#al shabaka

[garadinervi]

Genocide in Gaza: Global Culpability and Ways Forward, by Yara Hawari, Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Fathi Nimer, Alaa Tartir, Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, November 7, 2023

[thethief1996]

700 Palestinians were killed in the last 24 hours and the airstrikes are more violent each night. Gaza's hospitals have fuel left for two more days. Israel only allowed aid into Gaza on the condition they didn't carry fuel. The Indonesian hospital has shut down already, because doctors have no supplies and no choice but to let the wounded die. They're calling it a collapse but the term doesn't do it justice.

Over a 100 incubator babies are at risk. There are 50.000 pregnant women in Gaza right now, and 5.500 due to give birth this month. Menstruating people are taking pills in order to stop their periods, because they do not have pads or water to maintain hygiene. Surgeons are operating without anesthesia. Water is not reaching Gazans because there's no electricity or fuel for water pumps.

There's no excuse for this. Israel justifies the airstrikes by saying they want to destroy Hamas infrastructure and release the hostages, but they have refused to negotiate for their release. Hamas informed Israel they wanted to release two elderly women without anything in return, and Israel refused. Netanyahu said they wouldn't take their own civilians back because it was "mendacious propaganda." When the hostages were finally released, Netanyahu prohibited the hospital from giving press releases. Yocheved Lifshitz went behind their backs and talked to the press anyway, saying she was treated very well by Hamas, but the government abandoned them. They're being used as straw men. Israel is conditioning the entry of fuel to the release of hostages and yet, according to The Wall Street Journal, when Hamas proposed to exchange 50 hostages for fuel they denied. IDF officials have said they fear the release of more hostages because that might withhold the order to their ground invasion. They do not care as long as they can use the hostages as a pretext for their slaughtering.

There's a turning tide for Palestine in public support. Support for Israel was built through decades of propaganda and we are making a dent into it. Zionists are desperate, holding zoom meetings to promote zionism, but we have to do so much more. We have to shame people in power into supporting the Palestinian cause.

Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices, looking to inform yourself from the sources. Palestinians have asked of us only that we share, tweet and post, over and over. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:

Al Jazeera

Anadolu Agency

Mondoweiss

Boycott Divest Sanction Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement

Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)

Al-Shabaka (twitter / instagram)

Mariam Barghouti (twitter / instagram)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza

Take action. You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting (don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. Only boycott additional brands if you can):

Carrefour

HP

Puma

Sabra

Sodastream

Ahava cosmetics

Israeli fruits and vegetables

Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)

If you can, participate in direct action or donate. Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London. Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.

Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN GERMANY: Here's a toolkit to contact your representatives by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN POLAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN DENMARK: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN SWEDEN: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine

FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada

Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Global calendar

USA calendar

Australia calendar

Here are upcoming events:

CANBERRA/NGUNNAWAL, AUSTRALIA – Wed Oct 25, 11 am, National Press Club. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyh1xy1BMrU/

OXFORD, ENGLAND – Wed Oct 25, 12:15 pm, Cornmarket. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CykroKeInz3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

SMITH COLLEGE (US) – Wed Oct 25, 12 pm, Chapin Lawn. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CymT8f5vnHN/?img_index=1

ST CATHERINES, ON ( CANADA) – Wed Oct 25, 6 pm, 61 Geneva St Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/889319005528757/

TORONTO, CANADA – Wed Oct 25, 5 pm, Sidney Smith Hall. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyjVbpGvva8/

SANT CUGAT, CATALONIA, SPAIN – Thurs Oct 26, 6 pm, Davant l’Ajuntament. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CynL834tgg9/?img_index=4

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct 27, 7 pm, Federation Square. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyhyd0vhP8t/

LIVORNO, ITALY – Sat Oct 28, 2:30 pm, Piazza Cavour. Info https://www.instagram.com/p/CyiWJ06MXpM/

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (US) – Sat Oct 28, 1 pm, Lake Street and Minnehaha.

