Editor’s note: Ann has been fully aware of the terrible struggles faced by the Palestinians for over 40 years and has always supported their cause. She has dedicated an unbelievable amount of time campaigning and ensures that she is as fully informed as she can be about the situation. She regularly organises a stall to argue the case for Palestine in her home town. When she was involved with Unison, she always supported anything that arose concerning Palestine. Ann has recently been in hospital for ten days and is at home convalescing. Her treatment and recovery have been quite an ordeal but have not deterred her from campaigning and telling people the truth about the despicable actions of the Israeli government towards the Palestinian people. She may well have influenced both staff and fellow patients while she was in hospital by telling them the truths which they do not learn from our MSM. Below Ann provides us with some information about two of the best known organisations that campaign on behalf of Palestine.
Palestine
A number of different organisations support the Palestinians in different ways, as the state of Israel continues to oppress and persecute them. These include, among others: Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Palestine Action, Stop the War (STW), Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), War on Want, Amnesty International, the Muslim Association of Britain, The Palestinian Forum in Britain and Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA). These organisations are good sources of information about the situation in Palestine, the latest actions carried out by Israel and campaigns and events which are being held in support of the Palestinians. Some news outlets, such as Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye, have up-to-date information about events, events which are regularly ignored by our mainstream media.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign
“PSC is a community of people working together for Peace, Equality and Justice and against racism, occupation and colonisation.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a national and international organisation created to support Palestinians in Palestine and globally. It is the largest organisation in the UK dedicated to securing Palestinian human rights. We campaign against organisations that support the oppression of Palestinians. These organisations provide weapons and chemicals, such as white phosphorus, used to kill or maim Palestinians, including many children. We target organisations or businesses which, for example, sell their machines to Israel and these are then used for house demolitions, either as a collective punishment for the Palestinian families whose relatives may have resisted the occupation or for ethnic cleansing to make room for Illegal Israeli settlements. Lending any support to Israel in the occupied territories is to be complicit in an illegal occupation of land as defined by the United Nations. Even something that appears to be fairly innocuous, such as Puma sponsoring football, is not innocent when it is supporting Zionists in illegal settlements.
Palestine Action
Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard are founding members of Palestine Action. Pal Action was formed with the purpose of closing down arms factories, owned by Israel and called Elbit. This group was founded in July 2020. Civil disobedience is used against weapons factories which provide Israel with weapons, including chemical weapons, drones and allied air power which are used to target and kill Palestinians. Many victims are children, and this happens on a regular basis. Many of the weapons are advertised as ‘battle tested’, as they are first tested on the Palestinian area called Gaza, a walled-in area referred to as the world’s largest open-air prison. People cannot escape so must endure these atrocities daily. Red paint is used during Pal Action’ campaigns; this is to signify the blood of Palestinians who are murdered by Israel. To date they have successfully closed two of Elbit’s factories, which is a huge accomplishment.
I believe that the PSC should reflect on what we are doing now and look at other models. Along with organising stalls and flying the flag, maybe we could also look at more direct action. I certainly believe that this is a good subject for further discussion. I hope that my local group will be prepared to become involved in more direct action, as we have talked about it. We could certainly go to supermarkets and stick things from Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) on the products from Israel.
Particularly in the light of the recent increase in aggression from Israel, I shall never cease to support the Palestinians.