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.
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