tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-272015872024-02-18T20:59:36.294-05:00Peace in Israel/PalestineThis blog was created by the Palestine Israel Action Group (PIAG), a subcommittee of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting. PIAG's deep concern about the 67-year old conflict has led us to action, education, and dialogue. We hope to contribute to a solution that is perceived as workable and fair by reasonable people on both sides.The blog is not meant to represent the views of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting as a whole. Relevant, civil comments will be posted.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-6561116877133360312019-05-29T15:49:00.003-04:002019-05-29T15:49:50.677-04:00Zionism is not Judaism<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">PIAG supports this statement opposing Zionism from <a href="https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/zionism/" target="_blank">Jewish Voice for Peace</a>. The illustrations are our own.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Jewish
Voice for Peace is guided by a vision of justice, equality and freedom for all
people. We unequivocally oppose Zionism because it is counter to those ideals.
We know that opposing Zionism, or even discussing it, can be painful, can
strike at the deepest trauma and greatest fears of many of us. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WmcInz7XBHQ3yqIPmUF1a5u7iwSavYNwIGL_U1mrGA4VuREUeCuKv6QUTfl0lUBkMKjvmJW9XyYcMaojzo24O5r4EqHPXLW1o9Q4kRHC2GTYwRr-LEua0rqtHBQTHqVM8cdY/s1600/settler+colonialism3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0WmcInz7XBHQ3yqIPmUF1a5u7iwSavYNwIGL_U1mrGA4VuREUeCuKv6QUTfl0lUBkMKjvmJW9XyYcMaojzo24O5r4EqHPXLW1o9Q4kRHC2GTYwRr-LEua0rqtHBQTHqVM8cdY/s1600/settler+colonialism3.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><b>Zionism
is a nineteenth-century political ideology that emerged in a moment where Jews
were defined as irrevocably outside of a Christian Europe. European
antisemitism threatened and ended millions of Jewish lives — in pogroms, in
exile, and in the Holocaust.</b></span></div>
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study and action, through deep relationship with Palestinians fighting for
their own liberation, and through our own understanding of Jewish safety and
self-determination, we have come to see that Zionism was a false and failed
answer to the desperately real question many of our ancestors faced of how to
protect Jewish lives from murderous antisemitism in Europe. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While
it had many strains historically, the Zionism that took hold and stands today
is a sett</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">ler-colonial movement, establishing an apartheid state where Jews have
more rights than others. Our own history teaches us how dangerous this can be.
Palestinian dispossession and occupation are by design. Zionism has meant
profound trauma for generations, systematically separating Palestinians from
their homes, land, and each other. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;"><b>Zionism, in practice, has resulted in
massacres of Palestinian people, ancient villages and olive groves destroyed,
families who live just a mile away from each other separated by checkpoints and
walls, and children holding onto the keys of the homes from which their
grandparents were forcibly exiled.</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITqrqLWhGFpXV3dHGuY8ArLiQdp-BzVlSxf32cBQY7vMRSObgBnHvjkh7enMUs8wPoxr690mdDCkiYEXl79-QcADiz3BF3nR2dLwaYkfU6N5Ijx8K99yt3mB_ktzjND01L1fj/s1600/Pal+dispossession.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="678" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITqrqLWhGFpXV3dHGuY8ArLiQdp-BzVlSxf32cBQY7vMRSObgBnHvjkh7enMUs8wPoxr690mdDCkiYEXl79-QcADiz3BF3nR2dLwaYkfU6N5Ijx8K99yt3mB_ktzjND01L1fj/s320/Pal+dispossession.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Because
the founding of the state of Israel was based on the idea of a “land without
people,” Palestinian existence itself is resistance. We are all the more
humbled by the vibrance, resilience, and steadfastness of Palestinian life,
culture, and organizing, as it is a deep refusal of a political ideology
founded on erasure. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>In
sharing our stories with one another, we see the ways Zionism has also harmed
Jewish people. Many of us have learned from Zionism to treat our neighbors with
suspicion, to forget the ways Jews built home and community wherever we found
ourselves to be. Jewish people have had long and integrated histories in the
Arab world and North Africa, living among and sharing community, language and
