[mgj-discuss] USSF 2007: Middle East related workshops, Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent, and Call to All Arabs
Rami Elamine
relamine at yahoo.com
Sat Jun 23 20:30:21 PDT 2007
There's still time to get on the bus to Atlanta for the first ever US Social Forum. Go to www.ussf2007.org for more info. It's shaping up to be an amazing gathering with thousands of attendees and events. Below are some of the events, workshops, and gatherings related to Palestine, Arabs and Muslims, and the Middle East taking place at the USSF:
1. List of Workshops and Panels
2. Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent Schedule
3. Call to All Arabs
Palestine and Middle East Solidarity Track - 2007 US Social Forum
Placing Palestine solidarity and solidarity with Arab and Muslim people internationally and in the US central in our anti-militarization, anti-war and anti-imperialist organizing.
Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice (AMWAJ), the International Jewish Solidarity Network – USA, Left Turn Magazine, and the Palestinian Popular Conference Network have brought together organizations and activists from across the country to develop this crucial track that will explore connections between Palestine Solidarity and domestic struggles for justice; reframe the issue of Palestine as a liberation struggle; analyze the history of US imperialism leading up to the current situation in Palestine and the Middle East; and foster discussions on how to build our movement.
Please join us in using this opportunity to come together for important discussions that will help us move beyond our isolation and build a stronger movement for justice.
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Thursday, June 28
· Facts on the Ground in Palestine: Approaching Apartheid 3:30p-5:30p
International C room at the Westin Hotel
How Israeli policies of house demolitions, settlement expansion, the building of the Separation Wall, along with displacement and control of resources are establishing apartheid in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
· History of US Imperialism and Resistance in the Middle East/West Asia 1:00p-3:00p
Athena room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown.
The Middle East/West Asia is the focus of US imperialism today and no country has been spared. This workshop will have speakers and a discussion the US’s role in Lebanon, Palestine, Iran, Iraq and regionally.
Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, President of the Iraqi Electrical Utility Workers Union Ms. Hussein is the first woman to lead a national union in Iraq
Ziad Abbas is a freelance journalist and the co-director of Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp.
Gabriel Ash is a writer and activist who writes about the Middle East in various publications from Znet to Dissident Voice
Rayan El-Amine, Editor of Left Turn Magazine, Lecturer on Middle EastSan Francisco. Politics at City College of San Francisco and member of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) in San Francisco.
Arash Norouzi is an Iranian artist, activist and co-founder of The Mossadegh Project.
· The Role of Anti-Zionist Jewish Organizing in Palestine Solidarity 1:00p-3:00p
International C room at the Westin Hotel.
Building a challenge to the racist ideology and religious supremacy political Zionism encourages and holding the governments we live under accountable for the economic, military and political support of the Israeli colonization of Palestine.
· Women, War and Water 1:00p-3:00p
Socrates room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
This panel will expose the toxic track record of the U.S. Military Industrial Complex, as well as highlight issues of water and conflict around the world, which women bear the brunt of and are on the front lines in raising opposition.
· 9:00p: Opening Event at Palestine Tent!
Friday, June 29
· BDS 101: From South Africa to Palestine 1:00p-3:00p
Second Floor Meeting Room room at the Central Library
An overview of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, and direct experience of BDS organizers, including speakers from Palestine, and how to strengthen the US BDS movement and how to overcome its weaknesses.
· Blind Leading the Blinded: Militarization and Sexual Violence 10:30a-12:30p
Centennial Ballroom A room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
This workshop seeks to engage a critical conversation about how “social issues” like sexuality and women’s rights are historically and intimately linked to the Palestinian national movement as well as how Western portrayals of those social issues have been used to debase the national cause.
· Forced Displacement and the Right to Return: Palestine, New Orleans, and Urban America 3:30p-5:30p
Centennial Ballroom A room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
The US and Israel are fighting against the grassroots struggles for the right of return for Palestinian and Katrina refugees. And creating new policies around permits and zoning displacing people of color and poor communities in the US and for Arab and Palestinian communities inside Israel.
· Political Prisoners: from Guantanamo to Abu Ghraib to Palestine 10:30a-12:30p
www.ussf2007.org · ussfpalestinesolidarity at gmail.com
Mezzanine Center room at the Atlanta Civic Center
Linking prisoners of occupation and imperialism around the world, including the prisoners of Iraq & Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Palestinian political prisoners as solidarity movement work.
· Unlearning Zionism: Transforming Histories of Collective Trauma towards Justice 3:30p-6:30p
Atlanta Ballroom C room at the Westin Hotel
Offering exercises, discussions and multi-media towards confronting our own struggles around identity and Zionism to create a vision of transformative justice that seeks to transform histories of European colonization of the Middle East.
· Slingshot Hip Hop: Colonization and Resistance from Brooklyn to Palestine 10:30a-12:30p
Georgia Ballroom West room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown
Raising awareness about the struggle in Palestine and providing resources for activism. Palestinian hip hop videos, lyrics, role play exercises, documentary footage used to initiate discussions.
