AQSA NEWS Friends of Al-Aqsa newspaper since 1997 Israeli soldiers break the silence Dismay as more illegal settlement homes announced Red card Israeli racism News Israeli navy kills fisherman PAGE 2 News Egyptian army destroys 1,700 Gaza tunnels PAGE 5 Travel to Palestine A witness to the Palestinian struggle PAGE 7 Interview & Review Where should the birds fly PAGE 9 Special Feature In their silence, Israeli academies collude with occupation PAGE 12 Lights, Camera.. Cook Palestinian food and culture evening PAGE 18 THIS RAMADHAN JOIN OUR #ICHECKTHELABEL CAMPAIGN • BOYCOTT ISRAELI DATES • READ MORE ON PAGE 10 AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 55 | RAMADHAN 2014 /foapeaceinpalestine @friendsofalaqsa @friendsofalaqsa 3 3 6 Boycott Israeli Dates www.checkthelabel.org.uk Page 8 One Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days since 2000 Security firm G4S has been targeted by activists for its role in helping Israel to run its oppressive prison system, in which many Pal- estinians are held without charge or trial in adminis- trative detention. In what many BDS activists are hailing as a major victory, the Bill Gates Foundation has divested all of its multi- million pound shareholding in the company. Bill Gates has been heav- ily lobbied over the past year, and a petition which stated that his Foundation’s holding in G4S makes it complicit in the torture and illegal detention of Pales- tinians attracted 11,500 signatures. The petition was backed by over 160 organisations, and pointed out that G4S is “at the heart of [Israel’s] prison system … installing and running secu- rity systems in Israeli jails.” “This is an historic mo- ment for the boycott move- ment as it reflects the grow- ing unease of multi-million dollar entities in being seen as complicit in Israeli human rights abuses,’ said Ismail Patel, Chair of FOA. “The Gates Foundation’s decision to divest from G4S human-rights violations is a significant step forward for the growing movement of institutions bringing their practice in line with their stated values,” said Linda Frank, member of Jewish Voice for Peace. “This is also a big step forward for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that is becoming a major force toward ending Israel’s apartheid.” It is believed that the Gates Foundation owned over 170 million dollars worth of shares in G4S be- fore the divestment. Continued on page 4 A new victory for boycott Bill Gates’ Foundation divests from G4S Official statistics from the Ministry of Information in Ramallah have revealed that 1,518 Palestinian chil- dren were killed by Israel’s occupation forces from the outbreak of the second In- tifada in September 2000 up to April 2013. That’s the equivalent of one Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days for almost 13 years. De- spite the persistent violence by Israel against Palestin- ians, there is no worldwide condemnation. World lead- ers have rushed to condemn the tragic and terrible mur- ders of three Israeli teen- age settlers. Yet these same world leaders continue to ig- nore the inordinate number of Palestinian children who have been killed by Israel, whose families morn their deaths with as much agony. “The International Day for the Protection of Chil- dren is on June 1,” said a spokesman, “but Palestinian children are still subject to attacks by the Israelis and Jewish settlers on an almost daily basis.” 2012 saw an unprec- edented rise in the number of children arrested by Is- raeli forces, and the report pointed out that 9,000 Pal- estinians under 18 years old have been arrested since the end of September 2000. Al- most half of the Palestinian population is under 18. Al- most two hundred and fifty Palestinian minors are being held in prison by Israel; 47 of them are children under 16 years of age. Feed the fasting - £5 | humanappeal.org.uk | 0161 225 0225 | #savealife What if you could feed the fasting in Masjid Al-Aqsa? BBC cameraman Jihad Al Masharawi holding his 11 month old baby son who was killed in Gaza
Transcript
A Q S A N E W SFriends of Al-Aqsa newspaper since 1997
Israeli soldiersbreak the silence
Dismay as more illegalsettlement homes announced Red card Israeli racism
News
Israeli navy kills fisherman
PAGE 2
News
Egyptian army destroys 1,700 Gaza
tunnels
PAGE 5
Travel to Palestine
A witness to the Palestinian
struggle
PAGE 7
Interview & Review
Where should the birds fly
PAGE 9
Special Feature
In their silence, Israeli academies collude
with occupation
PAGE 12
Lights, Camera.. Cook
Palestinian food and culture evening
PAGE 18
THIS RAMADHAN JOIN OUR #ICHECKTHELABEL CAMPAIGN • BOYCOTT ISRAELI DATES • READ MORE ON PAGE 10
One Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days since 2000
Security firm G4S has been targeted by activists for its role in helping Israel to run its oppressive prison system, in which many Pal-estinians are held without charge or trial in adminis-trative detention. In what many BDS activists are hailing as a major victory, the Bill Gates Foundation has divested all of its multi-million pound shareholding in the company.
Bill Gates has been heav-ily lobbied over the past year, and a petition which stated that his Foundation’s holding in G4S makes it complicit in the torture and
illegal detention of Pales-tinians attracted 11,500 signatures. The petition was backed by over 160 organisations, and pointed out that G4S is “at the heart of [Israel’s] prison system … installing and running secu-rity systems in Israeli jails.”
“This is an historic mo-ment for the boycott move-ment as it reflects the grow-ing unease of multi-million dollar entities in being seen as complicit in Israeli human rights abuses,’ said Ismail Patel, Chair of FOA.
“The Gates Foundation’s decision to divest from G4S human-rights violations is a
significant step forward for the growing movement of institutions bringing their practice in line with their stated values,” said Linda Frank, member of Jewish Voice for Peace. “This is also a big step forward for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that is becoming a major force toward ending Israel’s apartheid.”
It is believed that the Gates Foundation owned over 170 million dollars worth of shares in G4S be-fore the divestment.
Continued on page 4
A new victory for boycottBill Gates’ Foundation divests from G4S
Official statistics from the Ministry of Information in Ramallah have revealed that 1,518 Palestinian chil-dren were killed by Israel’s occupation forces from the outbreak of the second In-tifada in September 2000 up to April 2013. That’s the equivalent of one Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days for almost 13 years. De-spite the persistent violence by Israel against Palestin-ians, there is no worldwide condemnation. World lead-ers have rushed to condemn
the tragic and terrible mur-ders of three Israeli teen-age settlers. Yet these same world leaders continue to ig-nore the inordinate number of Palestinian children who have been killed by Israel, whose families morn their deaths with as much agony.
“The International Day for the Protection of Chil-dren is on June 1,” said a spokesman, “but Palestinian children are still subject to attacks by the Israelis and Jewish settlers on an almost daily basis.”
2012 saw an unprec-edented rise in the number of children arrested by Is-raeli forces, and the report pointed out that 9,000 Pal-estinians under 18 years old have been arrested since the end of September 2000. Al-most half of the Palestinian population is under 18. Al-most two hundred and fifty Palestinian minors are being held in prison by Israel; 47 of them are children under 16 years of age.
World condemns death of 3 Israeli teens, while death of dozens of Palestinian teens ignored
During the search for three Israeli teenage set-tlers who went missing on 12 June, Israel launched sweeping arrest campaigns and conducted raids around Hebron. During clashes on 17 June, 20 year old Palestin-ian Ahmad Arafat Sabareen was killed after he was shot in the chest with live fire. His death has left a devastated family in its wake.
While the tragic deaths of the teenage settlers have at-tracted worldwide condem-nation, the death of Ahmad, and dozens of Palestinian teenagers killed including 15 year old Muhammad Abu Thahr and 17 year old Nadim Nuwara; were not comment-ed on by our governments. The deaths of Muhammad and Nadim were caught on camera, and appeared to show that the boys were tar-geted and shot when no con-frontation was taking place. Their devastated families are trying to comprehend why they were killed, and why no one will be brought to justice for their deaths.
At least a dozen Pales-tinian children were injured during violent Israeli attacks on their home in June alone. The lack of concern shown by Western governments for the lives and welfare of these Palestinian children, is made apparent when contrasted with the immediate words of condemnation which, right-ly, followed the deaths of the illegal Israeli settlers.
Israeli navy kills fishermanPalestinian fisherman
Emad Salem, age 51, was shot by the Israeli navy when he was fishing off the coast of Gaza. Two weeks later, he died of his wounds. It is nor-mal practice for the navy to fire on fishermen in Gaza’s waters. The livelihoods of these men and their fami-lies depend on them taking to the waters every day. This has become a perilous occu-pation for Gaza’s 4,000 fish-ermen, all of whom face the possibility of attack and gun fire.
Hundreds of Palestin-ians participated in Emad’s funeral. Despite the clear il-legality of Israeli naval prac-tices of shooting at fisher-men, Emad’s family know that they are unlikely to ever achieve justice over his death.
Unity government angers IsraelPalestinian political par-
ties Fatah and Hamas an-nounced a unity government in early June following years of bitter rivalry. Israel react-ed with hostility and anger, while the rest of the world responded in a more muted way. The US ignored Israel’s calls to reject the unity gov-ernment, and said they in-tended to work with it for
the time being. Hamas leader, Khaled
Mishal encouraged the move, saying “Neither Israel nor any occupier will change its policy voluntarily. It must be forced to change itself and our resistance, unity and steadfastness will change them. We are not waiting for Netanyahu to change him-self. We Palestinians have
the ability to change them. This is our strategy.”
