CADFA evening on the final Saturday

Palestinian Students Speak Out – February 7^th 2015.

With the 2015 CADFA University Students' Visit drawing to a close, acquaintances new and old gathered at the Somers Town Community Centre for an evening of talks, music and food. For some, it was a last chance to hear from the students of Al Quds before they head back to Palestine on Monday.

The evening started with an introduction from Abed who reviewed the University Students' Visit which has entailed trips across the country, including Blackburn, Leeds and London. A number of universities were visited by the students, with an invitation from the University of Cambridge's Palestine Society still to be fulfilled. Abed highlighted, in particular, the experience in Blackburn where enthusiasm for the Palestinian rights issue is strong and needs ideas and action to be harnessed. Abed stressed the importance of CADFA being involved across the UK to draw people together and build solidarity around Palestinian rights.

Having thanked everyone present, in particular, new faces in the audience, Nandita invited some of the Palestinian students to talk about aspects of their lives. Nadine kicked things off with an Arabic poem and song and, then, a biographical story about her childhood experience of learning about the shooting of her cousin by Israeli forces.

With many of the students being female, it was welcome that many women's issues were raised. Lamia discussed Palestinian women's experiences at the hands of the Israeli forces, from strip searches searches carried out by male soldiers, to denial of basic rights of health, safety and food in prisons. She told the story of a Palestine woman who went on a lengthy hunger strike whilst in prison. Diana later told the story of a Palestinian woman from Abu Dis who needed urgent medical attention from a specialist hospital that only exists in central Jerusalem. The journey from Abu Dis into Jerusalem, which should only take a short time, has become a bureaucratic trial for the Palestinians since the construction of the wall. For this particular woman, it had fatal consequneces, as the difficulty in getting approval from Israeli authorities and to a hospital in Jerusalem in time meant that she ultimately died.

Thair talked about the human rights abuses of the Israeli forces in arresting and imprisoning Palestinians without due process. He briefly mentioned his personal experience of being imprisoned by the Israeli forces for 18 months. Ruba talked about the indiscriminate 'collective punishment' of Palestinians through Israeli checkpoints, with reference to a poem by the 19^th century German poet, Heinrich Heine. Khalid used his personal experience of insecure housing for his family to outline the wider issue of Palestinians being denied secure and safe accommodation.

In comparing the unequal justice system applied by Israel, Lamia talked about the collective punishment of house demolitions. She referred to a video she has made in which she compares the punishment of the Israelis who burnt her neighbour alive and a Palestinian who ran a young Israeli girl over. The Palestinian culprit was executed on the spot by Israeli forces. His family home was then demolished, punishing his family, friends and neighbours. The Israeli culprits, meanwhile, were imprisoned and, then, shortly, released on various grounds, including diminished responsibility.

Nandita announced that a film produced by the students was being screened by the London Socialist Film Co-op. She invited a member of the Co-op, as well as, Benny Brunner, director of “The Great Book Robbery” to briefly talk about the screening.

Having heard all these moving stories and after everyone had had a chance to have a more relaxed chat over Lebanese food, provided by CADFA, Abed and Nandita closed up the event. Nandita highlighted a number of upcoming events, including a fundraising dinner, the Palestinian Womens' Visit in March and a fundraising cricket day. Abed finished by thanking everyone who made the students' visit possible and urged continued efforts towards building solidarity for Palestinian rights.

Sam