Freedom Within Reach
June 2021
Palestine Action Toolkit PalestinianFeminist Collective
Palestine on the Advocacy Ground 02
In May of 2021, the world bore witness to the mounting crisis unfolding in Palestine. Palestinians were being Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions expelled from their homes in Jerusalem, particularly in 04 Sheikh Jarrah. During the Holy Month of Ramadan Palestinians were brutally assaulted and barred from worshipping in the Al-Aqsa Compound and Israeli police raided Al-Aqsa, wounding hundreds of Palestinians.
Palestinians throughout historic Palestine were Scholars In Action tormented, beaten, brutalized, and killed by Israeli state 06 and settler violence, and now face mass arrests. These events escalated into an 11-day Israeli bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip, which took the lives of 248 Palestinians, 66 of whom were children, displaced 107,000 people and resulted in the destruction of over
News & Social Media 2000 homes in the Gaza Strip alone. More than 6000 Table of Contents 08 Palestinians have been injured across historic Palestine during the uprisings and airstrikes. 15 May 2021, San Francisco Photo by Patrick Perkins In response to this renewed Israeli assault on Palestinian land and life, Palestinians rose up across all of historic Palestine. On May Engaging Palestine As A Feminist Issue 18th, 2021, Palestinians called for a Global Day of Action and a historic General Strike 10 that extended to every village, city, and refugee camp across Palestine. Alongside them, the Palestinian Diaspora and their co-struggles organized actions across the world triggering a massive worldwide solidarity movement calling for an end to Zionist settler-colonialism once and for all. The current uprisings, and this unprecedented and historic moment has brought forth the Unity Intifada. In these Repression & Censorship Of Palestine extraordinary times, Freedom is Within Reach, and it demands of all of us 12 tremendous discipline, organization, commitment, engagement, and steadfastness at all levels. This toolkit was created to support our people and co-strugglers to mobilize, to speak out, to take action, to center Palestinian voices, and to shift the narrative to achieve Palestinian liberation. Tips For Talking About Palestine In The demands of Palestinians and their co-strugglers are clear: an end to the blockade Your Workplace on the Gaza Strip, an immediate halt to expulsions in Jerusalem, specificallySheikh 14 Jarrah and Silwan, and an end to both state and settler violence, lynchings and
beatings of Palestinians. Our ultimate demands are to realize the end of the 2021 colonization of Palestine. We heed the call of Unity Intifada, and we rise up united, as one people, one struggle! 1
Rafah, Palestine 2020 Photo by Fatma Al-Luqa 2 TOOLKIT
ADVOCACY Biden! Harris!Won't you Biden! Learn!Refugees Will Return! Feminists Feminists! Speak ForFree YourMinds! a Palestine!! Feminists! GetFeminists! ForFree a in Line! Palestine! Women Feminists! Forand FreeWe a Unite! Palestine! today?! ManyNetanyahu,you Say?have HowKidsyou Killed What do US War Stopthe From Falastine! Machine! to Columbia FromA Crime!Occupation is KashmirPalestine! to FromPalestine tothe Philippines Stop the US War Machine! on the Blockade GazaEnd Now! GazaNow! StopBombing FromBePalestine Free!River the Will the Sea! to Free...FreePalestine! Sheikh Jarrah! Wewon They WeHave Rocks! haveTanks! OnlyThere Oneis Solution: Intifada! Revolution! listings of acrossactions Canada. the USand Peace Followthe 1
and check check and Join Actions
Palestinian Youth Palestinian Youth Movement
endthenakba.com
CHANTS
for the most up to dateforthe mostto up and ’ t backin t down
JewishVoicefor
