Showing posts with label Oxfam. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Israel has ordered 37 aid groups to halt life-saving operations in war-torn Gaza, as well as the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. In their joint statement, the aid agencies said that stopping their activities will lead to a “humanitarian collapse and irreparable harm” for hundreds of thousands of people in need. “Turning humanitarian organisations into an information-gathering arm for a party to the conflict stands in total contradiction to the principle of neutrality... ”

A mosque, destroyed during the two-year Israeli genocide in Gaza, is surrounded by tents for displaced Palestinians, in Gaza City, on February 15, 2026 [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]

Aid groups petition Israeli Supreme Court as Gaza, West Bank work ban nears

By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP, AP and Reuters

Seventeen international aid groups said they have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to allow them to keep working in the Gaza Strip and other areas in the occupied Palestinian territory, where the Israeli government is set to halt their life-saving work next month.

The Israeli government says it will ban 37 aid groups from war-torn Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem on March 1, a move described as having potentially devastating consequences for Palestinians.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, aid groups said they have appealed to the Supreme Court seeking an urgent suspension of the plan to ban them from working, and are seeking an urgent interim injunction from the court pending a full judicial review of the Israeli order.

Oxfam International said on Tuesday that the forced closure of aid operations in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory could begin as early as Saturday.

“The effect would be immediate, extending well beyond individual organisations to the wider humanitarian system,” Oxfam warned.

“In Gaza, families remain dependent on external assistance amid continuing restrictions on aid entry and renewed strikes in densely populated areas,” it said in a statement.

“In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, military incursions, demolitions, displacement, settlement expansion and settler violence are driving rising humanitarian needs,” it added.

The court action comes as aid organisations – including Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE – were notified by Israeli authorities on December 30, 2025, that their Israeli work registrations had expired and that they had 60 days to renew them and provide lists containing personal details on their Palestinian staff.

If they fail to provide information on their Palestinian staff, the organisations will have to cease operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, from March 1.

The organisations say compliance with the Israeli orders would expose their Palestinian staff to potential retaliation, undermine the principle of humanitarian neutrality and violate European data protection law.

“Turning humanitarian organisations into an information-gathering arm for a party to the conflict stands in total contradiction to the principle of neutrality,” the court petition states.

According to the United Nations, 133 NGO workers have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, including 15 MSF staff.

In their joint statement, the aid agencies said that stopping their activities will lead to a “humanitarian collapse and irreparable harm” for hundreds of thousands of people in need.

The vast majority of Gaza’s more than 2 million residents rely on aid groups for food, water, healthcare, shelter and other essentials after Israel’s more than two-year war destroyed much of the territory.

The petitioners say they have proposed practical alternatives to handing over staff lists to Israeli authorities, including “donor-audited vetting systems”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/25/aid-groups-petition-israeli-supreme-court-as-gaza-west-bank-work-ban-nears

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

Monday, September 15, 2025

Artists4Ceasefire: WE BELEIVE all life is sacred, NO MATTER FAITH OR ETHNICITY... CEASEFIRE NOW... STOP WEAPONS... SAVE LIVES

Artists4Ceasefire

artists4ceasefire.org

UPDATE: Since October 2023, Artists4Ceasefire has echoed the call of millions of people around the world, demanding that our leaders take action to achieve a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the delivery of lifesaving aid to civilians in Gaza. The reality is that this is now the bare minimum of what is required in the face of 22 months of catastrophic destruction of life.

While our letter was originally addressed to President Biden, our call remains loud and clear.

For the sake of our shared humanity, we are dedicated to ensuring a permanent and lasting ceasefire takes hold, as this is the first step toward survival, healing and rebuilding. The administration has changed, but our demand to center humanity remains.

Human rights are for all of us, and a lasting peace can only be achieved when all people in Palestine and Israel live in freedom, safety, and equity. Together, Artists4Ceasefire will continue to raise our voices for the equal protection of precious lives, and for a just and lasting peace.

We come together as artists and advocates, but most importantly as human beings witnessing the devastating loss of lives and unfolding horrors in Israel and Palestine.

