Occupation End Notes | February 16, 2007
Volume 4 Number 10
Occupation
End Notes, February 16th, 2007
Volume 4
Number 10
In this
issue...
1.
2. Legislative Update: Middle East Special Envoy; Cluster
Munitions; US Campaign Responds to Biased House Hearing;
3. Legal Update: Judge Guzman in
4. Boycott, Divestment,
& Sanctions: Palestinian Trade Unions Call upon International
Labor Movement
5.Membership Update: MADRE Job Opening
6. Resources &
Education: US Campaign Steering Committee Member Phyllis Bennis Launches
New Book; Screening of Jimmy Carter’s book presentation; The Palestinian Summer
Celebration
7. Opportunities to Visit
Israel and Palestine: Interfaith
Peace-Builders Delegations; 2007 CAP Tour; Global Exchange Delegations;
ICAHD-USA Delegations; Zajel International Volunteer Work camp; MECA
Delegations in August 2007; Volunteer in Tel Rumeida
1. US CAMPAIGN UPDATE
* 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
*
The US
Campaign is excited to announce the launch of its Anti-Apartheid Framework
(AAF). The AAF was developed in response to a resolution passed by the US
Campaign's General Body at its Fifth Annual National Organizers' Conference in
The AAF is
meant to be an educational resource and not a campaign. This means that we hope
you use these materials to frame the conflict in
The AAF
includes a number of resources that you can find by clicking here.
These
resources include a public service announcement, posters, fact sheets, and DVDs.
Together these resources constitute an "AAF Organizing Packet." Each US
Campaign member organization will be receiving an Organizing Packet next week.
As part of
the AAF, the US Campaign has designed a striking set of six posters with the
theme "Apartheid: Wrong for South Africans, Wrong for
Palestinians". These glossy, union-made posters are suitable to
frame and/or use for organizing purposes.
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The US
Campaign would like to send you a set of these posters for a tax-deductible
donation that you make to support our work. Click here to get your set of posters for:
1 Set of
Posters (6) for $25 incl S&H.
2 Sets of Posters (12) for $35 incl S&H.
3 Sets of Posters (18) for $45 incl S&H
Contact
the US Campaign for quotes on bulk orders greater than 3 sets of
posters at 202-332-0994 or office@endtheoccupation.org
Learn how
to use the Organizing Packet by clicking here.
The
resolution also included a call to establish a Boycott, Divestment Research
Committee empowered to research and recommend a consumer product boycott target.
Learn more about this effort by clicking here.
The US
Campaign looks forward to working with you to end Israeli apartheid policies!
* Make a Donation for the
Mobilization and Get Apartheid Posters
For a
limited time, everyone who donates $25 or more will receive a free set of six
anti-apartheid posters. These glossy 18X24 inch posters are union-made and
suitable to frame. Click
here to view the poster set.
Please
make your generous tax-deductible
donation today!
Help Us Organize
If you can
help us mobilize and organize for this rally by distributing postcards and
collecting petition signatures, please click
here and we'll send you an organizing packet.
You can
also download organizing resources from our website by clicking
here.
Sign the Petition
The US
Campaign is collecting petition signatures to deliver to Congress for the
grassroots lobbying day. Click
here to sign the petition and make your voice heard!
In the News
To read
articles and watch videos about the planned protest, click
here.
Don't
forget to make your tax-deductible
donation today for this mobilization and receive a free set of
anti-apartheid posters!
2. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Member of
Congress will be returning to their homes next week for the President’s Day
District Work Period.This is the
perfect time to gather a delegation of constituents to speak to your Members of
Congress about
Here are a
few legislative and policy issues that you can raise while talking to your
Members of Congress.
On
February 8, Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) introduced a resolution calling on the
President to appoint a special envoy to pursue a diplomatic resolution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.H.Res.143
currently has 10 cosponsors.Ask your
Representative to cosponsor this resolution and use it as an opportunity to
educate your Member of Congress about the need for the
Cluster Munitions
On
February 14, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) introduced a resolution limiting the
sale of cluster munitions. S.594 currently
has 3 cosponsors.Click
here to read Sen. Feinstein’s statement on the Senate floor introducing the
resolution.In the 109th
Congress, Sen. Feinstein introduced a similar amendment to an appropriations
bill, which was defeated. Sen.
Feinstein’s initiative to limit the sale of cluster munitions is in part
motivated by
On
February 14, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY). Chair of the House Subcommittee on the
Middle East and
Unfortunately,
Rep. Ackerman responded to this overture by adding to the witness list the
notorious Islamophobe and McCarthyite Daniel Pipes.Palestine Center Fellow Michael Brown
published an article lambasting the subcommittee for its biased hearing.Click here to read
the article.
Rep.
Ackerman can be reached at 202-225-2601 if you would like to express your
opinion to him about this biased hearing.
According
to a February 12 article in the Israeli newspaper Globes,
3. LEGAL UPDATE
Judge Juan
Guzman, the judge who indicted former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, was in
Guzman was
invited by the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD) which is
trying to build a legal case against Israelis involved in the demolition of
Palestinian homes.
