Palestinian Freedom Riders

I'm really impressed and inspired by this action and the brilliant historical links they're drawing on with the civil rights movement in the US. Just like then, most people don't really consider the apartheid which is going on until it's made so obvious - despite the fact that prominent people of genuine integrity like Desmond Tutu and former US President Jimmy Carter and so many others have described it as such. Here's a great little one minute youtube clip as a taster.


Rather than me write lots about it, check out this blog which has lots of stuff on it and the links on the right hand side of my page like the Jewish Voice for Peace and the Palestine Monitor for more coverage.


Some more great coverage here too and some words about it which I've borrowed from the occupiedpalestine wordpress blog:

Palestinian Freedom Riders to Challenge Segregation By Riding Settler Buses to Jerusalem: November 15, 2011

Palestinian activists will reenact the US Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Rides to the American South by boarding segregated Israeli public transportation in the West Bank to travel to occupied East Jerusalem.

Palestinian activists will attempt to board segregated Israeli public transportation headed from inside the West Bank to occupied East Jerusalem in an act of civil disobedience inspired by the Freedom Riders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 60′s.

Fifty years after the U.S. Freedom Riders staged mixed-race bus rides through the roads of the segregated American South, Palestinian Freedom Riders will be asserting their right for liberty and dignity by disrupting the military regime of the Occupation through peaceful civil disobedience.

The Freedom Riders seek to highlight Israel’s attempts to illegally sever occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, and the apartheid system that Israel has imposed on Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Several Israeli companies, among them Egged and Veolia, operate dozens of lines that run through the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, many of them subsidized by the state. They run between different Israeli settlements, connecting them to each other and cities inside Israel. Some lines connecting Jerusalem to other cities inside Israel, such as Eilat and Beit She’an, are also routed to pass through the West Bank.

Israelis suffer almost no limitations on their freedom of movement in the occupied Palestinian territory, and are even allowed to settle in it, contrary to international law. Palestinians, in contrast, are not allowed to enter Israel without procuring a special permit from Israeli authorities. Even Palestinian movement inside the Occupied Territories is heavily restricted, with access to occupied East Jerusalem and some 8% of the West Bank in the border area also forbidden without a similar permit.

While it is not officially forbidden for Palestinians to use Israeli public transportation in the West Bank, these lines are effectively segregated, since many of them pass through Jewish-only settlements, to which Palestinian entry is prohibited by a military decree.

Briefly out of Hibernation

This blog is supposed to be in hibernation (and my current travels and adventures are over here on this other blog), but this action going on right now needs all the publicity and support we can muster. Please check out the info below from Avaaz (an excellent internet-based movement), watch the video and please sign the petition or do whatever else you can.


Here's the direct link, and here's some background....

From: Avaaz.org <avaaz@avaaz.org>
--------

Dear friends,

In the next few hours, history could be made in Palestine. A small number of brave Palestinians will brave attack and arrest to commit a forbidden act -- they will board a public bus.

Lacking their own state, Palestinians are forbidden to use buses and roads reserved for non-Arabs - part of a host of race-based rules that US President Jimmy Carter has called "apartheid". 50 years ago, blacks in the US challenged these rules by simply and non-violently refusing to follow them. In a few hours, Palestinians will take the same approach, and their actions will be live webcasted by Avaaz teams at the link below.

As diplomats stall in the fight for a Palestinian state, the Palestinian people are taking the fight into their own hands, one public service at a time. And they're doing it with the simple, elegant and unstoppable moral force of non-violence in the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. The Palestinian spring begins right now - click below to watch it LIVE, register support, and give these brave activists the global solidarity and attention they urgently need to win:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/palestine_freedom_riders/?tta

Non-violence is the game-changing force in this long standing conflict. Boarding buses is a symbolic act, but so was Gandhi's salt march, and Rosa Park's own 'freedom ride' on a segregated bus in the US. Just as non-violent protest was able to topple dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, so can it finally free the Palestinian people from 40 years of crippling military oppression by a foreign power.

There are many dangers. Israel has been arming the extremist settler population, a tactic which is likely, if not intended, to provoke awful violence that will draw the news cameras away from the brave acts of non-violence. Even the Palestinian authorities are pushing back on the action which they fear will start a democratic protest movement that they cannot control. But these few brave Palestinians have had enough, and if we stand with them now, we can help them ignite a flame that will burn its way all the way to a free and peaceful Palestinian state:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/palestine_freedom_riders/?tta

We have no idea what will happen in the next 24 hours. Maybe the authorities will crush this brave action. Maybe it will spark into a massive conflagration. Maybe it will sow the first seed of an unstoppable movement with tremendous integrity. But we can watch it live, and lend our voices to the effort. And maybe one day, we can tell our grandchildren that we were there when Palestinians boarded the buses that would ultimately take them to freedom.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Alice, Emma, Alice, Raluca, Pascal, Diego and the rest of the Avaaz team

Sources:

I Woke Up This Morning with My Mind Set on Freedomhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/clarence-b-jones/i-woke-up-this-morning-wi_b_1087407.html

Freedom Riders: 1961 and the struggle for racial justicehttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/books/review/19foner.html

Palestinian Freedom Rides echo the Civil Rights Movementhttp://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/news/3888-freedom-rides

'Freedom Rides' to Resume in Palestinehttp://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17242

Sojourner moves to South Asia

Thanks to all my readers to date but as I mentioned might happen, this blog is hibernating, perhaps even demised. Having left Palestine and the middle east ages ago now, as much as I'd like to continue to promote the cause of peace and justice for Palestine, I don't have anything firsthand to report. Do feel free to read over some of my posts and follow the links to the sites such as Electronic Intifada if you're keen on following the issues.


