Palestine
Action
Toolkit
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HISTORY
Israel/Palestine Teach-in Slideshow
These are the materials from a mini class I took in 2021 when Israel was conducting a siege on Sheikh Jarrah. This teach-in was conducted by a professor, Arielle Sadie Gordon who is now the Director of International Relations for the Human Rights Defenders Fund.
Books
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine ::: Rashid Khalidi
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear ::: Mosab Abu Toha
Orientalism ::: Edward Said
The Question of Palestine ::: Edward Said
JOURNALISM
Opinion: Sheikh Jarrah highlights the violent brazenness of Israel’s colonialist project
By Noura Erakat and Mariam Barghouti | May 10, 2021
ISRAEL’S APARTHEID AGAINST PALESTINIANS
A LOOK INTO DECADES OF OPPRESSION AND DOMINATION
February 1, 2022
The Harvard Law Review Refused to Run This Piece About Genocide in Gaza
(The most comprehensive case for the claim of genocide-includes links to 70+ articles corroborating this account)
RABEA EGHBARIAH | Embedded Piece in question: Rabea Eghbariah | NOVEMBER 21, 2023
‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas
(Journalism showing this Israeli government is actively working against a two state solution)
UN experts appalled by reported human rights violations against Palestinian women and girls
Destroying Gaza’s Health Care System Is a War Crime
Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, UN rights expert says
JOURNALISM (continued)
Israel’s attempt to destroy Unrwa is part of its starvation strategy in Gaza
ORGANIZATIONS
US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
USCPR Stop Gaza Genocide Action Toolkit
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
CULTURE IS RESISTANCE
The Palestine Poster Project Archive
https://www.palestineposterproject.org/
The Palestinian Museum Digital Archive
ACTIVISTS
Noura Erakat - IG @nouraerakat
Mohammed El Kurd - IG @mohammedelkurd
Linda Sarsour - IG @mohammedelkurd
Khaled Beydoun - IG @khaledbeydoun
AIPAC Funded Senators and House Reps
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-israel-public-affairs-cmte/recipients?id=D000046963
ACTIVISM: CALL YOUR REPS
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Call the offices of your US House Representative, and your two US Senators
Current Goals/Basic Demands
Call for a Ceasefire
End Civilan Deaths
Bring Home Hostages
Halt Military Arms Deals
End Funding to Israel
(Make Aid Conditional)
Call or Write to the White House
Call Scripts and Letters to my Representatives
*Feel free to use any language here but please adapt these to your representatives
and the evolving timeline of events. Specifics may not be relevant to your House Rep or Senator or relevant as time goes on.
White House Contact
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Text / Email to Biden on 01/24/24 (Please adapt and change to your perspective)
Dear Mr. President,
I am a _____________ who has voted for Democrats my whole life. I fought for you in the 2020 election. I got on the phone and called voters across the country for months ahead of the election. But now, for the first time in my life I am deeply disenchanted with the Democrats because of your posture on Palestinians. You have completely dehumanized and “othered” Muslims and Arabs since Oct 7th. They are not the second story in this ongoing occupation. You repeated debunked claims about beheaded babies and doubted the death toll of civilians in Gaza. Your administration is bypassing congress to send bombs and military equipment to Israel as they commit horrific war crimes on civilians. This is seen as direct support for what many countries and humanitarian organizations are calling a genocide and for a nation classified as an apartheid state.
My first priority is protecting the lives of Palestinians but I do care about the momentum for other social justice causes in America. You have completely undermined that momentum by alienating young voters, and Black and Brown Americans. I have always been patriotic in my dissent for American policy and given the Democrats the benefit of the doubt, but for the first time in my life I am truly disillusioned and embarrassed by the Democrats unchecked support for Israel. How can I vote for you again, when you completely alienate muslim Americans? Do you realize what you have done to destroy support among that group?
We must stop sending aid and arms to Israel while they commit these atrocities on civilians in Gaza. You can keep offering tepid critique of Netanyahu but no one will believe it is sincere unless we halt aid and arms. That's what matters as leverage.
There is a new generation who does not see Israel as an ally from a political or value based perspective. We will vote out AIPAC supported Dems. This party must change or it will lose support of progressives. It will lose elections.
