gate48 is a platform for Israelis living in the Netherlands who are aligned with the Palestinian struggle for liberation and strive to end the Israeli occupation and ongoing Nakba of 1948. gate48 was founded in 2007 by five Israeli women to share the knowledge of the activist communities we come from, demand accountability and promote our commitments to justice and non-violent resistance. We consider speaking out against injustice as our duty, and we reject the notion that criticizing Israel and demanding accountability for crimes against humanity is anti-Jewish, antisemitic or anti-Israel. Criticizing Israel and calling for BDS constitute legitimate demands and support the non-violent struggle for liberation from within.
gate48 supports all forms of Palestinian non-violent resistance to the occupation and Israeli system of rule. We protest against human rights violations of the Israeli government amounting to ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and genocide in Gaza. We believe that security for our families and loved ones in Israel, can never be achieved by oppressing others, by denying their humanity, by hiding behind concrete walls and iron domes, and by waging illegal wars of aggression. Respect for human rights and international law constitutes the only basis for justice and a shared and prosperous future for Israelis and Palestinians. We strive for a democratic future in which the two peoples share the land and live peacefully based on justice and equal rights.
gate48 organizes activities in the Netherlands that provide a platform to people from Israel/Palestine who resist the occupation in non-violent ways. We organise public-meetings, exhibitions, screenings and lectures in the Netherlands and expert missions to Israel/Palestine. Our mission is to raise awareness in the Netherlands to voices and grassroot activities that are often left unheard, or considered marginal; voices and activities that refuse to accept the current reality as a given and that assert alternative ways of understanding and framing possibilities of resistance or change.
Our mission is to raise awareness in the Netherlands to voices and activities from the grass-roots level, that are often left unheard or considered marginal. These are voices that refuse to accept the current reality as a given and that assert alternative ways of understanding and framing possibilities of resistance or change. We feel that most of the discussion in the Netherlands on what is often called the ’Israeli Palestinian conflict’ is a discussion about solutions with Dutch experts or Israeli and Palestinian politicians or other officials. We therefore see it as our mission to bring this discussion back to the ground, to let the people talk. Talk about the real consequences of nearly half a century of occupation for the people on both sides.
Our objectives are to change the Dutch public opinion and the Dutch foreign policy towards Israel – to make the Dutch more critical towards Israeli policies. We deliver our message as Israelis who support all the people who live in Israel/Palestine. Our background, motives and approach make it easier for audiences to avoid the customary separation between Israelis and Palestinians, between pro and anti. This last issue is becoming increasingly important as the discourse in the Netherlands on our country progressively changes to one of the two sides and we make an effort to emphasize an alternative to this dichotomy.
Board members
- Galit Saporta
- Noa Roei
- Erella Grassiani
- Hilla Dayan
- Shifra Kisch