer, Your Public Broadcasting!

Phone, e-mail, text, the BBC with ‘Free Palestine!’*

The BBC have messed up again.

They have rightly come under fire for censoring the word “Palestine” in a performance by rapper Mic Righteous on Charlie Sloth’s BBC 1Xtra hip hop show. The show was originally aired in December, but Mic Righteous’ set was re-aired at the end of April in a best-of episode, re-igniting controversy. A spokesperson from the BBC said the censorship wasnecessary to preserve the station’s “impartiality”. You can see the clip on the BBC website here (about 3 mins in). Read the article in the Guardian about the controversy here.

The BBC don’t have a great track record of being “impartial” when it comes to Palestine, given their controversial and indefensible decision not to air the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza after Operation Cast Lead in January 2009. You can read the BBC’s statement on this matter here.

On the 21st of May, people from all over Britain will demand that the BBC air the word “Palestine”. We will not stand for this censorship. We will email, text and phone every contact for every show and we will get Palestine on air.

BBC – DON’T CENSOR PALESTINE!

What you can do:
1) Invite everyone you know to participate in this facebook event.
2) Gather a group of friends together on Saturday with phones, computers, a twitter account (#dontcensorpalestine), whatever, put on a pot of coffee and get going.
3) Check back here for more information on scheduled programmes and contact details – to be uploaded soon. Make a list of all your targets and call/email/text in.

Remember: we’re trying to get Palestine ON AIR.

Phone in to a gardening programme with a question about your roses – when you get on air tell them in Palestine very little will grow because you have no access to water supplies.
Phone in for cooking advice from James Martin and ask him to say “Free Palestine” on air.

If you’re only emailing or texting, you may not get on air. That’s OK! This is a huge statement in itself. We need to inundate the BBC with demands to use the word “Palestine” – and to make a public apology for this politically motivated censorship.

Most importantly, we can’t let this happen quietly.

Trip to Palestine – last chance to sign up! – 24th March

Visit PalestineWhen: 24 March, 17:00 - 18:00
Where: Room 7.18, David Hume Tower

Edinburgh Uni SJP are holding a last meeting on the student trip to Palestine this summer for people to come along, find out more and sign up!

The trip will take place after May exams and involve a tour of the occupied West Bank & Jerusalem.

This is a fantastic opportunity to sample Palestinian culture, find out more about the situation on the ground, and makes loads of new friends!

See you on Thursday!

**If you have already confirmed your interest in the trip then you do not need to attend**

Press Release 16/03/11: Edinburgh University students vote overwhelmingly for boycott of Israeli goods

Boycott Israeli goodsA motion to boycott Israel was overwhelmingly passed at the Edinburgh University Students Association (EUSA) General Meeting on Monday 14th March. In what was described as a ‘landslide’, the motion, ‘Boycott Israeli Goods in EUSA shops and supply chains’ received around 270 votes in favour, with only 20 students voting against.

Despite the meeting requiring over 300 students to attend for it to be quorate and for decisions taken to be binding, the huge level of student support for the motion means that EUSA will be under severe student pressure to adopt it as official policy.

Proposed by students from Edinburgh University Students for Justice in Palestine, the motion noted that Israel is an apartheid state and resolved to affiliate EUSA to the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, to boycott Israeli goods in EUSA supply chains and shops, and to mandate the EUSA executive to lobby the University to do the same.

After the motion was discussed for around 15 minutes, it was put to a vote and the result was so comprehensive that no count was required. The passing of the motion led to rapturous applause in the George Square Lecture Theatre, where the General Meeting was held, and was by far the most welcomed result of the night.

Similar motions have been passed at SOAS, Manchester, and Sussex Universities in recent years. This latest result seems a clear indication that students in the UK are continuing to play a prominent role in the campaign for a just peace in Palestine.

The motion came in the wake of recent protests against Israeli officials speaking at the University. In February, student activists shut down a talk by Ishmael Khaldi, advisor to Israeli foreign minister Avidgor Lieberman, and, two weeks ago, over 100 students protested against the invitation of Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor to the University.

The proposer of the motion, second year Maths and Music student Daniel Beesley said “I am overwhelmed with the outcome of the General Meeting. It is great to see students of Edinburgh University once again standing up against injustice, just as they did during Apartheid South Africa. EUSA represents that views of students and we are sure they they will take on board what was clearly the opinion of the vast majority who attended the GM, and endorse the boycott.|”

The motion’s seconder, Liam O’Hare, a student of International Relations, said: “Israel has occupied, ethnically cleansed and practised apartheid against the Palestinians for 63 years. The BDS movement seeks to force Israel to abide by international law and is gathering huge momentum year on year. I think the General Meeting proved that the student population at Edinburgh University do not want goods from an Apartheid state on campus and, despite the meeting narrowly not being quorate, I fully expect EUSA to act upon this motion.”