Occupation End Notes | July 21, 2005
Volume 2 Number 19
In this issue...
1. REGISTER NOW for the US Campaign’s 4th Annual National Organizers’ Conference – July 29-August 1, 2005 in Atlanta, GA
2.
US Campaign Update: Win a FREE Trip on a Global Exchange
Palestine/Israel Reality Tour; US Campaign Co-Sponsors the Peace
Alliance’s Department of Peace Conference; US Campaign Endorses UFPJ
Anti-War Mobilization
3. Resources & Education: INCP
Resolution on Divestment, Boycott, and Sanctions; War on Want Letters
to EU and UK on Human Rights Abuses in Palestine; Seeking Co-sponsors
for Health Professionals Tour
4. New Members: Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights; Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project; Women in Black – LA
5. Events: Conference: Wheels of Justice Tour; Stop the Wall Tour; Bereaved Families Speaking Tour
6.
Opportunities to Visit Israel and Palestine: ISM Freedom Summer; Middle
East Children’s Alliance Delegation; Palestine Summer Camp; Bethlehem
University Educators’ Conference; Holy Land Trust Summer Activist Camp;
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Summer Work Camp; F.O.R.
Interfaith Peacebuilders; Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Fall Study Tour; American Friends Service Committee Faces of Hope Olive
Harvest Delegation
1. REGISTER NOW– US Campaign 4th Annual Regional Organizers’ Conference, Atlanta, GA, July 29-August 1
DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!
If you haven’t registered yet, do it today!You can register online by clicking here
Please note that you must register and pay or make payment arrangements by WEDNESDAY, JULY 27th at 9:00 am in order guarantee that you will receive conference materials and meals. After this date you may still register online or on-site, however we cannot guarantee that you will receive all conference materials and meals for registrations after this deadline.Campaign Proposals and Workshops are Online!
Last month the US Campaign asked its member organizations to submit campaign proposals to be discussed and voted on by voting delegates to the conference. The goal is to agree upon a single, national campaign for the US Campaign and member organizations to devote significant staff, resources, and time for a minimum of one year. You can read these proposals by clicking here
We have a fantastic line-up of skills-building workshops that will be led by members of our coalition.To view this list of workshops click hereWe also encourage you to read this year’s strategy paper, A Single Campaign for the US Campaign Coalition:Why and Why Now?You can find this paper online at by clicking here
For more information, click hereor contact Kymberlie Quong Charles at outreach@endtheoccupation.org or 202-543-1778.
2. US CAMPAIGN UPDATE
*Donate TODAY to be entered in the US Campaign’s summer raffle by clicking here.Time is running out to win a FREE trip (valued at $1,750) on a Global Exchange Palestine/Israel Reality Tour (this offer does not include airfare, which is the responsibility of the winner). Donate $500, for example, and you will be entered 5 times in the raffle. A donation of $50 or more will also get you a raffle ticket to win a personalized, autographed copy of a book by famous authors such as Phyllis Bennis, Rashid Khalidi, and Naseer Aruri.The deadline for online contributions is July 29th, 2005, so make contribution now!The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is 501(c)(3) charitable organization; donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
* Kymberlie Quong Charles, the US Campaign’s Membership Outreach Coordinator, will lead Global Exchange’s upcoming Palestine/Israel Reality Tour from August 21-31.Tour participants will have the opportunity to meet with Israeli and Palestinians, to learn about organizations that are working for peace and justice for both people, and to travel around the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Israel.For more information about Global Exchange Palestine/Israel Reality Tours click here
| The US Campaign is co-sponsoring the Peace Alliance’s Department of Peace Conference, Sept. 10-12.Join the US Campaign in Washington, DC for a great conference to advocate for the creation of a US Department of Peace.For more information, click here |
* The US Campaign endorses United for Peace and Justice’s Fall Anti-War Mobilization in Washington, DC, Sept. 24-26.Join the US Campaign for an exciting weekend including a march, rally, fair, interfaith service, grassroots advocacy, and non-violent civil disobedience.Join us in our nation’s capital and help us link the occupations of Iraq and Palestine.For more information, click here
3. EDUCATION & RESOURCES
* At its annual meeting, held in Paris this July, the International Coordinating Network on Palestine (INCP), which is comprised of activists and members of civil society around the world and who meet under the auspices of the United Nations, unanimously passed the "Palestinian Civil Society Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel (BDS) Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights."Reports from this important meeting can be found here
* On July 18th, 2005, lawyers working with the UK-based non-profit organization War on Want sent letters to President José Manuel Barroso of the European Commission and UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw challenging them to provide evidence of any action they have taken to curtail human rights abuses against Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation.To read War on Want’s press release click here
* Seeking sponsors, hosts and funding for the Upcoming Tour of Two Health Professionals from the Ibdaa Cultural Center’s Health Committee at Dheisheh Refugee Camp. Tentative Dates: March 21st-April 17th, 2006. The aim of the tour is to educate the public on the health and psychological consequences of the Israeli Military Occupation on Palestinian Civil Society and projects and services provided by the Health Committee in response to the resulting humanitarian crisis. The Ibdaa Health Committee at Dheisheh Refugee camp is comprised of volunteer Health and Mental Health professionals, including nurses, physicians, social workers, psychologists, sociologists and other interested volunteers. Members of the committee have pioneered numerous programs and activities that promote the welfare of both children and adultsin response to the urgent needs of the population. If interested in participating in this tour, please contact Lori Rudolph: Telephone: (505) 243-470 or email: lorir@unm.edu.4. NEW MEMBERS
The Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights is a group of Austin-area citizens who pursue peace with justice for Palestinians. Our mission is to inform our community of the injustices that have been inflicted upon the Palestinian people and to urge nations to uphold their basic human and legal rights according to international law and U. N. resolutions.