I’ve never been so ashamed of the United States.
Please listen to the people asking you to evolve on this issue.
Thank you for your time.
Benjamin
More call examples on my IG reels @benjamin_carlson
Call to my Senator 12.11.23
I want to acknowledge and show appreciation for the recent positions the Senator has taken that both critique the Netanyahu war plan and advocates for the human rights of Palestinians. But I am concerned that US actions speak louder than these kinds of statements.
As the Senator must know the US continually bypasses congress through state department deals to send military assistance including guided bomb equipment, 2,000 pound bombs and tank artillery to Israel. How do we have any hope of holding this Israeli government accountable when we simply give them what they need to commit the war crimes that Senator supposedly opposes? We can’t just fund Israel and hope they abide by our wavering conditions, America needs to lead this relationship by halting arms and halting aid until Israel shows it is changing course.
We are empowering an unchecked Israel and hoping they change, that is not a conditional agreement. I will not support a Democratic Party that conducts foreign policy in this manner. So I hope that the Senator will speak up about these anti democratic moves that provide military assistance without congressional approval.
I hope the senator will make it clear he will not send any aid or arms until Israel stops wrecklessly killing civilians and actually shows it’s working on political path to Palestinian soverignty.
Call to my House Rep 12.15.23
I appreciate that the congresswoman came around to the position of calling for a ceasefire. And I see more US representatives and world leaders calling for a ceasefire. Biden is now making tepid statements about limiting civilian casualties. But none of this is working to force Netanyahu to change course.
There is a massive disconnect between this administration and this party saying they want to limit civilian casualties and want a political solution but then sending 2000 pound bunker buster bombs to be dropped on densely populated civilian areas. The Israeli government is working against our purported values of limiting civilian casualties and goals of a two state solution. We have no leverage with Netanyahu if we call for restraint but then continue to send military aid.
So I want to ask if the congresswoman will take a position regarding these arms transfers to Israel. There have been reports of guided bomb equipment, 2000 pound bunker buster bombs, tank artillery and The intercept just reported that the The Pentagon is working with a special team to expedite weapons exports to Israel. As far as I can tell, this military aid is not being approved by congress. I want to ask the congresswoman what she thinks specifically about these weapons transfers bypassing congress and being sent to a government we can’t seem to negotiate with.
Long letter to my Senator around 11.25.23
Dear Senator Welch,
I find it troubling that all your public statements on Israel and Palestinian center Israel as the unwavering ally that needs our support and Palestine as a secondary story, that needs humanitarian assistance. Your language is emblematic of the fundamental problem with how Democrats and this administration are handling this issue, that is, Palestinians are treated as an afterthought. This party is not acting as a diplomatic mediator. This party is lagging behind the world and a growing coalition of liberals in the US in regard to how Palestinian rights are viewed.
You can’t keep calling for humanitarian aid for Palestine and hoping Israel will protect civilians when without addressing the problem: our government has funded Israel unconditionally for decades. Our government does nothing to end the occupation. We helped create this dire situation for the Palestinians and no Democrat for over a month did anything to try to reign in Netanyahu’s madness. Over 12,000 Palestinian civilians were killed by a regime we support while you were putting out statements saying Israel has the right to defend itself. Is what you see in Gaza defense? Palestinian civilians have been repeatedly attacked before October 7th, do they have a right to defend themselves as well? You wrote to me: "The Government of Israel has a right and responsibility to defend the Israeli population against terrorism in accordance with international law." When Israel kills protestors or journalists with sniper fire, when Israel bombs refugee camps and schools, is that not terrorism too? Does Palestine have the right and responsibility to defend the Palestinian population? You can't keep "othering" Palestinians.
Do you realize how big of a political blunder you have made? The deaths of the journalists, mothers, doctors, and little brothers are on this party, a party I have consistently supported for my whole adult life. I am now completely disheartened, and embarrassed to align myself with Democrats. I am so furious with your weak statements and inaction. It's quite haunting to be honest.
