Booking.com – #DestinationApartheid
Booking.com directly contributes to the economy of illegal settlements, therefore supporting its maintenance and further expansion.
HP – Reboot Your Ethics
HP Produce bio-metric cards which make Palestinian lives hard, so pledge not to buy HP products
Stop Arming Israel
Calling British Government to stop funding Israeli War Crimes by cancelling its arms export licesnces to Israel
#CheckTheLabel – Produce of Israel
By checking the label we are actively condemning produce grown on stolen land.
The Centrality of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al Quds
The Holy City of Jerusalem has several names, one of which is al-Quds, meaning “the purest place”. This is the most popular name used today by Arabs.
The city extends to an area of 45 square km and within this is the ‘Old City’ where a number of major historical events took place. Within the Old City is the al-Aqsa Sanctuary – an area of around 35 acres.
At the southern end is the dark-domed al-Aqsa mosque, and in the centre is the golden-domed mosque known as the Dome of the Rock. There are also a number of other monuments and buildings contained within the same area.
The entire area, containing these buildings is known collectively as the al-Aqsa Sanctuary.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not solely the al Aqsa mosque building, nor the Dome of the Rock alone that are sanctified to Muslims, but in fact it is the entire land of the al-Aqsa Sanctuary.
The buildings which exist today have not always been there and in prophetic times, the area would have looked very different. The buildings within the Sanctuary are significant historically to Muslims, and that is why the entire area and all that it contains are revered.
Excavations by Israeli archeologists have been taking place for some time now beneath the al-Aqsa Sanctuary and this has lead to reports of cracks in some walls, weakening of the foundations and a part of the ground caving in. Despite protests against this, Israel continues to dismiss and ignore calls to respect these holy and sanctified buildings.
The Night Journey (Al-Isra’ wa al-Mi’raj)
Within Islamic history, the sanctity of al-Aqsa Sanctuary centres on a particular incident which occurred during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), when he was taken to al-Quds on the miraculous Night Journey. Here, he led all the prophets of God in prayer. This was followed by his ascension through the heavens. This miraculous journey is an important incident in the Islamic tradition.
The Holy Qur’an relates:
“Glory to Allah who did take His servant for a journey bynight from the Sacred Mosque (in Makkah) to the Al-Aqsa(in Jerusalem) whose precincts we did bless.”
[Al-Isra 17:1]
The fact that the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) was taken to al-Quds, impresses upon the Muslims the importance of this noble city and God mentions in the Qur’an that this is a blessed land.
The Sacred City
Not only is the sanctity of al-Quds emphasised in numerous places in the Holy Qur’an, but numerous prophets have visited and even lived in the city, giving Jerusalem a high standing in the hearts of Muslims around the world.
Prophet Yaqub (Jacob) raised his twelve sons in this city and from here Yusuf (Joseph) was taken and sold as a slave in Egypt. Some centuries later, Musa (Moses) was directed by God to migrate from Egypt back to al-Quds and even prayed to God that he be near al-Aqsa at the time of his death. Both Dawud and Sulayman (David and Soloman) lived and ruled over Jerusalem after the city was conquered by Dawud.
Later, Zakariyyah (Zacharias) was the imam of al-Aqsa mosque where he prayed earnestly to God. Maryam (Mary) mother of Isa (Jesus) spent a great deal of time in the mosque meditating and praying to God and it was here that the angel Gabriel brought her the good news of the impending birth of Isa.
Prophets and companions of prophets, spanning many ages, have been buried there. These include Ibrahim (Abraham), Yaqub, Ishaq (Isaac) and up to a hundred others. May God’s peace and blessing be upon them all.
Al-Quds has been home to numerous prophets, messengers and righteous people. It is a city of honour and faith and as such is held in high esteem by Muslims world-wide.
