More than 70,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza alone since 2023, the majority of them civilians. For more than eight decades, conflict has persisted over the Palestinian territory; however, the situation drastically escalated in 2023 after a Hamas attack on Israel. In addition, Israel has established a blockade around Palestine, severely limiting access to food, water and humanitarian aid. Continued warfare has also cost the lives of countless Palestinian children; every hour, a Palestinian child loses their life. The vast scale of the conflict is overwhelming, and in the West, many feel helpless. Yet, organizations such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign are providing avenues for British civilians to contribute toward ending the conflict.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Established in 1982, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is Britain’s largest Palestinian rights group, with nearly 70 branches across the United Kingdom (U.K.). According to PSC, it identifies as “not a charity but a political campaign” and advocates to end the violence in Palestine and restore human rights to its people. Supported by donations, the group lobbies MPs, challenges bills in Parliament and organizes large protests and meetings. Donations also help the group function as a business, as it was incorporated in 2004. Public donations fund its staff, office, technology and equipment, which are vital to the group’s work. However, PSC does not accept donations from political parties, governments or businesses.

Buy for Palestine

PSC members devote their time to advocacy; however, the group acknowledges that the average citizen may not have the time, experience or resources to volunteer. Therefore, PSC offers a quick and easy way to support their campaign via their website shop. With a minimum price of £2.50, there is a wide variety of items to choose from.

Many of the available accessories display a watermelon symbolizing Palestine, as it contains the colors of the Palestinian flag: black, red and green. All profit from purchasing one of these items goes directly to PSC and funds its advocacy campaign.

PSC also sells a type of scarf known as a keffiyeh. While these scarves are a Palestinian custom, due to the conflict they are now largely manufactured in India and China. PSC supports the Hirbawi family, a Palestinian family that makes and sells keffiyehs, and their products are available via the PSC shop, creating a way for people not actively involved in advocacy to support Palestinian lives during this difficult time.

What Difference Does a Donation Make?

Forty-four years of advocacy conducted by PSC has resulted in significant change toward a better future for Palestinians, such as successfully getting the U.K. to acknowledge Palestine. PSC contributed to this change by sending approximately 57,000 emails to MPs urging support. This resulted in the U.K.’s most attended backbench vote of all time in 2014, and PSC continues to strive for more.

As part of the multi-civil-society movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, which began in 2005 and is also referred to as the “Don’t Buy Apartheid” movement, PSC helped convince Britain’s seventh-largest retailer, John Lewis, to discontinue the sale of SodaStream, a product PSC said was manufactured in “illegal Israeli settlements.” This boycott limits the financial support Israel receives from the U.K. that could potentially fund more warfare against Palestinian civilians.

This movement was also responsible for PSC’s successful campaign to remove Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s (HSBC’s) investment in Elbit Systems, the biggest provider of weapons in Israel, in 2018. Additionally, PSC organized a protest against violence in Palestine with nearly 150,000 people in attendance and made Palestine the most prominent diplomatic concern during the 2015 general election by sending more than 36,000 awareness emails to members of Parliament and receiving more than 1,000 replies.

Conclusion

PSC has shown determination, education and devotion to make a difference. Its online shop offers the average British citizen another way to support the campaign.

– Lisa Jane Bryant

Lisa is based in Glasgow, Scotland and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr