Welcome to the FFIPP archives
Past News
FFIPP Supports The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp
A message from our friends at the Freedom Theatre:
On the morning of April 15, 2009, an unknown individual set fire to The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp, Occupied Palestine. The main door of the theatre was completely burned, but the fire did not spread inside the building and the theatre remains largely unharmed. This was the second attempt to burn the theatre. On the night when Al Kamandjati Music Centre in Jenin was devastatingly set on fire three weeks ago, there was also a first failed attempt to destroy The Freedom Theatre.
On Monday 20 April 2009 a press conference was held in Jenin in response to the recent violent attacks on The Freedom Theatre as well as a death threat directed at Juliano Mer Khamis, the organisation's General Director.
The Freedom Theatre has grown to be very successful in the Jenin area. In the past year more than 16,000 boys, girls and adults visited the theatre and took part in our activities, and the recent theatre production of “Animal Farm” was a great success, bringing thousands of youth from the whole Jenin district to the theatre.
Hundreds of inhabitants of Jenin Camp are visiting the theatre in an act of solidarity and support.
A message from FFIPP
FFIPP has been supporting the Freedom Theatre for years, recognizing the courageous endeavor of Juliano Mer Khamis and the staff of the the Freedom Theatre of bringing theatre, music and art to the children of the camp.
We call on all FFIPP members to send a letter of support and solidarity with our friends at the Freedom Theatre to : info@thefreedomtheatre.org
Moreover, we invite you to join us and visit the Freedom Theatre to express your support of the theatre. Visit the Freedom Theatre in Jenin with the FFIPP Summer delegation to Palestine/Israel June 28 - July 9, 2009. Faculty, educators, students and FFIPP friends are welcome to join the delegation. For more information, see: Delegation
FFIPP stands in solidarity with our friends in New Profile
New Profile Movement: Harsh Police Attack on Freedom of Expression
26 April 2009
The Israeli Police Detained Political Activists from Ramat Hasharon, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Beer Sheva
“One who believed that criminal cases due to political activism are conjured up “only” for Arab citizens discovers that s/he is also liable to be detained due to the expression of opinions concerning the failures of the society and rule in Israel.”
Amongst the detainees – a 70 year old ceramic artist, the daughter of a family of “Righteous among the Nations” from Holland, a grandmother to six Israeli grandchildren
This morning the Israeli police descended upon the homes of political activists, members of the feminist movement New Profile, which acts for the civil-ization of society in Israel and against the undue influence of the military on life in the country.
The police demanded that the activists turn over the computers located in their homes, and among other things took the computers of partners of the detainees and in one case also the computer of a fourth grade pupil, the daughter of one of those interrogated. The computers of family members were returned after the activists were released on bail.
Amongst those interrogated: Analeen Kish, aged 70, a ceramics artist, daughter of a family of the the “Righteous among the Nations” who converted to Judaism after her marriage to Holocaust survivor Dr. Eldad Kish, active in organizations of Dutch Holocaust survivors in Israel. The pair have six grandchildren; Miriam Hadar, age 51, an editor and translator, mother of two, married to professor of psychology Uri Hadar. The two women were born in Holland and continue to hold Dutch citizenship.
Additionally detained for interrogation were Amir Givol, a resident of Jerusalem, Sergei Sandler, a resident of Beer Sheva, and Roni Barkan, a resident of Tel Aviv. The computers of all those interrogated were taken by the police, who presented search warrants.
All five were interrogated in the Ramat Hachiyal station in the Yarkon Region of the police. At the conclusion of the interrogation they were released on bail and under limitng conditions, and all were told that during the next 30 days they are forbidden to contact other members of the movement.
The New Profile Movement expressed rage over the interrogation and the demand to not have contact with other members, which means a partial paralysis of the activities of this important organization in civil society in Israel.
Attorney Smadar Ben Nathan, who is representing New Profile, said that the investigation of the police is focusing on the website of New Profile, which has links to other sites on the internet. Ben Nathan added that the New Profile Movement is a recognized non-profit association which acts openly and publicly, in accordance with the law, and the use of a criminal investigation in this context is invalid and exaggerated, and stands in opposition to freedom of expression.
