A quick post about three crucial campaigns ongoing right now in Israel-Palestine.
- The Planned Eviction of the Sumarin Family by the JNF
In the fall of 2011, as the JNF/KKL was preparing to evict the Sumarin family from their home in Silwan, an international campaign coalesced to push back against this unjust eviction. This campaign succeeded in delaying the eviction – until now. As of January 1st, 2018, the JNF/KKL has resumed efforts to evict the Sumarin family. Likewise, the campaign has been reignited: last Wednesday, Israeli activists from Free Jerusalem and Peace Now blocked the entrance to the JNF/KKL offices in Jerusalem; Jewish activists in London held a Tu B’Shvat Seder in solidarity with the Sumarin Family; folks from If Not Now protested in Chicago and San Fransisco and elsewhere, and the campaign will continue in the coming weeks.
More Background:
–On the recent eviction efforts and legal context.
–On the 2011 campaign to stop the eviction.
Take Action:
-Follow the #JnfDontUproot #StandWithSilwan hashtags on social media.
-Plan an action of your own using this action guide.
-Sign this petition against the eviction.
2. The Possible Demolition of Homes & a Clinic in Susiya by the IDF
Once again, Susiya is facing an immediate threat cruel demolitions. Via Susiya community organizer, Nasser Nawajaa:
”Our village, Susiya, in the South Hebron Hills of the occupied West Bank of Palestine, is under immediate threat of demolition. The only way to stop the demolition is through international pressure.
The Israeli government wants to demolish 20 buildings, or one fifth of our entire village, including our health clinic which cares for around 500 people from our own and surrounding communities. The timing of the demolition – in the middle of winter – could not be more devastating. It will leave us exposed to freezing rains and harsh winds.”
More Background:
–From Nasser Nawaja, in the New York Times, about the demolition plans
–On why such demolition might constitute a war crime
Take Action:
-On social media via Thunderclap
-For those readers in Israel-Palestine, All That’s Left is helping coordinate physical presence shifts in Susiya. Sign up here.
3. The Threatened Deportation of African Asylum Seekers from Israel
On January 1st, 2018, the Israeli government announced its plans to deport tens of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers to an unnamed “third country” (which is understood to mean Rwanda, though the Rwandan government has claimed it “will never accept migrants who were deported against their will”). This is a dangerous, disastrous, staggeringly immoral plan that could cost many people their lives. There has been a significant amount of pushback from many sectors of Israeli, diaspora Jewish and other international communities.
More Background:
-A piece by the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants on what awaits refugees deported from Israel
-“We are not infiltrators, we are human beings.”
Take Action:
-The #LetUsHelp Campaign
-Rabbis in Israel, inspired by Anne Frank, committing to shelter refugees
-Support one of the many crucial organizations working against deportation
The Leftern Wall 