than before. It keeps you on the right track when you when track right learn. the diligently on more you keeps language It the is, before. learn it to than Whatever motivation a perhaps? as reason country for that it Is another use to moving language. Or the learn reasons? to want personal you why yourself ask to need You abusiveIsraeli military practices. detention legislationpromoteduced to for human rights Palestinian children by ending Military Act Occupation HR2407II: Promoting Human for Rights Palestinian Children Under Living Israeli sentative urge sustain to supportto this block! a block lution 735M to weapons salebetweenUS and Israel. the Call your repre- StopWeaponsSales: government Israelfinances takestandand a forPalestinian rights, especially hereU.S.ourthe own in where neighborhoodsAlof displacedminent forciblyplan to nearlyPalestinians the Jerusalem in 2,000 leadinglettera Newmanis Biden urging theAdministration to STOP Israel inJerusalem:Palestinians Stopthe Forcible of Removal freedom.and rights Advocateforresolutions proposed and advance legislations that Palestinian 2
Call YourRepresentatives
-
Bustan and SheikhBustanand a Jarrah.is time stand to togetherThis Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Representative introducedOcasio a reso-Alexandria : Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL :Congresswoman Betty McCollum ’ s cruel military to the tune of $3.8B a year.cruel$3.8B a militarys tuneof the to
Representative Marie ’ re motivated to to motivated re - Minn.)intro-has
’ s im- s of and Israel Academic US Cultural Boycott Boycott Academic Geo: Gadot DropGal Nat the PalestinianFloridawith Stands People Stopthe Slander RacialAbrara Champion is Equity Omeish Pledge ThatPalestineFeminist Is A Issue! Palestinian Political Speech Censoring To Stop Tell Media Social Platforms Facebook,WeNeedTalk. to Violence.and Now. StopFundingThe Must US Israeli Apartheid Israelto LetterBiden Recent Halt Urging To ArmsSale Sanction Israeli Apartheid With Palestine: Rise Up Congress to Tell End theSpiral of Violence: Sanctions Now! #SaveSheikhJarrah #StopJerusalemExpulsions 3
Sign The Petitions
and
Photo by by Photo
16 May 2021, Chicago 2021, 16 May Aveedibya DeyAveedibya
3
2021 1 Boycott Solidarity In Action nance, by banning business with illegal Israeli Boycotts involve withdrawing support from settlements, ending military trade and free- Israel's apartheid regime, complicit Israeli trade agreements, as well as suspending Is- sporting, cultural and academic institutions, rael's membership in international forums Boycott, and from all Israeli and international compa- such as UN bodies and FIFA. nies engaged in violations of Palestinian hu- man rights. Divestment & Download the Buycott app and join the “Long Live Palestine, Boycott Israel” campaign 2 Divestment
List of products to boycott and companies to Sanctions Divestment campaigns withdraw investments boycott from the State of Israel and all Israeli and in-
ternational companies that sustain Israeli apartheid. Solidarity Statements For more info, visit bdsmovement.net • Black Lives Matter Paterson Statement of 3 Sanctions Solidarity with People of Palestine • The Liberation of Palestine Represents an Sanctions campaigns pressure governments Alternative Path for Native Nations to fulfil their legal obligations to end Israeli • NLG Statement in Solidarity with the apartheid, and not aid or assist its mainte- People of Palestine • Democratic Socialists of America
16 May 2021, Montreal, Canada
Photo by Omar Youssef
BDS
TOOLKIT
4
16 May 2021, Tunisia Photo by Latrach Med Jamil Scores of academic associations and departments have issued statements of solidarity with the Palestinian people. If you are a Learning & 4 Myths & Facts: Debunking scholar, urge the organizations and institutions you are with to Teaching Misinformation issue parallel statements. Resources • 7 Myths by Marc Lamont Hill Sign the Palestine And Praxis Open Letter. Scholars for • A Guide to Difficult Conversations About Palestinian Freedom from all over the world are encouraged to Israel and Palestine by JVP sign onto this open letter. • Antisemitism, Zionism & Anti-Zionism 1 Where To Start • Blockade on Gaza