We ask that, as President of the United States, you and the US Congress call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. More than 63,000 people have been killed over the last 22 months, and over 159,000 injured* – numbers that any person of conscience knows are catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.

We urge your administration, Congress, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages. Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, and more than two thirds are refugees and their descendants being forced to flee their homes. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them.

We believe that the United States can play a vital diplomatic role in ending the suffering and we are adding our voices to those from the US Congress, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, The International Committee of The Red Cross, and so many others. Saving lives is a moral imperative. To echo UNICEF, “Compassion — and international law — must prevail.”

Since Oct 7th, more than 86,000* tons of bombs and missiles have been dropped on Gaza - resulting in one child being killed or injured* every 30 minutes*.

"Children and families in Gaza have practically run out of food, water, electricity, medicine and safe access to hospitals, following days of air strikes and cuts to all supply routes. Gaza’s sole power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday afternoon, shutting down electricity, water and wastewater treatment. Most residents can no longer get drinking water from service providers or household water through pipelines.... The humanitarian situation has reached lethal lows, and yet all reports point to further attacks. Compassion — and international law — must prevail.” – UNICEF spokesperson James Elder

Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.

We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing. As Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths told UN News, “History is watching.”

*Updated as of 8/29/25

Supported by Oxfam America & ActionAid USA

Artists https://www.artists4ceasefire.org/

Artists4Ceasefire Pin: Artists4Ceasefire is a collective of actors, filmmakers, and other artists calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza war, the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians, and the release of all hostages.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

The rights of Palestine Refugees exist separate to UNRWA, including the right of return, which was set out in resolution 194, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, and predates the creation of UNRWA in 1949. Besides the right to return, the right to family unity and the right to reparations would also remain in UNRWA’s absence, as would the refugee camps of Gaza and the West Bank.

Published: 28 Oct 2024 - Short URL: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/mc/zjcphd/

In reaction to the Knesset passing a law banning UNRWA from operating in areas under Israel’s control, Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa said:

“Israel has bombed Palestinians to death, maimed them, starved them, and is now ridding them of their biggest lifeline of aid. Piece by piece, Israel is systemically dismantling Gaza as a land that is autonomous and liveable for Palestinians. Its banning of UNRWA today is condemnable and another step in this crime.

“The decision will further undermine the ability of the international community to provide sufficient humanitarian aid and to save lives in any safe, independent and impartial way.

“UNRWA was not only the biggest and most established agency that has been delivering aid and sustenance to the people of Gaza for years, it was also a thread that connected them in some hope of solidarity and security to the United Nations.

“We are in no doubt that Israel and its allies are fully aware of the terrible consequences that this decision will have on Palestinians living in Gaza, many of whom are already starving. We join others in warning again that this will result in more death, more suffering, and more forced displacement of people from their besieged homeland. It is impossible not to believe that this is their aim.”

Notes to the Editor

Read the Bill for the Cessation of UNRWA Activities in the Territory of the State of Israel, 5784–2024; and Bill for the Cessation of UNRWA Activities, 5784–2024
Read Oxfam and over 50 humanitarian and human rights agencies’ global appeal to defend UNRWA from Israeli ban
The rights of Palestine Refugees exist separate to UNRWA, including the right of return, which was set out in resolution 194, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948, and predates the creation of UNRWA in 1949. Besides the right to return, the right to family unity and the right to reparations would also remain in UNRWA’s absence, as would the refugee camps of Gaza and the West Bank.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

My letter to the Economist RE Scarlett Johansson and SodaStream ...& the very real plight of the Palestinians.

"Occupation is Not Green: Boycott SodaStream!"

RE: Scarlett Johansson and SodaStream
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2014/01/scarlett-johansson-and-sodastream

Dear Editor,

The BDS/Boycott Israel movement is just one of many nonviolent ways international empathy and compassion for the people of Palestine is being made manifest. Palestine centered artwork, poetry readings, books, films, websites, blogs and other forums abound in every language. Endorsing or scorning the pro-Palestine BDS movement is in many ways totally irrelevant. Endorsing or scorning Israel's institutionalized bigotry and ongoing violations of international law and universal human rights is what really counts.

