Amplifying the Voices of Our Partners in the Middle East

A Call for Solidarity and Action Amid Daily Injustices and Occupation

The SCI MIDI working group is really concerned about everything that is happening right now. We try to stay in touch with our partners in Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon and this was also one of the reasons why in May we invited them for an online gathering so we have a better picture of their daily challenges.

On May 15th Palestinians remember the Nakba, the “catastrophe”, which refers to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The Nakba anniversary is a reminder not only of those tragic events of 1948, but also of the ongoing injustice suffered by the Palestinians.

So, our partners from the West Bank explained in detail how their daily life is ruled by the occupation policies of the Israeli State. Although most of us who were present have some understanding of the situation and have maybe visited Palestine/Israel and can imagine what a checkpoint looks like, how bureaucratic obstacles make life impossible, how illegal settlements are occupying fertile land, how people are deprived from basic rights, how settlers are attacking Palestinian villages and how the Israeli army is invading houses, villages, refugee camps and detaining people of all ages without any explanation: we were still shocked by these testimonies and the atrocities happening daily.

At the end of the session some proposals were made:
– To set up another online meeting, an online women’s circle to give space to female voices to meet and exchange and to amplify the voice of female activists.
– To try and set up contacts with Palestinian artists and organise an exhibition to find different ways of amplifying the voice of the Palestinian people.
– One of the volunteers from Palestine made a documentary about the situation and especially the loss of land. The documentary is called “On my land” and SCI branches could organise a screening and invite the volunteer to answer questions or comment on the making of the movie.
– The partners in Palestine can’t organise any workcamps right now, so we can also make an effort to invite Palestinian volunteers to our workcamps.
– A useful resource is also the Palestine Solidarity webpage on the CCIVS website (https://ccivs.org/peace-messengers/palestine-solidarity/)

While the situation in Gaza is indescribable, also in the West Bank the situation is getting worse every day. Israel has placed the West Bank under lockdown, sealing the entrances of cities and villages with iron gates and concrete barriers making it impossible for people to move. Mohamad who was one of the speakers in the online gathering sent us this message a week ago:
“We, the residents of Al-Ma’sara village in the south of the West Bank, are currently living under a suffocating siege imposed by the Israeli occupation since yesterday, following the escalation in the region after Israel’s attack on Iran.
During the night, the Israeli army declared the entire West Bank a closed military zone and sealed all iron gates that separate our villages from one another. As a result, our communities are now completely cut off. There is no way in or out. We are trapped in our own village, as if in a vast open-air prison—open to fear, but closed to life.
The occupation has isolated us from the outside world and brought our daily lives to a halt. We do not know what will happen tomorrow, or how long this closure will last. We are living in a state of constant anxiety and uncertainty, with no answer to a simple question: Until when?
This is not a life. This is a silent attempt to suffocate us, away from the media and far from justice. We call upon anyone who still holds humanity in their heart to hear our voices, to see our suffering, and to help us carry our message. Here in Al-Ma’sara, we ask for nothing more than our most basic right: the right to live.”

So let’s show our solidarity with our partners and find ways to amplify their voices!

SCI Midi working group