Last Friday, over 30,000 Palestinians peacefully approached the border area of the Gaza strip, as part of the Great March Return, to bring attention to their unfilled right of return to their families homes and to highlight the ongoing plight of living under Israeli occupation. Israeli military forces responded with lethal force, deploying troops, drones, tanks, and snipers who fired on the crowds using bullets (live fire), rubber-coated steel pellets, and tear gas. By the end of the day, fifteen Palestinians had been killed and over 1,000 wounded.

Today, just one week later, the Israeli military killed another five Palestinians and wounded over 250. The toll is shocking, but premeditated. Israel had announced in advance that the protest would be met with military force.

March 30th marked the start of a of a six-week mobilization leading up to the 70th anniversary of the day (Nakba) in 1948 when the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians began following the declaration of the State of Israel. It is now the most deadly day in Gaza since heavy Israeli airstrikes ended in 2014.

Refugees comprise nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s 1.9 million population. They live under a crippling decades-long economic blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt that has created conditions of permanent crisis. Poverty stands at 65 percent. Unemployment hovers around 45 percent.

Public health conditions in Gaza have deteriorated. An estimated 96 percent of the ground-water supply is undrinkable. Making matters worse, the Trump administration cut more than half of funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees — funds that have long provided life saving nutritional and medical support.

Palestinians have the right to protest these conditions peacefully yet, on Friday, were shot down as they did so. The murderously disproportionate violence meted out against demonstrating Palestinians is the latest in a long series of deadly responses to popular protests.

We condemn the unjustified use of force by the Israeli military. Lethal force must never be used against peaceful protesters! We echo calls from the European Union and the majority of the members of the United Nation Security Council for an independent and transparent investigation into the use of live ammunition.

Israeli defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has refused to allow an investigation. He has the support of the Trump Administration who blocked the U.N. resolution.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION!

Ask the eleven Democratic members of Congress who just returned from Israel to:

1.)  Publicly condemn the attacks by Israeli Defense Forces against unarmed protesters in Gaza, and 2.) Join international calls for a full investigation of the tragic events.

Follow our Facebook page for updates on solidarity actions planned in the lead up to the May 15th the 70th anniversary of the Nakba.

 

On Friday, Palestinians worldwide will commemorate those who have died and suffered resisting Israel’s decades-long policy of seizing Palestinian land. Demonstrations will occur through May 15, the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when over 700,000 Palestinians out of a population of 1.9 million were expelled from their homes following the declaration of the State of Israel. Adding insult to injury, the U.S’s highly contested embassy move to Jerusalem will coincide with Nakba Day.

Palestinians have plenty to protest in the upcoming weeks. The systematic expropriation of Palestinian land continues unabated, and the development of Israeli settlements — well-funded, fortified hilltop cities built in Palestinian territories — has intensified. Just a few months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved building plans for 3,736 new settlement units, announcing “we are here to stay.” Almost 600,000 Israeli citizens currently reside in settlements — a population growing at a rate two times higher than that within Israel.

I recently witnessed the impact of Israel’s land grab and development strategy in the occupied Palestinian territories with a Global Exchange delegation. We heard from Palestinians dispossessed of their lands and homes for alleged security reasons only to later find mobile homes (or, “outposts”) mark the groundbreaking of yet more Israeli subsidized settlements. We maneuvered fairly freely via an expansive network of Israeli-only bypass roads and highways conveniently linking settlements to each other and facilitating movement to and from Israel. Conversely, we observed hundreds of checkpoints, walls, permit requirements, and Israeli soldiers tightly confining Palestinians to ever shrinking territory. I discovered that this maze of control makes it so a Palestinian might grow up able to view the Mediterranean from her town without ever having received a permit allowing her to travel to its shore. Several Palestinian teens expressed dreams of one day touching the sea.

Palestinian youth protesting the 712 km separation wall, 85 percent of which runs through the West Bank

Israel justifies many of its land grabs and extensive system of control in the West Bank as defensive measures proportionate to the threat of Palestinian and Arab aggression. Recent history is often referenced: like the 1967 Six-Day War provoked by a coalition of neighboring Arab states, two Palestinian Intifadas, or uprisings, in 1987 and in 2000, and Palestinian suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians – a strategy that gained traction during the Intifada.

Palestinians, though, view Israel’s security justification as yet another pretext to displace them from their homes. It’s seen as a palatable guise for Israel’s century long “colonial gentrification” of historic Palestine — the uprooting of indigenous peoples by settlers and imperialist powers. While impossible to list the litany of historic grievances, Palestinians often reference the demographic history of the Southern Levant, a region that for hundreds of years has been overwhelmingly populated by an Arab Muslim majority and Arab Christian and Jewish minority. The 1917 Balfour Declaration (whereby the British declared that the then Ottoman region would become a Jewish national home, despite Jews only accounting for 3-5 percent of the population at the time) is referenced as a destructive political landmark that, along with the 1947 United Nations Partition Resolution 181, paved the way for the formation of the Jewish state in 1948 against the will of indigenous populations.