ROME, ITALY – Sat Oct 28, Rome. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cyi7ey-MMs1/?img_index=1

ROME, ITALY – Sat Nov 4, Rome. Info TBA: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyndKUitnMU/

WASHINGTON, DC (USA) – Sat Nov 4, 12 pm, White House. Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CyiecRtr9-B/

Wollongong: Rally at Crown Street Mall Amphitheatre on 21 Oct at 1 PM

Melbourne: Blak and Palestinian Solidarity Rally at Victorian Parliament House Steps on 25 Oct at 6 PM

HOUSTON: Thursday, October 26th, 5:45PM, Rice University, Central Quad

VANCOUVER: OCT 28 at 2PM, Vancouver Art Gallery

KITCHENER: Wednesday October 25th at 5 PM at CBC Kitchener

SANTA ANA: 20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701, October 25th at 5:30 pm

TORONTO: WED. OCT 25 at 7PM at Queen's Park

[CAR RALLY] WASHINGTON D.C: Wednesday 10/25 outside the US State Department on the 23rd Street side

Feel free to add more.

[fairuzfan]

hi, I hope you're alright! What news sources do you keep an eye out for besides al jazeera and middle east eye?

for policy info i follow palestinian lawyers+scholars and for news i either just ask people i know in gaza whats going on or i go to their instagram/twitter because those are primary sources. Al-shabaka is based in palestine.

there's also palestine chronicle. ive been taking a break seeking out news these past couple of weeks and mostly have been listening/reading into analysis and interview videos by scholars and human rights activists. i look into history papers by palestine studies and check out the books they cite in their papers. there are also bloggers on here who relay news they hear from family in Jenin and other places.

[zumurruds]

FREE PALESTINE

DONATE NOW:

UNRWA

Palestinian Children's Relief Fund

Palestinian Red Crescent Society

Medical Aid For Palestinians

Help Gaza's Children

Operation Olive Branch

IMEU Fundraiser

Addameer

Adalah Justice Project

Electronic Intifada

Al-Shabaka

Buy An eSim / Donate For Mass Buying

Fundraiser Masterpost

[the1975attheirverybest]

Palestine Readings And Resources

The following is a list of resources that includes books, articles, websites, and nonprofits to help you get educated and/or involved in action pertaining to the Palestinian genocide. I originally compiled this list for personal purposes, to use in my own local communities. Since it's been an unbelievably grim and never-ending shit-show on the blog for the past 5 weeks, I now feel compelled to make this list public on here in the hopes that it might benefit someone.

Please be aware:

This post is NOT an invitation for you to treat me as your token Palestinian friend, personal educator, or woke police taskforce. Grow your own moral spine.

This list was originally compiled shortly after October 7. It has, as of the writing of this post, been 163 days. A LOT has happened since. Therefore, this list is not exhaustive.

New ways to get educated and involve have since materialized, and, indeed, new ones materialize everyday. Do your own due diligence and decide what shape your engagement is going to take.

I am using my own specific expertise and skill sets as a scholar and educator of Literature and Philosophy to populate this list. Therefore, naturally, a lot of what you will find on here is geared towards educating and raising awareness about the historical, socio-political, philosophical and cultural underpinnings of this genocide and how its reflected in art.

If you are looking for more practical resources, find activist spaces in your local communities.

This List Contains

Non-fiction books about Palestine

Fiction novels by palestinian authors

educational web resources

Documentary

organizations to donate to

BOOKS

A. non-fiction

Edward Said, The Question of Palestine (written by a Palestinian-American literary critic and critical theorist)

Rashid Khalidi, The Hundred Years’ War On Palestine (written by a a Palestinian scholar and historian)

A Land With A People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zionism (anthology)

Ghassan Kanafani, On Zionist Literature (written by a Palestinian novelist and political activist)

Noura Erakat, Justice For Some: Law and the question of Palestine (written by a Palestinian-American activist and legal scholar)

