Announcements, June 2004, www.aljazeerah.info |
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Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
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Pennsylvania Arab Americans Launch '04 Efforts
3rd Annual Atlanta Palestinian Film Festival: Uncovering the Suffering, Discovering the Resilience
Road to the White House:
Sunday, June 27th at 6: 30 P.M. EST
Road to the White House will feature two events: The Constitution Party's presidential nominee, Michael Peroutka gave an acceptance speech on June 25, 2004 at the party's national convention. The party’s founder, Howard Phillips will be among the other speakers. The Constitution Party will hold its convention June 23-26 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Coverage from the Green Party's national convention will also be shown. The Green Party will hold its convention June 23-28 at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Freedom Summer in Palestine June 25- August 19 is Freedom Summer in Palestine where people from around the world are invited to participate in a 56 day campaign (one day for every year of displacement and dispossession) against occupation. Palestinians are mobilizing with the participation of their international supporters to draw the attention of the world to the true nature of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to demonstrate that the Palestinian struggle is for justice, dignity, human rights and freedom. Like the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, India's National Liberation Movement and the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa, Freedom Summer will utilize nonviolent direct action strategies and tactics to overcome oppression. Plans call for ongoing peaceful resistance to construction of the Apartheid Wall where old and young will convergence at different points of the Wall in actions designed to highlight the reality of their imprisonment. Simultaneous demonstrations against checkpoints and removal of roadblocks in all regions are also planned. Convoys of busses from West Bank cities will converge on Jerusalem for Friday prayer. Churches will organize Christian prayers on this day also. The highlight of Freedom Summer will be a three week march by Palestinians, internationals and Israelis along the path of the Apartheid Wall, beginning in the Jenin area and through cities, towns and villages affected by the wall, all the way to Jerusalem. Seedlings will be planted to replace the olive trees destroyed by the Israeli military. For further information, please contact www.palsolidarity.org Genevieve Cora Fraser Massachusetts
Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation
Anti War Protests until June 30 Every Friday 4:30 to 6:00 PM Five Points Downtown, Atlanta(Intersection of Marietta/Peachtree/Edgewood 1/2 block from Marta station)
J oin Us. We are group of people who rally every Friday against the war in Iraq, against Bush administration militaristic foreign policies in the Middle East and elsewhere, and against Bush administration anti civil liberties and civil rights policies with in our own boarders. We pass out leaflets, get petitions signed, and let our voice to be heard. Bring your signs and banners and your voice! You Present Make a Difference, Please Join Us Because:
Our Collective mission is to tell the world that the American people stand with the people all over this world for global economic opportunity, environmental responsibility, social justice, and freedom and democracy for ALL. This mission is not dependent on the outcome of the elections in November. Politicians come and go, but civic responsibility is ongoing.
For Peace & Justice Azita & Marcus Patton
Atlantans intensify call to end U.S. occupation on eve of G-8 Summit
Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Atlanta, Georgia On the eve of the G-8 Summit at Sea Island, Atlantans will again rally at Five Points on Friday, June 4, 5 to 6 pm, urging increasingly responsive passers-by to reject U.S. war policies and demand social and economic justice. For the sixth consecutive Friday, drivers will honk their horns in reply to raised posters with the appeals HONK TO BOOT BUSH and HONK TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME. I'm struck by how many people will take time on their way home from work to read and sign our petitions calling for an end to the occupation, stated veteran activist Ted Brodek. As the prison torture scandal has unfolded and now with the resignation of CIA Director George Tenet, people are saying things must change and maybe they can have an impact. Right here on the street you can tell the ground is shifting! The weekly Five Points rallies, reflecting the desire of war opponents to make a public statement in the face of prison torture and the rising death toll, have become a focal point for a range of activities, including street theater. The Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition/Atlanta has sent petitions to Georgia's Congressional delegation signed by hundreds passing through Five Points. Voter registration projects have volunteers on the street making available registration forms to those who are not yet on the rolls. The Five Points rallies join other on-going protests at Colony Square on the first Friday of each month noon to one, at Marietta Square every Friday noon to one, and at Central Presbyterian Church on Washington Street every Sunday 12:15 to one. Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition/Atlanta
> Lecture
Friday, June 4: PRO-PALESTINIAN STREET THEATER & DAY OF ACTION