Israeli claim
Israel consistently attempts to lay claim to Jerusalem as its own and calls it the ‘Jewish capital’ of Israel. In fact the international community does not recognise it to be the capital and to do so would be to entirely disregard the historic rights of the Palestinian people. Since Jerusalem is of such central importance to Muslims, Christians and Jews, the city must be accessible to people of all faiths who must be allowed toworship freely therein. Israel’s discriminatory policies and lack of respect towards worshippers in al-Aqsa already shows the state’s inability to act equitably between different communities.
Gaza Seige
The people of Gaza only have access to electricity for 3-4 hours each day, severely impacting on their lives.
97% of the natural water found in Gaza is unsafe to drink due to untreated pollutants and a lack of electricity.
95% of the children in Gaza are traumatised, malnourished and/or suffer severe depression.
373,000 children need psychological support.
73% of Gazans rely on food aid to survive.
100,000 civilians are still homeless
200+ schools were damaged by Israeli boombs in 2014.
BDS – Boycott, Divestment & Sancstions
BDS is a tool used to seek freedom, justice and equality for Palestinians. It was successfully used to end South African Apartheid.
Boycott allows individuals to make a moral choice in withdrawing support from companies and organisations which support Israel, including culture, sports and academia.
Divestment calls for disengagement from companies involved in Israel’e occupation.
Sanctions call on governments to cut political and economic ties with Israel until it stops breaking international law.
Boycott is about using independant initiative to withdraw support frpm companies involved with Israel.
Examples of companies to Boycott:
Hewlett Packard (HP) – Maintain Israeli checkpoints, produce biometric ID cards and provide services to the Israeli army and navy.
Sabra Hummus – Is an Israeli company linked to the Israeli army. Their products are stocked in the supermarkets.
Coca-Cola – operate in two illegal Israeli settlements, violating International law.
TEVA Pharmaceuticals – is one of Israel’s main contributors to its economy and also funds the Israeli defence force.
Israeli Apartheid Policies
Ambulances are routinely stopped at checkpoints resulting in delays for patients needing medical treatment, causing significant distress and sometimes even death.
There are over 500 checkpoints in the West Bank causing daily misery.
5.3 million Palestinians are unable to return home, while any Jewish person from any country is free to live on Palestinian land.
A discriminatory education system, where lack of resources are provided such as classrooms, means only 53% of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem attend school.
Jewish Nation State Bill passed in July 2018 clearly emphasises Israel as an apartheid state.
The Law of Return gives Jews around the world the right to Israeli citizenship. Palestinians expelled from their homeland are denied return and citizenship.
Citizenship and entry laws severely restricts Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel from living with their Palestinian spouse from occupied Palestinian territories.
Isolating Bethlehem
200,000 Palestinian Christians live in Jerusalem, descedants of the world’s oldest Christian communities.
Israel regularly denies entry to Bethlehem during Easter celebrations undermining religious freedom.
The Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jesrusalem is a major centre for Christians. Sadly, the Israeli occupation means many will never see it.
Children in Palestine
Children in Palestine are affected by Israel’s occupation in every part of life including education, economy and health.
Palestinian children are routinely subjected to night time arrests, solitary confinement and denied legal representation.
Isreal is the only country in the world that automatically prosecutes children in military court.
Children and young people are often seen on the frontline of demonstrations against Israeli occupation. The popular image of stone-throwing Palestinian youth rolls across news reports from the region but is a futile expression of frustration against the occupation, and no match against Israeli military tanks and weaponry. For many young brave people, this is the one simple act of defiance against Israeli occupation and an apartheid regime. The stones thrown are most often targeting Israeli armoured personnel carriers’ a real show of David’s determination against the strength of Goliath. The difference here is that the stones will do no harm whatsoever to the army vehicles. Despite this, many Palestinian children have been shot for throwing stones, and others who have been arrested are imprisoned for up to a year.
The Fourth Geneva Convention states that the responsibility for the welfare of Palestinian children rests with the occupying power, i.e. Israel, which has occupied the West Bank and Gaza since 1967. As long as the population remains under military rule, Israel will retain that responsibility.
Many Palestinian children have witnessed the murder of their friends and families and suffer psychologically as a result.
Palestinian children have no idea what a normal secure life is like, and this can only change if the occupation ends.