Occupation
End Notes, February 1st, 2007
Volume 4
Number 9
In this
issue...
1. US Campaign Update: US Campaign Plays Big Role in UFPJ
Anti-War Rally; Get Involved with theUS
Campaign’s June 10th Mobilization; US Campaign Action Alert on Pres.
Jimmy Carter’s New Book; Palestine Center’s new publication; Free Apartheid
Posters
2.Membership Update: Vermonters for a Just Peace in
Palestine/Israel Resource; SUSTAIN Philadelphia
New Tax Day Campaign
3. Boycott, Divestment,
& Sanctions: Divestment
Campaign Launched atStanford; FAWU Boycott Avocados from Israel;
PACBI Release BDS Initiatives from around the World
4. Resources &
Education: Israel May Have Violated Arms Export Control Act; 22 City
Tour with Combatants for Peace;After 20 Years, Deportation Case Against
Palestinians Dismissed ; Non-Violent Resistance in Palestine Talk; Women In
Black-Los Angeles Candle Light Vigil; More than 15,000 Sign Amazon Petition
5. Opportunities to Visit
Israel and Palestine: Interfaith Peace-Builders Delegations; Zajel
International Volunteer Work camp; MECA Delegations in August 2007; Volunteer
in Tel Rumeida
1. US CAMPAIGN UPDATE
* US Campaign Plays Big Role in
UFPJ Anti-War Rally
The US
Campaign helped to mobilize last weekend’s hugely successful anti-war protest
in Washington, DC, organized by United for Peace and
Justice. We worked with our allies, Adalah-NY, Connecticut United for Peace, and the Coalition for
Justice and Accountability to organize a Palestine,
Iraq, and Lebanon feeder march which marched through Chinatown and joined the rally on the Mall. The US
Campaign also spoke to the thousands gathered against the occupation in Iraq to make the connection to the occupation in
Palestine and
to encourage everyone to come back to DC to participate in the June 10th
mobilization against 40 years of occupation. Volunteers also distributed 1000’s
of postcards announcing our June 10th actions. On Sunday the US
Campaign led two workshops, one on the June 10th mobilization and the other on
Israeli Apartheid policies. To watch the US Campaign in action at the rally,
please click here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLe5yugwdpA
* June 10th -11th, 2007:
The World Says NO to Israeli Occupation!
Mobilization
in Washington, DC
On June
10-11, 2007, the US Campaign and United for Peace and Justice are sponsoring a
two-day mobilization in Washington, DC to protest the 40th anniversary of Israel's illegal military occupation of the
Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and
Gaza Strip. Under the banner, "The World Says No to Israeli
Occupation", the US
Campaign and UFPJ will hold a massive rally, teach-in, and grassroots lobbying
day. Get involved today! Click here
to see what you can do!
The
mobilization was recently featured in an article in the Forward.Click here to read the article: http://www.forward.com/articles/main-anti-war-group-plans-rally-against/
* The US
Campaign issued an action alert and press advisory coinciding with the
publication of former President Jimmy Carter’s new book entitled “Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid”.
Click here for
ideas on how you can use Carter’s new book to raise awareness in the United
States of Israel’s apartheid policies toward Palestinians.
* New merchandise on our website!
War Crimes
Litigation in U.S. Courts:
The Caterpillar Case
A Special Report by Gywnne Skinner, Esq.
The PalestineCenter Information Paper No. 9 (October
2006)
Please
click here
for information. (http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=142)
* Free Apartheid Posters
The US
Campaign has produced a stunning new series of posters on the theme of Israeli
Apartheid.If you’d like a free copy of
them, then come by the office over the next several days and help us prepare
them for mailing.We’ll reward your
labors with a set of these posters.To
view the posters, click here: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=169
If you’d
like to volunteer and you live in the Washington,
DC area, please contact Omar
Masri at 202-332-0994 or office@endtheoccupation.org.
Please note that US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation’s office is in Washington, DC.
2. MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
* The US
Campaign would like to highlight a new resource that one of its member groups, Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel
(VTJP), produced.
Click here
to see “What If Israel invaded Vermont?”
Vermonters
for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel is a local non-profit volunteer group that
works to support the survival of the Palestinian people and end the illegal,
immoral, and brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine through education,
advocacy, and action. We are committed to self-determination for the
Palestinian people, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and full
civil and political rights for all Palestinians in order to promote the
equality and safety of both Palestinians and Israelis.
