Edinburgh Council to Discuss Twinning Proposal
You’re invited to our Skype interview with Economics Professor Roshdy Wadi from Islamic University in Gaza. Roshdy is also Vice-Minister for the Economy and we’ll be quizzing him on how twinning would best help break the siege. It will be on Wednesday evening 18th December from 7-9pm at the Scotland Study Centre, 29 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX, £2 – register your interest in attending here
For some six months now, a few of us in Edinburgh have been trying to progress getting Edinburgh twinned with Gaza City.
We lodged a petition of the Council website and we now have, with over 300 signatures, more than enough to get the proposal discussed at Policy Committee; which will be in February (only 200 are needed). Gaza Municipality welcome the plan; residents of Gaza are signing their own petition.
But some of our councillors are negative; one Labour cllr even went so far as to say it might be more appropriate to twin with Tel Aviv!
Our case is that Edinburgh spawned Alexander Balfour, the architect of Israel. Dundee and Glasgow have played their part in twinning for Palestine.. Why not Edinburgh too? We in the UK created the mess in Israel/Palestine and we must not turn away from the chance to make amends, when millions struggle on our account.
The proposal will be discussed by the Council’s Policy Committee in February. One thing we want is linkage between Edinburgh’s IT industry and Gaza’s developing sector; Israel can’t stop Gazans earning money through cyberspace. It represents a powerful way to help give relief from their 12-year siege. Groups such as Gaza Sky Geeks offer a way forward.
We have a mountain to climb to get our Councillors to consider this seriously and to help us get there we will need to lobby them. There are 63 Councillors and wherever you live in the city you will have 3 or 4 who represent you. They’ll be Tory, Labour, SNP, Green or independent. Every single one will be part of the decision. It will be the Policy Committee who finally decides- it’s largely made up from the chairs of the other Committees. The City is run by an SNP/Labour coalition, so Councillors from these parties have most influence. Both parties favour Palestine, but all Cllrs are nervous about twinning with Gaza.
Lobbying your Councillor will take the form of emailing them and/or visiting them at their monthly surgeries. The old adage is if a Councillor gets one email, they bin it, if they get two, they file it, if they get three they do something about it.
We still desperately need people to email their Councillors. Without this, we will struggle to get full support at the February Council meeting where the twinning petition will be heard. It will only take you five minutes. To use our email generator, go to www.kidsnotsuits.com/gazacllremail
One Conservative Councillor responded saying “While I appreciate the humanitarian nature of the suggestion, in my opinion allowing our city to be linked at a civic level with Gaza would equate to a tacit endorsement of a terrorist regime which actively subjugates and exploits its own people. I would therefore actively oppose any proposal of this nature.” Firstly, the EU Court has declared it’s not a terrorist regime. And by taking this stance, the Cllr is refusing to acknowledge the suffering his Party has created and is supporting an isolationist policy. We’ve prepared a full response which you might like to use at www.kidsnotsuits.com/conservatives-and-palestine
To give us time for each of us to lobby, we’ve extended the closing date for our petition to 31st Jan 2020 which means the Twinning Proposal would go before the Policy Committee on Tuesday 25th February next year. By that time we must get Councillors to understand why we must do this.
We recently got an article published in these journals:
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/11/14/edina-sister-up-with-gaza
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/14887/joe-spailpeen-edina-sister-gaza
Gaza Skype Interview
To help give you confidence to speak to them about Gaza, we are doing two things. The first is our ongoing Monday evening film nights (see below)
You’re invited to our Skype interview with Economics Professor Roshdy Wadi from Islamic University in Gaza. Roshdy is also Vice-Minister for the Economy and we’ll be quizzing him on how twinning would best help break the siege. It will be on Wednesday evening 18th December from 7-9pm at the Scotland Study Centre, 29 Nicolson Square, EH8 9BX, £2 – register your interest in attending here
If you missed the 8 minute speech at the Gaza Gig about why we should twin (in the rain), see it at www.tinyurl.com/whytwin
WHY TWIN?