Roots of the conflict depend on how far back one wants to go. Ideological settlers like Ardie, a Chicago-born Israeli who has lived in Israeli settlements in the West Bank since 1985, take the discussion to biblical times. The “right of return” for the Jewish diaspora, according to Ardie, rests in part on the premise that they — a unified people of the BCE Kingdoms of Israel and Judah — “were there first.” Over coffee and cookies, he explained:

This was Judea before it was Palestine. The Romans named it Philistina after the Philistines, our enemies, to humiliate us, rebrand us, and erase our identity. They overran us and dispersed us, and we lived around the world for thousands of years. We are unique in that we are a people with a memory that compelled us to return to our ancient homeland — and we came back.

While ancient historical claims to Palestine are commonly used to justify Israeli expansion into the occupied territories, their historicity and relevance to the 21st century conflict is often called into question. King Abdullah, for example, wrote that, while it “is absurd to reach so far back into the mists of history to argue about who should have Palestine today,” if “solid, uninterrupted Arab occupation for nearly 1,300 years does not make a country ‘Arab’, what does?” George Rishmawi from the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement Between People agrees that the blast to the ancient past isn’t helpful:

The issue isn’t who was here first, thousands of years ago. The issue is who, less than 100 years ago, came here. And what did they do to the people they found? Displacing more than 700 thousand Palestinians from their land and turning them into refugees can never be justified under any pretext.

Indeed, perhaps the most honest justification for the settlements given from a settler was about power — that we live in a world of winners and losers where winners enjoy the spoils of war and losers suffer. Indeed, the ugliness of this logic reflect the facts on the ground today: the highly securitized apartheid reality accompanying growing Israeli settlements is causing tremendous suffering to Palestinians. Squashed into ever shrinking towns with no territorial contiguity, it’s no wonder Palestinians tend to describe their situation as “living under siege” on “islands surrounded by a sea of Israeli control.” Instead of creating conditions necessary for a future sovereign Palestinian state, the West Bank is being carved up in such a way that makes a two-state solution practically impossible.

Palestinians stuck at a checkpoint.


In the face of a stifling set of constraints and dismal prospects for a just peace, Palestinians resist in courageous and creative ways. Here are a few stories that illustrate their struggle under occupation and give context to the clashes that are likely to unfold between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli military in the weeks to come:

 

In response to a question about the viability of a future sovereign Palestinian state, Iyad Burnat pointed to the expanding Israeli settlement, the Modi’in Illit bloc, and its separation wall before us. “The two state solution is dead. They killed it.”

Iyad Burnat is the head of the Bil’in Popular Committee against the Israeli wall and settlements. In response to the continuous uprooting of Palestinian ancient olive trees and confiscation of farmland, the main income source for Bil’in residents, Iyad has led weekly non-violent actions since 2005.

His family has paid a heavy price.

Three out of four of Iyad’s sons have either been shot in protest or arrested in home raids. At the time of the photo below, Iyad’s 17 year old had been detained in an Israeli prison for three months, charges undisclosed. This is a common experience. Forty percent of the Palestinian male population can expect to be detained, according to Lana Ramadan from the Addameer Prisoners Support Association based in Ramallah. But unlike their Jewish counterparts, Palestinians exist under military, not civil, law. This means that they can be held by administrative detention –indefinitely, without charge, and without trial. Children are overwhelmingly accused of throwing stones, an offense that can lead to a potential maximum of 10 to 20 years, depending on location. In the face of such adversity, I wondered where Iyad finds the will to endure. Perhaps the answer lies in the slogan of the Bil’in’s Popular Committee: “The occupation will not remove us from our land. We will stay in our land as the roots of olive trees.”

 

This picture was taken while Fadeyeh and Ne’ameh walked two-miles to their land.

Farming sisters Fadeyeh and Ne’ameh were cut off from their land after it was seized to form part of a so-called “security” buffer zone around a settlement. The creation of these special security areas became common in the wake of the second Intifada when suicide bombings that targeted Israeli civilians became a common tactic used by Palestinian armed resistance groups.

Theoretically, farmers can apply for permits to tend and cultivate the expropriated land under the watch of Israeli military personnel. In practice, the process is sabotaged by coordination challenges with the Israeli Civil Administration and aggression from settlers. Muhamad Barakat, an East Jerusalemite with an encyclopedic knowledge of the region, says the sisters typically get 10 days of approved access to their land while suffering beatings and insults from young settlers in the process.