Oxfam acted with honor, dignity, intellectual acuity and crystal clear clarity in voicing concern in their official statement regarding Scarlett Johansson's choice: “Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law,” because companies profiting from Israel's occupation “further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support.”

Obviously, other than a flurry of negative publicity for a person working in an industry where there is no such thing as bad publicity, Scarlett Johansson won't be, and should not be punished for her choice. Scarlett Johansson's choice was to honor a business contract with a financial award, and presumably a financial punishment if she broke her contract with Sodastream. Johansson choice was not a "Sophie's Choice" moment. In fact it might have a huge upside. Scarlett Johansson's beauty and star power helped Oxfam raise awareness and funds for their good works and now, thanks to an online avalanche of clever photoshopped memes and subsequent news articles, her beauty and star power PLUS her naive cluelessness are rapidly advancing awareness of the very real plight of the Palestinians.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
UNITED NATIONS: Give Peace a Chance... The year 2014 has been proclaimed the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People

ATFP's Ziad Asali: Israel Needs Peace with Palestine to Avoid Looming Boycotts

Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:

Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries
The Office of International Religious Freedom
( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/ )

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

Refugees, Borders & Jerusalem
"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt

UN Resolution 194 from 1948 : The refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible

Refugees and the Right of Return
We call for a just solution to our refugee issue in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Our position on refugees is also included and supported in the Arab Peace Initiative (API), which calls for “a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.” A just solution to the refugee issue must address two aspects: the right of return and reparations.

The Arab Peace Initiative

Emanating from the conviction of the Arab countries that a military solution to the conflict will not achieve peace or provide security for the parties, the council:

1. Requests Israel to reconsider its policies and declare that a just peace is its strategic option as well.

2. Further calls upon Israel to affirm:

I- Full Israeli withdrawal from all the territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 lines as well as the remaining occupied Lebanese territories in the south of Lebanon.

II- Achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194.

III- The acceptance of the establishment of a sovereign independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

3. Consequently, the Arab countries affirm the following:

I- Consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region.

II- Establish normal relations with Israel in the context of this comprehensive peace.

John Kerry defends US foreign policy “The reason we’re so devoted to finding a solution is simple: Because the benefits of success and the dangers of failure are enormous for the United States, for the world, for the region and, most importantly of all, for the Israeli and Palestinian people,” US secretary of state John Kerry at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“You have to understand that the progressive forces in the Arab world, those that support having a visible relationship with Israel, cannot reach out to it until the Palestinian problem is resolved,” said one Jordanian official. “Moreover, this should also be Israel’s interest, because the only way to stop the Islamic movements from seizing control in the West Bank is through an agreement with the Palestinians.”

Hanan Ashrawi tells The Times of Israel: Jews and members of all religions would have the right to apply for Palestinian citizenship. But “Palestine” could not accept “ex-territorial Jewish enclaves” where residents maintained their Israeli citizenship status

EU warns Israel, Palestinians of the cost of peace failure

MIFTAH: Anti- corruption youth strategy; young Palestinians put a corruption-free society as their priority "...This is their future, they say, because in the end, it is the youth that seeks a society free of corruption that will offer them the opportunity to obtain the right job and the right social status based on their own merits, not on grounds of nepotism and favoritism."

Dr Zogby of AAIUSA: Myths That Are Impediments to Peace

The Elders’ vision: a world free from war and poverty

Analysis: Why Palestinian leadership is right to engage in peace talks

Ziad Asali of ATFP: Why Palestinians are puzzled by the 'Jewish state' demand... Netanyahu's demand for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state bizarrely inserts Palestinians into the 'Who is a Jew' debate

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Live by the Golden Rule

Friday, January 31, 2014

"Changing the world one sip at a time"... Scarlett Johansson ad becomes online meme for Israeli-Palestinian conflict

online meme

***
Scarlett Johansson ad becomes online meme for Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The web has been flooded with images featuring Scarlett Johansson Photoshopped into some grim pictures of West Bank territories. A major political meme these days has been inspired by the actress’s cooperation with an Israel-based company.
.