Unilateral action by Palestinians has been wit-nessed more frequently in recent times, and began with the Palestinian Authority ap-proaching the UN for recog-nition. It has since become party to numerous UN or-ganisations.
14 June - 28 injured by riot police using batons and tear gas.
11 June - Israeli police prevent Palestinians from entering the al-Aqsa and use batons to attack dozens of worshippers including children.
7 June - 160 illegal settlers storm the al-Aqsa compound supported by Israeli security, creating a tense stand-off by deliberately provoking Palestinians.
4 June - Restrictions on access to the al-Aqsa draws condemnation from Palestinians. Hundreds of extremist Jewish settlers are allowed to enter the compound while Palestinians are barred.
30 May - Hundreds of Palestinians are forced to pray on the streets of the Old City as they are barred from entering al-Aqsa.
29 May - Israel marks ‘Jerusalem Day’ with intimidating shows of anger and violence against Palestinians. A video emerged of a Palestinian man being attacked with stones by extremist settlers.
28 May - Hardline Israelis once again trespass onto al-Aqsa, causing the eruption of clashes. Palestinians are attacked by police using rubber coated bullets and pepper spray.
The timeline above provides a snippet of the threats being faced by Palestinians and Masjid al-Aqsa on a daily basis. Palestinians are calling for international solidarity, as they see al-Aqsa ‘slipping out of their hands’.
Palestinians attacked at holy site
The situation in Jeru-salem has reached crisis point as Israel for the first time since the 1967 war, barred all Palestinians from entering the holy al-Aqsa Sanctuary on 4 June 2014. The closure was intended to facilitate the entry of Is-raelis and extremist Jewish settlers on to the site.
Following the closure, Jordan officially sent a note of protest to the Israeli Foreign Ministry objecting to Israel’s provocative ac-tions. However, it is largely powerless to stop these trespasses which have con-tinued unabated for years,
and intensified to weekly and daily incursions in re-cent months.
The violence against Palestinian worshippers intensified in June, with clashes resulting in dozens of injuries. On June 14th, 28 Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces stormed the compound attacking worshippers with batons and stun grenades. Injuries were caused by Shrapnel from stun grenades.
Many of the Palestinians praying inside the mosque buildings were elderly peo-ple, and 4 of those injured were elderly men. A further
8 people were also arrested. This was merely the latest in a string of violent incur-sions into the Al-Aqsa Sanc-tuary, which Palestinian are powerless to prevent. “Un-armed civilian worshippers are being attacked almost every day. This is unac-ceptable, yet there is silence from our government. Ac-tivists on the ground here in the UK need to tell their MPs to take action and condemn Israeli aggression against unarmed civilians,” said FOA spokesperson Shamiul Joarder.
In an open letter in the Guardian, several high profile international authors and artists declared their ‘dismay’ as Israel’s announcement that it will build 1,500 new set-tler homes in illegal West Bank settlements. They reiter-ated the illegality of such settlement activity, and identi-fied them as acts of aggression showing utter disregard for the human and civil rights of Palestinians, as well as international law.
Longest hunger strike in Palestinian history
Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons have been on the longest collective hunger strike in Palestinian history. 125 pris-oners have been refusing meals since 24 April, in pro-test against Israel’s policy of administrative detention. Hundreds more have joined
them since then. Addameer, the organisa-
tion which supports Pales-tinian prisoners, had report-ed that: “The hunger striking detainees were warned of the danger to their lives, as their core muscles are now deteriorating and the body fat has disappeared from
their bodies. Some of them were told by the doctors that they can suffer from a heart attack or stroke at any moment. Some are suffer-ing from intestinal bleeding, vomiting blood and faint-ing in addition to significant loss of weight and decrease in heart rate and decrease in blood sugar.”
80 prisoners are now in hospital due to the effect of the hunger strike on their health, with Israeli hospi-tal doctors saying they will force feed prisoners who lose consciousness. Mean-while, instead of contending with the prisoners demand for an end to the illegal pol-icy of administrative deten-tion, the Israeli parliament is debating whether to in-troduce legislation which al-lows prisoners to be treated by doctors without consent, which would include force-feeding hunger strikers.
Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon has called on Israel to immediately re-lease the prisoners, or actu-ally charge them with an of-fence.
Israeli soldiers break the silenceIt has been ten years since
a small number of Israeli sol-diers formed ‘Breaking the Silence’, an NGO dedicated to bringing to the world testi-monies from former soldiers who have served in the occu-pied territories.
To mark the anniversary, the group read out ten hours of testimonies to an audi-ence in Tel-Aviv.
Breaking the Silence
has documented an array of harrowing testimonies which reflect the depth of oppression and humiliation Palestinians have to endure in their daily lives. Over ten years, 950 soldiers’ accounts have been documented and consistencies between testi-monies show that Palestin-ians are deliberately dehu-manised by the army.
Testimony - Sergeant Avner Gvaryahu, 2004-2007
Special anti-tank unit, Nablus
It was when I was a sergeant, after we had finished training. 200 [the number of the commander] said to us unequivocally: “That’s how you’re ranked. With Xs. Every night I want you to be looking for ‘contact’ [an exchange of fire] and that’s how you’ll be ranked.”
At some point I realised that someone who wants to succeed has to bring him dead people. There’s no point in bringing him arrests. [The message was:] “Arrests are routine, the battalions are making arrests. You’re the spearhead, the army has invested years in you, now I want you to bring me dead terrorists.”
And that’s what pushed us, I believe. What we’d do was go out night after night, draw-ing fire, go into alleys that we knew were dangerous. There were arrests, there were all kinds of arrests. But the high point of the night was drawing fire, creating a situation where they fired at us.
It’s a situation, totally insane, you’re in it, it’s hard to explain. You’re looking through the binoculars and searching for someone to kill. That’s what you want to do. And you want to kill him. But do you want to kill him? But that’s your job.
And you’re still looking through the binoculars and you’re starting to get confused. Do I want to? Don’t I want to? Maybe I actually want them to miss.
From front pageA new victory for boycottBill Gates’ Foundation divests from G4S
Disruption at G4S Shareholders meeting
G4S’s recent shareholders meeting in early June was also disrupted by protestors who purchased token shares in the company in order to attend the shareholder meeting and bring some accountability from the Board members. Protestors were tackled by burly G4S security guards and evicted from the hall.
Protestors said they wanted the Board to be aware that their large salaries were being made possible by G4S’s human rights abuses against prisoners, and its complicity in the Israeli occupation.
Shamiul Joarder, from FOA, was at the meeting and told the Guardian newspaper that he was shocked by the way G4S dealt with protestors. “I’m really taken aback and a little shook up and a little bit scared,” he said. “What really worries me is this is the AGM, this is the creme de la creme. It doesn’t bode well for how G4S deals with people on the ground if the Board allows this behaviour.”
Australian decision on Jerusalem condemned
Australia’s decision to refer to East Jerusalem as ‘disputed’ and not ‘occupied’ has drawn condemnation from many quarters globally. Campaigners were deeply angered by the move, which legitimises Israel’s illegal an-nexation of the Palestinian city.
The Foreign Ministers of
57 different countries who make up the OIC (Organisa-tion of Islamic Cooperation) stated that they would take the issue up with their gov-ernment to ensure ‘neces-sary action’ is taken. Each reiterated the importance of East Jerusalem which houses the holy al-Aqsa Sanctuary.
Desmond Tutu’s message to Presbyterian MeetingSouth African Bishop
Desmond Tutu issued a mes-sage to the Presbyterian General Assembly biennial meeting on the issue of Is-rael and Palestine, encourag-ing the Church to ‘adopt an overture naming Israel an Apartheid state.’ Bishop Tutu outlined Israel’s domestic policies and maintenance of the occupation as underlying reasons.
He further called for di-vestment of certain compa-nies that contribute to the occupation of the Palestin-ian people, stating that the Church was complicit in the occupation if it continued to invest.
He further stated: ‘The sustainability of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish peo-ple has always been depend-ent on its ability to deliver justice to the Palestinians. I know firsthand that Israel has created an apartheid re-ality within its borders and through its occupation. The parallels to my own beloved South Africa are painfully stark indeed. Realistic Israeli leaders have acknowledged that Israel will either end its
occupation through a one or two state solution, or live in an apartheid state in perpe-tuity. The latter option is un-sustainable and an offense to justice. We learned in South Africa that the only way to end apartheid peacefully was to force the powerful to the table through economic pressure.
The overtures proposed at the General Assembly are not about delegitimizing the State of Israel, but about ending its suppression of 4,000,000 Palestinian sisters and brothers. It’s about nam-ing an unjust system and refusing to participate in it. The stubbornness of Israel’s leaders in wanting to hold onto and settling land that is not theirs can only lead to tragedy for both peoples. For the sake of them both as God’s cherished, the strong witness of the two overtures is the only peaceful route left in the cause of justice and ultimate reconciliation. My prayers today are with the members of the General Assembly and with all the peoples of the Holy Land in Israel and Palestine.’
Presbyterian Church USA to Divest from Israel
Following a vote in late June, the US Presbyterian Church took the decision to divest from three multina-tional corporations which support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. The com-panies are Caterpillar, Hewl-ett-Packard and Motorola Solutions.