SNP lead Edinburgh with Labour and both are sympathetic to Palestine. Gaza’s Council favour twinning and citizens there are signing their own petition seeking Edinburgh’s support. Moyle District Council in NI twinned with Gaza in 2012 and helped with tourism, sport, football, health care, women’s issues, library management, parks improvement, sewage processing and education. Due to reorganisation, Moyle Council no longer exists. But if this is what Moyle can do with a population of 17,000, what could Edinburgh offer, with a population of half a million? Arthur Balfour in 1917 was key to creating modern Israel and hailed from East Lothian, so Edinburgh is an appropriate choice for beginning to address historical wrongs to the Palestinians. Dundee is twinned with Nablus and Glasgow with Bethlehem; so Edinburgh should be next.
IT is the answer- it’s what our city is good at and it’s what people living in that open prison are learning, because Israel cannot stop Gazans earning money through the internet. Councillors have a duty to listen to those who live in their ward, so no matter where you live in Edinburgh, you can make a difference. We can work with Gaza Sky Geeks, set up by Mercy Corps in Edinburgh, to get work to people in Gaza.
Our petition now has over 300 signatures, well in excess of the number needed for the Council’s policy committee to consider it. It will go before them in February so now is the time for us to be speaking to the city’s politicians. We held a workshop “Pitching for Palestine” on the 9th November with Norman Finkelstein and a teacher from Gaza on Skype and with local Gaza activist too.
See our articles published 13th Nov on our twinning proposal- the first and second are the same and both 100 words longer than the third
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2019/11/14/edina-sister-up-with-gaza
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/14887/joe-spailpeen-edina-sister-gaza
Films for Palestine
A programme of study evenings of film and discussion: Every Monday starting 12th Aug from 7.00-9.30pm Scotland Study Centre, 29 Nicolson Sq EH8 9BX £2
A chance to learn, share ideas about what made the mess and what next. To help those who want to see Edinburgh twin with Gaza learn enough to become effective lobbyists of Councillors in seeking to twin Edinburgh with Gaza.
If you are interested in coming, please leave your name here Download a poster for the programme by clicking here
Some of the Films we’ll show:
Occupation 101 Informative film in the Palestine- Israel Conflict. Voices of the silenced majority Part 1 2011 90 min
Palestine: The Reality by Karl Sabbagh 2017 30 mins (Palestine: The Reality is a very personal documentary on the document which left devastating consequences in the Middle East. Sabbagh describes the film as an attempt to reveal the truth, as set out in official documents, memoirs and writings by the people involved. The documentary concludes with a revised ‘Balfour Declaration’ pledging the same rights to Palestinians as were given to Jews 100 years ago.)
The Survivor’s Guide to Gaza SBS 2016 – 24 min including 3 mins on Gaza Sky Geeks
Israel and Palestine Explained 2014 10 min Mini-doc that takes you through the history of the conflict-from the establishment of Jerusalem as a holy city, all the way through Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza.
Where Should The Birds Fly 2016 61 mins
The film documents the separate stories and shared experience of two women in Gaza. It opens by briefly introducing us two the two major characters — Mona Al Samouni and Fida Qishta. Mona Al Samouni is an 11 year old girl whose family died when her home was hit by Israeli rockets during Operation Cast Lead. Fida Qishta, the filmmaker, is a Gazan videographer, teacher, and human rights worker. Born and raised in Rafah, Gaza, she began her filmmaking career as a wedding videographer and soon moved on to working with international human rights observers in Gaza, documenting day to day life under siege.
In the opening sequences of the film we see all these aspects of Fida’s life — a wedding, the efforts of farmers and fishermen to carry out their work under siege, and the destruction of her family home in Rafah by Israeli bulldozers. The film follows farmers attempting to work their fields and harvest crops near the Gaza-Israel border coming under gunfire from Israeli border patrols. It documents the efforts of fishermen to maintain their livelihood while under attack from Israeli gunboats. Fida’s graphic coverage of the late 2008 to early 2009 military attack on Gaza concludes her story and leads us directly into Mona’s story.
Mona explains, just several days after the actual events, how she witnessed the deaths of five family members when rockets were fired into the house where they sought refuge. The film then follows her over a period of two years as she copes with her grief and loss and tries to make sense of her experience. Although she speaks from a child’s perspective, she seems much older than her years. She expresses her feelings reluctantly and with difficulty — ‘I lost my mother, my father, my freedom and the life I had…. I know that people don’t appreciate the blessings they have until they lose them…’. But we see into her heart through the drawings that she makes. She shows us her family as it was, and as it is after the attack. She shows us her life as it was, and as it is now. Her sister and brother describe Mona’s trauma and theirs as well, so we see Mona’s story told from the adult perspective. The film ends with Mona’s hopes for the future, her hopes to be free, her hopes to tell the world about life in Gaza.
