VIDEO REPORT by Al Jazeera English, 29 March 2023
Palestinians have been absent for much of Israel’s protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul plans. Zena Al Tahhan, Al Jazeera English’s digital correspondent in Jerusalem, explains that while the protesters see the judiciary as a balancing force to the government, Palestinians see it as a system which oppresses them.
By Wafa Aludaini, Gaza, 23 March 2023
During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims from all corners of the globe come together to celebrate. Each country has its own traditional rituals. In Palestine, Ramadan is more than just a month of fasting and worship; the month is an important opportunity to connect with the stolen culture of Palestine’s ancestral heritage. Although the occupation’s restrictions and technology impact the normally festive atmosphere of the holy month, Palestinians still preserve the practices and traditions which make the celebrations uniquely Palestinian.
In the days leading up to the announcement that the month of Ramadan has commenced, Palestinians begin to prepare. Streets, mosques, homes are decorated with lanterns and lighting, and merchants prepare their shops with several kind of dates, sweets, pickles, juices and more. [See more photos from Gaza below]
VIDEO: Israel killed American peace activist Rachel Corrie 20 years ago. Before then and since then thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military in Occupied Palestine. This needs to stop 🛑
(Video recorded by Palestine Chronicle at a memorial event at Rachel’s former school, Evergreen College, Washington, 18 March 2023)
See also earlier KOG post: https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/peace-activist-rachel-corrie-killed-by-israel-remembered-20-years-on/
By Ilan Pappe, the Palestine Chronicle, 17 March 2023
I am writing this op-ed on March 10, 2023. Seventy-five years ago, on this date, the military command of the Zionist leadership publicized Plan Dalet, or Plan D, which, among other guidelines, instructed the Zionist forces on their way to occupy hundreds of Palestinian villages and several towns and neighborhoods in historical Palestine, to carry out:
“Destruction of villages (setting fire to, blowing up, and planting mines in the debris), especially those population centers which are difficult to control continuously.
“Mounting search and control operations according to the following guidelines: encirclement of the village and conducting a search inside it. In the event of resistance, the armed force must be destroyed and the population must be expelled outside the borders of the state.”
Similar guidelines were given to the urban areas. This was a softer version of the real commands that were given to the units on the ground. Here is one example of an order sent to a unit entrusted with occupying three large villages in Western Galilee as part of Plan D commands:
“Our Mission is to assault for the purpose of occupation…to kill the men, destroy and set fire to Kabri, Umm al-Faraj and An-Nahr”
So, there is nothing new when Bezalel Smotrich, the minister of finance of Israel calls for the erasure of Huwwara. He apologized because such comments were only meant to be said in Hebrew, but he forgot that this is 2023 and his words were immediately translated into English. Smotrich apologized because it was translated, not because he said it.
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Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, have visited the occupied Palestinian territories several times since their daughter’s death and continue her peace work through the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice. (Reuters Archive)
It has been 20 years since American peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed by Israeli occupation forces in southern Gaza as she tried to protect Palestinians from losing their homes to demolitions.
On March 16, 2003, two years before Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, Corrie acted as a human shield in hopes of stopping a bulldozer operated by Israeli forces from flattening a home in the Palestinian Rafah refugee camp.
Israeli forces operating the 60-tonne D9 bulldozer built by Caterpillar Inc continued moving toward Corrie as she stood her ground, running her over and leaving her crushed.
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Dr Ramzy Baroud, Palestinian author, at the Adelaide Writers Week event this week, on the centrality of international solidarity in the struggle for freedom in Palestine. (Video by the Palestine Chronicle, 9 March 2023.
AlJazeera report, 8 March 2023
Israeli forces have killed at least six Palestinians and wounded 11 others during in a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry.
Two of the wounded people had serious injuries, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Israeli settlers enjoy impunity when they commit crimes against the Palestinian people.
Israeli forces intervene Palestinians as Jewish settlers celebrate Sare Day in Hebron, West Bank on November 19, 2022. It’s reported the settlers made a scene and damaged Palestinians’ properties. [Photo by Anadolu Images.]
OPINIONBY YOUSEF M. ALJAMAL, Politics Today, 7 March 2023
When hundreds of Israeli settlers burned 15 Palestinian homes and 100 Palestinian cars in the West Bank’s town of Huwara near the city of Nablus on February 26, 2023, some analysts, government spokespeople, and political commentators expressed their shock at the magnitude of organized violence against Palestinians. Unfortunately, this violence comes as no surprise to the Palestinian people and has been building up for the years.
