Occupation End Notes
September 4, 2008
Volume 6 Number 12
Please see below for a new edition of Occupation End Notes!
1. US Campaign Update: US Campaign Placards on Front Page of RNC Coverage; Denver
Photo Essay: Our Banner Got Stolen, Bumping into Spike Lee, & Other Stories from the DNC!
2. Gaza Update: Free Gaza Movement Updates
3. Boycott & Divestment Update: Gush Shalom: Barkan Wineries left Barkan settlement;
Overcoming the Nakba: BDS and the Global Anti-Apartheid Movement; Don’t Buy Apartheid?
Don’t Buy Motorola Pledge
4. Standing Against Apartheid Update: Standing Against Apartheid: Citizen Action & Public
Education; Anti-Apartheid Tour Cities Selected for November 9-23 Organizing Tour
5. Challenging U.S. Policy Update: Updated Congressional Report Card
6. Expressions of Nakba Update: Expressions of Nakba - Exhibit Coming to a City
Near You!
7. Membership Update: BCPR Exhibit: Apartheid: From South Africa to Israel/Palestine –
Making the Connections; Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace’s Opening of
Nakba Exhibit; Rachel Corrie Foundation Peace Works Conference; The Art of Palestinian
Children Tour; Global Exchange Reality Tour; 7th International Sabeel Conference
8. Resources & Events: Susan Nathan Speaking Tour, Fall 2008; UFPJ’s Million Doors for
Peace
9. Opportunities to Visit Israel and Palestine: The Health and Human Rights Project
(formerly Jewish American Medical Project); Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions;
Interfaith Peace-Builders; Resource Center for Nonviolence; Global Exchange; Christian
Peacemaker Teams; Middle East Fellowship
1. US CAMPAIGN UPDATE:
* US Campaign Placards on Front Page of RNC Coverage
Tuesday’s edition of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
featured a great front page picture of Monday’s march on the
Republican National Convention (RNC). Check out the bottom
left of the picture—there are two US Campaign placards
reading “End U.S. Support for Israeli Occupation”. Click on
the icon to the right for a bigger version of the picture.
Next week, National Organizer Katherine Fuchs will share a
photo essay from the RNC detailing all of the US Campaign’s
efforts to get the word out in St. Paul.
* Denver Photo Essay: Our Banner Got Stolen, Bumping into Spike Lee, & Other
Stories from the DNC
Activities during the Democratic National Convention (DNC)
in Denver last week were non- stop and frenetic—and the
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation was in the thick
of it all thanks to your generous support
On Monday, we set up our DNC headquarters at
Progressive Central, a five-day forum sponsored by our
friends at Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and The
Nation. While we were there, we had hundreds of
substantive discussions with Members of Congress,
Congressional candidates, leaders of local party
committees, and delegates to the convention—exactly the
type of people who we need to educate in order to change policy.
Click here to read more!
2. GAZA UPDATE:
* The boats have gone through - time to remove the siege!
Like Palestinians, Human Rights Workers Denied Exit through Erez Checkpoint to
Israel and through Rafah Crossing to Egypt
GAZA (2 Sept. 2008) - Four
foreign nationals from the UK,
USA, Ireland and Australia, who
helped peacefully challenge the
siege of Gaza by traveling through international waters with the Free Gaza Movement, have so
far been refused exit to Israel via Erez Crossing, or to Egypt via Rafah Crossing.
For over two years Israel has severely restricted access to Gaza, blocking aid shipments and
trade. As a consequence, Gaza's economy has collapsed, forcing most industries to close and
dramatically increasing malnutrition rates among children. Eighty percent of families in Gaza
are now completely dependent on United Nations food aid.
Travel outside of Gaza has been likewise blocked by Israel. Over 200 people have died as
result of not being able to leave Gaza for medical treatment. Hundreds of Palestinian students,
accepted to universities abroad, have also been denied exit visas by Israel.
Among the internationals currently stranded in Gaza are Irish activist and former Hawaiian
legislator Kenneth O’Keefe, British journalist Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British
Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Dr. William Dienst, a family and emergency room physician
from the USA. This refusal of entry by Israel and Egypt effectively confines the internationals
to the 40 by 10 kilometer enclave of Gaza, along with 1.5 million Palestinians, likewise sealed
off from loved ones who live abroad and denied freedom of movement for purposes of
education, medical care, leisure, or work.
Click here to read more.
3. BOYCOTT & DIVESTMENT UPDATE:
* Barkan Wineries left Barkan settlement
The Gush Shalom Movement congratulates the
Barkan Wineries for moving away from the industrial
zone of Barkan settlement in the northern West
Bank, to Kibbutz Hulda within the internationallyrecognized territory of Israel. This is an important act, removing one of the major economic
mainstays of the settlements. We hope and expect that additional companies will follow the
Barkan Wineries out of the Occupied Territories.
