Non-violent Resistance and Restorative Justice

Accountability; Know your rights Protesters’ Rights

Government is a Public Trust which requires all of our participation.

The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials are allowed to place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights. Make sure you’re prepared by brushing up on your rights before heading out into the streets.

STOP GAZA GENOCIDE TOOLKIT

Living in our Morals; Embracing our duty to invest in hope through Action.

FREE DC- Know your Rights

https://freedcproject.org/news/know-your-rights

FREE DC EVENTS

https://freedcproject.org/events

Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid; ICE Emergency Hotline

202-335-1183*

https://www.dcmigrantmutualaid.org/hotline?ref=51st.news

ICEBLOCK App

https://www.iceblock.app/

DEFEND DC PUBLIC EDUCATION

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G20LSv934EHoso45dQ-N5B5h7Zd0P3xs/view

DC WARD 5 TOWN HALL on FEDERAL OVERREACH

Recording
- You can view and share a recording of the town hall using this link.
Slides
- Access tonight’s slides here.
Links shared on the call
- Access the Ward 5 Toolkit on Federal Overreach at ward5.us/toolkit
- Sign up to join us for a Ward 5 mobilization on the hill: ward5.us/onthehill
- Join Ward 5 demonstrations with our office: ward5.us/resist
- Report federal enforcement activity in Ward 5: ward5.us/report
- Stay up-to-date through our newsletter and podcast: ward5.us/newsletter and ward5.us/podcast

We are in this fight together. Please do not hesitate to contact us at ward5contact@dccouncil.gov or 202-724-8028 anytime with questions, thoughts, ideas, or concerns.

Know Your Rights: Before, During and After Immigration Raids

An Act of Resistance; not consenting to our rights being taken,

Fighting Trump’s D.C. Power Grab

https://www.acludc.org/fighting-trumps-dc-power-grab/

Know Your Rights: Police, Immigration, or FBI stops | Link

Know Your Rights: Stop-and-Frisk | Link

Know Your Rights: Protests and Types of Police in D.C. | Link

Know Your Rights: Encountering Law Enforcement and Military Troops in D.C. | Link

Immigrants' Rights and Resources Hub

https://www.acludc.org/immigrants-rights-and-resources-hub/

Knowing Your Rights Understanding your rights as an immigrant in everyday settings—on the street, at home, or at school—can help you stay calm and advocate for yourself if approached by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or police.
- ACLU-D.C. – Immigrants' Rights in Interactions with Law Enforcement: Learn what to do if you are stopped or questioned by local or federal law enforcement officers. This resource explains your constitutional rights, regardless of your immigration status in D.C. Link
- ACLU – What to Do If Questioned about Your Immigration Status: Learn how to respond if law enforcement or ICE officers ask about your status. Know what documents you do (and don’t) have to provide. Link
- ACLU – What to Do If Immigration Agents (ICE) Are at Your Door: Learn about your home-entry rights and what documents ICE must have to legally enter your residence. Link
- Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia – Defending Our Immigrant Community: Explains local efforts to protect immigrants’ rights and provides legal and policy guidelines specific to the District of Columbia. Link
  - Immigration Enforcement in the Workplace Know Your Rights. OAG guidance to help employers and employees know their rights in Washington, D.C. English Link | Spanish Link
  - Immigration Enforcement in Schools. OAG guidance to clarify student rights and information over immigration enforcement at schools aimed at supporting school district personnel in protecting the rights of students and families. Link (2025 Update)
- National Immigration Law Center (NILC) – Factsheet on Warrants and Subpoenas: Learn how to identify valid warrants and subpoenas and understand your responsibilities if one is presented. Link
- CASA – Know Your Rights: Learn How to Protect Yourself and Your Family: Offers basic dos and don’ts for interacting with immigration officers, including a downloadable guide. Link
- Immigration Legal Resource Center – D.C. and States Map on Immigration Enforcement Law 2024: Find state-specific information on how local policies intersect with federal immigration enforcement, and see where your community stands. Link (Please zoom in on the map to locate D.C.—it’s a small area between Virginia and Maryland. Here’s the D.C. statute: Link)
- NILC – Factsheet: Trump’s Rescission of Protected Areas Policies Undermines Safety for All: On January 20, 2025, the Trump Administration rescinded a Biden-era policy that protected certain areas—such as churches, school, and hospitals—from immigration enforcement, replacing it with an unreleased directive that gives ICE agents unbridled power to take enforcement actions in any of these spaces using so-called “common sense.” This factsheet explains the protected areas policy, the laws that currently apply to these areas, and the steps advocates and communities can take to help immigrants maintain access to essential community spaces and services. Link
- Mijente – Know Your Rights to Defend Your Rights (English and Spanish) Bilingual materials on your constitutional protections, with a focus on resisting racial profiling and discriminatory enforcement actions. English Link | Spanish Link
- iAmerica (national immigrant justice campaign platform for the Service Employees International Union/SEIU) – Your Rights as an Immigrant Worker: This site provides information on immigrant worker rights and protection of those rights. Link
- United We Dream – Migra Watch: Explains what to do if you witness or experience ICE activity in public. Offers guidance for U.S. citizens and allies on how to stand up for immigrant communities Link
- ACLU – KYR Wallet Cards: Printable know your rights cards to have handy when interacting with ICE/immigration enforcement. English | Chinese-Mandarin | Spanish
- ACLU - Talking to People About Their Rights: Explains how everyone has the right to share truthful, lawfully obtained information about law enforcement and tell people about their legal rights—even if they’re in trouble. People can also advocate for changes to laws without fear, as long as they’re not directly inciting or aiding and abetting illegal activity. Link
- VIDEO: Raids Watch: Know Your Rights | ACLU | Link
- VIDEO: Know Your Rights: Travel Edition | ACLU | Link
- VIDEO: If You Interact with ICE Agents at Work (ASL Translation) | ACLU-D.C. | Link
- VIDEO: What Happens if Immigration Officers Come to My Home? (ASL Translation) | ACLU-D.C. | Link