PRO-PALESTINIAN STREET THEATER & EDUCATIONAL LEAFLETING SCHEDULE FOR JUNE 4TH – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! A full schedule of the day's activities follows this message. On Friday, June 4, the Chicago chapter of the International Solidarity Movement in conjunction with other Palestine solidarity groups and concerned individuals will conduct a day of street theater and educational leafleting at select locations in downtown Chicago which have strong connections to the state of Israel. These actions are being organized in solidarity with the Palestinian people and as a build up to the rally and march for justice in Palestine taking place later that afternoon. The Israeli Consulate has typically been the primary target of demonstrations because it serves as the official representative of the government of Israel to the Midwest. But it might surprise some people to learn that there is an extensive network of organizations, many of which are located right here in Chicago, dedicated to providing economic, social, political and/or military support to the state of Israel and strengthening the "special relationship" that exists between Israel and the United States. The atrocities taking place in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere in Palestine demand action on our part. No longer can we allow this support to be decontextualized and go unchallenged. We must become more proactive, vigilant and creative in our efforts to educate the public-at-large, stop all U.S. aid to Israel, and bring about an end to the illegal and brutal military occupation of Palestine. In addition to passing out educational leaflets to passersby explaining the nature and extent of U.S. support for the state of Israel and why we have chosen these particular locations, we will be reenacting several true-to-life scenes that occur daily at checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and we will also simulate the demolition of a Palestinian home by a Caterpillar bulldozer. Through our actions on the 4th and beyond we seek to provide the public-at-large with the kind of exposure that these atrocities demand and that the corporate media outlets consistently fail to provide. For additional information please contact ISMinChicago (at) aol.com or call 312-491-1789. JUNE 4TH SCHEDULE OF LOCATIONS: (people are needed to help leaflet, hold signs, banners and flags, and participate in the crowd scenes of the street theater - please feel free to join up with us at any point along the way) 8AM 1 South Franklin St. (leafleting) - Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF) and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JF) 9AM 221 N. LaSalle St. (leafleting) - State of Israel Bonds 10AM 120 W. Madison St. (leafleting and street theater) - American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 11AM 29 E. Madison St. (leafleting and street theater) - Friends of the Israel Defense Forces 12PM 22 W. Monroe St. and 55 E. Monroe St. (leafleting and street theater) - American Jewish Congress (AJC) and American Jewish Committee 1PM 53 W. Jackson Blvd. (leafleting) - Americans for a Safe Israel 2PM 180 N. Michigan Ave. and 225 N. Michigan Ave. (leafleting) - America-Israel Education and Economic Institute of Illinois Inc., America-Israel Business Exchange Institute (AIBEX Institute), America-Israel Chamber of Commerce, and Bank Hapoalim B.M. LOGISTICS FOR THE RALLY & MARCH FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE: 3:30PM RALLY at Tribune Plaza, 435 N. Michigan (Michigan & the Chicago River) 4:15PM MARCH to the Israeli Consulate, 111 E Wacker Drive. (Wacker & Michigan) 4:30PM RALLY at the Consulate **June 4-18, Siskel Film Center, 164 N State CHICAGO PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL www.palestinefilmfest.com or 312-873-4401
Fast for Peace Please join us in a monthly action. The last Sunday of each month is designated as a day of fasting, prayer, and meditation to end the violence in the Middle East. Peace, Kathleen Russell, Member of West Michigan Justice and Peace Coalition and Fountain Street Church
Boycott Gas Stations Every Wednesday In reference to an editorial on your website by Charles A. Beers posted the 15th of May, "DON'T BUY GAS ON MAY 19TH": I was wondering if Mr. Beers had any measurable feedback as to the May 19 action he proposed. I forwarded his suggestion to all that I know, and the response was overwhelmingly positive in support. Irrespective if the economic effect is measurable, I feel such demonstration is quite symbolic, and is something very many seem to be willing to participate in. I go on to propose that that this demonstration of not buying gas on Wednesday should be extended to every Wednesday as long as gas prices remain high and the United States remains at war with the Middle-East. I also like to remark, I find your website without a doubt the most exciting one on the entire internet, and many of my friends tell me the same. I only wish one day the wars will one day settle to allow more intriguing cultural discussions. Respectfully, Robert Stumm Virginia, USA.
Meeting to organize flyering, street theater & other creative actions for June 4 Chicago chapter of the International Solidarity Movement
This is a call for a meeting to organize
flyering, steet theater and other Our activities will end in time for people to participate in the Rally and March for Justice in Palestine. The rally will begin at 3:30 PM at Tribune Plaza (435 N. Michigan Avenue) and the march to the Israeli Consulate begins at 4:15. A concluding rally will run from 4:30-5 PM at the Israeli Consulate.
