Oregon protesters occupy offices of Israel-affiliated security firm G4S

A group of Palestine supporters occupied the office of the prison and security contracting firm in Portland Oregon on Thursday afternoon, calling on the company to end its affiliation with the Israeli prison system - a system which brutalizes inmates, imprisons children in adult facilities and engages in torture.

G4S has multiple contracts with the Israeli government and military, including running several of the prison facilities which illegally imprison Palestinians without charge or trial. The company has also recently been awarded a contract with the city of Portland to provide security for several city-owned buildings, including Portland's City Hall.

The activists billed the action as a ‘Rally Against the Profiteers: End the Occupation, Break the Siege‘, and dozens of Portlanders joined the direct action to shut down the company's local operations for the day.

They initially occupied the company's office in Portland, and then were forced out by security, although activists tried to pull the door to the office open to continue their occupation of the firm. After being pushed outside, police arrived on the scene and the protesters held up their hands saying "Hands Up, Don't Shoot", in a reference to the chant that has become emblematic of police violence across the U.S. following nearly two weeks of protests in Ferguson, Missouri. more

In their press release following the action, the activists stated, "At 2:30pm, Thursday, August 21, 30+ community members gathered at the local office of G4S, a multinational security business targeted for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions due to complicity in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and siege of Gaza. Organizers delivered a set of demands and held a rally outside G4S. more

Comments

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of

Search iGaza