Free, Free Palestine! When History Calls...

9/3/2025

Dear friends,

Amidst the Nakba of 1948, my grandfather was shot dead on his doorstep in Jerusalem. Since that year, Israel has continued its quest to assert total control over all land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, aiming to fragment, weaken, and ultimately erase Palestinian presence. In 1988, my uncle Mubarak Awad, a popular nonviolent leader, was expelled for life from Jerusalem, where he was born and grew up. My uncle Emil and aunt Mai and their family fled Gaza in 2024 to escape the current genocide. Israel must be stopped.

Gaza: Siege, Displacement, and Genocide

Since 1967 but more visible for nearly two decades, Gaza has faced a land, sea, and air blockade that blatantly contravenes international law. Presently, it endures relentless bombardment, mass displacement, and deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure. This was never about “Hamas.” Israel seeks to render Gaza uninhabitable and force Palestinians to either leave or lose their ability to survive.

This week, in a landmark resolution adopted by 86% of its voting members, the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS)—the world’s largest academic body dedicated to genocide studies, declared that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide, citing mass civilian casualties, starvation, blockaded aid, and collective displacement.

The West Bank: Annexation, Separation, and Fragmentation

In the West Bank, the pattern of dispossession is equally strategic. Israel is moving to annex Area C, which encompasses over 60% of the territory. Meanwhile, settlements proliferate—most significantly in the E1 corridor—destined to sever Palestinian lands physically and create more modern Ghettos for Palestinians to live in. Cities and villages are wholly isolated from each other by roads lined with gates, checkpoint-controlled entry and exit points, and military roadblocks. What was once daily life—access to schools, mosques, hospitals, jobs—has become a controlled maze (and frequent humiliation at check-points), dismantling any hope for a unified Palestinian homeland.

Photo: Megan Hanna

Photo: Middle East Eye/Mosab Shawar

Water, Land, and Control

Israel controls and diverts the majority of West Bank water resources, leaving Palestinian communities with only a fraction of the supply available to nearby Israeli settlements. The systematic destruction of wells and pipelines has left entire villages without access to water, while in Gaza, residents are forced to rely on contaminated or insufficient sources. These policies, coupled with ongoing land confiscations and home demolitions, function as deliberate tools of displacement and deepen the humanitarian crisis.

Palestinians Inside the 1948 Territories (Israel)

Palestinians who remain within the 1948 borders—today citizens of Israel—also live under a system of discrimination that treats them as second-class citizens.. They face unequal access to housing, education, and services, alongside restrictive planning laws that deny building permits and facilitate land confiscation. Entire villages, particularly in the Naqab (Negev), remain “unrecognized,” denied water, electricity, and basic infrastructure.

Recent years have seen intensified surveillance, policing, and political repression of Palestinian citizens, particularly during protest movements in solidarity with Gaza and Jerusalem. The goal mirrors what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza: to weaken Palestinian identity, fragment communities, encourage emigration, and reduce political resistance while tightening control over all land from the river to the sea.

Jerusalem: Erasure of Presence

Within Jerusalem, evictions, restrictive planning laws, and creeping settlement expansion all serve the goal of erasing Palestinian presence and solidifying an exclusive Israeli identity for the city. Palestinians living in Jerusalem are living daily terror from violent settlers roaming the streets, insulting and physically attacking them.

Palestinian and Jewish Safety

Israel’s project is clear: to dominate from the river to the sea and beyond. Israel is building a permanent occupation of areas in Syria and Lebanon. Besides greed, Israelis are motivated by the myth that only an Israeli state can ensure Jewish safety. In fact, Jewish safety is endangered by the apartheid state that will never be accepted by Palestinians nor much of the world. NVI strongly believes in nonviolent resistance because we know that we must protect everyone in this wonderful homeland and ensure that Never Again means Never Again for ANYONE.