It was a very close vote with 310 votes in favour and 303 votes against. Two years ago, the same vote was mar-ginally rejected. This shows that the work of campaign-
ers who highlight the role of big companies in helping Israel to sustain the occupa-tion is effective.
Heath Rada, who is the Church Moderator, made a statement in which he said the vote was in no way a “re-flection of our lack of love for our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
This was substantiated by Rev. Gradye Parsons, Di-rector of Operations of Of-fice of the General Assem-bly, who said that “We as a
church cannot profit from the destruction of homes and lives. We continue to invest in many businesses involved in peaceful pursuits in Israel.”
Caterpillar has been un-der fire for years for provid-ing Israel with heavy duty bulldozers which are regu-larly used to demolish Pales-tinian homes. Hewlett Pack-ard provides Israel support and maintenance of the bio-metric ID system installed at checkpoints in the West
Bank. Checkpoints deprive Palestinians of freedom of movement in their own land and allow the Israeli military occupation to grant or deny special privileges to the ci-vilians under its control. HP also provides the israeli military with other equip-ment and services to help it maintain the illegal occu-pation. Motorola supplies Israel with fuses for aircraft bombs and other military equipment.
Pressure mounts on Sainsbury’s
Boycott campaigners are putting the pressure up on Sainsbury’s who continue to use Israeli exporters whose produce are linked to illegal Israeli settlements. Cam-paigners have been picketing Sainsbury’s stores up and
down the country making it clear that trading with com-panies which support set-tlements is not acceptable. Produce including Medjoul dates packaged under Sains-bury’s own brand originate in Israel.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on other Muslim states to in-tervene in Jerusalem, where Palestinians are facing the
harshest attacks to date against their cultural herit-age in the city. The Ministry stated that condemnations and statements were no
longer sufficient, and that immediate action is required to protect Palestinian citi-zens and holy sites from the process of Judaisation.
Growing calls to sack Tony Blair from Middle East role
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has enjoyed a lucrative career since leav-ing office. His role in the unjustified invasion of Iraq and the destruction of the country was again the focus of media attention when the brutal rise of the ISIS group took over British television screens. Blair has been the Quartet’s Representative to
the Middle East for seven years and his contribution to peace in the region was describes as ‘negligible’ by high profile individuals such as Caroline Lucas MP, Ken Livingstone and professor Noam Chomsky. Growing numbers of the British pub-lic are calling for his resigna-tion from this position.
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch call for Criminal Court Intervention
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both urged Palestin-ian President Mahmoud Abbas to pursue access to
the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague for Palestinians. These are the world’s leading human rights NGO’s and they wrote
a letter to President Abbas saying this “could ensure ac-cess to international justice for victims of war crimes and crimes against human-ity committed on Palestinian territories, and would send an important message that such crimes cannot be com-mitted with impunity.”
In order to come under the remit of the ICC, Pales-tine needs to join the Rome Statute which established the court. However, Presi-dent Abbas is under intense pressure from the US and Is-rael not to approach the ICC.
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are deeply crit-ical of these pressures, stat-ing: “We oppose these efforts to politicize justice for vic-tims of serious crimes under international law, and urge you to resist them. … The commission of war crimes with impunity has regularly undermined the peace pro-cess. A credible prosecution threat would help to advance the cause of peace.”
Turkish visit to Holocaust Museum15 Turkish university
professors and lecturers took part in a seminar at the Holocaust Museum at Yad Veshem in Israel. “We are very pleased to be hosting this impressive group of aca-demics at our International School for Holocaust Stud-ies,” said Yad Vashem Chair-man Avner Shalev. “Given the significance of Turkish soci-ety in the Muslim world this is an important step.”
Historically, Turkey was neutral during World War II, but Turkish diplomats are said to have saved tens of thousands of Jews from Nazi persecution in France, Eastern Europe and the is-land of Rhodes. One of them, Selahattin Ülkümen, was de-clared one of the Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1989.
The Turkish government at the time opened its doors to dozens of prominent Ger-man academics and their families after many were thrown out of their jobs and forced to flee in the 1930s.
The trip to Yed Veshem was led by Ibrahim Bukel, di-rector of textbook editing in Turkey’s Education Ministry.
Egyptian army destroys 1,700 Gaza tunnels
Despite the lifeline pro-vided by the tunnels be-tween the Gaza/Egypt bor-der, the Egyptian military has destroyed 1,700 tun-nels which supply Gazan’s with essentials such as
medicines and food. Other goods which pas through the tunnels include cloth-ing, building materials, and fuel.
Egypt claimed ‘national security’ reasons for the
destruction of the tunnels, but many believe their sole reason for cutting off Gaza is to punish the Palestinians for their links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
RED CARD ISRAELI RACISMWhy Israel should be kicked out of FIFA• Beitin FC player shot and killed• Teenage Palestinian footballers deliberately shot in the feet, ending their careers
By Kenneth FrydeMember of RCIR
The campaign to boycott Israeli football has taken huge strides over the past year, thanks above all to the efforts of the Palestine Foot-ball Association under the determined leadership of Fa-tah Deputy-Secretary Gener-al Jibril Rajoub. At last sum-mer’s FIFA Congress the PFA presented an extensive dos-sier of ongoing Israeli abus-es against Palestinian sport, and Rajoub threatened to call for the Israel FA’s expul-sion from FIFA should the abuses continue. With that ultimatum he placed Pales-tine squarely on the world
football stage.In response, FIFA Presi-
dent Sepp Blatter set up an “Israel-Palestine Task Force” to solve the problem of the paralyzing restrictions on movement imposed on football by the Occupation. Blatter appears genuine in his commitment to improve “understanding between the communities in [the] region”. But nine months on it is – un-surprisingly - hard to detect any concrete benefits arising from his Task Force.
Indeed it has quickly be-come clear that a panel of football dignitaries can exert little influence on the behav-iour of an occupying army towards a subject popula-
tion. The obstacles faced by Palestinian football continue unchecked - the same delays at the checkpoints, the same block on travel between Gaza and the West Bank, the same bureaucratic obstruction to imports of vital equipment. The West Bank has just seven football grounds that meet international standards, but new sites for development are consistently blocked.
Recent human rights violations include the arbi-trary arrest and detention of national team member Sameh Mara’abe, and of Ziad Hassan of Hilal Jericho FC. Islami Qalqilya FC has been stormed by troops and forci-bly closed down.
Several footballers have been the targets of extreme brutality, provoking wide-spread outrage. On 24th November Coach Basel Mahmoud of Isawiyah FC was severely beaten by a special patrol unit as he left the club after a training ses-sion. On 31st January teen-aged players Jawhar Nasser Jawhar and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, returning from training with Abu Dis FC, were shot repeatedly in the feet, had dogs let loose on them, were dragged across the ground and beat-en by border police. After transfer to Amman for medi-cal treatment the two young footballers were informed that they would never play again; they have since been arrested on re-entering Pal-estine. On 10th March Saji Darwish, Birzeit student and player for Beitin FC, was shot dead by soldiers while graz-ing his family’s cattle.
It is not surprising there-fore that General Rajoub is once again threatening to press for the IFA’s expul-sion from FIFA. He claims
the backing of a number of Middle Eastern and North African football associations. In support of his principled stance, Red Card Israeli Rac-ism (RCIR) has launched an online petition demanding the IFA’s suspension from FIFA until such time that Is-rael respects international human rights law. It will be presented to FIFA’s June 2014 Congress in Sao Paolo. RCIR is also collaborating with Football Beyond Bor-ders and Walk of Life Films to present a new documen-tary film in the run-up to the Congress.
At the same time RCIR continues to campaign vig-orously for boycott at a Eu-ropean level. The IFA is cur-rently bidding for Jerusalem to be included as a venue in UEFA’s 2020 senior Euro Fi-nals (intended to be played at venues across the con-tinent). On 30th April The Independent published a let-ter of protest at Jerusalem’s inclusion in the bidding pro-cess, drafted by us and signed by 25 famous supporters of Palestinian rights (including
a number of PSC patrons). RCIR and our sister groups across Europe are lobbying both UEFA and our national football associations on this subject - and on that of the hosting of the 2015 Women’s Under-19 Euro Finals, which has already been awarded to Israel by UEFA.
Following the success of last year’s speaking tour by Mahmoud Sarsak, RCIR are acutely aware of the power of personal testimony and encounters to educate the sporting public. To this end we welcome the emergence of several grass-roots initia-tives. Local twinning groups have begun arranging vis-its by British footballers to Palestinian clubs; these could provide a model for the development of longer-term links. And Philosophy Football plans to build local British supporters’ groups for the Palestinian national team.
For more details of the campaign, visit www.rcir.org.uk
Brutality against footballers
FIFA side-stepped the issue of sanctions at its 11th June Congress, agreeing instead to appoint an independent committee to monitor Israeli restrictions on the free movement of footballers. RCIR continues to press for suspension of the IFA from FIFA – you can still sign their petition at http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/fifa-suspend-the-israeli-football-association-s-fifa-member-ship.
Our journey started in Jordan when our group undertook a religious sites tour, which included some of the most im-portant historical sites in the Islamic world. This part of the tour included a visit to a Palestinian refugee camp in Jerash (Jordan), locally known as “Camp Gaza”, 40km North of Am-man. The camp was established in 1968 when the 6 day war resulted in 250,000 Palestinians being displaced.