Contact them
by e-mail at vtjp@vtjp.org
* Stop US Tax-Funded Aid to
Israel Now (SUSTAIN) – Philadelphia announces the launch of a tax day
campaign called “LOVE
PHILLY: Bring Our Money Home”. This four-month campaign connects what our tax dollars
destroy in Palestine with what they could build
in Philadelphia.
Right now, billions of dollars each year go from U.S. taxpayers to the Israeli
military, funding the destruction of Palestinian homes, agriculture, and
infrastructure. In the meantime, Philadelphians face crises around healthcare,
housing, and education. LOVE PHILLY will raise awareness in Philadelphia about
where our tax dollars are going and where they're not going, the violence
they're funding and the positive change they could make if they were redirected
to fund our city's needs.
Under the umbrella of this campaign, we hope anyone who's interested will use
multiple tactics to educate and agitate around U.S. tax policies. Ideas for action
include public art; teach-ins; letter-writing parties; web-based outreach;
banner drops; and public service announcements on the radio and TV. This is
just the beginning!
Click here to get involved and get more
information!
3. BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT,
& SANCTIONS
* January 25th, 2007:
Sparking
debate, SCAI launches divestment push
January
25, 2007
By Patrick Fitzgerald
Deeming it
the “most moral, effective and nonviolent approach” to bringing peace to the
Middle East, Students Confronting
Apartheid in Israel (SCAI) last night launched its campaign calling on the
University to selectively divest from companies with ties to Israel.
The
campaign, which comes on the heels of successful efforts in 2005 that prompted
Stanford to sever relations with corporations connected to Sudanese government,
drew the ire of a number of student and faculty members concerned with the use
of “apartheid” in the group’s name and its potential to further polarize
student dialogue.
While SCAI
heralds the decisions of the Presbyterian Church and the Academic Union of
Teachers in the United Kingdom
to divest from Israel,
petitions and campaigns on the issue at universities nationwide have struggled
to get off the ground. Divestment efforts at several Ivy League schools and the
UC system made headlines in 2002 but failed to produce the desired result.
Click here
to read more. (http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/1/25/sparkingDebateScaiLaunchesDivestmentPush)
* January 26th, 2007:
South
Africa: Avocados, Diamonds at Core of Anti-Israel Trade Campaign
Moyiga
Nduru | Inter Press Service News Agency
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 26 (IPS) - A call from a South African trade
unionist for national supermarket chains to stop importing avocado from Israel could
ultimately lead to the banning of all imports from the Jewish state, if unions
and human rights activists have their way.
Katishi
Masemola, secretary general of the Food and Allied Workers' Union (FAWU), told South Africa's supermarket chains earlier this
week that Israel
produces avocado under "slave-type conditions". He says the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) forbids the use of child labour which,
he claims, Israel
is employing on avocado farms.
IPS contacted the Israeli embassy in Pretoria,
the capital of South Africa,
for comment. It did not return IPS's call.
Masemola told IPS in an interview: "Israel
is occupying parts of Palestine
and it's frustrating its moving towards statehood. In those occupied
territories, avocados are produced under harsh slave-type conditions. Israeli
farmers hire Palestinian children and pay them peanuts."
Click here to
read more. (http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=431_0_1_0_C)
* January 2007:Palestinian
Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
(PACBI)
Update 17: Highlights of Boycott Divestment and Sanctions in 2006
January 2007
In 2006, Palestine solidarity groups as well as trade unions, academics,
cultural figures and even businesses in several countries, particularly in the
West, heeded the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) issued by the
overwhelming majority of Palestinian civil society in July 2005 by launching
campaigns targeting various aspects of Israel’s occupation regime. Following
are the highlights of this new chapter in international efforts in support of a
just and enduring peace in the entire region.