However, to the delight of perhaps three of you, I am now blogging about further travels in India, Nepal and Afghanistan over here at my wanderingsojourner.tumblr.com blog. More of a personal travel blog, so without the overt politics of this blog . . . either way, drop in for a read or to check out my photos from amazing places like the Himalayas.

Radio interviews

A couple of friends host a local indymedia radio show every week and had a focus on Palestine tonight. I was interviewed, but more interesting was their first guest, Miko Peled. He is an Israeli peace activist but one with a special story; the son of a General in the Israeli army during the '67 war, and the grandson of one of the signatories to Israel's declaration of independence.


Check out his own blog in the link above or google or youtube him to get an idea of what a powerful and significant perspective he has.He is currently in Australia so for any of you in Perth he's speaking on the 29th of September - check out the details here, or here for other places in Australia.


And to hear his interview (or mine) on Perth's indymedia show (on RTR FM) here's that link. Just click on the 19th September show; Miko's interview starts about 10 or 11 minutes in and goes for about 20 minutes. Mine starts close to the 40 minute mark and goes for about 15. Too many umm's, and a few things I could have explained better, but another good chance to raise some awareness after last week's talk. Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a listen...


And just one more reminder about the petition I mentioned last week; do check it out - this is a crucial time as the bid for Palestinian statehood goes to the United Nations. And for a surprisingly un-baised overview of the statehood bid, (and a number of fascinating comments from various significant individuals in Israel), check out this article from the Weekend Australian (17/18 Sept).

How do you explain the Palestine conflict in 3 minutes?

With an amazing little video put together by Avaaz. 

Check it out if you've got 3 minutes to spare - it obviously simplifies things but it also gives an amazing insight into some of the issues in a very short space of time. 

I used it at my talk tonight - thanks to those who came and especially those who asked questions and added to the discussion . . . and thanks to Kelli, the pvi gang and CIA (no,not that one) for being such great hosts as well as awesome artists. 

More info from the talk soon.

And if you're in Perth do come along to the rally in Murray St this Saturday, 1pm!

Public talk in Perth this Wednesday

Flyer for the evening - click to enlarge

For those of you in Perth, I'm going to give a talk about my time in Palestine on Wednesday night;
6 - 7.30pm at CIA, 480 Newcastle St, West Perth.
It's directly opposite the City Motors caryard - look for the old brick school building - entry is around the back and up the stairs.


My thanks to the artists at the CIA studios and especially to the very groovy and mischievous pvi collective for hosting me - boo yah.


Entry is by donation to cover the evening, with any remaining funds to go to he amazing Combatants for Peace who I've blogged about a couple of times before - here and there.


I'd love to see you there if you can make it.


...and for those of you from Perth who can't make it, do check out the Friends of Palestine WA website and think about getting along to the next event in Perth - a rally in the city to support the international BDS (boycott, divestment and sacntions) campaign against apartheid Israel - Murray St Mall, 1pm Saturday 17th September.


Meantime - for anyone - here's an online petition that'll I'd really encourage you to consider signing - which also has an awesome two minute video giving an overview of the Palestinian situation. Do check it out!

Finally . . .

Finally, some news - apologies to my four regular readers that i haven't posted anything for so long. I am indeed back in Australia as some of you may know, and have been for a few weeks.


I returned for family reasons (my Mum's 70th!) over in Victoria, and finally made it to my home town in the West a couple of days ago.


I have been meaning to write more about Palestine and my travels from Australia, but many factors have meant I haven't been too successful. Re-adjusting to this comfortable but warped country, family times and celebrations, hanging out with new and old friends in Melbourne, some excellent activism, and just generally moving around have all meant I've found it hard to write. But, now back in Perth for a time, I am planning on posting a few more stories about Palestine and my travels, after which I'm fairly sure this blog will go into hibernation.


(I may  - or may not - start a different blog at some point, so if you are even somewhat interested in any future writing, please send me an email: khristo at gmail dot com )


Meantime, as mentioned, since I've been back I've been involved in two excellent activist events; one involving solidarity with Palestine, and the other part of a campaign against the war in Afghanistan.


Looking to track down some Melbourne friends on my arrival back in Australia, I discovered they were taking part in a week of protests against Australia's involvement in Afghanistan and was invited to join in. I managed to do so for three days, and was so glad I did. A really great, solid group of people, and a mostly awesome week of actions. So much more I could say, but there's a whole website... See this link for lots of info, photos and reports of the Swan Island Peace Convergence. For some footage check this out, and for brilliant photos by the wonderful Jon Osborne, check out this link.

400 candles and a small group of protestors meditate for peace, while a couple of others scale the bridge leading to one of Australia's more secret military training facilities - Swan Island, Victoria.

While there, I heard that a few nights before that protest began, 19 people had been arrested in a heavy-handed police response to a pro-Palestine/boycott Israel protest in Melbourne. A couple of weeks later I was able to attend the follow-up protest, targeting an Israeli company - Max Bremmer - who proudly talk of their support for the Israeli army and their actions. 

One of two Max Bremmer stores targeted that night as part of the BDS campaign; at least 300 people and a considerable - though this time peaceful - police presence

It was great to be back in Australia but still showing support and solidarity for Palestine. More from me soon . . .

Solidarity for Palestine from across the oceans!