The town of Huwara has been repeatedly attacked by Israeli settlers and it has almost become the norm to read news about such attacks. What is different this time, however, is that formerly convicted settlers are now ministers in Netanyahu’s fragile coalition such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, who serves as Israel’s National Security Minister and who openly incites violence against the Palestinian people.
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Coalition statements / By zohar, 25 February 2023.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) expresses solidarity with the victims of the recent earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria, including the large number of Palestinian refugees stuck in the quake zone.
Our hearts go out to those who have been affected by this disaster and we extend our sincerest condolences to those who have lost loved ones and are coping with extreme hardship.
The FFC calls on all organisations working to end the illegal blockade of Gaza to support organisations providing aid and relief.
We pay tribute to everyone involved in respectful relief efforts and delivery of humanitarian aid. As global citizens, it is our responsibility to stand in solidarity with those who are facing hardship and suffering. Let us show our support and compassion for the victims of the earthquake by coming together as a collective to offer whatever support we can.
[Kia Ora Gaza is a member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The FFC website: https://freedomflotilla.org -Ed]
American civil rights leader Malcolm X (1925 – 1965) [Bob Parent/Hulton Archive/Getty Images]
By Dr Ramzy Baroud, Middle East Monitor, 25 February 2023
On 20 February, the United Nations Security Council approved a statement, described in the media as a ‘watered-down’ version of an earlier draft resolution which would have demanded that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The intrigues that led to the scrapping of what was meant to be a binding resolution will be the subject of a future article. For now, however, I would like to reflect on the fact that the so-called international community’s relationship with the Palestinian struggle has always attempted to ‘water down’ a horrific reality.
Continue readingA Palestinian is shot and killed as settlers backed by the Israeli army burn dozens of houses and cars in the occupied West Bank in revenge attacks.
By Al Jazeera Staff, 28 February 2023
Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Israeli settlers have carried out at least 300 attacks, including shootings and arson, in a rampage through Palestinian villages in the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say, in what has been described as a “pogrom”.
A 37-year-old Palestinian man identified as Samih al-Aqtash was shot in the stomach on Sunday night by settlers protected by the Israeli army in the village of Zaatara south of Nablus. He died of his injuries. The father of five returned home five days ago after volunteering to help earthquake survivors in Turkey.
At least 390 Palestinians were injured in the settler rampage across the villages of Huwara, Zaatara, Burin and Asira al-Qibliya – all south of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, adding that the majority were wounded from tear gas fired by the Israeli army as well as smoke inhalation from widespread fires set by the settlers.
A delegation of the Miles of Smiles 41st solidarity aid convoy enters besieged Gaza. (Photo: Miles of Smiles, Supplied)
By Roger Fowler, The Palestine Chronicle, 23 February 2023
A delegation of the Miles of Smiles 41st solidarity aid convoy recently entered Gaza to deliver over $US200,000 of much-needed medical supplies, including 250 new wheelchairs and walking frames, a range of crucial medical equipment, including monitors and defibrillators, and special equipment for people with disabilities.
This humanitarian convoy, hailed as an ‘important breakthrough’, is the first international civil society delegation to breach Israel’s illegal siege of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip via Egypt for many years.
Israel’s tight 15-year siege and naval blockade has resulted in a dire scarcity of vital medical equipment and other goods. Gaza’s Ministry of Health will distribute the convoy’s supplies to health agencies throughout the impoverished enclave.
The Miles of Smiles 41st convoy has been organized in partnership with Turkiye-based Medics Worldwide, and supported by donor organizations in many countries including Algeria, Malaysia, Turkey, UK and Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Convoy delegates, led by Dr Essam Youssef, visited many services in the Strip last weekend, including the Benevolent Society for People with Disabilities in Gaza City.
As shown in the video below, Dr Essam viewed the society’s ambulance for disabled patients, which is one of 37 new ambulances delivered by the Miles of Smiles medical aid convoy to besieged Gaza in November 2021.
This specialized ambulance was sponsored by several Freedom Flotilla Coalition campaigns, included those in Canada, USA, Norway, South Africa and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Kia Ora Gaza).
Kia Ora Gaza, which also raised $NZ10,000 towards the current MoS convoy, stated that “the practical humanitarian responses of the international solidarity convoys and freedom flotillas are important components of the growing global movement to support the Palestinian struggle for human rights and to end Israel’s attacks and occupation of Palestine, and their illegal blockade of Gaza.”
Head of the convoy, Dr Essam Youssef, said in a press conference after crossing into Gaza last week, that the campaign seeks to express solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza.
