To: Participants in the June 10, 2007 March on Washington

From: The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and United for Peace and Justice

We are pleased to see momentum building for this timely mobilization. The fact that you are participating in the rally and march is an indication that you understand how important it is that we take action to pressure the U.S. government to end its support for the Israeli Occupation, and other violations of Palestinian human rights. Now we urge you to help us ensure the success of this demonstration. We offer the following suggestions in the spirit of the power of collective action.

1. Permits are being secured for the rally and march on Sunday, June 10th. We decided to seek permits in order to make it possible for the largest numbers of people to participate without fear of repercussions.  We are all aware of the special dangers faced by Arabs, Arab-Americans, Muslims and immigrants who participate in demonstrations and protests. For this reason, we ask that no one engage in any illegal activity on the site of the protest.  Any groups planning any sort of civil disobedience should arrange for it to be clearly distinguished from and physically separate from this protest. Please note that the Capitol Police do not allow any sales or monetary solicitations at the site of the rally and they will take action against anyone engaged in such activity.  (This includes requests for donations.  Donations to the organizers to help with the costs of the rally and march will be taken at the end of the march.)

2. This is a peaceful, nonviolent protest. Violence of any kind will not be tolerated. It is possible that there will be counter-protesters and it is possible that some of them will engage in verbal abuse, or even attempt physical violence. We will have a trained, volunteer security team on hand to deal with any situations that might arise, but we ask all participants to refrain from engaging with counter-protesters or provocateurs either physically or verbally. Our goal is to make clear to the world the violence inherent in the Israeli Occupation and other violations of international law. Remember that the press will be watching all that goes on, and we know they can and will edit in any way they like. Let’s keep the moral and behavioral high ground, whatever the provocation. Our message will thus be stronger.

3. Our message must be clear and consistent. This is a protest against racism, against occupation, against the denial of human rights, and in support of international law and justice for Palestinians. As is well known, those who support occupation will try to make it appear that we are motivated by anti-Jewish racism. This is not true and we want to avoid making it easy to distort our messages. We therefore request that signs and slogans go the extra mile in respecting people of all religions, and not appear to deny the dignity of or call for violence against any group or community.

Please keep the messages positive.  We support international law. We call for an end to occupation. We support justice and freedom for all people of the region. We support peace. This is not to say that we all agree on all matters. Within the framework of justice and human rights, there are different views. Some at this protest support a two-state solution, some support a single democratic state, some a bi-national state, some a world without states. Some frame the issue in terms of apartheid, some in terms of nationalism, some in terms of socialism. The organizers of this protest ask all to be respectful of these disagreements. The Call to Action for this mobilization explains the shared principles of the demonstration and is available on the US Campaign website: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1281

4. Please respect the organizers of the protest. This will be a large protest. As such, we will need everyone's cooperation to make sure that things move along efficiently, that we get the march underway smoothly, and that we leave the grounds in the condition in which we found it. Please clean up after yourself, and follow instructions that come from the stage.