Whilst our time at Jerash was limited, it was my first glimpse of life for a Palestinian refugee. As our coach ap-proached the camp we were immediately hit with the sign of everyday struggle. To describe the conditions as ‘poverty’ would be an insult to the dignity of the displaced Palestin-ians therein. Whilst there were obvious signs of decay and deprivation, the dignity and honour of the Palestinians was clear to see within the camp. At the entrance of the camp stood a garage next to what could best be described as a junk yard. Again, I looked closely and amidst the chaos stood a man in salah.
On the hilly approach to the camp were a number of chil-dren chasing each other and playing as children do. No Play-Stations, smart phones or gizmos here. The children were playing with sticks, stones and anything else they could lay their hands on. Two of the children stood clutching a bag of crisp each with a look of contentment you will struggle to encounter in much of the world. Deprived yes, displaced yes, but their honour and dignity shone through the eyes of the children. A most tender moment was the eyes that smiled with delight when some from our group went to greet the children and hand out sweets.
Flying high above the camp were kites, flown with skill and obvious practice from the urban chaos below. Another testimony to the determination of the children to be just that - children.
Al-AqsaDay four of the tour saw us leave Jordan and head for
Al Aqsa, the true purpose of our trip. As with all crossings through Jordan the route took us through the magnificent Jordan Valley to the Allenby Bridge. What followed was nearly 7 hours of anxious waiting for half of our group to be given their visas. The time and wait dragged mercilessly. During this juncture I and my fellow travellers witnessed first-hand the ill treatment of the Palestinians. They and their luggage were treated with less regard than you would give to an animal. It made the blood boil and to see an el-derly Palestinian lose his temper and give the security staff a piece of his mind warmed the heart.
Palestine has always held a special place in my heart, and over many years my desire to go there had grown ever stronger, until I finally had the opportunity to fulfil this ambition.
By Hawa
Leaving the camp was hard, very hard. My heart went out to the inhabitants, especially the children. My emotions were mixed, and at once I felt sorry for their everyday strug-gle but at the same time marvelled at the resilience and the dignity which they displayed.
We finally reached our hotel just after Eisha prayers. We would have to wait until Fajr before visiting al-Aqsa. As we came down into the lobby of the hotel before dawn, we were told the Israeli soldiers were not allowing women to pray in Aqsa. So the men headed there only to find that access was denied to all men under 50. Despite protests the Israeli guards were unmoved and as a consequence the majority of the men in our group prayed outside the gates.
During the afternoon, after a visit to a women’s cancer clinic and a charity which supported orphans, we went to the Mount of Olives where I had my first sighting of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. This platform pro-vided an ideal vantage point to see the whole of Jerusalem and the holy Al-Aqsa sanctuary.
It was nearly time for Maghrib and Eisha at Al-Aqsa, when I finally entered the Old City through Herod’s gate, which led straight into the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. It was like stepping back in time, with its narrow alleyways, all steeped in history, and it’s amazing architecture. We finally got to the entrance of the Al-Aqsa Sanctuary; where young Israeli soldiers stood around in their uniforms, guns hang-ing at their sides, chatting to their colleagues. While we were waiting to enter we noticed a few Palestinians turned away without rhyme or reason. It was just another day in Jeru-salem for them. Finally, we were given permission to enter.
The emotion of the moment was overwhelming and indescribable. Tears were difficult to hold back and words cannot articulate the emotions I was going through. The courtyard of Al-Aqsa was serene, tranquil and peaceful, full of light with olive groves and well maintained gardens but at the same time it felt empty with the lack of Palestinians allowed to enter. I could only see tourists and elderly Pales-tinians. It was easy to contemplate on the miracles that had taken place at this holiest of places.
From my interaction with Palestinians, it was clear that they desperately want Muslims to visit. On witness-ing their daily struggles, I truly believe we can make a dif-ference by visiting to show solidarity, by campaigning to spread awareness, by fundraising to give aid and in sup-porting boycotts, divestment and sanctions to stop those who are hurting our Palestinian brethren. Everyone can play a part.
Gazan film-maker Fida Qishta is touring the UK and Europe with her film ‘Where Should the Birds Fly’
Leicester hosted the first UK screeningwww.whereshouldthebirdsfly.org
Aqsa News caught up with Fida to talk about this moving film.
How did you get into film making?
I began working with a friend of mine called Mohammed, who needed someone to help him organize his business. I remember first going to his store which was a mess! I start-ed to organize his files, computer, etc. One day a man came in saying he wanted a camerawoman to film a wedding.
I knew there was no one available and Mohammed put me down for the job.
I said “Are you crazy?? I don’t know how to film!” He said, “I will show you.”
My training consisted of him showing me how to turn the camera on, then to push the red button. He said, “Make sure you see the three letters REC. If you see it you are filming. If not, you are not filming. You are going to film the wedding.” That was it.
I went to the wedding to film it. In the middle of my film-ing, the camera turned off, then back on. I called Mohammed but he told me to keep going and that he would fix the film afterwards.
When I got back to the shop I recall telling him that no one would ever ask him to film a wedding again!
He edited the wedding tape, putting in music and matching it to the people dancing. He gave the tape to the customer. When the customer returned to the store later, I was sure he was going to complain! Instead, he said, “You filmed my wedding. We are very happy with the tape. You are going to film my brother’s and my cousin’s wedding.”
And that is how I began with filming!
I started to work with internationals in Gaza in 2003. Most of them had cameras and I translated for them. In 2005 and 2006, I started to shape my dream. With video, I could speak about the story of my house without speaking another lan-guage. That’s when I started to believe in the camera as a language.
In 2006, I came to the US to speak about the situation in Gaza. Some people were asking “How did this thing or that thing happen?” My language wasn’t good enough to tell them everything I went through or exactly what the situa-tion was. I thought, if I had a camera, I wouldn’t have to let these details slip away. In particular, one person asked about Rafah – “What happens in the home demolition? Are people compensated? Where do they go?” If I were filming, I could tell the miserable story of how people left their homes, went to a school for shelter, stayed with others, then eventually got settled into new places to live.
When I returned to Gaza in 2006, a group of internationals bought me a camera and I started to film.
In 2008/2009, when Gaza was attacked, most internationals left. There were few journalists, and the only people filming were from Gaza, myself included.
What difficulties did you face in filming / producing your documentary in Gaza?
The most difficult parts were filming the farmers and fishermen. This involved people’s daily lives yet it is not safe with the Israeli navy coming at them. On one boat trip, my camera was hit by the Israeli Army. The danger comes from the circumstances we face.
I grew up around Rafah and live around there, so danger was normal for me. I did not approach it with apprehen-sion and when I came to edit the film, people asked me how I stood on the edge of the boat and filmed. They ex-pected that the dangers would overcome me, however, when it is a norm for you, you manage your way around a situation.
Knowing the neighbourhood that you are filming in helps, for example in Rafah city, near the camps, I know the exit and entrances - so I know where to go, and where not to go when trouble starts.
How has the support from the international community been for your documentary?
It was quite shocking to be honest! My tour started in the US and I expected many negative views, because of the content, because I was talking about Gaza, because it’s a one sided documentary etc. But this didn’t happen.
The fact is I cannot talk about the other side of the story, as I can’t see them/communicate with them.
What are the main aims of the documentary?
Communication! Palestinians are too often talked about as mere statistics and numbers as opposed to people/human beings. I want to tell the world: we have lives and we have stories.
One of the things that shocked me in the US was that when a Palestinian mother comes on, they always mention num-bers, rather than their names. They do not mention that they had families or which city they grew up in. These are the things which give us our human personality and value.
I want to show that we exist, we are here, we have families too.
FOA and Phoenix Cinema in Leicester Organised a screening of Where Should the Birds Fly. Some of the viewers shared their thoughts on the film....
“…A moving documentary about two amazing women. A harrowing, emotional recording of the struggle of the people of Gaza and the scars it has left. A true account of the various human rights violations during Operation Cast Lead…”
“…The film was brutal but much needed. It was portrayed as experienced by a Palestinian. Very rarely do they get any say and hardly are they ever given a platform. This documen-tary, for want of a better euphemism, was like it was ‘straight from the horses’ mouth’. I hope and pray the world can now feel the reality of their struggle. Truly moving…”
“… Not a person in the entire auditorium couldn’t have shed a tear during ‘where should the birds fly’. It was a wonder-fully moving, emotional yet hard hitting documentary which really drew you in and made you truly understand what life is like for Gazans now and during operation cast lead. It felt as if you were there in Gaza itself. Fida truly has bought the plight of her people onto the cinematic stage with ‘where should the birds fly’. I pray and hope that this documentary is a source of enlightenment for the plight of all the people of Gaza…”
Ismail Adam Patel Follow on Twitter: @Ismailadampatel
Each year we report a great-er success with the annual sponsored walk, and this year is no different! 350 walkers descended on Mel-bourne in Derbyshire for a day of walking in the coun-try. The landscape was idyl-lic, the animals were grazing, and lead organiser Zubeda Gangat even attracted a fury friend!“It was a fantastic day, and
it was very amusing when a beautiful white horse started to follow me!” she said. A number of new faces were present this year, and fund-raising was as competitive as ever, with the promised prize of a brand new tablet for the highest Fundraiser. The prize was won by Far-zana who raised £800! Well done to her.
