[WCUSP] Fwd: Bulldozers, Film Festival, Tutu, UFPJ = Occupation End Notes!
Odile Hugonot Haber
odilehh at gmail.com
Thu Sep 27 20:19:02 CDT 2007
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
<uscampaign at mail.democracyinaction.org>
Date: Sep 27, 2007 5:08 PM
Subject: Bulldozers, Film Festival, Tutu, UFPJ = Occupation End Notes!
To: Odilehh at gmail.com
Occupation End Notes, September 27, 2007
Volume 5 Number 5
Dear Odile ,
In this issue of the Occupation End Notes,
1. US Campaign Update: US Campaign Adopts Proposals on Apartheid,
Motorola, and Nakba at 6th Annual National Organizers' Conference;
Caterpillar update
2. Member Group Update: New Member Groups; Friends of Sabeel National
Conference on Apartheid
3. Resources & Events: Gaza Action Alerts; Institute for Palestine
Studies Policy Note No. 20; Boston Palestine Film Festival; UFPJ
October 27 Regional Mobilizations
4. Opportunities to Visit Israel and Palestine: Interfaith
Peace-Builders; Global Exchange
________________________________
1. US CAMPAIGN UPDATE:
* US Campaign Adopts Three Proposals
More than 100 delegates from more than 50 member organizations of the
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation met during the weekend of
September 7-9 at the Arlington Campus of George Mason University in
Arlington, Virginia for the US Campaign's 6th Annual National
Organizers' Conference.
Delegates to the conference amended and then passed by consensus all
three proposals submitted for consideration. The proposals, which
will guide the work of the US Campaign for the next year, call for the
US Campaign to:
· Organize a national Anti-Apartheid speaking and organizing tour;
· Launch a national boycott campaign against Motorola for
profiting from Israeli occupation; and
· Commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nakba through
educational campaigns and days of action
To read the proposals as amended and adopted by consensus, please click here.
*Caterpillar Update!
Just three days following the 9th Circuit Court's dismissal of the
Corrie v. Caterpillar case, 19-year old Mahmoud Al Khafafi was
brutally murdered by a bulldozer near Al Bureji Camp in central Gaza.
Caterpillar bulldozers demolished 13 homes and razed agricultural land
in the area the same day.
Last night the US Campaign hosted a conference call with Cindy Corrie
to discuss strategic next steps in the CAT Campaign. With great
energy on the call from individuals and from our member groups, the US
Campaign will launch a Call To Action next week for calls to
Congresspersons and the State Department.
As well, the US Campaign is calling for a National Day of Action on
October 19 in major cities across the United States. We are preparing
resources and materials for this event. Groups are already gearing up
for action in Boston, Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, Olympia, Portland,
Seattle and Wisconsin. The Day of Action will be decentralized – the
US Campaign will provide the resources, and individuals and member
groups on the ground will do the organizing. If you would like to get
involved, please contact Ashley at outreach at endtheoccupation.org
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THE CALL TO ACTION, COMING NEXT WEEK!
________________________________
2. MEMBER GROUP UPDATE:
* The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation would like to welcome
the following groups to its membership:
Ø Adalah – NY: Coalition for Justice in the Middle East [New York]
The Ad-Hoc Coalition for Justice in the Middle East began organizing
actions in response to the escalation of Israeli attacks on the Gaza
Strip at the end of June and subsequent Israeli attacks and incursions
into Lebanon in July 2006.
To read more, please click here.
Ø Ann Arbor Boycott Israeli Goods (BIG) [Michigan]
AA-BIG emphasizes Israel's flagrant violations of Palestinian human
rights and the humanitarian crisis they have created in the West Bank
and Gaza. They state, "A growing number of Americans believe what much
of the world already sees, that Israel is pursuing a deliberate policy
of expansion and ethnic cleansing which is creating an Apartheid-like
situation, and that it will reverse this policy only if it is
persuaded by outside pressure.''