Examples of Academic Solidarity Statements: • Decolonize Palestine: Myths Database • Angela Davis Statement of Solidarity with Palestine, Gaza and • Beginner Resources to Learn About Palestine • From the River to the Sea Sheikh Jarrah • Decolonize Palestine: Palestine 101 • Key48Return • Anthropologists for the Boycott of Israeli Academic • DSA Resource Library • Our History of Popular Resistance Institutions • JVP Palestine/Israel 101 • Slow Factory Foundation • Association of Asian American Studies • Learn Palestine • Subhi Taha: Map of Occupied Palestine • Gender Studies Departments in Solidarity with Palestinian • Not That Complication Feminist Collective Explained • Our History of Popular Resistance
INACTION • Harvard University Faculty Statement • Wear Your Voice • Palestinian Justice Syllabus • Michigan in Color Collective Statement on Palestine • Palestine and Praxis • Middle East Studies Association • Palestine Rises Up 5 Ethnic Cleansing & Apartheid • National Women’s Studies Association • Teach Palestine • Princeton University Community Statement • Addameer Prisoner Support and • UCLA Asian American Studies Human Rights Association • UC Press 2 • B’Tselem Report: Apartheid • UC Santa Cruz Feminist Studies How To Be A Co-Struggler: Collective • Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine • UC Santa Cruz Critical Race & Ethnic Studies Struggle Is Collective Liberation • Human Rights Watch report on • UC San Diego AAPI Studies Program Palestine Video and Images • UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies • 3 Ways the Media Enables Racist Violence • UC Davis Faculty Statement • How to be an Ally to PalestiniansWords • U. Colorado Boulder Women & Gender Studies Matter • U. Illinois Urbana Champaign Asian American Studies • We Must Commit Ourselves to Long-Term Department Solidarity With Palestinian Liberation • U. Illinois Chicago Global Asian Studies • United Educators of San Francisco Assembly Resolution in Solidarity What's happening in Sheikh • Yale University Ethnicity, Rights & Migration Program 3 Jarrah? SCHOLARS SCHOLARS • Yale Jews for Palestine Statement
• #SaveSheikhJarrah Educational Resources
• Key48Return Learn More About Academic Boycott 2021 • Left Voice Endorse the US Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI ) 7 TOOLKIT • Radical Therapy Center
6 • Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan: Ongoing Nakba and KEEP TEACHING ABOUT PALESTINE! 16 May 2021 Israeli Dispossession of Palestinians Photo by Amir Hanna 8
TOOLKIT NEWS & SOCIAL MEDIA Hidden Palestine Eye On Palestine Badil Resource Center Twitter Adalah Justice Project Updates From The Ground Middle East Eye Facebook Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) News & Analysis Twitter Within our Lifetime Wear Your Voice Instagram US Palestinian Community Network Instagram U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights Instagram Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) Twitter Palestinian Feminist Collective Noura Erekat Twitter Jewish Voice for Peace If Not Now Ayman Mohyeldin Instagram American Muslims for Palestine US Voices & Organizations
1
Follow For News Action Updates &
| | |
Website Instagram Website
| | | | Facebook Instagram Twitter Twitter Twitter Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook
| | Facebook |
Website |
Website Website Facebook | Facebook Facebook
Instagram | Twitter Instagram
|
Instagram Instagram Instagram |
|
Facebook Twitter
|
|
| Website | Instagram Twitter Instagram
Facebook | Facebook Facebook Twitter
|
| |
Twitter | Twitter Twitter
| |
|
|
|
| |
Let Land Palestine Gaza in Context Decolonize Palestine Background Resources Subhi Taha Rabet by PIPD Muhammad El Mariam Barghouti
’ s Talk Palestine Facebook Facebook - Facebook Kurd Website Instagram Instagram Facebook
Website | Instagram
| |
Instagram Instagram
|
| Twitter Instagram
|