 

This picture was taken in this Bil’in farmer’s new greenhouse, an agricultural technology effective for conserving water. He’ll grow tomatoes, “inshallah” — God willing.

The Bil’in farmer pictured below was cut off from much of the land he and his family once farmed to accommodate the construction of a separation wall and buffer zone for the neighboring Israeli Modi’in Illit bloc. Like Fadeyeh and Ne’ameh, he could apply for a permit but is discouraged by the fact that only forty percent of requests to enter the annexed agricultural land receive positive response. Limits on access have decreased farming in these areas by over eightypercent.

Just an eye-shot away, the settlement’s complexes are kept lush by water unavailable to Palestinian farmers. In the West Bank, water is far from evenly shared. On average, Israeli settlers have access to over 300 liters per day, while neighboring Palestinians are left with 73, well below the World Health Organization’s minimum standards of 100. It comes as no surprise that you can distinguish a Palestinian town from an Israeli settlement by seeing if homes are topped with water tanks, or not.

Pictured is the Bil’in farmer’s youngest son, kindly ensuring my cup of tea remained full. His hospitality in what’s left of a home that’s been demolished five times was a heartbreaking show of resilience. Israel pursues an aggressive housing demolition policy in the West Bank, a process that the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolition has shown is highly political. Homes are bulldozed for various reasons, including the clearing of vast tracts of land for military / security purposes, building without a permit (even though such permits are disproportionately difficult and expensive for Palestinians to secure), and out of collective punishment, or “deterrence,” against the family of any individual who carries out an attack against an Israeli target. In ninety-five percent of these demolitions, residents had nothing to do with the security offense.

These young Palestinian Hebronites cross checkpoints on their way to and from school.

Settlement enclaves encroach into Palestinian cities like Hebron where Israelis build homes on top of Palestinian homes and businesses, accompanied by an extensive system of cages and checkpoints that vertically and horizontally partition space. In the old city of Hebron known as Hebron 2, more than 4,200 Palestinian students must cross checkpoints on their way to school. Muhamad Barakat explained that the learning environment has suffered due to the potential for harassment and humiliation students receive while moving through checkpoints. Many opt to move. Indeed, the number of students attending Hebron’s Al-Ibrahimi primary school has dropped from 460 in 2011 to 220 in 2017.

 

Follow our Facebook page for updates on events planned for the 70th anniversary of the Nakba in the Bay Area, California, and click here to learn more about Global Exchange delegations to Palestine.

Isabella is the Latin America & World Reality Tours Coordinator at Global Exchange | isabella@globalexchnange.org

Yes, you heard that right. We are offering $200 off select trips this fall using the discount codes listed below.

From Fair Trade in Palestine, to indigenous rights in Mexico, to the Rights of Nature movement in India, this fall we have several great trips that will highlight important issues around the world. Join us as we meet with local leaders and movements to learn about the innovative ways communities and individuals are organizing for social change. Return with a new understanding of the issues and, perhaps most importantly, new ways to engage and support these inspiring movements from home.

But don’t miss out – discount codes expire September 1st!

 

Cuba: Sustainability and Community
October 10 – 17, 2015
$2,450
Promo Code: CubaGXfall15

During this historic time of change between the US and Cuba, we invite you to join us for a week-long People-to-People trip to learn from Cubans of the amazing work they are doing in and around Havana to create sustainable communities for all. This unique itinerary will look at sustainability via development, restoration, community programing and programs in the arts for the people.

 

 

Palestine: Fair Olive Harvest
October 24 – November 3, 2015
$2,500
Promo Code: PalGXfall15

Learn how Fair Trade cooperatives are restoring hope and providing economic alternatives to the Palestinian people. Stay with a local farming family and then harvest olives with farmers who use organic practices. Witness community-building traditions and cultivate a greater appreciation and understanding of Palestinian culture and pride. More importantly, you will learn first-hand from Palestinians about the impact of the occupation on farm lands, the economy, tourism and day-to-day life.

 

Oaxaca, Mexico: Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos
October 28 – November 5, 2015
$1,450
Promo Code: OxGXfall15

If you’ve never been to Oaxaca during its famous Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos celebrations, you really should. Join us as we make our annual pilgrimage to Oaxaca at the end of October. Dating back to the Aztecs, this celebration is a family event to remember departed souls and to celebrate the resurrection of their spirits. In addition, explore Oaxaca’s rich culture through excursions to historical archeological ruins, mezcal palenques, and artisan workshops. Meet with local social organizations and indigenous leaders, and learn about fair trade/free trade and globalization in Oaxaca.