New Profile is a feminist movement established ten years ago. The movement has been warning for years of the exaggerated and destructive influence of Israeli militarism on civilian life, and provides legal aid and social support to young people desiring not to do military service, both for political and personal reasons.
The New Profile Movement noted today: “These recent acts confirm what we have been contending for many years: the militarism of society in Israel harms the sacred principles of democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of political association. One who believed that until now criminal files were conjured up “only” for Arab citizens of Israel saw this morning that none of us can be certain that s/he can freely express an opinion concerning the failures of society and rule in Israel.”
For interviews: Dr. Diana Dolev, telephone: 052 872 8300
Attorney Smadar Ben Nathan, telephone: 052 358 9775
For further details: Ofra Leith, telephone: 050 552 4372
Eilat Maoz, Coordinator of the Women’s Coalition for Peace, telephone: 050 857 5729
FFIPP encourages its members to send letters of solidarity and support to our friends in New Profile.
Voice Mail: +972-(0)3-5160119
info@newprofile.org
More information on New Profile.
A letter to a friend in the US from Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj in Gaza
November 22,2008
Dear Jessica,
How much did I want to travel to see you and all the dear
friends, to see the world and to breathe some fresh air, to reassure my
senses that there are some normal things and normal people out there.
How much painful it was to realize time and time again that
I am not and we, people of Gaza, are not allowed to feel normal
or think normal.
Our right to our land, to freedom and to justice were
systematically raped. Now they are after our sanity. The aim is
to destroy what has remained -- our identity. It is our
identity that is so threatening: our humanity, our attachment to
the family and the holly Jerusalem, to falafel and the
music of Fairuz and women weaving traditional dresses.
I was three months waiting for a medical permit or a travel
permit. All attempts failed until a firend intervened and
won for me a one-day permit to see my doctor in Tel Aviv and
travel immediately to Amman to join you and the Cyprus group.
The journey started at six in the morning. so at eight I
was waiting at the Palestinian side of Beit Hanoon, "Eretz". No
computers are allowed, no electronics, no flash discs, no
cameras, no radios. They speak through loudspeakers and look down
at you through cameras.
Open your case, they shout in stupid Arabic. When the woman
in front of me in the queue - we were five patients - questioned
an order, she was ordered to take all the items in her suitcase
out. In front of the camera she had to show all of her underwear,
one by one. I was fuming, "Are we in a strip show?” I was punished by
having to wait for three hours and to be checked by the x-ray
machine three times. They knew it was harmful to my medical
condition because I told them so. They are horrible.
I am sure the woman was thinking how to get revenge. I hope
she will not turn to suicide bombing because that is exactly what
they wanted – they want us to lose our humanity and sanity, by
turning us into death machines.
The first human I saw was a Rambo with dark glasses and a
grin carrying a huge machine gun across his massive body. He must
feel the power of his muscles and his gun and the weakness of me with
my frail body and obedience to his orders. But I could not escape
the question, " Who is frightened?" because I was not. I was angry but
not afraid.
When I crossed to the Israeli side of the border, I
saw the BBC correspondents and few journalists waiting to cross
into Gaza. They were not allowed for the eighth day running. On
the same day twenty European diplomats were barred from coming
into Gaza. On the same day Israel decided to cut the fuel
supply to Gaza’s sole generator and to close the borders to UN food.
On the same day the Israeli army kills four Palestinians in Gaza,
while stressing their adherence to the truce.
On the way back after a long round-trip journey I decided
to buy some little plants with flowers to bring home. The soldier
shouted at me, "Flowers are not allowed".
Eyad El-Sarraj
Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj is the founder and
director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) and the
president of FFIPP-International
A Student at Hebrew Universirty in Jerusalem, Ali Baher, faces expulsion for refusing to shake hands with Shimon Peres
From the Free Speech Campaign at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
On November 1, 2008, the chairman of the Arab Student Commitee at the Hebrew
Universirty in Jerusalem, Ali Baher,was detained for three hours,
summoned to a disciplinary hearing pending suspension, and evicted from
his dorm room, all because he refused to shake hands with President of
Israel, Shimon Peres.
