In 1947 Israel-Zionist paramilitary forces began the process of ethnically cleansing over 750,000 indigenous Palestinians from their homes, forcing them into exile so that, on May 15th 1948, the state of Israel could be established in their homeland. Palestinians call this period Al Nakba, Arabic for ‘The Catastrophe’. These refugees, now numbering millions, are still denied their right of return under international law. This panel will discuss the history, present and future of the refugees, and how they can and will return.

Speaker:

Eitan Bronstein Aparicio is an educator and activist, and founder of Zochrot, where he served as Director until 2011. Zochrot (“remembering” in Hebrew) is an NGO based in Israel that has worked since 2002 to promote acknowledgement and accountability for the ongoing injustices of the Nakba. In 2015 he co-founded De-Colonizer, and is its current co-director. De-Colonizer is a research and art laboratory for experimenting and creating tools aimed at enabling those who live or who want to live in the Palestine-Israel region to share it, envisioning a future beyond the colonialist and racist regime, in which everyone living here will be equal. He has co-authored a book Nakba in Hebrew – A Political Journey (π, 2018) with his partner Eléonore Merza Bronstein.

In 1947 Israel-Zionist paramilitary forces began the process of ethnically cleansing over 750,000 indigenous Palestinians from their homes, forcing them into exile so that, on May 15th 1948, the state of Israel could be established in their homeland. Palestinians call this period Al Nakba, Arabic for ‘The Catastrophe’. These refugees, now numbering millions, are still denied their right of return under international law. This panel will discuss the history, present and future of the refugees, and how they can and will return.

Speaker:

Lubnah Shomali is the Administrative and Financial Affairs Manager of BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, a Palestinian human rights organization established in 1998, dedicated to defending and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).  A Palestinian human rights defender and activist, Ms. Shomali focuses on a comprehensive rights-based approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with a focus on forced population transfer, refugees and internally displaced persons, according to international humanitarian and human rights law.

30 years after the outbreak of the first intifada and a decade after the end of the second, what does Palestinian grassroots resistance look like today? Whether anti-discrimination protests of Palestinian citizens inside the state of Israel, creative resilience in besieged Gaza, or grassroots organising against military occupation in the West Bank, Palestinian activism remains vibrant, empowering and inspiring.

Speaker:

Haneen Zoabi is a Palestinian member of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, for the Joint List. She is a feminist, educationalist and parliamentarian. First elected to the Knesset in 2009, she is the first Palestinian woman in Israel to represent an Arab-Palestinian political party in Israel. She has become one of the state’s most outspoken and eloquent critics, and thus, one the most controversial and hated politicians in the Knesset. Ms. Zoabi campaigns for equal rights for all citizens of Israel and for an end to the occupation of Palestine. Despite ongoing harassment and threats she remains committed to her work, noting that she “was not elected to keep silent or to sit at the table and clap”.

30 years after the outbreak of the first intifada and a decade after the end of the second, what does Palestinian grassroots resistance look like today? Whether anti-discrimination protests of Palestinian citizens inside the state of Israel, creative resilience in besieged Gaza, or grassroots organising against military occupation in the West Bank, Palestinian activism remains vibrant, empowering and inspiring.

Speaker:

Jamal Juma’ was born in Jerusalem and attended Birzeit University, where he became politically active. Since the first Intifada, he has focused on grassroots activism. He is coordinator of the Stop The Wall, the Palestinian grassroots anti-Apartheid wall campaign, and also of the Land Defense Coalition, a network of Palestinian grassroots movements. He is active in the Palestinian trade union movement. He has been invited to address numerous civil society and UN conferences, where he has spoken on the issue of Palestine and the Apartheid Wall.

30 years after the outbreak of the first intifada and a decade after the end of the second, what does Palestinian grassroots resistance look like today? Whether anti-discrimination protests of Palestinian citizens inside the state of Israel, creative resilience in besieged Gaza, or grassroots organising against military occupation in the West Bank, Palestinian activism remains vibrant, empowering and inspiring.

Speaker:

Dr. Mona El-Farra is the Director of Gaza Projects for the Middle East Children’s Alliance. A physician by training and a human rights and women’s rights activist by practice, she was born in Khan Younis, Gaza and has dedicated herself to developing community based programs that aim to improve health quality and link health services with cultural and recreation services all over the Gaza Strip. Dr. El-Farra is also the active in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and a member of the Union of Health Work Committees.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement was founded in 2005, modelled on the international campaign that helped end apartheid in South Africa. In just 13 years it has grown globally to such an extent that Israel now calls it an “existential threat” to its system of apartheid, and is unsuccessfully investing millions of dollars to counteract it. Yet BDS continues to grow. Whether you are a human rights activist, a trade unionist, a student, a professional or just doing your weekly shop, BDS means everyone can play a part in helping Palestinians to secure Freedom, Justice, Equality and a genuine peace in the Palestine-Israel region.

