The UN Secretary-General: Message on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

29 November 2023

This International Day of Solidarity comes during one of the darkest chapters in the history of the Palestinian people. I am horrified by the death and destruction that have engulfed the region, which is overwhelmed with pain, anguish and heartache.

Palestinians in Gaza are suffering a humanitarian catastrophe. Almost 1.7 million people have been forced from their homes – but nowhere is safe. Meanwhile, the situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, risks boiling over. 

I express my sincere condolences to the thousands of families who are mourning loved ones. This includes members of our own United Nations family killed in Gaza, representing the largest loss of personnel in the history of our organization.

I have been clear in my condemnation of the terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October. But I have also been clear that they cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. 

Across the region, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is an indispensable lifeline, delivering vital support to millions of Palestinian refugees. It is more important than ever that the international community stands with UNRWA as a source of support for the Palestinian people. 

Above all, this is a day for reaffirming international solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to live in peace and dignity. 

That must start with a long-term humanitarian ceasefire, unrestricted access for lifesaving aid, the release of all hostages, the protection of civilians and an end to violations of international humanitarian law. We must be united in demanding an end to the occupation and the blockade of Gaza. 

It is long past time to move in a determined, irreversible way towards a two-State solution, on the basis of United Nations resolutions and international law, with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with Jerusalem as the capital of both States.

The United Nations will not waver in its commitment to the Palestinian people. Today and every day, let us stand in solidarity with the aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve their inalienable rights and build a future of peace, justice, security and dignity for all.

END

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Film-makers pull out after Amsterdam festival condemns Palestine protest

theguardian.com

Twelve documentary makers withdraw after organisers condemn use of ‘From the river to the sea’ by onstage protesters

A dozen film-makers and artists have withdrawn their work from the world’s largest documentary festival after its organisers strongly condemned the use of the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” at an opening-night protest.

IDFA billboard in 2019

The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam said the use of the words ‘From the river to the sea’ went against its aim to provide a safe space for debate Photograph: Robert vant Hoenderdaal/Alamy

During a speech by the artistic director of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), Orwa Nyrabia, at the start of the event last Thursday, three activists took to the stage holding a sign with the slogan, which some say is a call for a secular state in historic Palestine but which others note is used by radical Islamist groups to promote the eradication of Israel.

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Workers’ movements around the world protest supply of arms to Israel

>> Belgian port workers refuse to load weapons bound for Israel

>> Pro-Palestine activists in Melbourne disrupt Israeli shipping company

>> Protesters Block Entrance to U.S. Port Over Weapons Transfers to Israel

peopledispatch.org

Trade unions, youth movements, and Palestine solidarity groups have organized protests and blockades across Europe, opposing the role of their governments in Israel’s genocidal war on PalestiniansNovember 03, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch

Trade unionists of PAME carry out flash protest inside Athens International Airport (Photo: PAME)

As Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza continues unabated for the fourth week straight, workers across Europe have stepped up their solidarity with Palestine and organized resistance to the supply of arms from various parts of the continent to Israel.

On Thursday, November 2, Greek trade unionists from the All Workers Militant Front (PAME) held a flash protest inside the Athens International Airport in solidarity with Palestine. The protest started in front of the offices of the Israeli airline El Al with protesters then marching inside the airport denouncing the genocidal war against Palestinians.

In their statement, PAME harshly criticized Israeli war crimes in Gaza. “No one can remain silent when the death toll from Israeli bombing in Gaza exceeds 8,000, including over 3000 children and over 1000 women,” PAME said.

“No one can remain silent when a child is killed in Gaza every 10 minutes. No one can remain silent when there are more than 15,000 wounded in Gaza without the necessary treatment because of the suffocating blockade by the murderer state of Israel.”

PAME has also demanded that the Greek government stop all economic, political, and military cooperation with Israel. The union called for an end to the facilitation of bases and other infrastructure by Greece to the US, NATO, and Israel.

PAME has also called for the immediate recognition of the Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Meanwhile, on October 31, transport unions in Belgium including the Belgian Union of Transport Workers (BTB), BBTK, ACV-Transcom, and ACV Puls issued a joint statement announcing their resolve to refuse loading or unloading weapons in transit to Israel, which are destined for the genocidal war against the Palestinians.

In their statement, the trade unions said that while genocide is taking place in Palestine, workers at various airports in Belgium note the arrival of arms shipments to the conflict zone. Workers’ participation in loading or unloading these weapons “means supporting regimes that kill innocent people,” the statement said.

In the UK, on October 31, activists from Palestine Action blockaded the road to the headquarters of Elbit Systems in Bristol, notorious for manufacturing parts for Israeli drones and other pilotless aircraft.

DKU activist blocading Terma A/S in Soborg (Photo: DKU)

On October 30, in Demark, activists from various anti-war groups including the Communist Youth of Denmark (DKU), blocked all entrances to the Søborg plant of the Danish arms company, Terma, in protest against its sale of weapons and equipment to the Israeli Defense Forces.

According to reports, the Aarhus-based defense contractor supplies Israel with equipment for F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, which Israel uses to bomb Gaza. Terma has also been accused of sending arms for the war in Yemen.