custom with Muslims and Christians for thousands of years. By creating a racist
hierarchy with European Jews at the top, Zionism erased those histories and
destroyed those communities and relationships. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPH_WozTAhcoYOq7fhO3jcfQ9FgXQKiLZb2zHaK7_m2E6WMAI2rG6GS6AFmSyFVErHSodQOQ7kua50QlYEYjWG7kombbL7MW42hQqG7h1UGPX7pV8aIjULI0N79ZioeFRFBfgE/s1600/racism+israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPH_WozTAhcoYOq7fhO3jcfQ9FgXQKiLZb2zHaK7_m2E6WMAI2rG6GS6AFmSyFVErHSodQOQ7kua50QlYEYjWG7kombbL7MW42hQqG7h1UGPX7pV8aIjULI0N79ZioeFRFBfgE/s320/racism+israel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>In
Israel, Jewish people of color – from the Arab world, North Africa, and East
Africa – have long been subjected to systemic discrimination and violence by
the Israeli government. That hierarchy also creates Jewish spaces where Jews of
color are marginalized, our identities and commitments questioned &
interrogated, and our experiences invalidated. It prevents us from seeing each
other, fellow Jews and other fellow human beings, in our full humanity.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5PCbKu0Rc41P6IufA2LoeNMinCK0SI1DOo3FvIAUjq02SSnEoOmtRUNTfGWa1jdbo6KfYMmo4ybhfm7jJ9dIHd927hQmzpll9omJDGLiVb7baLmexLfZzTXZ1Qiwkdnz7s_Z/s1600/Israel+racism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="188" data-original-width="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5PCbKu0Rc41P6IufA2LoeNMinCK0SI1DOo3FvIAUjq02SSnEoOmtRUNTfGWa1jdbo6KfYMmo4ybhfm7jJ9dIHd927hQmzpll9omJDGLiVb7baLmexLfZzTXZ1Qiwkdnz7s_Z/s1600/Israel+racism.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Zionist
interpretations of history taught us that Jewish people are alone, that to
remedy the harms of antisemitism we must think of ourselves as always under
attack and that we cannot trust others. It teaches us fear, and that the best
response to fear is a bigger gun, a taller wall, a more humiliating checkpoint.
<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>Rather
than accept the inevitability of occupation and dispossession, we choose a
different path. We learn from the anti-Zionist Jews who came before us, and
know that as long as Zionism has existed, so has Jewish dissent to it.
Especially as we face the violent antisemitism fueled by white nationalism in
the United States today, we choose solidarity. We choose collective liberation.
</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZWeUq4zoOTCjfcUuitm6D5bFS3uss7xGEu0Ur7hWwCllbQS0L-uL310PNyc6wsMt46X76LDCWSSG_Hi3S1B6Qyf8ae0FEoV0BC-sC58Z0OHnrJ9Q4qoxqN9fcVBUzonU1IMk/s1600/solidarity3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGZWeUq4zoOTCjfcUuitm6D5bFS3uss7xGEu0Ur7hWwCllbQS0L-uL310PNyc6wsMt46X76LDCWSSG_Hi3S1B6Qyf8ae0FEoV0BC-sC58Z0OHnrJ9Q4qoxqN9fcVBUzonU1IMk/s1600/solidarity3.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b>We
choose a future where everyone, including Palestinians and Jewish Israelis, can
live their lives freely in vibrant, safe, equitable communities, with basic
human needs fulfilled. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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us.</span></b></span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-40606994965016143222018-03-22T09:39:00.000-04:002018-03-22T09:39:02.656-04:00A BIG BDS WIN!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EVdI0w_nznZCInJiNcHY12m-XCj_PK1ggTsUZPLhmwh1IYvEFk6d26N6amsbAgMO2aQB9ViU-YSfHJwXRauvGgHSRjvYD93e4vSzs2H3_546dJWkMCZo-B0lRlSk1Y4oaJY3/s1600/celebration+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0EVdI0w_nznZCInJiNcHY12m-XCj_PK1ggTsUZPLhmwh1IYvEFk6d26N6amsbAgMO2aQB9ViU-YSfHJwXRauvGgHSRjvYD93e4vSzs2H3_546dJWkMCZo-B0lRlSk1Y4oaJY3/s1600/celebration+image.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the request of Ann
Arbor Friends Meeting, Lake Erie Yearly Meeting and other Quaker Meetings
around the nation, Friends Fiduciary Corporation, the Quaker investment
management company with assets of $400 million, has agreed to exclude companies
from its investments that contribute to any and all internationally recognized
conflict zones and occupations – including, of course, Israel’s occupation of
Palestinian lands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is the relevant wording
of Friends Fiduciary’s new (March 2018) policy: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We evaluate companies on their human and labor rights performance using
industry standard objective ratings data and conducting our own research. . . We
also consider company involvement in internationally recognized conflict zones
and occupied territories, due to the unique risks such involvement may
pose. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: yellow;">We avoid investing in companies that provide products or
