Category Archives: Take Action

May 25: Join the global one-day hunger strike for Palestinian prisoners

International solidarity activists have issued a call for a global one-day hunger strike on Thursday, May 25 in support of more than 1,500 hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners who have been participating in the Strike for Dignity and Freedom for more than month.

The strikers’ demands are for basic human rights: an end to the denial of family visits, proper health care and medical treatment, the right to access distance higher education, and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Pledge to take part on May 25

If you are in Canada, please make a pledge to join the Palestinian prisoners in a one-day solidarity hunger strike on May 25.

You can connect with other Canadian participating in the day of solidarity and share your story on the Canadians in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners Facebook page.

Other actions you can take

Stay up to date and share widely on social media the daily updates on the hunger strikers from the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (read the latest update from May 23, Day 37 of the hunger strike) and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

If you are in Canada, use this online tool from Students Against Israeli Apartheid at York University to call on the Canadian government to support Palestinian prisoner demands

Sign the Americas-wide petition in support of the hunger strikers.

Participate in and share the #saltwaterchallenge to show your support:

Update your social media profile pics to the image below:

Follow and share tweets with the hashtags #FreedomAndDignity, #DignityStrike, and #PalHunger.

Join or host a solidarity event in your city on May 25.

Respond to the calls from Palestinian civil society to grow support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. (Read BNC support statements from April 17, May 9, and May 24).

Tell the TSO: Don’t play for Israeli apartheid

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) will make its first-ever touring appearances in Israel, with performances in Jerusalem on May 11, 2017 and Tel Aviv on May 13, 2017.

The tour, coming just days before the 69th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba and less than a month before the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, ignores the Palestinian-led call for a cultural boycott of Israel, which has been supported by thousands of artists around the world to refuse to play in Israel.

Take Action

Here’s how you can take action to tell the TSO not to play for Israeli apartheid:

1. Sign and share the petition calling on TSO musicians to cancel their shows in Israel.

2. Contact the leadership of the TSO and demand they cancel the planned performances in Israel. If you’re not sure what to say, you can use key points from the petition to get started. Here are come key contacts:

Gary Hanson, Interim Chief Executive Officer
ghanson@tso.ca

Roberta Smith, Vice-President & Chief of Staff
rsmith@tso.ca

Peter Oundjian, Music Director
poudjian@tso.ca

You can also contact the TSO by email at contactus@tso.ca or by phone at 416.598.3375 and see a full contact list for other TSO administrative staff to contact.

3. If you are a TSO member, subscriber, donor, or volunteer, withhold your support until the TSO agrees to respect the Palestinian boycott call and cancels its concerts in Israel. Be sure to tell the TSO why you’re withdrawing you support.

4. Engage with the TSO on social media by posting a comment on their facebook page or tweet at them at @TorontoSymphony.

5. Write a letter to the editor of the Toronto Star (lettertoed@thestar.ca) and other Toronto media outlining your concerns with the TSO’s decision to perform in Israel.

Kick settlements out of football at FIFA’s upcoming congress

As part of its #RedCardIsrael campaign, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is calling on FIFA to take action at its May 11 congress on Israeli football teams based in illegal settlements. More information on how you can take action is below.

FIFA will make a decision on Israeli football teams based in illegal settlements at their upcoming Congress on May 11, 2017. This is our chance to ensure that Palestinian human rights are front and centre on their agenda!

More than one hundred sports and human rights associations representing millions of people across the globe have called on FIFA to demand that the Israeli Football Association immediately exclude teams based in illegal settlements, and for FIFA to suspend the association if it refuses to comply.

As the pressure mounts on FIFA to respect its statutes, the Israeli government is using its embassies to push for removing the issue of settlement clubs from the Congress’ agenda altogether. We can’t let that happen: teams based in illegal settlements and human rights violations have no place in the beautiful game.