Click here to get in contact with Ann Arbor BIG!
Ø Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort (AWARE) [Illinois]
AWARE, the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort, works to oppose aggressive
wars and to end racism. Our concerns also include the militarization
of society, inequalities of wealth and opportunity, the concentration
and uniformity of news sources, the global extension of American
power, the demise of internationally agreed norms of behavior, the
threat of corporate globalization to the common welfare, and the
erosion of civil liberties. We come together to coordinate our efforts
individually and with other organizations to share resources and ideas
and to make large scale actions possible as we work towards peace and
justice.
Click here to read more.
Ø Front Range Coalition for Mideast Justice & Peace [Colorado]
Front Range Coalition is an activist coalition based out of Denver
that protests military actions in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and
Afghanistan.
Click here to read more.
Ø Idaho Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid [Idaho]
Ø Indianapolis Code Pink [Indiana]
If your group would like to join our coalition of 250 organizations,
please contact our Office Manager/Membership Outreach Coordinator by
emailing him at office at endtheoccupation.org!
* Friends of Sabeel Conference: The Apartheid Paradigm in
Palestine-Israel: Issues of Justice and Equality
October 26 & 27, 2007
Friends of Sabeel - New England Chapter are organizing a historic
conference, The Apartheid Paradigm in Palestine-Israel: Issues of
Justice and Equality, sponsored by Friends of Sabeel - North America
and hosted in Boston by Friends of Sabeel - New England, October 26
and 27, 2007.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu will give the keynote address and many other
international, national, and local scholars and activists including US
Campaign's Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies, David
Wildman of the United Methodist Church, and Nancy Murray of the Boston
Coalition for Palestinian Rights will speak!
Join activists from all over the world and share your commitment to peace!
For more information, please click here.
________________________________
3. RESOURCES AND EVENTS
* GAZA Action Alerts
· Jewish Voice for Peace: Do Not Withhold Electricity, Water,
and Goods from the People of Gaza!
Send a letter of protest condemning the decision of the Israeli
government to begin withholding electricity, water and goods from the
Gaza Strip. These actions are inhumane and illegal under international
law.
U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, refused to condemn the
Israeli move, despite her pronouncement that the U.S. "will not
abandon the innocent Palestinians in Gaza, and indeed will make every
effort to deal with their humanitarian needs." Remind her that cutting
the utilities to the whole civilian population in the Gaza Strip makes
a mockery of her promise.
Remind Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, that these measures
amount to collective punishment, and instead of making the citizens of
southern Israel safer, will only increase the frequency of the firing
of rockets from Gaza into Israel.
· Carter Center: Israeli Actions in the Gaza Strip and the
West Bank: Prospects Dim for Middle East Peace
CONTACTS:
In Ramallah, Scott Custer 9722 240 5240
In Atlanta, Deborah Hakes, 404-420-5124
In a statement issued September 21, 2007 (see below): The Carter
Center deplores the decision taken Wednesday by Israel to declare the
Gaza Strip a hostile territory and its threat to cut off provision of
essential services such as electricity and fuel to the civilian
population. The Center strongly believes that such actions would defy
Israel's obligations toward the civilian population under
international humanitarian and human rights laws, and urges Israel to
rescind this decision.
Click here to read more.
