Ceasefire now: Educational resources to fuel your action

ActivismInclusivity
Written By Jen Wright

“Never again for anyone”. One of hundreds (thousands?) of protests in the last month, Jewish Voice for Peace held a sit in at the Statue of Liberty.

 

Do your own research. Think beyond the headlines. Notice who is being excluded from the narratives. Ask why.


In this post I have focussed on educational resources because I am constantly enraged by the hugely biased reporting in western media, the messaging that if you want a ceasefire then you don’t know enough about the “complicated history”, and people feeling scared that to show support for Palestinian people is going to be seen as anti-semitic.

This post is especially for you if up until now you have believed the “it’s complicated” messaging or have stayed out of conversations and away from actions because you don’t think you know enough to have an opinion.

Guess what? You don’t need to know the history or have a political opinion to know that genocides are wrong! How about that!

I will keep adding to this post, and I will follow up with a post of actions to take.

Contents

  • Courses, tool kits and conversations to learn from

  • Films to watch (via streaming services and free online)

  • Books to read

  • Social media accounts to follow (reporters on the ground in Gaza, educators, activists and campaigners)

  • Plus how to have age appropriate conversations with your children, and books for kids

Courses, tool kits and conversations to learn from

Learn about the history and decolonisation movement with The Palestine Academy's free online course.

Download the incredible tool kit on Climate Justice in Palestine from Intersectional Environmentalist.

Watch the honest and emotional conversation between Dr Gabor Maté and his daughter on Israel/Palestine.

Read Jewish Voice For Peace’s free resource on Zionism.

Listen to Upstream podcast’s episode, Palestine with Sumaya Awad.

Washington Post article - How the British Empire Made Israel


Films to watch

Watch one of the many films available that tell Palestinian stories. Below I’ve linked either to the trailer or to the full film where available.

The Arab Film and Media Institute are also screening a series of films throughout November for free here.

And if you have a question around the boycotting of Netflix, please focus your BDS actions on organised boycotts. You can read more about this here.

You can watch both Angel of Gaza and I Am From Palestine for free on YouTube, complete with interviews with the producers and directors thanks to Chicago Palestine Film Festival.


Books to read

A non-exhaustive list.

  • The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

  • The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe

  • The Palestine Laboratory by Antony Loewenstein

  • Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation edited by Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke

  • The Question of Palestine by Edward Said

  • The Punishment of Gaza by Gideon Levy

  • Legacy of Empire: Britain, Zionism and the Creation of Israel by Gardner Thompson

  • Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide by Ben White

  • A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle That Shaped the Middle East

 

If you have the bandwidth, here's a spreadsheet full of further reading and here too.

Social media: Educators, reporters, and creators to follow on IG

Say what you will about social media but we have never had such a powerful tool for our mass mobilisation and the sharing of information. Yes, there is always going to be the problem of misinformation spreading as well, so fact check and do your own research before sharing posts, especially if they are shocking in nature.

Instagram is the only social media platform I use so that’s where this list is focussed.

Again, a non-exhaustive list!

Reporters on the ground in Palestine

@wizard_bisan1

@byplestia

@motaz_azaiza (CW for images of babies and children)

@wael_eldahdouh

@middleeasteye

Amplifying Palestinian stories and sharing educational posts

@letstalkpalestine

@palestinesolidarityuk

@eye.on.palestine (CW for images of babies and children)

@k.w.bogen

@allmill_ on TikTok - an important post on Zionism shared by @clementine_ford

@sim_bookstagrams_badly

@upstreampodcast

@hatezine

@thevitamindproject

Consistently sharing resources and actions from in the UK

@standforhumanity

@glena.rodriguez

@thetemperategardener

@mixing.up.motherhood

@leonieflowersismyname

@alicestewartjewellery

@tarniegr

So proud to know these incredible people ❤️

Plus, how to have age appropriate conversations with your children

Image and curation from @littlehibba on Instagram, who create personalised books for Muslim kids ❤️


If you have a school age child chances are they already know something of what’s going on. Maybe you’ve taken them to the peaceful marches, or maybe you haven’t because you haven’t known how to explain what they’re about.

This is a wonderful set of slides from @gendersauce on how to talk to your children about what is happening, while still focussing on the goodness in the world.


Ok that’s all for now. I have a poorly kiddo at home and need to tend to her, but I will add more as I find it and I’ll follow up with a post of actions as soon as I can.

Hope and humanity, my friends. Love and rage. We must keep going, together.

Jen Wright
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