Speaker:

Eamon McMahon is a founder member and secretary of Trade Union Friends of Palestine and has been a leading voice for justice in Palestine in the Irish trade union movement. He has promoted the development of TUFP ‘ambassadors’ and led trade union delegations to Palestine.  He is on the steering committee of the European Trade Union Initiative for Justice in Palestine, which calls for an end to European complicity with Israel’s occupation of Palestine. A retired NHS psychotherapist, he has a special interest in the traumatisation of Palestinian children under the Israeli occupation.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement was founded in 2005, modelled on the international campaign that helped end apartheid in South Africa. In just 13 years it has grown globally to such an extent that Israel now calls it an “existential threat” to its system of apartheid, and is unsuccessfully investing millions of dollars to counteract it. Yet BDS continues to grow. Whether you are a human rights activist, a trade unionist, a student, a professional or just doing your weekly shop, BDS means everyone can play a part in helping Palestinians to secure Freedom, Justice, Equality and a genuine peace in the Palestine-Israel region.

Speaker:

Fatin Al Tamimi is chairperson of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign. A diaspora Palestinian with Jordanian-Irish citizenship, Ms. Tamimi has been living and raising her family in Ireland for 30 years. Her family originally hails from Gaza and Hebron in Palestine, and she still has close relatives living in both areas. She has been involved for many years in Palestine solidarity work in Ireland, and in 2016 she was elected to the position of Chairperson of the IPSC, the first Palestinian to hold the position. She is also active in anti-racist, anti-war and women’s groups in Ireland, and has spoken at many events.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement was founded in 2005, modelled on the international campaign that helped end apartheid in South Africa. In just 13 years it has grown globally to such an extent that Israel now calls it an “existential threat” to its system of apartheid, and is unsuccessfully investing millions of dollars to counteract it. Yet BDS continues to grow. Whether you are a human rights activist, a trade unionist, a student, a professional or just doing your weekly shop, BDS means everyone can play a part in helping Palestinians to secure Freedom, Justice, Equality and a genuine peace in the Palestine-Israel region.

Speaker:

Omar Barghouti is a Palestinian human rights defender and co-founder of the civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which seeks justice for the people of Palestine. He sits on the BDS National Committee in Palestine, and is a co-recipient of the 2017 Gandhi Peace Prize. His work as a leader of the non-violent civil society BDS campaign has led to Israeli authorities exerting extreme pressure on him, including threatening his residency within the state of Israel and the imposition of travel restrictions.  He is the author of Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights (Haymarket, 2011).

Apartheid, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, international law, human rights; some of the many terms you will hear when the issue of Palestine is being discussed. But what exactly do they mean in the context of the Palestine issue? This session will address these issues in a simple to understand manner. With the right to work being one of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this session will also address the issue of the abuse of workers’ rights under Israel’s occupation, from queuing at dawn to get to work to non-payment of wages.

Speaker:

Eamon McMahon is a founder member and secretary of Trade Union Friends of Palestine and has been a leading voice for justice in Palestine in the Irish trade union movement. He has promoted the development of TUFP ‘ambassadors’ and led trade union delegations to Palestine.  He is on the steering committee of the European Trade Union Initiative for Justice in Palestine, which calls for an end to European complicity with Israel’s occupation of Palestine. A retired NHS psychotherapist, he has a special interest in the traumatisation of Palestinian children under the Israeli occupation.

Apartheid, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, international law, human rights; some of the many terms you will hear when the issue of Palestine is being discussed. But what exactly do they mean in the context of the Palestine issue? This session will address these issues in a simple to understand manner. With the right to work being one of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this session will also address the issue of the abuse of workers’ rights under Israel’s occupation, from queuing at dawn to get to work to non-payment of wages.

Speaker:

Jamal Juma’ was born in Jerusalem and attended Birzeit University, where he became politically active. Since the first Intifada, he has focused on grassroots activism. He is coordinator of the Stop The Wall, the Palestinian grassroots anti-Apartheid wall campaign, and also of the Land Defense Coalition, a network of Palestinian grassroots movements. He is active in the Palestinian trade union movement. He has been invited to address numerous civil society and UN conferences, where he has spoken on the issue of Palestine and the Apartheid Wall.

Apartheid, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, international law, human rights; some of the many terms you will hear when the issue of Palestine is being discussed. But what exactly do they mean in the context of the Palestine issue? This session will address these issues in a simple to understand manner. With the right to work being one of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this session will also address the issue of the abuse of workers’ rights under Israel’s occupation, from queuing at dawn to get to work to non-payment of wages.