To read
the entire article, go here:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1170359797839&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
To listen
to a podcast in which Guzman discusses international legal solutions for war
crimes and human rights violations and more specifically the experience in
Latin America and its relation to the Situation in Palestine click here:
http://www.alternativenews.org/podcasts/news-from-within-podcast-international-legal-solutions-for-war-crimes-and-human-rights-viola-2.html
4. BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT,
& SANCTIONS
February 13th, 2007: PACBI:
Palestinian Trade Unions Call upon
International Labor Movement
The
Palestinian Trade unions have given out a Call for Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions endorsed by:
* the General Union of Palestinian Workers (GUPW).
* the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU).
* the Coalition of Independent Democratic Unions.
* Other Palestinian professional and vocational unions.
In a press
conference held on February 11 2007, the Trade Unions and Anti-Apartheid Wall
Campaign addressed this call to the Arab and International Trade Unions and, in
particular, the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, the Arab
League, the Arab Labor Organization, the International Labor Organization, the
International Trade Union Confederation, the Organization of African Trade
Union Unity, the Palestinian people and the international community.
A further press conference is scheduled to be held in the Gaza Strip.
Click here to
read more. (http://www.pacbi.org/boycott_news_more.php?id=441_0_1_0_C)
5. MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
* Job
MADRE is
seeking an experienced full-time Membership Coordinator to manage and maintain
donor database; process donations; generate acknowledgements; maintain donor
information; conduct prospecting and assist with other fundraising tasks.
Salary:
Mid to upper 20's
Location:
Start
Date: Immediate.Please be prepared to
make a two-year commitment.
MADRE is
an international women's human rights organization that works in partnership
with community-based women's organizations worldwide to address issues of
health and reproductive rights, economic development, education, and other
human rights. MADRE provides resources, training, and support to enable our
sister organizations to meet concrete needs in their communities while working
to shift the balance of power to promote long-term development and social
justice.
MADRE is
an equal opportunity employer.
No phone
calls, please.Email cover letter,
resume and three references to madre_resumes@yahoo.com
6. RESOURCES &
EDUCATION
*
February 18th, 2007:
Join Phyllis Bennis at Busboys and Poets to Launch her New Book: Understanding the
Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer
Sunday,
February 18, 20076:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Published
by Interlink in association with TARI, the book is a set of "frequently
asked questions" ranging from "who are the Palestinians" and
"what are the Israeli settlements" to "why do people like Nelson
Mandela and Jimmy Carter describe Israeli practices as 'apartheid'?" and
"what does Israel's occupation have to do with the U.S. war in Iraq,"
all the way up to this past summer's war in Lebanon.
Busboys and Poets
14th
and V Streets,
* February 28th, 2007:
Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid
Wednesday, February 28th 2007 7:30
Columbia, Maryland
Videotaped presentation of former president Jimmy Carter's
Jan. 23 speech at Brandeis University about his new book, 'Palestine: Peace Not
Apartheid'
Location:
Howard County Central Library
10375 Little
Contact:
Joanne Heisel
joanne_kh@comcast.net
Sponsored By:
Howard County Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
* June 20th – August
18th, 2007: The Palestinian summer celebration 2007
Come and celebrate
The Palestinian summer celebration is a unique
annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to
encounter the life and culture in
Participants will also have the opportunity to listen and question high level
speakers of various positions and expertise.
7.
OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT
*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
* April 1st – April 10th,
2007: 2007 Congressional Accompaniment Project
You can be
a part of a group of peacemakers who will leave for an 10 day trip to
Israel-Palestine, accompanying several U.S. Congressional Senior Staff Aides on
a mission of peacemaking and fact-finding.
It is an
unparalleled chance to accomplish two important goals: 1. expand and deepening
your own knowledge of the Holy Land and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through
direct experience, and 2. influence the political climate of Washington toward
a more positive attitude and fair policies that will help enable a just peace
in the region for both the state of Israel and the people of Palestine.
However,
the time is growing short to sign on as an “Accompanier” for this 2007
Congressional Accompaniment Tour.We
must hear from you by Feb. 20thto
reserve a place.
For more
information or to apply as an “Accompanier” for the 2007 CAP tour to
Israel/Palestine, contact us immediately. http://www.middleeastawareness.org
Darrell
& Sue Yeaney, Coordinators
2007 CAP
Tour
Peacemaking
Task Force
Presbytery
of
sue-dy@avalon.net
319
354-7877
*
Spring – Fall 2007 Schedule: April 21st
– May 1st, August 12th – 22nd, 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
For more information you can contact Global Exchange (800-497-1994 x. 251) or
email palestine@globalexchange.org.
April 21 – May 1, 2007 <http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/802.html>
August 12 – 22, 2007 <http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/803.html>
December 2 – 12, 2007
* April 2007: ICAHD-USA Delegations to Israel/Palestine:
Spaces
still available for the Experience Travel Tours' 10-day study tour this spring
(April 2007) to Palestine/Israel designed to educate people about the conflict,
introduce key figures from both the Palestinian and Israeli peace communities
and empower participants to be effective advocates for a just peace upon their
return home. Some highlights of the trip, now in its seventh year, include
visits to the Galilee, the Negev, several cities in the West Bank, the Dheisheh
Refugee Camp, the Israeli Knesset and an Israeli settlement as well as meetings
with Palestinian and Israeli peace activists, political figures and religious
leaders, Palestinians whose homes have been demolished, Bedouin communities
under siege and international activist groups in the field.Email:studytours80@hotmail.comfor more
information.
* June 2nd – 20th,
2007: Zajel
International Voluntary Work Camp
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,
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,
*****
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.
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