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Activism

Black Lives Matter Endorses BDS, Says Israel Perpetuates “Genocide”

BY: Alexa George/Contributing Writer On Monday, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement staged a protest in New York and its platform announced that it is endorsing the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. With over 50 black-led organizations in its network, Black Lives Matter is now advocating that Palestinians should receive the same rights … Continued

UN Agencies Deliver Urgent Relief To People Stranded At Syria-Jordan Border

Statement by the heads of WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, and IOM
“Today the World Food Programme, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and UNICEF completed an urgent relief operation to provide a one-month ration of desperately-needed food and hygiene supplies to more than 75,000 people who are trapped along a land embankment, or berm, at the Syria-Jordan border.  

“Unable either to cross the border or turn back, the situation facing these women, men and children has grown more dire by the day.  Sheltering in makeshift tents in harsh desert conditions with temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius and sudden sand storms, they are without sufficient food and have barely enough water to survive. Life-saving health care is also urgently required. Pregnant women, children, the elderly and the sick are especially vulnerable.   

“We thank the government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for supporting this critical operation, and we look forward to further efforts to reach people at the berm with humanitarian assistance in time to save their lives.”

Background:
An estimated 75,000 people fleeing conflict in Syria are living in makeshift shelters along the border area, or the berm, that runs along the Syria-Jordan border. Jordan sealed the berm area more than a month ago following an attack at a Jordanian border post. Before the border closure, UN agencies and aid organizations regularly delivered aid from Jordan’s territory to Syrians stranded on the other side of the berm. 

Source: www.wfp.org

BDS on campus: the current discussions

By DANIA TANUR 

Jerusalem Post 

While the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel has picked up steam in recent years on campuses across the US, those observing the phenomenon may have come to ask themselves what draws activists to one side or the other of the issue.

The BDS movement encourages economic and cultural boycotts of Israel in an effort to advance their pro-Palestinian political demands while isolating the Jewish state.

As the heated debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rages, a mix of Jewish, Israeli and Palestinian students from US colleges sat down with The Jerusalem Post to discuss the escalation of the BDS student movement, and their involvement in the campaign or the battle against it.

With such contentious discourse surrounding the conflict, here is a breakdown of some of the major sticking points in the emotion-packed dispute that has taken American institutions of higher education by storm.

The labels

Are the ‘pro-Israel’ and ‘anti-Israel’ labels mutually exclusive with the ‘pro-Palestinian’ and ‘anti-Palestinian’ ones?

Not necessarily.

Whether the discussion is about identifying with or defining the actions of one side or the other, such labels and the underlying stances they encapsulate have become increasingly more complicated to define for both sides. With controversial issues like religion, security, human rights, and apartheid–all issues that have come up when discussing BDS–there is a vast spectrum of positions regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

When asked about labels regarding the conflict, most students interviewed agreed that labels do more to confuse students and drift them away from the actual issue.

“I think my labels are relatively accurate, though these terms can mean different things for different people,” Jason Epstein of the University of Texas at Austin told JPost. “Some will skew these definitions to align with their political views, some will skew these to bash the other side, and some may focus these definitions on a group of people, rather than a country.”

For American University student Noa Banayan, these labels create further division that deter from peace.

With an Israeli father, she said, “I’m pro the culture and my family, but I’m not against anything or another people. I’m just pro-peace. These labels create a bigger division that isn’t going to lead to peace.”

For many students, when discussing Israel’s actions, the issue comes down to human rights and security.

Some students, like Jessica Markowitz from New York University, feel as though siding with the pro-Israel platform means, “supporting Israel and its decisions and advocating for its needs and safety.”

On the other hand, for Palestinian-American student, who asked to be called Leila as she plans on visiting the Palestinian territories soon, being pro-Israel can mean anything from “complacency, pro-occupation, illegal settlements, and impunity” to individuals “who genuinely believe in self-determination and who desperately want to see Israel improve itself as a country, to uphold international standards and respect human rights policies.”

It goes both ways, and labeling the issue only escalates the tensions, misunderstandings and controversy spewing from the BDS conversation. 
 
The movements

The most notable form of dialogue on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been facilitated through student activist groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), J Street U and Students for Justice and Palestine (SJP). Although they allow for discussions of the conflict, student groups continue to be polarized, which often creates a one-sided and unproductive conversation, especially regarding BDS.

For student Leila being a part of SJP entails being an activist and voice for her Palestinian community. She said that the mission of SJP at her school is “to stand in solidarity with the demands of the Palestinian people and support their basic human right to self determination.”

For University of Michigan student Lauren Siegel, her involvement with student groups also comes down to her “deep connection to Israel” and belief that student support outside of Israel is “vital to the survival of the State.”