According to Haaretz, Ali was studying in the university library, when
the President walked in and began shaking hands with students. Ali
refused to shake hands with Peres, saying that he was a child murderer
and reminding him of the Qana massacre, which was carried out under
Peres’s premeirship.
When the president left the library, Ali was assaulted by security
guards, who questioned him for three hours before serving him with a
demand to appear before the discplinary committee of the university, on
suspicion of "inappropriate conduct". This charge can potentially lead
to Ali's suspension from the university. The guards also confiscated
Ali's student card, which restricts his access to essential university
services, such as, indeed, the library.
Later on this week, Ali came home to the dorms to find his room broken
into, with political stickers torn off and the door handle vandalized.
He submitted a complaint to the security staff, and was visited in the
morning by the manager of the dorms, Mr Yitzhak Hofy, and his staff.
They made no mention of the break-in, but proceded to inform Ali that
his dorms contract was terminated, on the feeble grounds that a shisha
pipe was found in the room and his walls had posters on it - admittedly
an infringement of dorms regulations, but a fairly light and common
one. We feel certain that the motive for the extraordinarily harsh
response is purely political.
Ali needs to evict the room by Wednesday, November 11. The date for the hearing had not yet been set.
How can you help?
Send an request or a query, in your own words, to the following
individuals. In the interest of the campaign, please, please, PLEASE
refrain from insults and personal attacks. Dignity and steady pressure
is the best way forwrad!
We would appreciate if you BCC:
free.speech.huji@gmail.com on correspondence.
President of the University, Professor Menachem Magidor: menachem.magidor@huji.ac.il
Dean of Students, Professor Esther Shami: estish@savion.huji.ac.il
Manager of Accomodation, Mr Yitzhak Hofy: hofyh@savion.huji.ac.il
President of the State of Israel, Mr Shimon Peres: president@president.gov.il
Director of the Peres Centre for Peace, Dr Ron Pundak: info@peres-center.org
For more information visit: http://freespeech2008.wordpress.com
FFIPP Winter 2008-2009 Programs
This winter FFIPP is organizing two programs.
1. An educational tour of Palestine/israel, December 28, 2008 to January 8, 2009, for faculty, high school teachers, educators, college students and peace activists.
2. An Alternative Winter Break for college students in Palestine/Israel, December 28, 2008 to January 6, 2009.
See more information below.
The FFIPP community is saddened by the death of our friend, professor Irene Bruegel in London. Irene was a life long fighter for equality and against injustice,
inspiring and cajoling others to do likewise. She was a strong voice against the Israeli occupation of the West bank and Gaza.
New: Alternative Winter Break for College students in Palestine/Israel
Make a week last a lifetime by involving yourself in service for human rights and social justice.
This winter FFIPP is organizing a 10 days educational program that includes
one week of volunteer work on a community project in Nablus, the occupied
Palestinian territories, and 3 days of intensive orientation, at the beginning of the program, that includes visits to Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel-Aviv, and the Galilee.
Dates: December 28, 2008 - January 6, 2009
Program fee: $2050 = 1494 EUR
What's not included in the program fee?
* International airfare and airport taxes
* Domestic and international phone calls
FFIPP can help in organizing fund raising activities for interested participants.
Application process for University/College student ONLY:
1) To reserve your space in the program, a non-refundable deposit of $275 or 200 EUR is required – this deposit will be applied to your program fee. Please pay by check, paid to ffipp-usa, P.O.Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004 or via the Donate button.
2) Apply by downloading an application.
3) Email us your resume to: info@ffipp.org
4) Each applicant must forward a recommendation form to the three references (at least two must be faculty) along with a stamped envelope addressed to FFIPP-USA. The letters may also be sent directly by email to info@ffipp.org or by FAX to 413-256-3536. Recommendation form.
FFIPP will not be able to accept an applicant without receiving three letters of recommendation.
5) Sign and send or fax the Alternative Winter Break agreement.
Deadline to apply: December 1, 2008
FFIPP-USA Board member Rev. Chester "Chet" Wickwire has died at 94.
