“Sorry, Sir, I Can't Shoot”
Gush Shalom
Here are two pieces about challenges facing worker organizing in Middle East! Informal networks of self-help and mutual care have given rise to a workers-led alliance in Lebanon to fight for rights of domestic workers. In EI article, Al-Austath, who heads the Palestinian Federation of Garment Industries, argues that Israel has a deliberate policy of preventing Gaza from nurturing its own industries. “They hate us because we work hard and build our country,” he said.
Israel must cloak itself in sorrow over what happened since that terrible summer of 1967, when it won a war and lost nearly everything. Israel is to hold lavish celebrations over the coming weeks to mark the 50th anniversary of what it calls the “liberation of Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights” – or what the rest of us describe as the birth of the occupation.
2016 began with a bang: French telecommunications giant Orange announced in early January it was dumping its Israel affiliate. Meanwhile, churches, student unions and local activists continued to organize strong boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns that caused panic among Israeli leaders.
What possessed me to travel 6,000 miles from L.A. and my family in order to brave the Mediterranean Sea in what is now beginning to look like the smallest vessel on the docks? Why join another effort to break the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza? I am here for the women-the extraordinary women of Gaza as well as the amazing women I'm proud to call my shipmates. I'm concerned about the war and blockade on the women, as schools, hospitals, and homes have been destroyed
The defiant display of Palestinian flags in Glasgow last week by Scottish fans of the Celtic soccer team raised over $200,000 in donations online, all marked for two Palestinian charitable groups. Activist fans of Scotland's Celtics soccer team - the working-class, historically progressive community already facing punishment for flying Palestinian flags at a recent game against Israel to protest the Occupation - have launched the fundraiser.
Spread the word