· Building A Stronger Movement: Multi-racial organizing for Justice in the Middle East and at Home 3:30p-5:30p
NOT ADA - Room 105 room at the Little Five Points Community Center
Organized by Black, white and Arab activists from different regions of the US, this workshop is an attempt to address the lack of Black representation in the Palestine Solidarity Movement and offer strategies to increase participation.
· Anti-Arab Racism and Islamophobia: Confronting Stereotypes and Dehumanization 1:00p-3:00p
Atlanta Ballroom D room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown.
A workshop on the many manifestations of anti-Arab racism and Islamphobia perpetuated by the US government featuring analysis and voices of Arabs and Muslims targeted by the US government, media and institutions.
This session will be on: June 29, 2007 - 1:00pm
It will be held at: Atlanta Ballroom D room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown.
Michel Shehadeh, Palestinian activist and member of the LA8, 7 Palestinian and 1 Kenyan who have been persecuted by the US government for 20 years for their support of the Palestinian struggle despite a recent ruling dismissing all charges against the remaining two defendants.
Amira Jarmakani, Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at Georgia State University and member of Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice (AMWAJ).
Fahd Ahmed, Organizer with Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), a community based social justice organization of low-income South Asian immigrants and immigrants facing deportation in New York City .
Rami El-Amine, founding member of Left Turn magazine and member of the Coalition for Justice and Accountability (CJA), a Palestinian solidarity activist group in Washington, DC.
· Solidarity and Accountability 3:30p-5:30p
Poseiden room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
An analysis from various marginalized communities of the successes and failures of current solidarity movements with respect to accountability, providing the beginnings of a blueprint for increasing the accountability of solidarity activists to the communities with which they claim to be in solidarity.
Saturday, June 30
· BDS for PSM activists: building a movement against Israeli apartheid 10:30a-12:30p
Socrates room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
This seminar is aimed at presenting the reasons and motivations for BDS, its goals and principles to the US audience. It hopes to create understanding and participation of a wider US spectrum of activists within the global BDS movements.
· Digital Resistance: Palestinian Youth Media 1:00p-3:00p
Georgia Ballroom West room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown
Using film this workshop will challenge stereotyping of and racism towards Arabs, Palestinians in particular, and will introduce the US-Palestine Youth Solidarity Network (YSN) linking Palestinians, immigrants, and people of color.
· Internal Coordination Workshop: Planning for Al-Nakba 60th Anniversary 1:00p-3:00p
Magnolia Conference Room room at the Days Inn Downtown
Preparation workshop for a broad assembly seeking to develop and draw out ideas, proposals, and actions for coordination around the 2008 60th anniversary commemoration of Al-Nakba.
· Reproductive Justice in Israel/Palestine: Palestinians as the Demographic Threat 1:00p-3:00p
Socrates room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown
Relating reproductive justice to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Analyzing Israeli laws aimed at limiting the Palestinian population by denying them entry, denying them basic services, denying them equal access to land, and by offering incentives to procreate exclusively to Jewish-Israeli families.
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM - Gathering for Arab USSF attendees: eat, drink, socialize and connect with each other. Hosted by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, SF and AMWAJ at the Palestine Tent
9:00pm: Screening of Occupation 101 at the Palestine Tent
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“NAHR AL-BARED PALESTINE TENT” open all day, every day! Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent Schedule
(tentative--check our tent near registration for updated schedules)
The “Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent” will offer a mix of cultural, political, and cross-movement activities going on all day, every day! Stop by for cultural events, film screenings, and presentations; attend gatherings for progressive Arab activists and anti-Zionist Jewish activists; join discussions about Palestine & Middle East solidarity work; pick up t-shirts, DVDs, books, fair trade Palestinian olive oil, and much more at the vendor tables; and check out our amazing “Picture Balata” and “Birthright Re-plugged” photograph exhibits.
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Exhibits 6/27 - 7/1
PICTURE BALATA - Picture Balata puts the camera into the hands of the children born and raised inside the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Participants ranging from ages 11 to 18 photograph their situation as they live it in Balata Refugee Camp.
BIRTHRIGHT RE-PLUGGED – Photo exhibit by children from Balata Refugee Camp documenting their journey to Jerusalem, the sea, and their ancestral lands.
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Wednesday 6/27
1:30 PM - Palestine Solidarity Contingent in Opening March
Look for the Palestinian flags at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive & Washington/Courtland. MARTA station: GA State (walk South Piedmont toward the Capitol; turn right on MLK Drive).
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Thursday 6/28
9 PM – Palestine Solidarity Tent Opening Celebration!
Don't miss the incredible line up of performers and speakers at our opening event! Updates on the current situation in Gaza and on the emergence of encouraging new Palestine solidarity and liberation organizations and networks in the USA. Plus complimentary food and beverages, music & vendors.
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Friday 6/29
Time TBD- New Afrikan/Black and Arab Unity in the U.S., Part 1 (IN KATRINA TENT)
Movements converge sharing history, experience, histories of resistance, investigating historic conditions and current conditions, as well as histories of colonialism, imperialism, and diaspora. Contact Kristy for further details: 818-585-2395; schedule subject to change!