services that materially contribute to the maintenance and expansion of
occupied territories and conflict zones.</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You can find their complete
investment guidelines <a href="http://www.friendsfiduciary.org/wp-content/uploads/Investment-Guidelines-March-2018-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a big deal! PIAG
and the Ann Arbor Meeting have been in dialogue with Friends Fiduciary for
seven years on this issue. For much of that time, Friends Fiduciary’s Board was
concerned that excluding companies that were complicit in Israel’s occupation would
be seen as punitive, or that supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement
was anti-Semitic, or that screening out companies that manufacture weapons or
weapons components (as they already did, as Quakers) was enough. But in March,
2018, they changed their minds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here are some of the
arguments the Ann Arbor Meeting used to persuade them to rethink the issue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From our letter to the
Friends Fiduciary CEO and Members of the Board (October, 2017):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We agree that
discernment about controversial issues in difficult. We hear in [your] concern
a worry that economic action that speaks to the government of Israel about its
mistreatment of the Palestinians is directed against Jews as a persecuted
people, which Quakers should not tolerate. Further, we hear . . . that
expanding Friends Fiduciary’s investment procedures from excluding not only
companies that make weapons of war, but those that support the repression of the
Palestinian population in other frightening and injurious ways, would be “punitive”
and therefore, perhaps, un-Quakerly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We respectfully disagree
with both these premises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“As Quakers, we are
convinced that the goal of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not to punish Israel or the companies that
support its actions. Instead, we believe that its purpose is to hold companies and
institutions accountable for their violations of human rights and/or
international law by pressing them to make changes in their behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We appreciate that
calls for divestment can cause discomfort among individuals and institutions
that hold power and privilege. But this discomfort should not be given
precedence over the pain and injustice Palestinians suffer under occupation. As
Quakers, we believe that seeing God’s light in all people means that the
feelings of the privileged group should not outweigh the rights of the
oppressed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Boycotts and
divestment are proven nonviolent tactics that were considered by many at one
time to be controversial but are now widely celebrated as brave, principled,
and just. Examples range from Mahatma Gandhi’s boycott of British-controlled
salt and imported cloth, to the Montgomery bus boycotts and lunch counter
sit-ins in the segregated U.S. South, to the grape boycotts in defense of
farmworkers in California, to the divestment from corporations doing business
in apartheid South Africa. Quakers, too, have a long history of supporting
economic activism, including boycotts, to advance movements for social justice.
In the 18<sup>th</sup> century, John Woolman and Anthony Benezet argued that
the purchase of slave-produced goods helped keep the institution of slavery
viable. In the 19<sup>th</sup> century, Quaker activists such as Lucretia Mott
led the Free Produce movement to undermine the market for goods produced by
enslaved people and to promote the buying and selling of goods produced by free
labor. The Israel-Palestine conflict presents similar challenges and affords
principled people and institutions similar opportunities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“As to the concern
about anti-Semitism, we take this issue very seriously. We are clear that the
BDS movement categorically rejects and condemns all forms of racism and
bigotry, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Throughout our years of work
for peace in Israel-Palestine we have been buoyed and supported by Jews who
share our dismay at Israel’s repression of the Palestinian people. Over the
last five years we have noticed a distinct increase in the support of the
Jewish community for BDS, especially among younger Jewish Americans who feel
that Israel’s repressive and cruel occupation does not embody the prophetic
Jewish values they were taught growing up, values they cherish and believe in.