For others, like Gabriella Levy from American University where political and social activism drives the student body, this conversation seems to be the most taboo. She said, “I feel like [the conflict is] one of the only things that I would not necessarily feel comfortable bringing up depending on who I’m with.”
 
College campus BDS

Understanding the roots of activist movements on each side is just as essential to the conversation as learning about the conflict.

For some students, BDS has had a direct impact on their daily lives. A report released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), titled BDS on ‘American College Campuses: 2014-15 Year-In-Review,’ cited studies that showed 520 explicitly anti-Israel events and programs took place nationwide on college campuses, representing a 30% increase from the previous academic year, and that over 50% of those events focused on various aspects of the BDS movement.

In the same report, the ADL released a list of 19 universities that considered divestment resolutions or referenda this year, including the results of these votes. Included in the list are prestigious schools, such as Stanford and Northwestern–two colleges where the student governments decided to pass a BDS resolution. Others on the list, like University of Texas at Austin, Princeton University and University of Michigan, either came close to passing a boycott resolution or passed referenda similar to or associated with the BDS movement.

For University of Texas at Austin student Sam Reichstein, the topic of the BDS movement has become all too familiar, as BDS legislation was pushed for on UT’s campus through its Student Government, though ended up losing in the spring of 2015. Recalling this moment in her campus’s history, Samantha felt nervous and worried, and at times unsafe wearing an Israeli t-shirt or a Hebrew necklace.

For Josh Woznica, head of the Jewish Student Union at Berkeley University, who attends a school that has been known for its strong anti-Israel sentiments and successful BDS movements, the feeling is similar, and added that he feels that BDS is not conducive to any product dialogue.

Leila said, however, that, BDS is “one of the main peaceful means of protest that appeals to conscience and employs non-violent measures,” so groups on campus should continue to be allowed to advocate for the movement.

The media and education

While the amount of formal discussion in classrooms on the topic varies by campus, those who have not visited the Middle East or lack personal ties to the conflict are generally misinformed by the media.

What adds to the contention on campuses is that the majority of students seem to know, or care, relatively little about the conflict.

As Woznica said, “It’s to get the sort of 70% of students who really know nothing about the conflict and walk by and see a demonstration or a protest–it’s to really get them to understand the conflict.”

In response to this indifference and misinformation, some students suggest speaking to actual Palestinians and Israelis who have lived and spent time in the region, and others go further to recommend that courses on the conflict be required on campus.
 
Future possibilities

Whether genuine dialogue on the Middle East conflict  is possible depends largely on the students who choose to engage; most students are hopeful that it is.

“The only way to bring new ideas to light is to keep talking about the conflict. Strong dialogue is the best way to inform and be informed,” said American University student Niv Avneri.

On the center of his campus, Woznica has witnessed small groups of students come and sit down and discuss. Though it often becomes very personal, and naturally so, “at least they’re hearing each other’s sides on a one-to-one basis,” he said.

Leila pointed to a critical matter, stating, “To overcome the differences that exist between the opposing sides, one must be brave enough to confront the ugly and brutal realities that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict produces both in the Middle East and here in the United States.”

“We cannot continue to silence critical debates because of fear for this coming at the expense of ‘civility,” she added.

Source: www.jpost.com

Vets, Arab and Muslim American Leaders Rally Against Trump Outside Trump Tower

NY1.com

 

Veterans and Muslim-American leaders upset by Donald Trump’s comments about the family of a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq rallied outside Trump Tower in Manhattan Monday.

Trump is facing bipartisan criticism for his ongoing feud with the parents of a Muslim-American army captain killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
Khizr Khan told his son’s story last week during the Democratic National Convention, where he blasted Trump for his proposed ban on Muslims entering the country.

Trump later implied Khan’s wife was not allowed to speak because of their religion, which the family strongly refutes.

At the rally, members of the group Veterans Against Hate said Trump consistently disrespects veterans and their families.

“He has sacrificed absolutely nothing,” said Katherine Scheirman, a retired Air Force colonel. “I’ve seen the sacrifices that our troops made. We heard from Mrs. Khan the sacrifices that military families make.”

“They continue to say why Ms. Khan did not speak, and her silence spoke louder than any words,” said Linda Sarsour, the executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. “We tell Donald Trump today, start running on a platform and stop running on hate.”

Trump Tower is Trump’s base of operations.

Trump left Trump Tower shortly after the rally ended, but he did not address the protesters. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan released statements condemning any criticism of Muslim-Americans, though neither denounced Trump by name.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, described their failure to drop endorsements of Trump as “cowardice.”

