When Benn didn't meet Benjamin

The greatest pro-war orator of all time, Hilary Benn, appears to have been snubbed by Bibi during a visit to occcupied Palestine.  Here's the Jewish Chronicle's report:

Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn made a low-profile visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories this week.

Accompanied by a political adviser, he landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv on Monday morning for the start of the three-day tour.

Mr Benn - who avoided press interviews during the trip - started by travelling to east Jerusalem with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. On Tuesday, he laid a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum.

Mr Benn had a series of private meetings with senior Knesset members and Palestinian Authority representatives.

He met PA president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and discussed settlements and a two-state solution.

So he met everyone who's anyone under the entity's rule with one fairly important exception:

It is thought many of his meetings were set up while on the road in Israel, with a late request to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unable to be scheduled.

It's not known if he put in a similar "I was in the neighbourhood so I thought I'd pop by" request to Hamas but I'm guessing he didn't. In fact, taking his penchant for both Israel and for the UK's wars in the middle east, Mr Benn appears to be touting himself as a chip off the Blairite rather than the Bennite block. Maybe they'll make Benn a peace envoy one day but I am surprised Bibi couldn't or wouldn't make time for him.

#BlackLivesMatter: A Guide to the Movement - Online Paralegal Programs

by Rick Dandes

Co-founders: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi

I first met Opal Tometi half an hour before an appearance at a university in Pennsylvania in the fall of 2015. She explained to me that #BlackLivesMatter was created in 2012, after Trayvon Martin’s “murderer,” George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and the dead 17-year old Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own murder.

But Blacks weren’t the only ones affected by the verdict. Surveys by respected companies indicated that white America also took heed.

Read in full here

International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network: Activism 2015

	December 2, 2015
IJAN depends on grassroots fundraising to make our work possible. Will you support us in sustaining our work? Dear IJAN supporter: As 2015 draws to a close, we reflect on important victories in the struggle against Zionism and all forms of racism, colonialism, militarization and repression as we prepare for more important struggles and victories in 2016. From the resistance in Palestine to the building movement for Black lives and power, 2015 has shown the power of people’s resistance to injustice. As we face attempts to frame the consequences of global relations of domination and exploitation as a “clash of civilizations", IJAN will continue to insist that the historic and current violence of the United States, Europe and its allies has created violent opposition. IJAN will continue to participate in and support the antidote to this violence: the many movements for justice that are fighting for a profound shift in the way power is used against the many for the benefit of the few. Please consider donating whatever is within your means – whether that be $5, $25, $100 or becoming a monthly sustaining member! Highlights from our work in 2015 We Released The Business of Backlash....documenting who is funding zionist attacks on individuals and organizations standing up for justice and how can we respond in ways that strengthen our movements. We Presented on policing and lawfare, campus repression, and anti-zionism....at the National Lawyers Guild confernece, US Social Forum, Left Forum, US Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation, American Muslims for Palestine, several college campuses across the country, as well as community presentations in San Francisco and London. We Defended those targeted....including Rasmea Odeh, Students for Justice in Palestine at CUNY and UC Berkeley, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, and Cheryl at the Berkeley Commission on Human Rights. We Launched the #JCRCDoesntSpeakForMe Campaign....as part of a coalition with AROC,QUIT, and JVP, we took a leadership role in mobilizing Jews, Queers, local and international community to expose the Jewish Community Relations Council's continued use of economic coercion and Islamaphobia. We Developed the infographic "Criticism of Israel is not Anti-semitic, it's Anti-Racist"....In supporting AROC's Arabic language pathways this summer, we committed to developing tools to expose the reality that Zionism itself is a racist ideology and a commitment to anti-racism requires an anti-Zionist framework. We developed an infographic to make our case and spread it throughout social media, accumulating over 7,500 views online. We continued to expose the ethnic cleansing of Palestine as part of the Stop the Jewish National Fund Campaign....On Land Day this year, we launched the IJAN-produced film Enduring Roots: Over a Century of Resistance to the Jewish National Fund to an international audience, with screenings in Europe, South America and several cities across the US. The Stop the JNF Campaign also organized a Land Defense Delegation to Palestine to connect international organizers and activists involved in land-based struggle, indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice work to Palestinians working to defend their land from further colonization from the JNF. We responsded to the incidents in Beirut, Iraq, Nigeria and Paris....to condemn the attacks as well as the incitement of islamaphobic fury that followed. And to reject any notion that Muslims in general have any particular responsibility. We disrupted the Zionism 3.0 conference....coordinating with local organizers for a successful disruption of Israel's lead diplomat, deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely during her speech. (see picture below) The conference brought together liberal and right-wing Zionist organizations to analyze the threat of BDS, campus activism, and grassroots Palestinian resistance to Israeli colonization. The symbolic citizens arrest of Hotovely drew attention to her unapologetic support of the settlements and the many liberal Zionist organizations that lent legitimacy to Hotovely by helping to host the conference.  We launched our website at www.ijan.org...since our launch in March we've had more than 17,000 users, more than 33,000 page views, and people accessing the site from 135+ countries. We also have been able to increase our social media presence bringing an international jewish anti-zionist perspective to a wider audience. If IJAN has been able to contribute to this struggle in significant ways, it could not have happened without the support, political and financial, that you and other members of our political community have given us. As we enter 2016, we hope that you’ll continue to support us in our work. As an activist network of almost entirely volunteer labor, it is through member dues and contributions that we are able to fund our work. Please help us continue the fight for justice and the self-determination in 2016. Yours,  The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) Check out some of the media coverage links below on IJAN's report: The Business of Backlash Electronic Intifada: Are Climate Change Deniers Funding Attack on Palestine Activism https://electronicintifada.net/content/are-climate-change-deniers-funding-attack-palestine-activism/14374 Op-Ed in Al Jazeera English: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/03/follow-money-zionist-backlash-islamophobia-150322115201245.html Salon: Business of Backlash: GOP Cashes in on Koch/Adelson anti-BDS Donations http://www.salon.com/2015/04/07/business_of_backlash_gop_cashes_in_on_kochadelson_anti_bds_donations/ Institute for Palestine Studies: Palestine Solidarity and “The Business of Backlash” http://blog.palestine-studies.org/2015/04/14/palestine-solidarity-and-the-business-of-backlash/ Mint Press: Pro-Israel Funders Target Surging Israeli Apartheid Week http://www.mintpressnews.com/pro-israel-funders-target-surging-israeli-apartheid-week/203844/
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