B. Fiction and Poetry

Susan Abulhawa, Against The Loveless World

Etaf Rum, Evil Eye

Mahmood Darwish, A River Dies Of Thirst

Adania Shibli, Minor Detail

WEB RESOURCES

Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

BuildPalestine

If you are a teacher looking to educate about Palestine,

DOCUMENTARY

Gaza’s Fight For Freedom (2019) Directed By Abby Martin

ORGANIZATIONS TO DONATE TO

The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

The Palestinian American Medical Association

Medical Aid for Palestinians

Jewish Orgs (specifically helpful for anti-zionist jewish conversations and advocacy)

Jewish Voice For Peace:

We envision a world where all people — from the U.S. to Palestine — live in freedom, justice, equality, and dignity.Like generations of Jewish leftists before us, we fight for the liberation of all people. We believe that through organizing, we can and will dismantle the institutions and structures that sustain injustice and grow something new, joyful, beautiful, and life-sustaining in their place...more here.

2. Jews For Justice For Palestine. Click here.

[queenie-says-free-palestine]

helpful links to support palestine - this could save lives.

decolonize palestine - extremely helpful website which helps debunk myths, answers faqs, and provides other helpful resources

middle east eye - provides news about palestine, especially concerning the conflict

human rights watch - provides reports about the human rights situation in palestine/israel

palestine remembered - preserves the memory of what palestine was like before the nakba

bbc the key questions - link to an article addressing key questions abt the conflict

palestine is - website w a resource library and learning modules to correct misrepresentation of the conflict

history.com - link to an article detailing the nakba

al-shabaka - somewhat of a think tank dedicated to palestine

electronic intifada - online chicago-based news publication providing a palestinian perspective on the conflict

adalah justice project - an israeli organization trying to protect the human rights of palestinians living under occupation

imeu fundraiser - shares stories of the palestinian struggle for freedom

medical aid for palestinians - british charity that advocates for palestinians' rights to health and dignity (donate here)

palestine children’s relief fund - an organization that locates free medical care in the united states and europe for children in the middle east (esp palestinians) who dont have access to good healthcare

addameer - non government organization that helps support palestinians who are imprisoned in israel, provides free legal aid to political prisoners, advocates their rights, and works to "end torture and other violations of prisoners' rights through monitoring, legal procedures and solidarity campaigns"

muslim aid - uk based islamic non government organisation that works to support people suffering through poverty, war, or natural disasters using emergency relief and sustainable programmes. prominently offer their help in the palestinian territories

palestine red crescent - humanitarian organization that provide hospitals, emergency medicine and ambulance services, and primary health care centers in the west bank and gaza strip

gaza mutual aid collective - fundraising group for gaza (their patreon to donate is here)

united nations relief and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east - un agency that supports the relief and human development of palestinian refugees (the only un agency that helps a specific nationality of refugees)

palestine solidarity campaign - activist organization in england and wales that arranges protests and boycotts israeli goods

help with a click - all you have to do is go to the link and click. its completely free, but every click helps deliver support to palestinian families

[readingsquotes]

"... despite Democrats’ repeated suggestion that Netanyahu is the impetus for Israel’s war, political analysts say that in reality the prime minister’s actions are in step with Israel’s political mainstream. “Schumer is operating in this fantasy that if you get rid of Netanyahu, you might be able to get somebody else who’s more moderate who could then save the relationship between the US and Israel under the pretense of support for progressive values and democracy,” said Omar Baddar, a Palestinian American political analyst. But this narrative ignores how Israeli politicians almost across the board agree with Israel’s conduct in Gaza, as do the majority of Israelis. Yair Lapid, the former prime minister and head of the Israeli opposition, supports the ongoing assault, as does war cabinet member Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival and the man who, according to polling, would become prime minister if Israel held elections today. Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, noted that many Democrats might welcome Gantz replacing Netanyahu, but the change of guard would alter little about Israel’s conduct in Gaza. “There is a danger to the idea that replacing Netanyahu will fix everything. It will not,” Duss said. “It could create a grace period where bad things continue to happen, but the US feels better about it. We need to oppose that.”