· Amnesty International: Amnesty International calls for
triple action on behalf of Gaza
Amnesty International is concerned that the implementation of the
Israeli government decision of 19 September that Additional sanctions
will be placed on the Hamas regime in order to restrict the passage of
various goods to the Gaza Strip and reduce the supply of fuel and
electricity. Restrictions will also be placed on the movement of
people to and from the Gaza Strip would cause a further deterioration
of the already dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and
adversely affect the 1.5 million Palestinians who live there.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in English, Hebrew, or your own language:
- expressing concern that further restrictions on the supply of
electricity and fuel and on the passage of persons and goods into and
out of the Gaza Strip would cause a further deterioration of already
dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and would constitute collective
punishment which is forbidden under international law;
- calling for the decision of the government to be rescinded;
- reminding the Israeli government of its obligation as the occupying
power under international humanitarian and human rights law to ensure
the welfare of the Palestinians population in the Gaza Strip, notably
their obligation to ensure the supply of essential necessities and to
allow the movement of people and goods;
- expressing concern for the residents of Gaza currently in the Strip
who are unable to leave, including patients in need of medical care
not available in the Gaza Strip;
Send appeals to:
Tzipi Livni (Ms)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
9 Yitzhak Rabin Boulevard, Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem 91035, Israel
Fax: + 972 2 530 3367
email: sar at mfa.gov.il
Salutation: Dear Minister
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English,
Arabic, or your own language:
- urging the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip to prevent the
launching of Qassam rockets into Israel by all Palestinian armed
groups in the Gaza Strip;
- urging the President of the Palestinian Authority to call on Fatah's
armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, in the Gaza Strip to put an
immediate end to the launching of Qassam rockets into Israel;
Send appeals to:
Mr Ismail Haniyeh and Dr Mahmoud Zahar
Hamas leadership in Gaza
Fax: + 970 8 282 2159/ 284 5040/ 286 8971
Email: ihaniyyeh at hotmail.com
Salutation: Dear Mr Haniyeh and Dr Zahar
Mahmoud Abbas
President of the Palestinian Authority
Fax: +972 2 296 1370/ 2 298 1370/ 2 296 3179
Salutation: Dear President
* September 11, 2007: Institute for Palestine Studies Policy Note No.
20
The Fall Meeting & the Trend to Focus on Aid Rather than Rights
By Nadia Hijab and Diana Buttu
The timing and substance of the international meeting called by US
President George Bush in his 16 July 2007 speech on the Middle East
may end up focusing on aid at the expense of a political solution.
This moves further away from the 1991 Madrid international conference
and the bilateral Oslo 1993-2000 negotiations and reinforces the trend
that was so visible at the 2005 London meeting. This approach has not
worked before and is unlikely to work today.
The international meeting called for by US President Bush George Bush
in his 16 July 2007 speech is expected to convene in November to
"provide decisive support to Palestinian leaders working for peace;"
review progress "toward building Palestinian institutions;" and
"support further reform." The emphasis on internal Palestinian matters
rather than the 40-year-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories dashes hopes for an end to that occupation. The still
pending issue of who will participate has repercussions for
Palestinian Authority (PA) relations with and support from the Arab
world, and for a comprehensive resolution of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Moreover, the meeting, if it takes place as planned, will be
sandwiched between two donor conferences on Palestine, one slated for
late September the other mooted for December.
Click here to read more.
* September 29 – October 2, 2007: Boston Palestine Film Festival (BPFF)
The first ever Boston Palestine Film Festival will be taking place
through the end of September and October. For full information about
the event go to http://www.bostonpalestinefilmfest.org
This festival features a range of compelling and thought-provoking
documentaries, dramatic features, rare early works (1969 to 1980), and
new films by emerging artists. These films from international
directors bring an honest, self-described, and independent view of
Palestine and its diasporic society, culture, and political travails.
The nine days of screenings take place at five major venues across
Boston/Cambridge: the Museum of Fine Arts, Coolidge Corner Theatre,
Kendall Square Cinema, Harvard University, and Boston College. The
festival encompasses over 40 films; Q&A with visiting directors;
opening and closing receptions with international directors, actors,
and academics; and the US premiere of many acclaimed films like
Hardball and Driving to Zigzigland, among others.
For a list of the events, please click here.
* October 27: UFPJ Regional Mobilizations!
Later this fall, people from all walks of life will gather at sites
around the country for 11 regional demonstrations.
People everywhere want the war to end, but Washington has failed to
take decisive action. With each passing month, nearly 100
service-people and countless more Iraqis are killed, some 12 billion
of our tax dollars are spent, and the death and destruction continue.
