PALESTINE-RELATED EVENTS in the SEATTLE AREA for June 26-July 4

For information about history, issues, and our Seattle Divest from Israeli
Military Occupation campaign, please see www.palestineinformation.org.
E-mail us at palestinejustice@aol.com. We try to limit this listserve to
Seattle area events and news about the International Solidarity Movement to End
the Occupation. To have us post an event on this calendar, please email
lindabevis1@aol.com. For more general news and analysis on the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict without a pro-Israeli-government bias, please see:
palestinechronicle.com, electronicIntifada.net, btselem.org, miftah.org and other sites listed on
our website.
To send a letter about anything you learn here to your congressional rep:
http://www.truemajority.com/index.asp?action=2174&ms=irqpeace

PALESTINE SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE/ISM SEATTLE NEWS

* Next Palestine Solidarity Committee Meeting: June 29, 6-9
* Next ISM Seattle subcommittee meeting: TBA
* Next ISM Seattle Discussion Cafe: July 7, 5-8 pm (every first Wed.)
* Next Sidewalk Education, July 10, 12-2 p.m.
* Next Divestment meeting: TBA
* Next Theatre meeting:TBA (usually every first Tuesday)
* Next ISM pre-training: Fall
* Next ISM Palestine Campaign: Summer 2004 -- June 25-Aug. 19
* Palestine Film Festival: October 2004
Call 206 633-1086 for locations, dates, times.

PSC now has a copy of the new Media Education Foundation video, "Peace,
Propaganda and the Promised Land: American Media and the Subversion of Peace" (75
minutes) that you can borrow to show in your living room or community hall.
We previewed the video and found it extremely informative as a tool for
understanding what is really happening in the Occupied Territories and why Americans
don't know about it. For more details on the video, go to the website of
the Media Education Foundation at www.mediaed.org. To borrow the video, email
woodwend@earthlink.net with your request. For information about other videos in
PSC’s lending library, contact: palestinejustice@aol.com

THIS WEEK:
STOP THE WALL TOUR SEND-OFF***WOMEN IN BLACK ***ISM’S FREEDOM SUMMER BEGINS
(ongoing) ***PALESTINE IN YOUR LIVINGROOM? BRING SPEAKERS AND VIDEOS TO YOUR
FRIENDS ANYTIME -- CALL PSC FOR MORE INFO 206 633-1086***

June 27, SEND OFF THE STOP THE WALL TOUR. The Stop the Wall Tour leaves
Seattle at the end of June for four (4)
months (and close to 20,000 miles!!!!) to travel the country and to build
support to unbuild the Wall. Please help send us off and wish us well at the
STOP THE WALL TOUR Send-off PARTY and Movie Screening FUNDRAISER
On Sunday June 27
at 7 pm (with film at ~8 pm)
at University Baptist Church (corner of 12th NE & NE 47th in
Seattle's U district). Suggested donation: money...lots of it...(but no one
turned away)
If you know you'll be coming, please RSVP to
<mailto:stw@riseup.net>stw@riseup.net so we can get an estimate on how much
food we'll need. Wonderful food will be provided and we'll be showing the
film: Rana's Wedding, a film by Hany Abu-Assad. It's a "romantic and compelling
portrait of love under occupation and everyday life turned upside
down." If you haven't seen the film (it was at the Seattle Film Festival,
I know), that's reason enough to come. But now that the wall trailer is
complete, we've got to pay off the costs of building it. (Now we understand why
Sharon wants all those tax $$ we send over...) We'd love to leave town with
less debt so we can focus on other aspects of the tour for the next 4 months. Our
goal is to raise at
least $1000, so bring friends and your pocket book. If you can't make to the
party but want to help us out, please send checks to: Stop the Wall Campaign,
PO Box 95113,
Seattle WA 98145
<mailto:stopthewall@riseup.net>stopthewall@riseup.net; 206-568-7110;
206-650-0834 (cell, so for the road); <http://www.stopthewall.us>www.stopthewall.us
(for info about the film, Rana's Wedding, I found some info on the Arab
Films website: <http://www.arabfilm.com/item/251/>www.arabfilm.com/item/251/ )

WOMEN IN BLACK. Stand against occupation and war every Thursday at Westlake.
4th & Pine. 5-6 pm. Wear Black. Men can support.