Instead of constituting a substantive shift in US support for Israel, experts say, Democrats’ emboldened critique of Netanyahu should be understood as an attempt to respond to growing voter frustration without changing policy, as the Biden administration remains unwilling to use US aid and arms exports to Israel as leverage to demand a change in behavior. In this context, the choice to focus on Netanyahu “is a political decision to avoid outright criticism of Israel’s war conduct,” said Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. For Schumer, in particular, blaming Netanyahu as an individual was a way “to avoid the implication that he is lessening his support for the Israeli state or the Israeli people,” she said. “Instead, Schumer is focusing on a man who is unpopular among Democrats to say, ‘See, we are standing up for our values, so voters should stop being mad at us.’”

...

But ultimately, the Democratic narrative about “Netanyahu’s war” doesn’t reflect reality—not only because the assault on Gaza enjoys broad support in Israel, but also because Israel could not continue its assault without a constant supply of US arms and military funding. Senior Democrats’ fixation on the Israeli prime minister thus serves to sideline debate about US policies that could actually bring the war to an end. “Refusing to condition aid or impose sanctions—or do anything that would actually have a chance of influencing Netanyahu—shows that the Biden administration and Democratic Party leadership are not interested in ending the Gaza assault. They’re just interested in managing it,” said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, US policy fellow at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network. While anonymous US officials have repeatedly told news outlets that the Biden administration is considering conditioning aid to Israel or slowing down weapons shipments, no such move has occurred; indeed, on Monday, the State Department said that Israel had complied with the requirement that countries receiving US weapons follow international law, despite a wide range of flagrant violations documented by numerous human rights organizations."

[aceduchessdragoness]

Palestine etc Masterlist List (mainly Palestine)(plus other websites):

Master list Part 2 HERE

Instagram accounts: abdullahobead / ahmadsorhgli (follow his broadcast channel) / ahmedeldin / aljazeeraenglish / amr.tabash / aymanalgedi12 / belelkh / dmvdissenters / ele_elna_elak / everydaypalestine / eye.on.palestine / fadi_alwhidi / farahselmi / hamdaneldahdouh / hassan_eslaih / hatem.h.rawagh / hiddenpalestine / hindkhoudary / joegaza93 / khaledbeydoun / letstalkpalestine / m_abuowda11 / maherhabboush / mahmoudbassam8 / middleeasteye / mirna_elhelbawi / monaa_e98 / motaz_azaiza / nida_aljazeera / nooh.xp / princekouta / roshdi.sarraj / rosypirani / salamisarah / sameeha.rumani / soliman_farra / tech_malik92 / unsettling_mormonism / voicesforpalestine / wael_eldahdouh / wissamgaza / wizard_bisan1 / zeenaaqel / zirafamedia

Rest in Peace: moh.lehya, hamdaneldahdouh.1, ph_youseeff, byplestia, and dr.haya.gaza

Websites:

breakingthesilence ("Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran soldiers who have served in the Israeli military since the start of the Second Intifada and have taken it upon themselves to expose the public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories.")

Vetted GoFundMe List

Vetted GoFundMe Lists #2

Gofundme to help Mona Abu Hamda (monaa_e98) leave Gaza

Gofundme to help Ayman Algedi and his family rebuild their lives

Gofundme for food/water for Gaza

secure.everyaction.com (send a pre-made message - or make your own - to US Secretary Antony Blinken)

Contact US Reps by texting "Resist" to 50409 or use resist.bot

Write Your Members of Congress: Sign onto the Ceasefire Now resolution (updated on Dec 6, 2023 - as of Jan 15, 2024)

For UK: email your local MP

For UK: Contact your MP

Free downloadable Palestinian books

All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 (a famous book by Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi which gives a detailed account of what became of 400 different depopulated Palestinian villages.)