FREEDOM!Sponsored Walk 2014
Welcome RamadhanFor those of us who are
Muslim, we welcome an-other month of Ramadhan with thankfulness at the blessings we have been bestowed by the Almighty. Ramadhan is a month full of opportunities to draw
spiritually closer to Allah (swt) through worship in a number of forms. Wor-ship is not restricted to prayers and devotion to the Masajid, but also extends to acts of kindness and charity between people.
This month provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our deeds and actions, and once again commit ourselves to stead-fastness. It enables us to recharge our faith and to overcome the slumber of the past year. It also pre-pares us to face the chal-lenges of the coming year, by instilling discipline over our physical selves and sus-tenance for our spiritual selves.
A month of fasting and abstention from the usual preoccupation of life is not an easy task; however, its power to remind us of our reliance on God is unparal-leled. Each of us becomes the same - prince or pauper - neither can eat or drink and both is judged purely on their intentions.
In order to make the most of this blessed month, using it to reconnect to the Quran and God’s words are essential. After all, it was the month in which the revelations began so many centuries ago. Exploring the Quran can take a number of forms: from recitation of the Qur’an; Understanding the Qur’an; studying the life of the Prophet Muham-mad (peace be upon him), Praying the night prayers (Taraweeh) and off course getting involved in helping others who are less fortu-nate than us - whether that means taking meals round to elderly neighbours, or volunteering at a Food Bank. Every little effort will bring a multitude of bless-ings.
The Qur’an says:O you who believe. Fasting is prescribed for you as we pre-scribed it for those before you so that you may be conscious of Allah [2:183]
Mi’rajWhere prayers are concerned, it is worth remembering that the command to perform the prayers and thereby draw closer to Allah (swt) was afforded to the Prophet for this Ummah on the night of Mi’raj. As the hadith states:Prayer is the Miraj of the believer.
This is because a Muslim is closest to Allah (Swt) when he prostrates in prayer and glorifies God with the words:Subhana Rabi al-Ala (Glory to Allah the High)
This connects the believer with the realms of the heavens and this is his/her ascent.
CharityThe Prophet advised us that, ‘None of you truly be-
lieves until he loves for his brother what he loves for him-self.’ [Bukhari & Muslim]
Remembering this advice is crucial in this special month of giving. Where Palestinians are concerned, in particular, their calls for assistance and for intervention has been growing louder. Responding to campaigns is a way to play a part in opposing the occupation. But in the very least, using this month for prayer is crucial.
Every year, Israel ex-ports millions of pounds worth of dates across the world. During Ramadhan dates are used to break the fast with. Muslims buy more dates than at any other time of the year, piling up our shopping trolleys in eager anticipation for the setting of the sun.
The supply of dates from Israel during this time in-creases, dates which are ea-ger to make their way into our trolleys.
These dates may be grown on illegal Israeli set-tlements in the West Bank.
Settlements are Israeli communities that were built on Palestinian land oc-cupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It’s basically stolen land.
Palestinians are em-ployed on date farms on these settlements and are made to work long hard days for very little income. The occupation policies mean that many of these Palestinians have no choice but to take these jobs out of desperation.
The dates that are grown on these farms are grown by Palestinians men women and children, on Palestinian
land and then sold by illegal Israeli settler who make a huge profit on them.
This Ramadan make sure you don’t buy Israeli dates grown on stolen land.
Thousands of people are boycotting Israeli dates. Will you join them?
To purchase Palestinian dates, visit: http://www.yaffa.co.uk/
In Their Silence, Israeli Academics Collude With Occupation
By Neve Gordon
Israeli universities play a central role in sustaining the occupation. They are the face of Israel’s democracy that serves to hide its dark colonial side.
In 2006, I was among 25 professors from five Israeli universities who filed a pe-tition with the High Court of Justice in Israel request-ing that the court put a stop to the transformation of a small college, located in the occupied West Bank, into a university. We submitted the petition because we were appalled by the idea that the Israeli government would use academe to advance its colonial project in the Pales-tinian territories.
Diverse interests played a role in that expansionist ploy. Among the respond-ents to our petition were the military general in charge of the West Bank and the mem-bers of an academic com-mittee he had appointed to
legitimize the makeover. The most notable of those was Yisrael Aumann, who won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science a year be-fore. Minister of Education Yuli Tamir, who opposed the plan after she left office but remained silent during her term, and who had studied under Isaiah Berlin and had been a lecturer in philoso-phy at Tel Aviv University before entering politics, was also named in the case.
Ultimately, although some other academics also publicly objected, the court rejected our petition. In 2012, after a protracted struggle over fiscal issues, Ariel University became Is-rael’s eighth university.
Recently, Ariel has once again been making head-lines. An article in the Israeli daily Haaretz disclosed that a student had been expelled for posting a comment on Fa-cebook in which she equated the university with a Syrian prison. After much furor, the punishment was changed to a year’s suspension for another infraction. Another article described a heated debate among Ariel’s fac-ulty over controversial uni-
versity regulations limiting academic freedom, including an instruction that faculty members have to provide students with different po-sitions on topics they teach and that, in public appear-ances, they must cultivate the university’s good reputa-tion.
The headlines reminded me of the brief period in 2000 when I served as a re-servist in the Israel Defence Forces’ education corps.
During my first meeting with the top education officer in the Southern Command, the military division charged with defending Israel’s southern borders, I was asked about my academic specialization, and, after a brief dis-cussion, we agreed that I would teach soldiers about hu-man rights. I then received a “kit” that dealt with moral dilemmas that soldiers often encounter. The kit included a number of short “educational” films.
In one film, soldiers were seen evacuating Palestinian residents from a house in the West Bank minutes before bulldozers demolished it. The plot focused on a soldier who took a knife from the house during the evacuation. The soldiers were then asked: Was it all right to take something from the house, since the structure would be destroyed within minutes? As one soldier put it, the knife would be useless after the demolition anyway, so why not take it? Following a discussion highlighting several per-spectives, the film concluded that pocketing the knife, de-spite the extenuating circumstances, was an act of looting and consequently forbidden.
The film focused on the ethics of taking the knife, but it ignored larger questions—not least the morality of de-molishing Palestinian homes. The recent articles about Ariel University do the same. They pass over the wider context and therefore end up obfuscating the central ethi-cal questions at stake.
Teaching Israeli Soldiers about Human Rights
To be sure, Ariel’s reac-tion to the undergraduate who likened it to a Syr-ian prison smacks of har-assment, as the news media charged. In addition, uni-versity regulations demand-ing that faculty members offer students a range of perspectives on topics could introduce questionable intel-lectual requirements (crea-tionism along with Darwin), and are clearly attempts to monitor faculty views and thus infringe on academic
freedom.But such problems pale
in comparison with the real crime: establishing an Israeli academic institution on oc-cupied land, with the goal of maintaining and strengthen-ing colonial rule.
The question we Is-raeli academics should ask ourselves is about the role played by our seven other universities: Where do they fit in the narrative between the bulldozer and the knife?
Ariel U., an illegal Israeli institution in the West Bank, was granted university status in 2012
Israeli universities have long acted as if they were mere bystanders, simply watching the demolition but not participating in it. Sitting in classes on Hebrew Univer-sity’s Mount Scopus campus, studying philosophy in the midst of the first Palestinian uprising, in the late 1980s, we would often hear shots and see the clouds of tear gas rising from the valley below as the Israeli military quelled Palestinian protests in Arab East Jerusalem. While the Palestinians fought for their liberation, we continued our classes on Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and G.E. Moore.
At the time, Israel had effectively rendered higher education in the occupied territories illegal. Education-
al institutions had become sites of opposition, so the government had shut down all Palestinian universities, preventing approximately 18,000 students from enter-ing their campuses. Birzeit University was closed al-most year-round from 1988 to 1992, while the other Pal-estinian universities were also shuttered for lengthy periods.
And yet the silence of Is-raeli universities was deaf-ening. Yes, some professors did organize petitions and solidarity visits to the West Bank. But as an institution, not one university published a statement supporting its colleagues across the Green Line, in Palestinian territo-ries.
What is the moral dilemma they face?
Our universities, how-ever, are not simply spec-tators: The debates they engage in today are the knife, displacing the real crime.
Israeli universities are well known for their rigor-ous and often innovative academic research. They have produced Nobel Prize laureates in economics and chemistry and Fields Med-als in mathematics, and have made distinguished contributions in numer-ous other fields. Moreover, they see themselves as bas-tions of academic freedom, protecting the rights of fac-ulty members. They are, in other words, both a symbol and manifestation of a true and indeed vibrant demo-cratic culture.
But, paradoxically, it may be precisely that im-age of freedom, innovation, and critical thinking that helps legitimize Israel’s co-lonial project.
Think about it. Even with the very visible de-bates about scholarly boy-cotts of Israel in the United States, the majority of aca-demics around the world do not hear about the daily disturbances to Palestinian academic life. The debates
focus on the legitimacy of boycotts, not academic life in Palestine.
