Jews for Justice for Palestinians
is a network of Jews who are British or live in Britain, practising
and secular, Zionist and not. We oppose Israeli policies that undermine
the livelihoods, human, civil and political rights of the Palestinian
people.
We support the right of Israelis
to live in freedom and security within Israel's 1967 borders.
As well as organising to
ensure that Jewish opinions critical of Israeli policy are heard in
Britain, we extend support to Palestinians trapped in the spiral of
violence and repression. We believe that such actions are important
in countering antisemitism and the claim that opposition to Israel's
destructive policies is itself antisemitic.
We cooperate with other organisations
on specific issues without necessarily endorsing everything they do.
We work to build world-wide
Jewish opposition to the Israeli Occupation, with like-minded groups
around the world and are a founding member of European Jews for a Just
Peace, a federation of Jewish groups in ten European countries whose
principles include:
* condemnation of all violence
against civilians in the conflict, no matter by whom it is carried out.
* recognition of Israel's 1967 'green line' borders;
* commitment to the Palestinians' right to a state in the territories
currently occupied by Israel in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza;
* calling on Israel to acknowledge its part in the creation of the Palestinian
refugee problem and its obligation to negotiate a just, fair and practical
resolution of the issue.
"Israel
must withdraw from all the settlements and dismantle the wall within
Palestinian territory. Then, perhaps, we may at last see some justice
for Palestinians."
MIRIAM KARLIN OBE
Machsom
Watch
Machsom Watch was founded
in January 2001 in response to repeated reports in the press about human
rights abuses of Palestinians crossing army and border police checkpoints.
The excessive Israeli response to the El Aksa Intifada, the prolonged
closure and siege of villages and towns on the West Bank provided the
stimulus and the motivation for what at first seemed an impossible mission.
The initiative of three women – Ronnee Jaeger, a long time activist
with experience of human rights work in Guatemala and Mexico, Adi Kuntsman
a feminist scholar who emigrated from the former Soviet Union in 1990
and veteran activist Yehudit Keshet, an orthodox Jewess – Machsom
Watch now boasts 400 women all over the country.
The goals of the group are
threefold:
1. To monitor the behaviour
of soldiers and police at checkpoints
2. To ensure that the human
and civil rights of Palestinians attempting to enter Israel are protected
3. To record and report the
results of our observations to the widest possible audience, from the
decision-making level to that of the general public.
Palestine
Solidarity Campaign
Since it was founded in 1982,
the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has become the largest and most
active campaigning organisation in the UK on the issue of Palestine.
We aim to build an effective mass campaign, organising protests, political
lobbying and raising public awareness.
We are an independent, non-governmental
and non-party political organisation with members from many communities
across Britain - and increasingly throughout the world.
Rabbis
for Human Rights
Rabbi For Human Rights encourages
respect for human rights and social justice. We combine the heritage
of the Jewish tradition and the pluralistic approach to its study and
interpretation and apply them to direct action projects in order to
bring about a tikkun olam (fixing of the world) in our day and age.
Rabbis for Human Rights is
proud to be part of the Kol Yehudi coalition, that works towards bringing
to the Israeli public something so elementary yet so rare: a Jewish
voice. Sound, tolerant, constructive. Kol Yehudi is based upon love
for fellow humans as they are, seeking and pursuing peace. Kol Yehudi
coordinates programs for respecting the stranger, the minority and the
weak, and uses its amassed strength for generosity, giving and strengthening
the fabric of society.
Israel has the right and
the responsibility to meet the security needs of its citizens. RHR is
convinced that Israel’s security needs are best served by measures
that avoid, as much as possible, the creation of conflicts between Israel’s
right to self-defense and Palestinian’s rights to their land,
freedom of movement, access to livelihood, health care and education
centers. RHR works with a coalition of organizations that oppose the
route of the Separation Barrier where it unnecessarily expropriates
lands, cuts people off from their fields, and divides and surrounds
villages.
The Olive Tree Campaign is
an interfaith project, bringing international and Israeli volunteers
from all religious backgrounds together to participate in planting and
harvesting efforts. By coordinating with the Israeli security forces
and the local Palestinian population, and through the physical presence
of its members and volunteers, RHR helps guarantee Palestinians’
access to their trees while reducing the number of violent incidents
and acts of theft during the harvest season. RHR sells olive oil for
Palestinians encumbered from selling their produce. Volunteers document
the successes and failures of the implementation of scheduled times
for Palestinians to cross the fence in order to harvest their crops.
Sabeel
In Arabic Sabeel
means ‘the way’ and also ‘a channel’
or ‘spring’ of life-giving water. It is an ecumenical grassroots
liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians, based in
Jerusalem. It is a non-violent movement, rooted in solid Christian biblical
interpretation and nourished by the hopes, dreams and struggles of the
Palestinian people, which encourages women, men, and youth to discern
what God is saying to them as their faith connects with the hard realities
of their daily life: occupation, violence, discrimination and human
rights violations.
It has grown up
like a tree planted by a stream of refreshing water whose branches reach
out with the liberating message of the Gospel.
Friends of Sabeel UK supports
the work and aims of the centre in Jerusalem. It works through a variety
of networks, including the ecumenical church, in arranging lecture tours,
seminars and conferences along with other resources such as books, conference
papers, pamphlets, etc.
To become a Friend of Sabeel
UK is to be a partner, sharing in the privilege and responsibility to
form a channel of life and liberation in a region and a world where
violence, discrimination and indifference must not be allowed to prevail.
Details
of how to become a Friend of Sabeel in the UK can be found here.
Stop
the Wall Campaign
The Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid
Wall Campaign is a coalition of Palestinian non governmental organizations
and popular committees that mobilize and coordinate efforts on local,
national and international levels. These efforts are focused upon stopping
and dismantling the Apartheid Wall, and resisting Israeli occupation
and colonization.
A call for a coordinated,
popular, and grassroots effort to tear down the Wall came out of Jerusalem
on the 2nd of October 2002, from the office of the Palestinian Environmental
NGOs Network (PENGON). From this moment the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign
was born. The Campaign initiated its work on three levels: acting as
the voice of communities locally; mobilization and coordination nationally;
and additionally as part of the global struggle against colonization,
war and racism.