The FFIPP community is deeply saddened by the death of Rev. Chester "Chet" Wickwire, the chaplain emeritus of the Johns Hopkins University, poet, and a renowned civil rights activist. A life long fighter for social justice and freedom he was a " consummate humanist" and an inspiration to all of us who were lucky to know him. See obituary about Chester's passing in the Baltimore Sun and in the Johns Hopkins Gazette. September 8, 2008
Chester Wickwire in 1970. John Hopkins Gazette photo.
Administrative Detentions: The Case of Dr. Ghassan Khaled, the law faculty of Al Najjah University, Nablus
July 20, 2008
Administrative detention is detention without charge or trial, and without informing the detainees or their lawyers of the charges against them. Moreover, neither they nor their attorneys are allowed to see the evidence.
Administrative detention serves as a convenient tool of harassment by the Israeli regime to use against political activists and members of parliament, peace activists leading non-violent resistance to the occupation, students and other people who cannot be put to trial because of the lack of evidence against them.
In recent years, 8% of the political prisoners in Israeli jails have been administrative detainees. At present there are about 730 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons.
The iniquity of administrative detention is well illustrated by the case of Dr. Ghassan Khaled, for whom we ask your help. Please act now: disseminate this message and write letters to the authorities cited below.
Dr. Khaled was detained under administrative detention for six months. This period is due to end at the beginning of October 2008, but his arrest warrant may afterwards be renewed for additional periods of 6 months ad infinitum.
The Israeli Association for the Palestinian Prisoners wishes to bring Dr. Khaled's case, as well as those of Abu-Maria and Kassis, into public attention – in order to awaken the international committee to the horrors and injustices caused by the procedure of administrative detention in general.
Please write to your representatives at parliament or congress, asking them to demand that Israel either release all administrative detainees or allow them a just trial. Please write also to the Israeli embassy in your country, protesting Israel's abuse of human rights with regard the administrative detainees.
The Birzeit campaign advises to write to the International Bar Association (IBA), asking its members and Human Rights Institute to put pressure on the Israeli Bar Association to ensure that all subjects under Israeli jurisdiction be granted the basic principles of rule of law - transparent processes which do not allow for arbitrary justice or governance - to which the IBA's Human Rights Institute (HRI) claims to be dedicated:
Fiona Paterson, Director of Human Rights Institute
International Bar Association
10th Floor, 1Stephen St
London, W1T 1AT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7691 6868
Fax: +44 (0)20 7691 6544
More Information
The FFIPP community salutes the efforts of the activists who aim to break Gaza blockade by boat
August 8-11, 2008
Two boatloads of several dozen activists are to leave Cyprus tomorrow bound for Gaza in a bid to break an Israeli blockade of the poverty-stricken Palestinian territory.
"We want to bring it to the world's attention that Gaza is virtually an outdoor concentration camp," Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the US-based Free Gaza Movement said. More information
The Free Gaza Movement Boat Updates
Give students in Gaza a chance to study! More information
The FFIPP community mourns the death of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. August 9, 2008
BBC photo.
Personal Opinion
The other side of Israel's birth
By Alice Rothchild, May 14, 2008
Alice Rothchild, a physician, is the author of "Broken Promises, Broken Dreams: Stories of Jewish and Palestinian Trauma and Resilience" and co-chairwoman of Jewish Voice for Peace, Boston. Aricle. Aricle.
Forget the two-state solution: Israelis and Palestinians must share the land. Equally
By Saree Makdisi, May 11, 2008
Saree Makdisi is a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA and the author of "Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation," out this month from W.W. Norton. Article.
Mothers in NYC call for Mother's Day boycott of Israeli settlement-builder Leviev
Women distributed a call to boycott Israeli billionaire and settlement builder Lev Leviev today, May 3, 2008, in front of Leviev's New York City jewelry store in advance of Mother's Day citing Leviev's companies' destruction of the lives of Palestinian mothers.
Save Gaza: An appeal from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme
Siege and fuel shortage paralyze life in Gaza.