During the blockade at Terma, DKU members hung up blood-stained children’s clothes to symbolize the consequences of Terma’s bloody business for civilians in Palestine.

Dagbladet Arbejderen has reported that the protestors have demanded that authorities publish all information about Terma’s activities and disseminate that information in a way that allows the people of Denmark to understand exactly what the company is doing.

They also demanded and end to the manufacturing of weapons parts used by the Israeli military and the termination of their agreements with F35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which supplies the Israeli genocidal apparatus.

As of November 3, the ongoing genocidal war carried out by Israel in the Gaza Strip since October 7, has claimed the lives of more than 9,000 people, wounded more than 30,000 people, and displaced over 1.4 million.

What’s happening in the West Bank?

Al Jazeera – 8 thg 11, 2023

While attention has been on the war in Gaza, there’s been a rise in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.#AJStartHere with Sandra Gathmann explains what’s happening.

00:53 – What is the West Bank?
01:25 – How control of the West Bank is divided between the Palestinian Authority and Israel
02:10 – How Israel restricts life for Palestinians in the West Bank
04:34 – Israeli army raids in the West Bank
06:40 – Israeli settlers in the West Bank
07:04 – Settler attacks on Palestinians
08:30 – How Palestinians have been displaced because of settler violence
09:12 – How the Israeli government supports settlers
10:07 – President Biden’s response to the settler attacks

This episode features: Nour Odeh – Political commentator & analyst Charles Stratford – Al Jazeera correspondent Hoda Abdel-Hamid – Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim – Al Jazeera correspondent

“Gaza has become a graveyard for children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.”

United Nations Geneva @UNGeneva

Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: 50,000 pregnant women, 5,500 due to give birth, 160 deliveries every day

UN Population Fund Updated on 27 October 2023

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is deepening, as fuel, water, food and life-saving medical supplies run out. The health system is on the brink of collapse.

Among Gaza’s population of 2.2 million people, 1 in 4 are women and girls of reproductive age – around 572,000 – who need access to reproductive health services. An estimated 50,000 pregnant women are caught up in the conflict, with around 5,500 due to give birth within the next 30 days – more than 160 deliveries every day. An estimated 840 women may experience pregnancy or birth-related complications. Many of these women have been cut off from safe delivery services, as hospitals, which are overwhelmed with casualties, run out of fuel for generators, medicines and basic supplies – including for the management of obstetric emergencies.

Around 73,000 women are currently pregnant in the West Bank, with more than 8,120 expected to give birth in the next month as the violence threatens to spill over.

UNFPA is dispatching life-saving reproductive health medicines and supplies to Egypt for stockpiling and transportation across the border into Gaza when possible. As of 26 October, UNFPA has 3,000 dignity kits containing hygiene supplies in Egypt, ready to go into Gaza, as well as life-saving reproductive health supplies, prepositioned and ready to be sent through Egypt. These health kits and supplies save the lives of pregnant women – they are as vital as food, water, shelter.

Among other initiatives, a UNFPA-supported helpline is available for women, youth and other people requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank

In the West Bank, the Ministry of Health has redeployed midwives from hospitals to Safe Motherhood Emergency Centres supported by UNFPA, ensuring that midwives are accessible in every community. In addition, online support systems and referral services are helping to ensure women’s continued access to sexual and reproductive health care.

With more than half of Gaza’s population displaced, the risk of gender-based violence has also increased exponentially for women and girls who are on the move, seeking refuge in overcrowded shelters, which lack privacy and sanitation facilities.

UNFPA condemns the violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and echoes the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate ceasefire, for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages by Hamas, and for unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and workers within Gaza. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUlCXSf9lvU

Dải Gaza: Một thảm họa nhân đạo chực chờ

SÁNG ÁNH – 29/10/2023 11:25 GMT+7

TTCTIsrael đang triển khai một sách lược rất kiểu “tát nước bắt cá” có nguy cơ gây ra một thảm họa nhân đạo tại Dải Gaza trong cuộc chiến Trung Đông hiện giờ.

Trẻ em Palestine trên xe cứu thương, ngay sau vụ tấn công bệnh viện Al-Ahly ở Gaza ngày 17-10. Ảnh: Reuters
Trẻ em Palestine trên xe cứu thương, ngay sau vụ tấn công bệnh viện Al-Ahly ở Gaza ngày 17-10. Ảnh: Reuters

Sau hai tuần chiến tranh, ngày 21-10, 20 xe tải, tức 400 tấn hàng cứu trợ, được cho phép vào Dải Gaza bị Israel vây hãm. Đây là kết quả sau khi thương thuyết, thảo luận tới lui và Israel lúc thuận lúc không. 

Nguyên tắc của Israel là nếu Hamas buông súng đầu hàng thì Gaza sẽ được tiếp tế. Trừng trị tập thể, như ta biết, là vi phạm quy ước quốc tế. Không thể vì 2.000 du kích mà đánh bom và bỏ đói tập thể hơn 2 triệu người dân tại Gaza.