Most academics around the world know very little about the fact that since the early 2000s, the Israeli government has prohib-ited Palestinian residents of Gaza from studying in the occupied West Bank—despite the fact that many programs, including prepa-ration for vital medical and paramedical professions, are simply unavailable in the Gaza Strip. They are un-aware how the Israeli mili-tary continues to obstruct academic studies in the occupied territories. In late January, for example, sol-diers entered the Al-Quds University campus in Arab Jerusalem, breaking doors and terrifying students and professors.
Academics in touch with Israelis are mostly familiar with their col-leagues’ scholarly research and aware of the freedoms that they enjoy. Visiting academics come to Israel to give talks, oblivious to the situation just a few kilo-meters away, where their Palestinian colleagues are stuck in checkpoints.
Dr Neve Gordon is a senior lecturer in Politics and Govern-ment at Ben-Gurion University. He is author of ‘Israel’s Occupation’ (University of California Press, 2008)
Universities are the face of Israel’s democracy that serves to hide its dark colo-nial side.
Wittingly or unwittingly, Israeli universities play a central role in sustaining the occupation. They are the face of Israel’s democracy that serves to hide its dark colonial side. One could call it “university washing.”
Ariel University is per-haps an extreme case, since it was founded by military decree and is intended to play an active role in the sup-pression of another people. But the general failure of the Israeli academy to stand by Palestinian universities and against the occupation is no less colossal.
Student accommodation in the illegal Ariel settlement in the West Bank
14 FUN AND GAMESAQSA NEWS | ISSUE 55 | RAMADHAN 2014 /foapeaceinpalestine @friendsofalaqsa @friendsofalaqsa
Did you know Salah is a big part of Islam. Muslims are asked to perform Salah five times a day. The five prayers are called Fajr, Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha. It is one of the 5 major pillars of Islam.
Can you help Esa reach the Masjid in time for Maghrib salaah?
The Masjid Al-Aqsa compound is 14 hectares which is equivalent to the size of 13 football pitches!
There are many gates leading to the compound. Can you answer these questions?
1. How many gates are there in total around the compound?
Don’t forget to add your name, address and age. Anyone aged 16 and under can enter.
GOOD LUCK!!
R N R D Y O D L A D B U D W E
D A O L A H T T P H A I D O T
A H A S I O E D S M R T Z O A
Q D M K A I F T A A R A E S F
L A R E V L D S S T M R N S A
U M E O H N A P A Z G S T E S
T A O A A T Q A A T E L C H T
A R G O I U Y M H C N O E E I
L S E H R I V I T T A E S H N
Y O T A S H E S C C W A N L G
A H A D A B I D S A A Y R C L
L N V H I N T E R C E T R T I
T H K E N M G A T O A B Y N R
O P N P A B T C A C N A U T D
R O S O R C F N I N A H F N O
It’s that time of the year again! It has come round quite fast hasn’t it? Yes! It’s Ramadhan!
Here is a word search with 12 words to find relating to Ramadhan...
DATES SEHRIDHIKR TARAWEEH FASTING ZAMZAM
IBADAH IFTAAR LAYLATULQADR QURAANRAMADHAN SALAAH
COMPETITION!!!WIN £20 shopping voucher!
FUN AND GAMES 15AQSA NEWS | ISSUE 55 | RAMADHAN 2014/foapeaceinpalestine @friendsofalaqsa @friendsofalaqsa
QUIZ!!!
Test your knowledge!!
Do you know the answer to these questions? All answers can be found in the last edition of Aqsa News (available online www.foa.org.uk/publications/term/newspaper)
1. Which security firm has been under the spotlight for its operations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories?
4. In December 2013 many around the world paid their tributes to which world renowned anti- apartheid activist? He often spoke out against the injustices faced by Palestinians living under occupation.
Over a period of time many Prophets were sent as messengers to Palestine and its surrounding areas. Can you work out the name of each Prophet using the clues given below? All names of Prophets can only be used once!
ACROSS
Was commanded to slaughter his sonWas born to one of the greatest women in IslamSplit the sea in halfSon of ZakariyaThrown in the wellHad the ability to talk to antsHad 12 sons
DOWN
Had a child in very old ageWas a father of a prophet and a son of a prophet tooGifted with a beautiful voiceWent to Jerusalem on the ‘Night Journey’Swallowed by the whaleHelped his father to build the Ka’bah
Can you use this key to colour in the picture? Do the sums to to figure out what colour the blocks should be.
Branches across the country have been active with raising awareness, campaigning and fundraising. Here are some updates. To join your local branch and begin volunteering, drop them an email.
London was the hub for the check the label campaign launch, which was then rolled out across the country. The campaign has been a huge success in past years and this year, many more people are joining the call to ‘check the label’ and boy-cott Israeli dates.
London
Check the Label
FOA’s Shamiul Joarder chaired this year’s global march to Jerusalem. On June 6th, 7th and 8th, protests, marches and demonstrations were held at various locations around the world. These were gatherings of ordinary people who sup-port the call for liberating East Jerusalem from Israel’s ille-gal occupation. From Algeria to Germany, Iran to Iceland, thousands support this event each year.
Global March to Jerusalem
The annual G4S shareholder meeting was disrupted by protestors seeking accountability for G4S’s role in imbed-ding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. Members of FOA were present at the meeting, and made the point that G4S’s response to protestors who were manhandled in the meeting itself, was indicative of their wider policies in prisons around the world, including Israel and the West Bank. The show of force by G4S left other shareholders visibly distressed.
FoA London was also present at the protest outside G4S headquarters as part of the international Palestinian prisoner day.
G4S Shareholder meeting
Israeli Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni, visited London earlier in the year. Livni stands accused of War Crimes due to her role in the brutal attack on Gaza in 2008-2009, where over 1,400 people were killed. FOA London ensured we were pre-sent to protest against Livni’s visit, which was made possi-ble by the British government providing her a special status. ‘The position our government has taken is deplorable. Livni has so much blood on her hands and so many deaths to an-swer for, we should not be welcoming her and providing safe passage; we should be hounding her out of Britain and Eu-rope,’ said one protestor.
Tzipi Livni not welcome in London
The sportier members of FOA London were seen at the Um-mah Cup football tournament, where we entered two teams. Sporting events are an important place at which to discuss the Palestine issue, especially in light of the level of restric-tions faced by Palestinian sports men and women.
Ummah Cup
A primary part of FOA London’s work is to raise awareness about the ongoing oppression suffered by Palestinians. To achieve this, talks and lectures were held in a number of lo-cations including at the Sri Lankan Association, Upton Lane mosque, Croydon Islamic Centre, Tooting Islamic centre, Streatham mosque, Norbury Islamic center and Merton PSC.
The location of this year’s Check the Label campaign launch was the streets of Pollock shields, through which we led a peaceful procession. We realised that due to previous suc-cessful boycott campaigns most if not all stockists of dates are aware of the boycott campaign. Our aim now is to really cement the message with a big launch.
Former MSP Pauline MacNeil and Dr Ibrahim Khadra both attended the procession and delivered great motivational speeches. Despite the ever present rain in Glasgow, we had a good crowd of supporters. To brighten up the day, one vol-unteer painted some umbrellas in the Palestine flag colours and distributed these for free!
A number of shopkeepers eagerly accepted the boycott pledge to the delight of the procession, all of whom encour-aged the move with loud applause and shouts of encour-agement. Post launch we have been continuing our boycott message in other areas of Glasgow.
Glasgow
Boycott Israeli Dates Campaign 2014
FOA Glasgow are the roadrunners of the FOA team! The number of activities they are engaged in is immense and they continue to make the rest of the branches proud, if a little envious! Here is a brief update from just some events.
I’m a thinker, I’m always thinking! It was February and everywhere you went was love hearts and love this and love that, to mark valentine’s day.
It made me think about love, what is love? Love is when you genuinely care about someone; you think about them all the time, they are in your heart, and you are concerned for them, you don’t want any harm to come to that person.
So did we really love Masjid Al-Aqsa as we claim to do? At the time a lot was going on in Masjid Al-Aqsa and it really disheartened me that this love people had for Al-Aqsa didn’t really exist or wasn’t given any priority or sig-nificance. We claim to love this Masjid yet we don’t think about it all the time, it’s not always in our heart; we are not always concerned with the state it is in.
I wanted to plan an event which would put love into the hearts of people for Masjid al-Aqsa, real love. This was the love that counts. Within a few days we had a plan, we would use this event to re-launch FOA Glasgow, remind everyone what love really is, and why we should love Al-Aqsa. We invited some imams and made new contacts with Al-Falah (an educational organisation) and built our event around that.
The night was electric and full of love! FOA Glasgow vol-unteers were at their best and attracted many new volun-teers. The work of FOA and its plans for the coming year was presented to the audience. The talks were so inspi-rational, the audience were totally transfixed, many had tears in their eyes. This was just what the people of Glas-gow needed to remind them that Masjid Al-Aqsa should always be in our hearts. This was a great start to the year for FOA Glasgow, and we pray that it continues to blos-som.
Love Al-Aqsa Event
Following the ‘Love al-Aqsa’ event, we needed something to inspire children who knew very little about the Islamic her-itage of al-Aqsa. So after some planning we came up with the idea of an interactive Fun Day especially for children. This would be fun and inspiring.
Using local resources and contacts, we quickly formulated the idea of a workbook for children filled with facts and puz-zles, which would be used to structure the activities. A lot of time was spent on the content - ensuring that it was correct and reliable.