“Our message is: Gaza is not alone,” Youssef said.
(All Photos: Miles of Smiles, Supplied)
Link to Palestine Chronicle post:
– Roger Fowler is the coordinator of Kia Ora Gaza (Aotearoa New Zealand), a member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Website: kiaoragaza.net He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
One NZ show only: 7pm Tuesday 28 February – Get your tickets here: http://www.amerzahr.com
Hosted by Palestinian Youth Aotearoa
VIDEO REPORT: Gaza City, 19 February 2023
Dr Essam Youssef, leader of the 41st Miles of Smiles solidarity convoy currently in the Gaza Strip, visited the Benevolent Society for People with Disabilities in Gaza City yesterday.
As shown in the above video, Dr Essam viewed the society’s specialised ambulance for patients, that was sponsored by Freedom Flotilla campaigns – one of 37 new ambulances delivered by the Miles of Smiles international aid convoy to besieged Gaza in November 2021.
The current Miles of Smiles aid convoy, now in Gaza, has delivered 250 new wheelchairs and walking frames, a range of much-needed medical equipment, including monitors and defibrillators, and special equipment for people with disabilities. Gaza’s Ministry of Health is distributing these items to health agencies throughout the enclave. Kia Ora Gaza raised $10,000 towards this project.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition campaigns that sponsored the Gaza Benevolent Society ambulance included those in Canada, USA, Norway, South Africa and Aotearoa/New Zealand (Kia Ora Gaza).
Link to a post about the 2021 Miles of Smiles ambulance convoy:
International solidarity convoys and freedom flotillas are important components of the growing global movement to support the Palestinian struggle for human rights, and build humanitarian and practical responses to end Israeli attacks and occupation of Palestine and illegal 15 year blockade of Gaza.
‘Our message is: Gaza is not alone’
Sally Ibrahim, Gaza, The New Arab, 16 February, 2023
Speaking to The New Arab, Ghazi Hamad, the undersecretary of [Gaza’s] Ministry of Social Development, said that the medical convoy came after two years of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dubbed, the “41 Miles of Smiles,” the aid campaign includes medical equipment, medicines, devices, and aid for people with disabilities. [Kia Ora Gaza is one of the convoy’s international donors. See previous post. Ed]
The impoverished coastal enclave received a medical aid convoy on Wednesday that crossed through the Rafah border crossing, the only gate linking the Gaza Strip with the world through Egypt.
[Hamad] added that the convoy aims to alleviate part of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza due to the “illegal” Israeli blockade.
Called the “41 Miles of Smiles”, the aid campaign includes medical equipment, medicines, devices, and aid for people with disabilities, according to Hamad.
For over 16 years, Israel imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on the coastal enclave after the Islamic Hamas movement, which won the legislative elections in 2006, seized the territory.
Since then, Israeli authorities denied entry into Gaza of various essential goods under the pretext that they have “dual” [civilian and military] capabilities; these include goods like building materials, specific medical equipment and agricultural tools.
To break the Israeli blockade on the medical sector, pro-Palestinian Arab and foreign activists launched a medical aid convoy in 2009 to deliver needed healthcare supplies to the Gaza Strip.
For his part, the head of the campaign, Issam Youssef, said in a press conference after crossing into Gaza today that the campaign seeks to express solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza.
“Our message is: Gaza is not alone,” Youssef said.
He added that “a six-member relief delegation plan to visit the impoverished coastal enclave soon.”
Photos supplied by Miles of Smiles
[Slightly abridged]
Related:
An international solidarity convoy is currently preparing to travel from Cairo to Gaza to deliver a consignment of urgently needed medical aid.
Headed by a small delegation from Miles of Smiles and Medics Worldwide, the aid convoy will be the first civilian humanitarian group to breach Israel’s illegal blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip since Covid restrictions were applied in 2020.
A variety of crucial medical and disability supplies worth over $US200,000, including over 250 new wheelchairs and walking frames, have been sponsored by organisations in countries from around the world such as Algeria, Malaysia, Turkey, United Kingdom and Aotearoa/New Zealand. The aid will be delivered to the Ministry of Health in Gaza to be distributed to health agencies.
Kia Ora Gaza raised $10,000 towards this project from supporters throughout Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Kia Ora Gaza and several Freedom Flotilla campaigns also sponsored an ambulance on the Miles of Smiles convoy of 37 new ambulances that reached Gaza in 2021.
