For the past year there has been an ongoing struggle in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Palestinian East-Jerusalem, this struggle is growing and at the same time the Israeli police is trying to brake the struggle as much as they can. 

So, as August brings with it the one year anniversary to the evictions of the G'awi and Hanoun houses we have decided to have solidarity action in several cities in Israel (Tel-Aviv, Jaffa, West Jerusalem, Haifa, Ramleh, Lod, Nazareth, Beer Sheva, Kufr Yassif and others) and Palestine (East Jerusalem, Bil'in), would like to expand this to more cities around the world.

On Sunday, August 8, we ask you to organize a vigil outside the nearest Israeli embassy, consulate, or any official Israeli establishment, in solidarity with the people of Sheikh Jarrah, protesting the injustice done by the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories.  Sheikh Jarrah is full of foreign consulates. The American, Spanish, Belgian, British and others Consulates are in walking distance of the compound. So send e-mail/faxes etc. to your political representatives to encourage them to send protests to Israel about what's going on. And try to get those people from the consulates to be more active about what's going on in their very backyard.

In order to make the protest more personal, we urge you, or better yet, the group and party that you're part of to adopt one of the families. Send them letters of support for their struggle. Publicize their situation with your local press and political representatives. Get the message out that these are real people who are being screwed over.

Finally, the peace activists in Sheikh Jarrah are volunteers and the legal work and resources for this struggle cost money. Please donate.

On the current struggle

On the most basic level the protest in Sheikh Jarrah is against the eviction of 28 families comprising over 500 human beings, Palestinian refugees who fled to East Jerusalem during the 1948 war and were resettled in the so-called "Shimon Hatzadiq" compound in the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem by UNRWA (the UN agency for the Palestinian refugees) and the Jordanian government in 1956. Four of these families, over 50 people have already been thrown out into the streets, and their houses have been occupied by Jewish settlers.

The occupation of Sheik Jarrah is part of a series of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian neighborhoods that encircle the Old City; this includes Sheik Jarrah to the north, the Mount of Olives to the east and Silwan (the so-called "City of David") to the south. The intention is to move settlers into the area and to move the Palestinians out. It's not about Jews and Arabs living together, and it's not a really great way to make peace. 

Please send this on, confirm that you are organizing something

and tell us if there is any way we can help.

For more information (in English): tel. + 972.54.7982889