The Terror Israel Of The Terror in Palestine Milestone Organizing Queer A Transformation: & Social Organizational Freedom for Struggle The WomenPrisoners: Palestinian Samidoun Palestine International of Children Defense Territories in Occupied the B Al Arrests in Quds Association Rights Human and Support Addameer Prisoner Israel Rights in Minority Arab for Center Adalah Legal ’ 2 tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights Rights for Human Center Information Israeli The tselem:
Read &Share Reports From The Ground
’ s Arrests
(Also here in here (Also
Arabic)
LiberatingPalestine #It'stimetoEnd Nakba #Nakba73 #RiseUpforPalestine #UnityIntifada #GazaUnderAttack #HandsOffJerusalem #StopJerusalemExpulsions #SaveSheikhJarrah #PalestineIsAFeministIssue #EndthesiegeonGaza #LifttheBlockade #FreePalestine# ة 3 د Mural by by Mural
ح Oakland, California Oakland, و م Social Social Media Hashtags _ ة ض Cece Carpio ا
ف ت ن ا
9
2021 10
TOOLKIT
ENGAGING PALESTINE AS A FEMINIST ISSUE aIssue?" Feminist Is"Why Palestine Issue" athe ison ReflectionsFeminist Now? "Palestine "WhyWhy Feminism? Resistance" of History A Women: "Palestinian Feminism" Palestine's "Whose Feminism? Live Instagram Collective Feminist Palestinian Struggle" A Feminist Is "Palestine "How aFeminist Issue" Critical Palestine is Feminisms Palestinian to Narrate Permission Forms Group Feminist Palestinian Palestine in Struggling People Ourto Letter A Love Issue aFeminist is Palestine that Pledge 1 2
Arraf,Amani Barakat (AMP), Zarefah Baroud, and Iman Zaghari Iman and Baroud, Zarefah (AMP), Barakat Arraf,Amani Nabulsi, Yazan Zahzah, Hana Masri and Nada Elia (PFC) Elia Nada and Hana Masri Zahzah, Nabulsi, Yazan Pledge" Power) (Unbought Leila and Yazan MECA) PFC, (AJP, Assad Soheir Tamari and From thePalestinian Feminist(PFC) Collective Learning About The The Learning About (Loubna Qutami, Spectre Journal) Qutami, Spectre (Loubna “ Palestine Is A FeministIssue Discussion with Sarah Ihmoud, Sandra Sandra Ihmoud, with Sarah Discussion
Facebook Live Discussion with Mirawith Live Discussion Facebook
(Nada Elia, Mondoweiss) Elia, (Nada (Nada MiddleElia, Eye) East (Nada
Discussion with Rasha Mubarak, Mubarak, Rasha with Discussion Discussion with Huwaida with Huwaida Discussion
”
Pledge
Why We,WomenColor,of as forJoinDivestment fromCall the Israel PalestineWhy The of Question Concern A Is Feminist ThePolitical Marginalization ofPalestinian Womenin the West Bank BirthThePalestinian at Israeli Women Issueof Giving Checkpoints Tali SexualandViolence,Bodies Women'sIsraeli SettlerColonialism Palestinian WomenGirlsbe Protected and Must Palestine Feminist A As Issue Palestine: ReproductiveIssue JusticeA FreeFreeNo HomelandWomen Without JuneJordan's Palestine Lebanonof and Songs ImprisonmentWomenandGirls of Criminalizingthe Victim: The LifeStoryOdeh Rasmea of Beyond Propaganda:as ViolenceColonialPinkwashing asFeministIssue a BDS Confronting Apartheid EverythingDo With Has To Feminism For SolidarityACall QueersWith Palestinian fromAction to Indigenous ACall Women and of Color Feminists AStatement fromthe Jerusalemite Women's Coalition 3
’ at: Our Struggle to Reclaim Politics Politics Struggleat:Our Reclaim to and Sarahand Ihmoud) Feminists@law) SuzanneSelmaAdely,and James, Davis Angela Mondoweiss) RaphaelDeeg and AreaGold,Bay Reporter) Palestine As A Feminist Struggle Additional Resources For Understanding
(David Lloyd,Nadera Shalhoub
(USCPR) (Addameer)
(USCPR) (Soheir( Asaad)
(PYM) (RababAbdulhadi, Mary Salome,Kate
(ThereseWire)Saliba,the Feminist
(al
- Haq)
(Neferti Tadiar, Social Text)
-
(alQaws) Arabicversion Kevorkian,RanaSharif, Brenda Bhandar, (JWC)
(Nahla Abdo,Books) (Nahla Pluto
(RababAbdulhadi,
(NaderaShalhoub (2011 Delegation) (2011
(UN)
(Yara Hawari,al
) Three protesters were arrestedas police (Barbara Ransby, (Barbara Colorlines)
Palestinian
Palestinian womansmiles andsings as from thefrom road, East Jerusalem, June 9, Israeli police violently push protesters colonialismat a demonstration by the 2020. violence inherent inoccupation and police violencethe and structural violently confrontedthe women.
Palestinian women protested
feminist movement Tala'at -
Kevorkian, SuhadNashif - HeatherSharona Weiss Shabaka)
Photo Photo by
.