***
NYTIMES Scarlett Johansson Chooses SodaStream Over Oxfam After Dispute About West Bank Factory: Forced to choose between two endorsement deals, the actress Scarlett Johansson decided Wednesday to end her charitable work on behalf of Oxfam, an antipoverty group that opposes trade with Israeli settlements, and continue as a paid “brand ambassador” for SodaStream, a company that manufactures products in the occupied West Bank.

The break with Oxfam comes a week after the charity said that it was engaged in “a dialogue” with the actress, who had helped raise funds for nearly a decade, and days before the broadcast of Ms. Johansson’s Super Bowl commercial for SodaStream’s home carbonation machines.

Oxfam’s stated position is that “trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law,” should be discouraged because companies profiting from the continued occupation “further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support.” ...READ MORE

***

The Guardian Vijay Prashad Scarlett Johansson is right – the face of SodaStream doesn't fit with Oxfam: Thanks to the star's involvement with the Israeli company, illegal settlement activity is under increased scrutiny

Israeli settlements (including Maale Adumim) are built on land seized from the Palestinians during the 1967 war. By the standards of the Geneva convention, the Rome Statute and the international court of justice, they have been developed illegally by Israel. Israel has thumbed its nose at international law and continued to build its settlements, including industrial parks such as the one that houses SodaStream.

The European Union has called the E1 parcel of land that Israel plans to build on, extending from Maale Adumim, a violation of international humanitarian law. Johansson, in other words, had become the face of illegal Israeli settlement activity.

Johansson's new job posed a serious problem for Oxfam. The charity has over the years taken a strong position against Israel's illegal settlement construction at the same time as it has worked to deliver much-needed goods and services to the encaged population in the occupied Palestinian territories. In a powerful briefing paper from 2012, Oxfam called on Israel to "immediately halt the construction of all illegal settlements" and end "policies and practices that are illegal under international law and harm the livelihood of Palestinian civilians"...READ MORE

****

ABC News That Scarlett Johansson SodaStream Ad Is Causing Problems

JERUSALEM January 30, 2014 (AP)

Scarlett Johansson has parted ways with the international charity Oxfam because of a dispute over her work for SodaStream, a company operating in a West Bank settlement that features the Hollywood star in an ad that will air during the Super Bowl.

Johansson became the latest casualty of a widening campaign to boycott the settlements, drawing attention to a larger debate about whether Israel will become an international pariah, at a steep economic price, if it fails to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid stoked such fears this week, warning that if negotiations break down "and we enter a reality of a European boycott, even a very partial one, Israel's economy will retreat backward and every Israeli citizen will feel it straight in the pocket." ...READ MORE

****
& via many various viral (in my world) twitter & facebook posts

Burst the Bubble: Boycott SodaStream

***

Oxfam has accepted Scarlett Johansson’s decision to step down after eight years as a Global Ambassador and we are grateful for her many contributions.

“Oxfam respects the independence of our ambassadors,” the group’s official statement reads. “However Oxfam believes that businesses that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support. Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.” ...Read more

Who is OxFam.... "Around the globe, Oxfam works to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we campaign so that the voices of the poor influence the local and global decisions that affect them.

We work directly with communities and we seek to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.

In all we do, Oxfam works with partner organizations and alongside vulnerable women and men to end the injustices that cause poverty."

Change Lives – Donate Now

Today, one out of eight people in our world goes to bed hungry each night. But we see a future in which no one does.

Right now, with your gift to Oxfam, you have the opportunity to help change peoples' lives. From supporting better farming methods to helping disaster survivors rebuild, your gift will empower poor people to feed their families and build a better future in the more than 90 countries where we work.

Your gift will go to work right away. Make a tax-deductible donation today.

Annie's New Letters (& notes)

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