Source: www.ny1.com

Black Lives Matter in Palestine to Protest US-Funded ‘Genocide’

TeleSUR

 

Black Lives Matter argues that police violence and killings of Black people in the U.S. are connected to the decades-long Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

Activists from the Black Lives Matter movement in the U.S. joined a protest in the Palestinian village of Bilin near Ramallah city in the West Bank in an effort to put an international spotlight on the Israeli oppression, occupation and “genocide” of Palestinians.

“Today, delegates from the Movement for Black Lives join organizers and activists in Bil’in, a territory in occupied Palestine where resistors are engaged in nonviolent protest,” the Black Lives Matter movement said in a statement through its official Facebook page Friday.

“In the fight for dignity, justice and freedom, the Movement for Black Lives is committed to the global shared struggle of oppressed people, namely the people of occupied Palestine and other Indigenous communities who for decades have resisted the occupation of their land, the ethnic cleansing of their people, and the erasure of their history and experiences.”

At least two people were arrested during the peaceful protest by Israeli forces as they crack downed on the demonstration, which takes place every week. Palestinian news agency Ma’an said those arrested were taken to an unknown location and their citizenship remained unidentified.

Bilin has become a well-known site for action against Israeli occupation and settlement activity in the region and its residents have been organizing a weekly Friday protest for the past 11 years. Protests at the village are often met with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades from occupation forces.

Meanwhile, the Black Lives Matter movement argued that police violence and killings against Black people in the U.S. are connected to the decades-long Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

“In this violent, political climate, it is urgent that we make clear the connection between violence inflicted on Black people globally that is encouraged and permitted by the state and the profiling, harm, and genocide funded by the United States and perpetrated by Zionist vigilantes and the Israeli Defense Forces on Palestinian people.”

The group further stressed its support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, or BDS, and its work “to fight for freedom, justice and equality for Palestinian people and to end international support of the occupation.”

In recent weeks BLM activists has been intensifying their international efforts against the killings of Black people and other non-white minorities around the world.

Last week the group joined activists in Brazil to protest police killings as they joined a ceremony at Candelaria cathedral, the infamous site of a 1993 massacre in which a death squad, including off-duty policemen, killed eight children and adolescents who slept on the church steps.

Also last week, BLM activists traveled to France to join more than 1,000 protesters against the the death of a young Black man in police custody July 19.

Source: www.telesurtv.net

Archbishop Atallah Hanna’s Fight for Peace in Palestine

BY: Mary Elbanna/Contributing Writer A Religious Calling Archbishop Theodosios, more commonly known as Atallah Hanna, is a Christian Palestinian known for his political activism in Jerusalem. He is the only Orthodox Palestinian Archbishop in the world and has been highly recognized for his commitment to unifying Christians and Muslims within Jerusalem, and speaking out in … Continued

The Undecided Arab American Voter that Nobody Wants

BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer The people who will decide the presidential election this year are the undecided, exceedingly informed voters. We know every bit of the candidates’ histories, policy proposals, statements and gaffes, but we’re still not swayed either way. No two presidential candidates have ever been more disliked by their opponents, as well as … Continued

Talking Palestine at the DNC

BY: Eugene Smith/Contributing Writer PHILADELPHIA: On Monday, July 25 the American Friends Service Committee held a panel discussion on the U.S. response to issues surrounding Palestine. The panel came as a response to the failed attempt to include Israel’s illegal settlement expansion and occupation of Palestinians into the Democratic platform drafting committee. The absence of … Continued

New Documentary Reveals Israel’s Public Relations Strategies in America

BY: Clara Ana Ruplinger/Contributing Writer The Occupation of the American Mind is a sophisticated and in depth analysis of how Israel’s public relations manufactures misguided support for its occupation of Palestine in American media. The documentary featured scholarly commentators who have become experts on the Israeli propaganda machine. It is conceivable to think that Israel’s occupation of … Continued

Nader on Automobile Safety

Evan Carter The Detroit News (Photo: Max Ortiz / The Detroit News) Dearborn — Car safety advocate Ralph Nader has serious reservations about fully self-driving cars, and says they’re far from being ready to hit the highways. “I don’t see a fully autonomous vehicle replacing the driver fleet any time in the next generation,” Nader … Continued

OC Arab American Activist Rida Hamida Invited to Speak at Women of Color DNC Event!

BY GABRIEL SAN ROMAN

OC Weekly

Rida Hamida celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid last week with exciting and unexpected news. Steve Phillips, author of Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Created a New American Majority, invited the Palestinian-American activist to speak at a “Democracy in Color” event during the Democratic National Convention. “It didn’t even cross my mind,” Hamida says. “It was so humbling to be invited because I don’t see myself as a national figure, just as a person trying to make a difference in Orange County.”