Our communities – from New Orleans to Minneapolis – are neglected and
suffer the consequences.
>From Boston to Los Angeles, from New York to New Orleans, on October
27th the people will speak: We want this war to end, and we want it to
end now!
For more information about these Regional Mobilizations can be found
by clicking here.
The US Campaign has endorsed this event and we encourage our member
groups to do the same by clicking here!
Coordinate any action on Palestine on October 27th with the cities
that are organizing these Regional Mobilizations. The contacts for the
Regional Mobilizations are:
New England/Boston
Joseph Gainza
AFSC - Vermont
802-229-2340
jgainza at afsc.org
New York and Northern New Jersey/ New York City
Leslie Kielson
UFPJ/NYC
212-856-5545
lrk44 at earthlink.net
Mid-Atlantic/Philadelphia
Jody Dodd
Women's International League for Peace & Freedom
215-563-7110
jdodd at wilpf.org
John Braxton
US Labor Against the War
215-751-8555
jbraxton at ccp.edu
David Kalkstein
South Jersey Coalition for Peace and Justice
856-482-2054
brownmayola at comcast.net
South - eastern part/Jonesborough, TN
Linda Modica
First TN Progressives
423-676-2925
Linda.c.modica at mac.com
Florida/Orlando
Matt Devlieger
954-536-7461
actlikematt at gmail.com
Mid-West/Chicago
Carl Davidson
Chicagoans Against War & Injustice (CAWI)
773-384-8827
carld717 at aol.com
George Martin
Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace
414-964-5158
george at peaceactionwi.org
Northwest/Seattle
Kelly Campbell
September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
503-230-9427 x2
kelly at peacefultomorrows.org
Northern California/San Francisco
Siri Margerin
United for Peace & Justice - Bay Area
415-305-5749
sirism at mac.com
Southern California/Los Angeles
Don White
Comm in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
323-556-1932
donwhite4justice at hotmail.com
Mountain States/Salt Lake City
Kim Spangrude
Utah MFSO
801-718-0863
kimspangrude at mac.com
utahvoices at lists.riseup.net
Please add your organization's event to our calendar by clicking here!
________________________________
4. OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
* Fall 2007 Schedule: October 27th – November 10th: Interfaith
Peace-Builders Delegations to Israel/Palestine
Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB) sends delegations to Israel and
Palestine so that US citizens can see the conflict with their own
eyes. Participants have the opportunity to learn directly from Israeli
and Palestinian nonviolent peace/human-rights activists, to spend time
in Palestinian and Israeli homes, and to experience the situation of
Palestinians living under military occupation. For more information,
contact the IFPB office directly by phone (202-244-0821) or email
office at ifpbdel.org.
2008 dates:
March 29 - April 12
May 24 - June 7
July 26 - August 9
October/November (exact dates TBD)
* Fall 2007 Schedule: December 2nd – 12th: Global Exchange's
Delegations to Palestine & Israel
Global Exchange's delegations to Palestine & Israel provide first-hand
exposure to the daily struggles and realities of Palestinians living
under Occupation. The delegations strive to further the US public's
understanding of the conflict by listening to the aspirations and
frustrations of Palestinians, by examining the dimensions of the human
rights crisis under Israeli rule, as well as learning from
Palestinians and Israelis who are working for a just peace and an end
to the Occupation.
For more information you can contact Global Exchange (800-497-1994 x.
251) or email palestine at globalexchange.org.
________________________________
Occupation End Notes is the US Campaign bi-monthly newsletter,
designed as a tool for activists. For this newsletter to be
successful, we need your participation. Use us to promote events, give
feedback on recent actions, recommend resources, or just learn from
other activists in the movement. If you or your organization are
planning an event aimed at ending the occupation, or you have
information for the Newsletter, please contact the US Campaign at
office at endtheoccupation.org.
The US Campaign aims to change U.S. policies that sustain Israel's
40-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and East
Jerusalem, and that deny equal rights for all.
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
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