The Barkan Wineries had figured prominently on the Gush Shalom Settlement Boycott List
since this list was first published some ten years ago. Gush Shalom activists had distributed
leaflets, calling upon the public not to purchase the Barkan wines, at the entrances to
supermarkets as well as at public gatherings such as the annual memorials to Yitchak Rabin
held in Tel Aviv every November.
Click here to read more.
* Overcoming the Nakba: BDS and the Global Anti-Apartheid Movement
Bethlehem, August 2008: The BADIL Resource Center for
Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights announces the
release of the Summer 2008 issue of al-Majdal, our
English-language quarterly magazine.
The Summer 2008 issue of al-Majdal, focusing on the
global movement for boycott, sanctions, and divestment
(BDS) against Israel, prominently features the work of the
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Co-Chair
David Wildman contributes an article on divestment in the
churches, Steering Committee member Serin Atiani writes
about the US Campaign’s Expressions of Nakba arts
contest, and Abraham Greenhouse directs readers to the
corporate accountability campaigns of the US Campaign in
an article on the BDS movement in the United States.
Check out the magazine on-line by clicking here
* Don't Buy Apartheid? Don't Buy Motorola!
After a year of research and corporate engagement with
Motorola they still support Israeli apartheid. Now we're
putting our money where our mouth is and boycotting
Motorola. Motorola claims to be a good corporate citizen,
but they can't explain why they support apartheid in Israel
and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Click on the image
to the right to sign our pledge not to buy Moto products
until they respect international law and Palestinian human
rights.
Read More »
4. STANDING AGAINST APARTHEID UPDATE:
* Standing Against Apartheid: Citizen Action & Public Education
News from the recently returned US Campaign - Interfaith Peace Builders Delegation to Israel
and the Occupied Territories AND updates on our November speaking tour, Separate Is Never
Equal: Stories from South Africa and Palestine!
Click here to read more!
5. CHALLENGING U.S. POLICY:
* Updated Congressional Report Card for 110th Congress, 2007-2008!
We’ve updated our Congressional Report Card to bring you the latest on how your Members of
Congress vote on policy issues related to Israel/Palestine.
Click here to read more.
6. EXPRESSIONS OF NAKBA UPDATE:
* Expressions of Nakba Exhibit Coming to a City Near You!
The US Campaign will be offering member groups the opportunity to bring the exhibit directly
to your city.
If you wish to have the exhibit come to your town or city, please contact our National
Organizer, Katherine Fuchs: organize@endtheoccupation.org for more details.
If you have not done so already, check out the winning pieces available on the Expressions of
Nakba online gallery. Please visit: http://expressionsofnakba.org/gallery/entrance
7. MEMBERSHIP UPDATE:
In an effort to better help our coalition members network and for us to better gauge the
coalition’s regional diversity, we have put together a map with all 254 coalition members
represented by state:
If you don't see your state represented within the US Campaign: Join us!
* BCPR Exhibit: Apartheid: From South Africa to Israel/Palestine – Making the
Connections
On Saturday, September 6, the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights’ exhibit “APARTHEID:
From South Africa to Israel/Palestine - Making the Connections” will be displayed at the World
Fellowship Center in Albany, New Hampshire , with morning and afternoon talks on Israeli
Apartheid and the Humanitarian Implosion in the Gaza Strip by US Campaign Advisory Board
member Nancy Murray.
See www.worldfellowship.org.
* The Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace Invites you to the
Opening of the Nakba Exhibit
Sunday, September 21, 2008
3:00 – 5:30 PM
At the Mary Cosby Gallery at the Potter’s House
1658 Columbia Rd, NW, Washington, DC
(202) 232-5483
In 1948 with the establishment of Israel more than 400 Palestinian villages were destroyed
and more than 750,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes and their communities.
The exhibit, produced by Friends of Sabeel Canada, consists of 60 photographs describing
what happened then and the dispossession that continues to occur. The exhibit tells the story
of the Nakba (the catastrophe). You will also have a chance to hear, in person, one of the
witnesses to these events who will relate her experience to the pictures in the exhibit:
Event Guest Speaker: Affaf Ayesh
Mrs. Ayesh was born in Jerusalem. She was 14 years old in 1948 when the Israeli soldiers
forced her family to leave their home and country.
