On Saturday evening 2 November,protestors gathered outside as the Tricycle opened an Israeli-sponsored Jewishfilm festival. 

The livelyand colourful protest was called by the International Jewish Anti-ZionistNetwork, in response to the Israeli Embassy's sponsorship of the Tricycle'sFestival.  People from different faiths, including an Israeli activist,Palestinian solidarity activists, and  campaigners from the KentishTown-based Global Women's Strike, came together to remind the Tricycle that atthe very same time that they hosted the festival last year, Israel was bombingGaza, killing 158 Palestinians; including 30 children.

Protestors, who have valued theTricycle for decades through its vitally informative and entertaining playsabout Afghanistan, Ireland's Bloody Sunday, US Guantanamo, the Stephen LawrenceInquiry, and more, are appalled at the Tricycle hosting a film festivalsponsored by a government whose major industry is repression, not only ofPalestinians but around the world.

With placards and a loudspeaker theyhighlighted that Israel had broken the international boycott of apartheid South Africa - supplying itwith military hardware and training, and helping build its nuclear industry;had armed the Argentinean junta even as it killed thousands, including manyJews; had helped arm and train the Rwandan military and Hutu militia whichcommitted genocide against the Tutsis; and helped arm the Sri Lankan governmentwith warfare technology, including  drones, enabling it to massacre tensof thousands of Tamils.*

Protestors were shocked that theTricycle was not only using security guards who refused to identify themselves,but also that a vanload of police had been called on an entirely peacefulprotest.   The protestors, who are mainly local residents and theTricycle's most loyal audience, have written to the new artistic director ofthe Tricycle, Indhu Rubasingham, to say: "Given that Israeli apartheid is not loved, especially inmulti-racial Kilburn . . . Is this who the Tricycle wants to be associatedwith?

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TheInternational Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) protests in the strongestpossible manner the arrest and detention of civil rights worker Rasmea YousefOdeh, on October 22, 2013, from her home in Chicago. 

Ms. Odeh, aPalestinian lawyer, arrived in the United States 20 years ago after sufferingbrutal arrest by the Israeli military for her work for Palestinian freedom andrights. Rasmea's arrest led to years of unspeakable,inhumane, and illegal torture by Israeli prison authorities. Since her arrival,she has worked for the civil and human rights of Palestinians and Arabs. Since2004, she has worked with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) as theAssociate Director. She also managed the Arab Women's Committee of the AAAN andfought to defend women's and immigrants' rights. She recently won theOutstanding Community Leader's Award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

Ms. Odeh wascharged with an immigration violation, but we believe that this is an excuse toremove an effective human rights worker from the American society and instillfear in others who dare to work for human rights and equal rights forPalestinians. As with the Grand Jury subpoenas of the 23 Palestinian humanrights and anti-war activists in Minneapolis and Chicago in 2010, theinhumanely long prison sentence of the Holy Land 5, and the infiltration andtargeting of Muslim groups by FBI informants, the arrest of Ms. Odeh is meantto send a message to those who work for and believe in human rights for allpeople: the U.S. will not tolerate criticisms of its pro-Israeli policies andsupport.

Thisreflects a long history of collaboration between the United States and Israeligovernment, military and police in repressing popular movements for justice andliberty and organizations that work on their behalf. Beyond the Palestineliberation movement, this includes the Black Liberation Movement, the SouthAfrican anti-apartheid struggle, the United Farm Workers, the Center forConstitutional Rights and countless others. Most recently, the US NationalSecurity Administration was exposed for spying on its general population andsharing the information it gathers with the State of Israel. The leadcontracting agencies the NSA partners with in its spying are run by formerpersonnel of the intelligence branch of the Israeli military.

IJAN callson the US Attorney Barbara McQuade to drop the charges against and immediatelyrelease Rasmea Yousef Odeh, and the cessation of policies to instill fear inhuman rights activists and workers.  

This Yom Kippur, September 14th 2013, (10th of Tishrei 5774) will mark the 69th day of the California prisoner hunger strike. Extraordinarily, prisoners have massively organized throughout the state overcoming every race division, to end the various forms of brutal punishment and profiteering they suffer, beginning with long-term solitary confinement officially recognized internationally as torture. From California to Palestine to Guantanamo, prisoners are resisting the torturous conditions for which they were never sentenced.