While the film visually tells the story of the efforts of Gazans to live and work under conditions of siege, and documents the horrific Israeli military attack, it is also about the struggle of these two women to maintain humanity, humor and hope, and to find some sense of normality in a world that is anything but normal. Through the lens of the camera we see the different sides of Gaza — the border, the lives of farmers and fishermen, the impact of military attack, and the effort to pick up shattered lives and maintain humanity.
This is a good film on Facebook: “What is Nakba?” See it here. 6min
Israeli settlements, explained | Settlements Part I 8 min
Why Israeli settlements don’t feel like a conflict zone | Settlements Part II 11 min https://youtu.be/B6L9mS9ti6o
The Israel-Palestine conflict: a brief, simple history 10 min
IsraHell on Earth 1 hr 26 https://youtu.be/Yt3d3Fmouh4
This powerful documentary exposes the hell that the Palestinians have been going through. 2012 [skip the bit from 24mins in to 31 mins which makes claims about Rothschild Zionism and the Talmud and magic which I didn’t care for much with David Icke, but the rest is excellent]
Running on empty: inside the Gaza strip – 2014 C4 7 min
Al Jazeera Investigations: The Lobby – How Israel Influences British Politics
In the first of a four-part series, Al Jazeera goes undercover inside the Israel Lobby in Britain. To undermine BDS and control Westminster politics in its favour 2017 25 min
Palestine belongs to the Arabs 3 mins. Famoue people criticise Israel with short pithy statements
Zionism and anti-Semitism: Joseph Massad on the sordid historical alliance (Moderate Rebels Ep. 9) : an audio discussion.
“Three Minute Warning” from Iqbal Mohammed of Dynamiq Films in Huddersfield about “roof-knocking” – what Israeli bombs mean to a Gaza family- 11 mins 2018 https://vimeo.com/298433455
It’s Time to Tell the Truth: Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy Supports Ilhan Omar’s Critique of Israel- Democracy Now! clip
News item- 6.5 mins; March 2019 The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination, white supremacy and other forms of hate, following a week of debate among congressional Democrats. The controversy began after some lawmakers accused Democratic Congressmember Ilhan Omar of invoking anti-Semitic tropes while questioning U.S. foreign policy on Israel.
‘Gaza’, a Canadian-Irish documentary By Andrew McConnell & Garry Keane
https://www.gazadocumentary.com/ A JVL member says this is “a must-see film for anyone who wants to understand the imprisonment of the people of Gaza from their own point of view, but especially from the point of view of an ambulance driver and even more so from the perspective of the children, who have lived all their lives confronted with a seemingly unceasing war against them and their families” Click here to view the official trailer
See the trailer for Empire Files: Gaza Fights For Freedom The full film was released in August 2019- full film at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/gazafights 84 mins Rent for £4.96, buy for £16.52
Film-maker Abby Martin, denied entry to Gaza, connected with a team of journalists in Gaza to produce the film through the blockade. This collaboration shows you Gaza’s protest movement like you’ve never seen before. Filmed during the height of the Great March Of Return protests, it features exclusive footage of demonstrations where 200 unarmed civilians have been killed by Israeli snipers since March 30, 2018. The documentary tells the story of Gaza past and present, showing rare archival footage that explains the history never acknowledged by mass media. Victims are heard from the ongoing massacre, including journalists, medics and the family of internationally-acclaimed paramedic, Razan al-Najjar. At its core, ‘Gaza Fights For Freedom’ is a thorough indictment of the Israeli military for war crimes, with legal documentation and photographic evidence.