11
2021 12
TOOLKIT
REPRESSION & CENSORSHIP OF PALESTINE When It Comes to Palestine, Free Speech Rights Are Under Attack UnderFree Rights Are When Speech to Comes Palestine, It Shehadeh) Saliem Malloy, Sean Kinukawa, Tomomi Abdulhadi, Integrity and Intellectual Sumoud with Palestinian InSolidarity Silenced: Be WeWill Not Settlements Israeli with CutTies Anti Use US: States Freedom of Academic and the Limits Rites: Palestine Uncivil Dissent Stifling Sorry, Anti TheSpeech FreePalestineto Exception Israel Right to the Boycott Protects The Amendment First Social Justice for Movements andOther Movement the Palestinian on The Attack of Backlash: The Business Antisemitism of Definition IHRA the Regarding Statement MESA Board Palestine Stop Censoring Facebook, End Marcus Secretary DOE Demand Groups Rights Letter: Civil Academy In The Enforcing Silence ( Media on Social Silenced Being Palestinians Apartheid: Digital Anti Israel Opposing in Organizations Rights (100) CCR Joins Anti of Definition the IHRA About Concern Letter Expressing Freedom Academic for Scholars California Anti 1 in silencing voices of dissent. of voices in silencing complicit been have Youtube, all and Venmo, Eventbrite, Instagram, Facebook, Zoom, as such companies media social big tech and politicians, Universities, freedom. academic and speech offree criminalization and the boycott, to rights amendment first violates that of legislation the passing They include last decade. inthe have intensified These attacks for Palestine. in freedom and and for justice for advocating suppressed silenced and criminalized, punished, co their the US and in Palestinians history, Throughout
- - Semitism Speech Free SenateIn Disregards Legislation BDS Learn MoreLearn About TheseForms Of Repression - Zionism Still Doesn't Equal Anti Equal Doesn't Still Zionism
(IJAN) (CS4AF)
(JVP) - Boycott Laws to Punish Responsible Businesses: Laws Penalize Companies that Companies Penalize Laws Businesses: Responsible Punish to Laws Boycott
(HRW) (Rabab Abdulhadi, Mondoweiss) Mondoweiss) Abdulhadi, (Rabab
(JVP)
(PL and (PL and CCR)
- Semitism
(Sumaya Awad, Daphna Thier) Awad, (Sumaya (NCAC)
- (ACLU) strugglers have been been strugglers have -
Boycott Act Boycott (Steven Salaita) (Steven
Omar Zahzah) Omar
Attacks on Free Speech Free on Attacks
(Radhika Sainath) (Radhika
(MESA)
(CCR)
(CCR) (Rabab (Rabab
Legal Resources for #NakbaAt73 Palestine Protests Palestine for #NakbaAt73 Resources Legal Student Rights as a Know Your Employee Rights as an Know Your Law Enforcement/FBI Rights With Know Your RightsKnow Your While Protesting OriginDiscrimination National Ethnicity and Rights Race, Know Your Rights Rights Students' Know Your Rights Rights Protesters Know Your Rights Know Your American Civil Liberties Union Liberties American Civil Palestine Legal 2 3
Know Your Rights Resources Reporting RepressionAnd Seeking Legal Support
(Palestine Legal) (Palestine
(CAIR)
(CAIR)
(ACLU)
(CAIR) (ACLU)
(CAIR)
Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona Akhere Ehimetalor
(ACLU) London, 15 May 2021 May London, 15
13
2021 This section of the toolkit is intended to assist those who have wanted to advance a different narrative on the Palestinian experience in their workplace. It includes the following categories:
01 Speaking Up! Why Now? 02 How to Talk About Palestine in the Workplace
WORKPLACE 03 Palestine Through Six Talking Points 04 What Palestinians are Demanding
It is often very difficult to talk about Palestine, especially in our work- place settings. Palestinians and their co-strugglers have for too long been silenced, vilified and criminalized for countering dominant narra- 01 Speak Up! Why Now? tives in all sectors of US institutional life. Worse, they have been dubbed as anti-Semites even though they have made very clear, time Palestinians throughout historic Palestine, from the Jordan River to the and again, that critique of Zionism as an ideology, and/or of Israeli Mediterranean Sea, are rising up together in what is being declared as the settler-colonialism, is not the same as anti-Semitism, and that a large Unity Intifada. The last time we have seen such a moment was during the component of the movement for Palestinian liberation are in fact Jews 1936 General Arab Strikes against the British Mandate. As they place their rejecting Zionism as the sole expression of Jewish identity. These forms of suppressing free speech on Palestine have been persistent across bodies and homes on the line to end 73 years of colonialism, apartheid, generations, are accompanied by volatile consequences for one’s own dispossession and occupation, they are calling on their Palestinian siblings professional, economic, physical and mental health wellness, and have in the Diaspora and co-strugglers to do our part by Speaking Up!!!! As only intensified in the last decade as the movement for Palestinian lib- Mohammed al-Kurd from Sheikh Jarrah has recently stated “it is difficult eration has gained power and influence. to have the conversation, but it is more difficult to live under occupation.” Palestinians are declaring this moment as one guided by hope and dignity It is however, very important to have these conversations, not only be- to finally, once and for all, attain full freedom. It is a critical juncture in the
cause of a responsibility towards the Palestinian people struggling for 2021 TOOLKIT Palestinian struggle and we must rise up alongside them in all capacities liberation, but also because when we all do these acts of solidarity, we 14 15 are able to protect more people taking action and open space for oth- to sway public opinion toward the moral integrity of the Palestinian