3 - 5 PM - New Afrikan/Black and Arab Unity in the U.S., Part 2 (IN PALESTINE TENT)
Movements identify areas of solidarity and collaboration: Palestine, apartheid wall, Katrina, political prisoners, state repression, anti-war, etc. Contact Kristy, above.
5 PM - Photographic Journey through Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon
Sharon Wallace has just returned from Lebanon where she was hosted by Ghassan Kanafani’s wife and traveled throughout the country documenting scenes from daily life.
7:30 PM – “Confronting the Wall: Art & Resistance in Palestine” Screening
This short 30-minute documentary tells the story of the Nakba and on-going occupation of Palestine through the experience of the Aamer family. In 2002, the Israel military built a portion of the 25-foot high Apartheid wall in front of the Aamer’s home in order to separate the Palestinian village of Mas’ha from the Jewish settlement of Elkana. Hani and Munira Aamer and their six children have resisted attempts by the Israeli State to force them to leave their home. The documentary demonstrates the resistance in their continued survival, the international solidarity the Aamer’s invited to join their resistance, and the resistance mural organized by Break the Silence Mural Project.
9 PM - “Arna’s Children” Screening
Arna Mer Khamis was a legendary activist for the rights of the Palestinian people who founded a theatre group at a refugee camp, teaching children to express themselves through acting. Her son filmed Arna working with the children over a 6-year period. Following Arna's death, he returns to the camp to find out what became of the young refugees. COPIES OF DVD ON SALE AT THE TENT!
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Saturday 6/30
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM - Gathering for Arab USSF attendees
Eat, drink, socialize and connect with each other. Hosted by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, SF and Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice, AMWAJ.
9 PM - “Occupation 101” Screening
A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Occupation 101” presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions. COPIES OF DVD ON SALE AT THE TENT!
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The Nahr Al-Bared Palestine Tent is named to remember the 750,000 Palestinians who were expelled or forced to flee from their homes in 1948. Many lived in tents set up by the United Nations. Nearly 60 years later, over one million Palestinians are still living in refugee camps throughout Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The tent is also named to remind people of the current tragedy unfolding in Nahr Al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon where fighting between the Lebanese army and Fatah Al-Islam is displacing families once again and killing civilians who have been unable to leave as they sit in their homes.
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A CALL TO ALL ARABS
ATTENDING THE US SOCIAL FORUM IN ATLANTA (2007)
· ATTEND THESE ARAB-LED WORKSHOPS:
ð History of US Imperialism and Resistance in the Middle East/West Asia
Thursday June 28th, at 1:00pm (Athena room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown)
ð Anti-Arab Racism and Islamophobia: Confronting Stereotypes and Dehumanization
Friday, June 29th, at 1:00pm (Atlanta Ballroom D room at the Renaissance Atlanta
Hotel Downtown)
ð Reproductive Justice in Palestine/Israel: Controlling the Palestinian Population, AMWAJ (Arab Movement of Women Arising for Justice)
Saturday, June 30th, at 1:00pm (Socrates room at the Atlanta Marriott Downtown)
· CONNECT WITH OTHER ARABS BUILDING MOVEMENT FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE:
ð Arab Contingent in Opening March (within Palestine Solidarity group)
Wednesday, June 27th, at 1pm. Look for the Palestinian flags at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive & Washington/Courtland. MARTA station: GA State (walk South Piedmont toward the Capitol; turn right on MLK Drive).
ð Overcoming Barriers to Arab Movement Building, Workshop for Arabs
Saturday, June 30th, at 10:30am (Roswell room at the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel
Downtown)
ð Dinner and Gathering for Arabs at USSF: Hosted by AMWAJ & AROC
Saturday, June 30th, 6:30pm-8:30pm In the Palestine Tent
· BUILD UNITY WITH OTHER COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
ð South Asian-Arab-Muslim Caucus Meeting
Thursday, June 28th, at 9:00am (Immigrant Rights Tent)
ð Building A Stronger Movement: Multi-racial organizing for Justice in
the Middle East and at Home
Friday, June 29th, at 3:30pm (NOT ADA - Room 105 @ the Little Five Points
Community Center)
ð New Afrikan/Black and Arab Unity in the U.S.
Part 1, Sharing Histories (Time TBD, Katrina Tent) Contact Kristy 818.585.2395.
Part 2, Solidarity (Time TBD, Palestine Tent)
ð Arab & South Asian Organizing in the U.S. post/911: The Need, Challenges, & Strategies, DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving)
Saturday, June 30th, at 3:30pm (Atlanta Ballroom B room at the Renaissance Atlanta
Hotel Downtown)
Iraq
Palestine
Wars of Terror at Home & Abroad
Now more than ever a need for
Arab Political Vision & Leadership!
For more information JUSTICE at ARABORGANIZING.ORG or 912.398.5641
Please call to volunteer to help with the Nahr al Bared Palestine Tent!
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