Some Free ebooks about Israel&Palestine

Palestinian Owned Companies

Palestine Remembered (full documentations of former locations and depopulated villages. it also lists information on Palestinian refugee camps, guestbooks, and the ability to upload pictures. information on each village varies)

Pro-Palestine Brands (On X)

Preserve Gaza's Universities (On X)

How to Archive for Palestine

The Interactive Encyclopedia for the Palestinian Question's (detailed histories and a map, but doesn't go into the detail of the last two sites, and doesn't have pictures or sources)

Zochrot (organization dedicated to teaching both Palestinians and Israelis about the 1948 nakba, which includes documenting information on villages and even an app. information on villages varies)

Donation Sites:

arab.org - you click a button every 24 hours in order help donate to Palestine. (goes to UNRWA)

eSims for Gaza (created by mirna_elhelbawi)

Olive Branch Project

Defense for Children International (Palestine)

Middle East Children's Alliance

Al-Shabaka

Electronic Intifada 

Adalah Justice Project 

IMEU Fundraiser 

map.org.uk - Medical Aid for Palestinians 

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund 

Addameer

MAUSA - Muslim Aid

Palestine Red Crescent

Gaza Mutual Aid Patreon

MATW Project (Palestine)

uspcr.org ("As part of a global movement for collective liberation, we work to end U.S. complicity in Israel's massive violence against the Palestinian people.")

globalgiving.org - gaza emergency relief fund

UNRWA

PAMA - Palestinian American Medical Association

Islamic-Relief UK

Crisis Relief UN

support.anera

Save the Children (UK)

ISRA (UK)

MORE Donation links in THIS X/Twitter thread (I'm assuming, I don't have an account so I can't see)

Other Palestine Masterlists:

Hussyknee's Masterlist

PaliPunk's Masterlist

[dear-indies]

Hey Cat and Mouse! Do you know of any places I can donate to help Palestinians in any way? I found a great one a few weeks back, but had lost my debit and am unable to find it again (it was on IG, so I couldn't save it), but I'd really like to donate somewhere now that I've got a new card. Thank you!

I'm not sure which aid is getting in/which one is best to donate to so if anybody has any additional information and links please let me know!

Taken from @palipunk's pinned post:

Palestine Action

Al-Shabaka

Electronic Intifada 

Adalah Justice Project 

IMEU Fundraiser 

Medical Aid for Palestinians 

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund 

Addameer

Muslim Aid

Palestine Red Crescent

[empathetic-ordinary]

"The reality is that Palestinians have been dehumanised so much, that even when they hold up their murdered children in front of cameras there are those who will still say they are responsible for their own children’s deaths." - Yara Hawari

Yara Hawari is a senior policy fellow at Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.

[kp777]

When Palestinians tell the world what is happening to them, why are they met with disbelief?

[thethief1996]

Gaza has been completely cut off from the world and from each other. Gazans with Turkish SIM cards have been able to make contact with the outer world and said rescue teams don't know where to go because they don't know where bombings have happened. There's no way to call ambulances. At night, due to the electricity cut, Gazans are left in complete dark only lit up by the airstrikes. They have no way to know what's happening on the next street over. Meanwhile, Israel is publishing AI rendered videos of tunnels under Al-Shifa hospital to manufacture consent for its bombing. Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, is housing hundreds of refugees.

This was meant to cut off Palestinians from the world, because we are sympathizing with their first person accounts and it makes Genocide Joe look like a genocide denier when he casts doubt on the death toll (a note on this, Israel has called the Gaza Municipality to threaten them with bombings. They want to erase every record that Palestinians exist in Gaza).

It's not up to us to feel defeated. Israel denies the very existence of Palestinians, and when we turn around and give up hope, we are washing our hands of any work towards liberation and becoming complicit in the zionist narrative. The people of Gaza are alive, the people in the West Bank are alive and the 5.6 million refugees denied the right of return are alive. Mosques are using their minarets to send out help signals. We're being asked to be their voices, so let's be their voices.

Educate yourself. Read into Palestinian history and the occupation. You can't common sense people out of decades of propaganda. If your arguments crumble when a zionist brings up the "disengagement of Gaza", you have to learn more.