Academic Boycott
- Largest British Academic Union votes for an academic boycott of Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/press_releases_more.php?id=201_0_4_0_C
- Irish academics call on EU to stop funding Israeli academic institutions
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=372_0_1_0_C
- University of Michigan-Dearborn student government demands divestment from
Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=A380_0_1_0_M
Cultural Boycott
- Roger Waters challenges Israel to tear down its colonial Wall
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=A255_0_1_0_M
- Palestinian filmmakers, artists and cultural workers call for a cultural
boycott of Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=315_0_1_0_C
- British director Ken Loach backs Palestinian call for boycott on Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/press_releases_more.php?id=340_0_4_0_M
- John Berger rallies artists for cultural boycott of Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=416_0_1_0_C
- Swiss film festival drops Israel as sponsor to protest its crimes
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=288_0_1_0_C
- Edinburgh International Film Festival Returns Israeli Money in response to
Boycott Plans
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=A310_0_1_0_M
Economic Boycott/ Divestment
- Dutch bank opts to divest from companies supporting Israel’s occupation
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=406_0_1_0_C
- Pax Christi raps profiteers in Palestinian occupation
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=273_0_1_0_C
- Hi-tech Belgian firm boycotts Israel over “war crimes” and “apartheid”
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=377_0_1_0_C
- Large Irish store takes Israeli products off the shelves
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=A405_0_1_0_M
Union Action
- Largest South African trade union calls for boycott and sanctions against
Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=271_0_1_0_C
- Leading Canadian union votes to boycott Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=199_0_1_0_C
Sanctions and Diplomatic Measures
- Venezuela Recalls Ambassador From Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=316_0_1_0_C
- Bahraini civil society organization call to boycott Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=353_0_1_0_C
4. RESOURCES &
EDUCATION
*January 27th, 2007: NY Times: Israel May Have
Violated US Arms Export Control Act
On January
27, the New York Times broke a story reporting that the State Department was
about to release a preliminary finding to Congress that Israel may have violated the US Arms Export
Control Act by using cluster munitions against civilian targets during its war
on Lebanon
last summer.
Click here
to read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/world/middleeast/28cluster.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Since Israel’s war on Lebanon
last summer, the US Campaign has been urging Congress and the Administration to
hold Israel
accountable for its misuse of US weapons.Stay tuned for an action alert on this item soon!
*
January 18th – 31st,
February 1st – 9th, 2007: 22 City Tour with
Combatants for Peace
Brit Tzedek v'Shalom is pleased to
announce that our 22-city speaking tour with Combatants for Peacewill launch today in Atlanta, Georgia.
The tour will then proceed to metropolitan areas across the country: Raleigh, New York City, Philadelphia, New Haven, Bridgeport, Amherst, Albany, Providence, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Chicago, St. Louis, Columbia, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Portland, Eugene and
finally Seattle.
The
Combatants for Peace movement was founded in 2005 by Israelis and Palestinians
who were once actively involved in perpetuating the cycle of violence. They
decided to put down their weapons, and to fight instead for peace through
dialogue, reconciliation and educational outreach. In addition to organizing
countless meetings between Israeli and Palestinian veterans, the Combatants for
Peace have worked together to raise the consciousness in both larger Israeli
and Palestinian societies of the aspirations and fears of those on the "other
side," and in so doing to create partners in dialogue. For tour schedule,
click here
(http://ga3.org/btvshalom/notice-description.tcl?newsletter_id=4964489)
* January 31st, 2007:
After
20 Years, Deportation Case Against Palestinians Dismissed
By R.
Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
A federal
immigration judge in Los Angeles yesterday
dismissed a 20-year-old effort by the U.S.
government to deport two Palestinian activists who once supported a group later
determined to be a terrorist organization, calling Washington's lengthy case against the men
"an embarrassment to the rule of law."
Judge
Bruce J. Einhorn acted in response to what he described as repeated failures by
the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to comply with his order to
turn over any potentially exculpatory information about Michael Shehadeh and
Khader Hamide.
Click here
to read the full article. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/30/AR2007013001884.html0
* February 2nd, 2007:
Non-Violent Resistance In Palestine
Friday,
February 2nd 2007 7:00 p.m
Join us for a free lecture by Mohammed Khatib and Feryal Abu Hikal at the
Sacred heart/St. Dominic Church Hall, Sherman and Mellen Streets, Portland,
Maine
Mr. Katib is secretary of the West Bank town Bil’in’s village council and a
leading member of Bil’in’s Popular Committee against the Wall. He has spoken in
Europe on the Palestinian popular, non-violent
struggle against Israeli occupation.
Mrs. Feryal Abus Haikal is the retired headmistress of the KortubaSchool
in Hebron’s old
city. By continuing to function despite continual attacks by Israeli settlers
on students and staff, the school has served as a model of nonviolent
resistance to Israeli occupation.
Location:
Sacred heart/St. Dominic Church Hall Corner of Mellen and Sherman
Streets. Portland, ME
Contact:
Ruth Elkin
mainepjip@yahoogroups.com
207-774-9378
Sponsored By:
Event sponsored by the Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Social Justice Commission and
Maine Peace and Justice in Israel Palestine.