 

India: Rights of Nature

November 1-11, 2015
$2,550
Promo Code: IndiaGXfall15

Travel to and stay at renowned activist and author Dr. Vandana Shiva’s Navdanya Biodiversity and Conservation Farm while learning about rights of nature in India and the power of the seed. While many over the past decades have explored the idea of living in balance with the planet and limiting the role of unfettered corporate power in all aspects of life, the rights-based movement that seeks to change fundamental law and culture is both relatively new and rapidly growing. It has kept pace with the realization that the current corporate-led global economic framework has brought us to the brink of economic and ecological disaster, and that true change will only come from the grassroots.

 

Venezuela: Community Development ​​

​November 21 – 30, 2015
$1,900
Promo Code: VzGXfall15

Travel with Global Exchange to dig past the headlines and explore the changes occurring in Venezuela, Latin America and the hemisphere as a whole. You will meet with human rights activists, rural agricultural workers, labor unions, community activists, journalists, government officials and opposition figures, and see for yourself the unprecedented social change that is occurring at this historic time in Venezuela and the region.

 

 

We hope you can take advantage of this great opportunity and travel with us this fall!

 

Check out our full list of travel opportunities

www.globalexchange.org/reality-tours

Yes, you heard that right. We are offering $200 off select trips this fall using the discount codes listed below.

From Fair Trade in Palestine, to indigenous rights in Mexico, to the Rights of Nature movement in India, this fall we have several great trips that will highlight important issues around the world. Join us as we meet with local leaders and movements to learn about the innovative ways communities and individuals are organizing for social change. Return with a new understanding of the issues and, perhaps most importantly, new ways to engage and support these inspiring movements from home.

But don’t miss out – discount codes expire September 1st!

Cuba: Sustainability and Community
October 10 – 17, 2015
$2,450
Promo Code: CubaGXfall15

During this historic time of change between the US and Cuba, we invite you to join us for a week-long People-to-People trip to learn from Cubans of the amazing work they are doing in and around Havana to create sustainable communities for all. This unique itinerary will look at sustainability via development, restoration, community programing and programs in the arts for the people.

 

 

Palestine: Fair Olive Harvest
October 24 – November 3, 2015
$2,500
Promo Code: PalGXfall15

Learn how Fair Trade cooperatives are restoring hope and providing economic alternatives to the Palestinian people. Stay with a local farming family and then harvest olives with farmers who use organic practices. Witness community-building traditions and cultivate a greater appreciation and understanding of Palestinian culture and pride. More importantly, you will learn first-hand from Palestinians about the impact of the occupation on farm lands, the economy, tourism and day-to-day life.

 

Oaxaca, Mexico: Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos
October 28 – November 5, 2015
$1,450
Promo Code: OxGXfall15

If you’ve never been to Oaxaca during its famous Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos celebrations, you really should. Join us as we make our annual pilgrimage to Oaxaca at the end of October. Dating back to the Aztecs, this celebration is a family event to remember departed souls and to celebrate the resurrection of their spirits. In addition, explore Oaxaca’s rich culture through excursions to historical archeological ruins, mezcal palenques, and artisan workshops. Meet with local social organizations and indigenous leaders, and learn about fair trade/free trade and globalization in Oaxaca.

 

India: Rights of Nature

November 1-11, 2015
$2,550
Promo Code: IndiaGXfall15

Travel to and stay at renowned activist and author Dr. Vandana Shiva’s Navdanya Biodiversity and Conservation Farm while learning about rights of nature in India and the power of the seed. While many over the past decades have explored the idea of living in balance with the planet and limiting the role of unfettered corporate power in all aspects of life, the rights-based movement that seeks to change fundamental law and culture is both relatively new and rapidly growing. It has kept pace with the realization that the current corporate-led global economic framework has brought us to the brink of economic and ecological disaster, and that true change will only come from the grassroots.

 

Venezuela: Community Development ​​

​November 21 – 30, 2015
$1,900
Promo Code: VzGXfall15

Travel with Global Exchange to dig past the headlines and explore the changes occurring in Venezuela, Latin America and the hemisphere as a whole. You will meet with human rights activists, rural agricultural workers, labor unions, community activists, journalists, government officials and opposition figures, and see for yourself the unprecedented social change that is occurring at this historic time in Venezuela and the region.

 

 

We hope you can take advantage of this great opportunity and travel with us this fall!

 Check out our full list of travel opportunities

www.globalexchange.org/reality-tours

Holy Land PestoQ: What has a robust aroma, flavors evocative of fresh fruit, a peppery bite and a hint of bitterness?

A: Holy Land olive oil from Palestine, available at Global Exchange Fair Trade shop in Berkeley.