ers to do the same. struggle and to lift the siege on Palestinian narratives/voices. TIPS FOR TALKING ABOUT PALESTINE IN YOUR IN YOUR PALESTINE ABOUT TIPSTALKING FOR
Knowing Your Audience Examples
If you work in a media or tech company: you law and how what is happening is a violation can start the conversation by speaking out of human rights. against corporate suppression of free speech, or discuss how in fact tech is not If you work in a job where your employers neutral and what responsibilities tech have direct ties with Israeli companies or workers have in these moments. public institutions: you can make them aware that there is a global movement for If you work in education: you can start the boycott of Israel which parallels the conversation by talking about the movements to boycott apartheid in South importance of free intellectual exchange of Africa and sway them toward institutional ideas and experiences, or talk about the responsibility by ending complicity. Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com difficulties Palestinians educators and students face just trying to teach/learn. If you work in the medical field: you can talk 02 How To Talk Interpersonal chats in break rooms, or on the about the ethical responsibility of medical phone are also tremendously meaningful. If you work in a job dedicated to social, practitioners to account for war- About Palestine In climate, disability, racial, gendered, sexual, manufactured injury, disease, mortality rates Another option is to create a space to openly gendered or other forms of justice: you can etc. draw a direct correlation between your The Workplace share and engage in discussions in the workplace with the purpose of bringing workplace values and how that specific form If you work in a labor union: you can discuss people together to talk about issues and of injustice is unfolding in Palestine. You can the boycott, divestment, sanctions 1 The Forum to Have the topics that are important and/or interesting find resources at www.uscpr.org/ movement (BDS) as a call to establish a to them. togetherwerise picket line and reference the history of labor Conversation solidarity with Palestine including boycott If you work in the food industry: talk about efforts by various locales of UAW in the Many corporations have a centralized Palestinian cuisine, the various ways 1970’s and in 2014 as well as ILWU discussion board which employees can post 2 Knowing Your Audience: Palestinian culture is appropriated, stolen, Longshoremen notorious boycott of messages on to generate a conversation or and how natural foods indigenous to unloading the Israeli Zim Line Ships. to share resources on how people can learn Palestine are threatened by Israeli attacks on more or take action. Before crafting your message, reflect on your agricultural production and access. If you are a cultural worker, share and audience. What sort of workplace discuss the work of Palestinian artists, For smaller workplace environments, a staff environment are you a part of? What are the If you work in a job that has promoted values writers, singers, designers, playwrights, meeting or interpersonal discussion with values of your team? How can you make a of democratic engagement, inclusion and/or producers, etc. your supervisor might make most sense. An connection with your co-workers in a way diversity: you can talk about this as a email message to coworkers can also be that can help make them feel that the Palestinian and/or an advocate for Palestine If you work in other professions: find a way appropriate. Palestinian cause matters to them and that and why it matters to you. to connect with the real lived experiences of they are also stakeholders in Palestinian your co-workers whether that be through You can organize an online discussion forum freedom? Do you have colleagues that off company hours and invite your co- If you work in the legal field: you can discuss working class struggle, struggles against support the Palestinian cause or identify as workers to attend so you can share these the calls to end normalization agreements borders (for immigrant and refugee TOOLKIT solidarity activists? thoughts. with Israel until it complies with international communities especially), anti-racist struggles, 16 and gendered/sexual justice struggles. 18 TOOLKIT
and the groups youcan contact, including supportlegal as soon as you can. There are many and reach out organizationsto for resources and workplace becomes hostile, document everything place, so if your job is threatened or if your matter. Yourlegal rights vary will from placeto against you for expressing youropinion on this Your supervisor/employer should retaliate not push back. Do notretract your principles when you receive the other way around. jected blockade, to apartheid, and persecution, not are as doing, they are under occupation, and sub- defendto themselves, which is exactly what they Make sure stress to that Palestinians havethe right back the to principles. questionsing asthey come upby always going out worrying about those myths and then answer- best present to the principles of the struggle with- is a fight between Jews and Arabs/Muslims, is it seemmay important to debunk myths such as this Zionism as acolonial enterprise/project. While it Palestinian struggle: Itis aglobal struggle against Make sure be to clear about the principles of the your truth preemptively. you craft yourmessage. Ask for people torespect Speak your own truth and makethat clear when choose deliver to it. Be sure be to clear in your message, however you (continued) PalestineThe In Workplace 02 How To Talk About 3 4
Fear ofRetaliation Calculating Your Words ACLU.