Speaker:

Dr. John Reynolds is a lecturer in the Department of Law in Maynooth University, where his research focuses on the operation of international law in contexts of conflict, crisis and colonialism. He holds PhD and LLM degrees in international law from NUI Galway, and sits on Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs Civil Society Standing Committee on Human Rights. Dr. Reynolds worked for several years in the Palestine as a researcher for Al-Haq, a leading Palestinian human rights organisation, and he continues to work with a number of social movements and civil society organisations, including Academics for Palestine. He is the author of Empire, Emergency and International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2017)

In Palestine, Israel presides over one of the most repressive and surveilled societies of modern times. Thousands of political prisoners populate Israel’s prisons, drones and spies monitor every aspect of life, and hundreds of checkpoints and a 700km wall impede freedom of movement. New technologies and theories of control and subjugation are developed by the state in collusion with universities and the private sector, which are then sold on in the international arena, proudly marketed as being ‘battle tested’ on the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, when it comes to solidarity activism aimed at pressuring Israel into obeying international law, the state and its civilian allies have developed a sophisticated system of dirty tricks and spying, propaganda attacks such as false antisemitism allegations, and legal attacks known as ‘lawfare’ to try to shut down all criticism.

Speaker:

Ali Abunimah is co-founder and Director of the influential Electronic Intifada news and analysis website. A Palestinian-American campaigning journalist and activist, Ali is a well-known and inspirational voice in the Palestinian liberation movement. He is the author of two books One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Picador, 2006) and The Battle for Justice in Palestine (Haymarket, 2014). He is also a policy adviser with Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network.

In Palestine, Israel presides over one of the most repressive and surveilled societies of modern times. Thousands of political prisoners populate Israel’s prisons, drones and spies monitor every aspect of life, and hundreds of checkpoints and a 700km wall impede freedom of movement. New technologies and theories of control and subjugation are developed by the state in collusion with universities and the private sector, which are then sold on in the international arena, proudly marketed as being ‘battle tested’ on the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, when it comes to solidarity activism aimed at pressuring Israel into obeying international law, the state and its civilian allies have developed a sophisticated system of dirty tricks and spying, propaganda attacks such as false antisemitism allegations, and legal attacks known as ‘lawfare’ to try to shut down all criticism.

Speaker:

Sahar Francis is the General Director of ADDAMEER Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian NGO providing legal and advocacy support to Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. An attorney by training, she joined the association in 1998. With two decades of human rights experience, including human rights counselling and representation, Ms . Francis has also been on the boards of Defence for Children International Palestine and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.

In Palestine, Israel presides over one of the most repressive and surveilled societies of modern times. Thousands of political prisoners populate Israel’s prisons, drones and spies monitor every aspect of life, and hundreds of checkpoints and a 700km wall impede freedom of movement. New technologies and theories of control and subjugation are developed by the state in collusion with universities and the private sector, which are then sold on in the international arena, proudly marketed as being ‘battle tested’ on the Palestinian people. Meanwhile, when it comes to solidarity activism aimed at pressuring Israel into obeying international law, the state and its civilian allies have developed a sophisticated system of dirty tricks and spying, propaganda attacks such as false antisemitism allegations, and legal attacks known as ‘lawfare’ to try to shut down all criticism.

Speaker:

Dr. Shir Hever is an independent economic researcher and journalist. He writes articles and research for various outlets and lectures in political and academic venues. He also reports for the Real News Network. Dr. Hever’s research interests include the economic aspects of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, international aid to the Palestinians and to Israel, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel, and the Israeli arms trade and security sector. He is currently living in Germany, and is a graduate student at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Author of many of the Alternative Information Center‘s Economy of the Occupation pamphlets, he has also authored two books, Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation: Repression Beyond Exploitation (Pluto, 2010) and The Privatisation of Israeli Security (Pluto, 2017).

In this keynote session Ali Abunimah, a renowned journalist and co-founder of the Electronic Intifada website, will take a comprehensive look at the shifting tides of the politics of the Palestine-Israeli issue in a today’s neoliberal world – and will make a compelling case for how and why the Palestinian people, with their allies in the international solidarity movement, will win their Freedom, Justice and Equality.

Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, has called Ali Abuminah a man in possession of “a crucially needed dose of educated hope.” Come along to hear from one of the most eloquent and engaging voices in the Palestinian liberation movement – and leave this conference full of hope and, inspiration, with a fire in your belly to join the movement fighting for justice in Palestine.

Speaker:

Ali Abunimah is co-founder and Director of the influential Electronic Intifada news and analysis website. A Palestinian-American campaigning journalist and activist, Ali is a well-known and inspirational voice in the Palestinian liberation movement. He is the author of two books One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse (Picador, 2006) and The Battle for Justice in Palestine (Haymarket, 2014). He is also a policy adviser with Al-Shabaka, The Palestinian Policy Network.