PALESTINE-RELATED
EVENTS in the SEATTLE AREA for AUGUST 7-15
(NOTE: NO SIDEWALK ED IN
AUGUST; JOIN US ON 9/11 FOR THE NEXT SIDEWALK
EDUCATION)
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:
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: TBA
* Next ISM Seattle subcommittee
meeting: TBA
* Next ISM Seattle Discussion Cafe:
Sept. 1, 5-8 pm (every first Wed.)
* Next Sidewalk Education, SEPT.
11, 12-2 p.m. (NO AUGUST SIDEWALK ED)
* 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
PSCÕs lending library,
contact: palestinejustice@aol.com
THIS WEEK:
WOMEN IN BLACK ***ISMÕS
FREEDOM SUMMER (ongoing) ***
WOODINVILLE/BELLEVUE
PALESTINE SERIES:
PALESTINE IS STILL THE ISSUE VIDEO***PROTEST BUSHÕS POLICIES
IN MIDEAST ***PALESTINE
IN YOUR LIVINGROOM? BRING SPEAKERS AND VIDEOS TO YOUR
FRIENDS ANYTIME -- CALL
PSC FOR MORE INFO 206 633-1086***
WOMEN
IN BLACK.
Stand
against occupation and war every Thursday at Westlake.
4th
& Pine. 5-6 pm. Wear Black. Men can support.
Thursday,
Aug. 12, WOODINVILLE/BELLEVUE PALESTINE SERIES. A series of 3
videos
and two related activities about Palestine will begin Thursday, August 12
in
Woodinville/Duvall and continue after Labor Day in Bellevue.
Thursday,
August 12, at the Woodinville
Public Library, 7-9 pm, Dr. Nada
Elia
will introduce the video Palestine Is Still The Issue, by John Pilger.
Come
at 6:30 for food and conversation prior to the start of the event. The
Library
is on Avondale Road South of the intersection of Woodinville Duvall Road
and
Avondale Road. The series will continue with showings of
Gaza
Strip, then Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land, and then
reportsfrom
or about the Israeli/American Jewish/Tikkun/Refusenik peace community, and
finally
a firsthand report from Palestine. More info:
karenhkonzen@mailstation.com
425-246-7915
Friday,
Aug. 13, PROTEST BUSHÕS POLICIES IN THE MIDEAST AND GENERALLY. HeÕll
be
in Medina for a fundraising dinner and we should feel free to use our
Constitutional
First Amendment right of free speech to nonviolently let him know
what
we think of his policies.
Tentative location, cleared by the Medina
Police:
anti-Bush rally will be the Medina Elementary School, 8001 NE 8th Street,
Medina,
WA 98039. .More info: Anthony at vicari@whidbey.com.
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:
*** ISMÕS FREEDOM SUMMER
(ongoing)*** WOODINVILLE/BELLEVUE
PALESTINE
SERIES***SIDEWALK EDUCATION ***ISM DISCUSSION CAFE ***ROVICS/LIPPMAN
CONCERT ***WOMENÕS ART
FESTIVAL***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.
Sept.
1. 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.
Sept.
11, 12-2 pm. (NO SIDEWALK ED IN AUGUST) 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.
Thurs.,
Sept. 30, DAVID ROVICS AND DAVE LIPPMAN TOGETHER IN CONCERT
Benefit for COMMUNITY ALLIANCE FOR
GLOBAL JUSTICE. Progressive, musical
commentary
on our world today. David Rovics
has written songs for Rachel Corrie
and
Palestine; Dave Lippman is just returned from Palestine. Seattle Labor
Temple
- 2800 1st Avenue. $10 Donation requested (all welcome) Reception at 6pm,
Concert
at 7pm. ASL interpreted.More info:
206.369.7087. Community Alliance
for
Global Justice is a grassroots organization working locally for global
economic
justice. CAGJ fights corporate "free" trade agreements -- such as
expansions
of NAFTA and the WTO -- and promotes Fair Trade alternatives. (206)
405-4600,
www.seattleglobaljustice.org -
www.davidrovics.com - www.davelippman.com.
Contact
either performer to arrange interviews.
October:
WOMENÕS ART FESTIVAL featuring local
Seattle artists. The festival
will
showcase work by women from Muslim countries such as Afghanistan, Iran,
Pakistan,
& Palestine. It will include a one month long visual art exhibit at
Gallery
110 in Pioneer Square, two nights of film screenings, & author/poetry
reading. There is more information available
about our festival, which is
called
'Sadaa: Voices of Women,' at http://www.jazbah.org/sadaa.
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 whoÕs just back from
witnessing
the occupation. All for free. Let us know if youÕre interested: 206
633-1086,
palestinejustice@aol.com.
ONGOING CAMPAIGNS
STOP THE WALL CAMPAIGN ***ÓGO TO RAFAH TO
INVESTIGATE RACHEL CORRIEÕS
DEATHÓCAMPAIGN***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
ŅA
Wall in the Heart.Ó
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 CORRIEÕS
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
ŅMECAÓ)
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 RachelÕs 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,
WeÕre
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 Ņwar crimeā€¯. 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 soldiersÕ 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 longā€¦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 occupationÕs 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 familyÕs 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
countryÕs
misguided
policies be confronted and changed.
Although
RachelÕs 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
groupÕs 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
ChildrensÕ 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-FararÕs
recent
report on RafahÕs 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
***
This
is due to several FBI interviews have been reported in the area in the
last
few days. Please distribute where appropriate. WHAT TO DO IF THE FBI OR
POLICE
CONTACT YOU FOR QUESTIONING
The
US government has announced its intention to interview people of Arabic
origin
living in the US. This bulletin
informs you how to respond in a way
that
will protect your rights when the FBI, Immigration officials, or police
contact
you for questioning.
If the FBI or police contact you
to ask questions, you have the right to
have
a lawyer present. It is your right
and your choice whether you get a
lawyer.
A lawyer is a legal witness who will protect your rights. If you are a
non-citizen,
it is more important that you have a lawyer.
If an FBI agent or police officer
asks to speak to you, and you would
prefer
to have a lawyer, tell him or her that you want to consult with that lawyer
first. Write down the name, agency, and
telephone number of the person who
calls
or visits you. Tell them that your
lawyer will contact them soon.
Then CONTACT SOMEONE
IMMEDIATELY.
ACLU
can provide confidential free legal advice.
(206)
624-2184
24-hour
Arab Hotline for Arabic speakers
takes
hate incident reports &
gives
referrals to legal advisors.
(206)
634-9001
ANY information you give to an
officer without a lawyer, even if it seems
harmless,
can be used against you or someone else.
Lying to an officer is a
crime. Remaining silent is NOT a crime.
You are NOT required to allow the
officer into your home or office without
a
warrant. Ask to see the warrant,
the officers ID and get his serial
number. If the officer refuses to show you any
of these, do not let him in, call
911
immediately. Tell the person that
you are doing this.
If the officer says that he has a
warrant for your arrest, you have a
right
to see the warrant. You must go
with the officer, BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO
ANSWER
QUESTIONS UNTIL YOU CONSULT A LAWYER.
If
you are detained, you should ask for a lawyer and remain silent.
If you are detained in an immigration
detention center, ask for contact
information
for lawyers.
PLEASE
CALL FOR HELP!
AND
LET OTHERS KNOW ABOUT THIS INFORMATION
Good
Luck,The Arab American Community Coalition
---------------------------------