June 25- Aug. 19: FREEDOM SUMMER IN PALESTINE. It's not too late to join the
International Solidarity Movement in their nonviolent direct action campaign
against Israeli occupation. Contact palestinejustice@aol.com to find out
details of logistics, training, and partial funding help.

UPCOMING: ***ANOTHER SIDE OF PEACE DOCUMENTARY ***SIDEWALK EDUCATION ***ISM
DISCUSSION CAFE *** ISM’S FREEDOM SUMMER (ongoing)***PALESTINE IN YOUR
LIVINGROOM? BRING SPEAKERS AND VIDEOS TO YOUR FRIENDS ANYTIME -- CALL PSC FOR MORE
INFO 206 633-1086***

June 25- Aug. 19: FREEDOM SUMMER IN PALESTINE. It's not too late to join the
International Solidarity Movement in their nonviolent direct action campaign
against Israeli occupation. Contact palestinejustice@aol.com to find out
details of logistics, training, and partial funding help.

JuLY 7. ISM DISCUSSION CAFE at the B&O Espresso, Belmont and Olive on
Capitol Hill. Drop by anytime between 5 and 8 pm to learn more about the
International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation. Every first Wednesday of the
month. More info: 206 633-1086.

July 8, You are invited to attend a benefit screening of: ANOTHER SIDE OF
PEACE A Documentary Film,July 8, 2004, 7:00PM with reception to follow. Ethnic
Cultural Center 3931Brooklyn Avenue NE. Seattle, WA 98105 For additional
screening information and RSVP call or email: 206 937-3681 or
anothersideofpeacefilm@yahoo.com. Roni Hirshenzon is an Israeli man who has suffered as much as any
parent can imagine. Both of Ron's sons are dead. Each died at age 19 as a
direct result of the violence in the region. Putting hatred and anger aside, Roni
co-founded The Parents Circle, a support group for Israeli and Palestinian
parents who have lost their children in the conflict. Another Side of Peace
follows Roni and his Palestinian partners in their tireless efforts to share grief
and work for peace. Contact: Ellen Frick, Director and Producer
206.595.2875 twobobproductions@yahoo.com; Jamie Hammond, Executive Producer
206.709.2700 jamieh@freerangeproductions.com

July 10, 12-2 pm. SIDEWALK EDUCATION FOR PALESTINIAN HUMAN RIGHTS. Usually
every 2nd Saturday from 12-2 pm. We have info, banners, signs, and welcome all
anti-racists to join us. Palestine Solidarity Committee. More info:
palestinejustice@aol.com. Check our calendar for updates. Call 206 633-1086 if you
need to confirm a location. Westlake Park: 4th & Pine, downtown Seattle.

PALESTINE IN YOUR LIVING ROOM: As always, Palestine Solidarity Committee
would love to help you discuss this issue with your community. Invite friends over
for dinner or tea and show a video and host a speaker who’s just back from
witnessing the occupation. All for free. Let us know if you’re interested: 206
633-1086, palestinejustice@aol.com.

ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
STOP THE WALL CAMPAIGN ***“GO TO RAFAH TO INVESTIGATE RACHEL CORRIE’S
DEATH” CAMPAIGN***OLYMPIA-RAFAH SISTER CITY PROJECT*** SEATTLE DIVEST FROM ISRAELI
MILITARY OCCUPATION CAMPAIGN***

STOP THE WALL CAMPAIGN
The Wall is higher than the Berlin Wall, will take millions of American tax
dollars to build, and cuts the West Bank in two: confiscating some of the
richest Palestinian farmland and many wells for Israeli use. For more info:
John Reese, jreese@scn.org, 206-568-7110 or Community Action Network
can@drizzle.com
This link is to a translation of a May 23rd article in Yediot Ahronot titled
“A Wall in the Heart.”
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1546.shtml
These links have additional information on the wall including maps.
http://www.gush-shalom.org/thewall/index.html ,
http://www.poica.org/casestudies/Changing%20Wall%20Path%2016-06-03/index.htm.
The Israeli government continues to build a massive wall to surround
Palestinian areas and turn their ghettos into large prisons. Twice as high and
planned-to-be three times as long as the Berlin Wall, Israel's latest project of
dispossession has already uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinian fruit and
olive trees and has destroyed or isolated from Palestinian farmers tens of
thousands of dunams of farmland, de facto confiscating the Palestinian people's most
fertile land and most important water wells. Entire farming communities are
losing all of their agricultural land. More statistics:10% of the West Bank
will be confiscated by and for Israel by the path of this wall. As of December
2002, some 11,500 dunams of land have been razed for the footprint of the
wall, and 83,000 trees uprooted. Over 31 groundwater wells will be in the
confiscated areas of the wall's first phase. A number of villages are to lose their
ONLY source of water. Land confiscation, destruction, and severe restriction
of movement will translate into the loss of over 6,500 jobs. Over 100
buildings have thusfar been destroyed to make way for the wall, mainly shops, an
important source of income for families and communities At least 17 Palestinian
communities will be trapped between the wall and the Green Line. Some
communities will be surrounded on all sides by the wall.
If completed as planned, some 95,000 Palestinians will be isolated. A number
of small villages have been informed that their proximity to the wall will
deem most of their community demolished. Courtesy of PENGON. For more
information and statistics, see: www.pengon.org
The ISM invites you to join the Palestinian people in coordinated
direct-action, nonviolent resistance to this strangulation, oppression and affront to
peace initiatives. While leaders talk about peace and the "road map", take part
in working for justice on the ground and paving the road to freedom. For more
information: www.palsolidarity.org