Read Decolonize Palestine. They have 15 minute reads that concisely explain the occupation (and its colonial roots) and debunk popular myths, including pinkwashing.

Read on Palestine. Here's an amazing masterpost.

Verso Book Club is giving out free books on Palestine (I personally downloaded Ten Myths about Israel by Ilan Pappe).

Keep yourself updated and share Palestinian voices, looking to inform yourself from the sources. Palestinians have asked of us only that we share, tweet and post, over and over. Muna El-Kurd said every tweet is like a treasure to them, because their voices are repressed on social media and even on this very app. Make it your action item to share something about the Palestinian plight everyday. Here are some resources:

Al Jazeera

Anadolu Agency

Mondoweiss

Boycott Divest Sanction Movement

Palestinian Youth Movement

Mohammed El-Kurd (twitter / instagram)

Al-Shabaka (twitter / instagram)

Mariam Barghouti (twitter / instagram)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Motaz Azaiza (instagram) - reporting directly from Gaza. He's been offline since yesterday. Keep him in your prayers.

Take action. You can participate in boycotts wherever you are in the world, through BDS guidelines. Don't be overwhelmed by gigantic boycott lists. BDS explicitly targets only a few brands which have bigger impact. You can stop consuming from as many brands as you want, though, and by all means feel free to give a 1 star review to McDonalds, Papa John, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Starbucks. Right now, they are focusing on boycotting the following:

Carrefour

HP

Puma

Sabra

Sodastream

Ahava cosmetics

Israeli fruits and vegetables

Push for a cultural boycott - pressure your favorite artist to speak out on Palestine and cancel any upcoming performances on occupied territory (Lorde cancelled her gig in Israel because of this. It works.)

If you can, participate in direct action or donate. Palestine Action works to shut down Israeli weapons factories in the UK and USA, and have successfully shut down one of their firms in London.Some of the activists are going on trial and are calling for mobilizing on court.

Call your representatives. The Labour Party in the UK had an emergency meeting after several councilors threatened to resign if they didn't condemn Israeli war crimes. Calling to show your complaints works, even more if you live in a country that funds genocide.

FOR PEOPLE IN THE USA: USCPR has developed this toolkit for calls, here's a document that autosends emails to your representatives and here's a toolkit by Ceasefire in Gaza NOW!

FOR PEOPLE IN EUROPE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace targeting the European Parliament

FOR PEOPLE IN THE UK: Friends of Al-Aqsa UK and Palestine Solidarity UK have made toolkits for calls and emails

FOR PEOPLE IN GERMANY: Here's a toolkit to contact your representatives by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN POLAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN DENMARK: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN SWEDEN: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN FRANCE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN THE NETHERLANDS: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN GREECE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN NORWAY: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN ITALY: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN PORTUGAL: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN SPAIN: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN FINLAND: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRIA: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN BELGIUM: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN ROMANIA: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN UKRAINE: Here's a toolkit by Voices in Europe for Peace

FOR PEOPLE IN AUSTRALIA: Here's a toolkit by Stand With Palestine

FOR PEOPLE IN CANADA: Here's a toolkit by Indepent Jewish Voices for Canada

Join a protest. Here's a constantly updating list of protests:

Here's a list on tumblr

Global calendar

Another global calendar (go to the instragram of the organizers to confirm your protest)

USA calendar

Australia calendar

There will a National March on Nov 4th in Washington, with the participation of 200+ organizations. If you can, get a group of friends and attend.

Feel free to add more resources. Check the links, there are too many protests and tumblr has a word limit for text posts.

[fairuzfan]

hi! i have a question and sorry if youve answered it before, we know what the tumblr search function is like. what IS hamas' ideology? asking as someone who is 100% pro palestine. im afraid to look it up bc i bet its 99% misinformation, but its also something im not too well aware of and i hold a role in my community where i have to educate people on things like this quite often, and its hard to correct people on false propaganda when i dont exactly know what the actual situation is like. thanks for taking the energy to answer questions! you do a lot of good

hello, thanks for sending this in. i'm not super comfortable talking about this on my blog for a variety of reasons, but i'd suggest reading Tariq Baconi's work on Hamas to learn more about how they came together and what they believe in. there's also the hamas charter that was published a few years ago on middle east eye (the updated one from 2017, I'm not going to link it but just look it up on google).