But those efforts in making OC a better place, both politically and culturally, caught Phillips’ eye before, when he included Hamida’s work in his book and again when extending the invitation to the “Women of Color: Uniting the Party, Leading the Nation” luncheon launch. “We asked her to speak at our convention event so that more people can learn about her work fighting against anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry as well as her efforts to foster multi-racial coalitions,” Phillips tells the Weekly. “Her excellent work identifying and engaging Arab and Muslim voters led me to use her as an example in my book.”

In 2014, Hamida organized communities to volunteer for seven pivotal campaigns in OC during the midterm elections that’d help turn the demographic tide. She assembled twenty people (all women save for her teenage son) after reaching out to local Islamic centers and nonprofits. Hamida asked for Political Data, Inc, (PDI) numbers on Arab and Muslim voter populations. A consultant returned with a staggeringly low number of 525. Knowing that couldn’t be right, she asked to dig into the data and identified a much larger universe of voters, 62,912 to be exact, by looking at Arab and Muslim majority country identifications rather than Arab sounding last names. Hamida put the new data to good use in turning out the vote.

In Phillips’ Brown is the New White bestseller published this year, the author notes how pivotal that work proved to be in Garden Grove’s mayor race where Bao Nguyen squeaked pass incumbent Bruce Broadwater by just 15 votes to become the first Vietnamese person to hold that office, not only in the city, but in any major city across the U.S. “Hamida’s story illustrates the invaluable difference a campaign consultant with cultural competence can make in an election,” Phillips wrote in the book. 

With OC having been majority-minority for more  than a decade now, reports proclaim its elections to be on the cusp of change. “The majority of voters in Orange County together encompass women of color, Latinos, Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander and Arab American community,” Hamida says. “We use that model to build multi-racial coalitions in turning out the vote and in return win elections.” Hamida herself is the first hijabi in OC to work for public office, serving as a community liaison for Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. “Muslim-American women are stronger than fear, we do not allow Islamophobes to define or dictate our destiny, we are stronger than that,” she says. 

Hamida’s multi-racial organizing work isn’t limited to electoral politics. In another volunteer effort, she spearheaded OC’s “Adventures of Al-Andalus” which brings Latinos and Muslims together. In tandem with Santa Ana Valley High School teacher Ben Vazquez, Hamida led Latino community members through a food tour of Anaheim’s Little Arabia, a simple act that generated big media buzz in the backdrop of Donald Trump’s bigotry against Muslims and Mexicans. “That created a movement that was bigger than us and spoke to people on a national level,” Hamida says. Al-Andalus isn’t just a cross-cultural undertaking, but a political one as well. “We are going to mobilize communities here on the ground against that hate rhetoric by turning out the vote in November 2016 at a presidential, statewide, congressional, county and city level.” 

While Hamida plans to take the lessons of Al-Andalus to the DNC in Philadelphia, there’s more volunteer initiatives to speak of. During the month of Ramadan, Hamida also organized an Iftar event in Garden Grove where Muslims and the LGBTQ community shared a meal at dusk. For years, the activist has chaired the annual World Refugee Day event in Anaheim, but reached out to OC’s Vietnamese community to make common cause with Syrian refugees during their time of crisis. They held a #Walk4Refugees event at Miles Square Park in Fountain Valley last year to raise funds for Syrians. 

Hamida at work during Little Arabia’s “Shawarma Summit.”
Photo by Gabriel San Roman / OC Weekly
“Rida’s proving to many that balancing domestic issues and global affairs is not only possible but a must for any U.S. Government leader,” says Suzanne Meriden, National Operations Director for the Syrian American Council. “I want to be at that DNC luncheon to witness what I know is the first in a series of triumphs not only for Rida but for Arab-American Muslim women in general.”

The relentlessness of Hamida’s work doesn’t go unnoticed by her fellow sisters in the struggle. “I met Rida throughout working in Orange County with my previous employer AFSCME International,” Karla Salazar, a Democratic Party and labor activist, says. The two women plan on working together in the future, but for now Salazar is excited that her friend and colleague is going to the DNC. “As women of color, we don’t get that attention. I’m happy that Rida is going to have that opportunity to share her experience of working across cultural, religious and community lines.” 

Hamida is humbled by the all-expenses paid invitation to speak at DNC women of color luncheon event, where she’ll join former Nevada state legislator Lucy Flores, Georgia House Minority Leader Stacy Adams and San Francisco supervisor Jane Kim. “I’m taking Orange County with me to Philadelphia,” Hamida says with a smile. “We are going to have one voice in this movement when I come back.” 

Source: www.ocweekly.com

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