Palestine Legal
anger. attempting to entrap toyou say something out of Steer clear of anyresponses youfeel are details about the actors/forms of resistance. we can stickto our principles without goinginto Resistance is justified when people are occupied: the calls from Palestinians onthe ground. Words matter andit is important for usto amplify Be careful about the dispossessed. whichin Palestinians have been occupied and been achieved, it does not resolve the years73 Though aceasefire onthe assault onGaza has killed nearly 300, and injured thousands. assault which has displaced over 40,000 people, survived an day11 renewed Israeli airstrike condemned blockade since 2006,have just lived under a ruthless and internationally of Palestinians all, in the Gaza Strip, who have killing sprees have intensifiedthis week. Worse living under an illegal military occupation and lynchings. Palestiniansin the WestBank remain brutalized by Israeli police andsettler mob from Jerusalem Haifato Lydareto being neighborhood. Palestinians citizens of Israel homestheir Jerusalem's in Sheikh jarrah me greatly. Palestinians are being evicted from refugees, the events this past week has pained the daughter/granddaughter of Palestinian intensifying violence unfolding in Palestine. As now,By Iam sure youare aware all of the Example 5 that has unfolded in Palestine: Step 1: Describe the Current Situation
Crafting Message:Your
“ two - sided conflict ”
frame.
• • • • • • Examples What do youwant from your work space: Step 3: Pitching Your Ask • • • • • • • • Examples Step 2: and the first can also be anopportunity to think of long Think of the power or influence you have and/or your place of work engagement onthis issue. are being silenced asking for more space andintention for deeper Asking your workspace to be aware that Palestinians andtheir co Palestinian narratives. Asking your workspace to endorse or BDS toend complicity silencing in off, etc. space reflect to onthe events, resources health for mental support, time exhaustion they might be currently experiencing. Maybe providingthem Palestinian, and/or Muslim andthe various forms of grief,trauma, pain and Asking your workspace to consider itsconstituents who are Arab, resources) Sharing resources for how learn to more (you can include alink to congressional representatives. Urging yourco our principles/values and speak to outwhen injusticeis unfolding. causes/communities have done for usthis year, inspiring usto be truer to The importance that the Movement for Black Lives andother social justice from jobs, their silenced, andcriminalized for speaking their truth. have been punished for so longandwhile Palestinians are still being fired The courage it takes speak to upwhen Palestinians/advocates for Palestine speakto up. The isolation you have feltin your workplace settingwhich is pushing you setting, which isgiving you the confidence toraise the topic. The support youhave felt as amember of the team in your workplace been experiencing as aresult of the events. An expression of vulnerability: the fear, grief, pain you have personally of speaking up. A sense responsibility of amplifyto their voices and break through the fear The courage you feel based on the resilience of Palestinians in Palestine. Your own entry/orientation to the Palestinian cause. Describe What it Means for You to Be Speaking Up
-
step open is to the door for conversation. -
workers join to actions, petitions,sign appeal to their
- term strategizing and change,
- strugglers
-
this
03 Palestine Through Six Talking Points
1 The Nakba: Dispossession & Refugees
The Israeli state was declared on May 15th, 1948. It was based on the ideology of Zionism which promoted the belief of a Jewish-only state in historic Palestine. When the state was created, Zion- ists expelled approximately 750,000 Palestinians. Most of these Palestinians and their descendants have been barred from returning to historic Palestine. They are estimated to be approximately 10 million people worldwide. About half of them (5M) still live as stateless refugees in United Nations refugee camps scattered throughout the surrounding region. Hundreds of thousands of other Pal- estinians were internally displaced in 1948. Over 500 Palestinian towns, villages, and neighborhoods were destroyed. Many Palestinians were murdered in massive ethnic cleansing campaigns such as the Deir Yassin Massacre. These events are known to Palestinians as al-Nakba which means catas- trophe. 78% of historic Palestine was stolen to create the Israeli state. This catastrophe was green- lighted and supported by the United Nations. Since 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been turned into refugees for a second or third time, due to Israel’s unabated ethnic cleansing and home demolition policies and due to countless wars on Palestinian land and life. 3 Blockade On The Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip has been under an Israeli blockade since 2006. All borders, sky and sea ports are sealed 2 Military Occupation off by the Israeli military. This means goods and people cannot enter or leave freely. Since the blockade, Israel has waged over 40 assaults on the Gaza Strip, four of which included massive airstrikes which have devastated land, economic viability and life (2009, 2012, 2014, 2021). These assaults have included In 1967, several Arab States lost a war to Israel. This resulted in the permanent exodus of some the direct targeting of critical infrastructure including water sanitation systems, cemeteries, sewage sys- 200,000 Palestinians. Israel seized control of the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, the Syrian Golan tems, hospitals, media offices, and more. