Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, stands with our Palestinian sisters and brothers in Jerusalem, defending their right to their city against all forms of attack and persecution. As Palestinian youth in Jerusalem bravely take a stand, confronting racist mobs in the streets of their city and the violence of the Zionist occupation police/military forces, we urge all of our community members and supporters of Palestine to join us to take action to #SaveSheikhJarrah and defend Jerusalem. 

In Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, in the heart of the capital of occupied Palestine, four Palestinian families have been ordered by an Israeli district court to leave their homes by May 2 or face forced eviction..Three more families have been ordered evicted by August, to be replaced in their homes by Zionist colonizers. 

The attack on Sheikh Jarrah is part and parcel of the ongoing Nakba and the systematic ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinians in Jerusalem that Palestinians have resisted for over 73 years, from the river to the sea and in exile and diaspora. In fact, the targeting of Sheikh Jarrah specifically targets refugees originally forced from their homes in the Nakba of 1947-1948. Since 1972, they have confronted an Israeli plan to displace them and build a settlement on the rubble of their homes.

Palestinians in Jerusalem face ongoing attacks, including stripping of their residency rights, forcible transfer, home demolitions, land confiscations, killings and executions by occupation forces and “border police,” mass incarceration, arrests of children and a fundamental attempt to erase the Palestinian character of the city. This is a systematic attack tied to the military occupation of all Palestinian land, the siege on Gaza, the deep-seated apartheid and colonialism throughout occupied Palestine’48, and the denial of Palestinian refugees’ right to return for 73 years.

As we are based in the United States, we know all too well that U.S. military aid – $3.8 billion annually – to Israel is funding and arming the colonization of occupied Palestine, the attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the ongoing Nakba against our people. 

Al-Awda PRRC joined with 28 families from Sheikh Jarrah and hundreds of organizations around the world to appeal to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to take action and prosecute Israeli war criminals. It is critical that we raise our voices and speak out, protest and act to #SaveSheikhJarrah, defend Jerusalem and work to implement the right to return and liberate Palestine. 

Join us to take action for Jerusalem, for Palestinian refugees’ right to return, and for Palestine. 

1. Write a letter to Congress to #SaveSheikhJarrah. (FOR U.S. RESIDENTS) Nearly 1,000 of you have already done so. Just click on this link and enter your information (address, email). This will generate a letter to your member of Congress and Senators. Your name will be appended to our pre-written letter, although you can also add your own comments! PLEASE NOTE: In some cases, your Representatives may require more information for you to send a letter. If they do, share your phone number, title (Mr, Ms, Dr, etc) or ZIP code, or let them know this letter is about “Foreign Affairs,” “International Affairs,” “Foreign Relations,” or “Human Rights.” With that info, your letter will be forwarded directly to YOUR member of Congress and Senators. Join the action today: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/savesheikhjarrah
2.  Protest and Organize for Jerusalem – and for the Right to Return. Al-Awda PRRC and many organizations are protesting in cities across the country on May 15 (including New York/New Jersey and San Francisco), marking the ongoing Nakba and the Week of Palestinian Struggle. Join us in New York, New Jersey and the Bay Area — and more — to raise our voices. Organize a protest in your area, or take part in a teach-in like the Iftar/Speak Out organized this Friday, April 30, by Within Our Lifetime in Brooklyn!