Mass Rally & March on June 5
Thousands at the White House will say: "Bush and Rumsfeld - Guilty of War Crimes" Michael Berg, the father of Nicholas Berg who was murdered in Iraq, will be a speaker at the June 5th Speak Truth to Power mass demonstration and speak-out in front of the White House. This rally will reflect the grassroots voices of those who have suffered and are suffering because of the Bush administration's war in Iraq, Palestine, Haiti and right here against working people in the United States. The Speak Truth to Power rally will feature the voices of the mothers and fathers of soldiers who oppose the war; those in the Muslim and Arab communities whose families have been ripped apart through raids, detentions, and secret hearings; representatives of the working class communities in Washington, DC and elsewhere who are suffering because of the destruction of social programs; we will hear the voices of the people of Haiti and the Philippines and Korea who are living under U.S. military intervention and occupation. June 5 is the anniversary of the Israeli seizure of the West Bank and Gaza and we will hear the voice of the embattled Palestinian people who to this moment are having their children shot and their homes razed as the U.S.-backed violence escalates. Following the People's Speak-Out, thousands of people will march through working class neighborhoods and arrive at the home - the mansion - of Donald Rumsfeld. Coming as it does just three and a half weeks before the June 30 phony "transfer of sovereignty," the June 5 rally and march will be a powerful challenge by the people to the administration and its plans for continued occupation. The people of the world and the world media will be looking on June 5th to see if the people stand against the Bush administration's wars of aggression. Abu Ghraib and Vietnam The scope and systematic practice of torture, savage beatings, sexual assault and sick humiliation of prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq and elsewhere burst again into the front pages of newspapers around the world after the publication of statements from detainees and new pictures in the Washington Post (May 21), and the broadcast of new videos documenting a few of the horrors inflicted on an occupied people. No one should doubt for a moment that the people of the region are seething - they and the whole world now know for a fact that the torture and cruelty visited upon mass arrest detainees in Afghanistan, Guantanamo and now Iraq was an approved operation by Bush and Rumsfeld. On the same day as the Washington Post released the new horrifying photos, U.S. aircraft dropped bombs on a wedding party in northern Iraq killing more than 40 people, including the bride and groom and a large number of children. The U.S. military followed up on the ground shooting those that lived one by one. In response to world outrage at this massacre and the images of wounded, dead and decapitated children, Maj. Gen. James Mattis, commander of the 1st Marine Division, told reporters in Fallujah, "Bad things happen in wars. I don't have to apologize for the conduct of my men." With all the obvious differences, it is clear that in its essence the Iraq occupation is George W. Bush's Vietnam. The Bush and Rumsfeld fantasy will be defeated, in many ways it is defeated. That's what makes it their "Vietnam." Unless the people of the United States act now, however, the killing in Iraq will continue for years. In Vietnam the killing and carnage continued for years after U.S. policy makers knew full well that they could not militarily defeat the Vietnamese. U.S. political and military leaders became convinced that the war in Vietnam was not winnable as early as 1968 and yet the war dragged on for another five bloody years. The bombing continued on, the CIA assassinations of opponents in south Vietnam escalated (the Operation Phoenix Program) into the tens of thousands between 1968-1973, another 30,000 soldiers went to their graves during those years, and the number of Vietnamese civilians killed could be counted in the thousands each week. What a waste, what a crime, and it will be repeated in Iraq unless the people unite to demand: End the Occupation, Bring the Troops Home Now! The stakes are high and the June 5 mobilization will open the next stage of the antiwar movement - utilizing new tactics to begin mass organizing on the grassroots level in every community. Please see the below links to find out how you can get more involved: Get on the bus to DC! Click here to see a listing of transportation centers from around the country. Please check back frequently, as this list is updated daily. If you are organizing a bus, van or car caravan to be in DC, SF or LA, fill out the Transportation Form. Help spread the word! Multiple versions of flyers for Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles can be found on the Downloads page. These versions include:
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism www.ANSWERcoalition.org info@internationalanswer.org Washington 202-544-3389 New York 212-633-6646 Los Angeles 323-464-1636 San Francisco 415-821-6545
Join Us
June 5-11: End US Support for Israel's Occupation!
On June 5-11, join with United for Peace and
Justice (UFPJ) and UFPJ member coalition US Campaign to End the
Israeli Occupation in a national week of action to demand that our
government end its military, economic, and diplomatic support for
Israel’s illegal military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and
East Jerusalem.