* February 5th, 2007:
Women in Black-Los Angeles
invites you to join in a silent vigil at the performances of the Israeli
Philharmonic at Disney Hall
Monday,
February 5th, 2007 6:30pm-8:00pm
Tuesday,
February 6th, 2007 6:30pm-8:00pm
See our
letters to the Israel
and L.A. Philharmonic Orchestras on our website at http://www.wib-la.org/. Our letter to the
Israel Philharmonic asking them to publicly oppose Israel's
occupation of Palestine
was signed by 800 supporters worldwide.
Contact us
at womeninblackla@gmail.com or at (323) 993-3322
* February 12th, 2007:
“Christians and Muslims Working for Peace in the Holy Land"
by Rev.
Naim Ateek
Monday
from Noon - 2:00 pm
TheRev Naim Ateek, is a Palestinian Anglican
priest and the founder and directorof
the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem. In 2006, RevAteek was presented with the Episcopal Peace Fellowship
John Nevin Sayre Awardin recognition of
his leadership at Sabeel and for his efforts to engage westernchurches in the work for justice and peace
between Palestinian and Israelis. He is the author of Justice and Only Justice:
a Palestinian Theology of Liberation and editor and contributor of Challenging
Christian
Zionism:Theology, Politics, and the Israel-Palestine
Conflict, a compilation of papers from Sabeel’s international conference in Jerusalem in April 2004. Ateek
also publishes a quarterly theological journal, Cornerstone, circulated in many
countries.
Location: Georgetown Intercultural Center
(http://explore.georgetown.edu/locations/?Action=View&LocationID=21)
This event
has been marked as open to the public.
This event
requires a ticket or RSVP Contact: cmcu@georgetown.edu
(mailto:cmcu@georgetown.edu)
Sponsor
The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
* More
than 15,000 customers of Amazon.com signed an online petition threatening to
close their accounts and take their business elsewhere if the internet shopping
site continues to present a new book by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in
an unusually negative light. Amazon did not move the offending review to other
review sections but did add an interview with Carter.Read the petition in full here:
http:///www.petitiononline.com/Amazon07/
5. OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT
ISRAEL AND PALESTINE
*Spring – Fall 2007 Schedule: March 17th -31st; May 26th-June
9th; July 28th-August 11th; November 3rd-17th:
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 (middleeast@forusa.org
)
* June 2nd – 20th,
2007: Zajel
International Voluntary Work Camp
An-NajahNationalUniversity is pleased to invite youth and
adults up to 35, to take part in the “Step in the right direction” summer work
camp. This project has been designed to provide international students and professionals
the opportunity to meet and discuss the Middle East
conflict, share ideas, enhance practical skills, foster relationships, and give
assistance to members of the Palestinian community.
The
international summer work camp, “Step in the right direction”, will bring
together 25 young people from around the world who are interested in helping
create a better world. We are specifically targeting people who are working
with organizations led by young people that address humanitarian issues and social
justice. We strongly encourage highly motivated and serious young men and women
to apply.
For more
information, please click here (http://youth.zajel.org/summer_camps/camp2007/announcing.htm)
* MECA
Delegation August 2007: Come with MECA to Palestine/Israel!
For
seventeen years, MECA has taken small groups to the West Bank, Gaza
and Israel.MECA staff and local guides introduce you to
activists, journalists, aid workers, teachers, social workers and others living
under occupation. We’ll stay with our “Ibdaa family” in Dheisheh refugee camp,
and visit other MECA partners and friends throughout Palestine/
Israel.
For
information, please contact:
Deborah
Agre or Josie Shields-Stromsness deborah@mecaforpeace.org,
josie@mecaforpeace.org
510-548-0542
*Volunteer
in Tel Rumeida!
Tel
Rumeida Project is an organization solely for work purposes (i.e. it is not
an organization for its own sake.) Therefore, volunteers are expected to
be able to function well with instruction and independently. Volunteers will be
working in the neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, Hebron, keeping a presence on the streets to
prevent against settler attacks and soldier/police harassment of the
Palestinian residents who live in the neighborhood. For more information,
please see http://www.telrumeidaproject.org/Volunteer.html
*****
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@endtheoccupation.org.
The US
Campaign aims to change U.S.
policies that sustain Israel's
39-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and that deny equal rights for all.
US Campaign toEndthe Israeli Occupation PO Box 21539Washington,
DC20009
202-332-0994 http://www.endtheoccupation.org
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