Take action now to pressure FIFA to respect its own statutes and Palestinian human rights:

Join the Thunderclap to FIFA ahead of its upcoming Congress!

Join the action on social media! Visit bdsmovement.net for sample tweets and memes to share. Use the hashtag #RedCardIsrael

Let’s make sure FIFA and member federations get the message: settlement clubs and Apartheid have no place in the beautiful game. Visit bdsmovement.net to see additional actions you can take.

Join the Open Shuhada Street Campaign

The Hebron-based Youth Against Settlements has launched its 8th Annual Open Shuhada Street Campaign, which runs February 19-27, 2017.

Shuhada Street, once the main thoroughfare in Hebron has been almost entirely closed to Palestinians since 1994 when American-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein opened fire in the Ibrahimi mosque killing 29 in worship and wounding over 100 more.

While Israeli settlers roam freely on the streets and carry arms, Palestinians homes and shops are sealed shut and families must pass through checkpoints to reach their homes. Roads in Hebron are divided in half, one side for Jews, and one side for Muslims, and Palestinians face physical daily attacks by ideologically extreme and violent settlers and soldiers.

The Open Shuhada Street Campaign takes place in Hebron and around the world annually the week of February 25th in commemoration of the anniversary of the Ibrahimi massacre. In Hebron the campaign consists of a week of events culminating in a march that attempts to go down Shuhada Street. Internationally, the 2017 campaign will focus on stopping global financier Goldman Sachs from funneling money to the Hebron Fund. Continue reading →

Tell the FIFA president to show Israel the red card

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has launched a campaign to pressure FIFA, the governing body of world football, to take action against the Israeli Football Association for its support of teams based in illegal Israeli settlements.

The UN, Human Rights Watch, parliamentarians, lawyers, campaigners and Palestinians have all urged FIFA to respect international law. They have asked FIFA to respect its own regulations and prevent teams based in illegal settlements from participating in its official leagues.

By failing to take action against the Israeli Football Association for including these illegal settlement-based teams, FIFA is complicit in Israel’s violation of international law, and is allowing Israel to use “the beautiful game” to whitewash its war crimes and forced displacement of Palestinians.

FIFA can and should demand that the Israeli Football Association exclude teams based in illegal settlements, and suspend the association if it refuses to comply.

Tokyo Sexwale, the South African chairman of the FIFA Monitoring Committee Israel-Palestine, is about to submit a report to FIFA’s president and council about improving the conditions of Palestinian football. This is an opportunity for us to pressure FIFA to take action.

Visit the #RedCardIsrael page to send your email and help promote the campaign online.

Boycott HP week of action

The International Boycott HP Network and the Palestinian BDS National Committee are calling for an international week of action against HP over its role in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. The Canadian BDS Coalition has endorsed the week of action, which will take place November 25 – December 3 (which includes the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29).

Why Boycott HP?

In Palestine, Hewlett Packard companies provide imaging for Israel’s apartheid checkpoints and ID cards system; enable Israel’s deadly blockade of the Gaza Strip; provide services to illegal Israeli settlements; and manage people for profit in Israeli prisons where torture is systematic. While claiming to uphold values of social responsibility, HP companies are notorious for involvement in oppressive practices worldwide, like providing technology to enable deportations, mass incarceration, and solitary confinement in the United States. Continue reading →

Palestinians want access to PayPal

Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are unable to use PayPal services, while Israeli settlers living in the West Bank have full access to the platform.

Not having access to PayPal limits the growth of Palestinian businesses — especially the burgeoning tech sector, which is providing employment and livelihood to Palestinians living under occupation.

A coalition of Palestinian businesses and civil society groups is calling on PayPal to end this discrimination against Palestinians. Click here to add your name to the #PayPal4Palestine petition!

Palestinians being denied access to PayPal means they cannot use their services to run a business, or raise money for a charity, or send cash to a relative, or make everyday purchases online. Getting access to PayPal can make a real difference in the lives of so many Palestinians as the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality continues.