Israel has subjected the Gaza Strip to a series of collective punishment measures, the main of which is imposing strict siege on the movement of people and goods right after June 2007....
The whole Strip today lives in unprecedented tragic situations, where the entire population of the Strip feel that the situation cannot continue to be in this manner for a long period of time. It is anticipated that this great pressure and high levels of tension experienced by citizens will necessarily be translated into a new cycle of violence, affecting the entire region...
Arab-American University under siege, March 24, 2008
Jenin / PNN – For going on 18 hours now, Israeli forces have besieged the Arab – American University near Jenin City. Students are appealing for help.
Via telephone, Student Council Member, Murad Abu Rabb is asking that humanitarian and media institutions intervene to lift the siege. "The presence in such density on the campus and neighboring area is unprecedented. Helicopters are circling overhead and they are launching flare bombs."
Israeli forces have arrested at least 30 students, while 10 others students and staff are still unable to leave the besieged student housing buildings. "We expect them to break down the doors at any moment."
All roads in the area are closed, while hundreds of residents, students and staff re unable to move. Director of Public Relations for the University, Jamal Sana, said that the siege on his building began "abruptly at 3:00 am."
Israeli forces "set up barriers and aircraft began flying low and soldiers were jumping out. Dozens of soldiers are in the neighboring mountains. All faculty, students and staff are forbidden to move. They have spread themselves throughout every corner of campus."
A brother and sister were in the roads nearby and instead of passing home were held for hours under interrogation, reported their father Khalid Kamil.
In an adjacent village Israeli soldiers used dogs and explosives inside homes, forcing several families outside. They were also blowing up water wells, as reported by eyewitnesses.
Journalists were unable to get close, while one photographer was severely beaten. All were threatened with arrest and beatings if they did not leave, including from Reuters and Al Jazeera.
Sunday, March 16, 2008 is the fifth anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death
The FFIPP community remembers the peace heroine Rachel Corrie.
To learn about Rachel Corrie, visit the web site Rachel's Words or purchase the book " Let me stand alone" which is the complete journals of Rachel Corrie.
A joint demonstration in Israel/Gaza, January 26, 2008
FFIPP-Israel participated in an Israeli-Palestinian countrywide relief convoy and a demonstration in solidarity on the Gaza border with a parallel Palestinian demonstration in the Strip. Press release.
RELIEF SUPPLIES HAVE BROKEN THE BLOCKADE
"We recognize January's march to Erez as a turning point and a new start
which we all must embrace to rebuild trust in peace and in peace camps"
Dr. Eyad Sarraj, president of FFIPP-International, in Open letter from 'Palestinian International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza'. See letter.
From Gush Shalom website.
Joint Israeli-Palestinian call for ceasefire.
Due to the severe escalation in and around the Gaza Strip, Israelis and Palestinians started an emergency initiative of collecting signatures on a joint petition calling for a ceasefire and end to the bloodshed, as well as an end to the siege on Gaza. The Israeli Coalition Against the Siege, and the Gaza-based Campaign 'End the Siege', which jointly organised the supply convoy last month, are mobilizing to promote this petition.
Sign the petition.
June, 2007:
* In this Gaza, nobody wins; Our leaders have only served to further Ariel Sharon's plan, and to de-legitimate our claim to self-government By Dr. Eyad Sarraj, director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program and president of Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace International, FFIPP-I
Dr. Sarraj lives in Gaza City.
June 19, 2007.
Article.
* Right to Education Student Committee Birzeit University, Right to Education Campaign, 21 June 2007 Statement
* Speech by Nurit Peled-Elhanan at the Tel Aviv Demonstration Commemorating 40 Years of the Occupation For forty years now, racism and megalomania have dictated our lives. Forty years during which mor...
Full Story (the Alternative Information Center in Jerusalem)
May, 2007:
* Open Letter to Education Minister Yael Tamir to Release the Palestinian Minister of Education and all those who have been unlawfully detained
May 28, 2007
From: FFIPP-I, Faculty For Israeli-Palestinian Peace International
To: Prof.Yael Tamir, Minister of Education
Cc: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Petition.
signatures list1. signatures list2.