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed by these wars, ap- Heights, the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Since 1967, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank proximately half of whom are under the age of 18. In 2018, non-violent Palestinian protestors were tar- have lived under military occupation which denies Palestinians their self-determination, freedom geted by Israeli sniper fire during the Great March of Return. This resulted in the death of some 200 Pal- of mobility, economic justice, social, civil and political rights. In the last 20 years, the occupation estinians and permanent injuries of thousands more because Israel tested new bone-shattering shrapnel has become more violent and polices Palestinians in both the public sphere and private life. In the on the limbs of Palestinians. Gaza has one of the highest rates of unemployment, mental health crisis, West Bank, roadblocks, checkpoints, security outposts and a concrete wall which is twice as high poverty, suicide, and disability in the world. It is the most densely populated place on earth and is often as the Berlin Wall, limits the ability of Palestinians to freely go to school, work, visit family, seek regarded as an open air prison. medical attention and more. Scores of Palestinians have died at checkpoints unable to seek proper medical attention. Scores of Palestinian women have been forced to give birth to stillborn babies at checkpoints. Palestinians are regularly stopped, frisked, harassed, tormented, beaten, and 4 Imprisonment sometimes killed in an extrajudicial fashion by Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, the Israeli state contin- ues to annex more lands in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, which displaces Palestinians Palestinian leaders are regularly assassinated or imprisoned. Palestinians have one of the highest impris-
from their homes. The annexed homes and lands are then given to settlers who have formed lynch onment rates in the world. Because they are tried in Israeli military courts, they are denied due process.
mobs that terrorize Palestinians. South African political leaders regard the colonial architecture of There is a 99% probability of being found guilty by Israeli military courts. Palestinians have long testified the West Bank as comparable and/or worse than racial apartheid in South Africa. to the use of brute and coercive physical, psychological and sexual torture under Israeli interrogation,
TOOLKIT which often leads to false concessions. Palestinian children, some as young as five years old, are the 21 20 highest likely population to be imprisoned in the world. 03 Palestine Through Six Talking Points (continued) Palestinian Feminist Collective 5 Justice for Palestinians Living In Land Occupied In 1948 palestinianfeministcollective 20% of the current population in the state of Israel are Palestinians who either succeeded in remaining close to their homes, or were internally displaced within what is now referred to as Israel. Since 1948, @PalFeminist they have been discriminated against by the state through over 60 apartheid policies on the books that relegate them to second-class citizenship. They are prohibited from entering into certain labor sectors, speaking Arabic as their national language, and even studying the Nakba in the Israeli education sys-
tem. They are currently being beaten by state and settler violence for protesting for their rights and freedom and have risen up alongside Palestinians from other geographies calling for complete decolo- [email protected] nization and affirming their belonging to Palestinians who live under occupation in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, in refugee camps across the region and across the Diaspora.
6 Censoring Palestine
Palestinians have for too long been silenced for speaking our truth. The United States has never been an honest broker but instead has facilitated Palestinian land loss, occupation, death, and dispossession by granting Israel international immunity and bankrolling the occupation. Academic institutions, corporate media, and now big social media companies, are suppressing the narratives of Palestinians, erasing evi- dence of Israel’s human rights violations, and censoring all advocates for justice and freedom in Palestine. Worse, politicians, under pressure from the Israel lobby in the US, are continuing to pass legislation that criminalizes free speech concerning freedom and justice in Palestine under the banner of “counter- terrorism.” One of the logics of settler-colonialism is to erase the indigenous people: this includes their for- cible removal from the land; but it also includes an attack on and erasure of their narratives. Palestine has been erased from world maps and Palestinian voices, in the homeland and diaspora, are being silenced in order to maintain the status quo. 04 What Palestinians Are Demanding?
An End To Zionist Settler Colonialism
What does that mean? • Lift the blockade and end all Israeli wars on the Gaza Strip. • End ethnic cleansing and home expulsion campaigns in Jerusalem, particularly the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. • End the military occupation of the West Bank, full removal of settlements and military infrastructure. • Full rights and freedoms for all Palestinians Living in Land Occupied in 1948 and an end to state and settler violence against Palestinians. • Allow refugees the right to return home in accordance with UN resolution 194. • END all US aid to Israel and invest in struggling communities here at home. • Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel as a non-violent tactic to end the normalization of gross violations
of international human rights law. TOOLKIT • 22 Stop the censorship and criminalization of advocates for justice in Palestine in media, education and Published by politics. Palestinian Feminist Collective