It followed the Israeli attack and murder of peace activists on a convoy to Gaza. The EDL chanted racist and islamophobic abuse and attacked one of the stalls, physically assaulted protesters and threatened further violence. The Palestine demonstrators held their ground and did not retaliate. In doing so we forced the police to finally remove the EDL. The peace demonstration continued for another 45 minutes afterwards growing to 100 people having drawn the support of the wider public. The message is clear the EDL will not be divide or intimidate us in our city and Nazis are not welcome here.

Clearly it is a worrying development that the EDL feel confident enough to attack Palestine demonstrations but the events on Saturday clearly show their actions carried no resonance with the wider public and we should not allow them to intimidate us. Unity and numbers are the key to defeating the far right and we should continue to hold our activities without fear, actively unite all of our communities both over the question of Palestine and through Unite Against Fascism.

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Geoff Dexter
Birmingham Ramallah Twinning Initiative.

Ghada Karmi and Jeff Halper, two leading lights of the struggle to create the just conditions on the ground in Palestine-Israel which are prerequisite to sustainable peace and reconciliation in that region, are undertaking speaking engagements together in UK universities later this month. The dates and venues of public meetings where you can hear them are below.

Dr Ghada Karmi is a leading Palestinian academic and writer. She was born in Jerusalem, but was brought up and educated in England after she and her family were expelled from Palestine by Zionist militias in 1948. Currently she is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, where she teaches conflict resolution in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. She is also on the Board of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) and a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Her major area of work has been on the Palestine/Israel conflict and she has published widely on this subject. She is also a well-known figure on British radio and TV. Her most recent and widely acclaimed memoir, In Search of Fatima; a Palestinian story (Verso Press, 2002), represents a rare example of Palestinian personal narrative writing in English. Her new book, Married to another man: Israel’s dilemma in Palestine, deals with the One-State solution in Israel/Palestine.

Prof. Jeff Halper, a Professor of Anthropology,is co-founder and Director of Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. The constructive activism of ICAHD and the quality of Halper’s analysis of the conflict, combined with his prophetic voice on Israel’s self-destructive policies, have won him wide recognition. In 2005 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

TOUR SCHEDULE

15 March – Exeter
6:30pm – Lecture Theatres 1 & 2, Institute of Arabic & Islamic Studies Dept, Streatham Campus, Stocker Road, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4DD.
Local sponsors: Exeter PSC and Exeter Friends of Palestine Society
Contact: Dave Chappell davidchappell@tiscali.co.uk

16 March – Birmingham
7:30pm – Birmingham Unite Offices, Broad Street, Birmingham
Local sponsors: West Midlands PSC, Birmingham-Ramallah Twinning Initiative, Midlands Palestine Community Association, Friends of Sabeel – UK
Contact: Martin Sullivan pscwm@yahoo.co.uk

17 March – Glasgow
1pm – Boyd Orr Building, Room 507, (Lecture Theatre C)
7:30pm Boyd Orr Bldg, Room 611, (Lecture Theatre E)
Local sponsors: SPSC
Contact: Poppy Kohner poppykohner@gmail.com

18 March – Edinburgh
1pm – Lecture Theatre 270, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 0YL
Local Sponsor: Edinburgh Students for Justine in Palestine
Contact: Karen karentostee@hotmail.com
7:30 – Augustine Church, 41-43 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL
Local Sponsor: SPSC
Contact: Vanessa Fuertes vanesafuertes@hotmail.com

19 March – Bradford
5:30 Bradford University Campus, Stanley Bell Lecture Theatre, Richmond Building, Richmond Road, Bradford BD7 1DP
Local Sponsor: Bradford United for Palestine
Contact: events@u4p.co.uk Khaled Al Mudal Khalmudal@gmail.com

20 March – London
2:30 – 4:30, G2 Main Building, SOAS
Local sponsors: SOAS Palestine Society, Action Palestine – London Universities
Contact: Pat Price-Tomes info@icahduk.org

Joint Venture: Action Palestine, Bricup, ICHAD and Greenbelt Festival

http://www.actionpalestine.org/
http://bricup.org.uk/
http://www.icahd.org/eng/
http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/

Activists from Birmingham staged a roof-top protest at the headquarters of Caterpillar (UK), in Desford, near Leicester this morning. The action was in protest at the sale of Caterpillar D9 armoured bulldozers to Israel, and to highlight Caterpillar’s presence at the DSEi arms fair in London next week…
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On 25 June, seven members of the International Solidarity Movement from Brighton and Birmingham staged a protest at the Caterpillar/Finning(UK) stand at the Hillhead 2003 “quarrying and recycling” trade fair, near Buxton in Derbyshire. Four of the protesters climbed onto the scoops of two Caterpillar bulldozers displayed outside the stand and unfurled a banner, reading: “Caterkiller–demolishing Palestine–demolishing peace”…
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