International Middle East Media Centre, 14 February 2023
On Monday evening, Israeli navy ships attacked Palestinian fishing boats with live fire and gas bombs near the shores of the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Media sources said the navy attacked the boats near the shores of the Al-Waha, As-Sudaniyya, and Beit Lahia by firing many live rounds, high-velocity gas bombs, and flares, forcing them to leave.
The attacks did not lead to casualties but forced the fishermen to return to the shore without being able to fish to provide for their families.
On Monday dawn, the Israeli army fired many missiles and shells, targeting several areas in the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, and alleged it was “retaliating to a shell fired from Gaza.”
The attacks are part of constant Israeli violations against the Palestinians, especially the fishermen, farmers, shepherds, and workers in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip, and resulted in dozens of casualties, including fatalities, in addition to severe property damage and the confiscation of many boats after abducting the fishermen.
In March of 2021, the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza said Israeli mines were responsible for an explosion that led to the death of three fishermen.
Link to original post: https://imemc.org/article/israeli-navy-attacks-palestinian-fishing-boats-in-northern-gaza-11/
PSNA Statement, 12 February 2023
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta demanding the government direct the New Zealand Superfund to end investments in Israel’s brutal oppression of Palestinians.
“The Superfund must withdraw its investments in the 112 companies identified by the United Nations Human Rights Council as complicit in the building and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land”, says PSNA National Chair, John Minto.
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Palestinians gather at the Unknown Soldier’s Square to protest the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Gaza Strip [Ali Jadallah – Anadolu Agency]
The Palestinian Non-Government Organisations Network (PNGO) statement, 2 February 2023.
The Palestinian Non-Government Organisations Network (PNGO) warns of the serious repercussions of the continued deterioration of the economic, social, and humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip as a result of the continued Israeli blockade for the sixteenth year in a row. The Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 launched by the United Nations and its local and international partners stressed the need for more than $500 million to cover the humanitarian needs in the occupied Palestinian territory and to allocate more than 70% of it to the Gaza Strip.
Continue readingAmid increasing tensions in the occupied West Bank and Israel, health workers in Gaza have been fighting their own struggle to procure vital medical equipment for hospitals in the beleaguered coastal territory.
[Recently] a convoy of about 25 ambulances from Gaza drove along the Israeli border to protest import restrictions on medical equipment that the Palestinian health ministry says are crippling hospitals in Gaza.
“Preventing the entry of medical devices means the slow death of Gaza patients,” read a banner on one of the ambulances in the convoy. “Medical equipment is crumbling,” another said.
Continue readingKia Ora Gaza was established from a series of public meetings to organise Kiwi participation in international efforts to end the siege of Gaza & promote practical solidarity for Palestine. This followed the Israeli commando raid on the Mavi Mamara-led peace flotilla in international waters in 2010 which resulted in the deaths of 10 civilian peace activists.
Since then Kia Ora Gaza has organised or supported the following projects:
1. Sent a team of 6 Kiwis on the 140-vehicle Viva Palestina international land convoy in 2010, driving and donating 3 ambulances to Gaza – part of the $7million medical aid delivered.
2. Supported Kiwi participant Harmeet Sooden to join the Canadian boat, Tahrir on Freedom Flotilla 2 to Gaza in 2011.
3. Sent a team of 4 Kiwis on the “Miles of Smiles” land convoy to Gaza with 10 tonnes of medical aid, 20124. Sent a fact-finding mission for www.kiaoragaza.net to Gaza Nov, 2012
5. Sent donations for food relief following the 2014 floods in Gaza
6. Co-organised nation-wide protests each weekend during Israel’s 50-day bombardment of Gaza in 2014
7. Transferred $25,000 to Gaza for urgent medical aid via Palestinian International Medical Aid in July 2014.
8. Sponsored an education project training young Palestinian journalists in Gaza 2015
9. Facilitated “NZ-Gaza twinning agreements” with a sports club and community centre in Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza.
10. Co-sponsored 2 ambulances for Doctors Worldwide rehabilitation centre in Khan Younis (Israeli bombing in 2014 destroyed 26 ambulances in Gaza)
