A good day to learn about Palestine

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (UN poster)Today, November 29, 2012, is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (sometimes known simply as Solidarity Day). This day of observance has been celebrated on or around November 29 since a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 2, 1977.

To understand why we should ALL observe solidarity today and tomorrow and all tomorrows until peace is achieved,  see this video from the Jewish Voice for Peace. It is the best summation of the issues in Palestine that I have seen.

In 1977, the General Assembly took the position that peace in the Middle East could not be accomplished “without the achievement, inter alia, of a just solution of the problem of Palestine on the basis of the attainment of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return and the right to national independence and sovereignty in Palestine, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.”

While some people may assume the “two-state” solution for Israel is new or revolutionary, it was in 1947 that the United Nations passed a resolution providing for the establishment in Palestine of a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State.” As most people know, only one state, Israel, has emerged, and the Palestinians have been kept in a condition that former President Jimmy Carter called apartheid. To gain a better sense of their situation, see this video made in Gaza on Solidarity Day in 2010.

Seeking solidarity with Palestinians and recognizing that they have rights is not anti-Israel or anti-Jewish. What is often lost in the media stories and political rhetoric is the strength of support for the Palestinian people offered by many Jewish Israelis and others around the world. We have featured some of their stories in earlier posts—for example,

We have also shared the story of Rachel Corrie, an idealistic American college student who went to Palestine and was killed while participating in a non-violent protest of the bulldozing of Palestinian homes.

Today is a good day for everyone to learn more about Palestine. Again, I urge you to view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58njT2oXfE&feature=youtu.be. It has facts and suggestions for resolution of the problems. YOU can help.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Not in my name (Stories of engagement)

Our guest author, Glyn Secker, is on the executive committee of Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP) and was a lead organizer and captain of the Jewish Boat To Gaza last year.

I grew up with no faith and within no Jewish community, but with a deep commitment to human rights and justice. Searching for my cultural community, I became conscious that it had been buried by a fundamentalism that learned from history nothing but the very mindset of oppression through which it had itself emerged.

In the fight for human rights we should each choose the domain where we can be most effective. So for me, as a Jew, the title of our organization, “Jews For Justice For Palestinians” is an existential statement: its subtitle, “Two Peoples – One Future,” is a deep philosophical belief.

My family arrived in the U.K. as refugees from the pogroms in Poland and Romania. I live in London with Vanessa, who lost a generation of her family in the Holocaust, and our two sons.

I have been a lifetime campaigner for social justice and human rights:

  • Organizing and delivering printing presses to social democratic parties in Greece in 1974 prior to the fall of the military junta
  • Coordinating with social democratic parties in Czechoslovakia prior to the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the regime in 1982
  • Serving on the organizing team of the UK Anti-Nazi League in 1977 and the giant Rock Against Racism concerts in 1978.

I have been on fact-finding missions and solidarity work in Portugal in 1974, Algeria in 1978, Palestinian organizations in Lebanon in 1979, and Egypt in 1981, and I was a courier for social democratic parties in Turkey in 1982 following the military coup in 1980.

All of this prepared me to sail a boat to Gaza to breach the blockade and to say “Not in my name.” I  organized sailing our family boat to Gaza as a JfJfP boat in 2009, with hospital medical equipment provided at the ready by Conscience International, and the crew on standby.

This mission was postponed when Israel began impounding Free Gaza boats for the first time. However, in 2010, I was lead organizer and captain of the Jewish Boat to Gaza.

Glyn Secker