The next step was recruiting volunteers to run the event - no easy feat! We needed inspiring people, fun people, and peo-ple who worked well with kids. We wanted our volunteers to be inspiring and clear on objectives. We were very lucky in this department as we have so many great people around!
When registration for the event opened, we were fully booked within half a day! With 46 children participating, it was very demanding but well worth the effort. We cov-ered the Islamic heritage in Jerusalem and al-Aqsa, and once the workshop finished we presented each child with a certificate.
The Bradford Branch is one of the oldest FOA branches, es-tablished years ago. With a great deal of community support, the branch has been a steady member of the FOA family.
In Bradford, we continue to engage people at the grassroots level. As part of our campaigns this year, we undertook a door-to-door leafleting project, where 15,000 homes were covered. Local mosques got involved too, with imams en-couraging the congregations to pick up the Check the Label leaflets and participate in the campaign. Leaflets were dis-tributed outside selected mosques.
While opposing the purchase of Israeli dates, FOA Bradford is also encouraging the purchase of Palestinian dates to help support the Palestinian farmers who struggle to get their produce to European markets.
FOA Manchester is the youngest branch, and is finding its feet with the help of a strong and dedicated lead volunteer. Events are being planned for the second half of 2014. To get involved, email: [email protected]
For this special edition of Aqsa News, FOA volunteers and supporters in Leicester decided to host a Palestinian Food evening. This will provide you with some great tips on your Ramadhan cooking.
MENU
Starters:Pepper and Aubergine Meze
Falafel
Mains:Maqlouba
Mahshi
Accompaniments:Manakish bi Zatar
HoumousPalestinian Salad
Dessert:Mahalabiya
Harissa
Drinks:Mint / Green Tea
Fruit Juice
Aubergine & Red Pepper MezeMezze is the equivalent to hors d’oeuvres or appetizers as they are commonly known in English. There are many many dishes that originate from across the Levant which maybe combined to make mezzes. Some of the most well-known are Baba Ghanouj, Fattoush, Batinjan Rahab, Fattet Hummus bi Laban. Our version is with Aubergine and Red Peppers, which we eat with Manakish bi Zaatar.
Ingredients • 1 large Aubergine cubed• 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into chunks
Preparation• Marinate the Aubergine and Peppers with a generous glug of olive oil,
cumin and coriander powder salt and a large pinch of sumac and crushed garlic to taste.• Roast in the oven until cooked. This will be for approximately 20 minutes.• Serve with an extra drizzle of olive oil.
FalafelFalafel is probably the most famous of all Middle Eastern dishes, and can be found in many street food cafes across the Levant! It is popular both in Palestine and abroad, and is a great vegetarian alternative. It’s usually made of spiced mashed chickpeas or fava beans formed into balls or fritters and deep-fried, usually eaten with or in pitta bread.
It has recently become of part of the wider political debate, as many Israeli’s claim Falafel originated in Israel and see it as their national dish. Something many Palestinians see as part of Israel’s wider campaign of cultural appropriation of all things Palestinian.
Ingredients • 2 tins chick peas drained • 1 large onion• 1 large handful of coriander• 1 chilli (optional) • 2 cloves garlic• 1 teaspoon coriander powder• 1 teaspoon cumin powder• 2 slices stale bread• Salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation• Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until finely chopped.• Form into patties and fry in shallow oil till golden brown
MaqloubaMaqlouba (literally means ‘upside down’) is a very popular dish amongst Palestinians. It is often made with chicken and cauliflower, or lamb and eggplant though you can get vegetarian versions of the dish without meat. It’s made up of layers of meat, vegetables and rice, cooked together and then flipped upside down onto a serving platter. Vegetables can be fried or sautéed.
Ingredients • 2 large sized aubergines, peeled and sliced thickly• 5 tbsp olive oil• 1 large onion peeled and chopped• 1kg lamb• 1 tbsp baharaat• 1tsp black pepper• 1 tsp ground allspice berries• Pinch of ground cinnamon• Punch of freshly ground nutmeg• 3 cups water• 6 cups extra virgin olive oil• 2 cups long grain rice soaked for 30mins and drained• 1 cup boiling water
Preparation• Lay aubergines slices on paper towel, sprinkle with salt and drain for 30 mins, then leave to dry.• Heat 5tbsp olive oil in large pan and fry onion till yellow (about 10 mins).• Add lamb to onions, spices, salt and pepper. Brown for 10 mins turning the lamb. Add water to barely cover lamb, cook till tender (2.5-3 hours). Add water if needed to keep from drying. When done remove with a skillet with as much of the onion as possible.• Fry the aubergines for 7-8 minutes and drain.• Oil a bottom heavy pan
lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle a handful of rice in the base. Layer with aubergines, then lamb and then all the rice. Press down with a spoon. Sprinkle 1tsp salt and half teaspoon pepper on rice. Add the cup of boiling water, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and cook on a very low heat for an hour till rice is tender and liquid absorbed.• Don't check too often! When rice is done, remove lid, place a platter over the pan tightly and flip upside down in one quick movement.
MahshiStuffed vegetables are characteristic of Palestinian food, known as mahshi. From peppers to courgettes, eggplant to tomatoes, Palestinian cuisine includes a whole host of different types of mahshi. Fillings can vary widely, but a common filling is rice and meat, which cook together in the juices of the vegetable to give a unique flavour. Mahshi can be plain, or accompanied by tomato based sauces too. We tried out some pepper, marrow and aubergine mahshi with a tomato based sauce. Delicious!
Ingredients • 12 pieces marrow, 6 pieces pepper, washed and cored• 500g minced lamb• 3 cup Egyptian rice• 1 ¼ table spoon salt• ¼ tea spoon freshly ground black pepper• ½ table spoon cinnamon• ½ table spoon all-purpose spice• ¼ cup olive oil or corn oil• Fresh juice of 8 tomatoes filtered• 2 cans chopped tomato• 1 table spoon ground mint
Preparation• Use clean hands to combine the meat, rice, salt, pepper, cinnamon, all-purpose spice and oil. You can taste the stuffing then adjust the seasoning as needed.• Loosely fill each marrow and pepper with the stuff-ing; the rice does not like to be crowded. It needs room to expand.• Place the stuffed vegetables in a big pot if you have one or 2 medium pots. Pour the fresh tomato juice over it all including the chopped tomato cans. The stuffed vegetables
should be covered with the tomato mixture (some can stick out a bit above the liquid). Sprinkle with ground mint and cover the pot and bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat and taste the sauce, adjust salt as needed. • Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender about 90-120 minutes.• Remove the vegetables to a serving plate. Serve the vegetables on plates with the sauce spooned over it.
Manakish Bi ZaatarZaatar, the Arabic word for thyme, is a wild herb that grows throughout the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean region. It has become a symbol for the land of Palestine, alongside the olive tree and is strongly associated with Palestinian identity. Zaatar is often used in Palestinian cooking and is used to make a particular type of bread, shown below. Manakish Bi Zaatar makes an excellent accompaniment to meals and can even be eaten on its own as a snack.
Ingredients For the flat bread dough:• 2 cups all-purpose-flour• 2 tsp dried yeast• ½ tsp salt• 1tsp sugar• 1½ cup warm water
For the filling:• 3/4 cup zaatar mix (pre-mixed dried thyme with sumac and sesame seeds)• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Preparation• To make the filling, mix zaatar and olive oil and set aside.• To make the dough, sift the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add water gradually until the dough comes together leaving the sides of the bowl clean. It should feel smooth and elastic. Cover with cling film and leave it in a warm place for about 2 hours, till it has doubled the size.• Pre-heat the oven to gas
mark 7/220°C /425F/.• Divide dough into 8 portions and roll each portion between your palms into a ball.• On a floured working surface, knead each ball, then roll out evenly into a round, about ¼ inch thick.• Spoon the zaatar mixture over the disk shaped bread.• Slide your bread on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook for about 5 min or until the dough is crispy and brown.
HumousWe said Falafel is the most famous of Middle Eastern exports, we may have been slightly wrong! Humous may well be able to take its crown!
Humous is a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas which is then blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and other ingredients. It is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and is often served warm to be eaten with bread. As the ingredients are grown quite widely across the Levant including Palestine, and are found cheaply in many markets, it has become a staple of the Palestinian diet. A variation called Laban Ma Houmous is particular to Palestine, where Tahini is replaced with Yoghurt.
Delicious and super simple to make, it’s definitely a winner!
Ingredients • 5 oz cooked chick peas• 1 large clove garlic• Tahini paste, as required• 5-6 tbsp lemon juice• 1 tbsp olive oil• 1 tbsp chopped parsley • Paprika for garnish
Preparation• Begin by crushing the garlic with ¼ tsp salt in a pestle and mortar. • Scrape garlic mix into a blender and add tahini paste and lemon juice.• Add the chickpeas and olive oil, and blend again
until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Taste, and add more salt and lemon juice, if required. • Garnish with chopped parsley, paprika and a sprinkle of olive oil.
MahalabiyaMahalabiya is a classic milk pudding made in various countries throughout the Levant. This version is particular to Gaza, where they add either arasiya (sour plum) or oranges to make a layered pudding. This recipe has opted to use oranges as its’ base, and has substituted mastic for extra cornflour, as mastic is hard to come by. A great alternative to traditional sweet puddings, and also a great accompaniment to the sweeter Harissa, shown on the right. Yum!