April, 2007:
* April 29, 2007: An open letter to Azmi Beshara from Juliano Mer Khamis of the Freedom Theatre of Jenin, April 29, 2007. Azmi, My Brother, You had the good sense to see what was coming-the security forces in cooperation with the judicial system of Israel decided to take steps against, what they call the "strategic threat", of the Palestinian citizens of Israel, and to do away with their leaders. They want to return us to the days of martial law-to fear, to the permits, to the dark cells of the security forces, to the era in which only collaborators could claim at least some of their rights.
Inside the 1967 borders, Israel was not yet employing the methods it now uses in the occupied territories. It did not execute people without trial, condone mass arrests, cause starvation, or destroy infrastructures. Now, as "the only democracy in the Middle East", Israel claims to function according to just and lawful means...
See complete text of the letter in English.
Letter in Arabic.
Letter in Hebrew.
* April 25, 2007: Gilad Sharon(son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon): Strip the citizenship of the Israeli Arabs of Umm al Fahm, Taibeh, Jaljulya, Kafr Kara... See April 25, 2007 article in Haaretz.
* April 5, 2007: We are deeply concerned about reports of outside interference into the tenure and promotion case of Dr. Norman Finkelstein, and that as a result he may not be awarded tenure from DePaul University. Please sign the petition: We Support A Fair Tenure Process for Dr. Norman Finkelstein. Petition.
See article: Harvard Law Professor Works to Disrupt Tenure Bid of Longtime Nemesis at DePaul U. By Jennifer Howard, The Chronicle of Higher Education April 5, 2007. Article.
* April 5, 2007: Israeli settlers set fire to a car in the occupied Palestinian village of Tel Rumeida on the Jewish holiday of Pesach. details.
March, 2007:
On Sunday evening, 12 March, the Israeli Army entered the village of Sayer, in the Hebron district, an area with a population of 22,000(AIC)
* A letter from occupied Nablus to a student friend in the US:
Written by a 19-year-old student at Al-Najah University who lives in the Old City of Nablus with his family. letter.
* March 26, 2007: hundreds of settlers from many settlements in the occupied West Bank and other Israelis engaged in a big march and came to stay for one day on land where the Homesh settlement was located. The settlement had been dismantled in 2005, when the Israeli Government ordered the dismantling of four settlements in the Jenin district. The settlers came under the protection of the Israeli military. They chanted that they will come back to the place, and that the action is a protest for the dismantling of the settlements. The settlers threatened that they will rebuild the there. Boaz Hatestni, one of the organizers of the march, said that "We will come back and there are 30 settler families ready to stay in Homesh." Saleh Hantooli, the mayor of the nearby Palestinian town of Selit Daher said "During the march, the Army closed all the streets between Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus and all the roads in the area that link the villages. They prevented the farmers from reaching their fields in Jenin too. The settlers, during the march, raised a lot of slogans like this is our promised land and death to Arabs."(AIC)
* March 17, 2007: The FFIPP community is mourning the unexpected death of Tanya Reinhart on March 17th, 2007 in New York City. Tanya was a friend of many members of the FFIPP community. We send our condolences to Tanya's family and friends. Below we've posted a June 18, 2003, lecture Tanya presented at a peace conference in Tel Aviv organized by the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. This audio production was made by William Seaman of the pdxjustice Media Productions.
Tanya's FFIPP lecture.
A link to pdxjustice Media Productions.
February, 2007:
An IDF soldier standing next to a group of Palestinians waiting to cross at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday. (AP)
* Israeli Forces attack the city of Nablus. Reports from the Palestinian Body for Dialogue, Peace, and Equality (HASM).
Report 2/25/07.
Report 2/26/07.
Israeli Army officers attacking a Bedouin man while his house is destroyed south of the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday, February 14, 2007. (AP in Haaretz)
* Internationals, Palestinians and Israelis protest against the Wall in Bil'in. 16 activists hurts by Israeli security forces. Article in Guardian, 2/24/07. Article in Guardian, 2/23/07.