SEATTLE DIVEST FROM ISRAELI MILITARY OCCUPATION CAMPAIGN: Ask Seattle City
Council to divest its pension funds from American companies selling war machines
to Israel. Includes Caterpillar and Boeing. More info: www.p
alestineinformation.org; 206 633-1086.

GO TO RAFAH CAMPAIGN
CALL ON YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO GO TO RAFAH TO INVESTIGATE RACHEL CORRIE’S
DEATH & TO SUPPORT THE RACHEL CORRIE RESOLUTION (H.Con.Res. 111 calls for a U.S.
investigation into her death. Rachel Corrie was a 23 year-old American peace
activist who was killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) bulldozer while
nonviolently protesting the demolition of the home of a Palestinian doctor and
his family in the Gaza Strip on March 16. For more details, please see:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org.): Murray: 206.553.5545; Cantwell: 206.220.6400;
McDermott: 206.553-7170; Baird:360.695.6292....

DONATIONS IN MEMORY OF RACHEL CORRIE:
International Solidarity Movement -- Palestine
c/o Linda Bevis & Ed Mast
4330 2nd Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98105
(you can also send donations to Rafah to this address; make checks out to
“MECA”)

Rachel Corrie Memorial Fund
The Community Foundation of South Puget Sound
111 Market Street NE, Suite 375
Olympia, WA 98501
More information on the Community Foundation can be found at:
http://www.thecommunityfoundation.com

Rachel Corrie Memorial Fund
c/o The Evergreen State College Foundation
Library Building, Room 3122
The Evergreen State College
2700 Evergreen Parkway NW
Olympia, WA 98505

Corrie Scholarship Fund
c/o Elizabeth Abuhayder
351 Lee Street
Seattle, WA 98109

Plant An Olive Tree in East Jerusalem in Rachel’s Memory
$20 buys a tree
Contact: Joan Abu Jebara
PR & Advocacy Desk Coordinator
YWCA Palestine
email: pr.advocacy@ywca-palestine.org or olivetree@ywca-palestine.org
You can also send a check to "Friends of Sabeel-North Amerca", which is an
IRS registered 501(c)(3) organization and the local contact is: sister Elaine
Kelley, admin. officer, 2036 SE Jefferson St., Milwaukie, OR 97222-7660 Ph:
503-653-6625 email: kelleysfcc@aol.com (do this and sister Elaine sent us a
receipt and forwarded the forms to the YWCA/ YMCA in Jerusalem).

The Corrie family also encourages people to remember Rachel by doing
volunteer service in their community.

Cards and remembrances for the Corrie family should be sent to:
P.O. Box 12149
Olympia, WA 98508
Emails to the family can be sent to:
rachelsmessage@the-corries.com

"MIDDLE EAST JUSTICE SCHOLARSHIP IN MEMORY OF RACHEL CORRIE" has been creat
ed. This was created with the generous contributions of our communities.
If people are still interested in making contributions to this fund they can
do so by writing a check to the name of the scholarship fund and send this to
Evergreen State College at 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW., Olympia, WA, 98505.