11. Maintains website: kiaoragaza.net and facebook pages.
12. Co-hosted the NZ Conference on Palestine, 2013 and 2016
13. Facilitated 2 Maori TV journalists on board the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza in 2015
14. Co-hosted NZ speaking tours including:
– Harry Fear (UK doco-maker) & Roger Fowler (Kia Ora Gaza) in 2013
– Jeff Halper (Director, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) 2013
– Miko Peled (author) 2013
– Yousef Aljamal (Palestinian commentator) 2013
– Amira Hass (Israeli Journalist, Haaretz) 2015
– Samah Sabawi (Palestinian Writer) 2015
– Emad Burnat (Palestinian Film-maker) 2016
– Ali Abunimah (founder Electronic Intifada) 2016
– Rafeef Ziadah (Palestinian poet) April 2017
– Gideon Levy (Israeli journalist) 2017
– Huwaida Arraf (Palestinian lawyer) and Justine Sachs. 2018
-Dr Ramzy Baroud (US/Palestinian author) 2018
– Dr Salman Abu-Sitta (Palestinian author) 2019
15. Aug 2016 co-hosted special Auckland screening of Emad Burnat’s documentary ‘5 Broken Cameras’
16. Sept 2016. Transferred $6000 raised in our appeal to Palestinian doco-maker Emad Burnat towards a new camera.
17. Sept 2016 facilitated Green MP Marama Davidson to join Women’s Boat to Gaza peace flotilla.
18. Feb 2017 co-hosted film screening event: “The Idol”
19. April 2017, co-hosted three-city NZ tour with Palestinian performance poet Rafeef Ziadah and musician Phil Monsour.
20. May 2017 ‘Salt Water Challenge’ solidarity actions with Palestinian hunger strikers.
21. May 2017 transferred $1000 donation to Al Ahli Sports club in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza for football equipment.
22. July 2017 transferred our EURO1000 share to the FFC Gaza fishers project via MyCare Humanitarian Care Malaysia.
23. July 2017 transferred $1000 donation to Al Ahli Sports Club, Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza.
24. Sept 2017 the Freedom Flotilla Coalition delivered fishing equipment as solidarity aid to 400 Gazan fishers via MyCare, Malaysia.
25. Kia Ora Gaza co-hosted a public lecture in Auckland on 3 December 2017, by renowned Haaretz journalist and writer, Gideon Levy.
26. January 2018, Kia Ora Gaza organiser, Roger Fowler, attends the Freedom Flotilla Coalition conference in Sweden to plan the 2018 international flotilla to break the illegal blockade of Gaza.
27. Co-organised Nationwide ‘Day of Action’ for Free Palestine on Sat 3 February 2018 demanding the release of all children held in Israeli prisons.
28. Co-hosted a public meeting at Auckland Uni with US/Palestinian writer Huwaida Arraf and Justine Sachs from Dayenu: NZ Jews against Occupation, March 2018.
29. Co-organised Auckland rallies in support of Palestinian March of Return, from April 2018.
30. Co-organised a five-city speaking tour with acclaimed US/Palestinian author, Dr Ramzy Baroud. May 2018.
31. Facilitated NZ participation in the 2018 Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. Selected veteran human rights campaigner and union leader, Mike Treen to represent NZ. Co-organised NZ speaking tour with Mike Treen.
32. The 2021 Kia Ora Gaza appeal for the ‘Miles of Smiles’ solidarity convoy of 37 ambulances and medical aid for Gaza raised $NZ35,000 to sponsor one ambulance together with our Freedom Flotilla Coalition partners. FFC has postponed the next flotilla until after Covid travel restrictions are lifted.
The ambulance the Kia Ora Gaza co-sponsored servicing the disabled community in Gaza.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is organising another international peace flotilla to challenge Israel's illegal 13 year naval blockade of Gaza and for a just future for Palestine - after the Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions have been lifted. For updates visit the FFC facebook page and website: freedomflotilla.org You can support NZ participation in this project by checking the options in the 'How to donate to Kia Ora Gaza' segment below. Appeal target: $40,000 to cover costs of our share of the purchase and upgrade of the flotilla boats, airfares and accommodation for our NZ participant.
Roger Fowler teaching Kiwi-English at Al Aqsa University, Gaza City.
In June 2012, Kia Ora Gaza sent a four-person team to Gaza as part of an international aid convoy. Our Kiwi convoyers were (from left) Roger Fowler, Tali Williams, Gibran Janif and Hone Fowler. This land convoy, which left from Cairo, delivered ten tonnes of urgently needed medical supplies to health authorities in Gaza. In November 2012 Kia Ora Gaza sent Roger Fowler on a fact-finding mission to Gaza (see his reports posted Nov-Dec 2012 on this website). UK documentary-maker Harry Fear joined Roger on a speaking tour of NZ on his return.
In November 2010, six volunteers from Kia Ora Gaza joined an international land convoy which delivered NZ$7 million in medical aid to Gaza. The convoy, which left from London and was joined by other columns from North Africa and the Middle East, arrived at night in Gaza City to a rapturous welcome from Palestinian throngs.
Kia Ora Gaza 