Đây chẳng phải là việc lén lút, mà là chính sách công khai của Israel mang tên “Sách lược Dahiya”, do tham mưu trưởng Gadi Eizenkot (2015-2019) chủ trương từ lúc ông là tư lệnh mặt trận miền bắc đối diện Lebanon. Trong chiến tranh với Hezbollah tại Lebanon (2006), Dahiya là khu ngoại ô Beirut do Hezbollah quản lý.

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Israel-Hamas War: “Enough Of The Bigotry Against Palestinians!”

Cenk Uygur, a Turkish-American political commentator and media host. He is the creator of The Young Turks

“We have to have two state solution immediately. I’m asking Israeli not out of hate….So many of my friends I grew up with are Jewish. This is not good for them. This is not good for any body. Please look into your hearts. Look. Be the moral that I know you can be. I’ve been to the Passover dinner where you pray for your oppressors. Now I breaks my heart. But I have to tell you, you have to pray for those you’re oppressing. And saying you’re not oppressing them after brutalizing them for 56-long years. You’re kidding yourself. And as a friend and an ally, I’m trying to get you wake up. You can not keep doing this.

‘Not in our name’: Jewish peace activists across the US call for immediate ceasefire and justice for Palestinians

CNN.com By Alaa Elassar, CNN Updated 11:38 AM EDT, Mon October 23, 2023

https://edition.cnn.com/media/sites/cnn/cnn-fallback-image.jpg

Jewish peace activists staged a sit-in on Capitol Hill, where they called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war on October 18.Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockCNN — 

As Rabbi Alissa Wise scrolls through social media, her feed is littered with videos of dead Palestinian children, parents holding their lifeless bodies with screams caught in their throats and eyes sunken with grief.

Like millions around the world, she has been haunted by the gruesome scenes flooding out of Gaza, where civilians have endured more than two weeks of an Israeli siege and bombing campaign that has collapsed homes, destroyed vital infrastructure and sparked a humanitarian crisis.

The airstrikes have killed more than 4,600 Palestinians so far, including an estimated 1,900 children, and wounded at least 14,000 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Another 1.4 million people have been internally displaced, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

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United Nations Committee on the Exercise of theInalienable Rights of the Palestinian People NGO ACTION NEWS – 26 October 2023

UN.org

Click here for the PDF version 
Puede encontrar aquí los números de “Noticias de Acción de las ONG” en español. 
Priere de trouver ci-joint les bulletins “NGO Action News” en français.
 للحصول على الترجمة العربية لأنباء عن أعمال المنظمات غير الحكومية، يرجى زيارة هنا  

Middle East 
On 25 October, the Institute for Palestine Studies published an article titled “Real Names of Stolen Villages, Illegal Settlements of the Gaza Perimeter,” noting the violent history of the farming communities surrounding Gaza. 

On 25 October, the BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights published an open letter to the UN General Assembly and its member states, calling on them to enforce an unconditional ceasefire, provide unrestricted and unconditional humanitarian aid, prevent additional displacement, and end the blockade on the Gaza Strip. 

On 24 October, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association shared a letter sent by the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), expressing alarm over the recent deaths of two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention, and calling on the ICRC to ensure the safety and well-being of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. 

On 24 October, Al-Shabaka launched a syllabus titled “Grounding the Current Moment – An Al-Shabaka Syllabus,” which contains publications, webinars and podcasts that provide context to better understand the current situation in Gaza.  Tiếp tục đọc “United Nations Committee on the Exercise of theInalienable Rights of the Palestinian People NGO ACTION NEWS – 26 October 2023”

Teen in dire Gaza

Gaza Teen Describes What Life For Her & Other Children Is Like Right Now. Sara Besasio, a 16-year-old who grew up in Gaza. Sara said she’s lived through 7 major Israeli military operations in her lifetime. She called on the global community to answer why kids like her have to suffer so much merely for growing up in Gaza.

Palestinian teenager Dima Allamdani lost 13 family members in an Israeli air attack after following the military’s orders to flee northern Gaza.

This 18-year-old girl had a message for the world before her and her family fled their home in Gaza.

https://fb.watch/nWg7HsNy6p/

The Palestinian misuse, and Zionist abuse, of the Holocaust

Both sides are guilty of invoking the Holocaust, but the Palestinians do it defensively, the Israelis offensively.

In truth, the Palestinians have been so impacted by the implications of the Holocaust, albeit indirectly, that they have never truly understood its essence or comprehended its evil. Arabs are no strangers to colonial, imperial or ethnic violence, but nothing like the industrial-scale crimes perpetrated by Nazi Germany.

Aggrieved and angry, the Palestinians have long believed that it was they who paid the price for the horrors inflicted upon Jews in Europe…

…After all, the early Zionists chose to settle and build a homeland for Jews in Palestine nearly half a century before the Holocaust, knowing all too well that it is the homeland of another people. They wished it cleansed of its non-Jewish inhabitants.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Schultz on August 16. Abbas accused Israel of committing "50 Holocausts" against the Palestinian people.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Schultz on August 16. Abbas accused Israel of carrying out ’50 Holocausts’ against the Palestinian people [Reuters]
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