Only justice and equality for Palestinians can bring peace to the region

After the vigil, 11 May 2022, we heard that Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, had been shot and killed while reporting for Al’ Jazeera in Jenin on the West Bank. While she may not have been widely known in the UK, she was respected across the region as the authoratative voice on Palestine across the region.

This month marks the 74th anniversary of the Nakba, ‘the catastrophe’ in Arabic, when Jewish troops
forcibly uprooted the residents of 500 Palestinian villages and towns, shattering Palestinian society.
74% of the Palestinian population today (5.4. million people) are refugees.

Violence and injustice continue. The UN Special Rapporteur’s latest report on the situation of Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza states:

“The amount of violence that Israelis employing in order to sustain its occupation, is constantly increasing and impacting Palestinian lives in a myriad of different ways…. The result is daily harassment and abuse sometimes for no
apparent reason, or other times, based on weak security grounds.”
(Full report https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/EN_78.pdf)

What this means for the people of Palestine
Recent Palestinian demonstrations against evictions and demolitions in East Jerusalem resulted in
Israeli forces firing teargas and rubber-coated steel bullets and violently entering the al-Aqsa Mosque
during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs, (OCHA), report that 1000 Palestinians were injured, 735 by rubber bullets, in
just three days.

For decades Israel has used administrative detention (imprisonment without trial) against the whole
Palestinian community. Israel prosecutes between 500 and 700 Palestinian children in these
courts each year: the only children in the world who are systematically prosecuted through military,
rather than civilian, courts.

Women in Black in London stand in solidarity with Palestinian women in the Occupied Territories in
their struggle for justice, peace, well-being and a secure, prosperous and nonviolent future for
themselves and their children. We stand with Israeli partners too, such as Women in Black Tel Aviv
and Jerusalem, the Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch and other organizations in which
Jewish and Palestinian Israeli women work together for a peace agreement and sustain contact with
Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza. With them, we call for full equality in Israel for Jewish
and non-Jewish citizens alike.

Please copy and send this letter to the Prime Minister, 10 Downing Street, London SW1A 2AA
Dear Prime Minister: on this 74th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, with Women in Black I appeal to the
British Government to use all means in its power to influence the Israeli Government to redirect its policies
towards ending the illegal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. At the same time, the
rights of children, especially those who are imprisoned, must be protected now.
signature ….. ……………………………………..…name ………………………………………..
address ……………………………………………………………….. postcode………………………………………

Women in Black holds vigils every Wednesday between 6-7 pm at the Edith Cavell Statue, opposite the door
of the National Portrait Gallery, St.Martin’s Place, London WC2. Our vigils are silent, women-only and if
possible we wear black. We welcome all women who support our call for an end to militarism and war.
Contact us: Twitter @WIB_London FB @womeninblack.london http://london.womeninblack.org/
Donations for leaflets most welcome
JUSTICE
FOR
PALESTINIANS
Women in Black
London