The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project actively promotes and fosters friendships between the people of Olympia, Washington and Rafah, Palestine, for the purpose of strengthening cross-cultural awareness and understanding, international cooperation, justice, and peace.
Women in Black is an international peace network. Women in Black is not an organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action. Women in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel's Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Women in Black has developed in the United States, England, Italy, Spain, Azerbaijan and in FR Yugoslavia.
To become a member of the US Campaign please click here
* To view a complete list of organizational members of the US Campaign click here
5. EVENTS
*Ongoing: Wheels of Justice Tour
Members
of Voices in the Wilderness, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition,
the Middle East Children's Alliance, and affiliates of the
International Solidarity Movement take to the road in a colorfully
decorated full-size school bus for nonviolent education and action
against war and occupation in Iraq and Palestine and for justice and
universal human rights. For more information and to view the Wheels of
Justice itinerary click here
*Ongoing: Stop the Wall Tour
The
Stop the Wall Campaign and Tour traveled to 45 cities last summer and
fall. The Wall trailer and full scale models, together with films,
Power Point presentations and lots of handouts and maps had a
remarkable impact on those who saw them. View the new tour schedule here
Just before the AFL-CIO convenes in Chicago, its delegates will have a rare day-long chance to learn about Palestinian and Middle Eastern labor rights and unionizing efforts, as well as American unionists' efforts to support them. Among Labor for Palestine's goals is to change AFL-CIO policy toward Israel. The conference has been endorsed by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and is co-sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Group, Not In My Name, and Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition. There will be a $20 registration fee. Attendees are asked to come at 8:30 am to the conference site in the UIC Student Center, 750 S. Halsted. For more information click here
*June 25 - August 21, 2005: International Solidarity Movement Freedom Summer. Freedom Summer Palestine 2005 is a Palestinian nonviolent campaign against Israeli occupation. This summer, with the participation of international supporters, Palestinians will continue their long-standing mobilization for nonviolent direct action against the Israeli occupation and draw the world's attention to what is really happening in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Two-day training sessions will be conducted by ISM trainers every Sunday and Monday of Freedom Summer in Ramallah. On completion of training, groups of internationals will be dispatched to various regions to join local nonviolent resistance activities. For more information write: info@palsolidarity.org
* July 30-August 13: Fellowship of Reconciliation Interfaith Peace Builders
Interfaith Peace-Builder sends delegations to Israel and Palestine so that U.S. 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 click here
*October
ICAHD is pleased to announce that it will again be working in conjunction with an English company in arranging a study tour to Israel and Palestine that will take place over nine days in October 2005. Participants will be based in hotels in Jerusalem and Bethlehem and will have unique opportunities to hear analysis from key leaders on both sides of the divide. Visit people from villages divided by the Wall and others that are under threat. Travel south to Hebron and north to Baca in what is known as the Triangle area in the Galilee. See the Judean Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. For information email tours@icahduk.org
*October 8-17: American Friends Service Committee Faces of Hope Olive Harvest Delegation
This delegation is an excellent opportunity to observe and participate in the nonviolent resistance movement to the Israeli occupation. This movement brings together Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals to support the Palestinian olive harvest. The olive harvest season in the West Bank is generally a time of great community activism, where people of all ages work together to pick olives and join farmers as they reap their harvest. Application deadline is July 22, 2005. For more information click here
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 outreach@endtheoccupation.org
The US Campaign aims to change US policies that sustain Israel’s 38-year occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and that deny equal rights for all.
To donate to the US Campaign click here