OCCUPATION: WRONG IN IRAQ, WRONG IN PALESTINE
The lesson of Abu Ghraib isn’t that a few bad apples went awry, as
Rumsfeld and Bush want us to believe. It’s that occupying other
people’s countries inevitably requires brutal and dehumanizing means
to try to make the occupied accept foreign control of their land and
resources.
It is a fact that more than 3 million Palestinians living under
Israeli military occupation have known for 37 years.
June 2004 marks the 37th anniversary of Israel’s
illegal military occupation of Palestine’s West Bank, Gaza Strip, and
East Jerusalem. This occupation denies the Palestinian people the
right to self-determination, fuels bloodshed, and prevents the
establishment of a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians
whereby both peoples can live in freedom, dignity, and security.
If occupation is wrong in Iraq, why would it be right in Palestine?
WHY U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL’S OCCUPATION MUST END
While it is Israel that directly occupies these Palestinian lands, it
is our government that provides Israel the military, economic, and
diplomatic support Israel depends on to sustain its military
occupation. Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. financial aid in
the world, receiving $7.7 million per day in direct U.S. aid.
Washington views this support as central to U.S. efforts to dominate
the Middle East for U.S. economic and military advantage.
Worse, Bush has given unqualified support to the illegal occupation
policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He has backed
Sharon’s brutal military measures, extra-judicial assassinations, and
apartheid-like wall snaking through the West Bank. In April Bush
abandoned decades of formal U.S. policy and backed Sharon’s unilateral
plans to keep Israel’s colonial settlements built on occupied
territory and reject Palestinian refugees’ right to return to the
properties from which they were driven out by Israeli militias during
the 1948 war.
Sharon’s policies trample on the human rights of Palestinians, violate
international law, flaunt U.N. authority, and fuel the tragic cycle of
violence between Palestinians and Israelis. But with a blank check
from the U.S., Sharon faces few obstacles to pursuing his reckless
dream of taking “as much of Palestine as possible with as few
Palestinians as possible,” as Israeli scholar Ilan Pappe recently put
it. Without that blank check, Sharon would feel pressured to end
Israel’s occupation, remove the settlements, and negotiate a just
Palestinian/Israeli peace.
TAKE ACTION—JUNE 5-11, 2004
NO MORE U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL’S OCCUPATION!
It’s time for the U.S. to stop giving Israel a blank check for
occupation. UFPJ is calling for June 5-11 to be a national week of
action and education to expand public backing for ending US support
for Israel's illegal military occupation. UFPJ formally called for
these actions last December, but the deepening of the Bush/Sharon
alliance makes them even more urgent. Here’s what you can do:
1) EDUCATE YOUR COMMUNITY. If you or your group
hasn’t taken a position on or undertaken work for a just
Palestinian/Israeli peace before, we encourage you to organize
educational events for your group or community during the national
week of action. For more information about Israel’s occupation and
U.S. support for it, see the resources below.
2) ORGANIZE A PROTEST in your city or town. Let
others know by posting your event on UFPJ’s on-line calendar at
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar_gxinput.php . Be sure to
cross-post at the US Campaign’s on-line calendar:
3) SIGN A PETITION TO CONGRESS. The US Campaign
to End the Israeli Occupation is seeking individual and organizational
endorsements of its petition to end U.S. support for Israel’s
occupation. The U.S. Campaign will deliver the petition to Members of
Congress and the State Department during the US Campaign's grassroots
advocacy day on Capitol Hill on June 7. The Campaign’s goal is to have
500 organizational endorsements and thousands of individual
endorsements. To read and sign the petition, please see:
4) WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR or opinion
article for your local newspaper demanding that the United States end
its support for Israel’s illegal military occupation of Palestinian
lands.
RESOURCES
* For more information on Israel’s illegal occupation, its violations
of international law, and the role of the United States in supporting
them, please visit:
* Download the U.S. Campaign’s “Dual Occupations: If It’s Wrong in
Palestine, Why is the U.S. Doing it in Iraq?” at:
http://endtheoccupation.org/downloads/dual_occupations.pdf and
“Ending the Occupation: It’s the Law” at:
http://endtheoccupation.org/downloads/fact_sheet_2.pdf
* For information on UFPJ’s approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, go
to
http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?sub=43&list=sub
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Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's. editor@aljazeerah.info |