Article in Haaretz, 2/23/07. Article in Haaretz, 2/25/07. Photos: IDF troops blasting Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists with water cannons during clashes at a weekly anti-separation fence protest in the West Bank village of Bil'in, 2/23/07 (AP in Haaretz)
* Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, GCMHP, Condemns the Diggings near Al-Aqsa Mosque and Warns of the Ramifications of Agitating Muslims' Feelings . Press Release.
* An article by Joschka Fischer on president Bush's new strategy for Iraq.
Joschka Fischer was Germany's foreign minister and vice chancellor from 1998-2005. A veteran leader in the Green Party, he is now a visiting professor at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. Article.
* A plea for peace from a bereaved Palestinian father, by Bassam Aramin. Message.
January, 2007:
* Terrible News:
Abir Aramin, the 10 year old daughter of Bassam Aramin from Combatants for Peace was killed by Israeli troops during her school's recess. We express our deepest condolences to the Aramin family.
We ask faculty and students world wide to condemn this action by the Israeli army and the general practice of firing in the vicinity of schools without regard for the lives of young Palestinian children. We call upon the Israeli army to punish those who are responsible for this tragedy and stop killing Palestinian children. In 2006, 140 Palestinian children were killed by the Israeli army, almost triple the number killed in 2005.
This practice must end. article(haaretz). article(bbc).
November, 2006:
* FFIPP Gaza Emergency Call
GAZA EMERGENCY CALL.
List of Current Signers.
Ad in Al-Quds Nov 25, 2006.
Ad in Ha'arets Nov 22, 2006.
* Press Release : A message of Peace from Gaza to the international community from Dr. Eyad El Sarraj, President of Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace - International, November 10, 2006. Statement.
* Israel issues last permits to foreigners, splitting families.
URGENT press release from A Grassroots Campaign for the Protection of Foreign Passport Holders Residing in and/or visiting the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
A Statement by the Israeli Committee for Right of Residency.
"I Want to Keep my Wife" by Ghassan Abdullah, Ramallah.
* A letter from Maro Kevorkian Papouras about the painful and humiliating experience at Tel-Aviv airport of her mother, Hebrew University faculty member Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, on November 17, 2006. Letter.
* Urgent Call from Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) to end the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, 5/11/2006. Statement.
October, 2006:
* Statement by Presidents of Palestinian institutions of higher education on Israel's restrictions on foreign citizens entering the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Statement.
Article in the Israeli press. Article
* Judith Butler, member of the board of directors of FFIPP-USA, will deliver the ninth annual Eqbal Ahmad Lecture at Hampshire College. The lecture, "Universality and its Paradoxes: Hidden Histories of Post-Zionism", will be held on October 24 at 4 p.m. at Robert Crown Center. Information.
September, 2006:
* Emeregency situation in Gaza: UK press report on Gaza. Israeli press report on Gaza.
* Following a visit to the Gaza Strip, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel warns: Humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip, September 4, 2006. More information. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.
*In a pre-dawn raid on Friday, September 8, 2006, Israeli security forces closed down the offices of Ansar al-Sajin (The Prisoners' Friends Association), an NGO registered under Israeli law which offers support to Palestinian political prisoners. Report.
* A question sent to the European Council concerning the closure of Rafah Crossing Point and the role of the European Observers there by Luisa Morgantini, Chair of the Development Committee - European Parliament, September 15, 2006. Text.
August, 2006:
* In recent months Israel is denying to Palestinian residents, holders of foreign passports the right to Entry/Re-Entry to the West Bank, including people who had lived there for decades and who have there their homes, spouses, children and in some cases grandchildren. This measure hurts many faculty and their spouses in the West Bank. A campaign against this discriminatory, unjust and cruel measure by the Israeli state was kicked off this week in Jerusalem. Details on the campaign. Btselem Report
July, 2006:
* A civic action cosponsored by UMASS Anti War Coalition and the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-5 Colleges, Northampton,July 27,2006 . Civic Action Flyer.
* Statement on the war in Lebanon by Workers in the Public Cultural Sphere in Lebanon.Read statement.
May, 2006:
* A joint statement by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme and the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-International on the siege of 1.4 million people in Gaza. Read the statement.