INCLUDING PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT

On Wednesday 28th July, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) hosted a groundbreaking and highly successful public event in the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. The special guests were Palestinian members of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) who brought the plight of Arab citizens of the state of Israel to the attention of the British people, particularly our parliamentarians. As representatives of an indigenous people who constitute a minority in the "Jewish State" established around them and on their land, the Palestinian MKs discussed the reality and significance of the Jewish character of Israel for its Palestinian citizens. Dr. Jamal Zahalka, Miss Haneen Zoubi and Mr. Talab Al-Sana gave eye-opening and impassioned accounts of the daily battles fought by their community for equality and basic civil rights in the face of the legalised discrimination that blights every aspect of their lives. The amazing thing was that they were able to maintain a sense of humour about their condition.

INCLUDING PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT

SUMMARY

That was the focus of the most recent MEMO event held on Tuesday 1st June in the Brunei Gallery at SOAS. The horrific Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla on 31st May cast a shadow over the entire event from the outset. Two of our guest speakers, Arab members of the Israeli Knesset Talab Sana and Dr Jamal Zahalka were unable to attend as a result of the trouble.

Chairing the first session, Clare Short, for Secretary of State for International Development, said, "Israel would not behave like this if our countries stood by international law."
 
Salman Abu Sitta: Ben Gurion, afraid that Palestinians refugees would return, made several deals between 1949-1950 to "sell" the land to the JNF and this was ultimately a way to "hide the loot."

Ben White: According to the "demographic threat discourse," the increasingly high numbers of Palestinians are a threat to the Zionist aims by their mere presence in the land and several tactics are therefore adopted in an attempt to Judaise the land.

Ilan Pappe: In South Africa the black people had an existence. It is true that they were considered to exist as an "inferior" people, which is terrible in itself, but "Palestinians have no existence" in the Zionist concept of the future.

Abed Hakeem Mofeed: Israelis now quite openly talk about transferring Palestinians saying that they are a demographic threat to Israel. Recently Palestinians in Israel have begun to live in a state of extreme fear. "Now we face a real threat to our existence" he said.

A year after the brutal Israeli invasion of Gaza an impressive array of speakers gathered in London this week to draw attention to the fact that the end of the invasion did not see an end to the suffering of the Palestinians. “Gaza One Year On – End the Siege of Gaza and Bring Israeli War Criminals to Justice” was organised by an equally impressive list of organisations and individuals representing a cross-section of society: the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and British Muslim Initiative were joined by Members of Parliament, Trade Unionists, academics and other experts on the Palestine issue.

The speeches were short yet impassioned. One year after Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip leaving a string of atrocities in its wake, the destruction remains, with the immoral siege preventing any building materials from being imported. The Israeli-led siege is as unjust and brutal as ever and it was this outrage that was the main focus of the night.

Yesterday, 7th December 2009, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) hosted a groundbreaking event which brought together people from a wide variety of backgrounds and professions including academics, lawyers, peace activists, an MP and many others, all of whom were united by a common interest, to see justice served on behalf of the Palestinian people. The seminar, entitled “Universal Jurisdiction Against Israeli War Criminals” was fortunate enough to be supported by an impressive panel of speakers each of whom brought their own expertise to the table. The event was chaired by Sarah McSherry, Partner at Christian Khan Solicitors and member of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights.

John Duggard – Keynote address

The keynote address was read out by Dr Daud Abdullah, the Director of MEMO, on behalf of John Duggard, Chair of the Independent Fact-Finding Committee on Gaza and former UN Special Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The essence of his address was to highlight the importance of implementing universal jurisdiction against Israeli war criminals.