Abby Martin: Gaza’s fight for freedom needs global solidarity The Empire Files’ Abby Martin and Mike Prysner discuss their new documentary “Gaza Fights For Freedom,” a vivid account of the Great March of Return against the Israeli siege of Gaza, and the urgency of global solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. 23 mins, Nov 2019 with Pushback
iqsquared debate: Is anti-Zionism anti-semitism? July 2019 80 mins https://youtu.be/K1VTt_THL4A
Australian film ‘Stone Cold Justice’ on Israel’s torture of Palestinian children 45min 2014
The 2011 Channel 4 TV programme “Dispatches – inside Britain’s Israel Lobby” above showed that Al Jazeera are not the first to expose Israel’s influence of UK politics. 48 min
ONE STATE: The Palexpo in summer 2019 in London had a highlight with this speech from veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy when he espoused the One State Solution for Palestine: he says “Those who today talk about a two-state solution are the biggest supporters of occupation”. 17 min
Released on 18/10/18: the uber-mensch and the unter-mensch explained. Know your Stuff: Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State Law” Explained – an illuminating 23 minute video by Dr. Shir Hever
Palestine is still the issue. John Pilger 53 mins 2010
https://vimeo.com/17401477
‘Gaza: Still Alive’ by Harry Fear 53min – On the psychological effects of the siege on Gaza children. Interview with the film-maker here
Fallout in Gaza: Six Months On (Vice News, 2015: 26 mins): During the devastating 50-day war in Israel and Gaza this past summer, around 18,000 homes in Gaza were destroyed or severely damaged, leaving around 120,000 residents homeless. Progress on reconstruction.
Patient Gaza: Water Under Siege from Oxfam, August 2019: 18 mins. In Gaza, 97% of all water is undrinkable, leaving almost 2 million Palestinians without any safe water to drink…
Miko Peled Palestinian Resistance isn’t Terrorism – interview with Mimi Geerges 26 mins 2017 [The son of decorated war hero General Matti Peled, Miko Peled lost his 13 year old niece to a Palestinian suicide bomber. He decided to reach out to Palestinians to learn about their lives and aspirations. He wrote a memoir called “The General’s Son.”]
Dr Norman Finkelstein on Crocodile Tears– 2011- 4mins
Dr. Mads Gilbert Has A Prescription For Gaza 3 mins 2016
Lies & Misreporting in the Middle East | Robert Fisk by MECA – March 2019 1hr 7 minutes: Award winning Robert Fisk breaks down the semantics, double-speak and propaganda of Middle East coverage.
To Gaza? Through Israel? That’s risky! 2019 DW German Doc, in English. 25 min. German-Palestinian Nidal wants to return from Berlin to his family in the Gaza Strip. But will Israel allow a Palestinian to pass through the country? And will the Palestinian Hamas government let him enter?
BDS, ANTI-SEMITISM AND A FREE PALESTINE by Al Hiwar TV – Oct 2019- A Labor Party Conference Fringe Event, featuring Tom Suarez, Azzam Tamimi, Miko Peled 1 hr 26 mins
The Lobby- USA, episode 1 : 48 mins
The Lobby- USA, episode 4 : 2018: Marketing Occupation.
..and all 4 with Arabic subtitles here: al-ahkber
Miko Peled Why Is The World Silent on Israeli Crimes in Palestine? – Geneva, 2014 – 1 hr and 1 min
5 Broken Cameras– An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 Broken Cameras is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements. Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later given to Israeli co-director Guy Davidi to edit. 1 hr 26 mins
GIG FOR GAZA- Princes St Gardens
And here is the illustrated speech made at the Gig for Gaza, from the petitioner explaining why Hamas concerns should make no odds- this is payback time for what the UK did to Palestine – 8 mins- www.tinyurl.com/whytwin
Get advice on twinning with Palestine cities- from Twinning with Palestine and see examples of twinning work video – 22 min
Dundee- Nablus Twinning Association
Residents of Gaza are signing their own petition calling upon Edinburgh to twin with them. See it here
STOP PRESS!
Hamas is no longer a terrorist organisation- according to the European Court in Luxemburg
Not reported in the UK at all was the news of 6th Sept: Hamas hails decision of EU court to remove it from world blacklist . Also not reported from March: https://thearabweekly.com/gaza-we-want-live-protests-rattle-hamas
Finkelstein on Hamas and the Illegal Blockade A.k.a. “Why Twinning with Gaza has Nothing to do with Hamas”. See it at https://youtu.be/UmeraZ3SGh0 Filmed at “Pitching for Palestine” 9th Nov 19
Gaza News 1/10/19 Israel quietly lets in Gaza workers in bid to ease tensions
IT in Gaza – Independent 27/8/19 Cracking the code: Young Palestinians take hold of their futures at Gaza’s tech hub
Palestine Tech– Help give Palestinians IT mentoring- in Gaza and the WEst Bsank. A Microsoft genius (Waseem Awwad), and a digital Palestine offer hope for the future- Oct 2019, Middle East Monitor