Updates

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) seeks abstracts for an anthology tentatively entitled – “Gaza: Reimagining the Boundaries of Possibility.” Writers from Palestine are invited to submit essays for this anthology.

On March 19, 2020 Mr. Michael Lynk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, called on Israel to ensure proper steps are taken to protect the health and safety of Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory and under Israeli control. 

On February 19, 2020 Rep. Pocan and Rep. Dingell sent a letter, signed by an additional 33 members of congress, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking that he reinstate US assistance to Palestine and support an end to the blockade of Gaza. 

Two years ago I interviewed Samar Zaanin in Gaza. Samar, then 24, worked as an English teacher in a United National Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school in Gaza.

From Brooklyn to Chicago, supporters of Palestinian rights organized actions in solidarity with besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip this month. This summer marks five years since the 2014 Israeli attack on Gaza and 12 years since the imposition of the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Marking five years since the Israeli army assaults on Gaza resulted in widespread death and destruction, Chicago activists are planning three days of action to highlight the ongoing blockade and Israeli military occupation of Gaza.

Since his return to the Gaza Strip following his national speaking tour in the US, Palestinian writer and activist, Ahmed Abu Artema has appeared twice in events in Gaza about the tour.

AFSC's #GazaMarchTour, featuring Palestinian writer and peace activist Ahmed Abu Artema, came to an end in the last week of March. Yet Ahmed's tour of more than ten cities in the United States, left significant footprints in all the places he visited.

Ahmed Abu Artema is the Palestinian writer, refugee, nonviolent advocate, and visionary who inspired the Great March of Return. In March, he will share his experiences with people in cities across the U.S. as part of the AFSC speaking tour “Hashtags to headlines: How the Gaza Great March of Return challenged the world.”

A rare event took place in Tel Aviv. It gathered Israeli conscientious objectors and Ahmed Abu Artema, one of the leaders and key organizers of the Great March of Return, who spoke to the objectors virtually.