Tag Archives: activism

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.

EUSA GM: Voting to Boycott Israeli Goods – 14st March

Boycott Israeli goodsWhen: 14th March, 19:00 - 20:00
Where: George Square Lecture Theatre

Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you take the side of the oppressor”

The full motion can be read here.

A motion is being proposed at the forthcoming EUSA GM to boycott Israeli goods in EUSA shops and supply chains. This is part of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement which has its foundations firmly in international law and has three mains goals:

1. An end to the illegal occupation of the lands taken by Israel in 1967 (West Bank, Gaza Strip & Golan Heights)

2. Full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel

3. Right of return for Palestinians refugees ethnically cleansed in 1948

Like South Africa was, Israel is an apartheid state and treats it’s citizens and the people it occupies differently on the basis of their ethnicity and religion. Since what the international community calls “constructive engagement” has failed utterly and Israel continues to build illegal settlements, practise apartheid, and ethnically cleanse Palestinians, it seems clear that it is time for international civil society to take action.

Since the call was made in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian civil society organisations, the BDS movement has grown rapidly and in the UK university unions such as Sussex, Manchester and SOAS have had BDS motions passed. The Trade Union Congress and the Scottish Trade Union Congress have also firmly adopted BDS against Israel.

In addition, cultural signatories to BDS include Ken Loach, Gil Scott Heron, Elvis Costello, and recently Pete Seeger and Roger Waters.

This motion is not about taking the lead – it’s about catching up. Come to the EUSA GM and Vote for the Boycott of Israeli goods in EUSA shops on Monday!

Why boycott Israel? -10th March

Boycott Israeli goodsWhen: Thursday 10th March, 18:00 - 19:00
Where: Faculty Room South, David Hume Tower

The recent leak of the Palestine papers has made clear just how non-existant any peace process is. In this stalemate, as Israel continues the military occupation of Palestinian territory, expropriate land, enforce a brutal siege on Gaza, and lock up political leaders, what direction should the movement for a just peace take? Come along and hear three Edinburgh University students present the case for Boycotting Apartheid Israel.

A motion is being proposed at the EUSA GM on Monday 14th of March which seeks to ban the sale of Israeli goods from EUSA shops, until Israeli abides by international law. Come to our meeting on Thursday to hear the reasons why this motion is important and why it is even more important that you vote YES to boycotting Israeli goods in EUSA.

See also the Facebook event page.

Press Release 22/02/2011: Students protest Israeli ambassador’s visit to Edinburgh University

A lecture yesterday afternoon by Ron Prosor, Israel’s Ambassador to the UK, at Edinburgh University, was met with protests from within and outside the venue.

A group of 100 people, comprised of students, members of the local Palestinian community and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, assembled outside McEwan Hall to protest the event, hosted by the Edinburgh University Politics Society. The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, and “Boycott Israel”.

Despite heavy security measures, 10 student activists were able to enter the venue to lead a peaceful demonstration inside. During Prosor’s talk, the protesters stood up one by one, shouting the name of a Palestinian child that they were there to represent. All of the names said were those of children killed in Operation Cast Lead in January 2009. Each of them put tape over their mouths to signify the “silencing” and turned their backs on Prosor in a defiant symbolic protest. After about ten minutes they left the room, signalling their disgust at the invitation of a mouthpiece of a regime which had silenced so many innocent Palestinians.

After the hour-long talk, demonstrators continued to gather around the McEwan Hall and Ron Prosor had to be sneaked out a back entrance by police and security

This is the second time in the space of three weeks, that Edinburgh University students have protested the invitation of an official Israeli representative. A lecture by Ishmael Khaldi, advisor to Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, had to be cancelled after demonstrators filled the venue.