 

Tonight I am using Holy Land olive oil to make:

Holy Land 2014-3

  1. Delicious and versatile no-cook pesto sauce for pasta
  2. Baby heirloom tomato salad drizzled with olive oil
  3. Kale, feta and carrot salad drizzled with olive oil

The flavor of this olive oil is enough to dress salads alone but I added a dash of salt, pepper, and lemon.

Pesto Ingredients:

1/4 cup walnuts

Holy Land Pesto

2 cups packed chopped basil

1/2 cup grated hard Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons HOLYLAND extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method: Pulse all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. I am adding this pesto to hot noodles but it can also be paired with steamed vegetables, used as a spread on sandwiches or served as a simple and healthy dip with raw veggies or pita chips.

Holy Land Pesto

Holy Land is proud to be the first to import Palestinian olive oil into the U.S. and their mission is to create and sustain a permanent market for Palestinian farmers. Your purchase of Holy Land is valued as an expression of support for the olive farmers. Reading about Palestinian olive trees, looking at beautiful pictures of Palestine and enjoying the rich taste of this olive oil makes me want to experience the harvest for myself, luckily I have a great connection.

Global Exchange invites you to travel to Palestine and Israel for a very special “Fair Olive Harvest” Reality Tour to learn how Fair Trade cooperatives are restoring hope and providing economic alternatives to a population under occupation.

Holy Land Pesto

Witness communities building economic alternatives by way of the Fair Trade model, experience and cultivate a greater appreciation of Palestinian traditions, food and people, and spend a day or two harvesting olives with a farm family. Participants will also discuss integral human rights issues with Palestinian and Israeli organizations, as well as observe first-hand the effects of occupation on the Palestinian economy, the land and life.

Become inspired to change the U.S.’s negative role in the conflict, and become a conduit for promoting solidarity between internationals and Palestinian farming communities while learning the benefits of supporting Palestinian Fair Trade products in the U.S. 

Photography by Lauren Matley

BDS Italiia: Occupation isn't green

BDS Italiia: Occupation isn’t green

The Cannes Film festival opens this week in France from May 15 – 26th showcasing the year’s greatest films and the glitterati associated with them.

At the festival the American Pavillion (AmPav) serves as the center of activity for the American film community so it was with some dismay that we learned that the premier sponsor of the pavilion is none other than Sodastream.

The company sells itself as a progressive, green company that fits in well with the creative forward thinking crowd that will be gathering at the film festival.

“No cans at Cannes’, it says.  But SodaStream is not socially responsible. Its main production site is in Mishor Edomim, a settlement and industrial zone in the occupied West Bank, on confiscated Palestinian land.

The company claims that the land ownership is “disputed” but the UN, the International Court of Justice, the EU court and US foreign policy all agree that the settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace.

The company claims that Palestinian workers enjoy equal rights and that this is actually a community development project for Palestinians – yet the workers there cannot organize or vote in their own community. They cannot travel on the road leading to the factory without a special permit provided arbitrarily by a foreign army and they have no other opportunities to work elsewhere because the occupation does not allow travel or any local Palestinian–owned development?

Yes, SodaStream has to pay Palestinian workers minimum wages;  this is enforced by Israeli military law,but Israeli workers have more protections and benefits than their Palestinian co-workers, including health coverage, union membership and social security.

The Municipal taxes paid by Sodastream to Ma’aleh Edomim are destined exclusively for the settlement’s growth and development not for any Palestinian community development.

Occupation isn’t green and it isn’t progressive.  A YouTube video recalls the U.S. creative community’s history of standing up for social justice issues.

An interfaith coalition calls on the industry professionals attending Cannes to boycott the Sodastream bar at AmPav and the general public to call on retailers to remove SodaStream products from their stores.

You’re not going to Cannes?  You can still do something….

Take-ActionTAKE ACTION!

main-1What is Palestinian Land Day? On March 30, 1976, thousands of Palestinians living inside Israel gathered to protest plans by the Israeli government to expropriate 60,000 dunams (about 24 square miles) of Arab-owned Palestinian land for the purposes of security and settlements. These protests were met with such heavy resistance by the Israeli police that it left six Palestinians dead, hundreds injured and hundreds more in jail.

According to Arjan El Fassed of Electronic Intifada, an independent online news publication focused on Palestine, “Land Day 1976 was the first act of mass resistance by the Palestinians inside Israel against the Zionist policy of internal colonialisation–Land Day reaffirmed the Palestinian minority in Israel as an inseparable part of the Palestinian and Arab nation.”

As activists commemorate Palestinian Land Day around the globe, Global Exchange is recognizing this 37th Palestinian Land Day with a Reality Tour that is currently on the ground in the West Bank.

