Links

The FTW-USA website is not meant to be a resource center on the Middle East. Others do that job better. Below you'll find a few friendly links to help you learn more or keep updated about the issues in the region, including the role and involvement of the United States government.

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End the Occupation
A United States based campaign comprising over 300 groups and organizations who support the non-sectarian coalition’s Call To Action to change U.S. policy towards ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.  Their website makes it very easy for citizens to take action and be counted, such as, signing petitions online or calling your representative or making easy quick donations for specific targeted campaigns.  Member organizations must sign off on the organization’s principles supporting human rights, civil rights and respect for international law. 

Friends of Freedom and Justice – Bil’in
Bilin is a village of 1800 residents located north of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.  It is a case study of how Israel today is outright stealing Palestinian land, up to 60% of land annexed for illegal settlements and the Wall.   The residents and international supporters, including Israeli activists, have resisted further encroachment via non-violent protests every Friday for five years in a row.  In this village alone the Israeli military tear gases protesters, has murdered at least five activists, uproots centuries old olive trees and continues to confiscate Palestinians land.   Follow the Women visited Bil’in on the 2009 ride. 

Jewish Voice for Peace
This vital group refutes Israel’s claim to act in the name of all Jewish people.  “Because we are Jews, we have a particular legitimacy in voicing an alternative view of American and Israeli actions and policies.”  The group advocates full equality for all the people of Israel and Palestine based on human rights and international law. They give meaning to their beliefs through their many campaigns against the Occupation, the Wall, the imprisonment of Palestinian activists, corporate accountability (such as confronting Caterpillar bulldozers used in housing demolitions) and other concrete, righteous actions.  

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
This group works with Israeli and Palestinian NGOS to stop the demolition of Palestinian housing in the Occupied Territories. Since 1967 Israel has destroyed over 12,000 homes and left over 70,000 civilians homeless and traumatized.  The Committee explains the flimsy laws and pretexts which Israel employs to shield itself in the face of these clear violations against the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting occupying forces from engaging in group punishment of civilians.  When homes are destroyed the Committee gathers resources to help re-build Palestinian houses.  Where is Habitat for Humanity?  

Electronic Intifada
This website portal offers an alternative source of news, analysis, reference materials and articles from a Palestinian perspective.  The content deviates from the mainstream media’s often simplistic and usually biased approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Launched in 2001 by four net activists from Palestine, America and Scotland, Electric Intifada “condemns all attacks on civilians, regardless of the perpetrators, yet encourages people to examine the structural roots and dynamics of violence in the conflict and the imbalance of power that perpetuates these dynamics.”  Submissions are welcomed. 

International Middle East Media Center
Founded in 2003, this site is a collaboration between Palestinian and international journalists.  They provide daily news stories with historical context and analysis that includes audio (like radio), videos, interviews.  Specific topics include The Wall, holy sites, prisoners, peace process, non-violent actions, Jerusalem.   The human interest stories are particularly enlightening, including Sorry We Blew Up Your Laptop, a true incident written by a Jewish activist crossing into Israel from Egypt. 

Noam Chomsky video "Gaza: One Year Later"
This is a must-see video by Professor Noam Chomsky offering a brilliant analysis of the Israeli invasion of Gaza in the lull of some three weeks just preceding Obama's inauguration in January, 2009. Filmed at Watertown, Massachusetts on December 6, 2009 by Robbie Leppzer for Democracy Now! and posted by Common Dreams.

The Peace Cycle
This is another activist bike ride but specifically focused on Palestine.  Their first ride was also in 2004 from London to Jerusalem (flying to Jordan from Greece) and consisted of 25 cyclists form 10 countries, including the United States. Peace Cycle rides are smaller than FTW rides and they last longer.  Rides have included Muslims, Christians and Jews.  The Peace Cycle was one of the last delegations to meet Yassir Arafat in October, 2004 shortly before he died.  The 2009 Peace Cycle ride entered Palestine from Jordan and spent several weeks only in Palestine, rather than biking across Europe as before.  This ride actually coincided with FTW’s 2009 ride to the region, although unfortunately the two groups were unable to meet up.  The Peace Cycle has a magnanimous fundraising project – a mobile eye clinic in Palestine. 

Combatants for Peace
This group's members are former Israeli army soldiers and Palestinian ex-freedom fighters. They have put down their weapons and now fight for peace. One wonders how these men and women, trained with a military approach to conflict, break down their barriers, just even in a setting as simple as an organization meeting. The website has a page called Personal Stories and it is worth reading a few to see how humans evolve. The combatants' cause is righteous and they deserve greater recognition. In 2009 two representatives, an Israeli and a Palestinians, traveled the U.S. on a speakng tour and at the Peace Abbey in Massachusetts they accepted the Courage of Conscious Award for their organization. By the way, these guys also have a playgrounds project.

Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
An intensely informational site with archives, current headlines and many obscure news stories that tell the horrifying daily reality in Occupied Palestine. Subscribe to their Yahoo group “Occupation News” to receive daily digests.  The site offers a superb compilation of stories and facts about the Wall. 

Australians for Palestine
An activist-oriented site with incisive videos, day-by-day latest news and links to a rich resource of blogs. Although the website is Austrlian-focused with links to Australian groups, its content is so profound and varied that anyone who visits, no matter their familiarity with the issues, will come away feeling enlightened. The video "The Zionist Story, Parts 1-8" (categorized in the index under War Crimes) is worth watching for its archival film footage and clear explanations of history.

Friendly sites that focus on many issues, as well as the Middle East 

Middle East Children’s Alliance
Since 1988, this California based organization has been sending aid packages to children in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and other areas of the Middle East.  Aid consists of food, medical supplies, clothes, books, toys and school supplies.  They also offer scholarships for university students, build playgrounds, send delegations to the region and educate Americans about conditions in the region.  MECA has given enormous support to the cultural center “Ibdaa” in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp where Follow the Women stayed in the 2009 ride. 

Global Exchange
Since the '80s, Global Exchange, based in San Francisco, has been a commanding presence in the movement for social justice. The organization is true blue grassroots, with innovative ideas to advance the social agenda, such as promoting Fair Trade stores, sponsoring Green Fairs and co-creating the women's group Code Pink with a mission to stop wars. One of GX's greatest programs are their Realty Tours which bring travelers to eye-opening destinations, such as, Palestine, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela for an opportunity "to understand issues beyond what is communicated by the mass media and gain a new vantage point from which to view and affect US foreign policy."

Peace X Peace
Peace X Peace ("peace by peace") is an international women's organization based in Washington, DC, that puts multi-cultural women in contact with each other via the internet with their stories and voices and actions.   By joining the free network you receive a twice monthly e-newsletter and have access to a weekly blog.  The group offers “circles,” which focuses on certain regions or issues.  Peace X Peace Hub Circles include the Palestinian Territories and Israel. 

Women for A Change
In a Facebook sort of style, this website offers a means for women around the globe to connect to make peaceful change. Within the site are Discussions ("Do UN Resolutions have any meaning?"), Projects (microfinance, reference library), Advocacy Groups (domestic violence, human trafficking, female genital mutilation) and blogs. The group is promoting a major initiative for the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day May 8, 2011. The organization seeks one million endorsers to sign on to the World Safe Charter. This document, calling for the end of violence against women, will be presented to the United Nations and governments around the world on March 8, 2011.

Photo Banner ,Jo Ann Smith and Lilly Ann Popken speak with Palestinian woman, by Betsy Schwartz, US