I also like looking through Al-Shabaka.org for just some other analysis of Palestinian policy and politics in general.

Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance by Tariq Baconi

Al-Shabaka

[mariacallous]

Hamas’s bloody attack on Israel has destroyed the already-crumbling Israeli approach toward the Palestinians. But will it actually help Hamas?

Answering this question requires assessing what Hamas hoped to gain from its unprecedented attack. We don’t have the minutes from meetings of Hamas’s military leaders or other definitive sources, but we can evaluate several plausible goals of Hamas today related to the attack. Hamas’s strike may help the organization in some areas, but for the most part, the attack is likely to set Hamas back and will prove especially devastating to ordinary Palestinians.

One goal of the attacks may have been to force an Israeli collapse. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has pushed the idea that Israel is a fragile “spider web,” easily swept aside if a militant group is willing to fight, and die, in the cause. Here, Hamas may be aided by fierce divides in Israeli society that became apparent after the election of an extreme right-wing government and were exacerbated by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to push through controversial judicial reforms. Hamas leaders may believe that these divisions reflect Israel’s overall weakness, particularly as they spread to the Israeli military, with some reservists having pledged in recent months not to serve a government that they consider undemocratic.

But in this, the attack appears to have backfired, at least for now. Israelis have come together in the face of the bloodshed—including with the emergency creation of a unity government—and reservists quickly assembled for what appears set to become one of Israel’s largest military operations in decades. This rapid unity is characteristic of Israel, where external threats have promoted national solidarity despite many domestic disagreements. The extreme nature of the violence—particularly the atrocities committed against older adults and children—has proven particularly outrageous to Israelis.

Another goal may have been to shatter Israeli domestic support for the occupation of Palestinian territories. Before the attack, many Israelis might have rightly believed that they paid a small price for the growth in settlements in the West Bank, the lack of Palestinian self-government, and the severe restrictions on Gaza. Tareq Baconi, the president of the board of the think tank Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, argues that Hamas’s attack fundamentally undermined “Israel’s belief that it can maintain a regime of apartheid against Palestinians, interminably, with no cost to its population.”

The attacks both succeeded on this score and failed disastrously for what that realization means for Palestinians. On the one hand, no Israeli today can think that they can simply ignore the Palestinian issue: In this small country, everyone seems to have a family member or friend who is dead or wounded, and the coming military operation and reserve call-up involves huge parts of Israeli society. The attack also shattered any illusions about Israeli invincibility: The loss of life appears to be the largest of any single day in Israeli history.

On the other hand, the scale of the attacks and horrific nature of the violence will lead most Israelis to believe even more firmly in the idea that Palestinians cannot be trusted with self-rule. The Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which raged from 2000 to 2005, convinced many Israelis that negotiations with Palestinians would be met by violence; the latest Hamas attacks will reinforce this view and support the idea that more Palestinian autonomy means more violence.

Hamas may also have achieved some success in its competition with the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. That struggle is intense, with both sides crushing supporters of the other in their respective domains. The PA is in crisis, however. Its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is an 87-year-old chain-smoker and has no clear successor. The PA itself is corrupt and has little legitimacy. One of its biggest problems is that it helps Israel crack down on Hamas and other violent anti-Israel groups in the West Bank, essentially acting as Israel’s police force. As Baconi contends, the PA is “seen as inextricably linked with Israeli apartheid.”

Hamas was also suffering from legitimacy issues. Its rule over Gaza is authoritarian, and in part due to Israeli and international restrictions, has failed to deliver economically. To keep the past peace with Israel, it too cracked down on violent groups at times, leading to criticisms both within its military wing and from other, more radical groups.