Ingredients For orange pudding:• 4 cups orange juice• 7 dessert spoons of cornflower dissolved in ½ cup cold water.• 4 tspns sugar (or to taste) For milk pudding:• 2 ½ cups milk• 1/3 cup sugar (or to taste)• 4 dessert spoons of Cornflour dissolved in ½ cup cold water. • 1 dessert spoon of rosewater• 1 dessert spoon of orange-blossom water.• Grated coconut• Cinnamon Powder
• Crushed Almonds (Badam)
PreparationFor orange pudding: • Bring the orange juice to a low simmer on medium heat, stirring continuously.• Add the cornflower and sugar, and stir till it has dissolved. • Reduce the heat to medium and continue stirring the mixture till it thickens.• Remove from heat• Pour fruit pudding half way into a deep dish or individual bowls, and al-low to cool. • Allow to cool at room temperature
For milk pudding:• Bring milk to a low simmer on medium heat, stirring continuously to avoid scalding. • Add sugar and cornflour, and stir till dissolved.• Reduce heat to low and continue stirring till mix-ture thickens.• Stir in rose and orange blossom waters.• Remove from heat and allow to cool.• Pour this over the cooled orange pudding.• Allow to cool again.• Add coconut, almonds and cinnamon• Refrigerate overnight or for several hours.
HarissaHarissa also known as Basbousa in Egypt and Yemen and Nammoura in Lebanon is a sweet cake made of semolina and soaked in a sugar syrup. Perfect for that little something to go with your tea!
Ingredients For the cake:• 1 cup caster sugar• 3 eggs• ¾ cup milk• 1 tbsp baking powder• 1 tsp vanilla extract or essence• ½ tsp lemon juice• 1 cup flour• 2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut For the syrup:• ¾ cup water• ¾ cup sugar* if you would like a sweeter, more moist cake, use 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar for the syrup
Preparation• Begin by preheating the oven 350F. Grease and flour a large oblong baking dish.• To make the syrup: boil the water and sugar together in a pot for 5-10minutes, until all the sugar has dissolved and you reach the consistency you prefer. Do not allow the syrup to become too thick or it will not soak into the hot cake as well. • Set syrup aside and allow to cool.• To make the cake: place sugar, eggs, oil, and milk, vanilla and lemon juice in a bowl and beat thoroughly until well blended.• Add flour to the mixture
and combine, followed by the coconut. • Lastly add baking powder, being careful not to overmix or the cake will not rise as well. • Pour the mixture into the pre-greased dish and bake in preheated oven for 30-40minutes, or until the cake is well-risen and the top is golden brown.• Remove the cake from the oven, and while still hot, pour the sugar syrup evenly over the top. Sprinkle with coconut. • Allow to cool and finally cut into diamonds and serve.
Serve with mint tea.
Special thanks to FOA supporters Kay, Deena, Hawa, Salma & Aatikha for organising the food evening. Why not hold your own Palestine-inspired food evening and send in your pictures!
In history...1927 Palestine EarthquakeThe 1927 earthquake in Jericho, Palestine, was devastating. It took place on 11 July at 3.08pm in the afternoon. The epicentre of the earthquake was in the northern area of the Dead Sea. Jerusalem, Jericho, Ramle, Tiberias, and Nablus sustained heavy damages. In total 500 people are thought to have died.
Nablus was the worst effected with 150 people killed. Mosques and historic buildings all sustained heavy damage. In Jerusalem, 130 were killed and about 300 houses collapsed. The holy sites of the al-Aqsa were also severely affected with the domes of the Masajid left cracked. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was also damaged.
The Allenby Bridge to the north collapsed entirely and the River Jordan was left blocked when parts of its banks collapsed.
Doctors in Gaza not paid
Thousands of doctors and other healthcare profes-sionals employed by the gov-ernment have not been paid in Gaza. Other sectors such as education and police forc-es have also been effected by the crisis, amounting to ap-proximately 40,000 employ-ees in total.
The employees have faced 9 months of reduced salaries and since March, they have received no sal-ary at all. The Palestinian Unity Government is respon-sible for paying the wages, and Palestinian workers mounted a one-day strike at the end of June in protest. Gaza’s Hamas leadership are seeking to vet all employ-ees, however, the blockade means that they are largely bankrupt. The Unity Gov-ernment means the PA can take responsibility for pay-ing these employees, as it al-ready pays 70,000 of its own staff in Gaza.
Nurse Abdel Karim spoke to journalists saying the lack of pay was effecting his young family, and his own will to work. He has 3 chil-dren under the age of 5 and a wife to support. Despite the lack of pay, he still contin-ues to come to the hospital to work each day, much like the rest of the hospital staff at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza.
more than just words.
humanappeal.org.uk | 0161 225 0225 | #savealife
What if you could feed the fasting in
Masjid Al-Aqsa?
£5
£5
£65
£300
Feed the fasting
Fidyah
Family food pack
Kaffarah
Donate your
Sadaqah and Zakat today
Help someone in need to
open their fast:
Ch
arit
y N
o. 1
154
28
8 |
Co
mp
any
No
. 85
538
93
Ramadan 2014
28-05-2014 Friends of Al Aqsa 260mm x 300mm.indd 1 30/05/2014 13:14
Support the needy this Ramadhan in:Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Burma, Chechnya, Gambia, Haiti, India, Iraq,Malawi, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan & Syria.
uwt_UK ummahwelfaretrust ummahwelfaretrustuk
Iftaar Pack Eid Gift
£50 £10 £1.50Sadaqatul Fitr
per person
- Sunan at-Tirmidhi
RamadhanA Month of Giving
SpongeBob SquarePants in Palestine
A real life version of the Krusty Krab from the SpongeBob SquarePants animations is to open in Ra-mallah in the West Bank.
The restaurant will provide new jobs for cooks, cashiers, cleaners and security guards, and has stirred excitement in the area.
Protests in New YorkUS support for Israel
is notorious. However, in a show of solidarity with Pal-estinians, hundreds of New Yorkers assembled outside the Israeli Mission in Man-hattan to protest against US complicity in Israeli oppres-sion of Palestinians.
The protest was a re-sponse to social media cam-paigns in America relating to the three missing Israeli
settlers. Protestors said the response to the kidnap overlooks the frequent and continuing crimes of Israel against Palestinian children. They described Israel’s ac-tions against the Palestin-ians as illegal, immoral, and contrary to basic human de-cency. In the search for the missing young men, a dozen Palestinians were killed, hundreds injured and hun-dreds more arrested.
Israeli Watermelons banned in Bethlehem
The governor of Bethle-hem Jibrin al-Bakri banned the sale of Israeli water-melons in the Bethlehem markets. This was a move intended to protect the pro-duce of Palestinian farm-ers and boost their produce sales.
Only one-third of the watermelons sold in the Palestinian market are from Palestinian farmers, with the rest from Israeli farmers. Israel’s control over all ac-cess points in and out of the West Bank means that Israel maintains almost complete
control over Palestinian im-ports and exports.
The Palestinian domestic market, meanwhile, remains captive to Israeli products, making domestic distribu-tion for Palestinian compa-nies difficult as well.
A World Bank report re-leased in October said that Israel’s control over Area C -- more than 60 percent of the West Bank -- deprives the Palestinian economy of an estimated $3.4 billion a year, equivalent to some 35 per-cent of the Palestinian gross domestic product in 2011.
Your generosity will be an essential lifeline of support to some of the world's most vulnerable people. Donate now!
Feeding Futures
R A M A D A N
The blessed month of Ramadan is upon us once again. By donating your Zakah through Interpal, you will allow us to feed the fasting and provide urgent aid to vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
SUPPORT THE FOA PLEDGE DAY ON RADIO RAMADHAN
SUNDAY 20TH JUNE
102.5FM | ONLINE: WWW.FMO.ORG.UK
Access to al-Aqsa in Ramadhan Israel has eased some of
the oppressive restrictions on access to al-Aqsa for Pal-estinians during Ramadhan. Despite the fact that East Jerusalem is Palestinian ter-ritory, Israel exercises con-trol, effectively cutting off 4 million Palestinians from the holy city.
During Ramadan, men and women over 60 and chil-dren below 12 will not need permits to enter the city. All
women and only men over 40 will be allowed to en-ter the city freely on Friday. Permits will be facilitated for other Palestinians, how-ever, a cap of 20,000 people per day will be in place. This will mean than hundreds of thousands who will wish to make this journey at this highly spiritual time of the year will be denied access to their holy site.
Palestinian victory against Philippines assures place in Asia Cup
The Palestinian Foot-ball team was ecstatic when it won a match against the Philippines to secure its place in the AFC Asia Cup to take place in Australia in Jan-uary 2015. The Palestinian team won all of its games in the qualifying competition.
The team’s jubilations were dampened by the absence of team member Sameh Mar’aba who was arrested in April and is be-ing held in arbitrary deten-
tion, without any charge. The footballers are all too familiar with Israel’s poli-cies which mean they face either arrest or travel bans as a matter of routine. The team has missed major tour-naments in the past due to arbitrary Israeli imposed travel restrictions.
They hope that this time round, they will not be pre-vented from travelling to Australia for the tournament