Reality Tours to Palestine also focus on Fair Trade olive oil production in the West Bank.

Reality Tours to Palestine also focus on Fair Trade olive oil production in the West Bank.

The group will examine the impacts of occupation on the people and the environment while hearing from diverse organizations and individuals on the issue of land loss and the displacement of peoples. The Reality Tour will also  stand in solidarity with Palestinians during Land Day activities.

More information on upcoming Reality Tours to Palestine can be found on our website.

Interested in traveling to Palestine? Join us in November for the ‘Fair Olive Harvest’ and learn how Fair Trade cooperatives are restoring hope and providing economic alternatives to a population living under occupation. Sign up today.

medea benjaminThere are many things to be thankful for in 2012, starting with the fact that the world didn’t end on December 21 and that we don’t have to witness the inauguration of Mr. One-Percent Mitt Romney. The global economic crisis continued to hit hard, but people have been taking to the streets around the world, from students in Chile to indigenous activists in Canada to anti-austerity workers in Europe. And while the excitement of the Arab world uprisings has been tempered by divisions and losses, the struggles are far from over.

Here are some US and global issues that experienced newfound gains in 2012.

1.     While conservatives launched vicious attacks on women’s rights, it backfired—and fired up the pro-choice base! US voters elected the highest number of women to Congress ever, including the first openly lesbian senator (Tammy Baldwin), the first Asian-American senator (Mazie Hirono) and first senator to make the banks tremble, Elizabeth Warren! Voters also rejected 4 crazy candidates who called for limiting a woman’s right to choose—including the resounding defeat by Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill over Mr. Legitimate Rape Todd Akin. Don’t forget that when Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced it would no longer fund Planned Parenthood, it got so heartily trounced that it caved in than seventy-two hours later. And stay tuned for the 2013 global women rising – a billion of us demanding an end to violence against women on February 14!

2.     Immigrant rights groups, especially young Latinos, mobilized and took great risks to force a change in attitude—and a thaw in policy. They fasted and caravanned and marched and knocked on doors. They pushed the administration and in June, just before the election, President Obama announced a new immigration policy that allows some undocumented students to avoid deportation and receive work authorization when they apply for deferred action. While not nearly enough, especially in light of this administration’s record rate of deportations, a mobilized immigrant community with significant voting power stands poised to make more impactful changes in U.S. immigration policy next year.

3.     More money flooded the elections than ever before (some $5.8 billion!), but most of it went down a big, black hole—and unleashed a new movement for money out of politics. Billionaires wasted fortunes trying to sell lousy candidates and lousy ideas. Looking at the candidates supported by the biggest moneybags of all, Sheldon Adelson, NONE were elected to office. Right-wing “pundits” like Karl Rove proved themselves to be idiotic partisan hacks and the Tea Party has been tearing itself apart. But best of all, from Massachusetts to Oregon, Colorado to Illinois and Wisconsin, and Ohio to California, citizens throughout the country voted overwhelmingly for their legislators to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling and declare that only human beings – not corporations – are entitled to constitutional rights and that money is not speech and campaign spending can be regulated.

4.     The marijuana genie is now out of the bottle, with people across the country backing referendums seeking an end to the decades of destructive, counterproductive drug wars. Colorado and Washington voters legalized recreational pot, and medical marijuana will be legal in Massachusetts. Voters in California passed Prop 34, which restricts lifetime incarceration via the “three strikes” law to violent or serious third offenses, a change that will help limit the prison sentences of nonviolent drug offenders. Prominent leaders including Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy, former President Bill Clinton and President Obama have hinted that they will reconsider the harsh criminal drug policy that has cost so much money and so many lives while failing to curb drug abuse.

5.     This year marked momentous wins for gay rights. Massachusetts, Maine, and Washington legalized marriage equality, and Minnesota defeated a restrictive state constitutional amendment that would have upheld a ban. Now, one-tenth of states in the U.S. uphold marriage equality. Thanks to activist pressure, on May 9 President Obama became the first sitting president to endorse marriage equality for same-sex couples. Several prominent leaders in the Democratic Party followed his lead, and muted conservative responses only served to demonstrate how far public opinion has shifted on the issue.

6.     Climate activists have been kickin’ up a storm. Anti-coal activists have helped retire over 100 coal plants, victories that will save lives and clean our air and water, while wind energy hit a historic milestone of 50,000 megawatts. The global anti-fracking movement mounted effective campaigns that has led to local bans in the US and Canada, national moratoriums in France and Bulgaria, and tighter regulation in Australia and the UK. The grassroots campaign to stop the Keystone Pipeline has awakened a new generation of activists (don’t forget the upcoming February 17-18 President’s Day Climate Legacy/Keystone XL rally in Washington, D.C.). And on the national front, in August the Obama administration issued new miles-per-gallon rules on car manufacturers, mandating that Detroit nearly double fuel efficiency standards by 2025.

