(Please save this list to your computer, and share it too. It may prove to be very useful either when informing people of the issues relating to the Israel/Palestine situation or when debating those issues with Israel’s supporters.)
Israel and its followers, such as the Labour Party leadership in the UK, wish us to believe that Israel is a fully democratic state, but the Palestinians have no right to a share in that democracy.
The underlying assumption, which the more militant Zionists insist on as the indisputable truth, is that Israel lives according to civilised values, but that the Palestinians do not.
The logic of that outlook is that Israeli Jews want to be defended against the Palestinians by any means available, because the Palestinians want simply to destroy Israel.
A patient reading of these websites will surely debunk this simplistic, and ultimately dangerous, view.
Even these few sources indicate very strongly that there are a significant number of Israelis who do not see Palestine as an enemy to Israel but recognise that it is a victim of Israel’s territorial ambitions. It’s clear, too, that Israel does not have universal support from world Jewry.
It also becomes very plain that the Palestinians are a civilised people who do not routinely want Jewish blood, but are simply looking for the day when they can live in peace in their own land and according to their own custom.
Indeed, it may well be that these pages will leave people with the idea that Israel is nothing like the kind of democratic state it claims to be.
My own view is that nobody who believes in the right of each and every nation to determine for itself who governs it should accept that Israel, despite all its claims, shares in this belief.
(N.B. This list is not exhaustive and is subject to revision)
‘Days of Palestine’ reports mainly on the ongoing news from Palestine as it relates to the activities of the Israeli armed forces and on the responses to Israel’s policies regarding Palestine.
‘Medical Aid for Palestinians’ (MAP) is a British-based charity dedicated both to providing medical care in Palestine and to make known the consequences to the Palestinian people of the Israeli occupation.
‘Friends of Berzeit University’ is a Palestinian organisation campaigning for an educational system in Palestine free of disruptive and damaging Israeli pressure.
https://fobzu.org/
‘Al Haq’ is a Palestinian human rights organisation which monitors all abuses of human rights in Israel and in Palestine. Its independence is indicated by its willingness to criticise the Palestinian authorities when the occasion arises.
https://www.alhaq.org/
‘Addamir’ is a Palestinian human rights organisation dedicated to protecting the rights of Palestinians in Israeli prisons
https://www.alhaq.org/
‘Bisan’ is a Palestinian organisation dedicated to developing social and educational programmes which aim towards achieving a genuinely fair and free society in Palestine.
https://www.bisan.org/
‘The Union of Agricultural Workers Committee’ is a Palestinian organisation dedicate to devloping agricultural programmes in Palestine and countering Israel’s attempt to wreck Palestine’s rural economy.
https://www.uawc-pal.org/
‘Breaking the Silence’ consists of accounts by Israeli armed forces personnel of what they are ordered to do in Palestinian areas, and what the consequences of obeying those orders are both to them and to the Palestinians they deal with. It is an Israeli organisation.
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/
‘Dissent’ is an Israeli socialist magazine which, while carrying no brief for the Palestinian authorities, is highly critical of Israel’s policies towards Palestine. It is a Jewish publication.
https://www.dissentmagazine.org/
‘B’Tselem’ is an Israeli human rights organisation dedicated to defending the Palestinians’ human rights and exposing examples of those rights being violated by the Israeli government.
It is an Israeli organisation
https://www.btselem.org/
‘Refuser Solidarity Network’ (RSN) provides support for the Shministim (high school leavers refusing to be conscripted) and others who refuse to serve in the Israeli armed forces as a matter of conscience. It is an Israeli organisation.
https://www.refuser.org/who-we-are
Physicians for Human Rights’ is a world-wide humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling issues of public health around the world, especially as those issues are caused by human rights abuses. It oppose Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
https://phr.org/
‘International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network’ (IJAN) is an international organisation protesting against Israeli Zionism in principle and against Israel’s occupation in practise. It is a Jewish organisation.
http://www.ijan.org/’
‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ is a USA-based organisation campaigning for peace between Israel and Palestine based on full recognition of Palestinian human, legal and economic rights. It’s main effort is in changing the US government’s policies as they concern Israel.
https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/faq/
‘Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights’ is a British-based organisation concerned with defending the legal right of Palestinians in the face of Israeli injustices.
https://lphr.org.uk/
The ‘Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions’ movement calls for a worldwide boycott of trade and investment with Israel and has the ultimate aim of forcing Israel to end its occupation of Palestine. It is supported by many Jews.
https://bdsmovement.net/
‘Amnesty’ is an international human rights organisation which is highly critical of Israel’s actions in Palestine.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/06/israel-occupation-50-years-of-dispossession/
The United Nations is the largest and most powerful inter-governmental agency in the world, its main function being to maintain peaceful relationships between nations despite their differences. It has a policy of strengthening human rights and has been a constant critic of Israel’s approach to human rights in Palestine.
‘Jewish Voice for Labour’ is a Jewish socialist affiliate of the UK Labour Party, but is highly critical both of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and of the Labour Party’s current policy of giving Israel its unqualified support.
https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk/
‘Jews for Justice for Palestine’ (JJP) is a British Jewish organisation campaigning for a just peace for both Israel and Palestine based on the end of the occupation and respect for the Palestinians’ human rights.
https://jfjfp.com/
‘Palestine Solidarity Campaign’ is a worldwide organisation campaigning against Israel’s actions in Palestine. It is actively opposed to antisemitism.
https://www.palestinecampaign.org/
Richard A. Snell 