For questions concerning the exhibit, please contact Exhibit Coordinator, Aida Atallah,
aidaatallah@comcast.net
* Rachel Corrie Foundation Peace Works Conference
* WESPAC Foundation and Adalah-NY co-sponsoring The Art of Palestinian Children
The Middle East Committee of WESPAC Foundation (www.wespac.org) and Adalah-NY
(www.adalahny.org) are co-sponsoring “The Art of Palestinian Children”, a travelling
exhibition of 26 paintings by Palestinian children (age 8 to 11) living in Lebanon. The
paintings were donated by al-Jana, the Beirut based Palestinian Centre for Popular Arts.
Al-Jana is a non-profit organization founded in 1990. Its goal is to enable young Palestinian
children to develop a sense of identity and self-esteem through a number of activities, ranging
from reading and writing campaigns to child friendly libraries, to video and film making. Chief
among their concerns is to teach children how to express themselves through visual art. In
these paintings we see the various techniques the children were taught in their art classes-how colors complement each other, how volume is created by setting light colors against
a dark background, how a portrait becomes a means to convey expression.
The paintings show a variety of emotions the children have experienced throughout their
young lives. Isolation and suffering, as seen in most portraits, seem to have exiled the
kids from their childhood into the world of adults as they express feelings older than their
age. In this respect, the paintings bring to mind the classical Arab Poets, who served as a
voice for their people and their times. Yet, unlike the classical poets who (except for a few
mavericks) did not bring themselves into the poems, the paintings manage to work both as
imprint and expression.
For more information, please contact Antonella, Mirene or Samia:
palestinianartshow@gmail.com
* Global Exchange – Fair Olive Harvest Tour
Nov. 6-16, 2008
Global Exchange partners with the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA) for a tour of
Palestine/Israel combining the realities of occupation with the positive effects of fair trade on
the economic lives of the Palestinians. The tour includes historic Nablus and Jenin, Roman
ruins in olive country, 5 nights with Palestinian farm families while helping bring in the olive
harvest, and participation in the Jenin Harvest Festival. Program days in Jerusalem,
Bethlehem, Ramallah and the Negev include meetings with Palestinian and Israeli peace
groups focusing on land and water rights, prisoner rights, home demolitions and other human
rights issues. Explore beautiful Palestine, and learn how fair trade promotes self-sufficiency
and solidarity.
Contact Sanaz with any questions about this trip - sanaz@globalexchange.org - or call toll-free
1-800-497-1994 ext. 251. On the Web: http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/957.html
* Beyond Remembrance: Facing the Challenges of the Future Sixty Years After The
Nakba
7th International Sabeel Conference
November 12-19, 2008
The conference will focus on the commemoration of 60 years since the Nakba, and the
complex issues of memory, narrative, and identity raised by the events of 1948.
Lectures, workshops, discussions, and cultural events focusing on the last 60 years and the
future for Christians living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Mark your calendars, and spread the word!
For more information, email: conf2008@sabeel.org or call: (972) 2-532-7136
This is the phone number for Sabeel in Jerusalem.
8. RESOURCES AND EVENTS:
* Susan Nathan Speaking Tour, Fall 2008
Contact: snathantour@gmail.com
For further information on Nathan: www.snathantour.org
We are pleased to provide an opportunity for you to hear Susan Nathan in person during her
US speaking tour, Fall 2008. Please consider sponsoring a visit by Susan to your city for a
public speaking event.
Susan, an Israeli citizen and author of The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the
Jewish/Arab Divide is currently scheduled to speak at the Detroit-area Sabeel conference
September 25-28 and will be in the Chicago area and Iowa in early October.
Nathan writes: "My belief that being Jewish entails certain responsibilities arose from [my]
childhood. It is precisely because of my personal history that I find myself in conflict with my
Jewish/Israeli identity and the politics of my country's government. The irony of the
Palestinian dispossession inside the state of Israel, its 'internal refugees', has not been lost on
me, the child of refugees, always unsettled, always insecure.”
* Million Doors for Peace
Each year since the Iraq war began we have seen and
participated in massive anti-war demonstrations in
Washington and around the country. THIS YEAR IS
DIFFERENT. This year, we're taking the message directly
to our neighbors, instead of relying on the media.
Join United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) in this
coordinated National Day of Action when thousands of
volunteers in communities across the US will knock on
millions of doors to advocate peace and an end to the
war and occupation of Iraq.
Click here for more information!
9. OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT ISRAEL AND PALESTINE:
* The Health and Human Rights Project (formerly Jewish American Medical
Project) Delegation to Israel/Palestine
* Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions Delegations to Israel/Palestine
* Interfaith Peace-Builders Delegations to Israel/Palestine
* Fall 2007 Schedule: December 2nd - 12th: Global Exchange's Delegations to
Palestine & Israel
* NEW Christian Peacemaker Teams Delegations to PALESTINE/ISRAEL
* NEW Middle East Fellowship Delegations to Israel/Palestine
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 41-year occupation of the
Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and that deny equal rights for all.