7.         Unions have been hard hit by the economic crisis and political attacks, but worker’s gains made in 2012 show potential muscle. The Chicago teachers’ strike in September, lasting for seven school days, led to an important victory for public education. Walmart workers staged the first-ever strikes against the biggest private sector employer in the United States and heralded a new model of organizing, with workers and community members coming together to support better conditions in the stores and warehouses even before the workers join a union. And in another example of worker/community organizing, student activism allied with union advocacy in San Jose, California led to a ballot initiative that will raise the minimum wage from $8 to $10 per hour for everyone working within the city limits.

8.     On the foreign policy front, opposition to drone warfare is on the rise. After years of silence about the use of lethal drones overseas, the public began to learn more and the level of anti-drone activism skyrocketed. Now there are protests all over the country, including army bases where drones are piloted and manufacturing plants, and US activists have hooked up with drone victims overseas. US attitudes, once overwhelmingly pro-drone, are beginning to change, becoming more aligned with the global opposition to drone warfare. And the increased global opposition is leading to a rethinking of US policies.

9.     The international movement for Palestinian human rights has gained unprecedented momentum. In November the United Nations endorsed an independent state of Palestine, showing sweeping international support of Palestinian demands for sovereignty over lands Israel has occupied since 1967. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions call by Palestinian civil society gained international traction as well, with economic, cultural and academic victories. Several different Christian denominations and college campuses voted to divest from Israeli occupation, the Technical University of Denmark dropped scientific collaboration projects with an Israeli settlement, the South African ANC endorsed the BDS call, Stevie Wonder cancelled a performance at a “Friends of the IDF” fundraiser, and much more. The grassroots call for Israel to adhere to international law has never been louder.

10.       After nearly 15 years of house arrest, Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to Parliament! Suu Kyi’s party, the NLD (National League for Democracy), swept the April by-elections, winning 43 of the 44 seats it contested. After decades of abuse, the military-dominated government released hundreds of political prisoners, enacted laws on forming trade unions and freedom of assembly, eased official media censorship, and allowed the opposition to register and contest elections. President Obama’s November visit, the first by a sitting US president, was an acknowledgement of the reforms. There’s still need for pressure, as hundreds of political prisoners remain, ethnic conflict continues, and Burmese military still holds too much power. But 2012 was a good year for the Burmese people.

There will be no time to rest in 2013, since the wealthy are already pushing to protect their profits to the detriment of the environment, workers’ rights and our democracy. But just as the massacre in Sandy Hook has led to a reinvigorated fight for gun control, so 2013 will surely mark a renewed effort to build stronger coalitions to spread the wealth, reverse global warming and disentangle ourselves from foreign wars. And with the presidential elections behind us, the time is ripe for building a progressive movement that is not tied to any political party but can put pressure on the entire system. Let the organizing begin!!!

One of the season’s most popular gift items this year is a do-it-yourself soda machine made by SodaStream which carbonates water at home.

But don’t do it!

People who care about human rights should know that the product is made in an illegal Israeli settlement on stolen Palestinian land in violation of international law!

Stores selling SodaStream include:  Bed, Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, COSTCO, Crate & Barrel, JC Penney, Kohls, Macy’s, Sears, Staples, Sur La Table, Target, Walmart, Williams-Sonoma.

Black Friday Demonstrations against SodaStream

Ask your friends, family, colleagues, etc. to avoid SodaStream and to take the actions listed below.

  • Sign this petition asking stores to stop selling SodaStream.
  • Speak to the Store Manager: If you see SodaStream on sale, speak to the store manager and fill out a comment card asking the store to stop selling it. You can also contact store CEOs directly.
  • Take it back: If you know of anyone who has unfortunately made this purchase, ask them to return SodaStream to the store. The more conversations we can have about the illegal settlement production the better.
  • SkyMall: If you are flying anywhere this holiday season, check out the SkyMall catalogue and write your comment directly on the Soda Stream ad.
  • Go holiday caroling: See a list of songs to sing during your ‘Boycott SodaStream’ holiday caroling rounds.
  • List of actions and more: Visit Global Exchange’s SodaStream action page for more tips on how to get involved with the campaign.

Best wishes for an active holiday season from all of us at Global Exchange.

Global Exchange and CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin just returned from an emergency delegation to Gaza. Learn more about how you can support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement with the Economic Activism for Palestine campaign.

Also see December 1, Truth and Trauma in Gaza and December 2, We Want It to Stop.