The latest violence will restore, and greatly enhance, Hamas’s “resistance” credentials. The attack’s tactical success showed that it is a skilled organization, and the damage inflicted on Israel would hearten anyone who wants Israel to pay a bloody price for past killings of Palestinians.

Yet if the goal was to improve the situation in Gaza and demonstrate that Hamas can rule responsibly, that effort has failed disastrously. It will be hard even for Hamas allies such as Qatar and Turkey to portray the group as a responsible international actor. Many Israeli officials in the past negotiated with Hamas, seeing it as a necessary evil and preferring its rule to chaos in Gaza. Now it is just seen as evil.

Ordinary Gazans are already paying a price, faced with a massive Israeli bombing campaign and the denial of electricity, fuel, and other basic supplies. This price will only grow in the days and weeks to come as Israel’s military campaign goes into higher gear.

Hamas may have also sought to reshape the international environment as it pertains to Palestine and Israel. True, pro-Hamas rallies have erupted throughout the Arab world, but Arab regimes are skilled at channeling anti-Israeli anger rather than being forced by it to take action. Hamas leaders have called for other parts of the so-called resistance coalition—which largely consists of Iran and Iranian-backed groups such as Hezbollah—to join the fighting. So far, Hezbollah has only carried out limited solidarity attacks but has not engaged in all-out fighting. If it did, it would be a game-changer, as Hezbollah is far more formidable than Hamas. It is too soon to tell whether Hamas succeeded here.

Disrupting Arab states’ normalization with Israel may have been another goal of Hamas. Saudi Arabia, the ultimate diplomatic prize for Israel, has recently hosted numerous Israeli officials, and normalization appeared to be at least a possibility. For now, this is off the table. Aaron David Miller, a senior U.S. Middle East expert, argues that the chances for now are reduced to zero. Yet this is at best a partial success. The United Arab Emirates, one of the signers of the Abraham Accords, condemned the Hamas attacks. And although Saudi Arabia cannot move forward with Israel while Palestinians are dying en masse, the kingdom’s leaders may simply wait until headlines have moved on to resume negotiations.

If Hamas sought to disrupt U.S.-Israel relations, this too clearly backfired. The Biden administration has always been supportive of Israel, but it has expressed concerns in the past about Israel’s judicial overhaul and associated democratic backsliding. The administration and Israel also disagreed hotly on whether to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program.

Yet the attacks have brought the Biden administration to embrace Israel more fiercely than ever before, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveling to Tel Aviv in a show of solidarity and Biden giving a speech pledging strong support. He also addressed the issue of the conflict spreading: “To any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word: Don’t. Don’t.”

It is possible that Hamas’s military leaders had only the vaguest strategic goals and instead lashed out due to anger and hopes of catharsis. Indeed, it appears that Hamas’s political leadership, much of which lives safely in Qatar, may not have been told of the attacks in advance. It is often easy to impute a strategy after an event, when in reality, the perpetrators may have had only unrealistic hopes and a strong desire for action. So the answer to “what was Hamas thinking?” may simply be that it wasn’t.

Whatever Hamas’s true strategic goals and the degree of their success, it is clear that the people of Gaza, and Palestinians in general, will lose.

Whatever sense of satisfaction some Palestinians or their supporters might feel for seeing Israelis in pain, in the weeks to come, the human toll of the Israeli response will be high. In the long term, the attack will sow more suspicion and reinforce Israeli fears and anger, making any lasting solution even more elusive.

[brunojordanposts]

“El 7 de octubre demuestra que no puede haber un sistema de apartheid indefinido en Palestina sin un coste”

Entrevista a Tareq Baconi Presidente del Consejo de Administración de Al-Shabaka. También fue analista principal para Israel-Palestina y economía del conflicto en el International Crisis Group. En su obra, ‘Hamás: auge y pacificación de la resistencia palestina’, el investigador Tareq Baconi recorre los orígenes de Hamás y su rol en la región.       Pocos investigadores conocen mejor los…