OLYMPIA-RAFAH SISTER CITY PROJECT


Dear Friend,



We’re writing to ask your help on an urgent matter.
As you likely know, the Palestinians of Rafah, in the
Gaza Strip, have been enduring a terrifying assault by
the Israeli occupation forces. Hundreds of homes in
Rafah were wantonly demolished last month in an
indiscriminate campaign of destruction that Amnesty
International labeled a “war crime”. Thousands of
people, already impoverished, were then left homeless,
and the campaign of home destruction continued with
scores of houses leveled in the month of November. A
grave humanitarian crisis is taking shape, with many
injured persons cut off from medical care by the
Israeli Occupation forces, and local hospitals unable
to cope with the growing number of casualties.



One international volunteer currently working in Rafah
sent this dispatch on November 19th, which gives a
look into the grim daily existence of Gaza:





We are spending much of our days visiting families who
have lost children and other family members from
Israeli bullets. The other day in Gaza City, halfway
through Ramadan, a very poor family lost one of its
sons. The 13 year old was out catching birds with
other kids from the neighborhood when an Israeli
military foot patrol came upon them. The autopsy
report describes the child as being shot 17 times at
close range and his face was injured from being
stomped on by the soldiers’ boots. His arm was broken
when they dragged him from the place of his murder to
the border, in order to claim they shot him because he
got too close to the Green Line.



In Rafah, another 13 year old child was shot in the
stomach on his way

home from school. That day there was an unusual amount
of gunfire all day long…In Block O, one of the refugee
camps along the border, this child was just getting
out of class and on his way home when he was either
targeted or hit with a stray bullet. He was not killed
instantly, but was taken to the ICU where over the
course of 3 days was given 16 liters of blood. In the
end the doctors could not stop the bleeding and the
child died.





Stories of such atrocities are almost entirely absent
from U.S. media reporting, yet are common fare to
those involved in solidarity work inside Palestine.
As citizens of the country that finances and enables
the Occupation, we are trying to provide some
immediate relief and hope to the victims, while laying
the foundation for long-term change.
Who We Are
The concept of an Olympia-to-Rafah sister city
relationship was begun last year by our friend and
colleague Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli
military bulldozer on March 16. Rachel insisted on
living in Rafah because she thought it was there that
people faced the occupation’s harshest conditions. It
is well known that she was a member of the
International Solidarity Movement and that she lost
her life defending a Palestinian family’s home from
destruction. Not so well known were her efforts at
establishing a sister-city relationship. She traveled
to Rafah with the names of school children from her
hometown, seeking to pair them with counterparts in
Rafah in a pen-pal exchange. She imagined all sorts
of cultural exchanges, aid projects, and direct ways
of connecting people across the many barriers of
distance, language and misunderstanding that separate
us. She believed that only then might our country’s
misguided policies be confronted and changed.



Although Rachel’s life was cut short, many of us were
inspired by her and have resolved to carry out her
project. Beginning with a small core group, we have
steadily expanded since our formation last Spring. A
number of our members have gone to live in Rafah,
building connections with people and institutions
there. We have begun a Fair Trade exchange for
Palestinian artwork through the Union of Palestinian
Women, we support a Center for Disabled Persons, we
have sponsored cultural exchanges, and we offer
translation between English and Arabic for our pen-pal
program. You can find out more about us, or contact
us, through our website at http://www.orscp.org/.


What You Can Help With Right Now


Right now the people in Rafah are asking us for help
in obtaining medical equipment and supplies. The idea
of a Sister City in the U.S. has raised hopes inside
Rafah, and we wish to respond to their appeal as
generously as possible. While we have longer-term
ideas about setting up doctor exchanges and assistance
from local hospitals, we would like to respond to the
more immediate request of obtaining medical supplies.
Our group’s ability to respond to such an appeal is
limited, and so we are reaching out to you for
assistance.



Any contribution you can make to support this project
will be fully tax-deductible, and our transfer of
funds to Palestine will be completely legal and
transparent. Our 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor is the Middle
East Childrens’ Alliance in Berkeley, CA, directed by
longtime activist Barbara Lubin. If you are not
familiar with them, see their website at
http://www.mecaforpeace.org/. MECA is one of the
most established aid organizations in the U.S. working
in the Mideast.

The funds they send to Rafah for us will be
distributed through Dr. Mona El-Farar of the Union of
Health Work Committees. You can read Dr. El-Farar’s
recent report on Rafah’s medical crisis at
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2054.shtml.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us by
phone at (360) 867-0290 or via email at
tomwright59@comcast.net.

Thank you so much for your help.

Tom Wright and Therese Saliba