Eman El-Hawi, a smart and perky 24-year-old business student from Gaza got teary when she told our delegation about what she witnessed during the eight days that Israel pounded Gaza. “I saw the babies being brought into the hospital, some dead, some wounded. I couldn’t believe Israel was doing this again, just like four years ago. But at least this time,” she said with pride, “we struck back.”

The fight was totally disproportionate. Israeli F-16s, drones and Apache helicopters unleashed their fury over this tiny strip of land, leaving 174 dead, over one thousand wounded, as well as homes, schools, hospitals, mosques and government buildings damaged and destroyed. On the Palestinian side, crude Qassam rockets left six Israelis dead and caused little damage. But for many Palestinians, it was a perverse kind of victory.

If the Israeli government was trying to teach the Palestinians a lesson with this latest pummeling, the unfortunate lesson many learned was that the only way to deal with Israel is through firepower. We asked people why this round of violence lasted only eight days, unlike the 22-day attack in 2008. Some credited the Arab Spring that has created a new wave of pro-Palestinian public sentiment that governments have to respond to—especially in Egypt where the ceasefire was brokered. But others believed the Israelis backed down because Palestinian rockets had reached into the heart of Israel.

“It’s not that we want to kill Israelis but we want them to know we are not helpless,” said Ahmed Al Sahbany, an engineering student. “We want them to know that when they attack us mercilessly, when they treat us like animals, we will fight back.” A rap song by a West Bank group called “Strike, Strike Tel Aviv” that came out during the fighting was a hit among many of the Palestinian youth.

Many young people we talked to were dismissive of peace talks with Israel. They say the Palestinian Authority leadership in the West Bank has been talking to the Israelis for 18 years and all they have achieved is a new brand of apartheid, with bypass roads, separation walls, expanding settlements, Jerusalem ethnically cleansed, 500-600 checkpoints, and the continued siege of Gaza.

This latest round of attacks is just a continuation of the daily attacks we live with here in Gaza every day,” said youth leader Majed Abusalama. “Israeli soldiers shoot at our fishermen and confiscate their boats just for fishing in waters that belong to us. Israeli soldiers shoot at our farmers when they try to farm their lands that are close to the border, lands that belong to our farmers—our land!” In fact, a week after the ceasefire, our delegation visited a group of farmers in Rafah who were still unable to farm a good portion of their land. One of them, hobbling around in a cast, had just been shot in the leg, without warning, for venturing too close to the fence that separates Israel and Gaza.

Raji Sourani, a lawyer and director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, a group that meticulously documented the crimes committed during the 8-day war, lost his normally calm demeanor when speaking to our delegation about Obama and the US Congressional support for what they called Israel’s right to defend itself. “How can Obama say Israel is defending itself when we are the real victims? We are the target of this dirty war, just like we were the last time in 2008, just like we are every day,” Sourani shouted. “The Israelis practice the law of the jungle with full legal immunity and no accountability.”

Sourani was happy with the vote that gave Palestine a seat at the UN because it showed that Israel and the US were opposed by most of the rest of the world. But he said the UN seat would only be meaningful if the Palestinian Authority used it as an opportunity to take Israel to the International Criminal Court, something the Western powers are pressuring them not to do.

The most poignant indictment of Israel and the Western powers came from Jamal Dalu, the shopkeeper whose home in Gaza City was demolished by an Israeli bomb that left 12 dead, including his wife and four children. Looking around at the wreckage that was once his home and family, he faulted President Obama for giving Israel the green light to carry out its attacks. “Obama, you say you want to teach us about democracy and the rule of law. Is this what you mean by democracy? Is this the rule of law?” he repeated over and over.

“I really don’t understand what the Israelis and their backers in the United States want,” said Sourani, throwing up his hands in despair. “They want us to vote, and when we do they refuse the recognize the winner. They say they want a two-state solution, but keep building settlements that make two states impossible. But if we say we want to live in a single, democratic state, they say we want the destruction of Israel because we produce lots of babies and will outnumber them. Honestly, I don’t know what they really want, but I can tell you this: the way things are right now can’t last forever, and time is running out.”

The delegation brought funds from Americans to support the Shifa Hospital and the Palestinian Red Crescent, and took up collections to help the Dalu family and a disabled group called the Al Jazeera Club whose building had been destroyed. The funds, and the gesture of solidarity, was much appreciated, especially since the US government is giving $3 billion a year to support Israel’s militarism. Also appreciated is the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign that is providing a nonviolent means for people around the world to challenge Israeli policy.

“Please don’t wait for the third Israeli round of attacks,” said Hala Ashi, a 24-year-old whose home was badly damaged and whose neighbor was killed, “and help show us, the youth of Gaza, that violence is not the answer.”