My first priority is that you, my representative work harder to pressure the Biden administration to end the killing of Palestinian civilians. But after that, I do hope that in general you and the Biden administration can act as diplomats on the global stage and conduct some rational foreign policy that values all civilians equally. Do you realize how this party’s failure in Gaza has the potential to threaten all the great progress we have made so far on other progressive issues? So many of us Democrats are completely dismayed and embarrassed with our leaders.
Did you see the MSNBC poll that came out saying 70% of 18-34 year-olds disapprove of the way the Biden administration is handling this situation? When is this party going to catch up to its citizens and catch up to the world in supporting Palestinian rights? You and your colleagues are destroying the momentum the Democrats have made.
Clearly, I shouldn’t have to explain to you how embarrassing it is to watch the US continually vote in a minority at the UN against things like ceasefires, against aid, and against condemning illegal Israeli settlements. The majority of the planet’s nations stand in opposition to us regarding rational policy that supports basic human rights for Palestinians. We are making a mockery of ourselves on the world stage. Is that the US you are proud of? This is not just embarrassing, our standing in the world as mediators for other democratic pursuits around the world is severely threatened. We are losing any credibility we might have had.
After 40-plus days of what many organizations, UN officials, journalists, and even families of holocaust survivors are calling a genocide, Congresswoman Balint finally called for a ceasefire and Senator Sanders outlined conditions for aid. Tonight, you put out a statement that implied Israel still has the opportunity to show they will meet a standard of protecting civilians. Senator, 12,000 Palestinian civilians have already been murdered. What are you waiting for? You are going to continue to give the Israeli government the benefit of the doubt? Not calling for a ceasefire shows that you are comfortable with more Palestinian civilians dying.
This kind of unwavering support for this particular party in charge of Israel is not acting in service of the safety of Israeli citizens either. Giving a blank check to Israel, not calling for a ceasefire, not making aid conditional, and not working towards a two-state solution are all unforced errors that create conditions for continued war that will threaten the continued safety of Israelis. We are no friends of the brave Israeli citizens who are opposing Netanyahu’s government if we continue to act the way we are acting.
Do I have to show you the pleas to the world from Doctors Without Borders witnessing sniper fire at Hospitals to prove to you that Israel has not just targeted medical facilities this past month but done it for years? Do I have to show you how days, weeks, and months before October 7th record numbers of Palestinian children have been murdered with impunity? https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/28/west-bank-spike-israeli-killings-palestinian-children Do I have to show you that Israel has been killing more civilians, more quietly over the years to prove that the Democrats only start paying attention when Israeli civilians are killed? https://statistics.btselem.org/en/all-fatalities/by-date-of-incident?section=overall&tab=overview There are so many international human rights organizations who have been documenting and calling out Israel’s illegal settlements, war crimes, illegal detentions, and it's apartheid state BEFORE Oct 7th. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/02/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/ So while I do not cheer on Hamas killing innocent Israelis, it's easy to understand why this attack happened: Palestine was given no path towards political or personal dignity.
The Bush administration called Israel’s presence an occupation and called for conditional aid to thwart expanded settlements. Ex-military leaders from the Clinton, Bush, and Obama admins say, based on failures in Iraq and Afghanistan that there is no military solution here in Gaza. Yet this current Democratic Party is saying things like “there are no red lines” basically giving Israel free rein to do whatever it likes. Biden is repeating Islamophobic rhetoric. Why is this current party more conservative, and less diplomatic, on the solutions to this issue than past administrations? Why is this party avoiding discussing solutions that clearly center around a political path of hope for Palestinians?
This Democratic Party is making egregious errors every day on this issue that are costing lives. You are compromising the ability of this party to win in November. The Democratic constituency is changing how they see this ongoing conflict but the leadership is failing to catch up. Equal support for Palestinians and criticism of the Israeli government is the inevitable future. Please catch up. How do you not see the mess you have created? You have a ton of work to do to prove that you are actually looking at this issue with empathy from both sides. You have a ton of work to do to win back a future vote from me.
Please don’t respond with some general statement about the situation. It’s insulting. Please make it very clear what tangible steps you will take to end innocent Palestinian deaths. Please tell us you will support a ceasefire or tell us why you do not support a ceasefire. Please tell us if you plan to vote to aid Israel at this moment. We deserve more transparency, not weak statements.