A statement by Edinburgh SJP read “We were delighted with the turnout for the protest yesterday. Edinburgh students are playing an increasing role in the campaign to boycott Israel until they end their apartheid, colonial policies towards the occupied Palestinian people. Ron Prosor was here to spew Israeli propaganda and defend war crimes and the actions of the protesters sent him a clear message that he is not welcome at our University. We continue to be deeply disturbed by the Politics society’s decision to host such a representative However Prosor’s presence in Edinburgh yesterday only strengthens our resolve to continue the fight for the boycott of Apartheid Israel on campus.”

SJP in Edinburgh Evening News: “Israeli Minister sparks demo by students”

Edinburgh Evening NewsSee the article on the Edinburgh Evening News website.

EDINBURGH University security officers had to be brought in last night after 50 protesters claimed to have shut down a lecture by the Israeli foreign minister’s special advisor.

The talk by Ishmael Khaldi, hosted by the University’s Jewish society and held in Appleton Tower at 5.30pm, was delayed, then interrupted by students chanting support for Palestinian refugees.

However, security did not have to intervene and Mr Khaldi, advisor to Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, left the stage after 45 minutes.

The protest followed a talk, hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, earlier that day by US Iraq war veteran Mike Prysner, in which he linked US foreign policy to the suffering of the Palestinians.

The talk was set to be held by the International Relations society the previous night, but the society declined to host him.

President of the society, Ledys Sanjuan, said “The IR society had a long discussion about hosting Ishmael Khaldi. We came to the conclusion that providing a platform for a representative of the Israeli state would be at the expense of the millions of Palestinians who live under Apartheid.”

Mike Prysner talk: Palestine, Imperialism and the Crisis in the Middle East – 2nd February

Mike Prysner

When: Wednesday 02 February. 13:00 – 14:30
Where: Faculty Room North, David Hume Tower

Mike Prysner, US Army veteran and founding member of March Forward, will speak at Edinburgh University on Wednesday as part of a UK wide speaking tour.

With the dramatic events in Egypt taking place, Mike will speak about his journey from US soldier in Iraq to anti-imperialist activist and consider what the implications of the Arab uprisings are.

Watch Mike’s inspirational speech, viewed by over 1 million people, here.

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine proceeds to the roar of bulldozers and tanks and the support of the US and the EU. Nuclear-armed Israel dispossesses the Palestinian people and wages wars across the region.

The devastation of Iraq by foreign armies continues. The Afghan adventure produces a rising death toll and intensified resistance. Israel threatens a further invasion of Lebanon and an attack on Iran.

- Why does the US arm Israel to the tune of $3b per year?

- Why does the EU violate its own human rights regulations to extend virtual membership to Israel?

- Why is Israel a de facto member of NATO?

How can we stop the UK Government’s invasions of other countries alongside the US and support Palestinian resistance to ethnic cleansing, colonisation and apartheid?

See the Facebook event.

We DO NOT welcome a propagandist for war crimes on our campus

Ron Prosor

Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the UK, invited by the Politics Society, is NOT WELCOME on our campus.

Edinburgh University Politics Society have invited Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the UK, to speak at Edinburgh University campus this semester (see here). Students for Justice in Palestine believe that by welcoming a mouthpiece of Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing to our University campus, the Politics Society make themselves complicit in the whitewashing of the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Israel, much like Apartheid South Africa did, is becoming a pariah state due to its continued illegal occupation of Palestine and the war crimes it has committed against the indigenous people there. An ambassador for the racist National Party in South Africa would not have been welcome at Edinburgh University campus during the international boycott of South Africa. In the same spirit of equality and justice, an ambassador for the racist, colonial state of Israel should not be allowed to spew his war propaganda on our campus.

Politics society, we urge you to rethink your decision to host Ron Prosor. With many Palestinians leaders locked in Israeli jails, and many more locked in the occupations of Gaza and the West Bank, you are inviting a propagandist of the state which is responsible for their collective suffering to our University campus. Thus, you will be effectively condoning Israel’s continuing policy of siege, occupation and military force against a people whose only crime is that they continue to exist.

Contact the politics society directly at : eupolsoc@gmail.com to register your disgust and ask them to rethink their decision to host a defender of war crimes.

See the Facebook group page.