A Call to All Palestine Solidarity Activists

Attend the National Peace Conference!

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Albany, New York, July 23 to 25, 2010

http://www.nationalpeaceconference.org/

Hundreds of anti-war organizers will converge on Albany, including Al-Awda NY members, this weekend to strengthen anti-war movement building and to deepen the connections and solidarity among our various social movements as we continue to challenge militarism, racism and exploitation at home and abroad.

The Albany gathering, co-sponsored by 31 national organizations, is an important place for the Palestine Solidarity movement in the United States to come together with leading anti-war organizers to continue the momentum generated by the strong Palestine resolutions that came out of the recent US Social Forum in Detroit.  The June 26th, 2010 National People's Movement Assembly in Detroit produced an important series of resolutions adopted by the over 18,000-strong Forum as a whole reflecting the vision of unified struggle against racism, colonialism, oppression and exploitation, including clear support for the Palestinian struggle.

"Such a clear statement is a significant development for the U.S. Left and an achievement for all who worked to ensure the Palestinian and Arab presence at the core of the Social Forum. As the U.S. government funds ongoing Israeli war crimes and welcomes the racist Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, DC, the US's popular movements affirmed the centrality of the Palestinian liberation struggle and expressed full support" (US Palestinian Community Network).

The US Social Forum concluded with a call on all organizations and social movements to boycott, divest and sanction the Israeli apartheid state and the institutions that support it.

Now is the time to integrate Palestine solidarity with the demands and actions projected by the broader antiwar and social justice movements to be discussed and voted on at the conference.

For those who cannot attend, the conference will be televised online at: http://www.mediasanctuary.tv/

Of special interest to Palestinian and solidarity activists, the conference features:

• A panel on strategy for the antiwar movement that includes Nada Khader, Palestinian American Executive Director of WESPAC (Westchester Peace Action Coalition) Foundation;
A Saturday afternoon program on Pre-Emptive Prosecution of Muslims and an important demonstration on Sunday afternoon, organized by Project Salam, following the conference, in defense of the Muslim community against persecution and attacks. See rally details: http://projectsalam.org/events/07-25-10.html

A program of speakers and performers that includes Noura Erakat, Palestinian American human rights attorney and adjunct professor of international human rights law in the Middle East at Georgetown University and Coordinating Committee member of the US Palestinian Community Network;

 Two workshops on Palestine featuring Al-Awda NY representatives:

 SATURDAY, JULY 24, 10:15-11:45 AM

Resistance to Israeli Apartheid in Palestine: Gaza, BDS, Nonviolent Resistance in the W. Bank & E. Jerusalem

Fadi Kanaan - Palestinian leader of Palestine student support group at SUNY Albany

Nada Khader - Exec. Dir. WESPAC Foundation, Westchester peace and justice organization

Col. Ann Wright - Veterans for Peace; Code Pink, just returned from Free Gaza Flotilla

Bill Doares - Al-Awda NY

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 4:30-6:00 PM

Israel & the Palestinian Struggle: Is a Two-State Solution Possible or Desirable?

Noura Erakat - Palestinian American human rights attorney and adjunct professor of international human rights law in the Middle East at Georgetown University

Joel Kovel - author “Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State"

David Letwin - Al-Awda NY

A Palestine Solidarity Caucus will present a resolution for action to the conference and amendments to the main Action Proposal. For more information and to participate in the caucus, contact Andy Pollack at acpollack2@juno.com.

The Muslim Solidarity Committee and Project SALAM (Support And Legal Advocacy for Muslims) have called for a public demonstration on Sunday, July 25 in Albany in solidarity with the Muslim community there, that has been subject to discrimination and persecution by the U.S. political police. The demonstration is set for the end of a national anti-war conference in the city. The organizers have called on conference participants to meet at east steps of the Capitol, Washington & State Streets, a block from the Conference site, at 1 p.m. for a march to Masjid As-Salam at 278 Central Avenue.

Details and logistics on the conference are at www.nationalpeaceconference.org.