Sumud: Political Resistance through Steadfastness

Amid this onslaught, Palestinians maintain Sumud—steadfastness. In Gaza, families cultivate gardens amid rubble. Our partner, Dignity 4 Palestinians is doing amazing work providing food, water and medical aid to the most needy in Gaza. In the West Bank, NVI projects and programs such as HIRN, CJNV, Villages Group, and HLT help people resist expulsion while replanting olive trees destroyed by settler attacks. In Jerusalem and 1948 Israel, Lebanon, Syria and in the diaspora, parents preserve identity, language, and history through storytelling, education, and community—even when every system around them seeks to erase those very foundations.

The Global Sumud Flotilla: A Mirror to State Inaction

Building on the 17 year campaign of the Freedom Flotilla, the Global Sumud Flotilla—loading aid and spirits alike—has taken to the seas to do what states refuse: uphold humanitarian corridors, enforce international law, and challenge siege policies. The flotilla is both an act of nonviolent solidarity and a pointed reminder of government failures—a showcase of what should be happening, but isn’t.

What the International Community Must Do

This is not a tragedy—it is a political catastrophe born of deliberate policy choices. Governments and international bodies must act and international law must be upheld:

Hold Israel accountable—through enforcement of international law, sanctions, and diplomatic pressure.
Interrupt genocide—by securing safe passage for aid and protecting civilians, not leaving it to civilians on unarmed vessels.
Impose sanctions on officials, corporations and anyone responsible for war crimes and genocide.

Here is what you can do now!

Support those working on the ground— Here is a list of our partner organizations. These are some of many who are working relentlessly to address the injustices in Palestine and the world.
Join one of the largest protests in world history on Sept 18, the 1-year deadline for Israel to abide by the International Court of Justice order to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza.
Call on your governments to recognize Palestine and to vote at the UN to intervene with the on-going genocide in Gaza.
Boycott, Boycott Boycott. Download the app!.

Keep the pressure on your governments, raise your voices in protest, support the movement to end oppression and violence worldwide.

Sami Awad

Co-Director, NVI

International Court of Justice ICJ; https://www.icj-cij.org/node/204176

Abortion Rights are Human Rights

In the News;
Using our Privilege to Protect Others

The politics of women's bodies;

used to justify violence,
sell capitalism,
sustain humanity

8/1/25 Trump Administration Moves To Ban Abortion Care For Veterans: 'Unspeakably Cruel'

6/7/25 Does Georgia's fetal 'personhood' law mean a pregnant woman must stay on life support

7/11/22; Following President Biden’s Executive Order to Protect Access to Reproductive Health Care, HHS Announces Guidance to Clarify that Emergency Medical Care Includes Abortion Services; Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss (QSO-21-22-Hospitals UPDATED JULY 2022)

6/24/22 Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ending right to abortion upheld for decades (NPR)

“Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians” ~ Nelson Mandela

Seeds of the Future – Education as Resistance

“We must tell our stories and educate our children, for memory is the first step to freedom."

– Raja Shehadeh

Back to School – Facts & the West Bank

This September, the return to school looks very different for children across Palestine.

Gaza: Education in Ruins

Months of war have left Gaza’s education system in devastation. Between 90% and 97% of schools have been destroyed, damaged, or require major reconstruction. More than 720,000 students have had their learning completely interrupted –many for the second consecutive academic year.

Schools are no longer safe havens. Many have been turned into overcrowded shelters, while others have been directly attacked. Since October 2023, more than 13,000 students have been killed, tens of thousands injured, and entire generations left without access to safe education. The right to learn—so basic and universal—has become a daily struggle for survival.

West Bank: Financial Hardship and Disrupted Learning

In the West Bank, the crisis is different but no less urgent. Employment has plummeted by nearly a quarter, and more than 140,000 workers have lost steady pay due to restrictions and withheld revenues. Families are struggling to cover school fees, uniforms, and supplies, placing heavy stress on parents while students carry the weight of uncertainty.

Education as Hope

Yet, in both Gaza and the West Bank, the determination to learn remains unshaken. Education continues to symbolize resilience, dignity, and the belief in a brighter future—even in the darkest times.

Spotlight: Generation to Generation - Junior

Amid so much destruction and uncertainty, Holy Land Trust is launching the Generation to Generation - Junior project in partnership with Talitha Kumi School in Beit Jala—starting this September.

A group of young female students (grades 9–10) will participate in weekly workshops and creative sessions that provide a safe space to explore resilience, identity, and storytelling. The initiative will culminate in a bilingual booklet and exhibition documenting the stories of inspiring women from their communities.

By nurturing these young voices, the program builds leadership, preserves women’s narratives, and strengthens intergenerational bonds—transforming the trauma of today into the hope of tomorrow.