They know that their work for BDS does not make them anti-Semitic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“In this new climate
of openness, Quakers, too, are becoming more willing to learn about Israel’s
repressive policies and to discuss how they can best support justice in the
region. Many Meetings have now approved Minutes affirming their support for
divestment or other economic action. . . Please see <a href="http://www.quakerpi.org/">www.quakerpi.org</a> for a full list of such
actions.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We congratulate
Friends Fiduciary Corporation for their principled decision!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgai7umA2welmLahswQQvSm8b3lVLCEERMOA9Q-0E2Ltwo5bBAzt9QTbPnn6wdSe1QUkrdCyy_5jjktZgPiz5wbBuj8qYLDFf2Sejq8uV7pTrXJjV9kxrKDi8rQDIH9CK5XdN4_/s1600/congratulations+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgai7umA2welmLahswQQvSm8b3lVLCEERMOA9Q-0E2Ltwo5bBAzt9QTbPnn6wdSe1QUkrdCyy_5jjktZgPiz5wbBuj8qYLDFf2Sejq8uV7pTrXJjV9kxrKDi8rQDIH9CK5XdN4_/s1600/congratulations+image.jpg" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-42309030270639190632017-10-24T22:02:00.002-04:002017-10-24T22:12:16.988-04:00BDS: 10 Critiques. 10 Responses <span style="font-size: large;">These common critiques of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement and their responses were put together by the Quaker Palestine-Israel Network (<a href="https://qpinblog.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">QPIN</a>). We have added images to help explain and illuminate the arguments.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #1:</i></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnOvWGonupej4F4rhyphenhyphenDFeBcBN8LJA52hLGQ4zhMYlzEinfEGA0eQ3R1AsPdp01gT33jBJhMXxQQidTYC6R5u3kx48vMUukI0FKtkVEtwalofXnREciCn-pvbPvQdzUTRGNiyz/s1600/dove.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="145" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnOvWGonupej4F4rhyphenhyphenDFeBcBN8LJA52hLGQ4zhMYlzEinfEGA0eQ3R1AsPdp01gT33jBJhMXxQQidTYC6R5u3kx48vMUukI0FKtkVEtwalofXnREciCn-pvbPvQdzUTRGNiyz/s200/dove.png" width="200" /></a><i><span style="font-size: large;">Those seeking peace and reconciliation shouldn’t take sides. Rather, we should remain neutral </span><span style="font-size: large;">while calling on both sides </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">to support </span><span style="font-size: large;">nonviolence.</span></i><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* In a situation of injustice and power imbalances, remaining </span><span style="font-size: large;">neutral means siding with the status quo and the powerful.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm1ouOVFTubAjTOvnRs9gaOYqa9tizNBsoKKX11ix9e2hrDXCklc1PwlZbk5SkfGCuPxq8gCsGzPAQ2OKKbJL4h3w4brku24wb9MtUkDO33pgzRyTHfFoBtMtRaMW7gYcu-9d/s1600/power2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="165" data-original-width="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm1ouOVFTubAjTOvnRs9gaOYqa9tizNBsoKKX11ix9e2hrDXCklc1PwlZbk5SkfGCuPxq8gCsGzPAQ2OKKbJL4h3w4brku24wb9MtUkDO33pgzRyTHfFoBtMtRaMW7gYcu-9d/s1600/power2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Standing consistently in support of justice and against the </span><span style="font-size: large;">violation of rights is not “taking sides” but rather speaking </span><span style="font-size: large;">truth.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PMb6J9GZd4fhV0IQce2pQge38qtIIUiWruza4vp5my1DYllz7Gbp06YLfHdXypd-aE1zOGmvmeqJO13EEA1gWg7HkYCzattNSclsCJQoLXaFgnMP_rPVG0g2mcG7RqJJShIU/s1600/BDS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8PMb6J9GZd4fhV0IQce2pQge38qtIIUiWruza4vp5my1DYllz7Gbp06YLfHdXypd-aE1zOGmvmeqJO13EEA1gWg7HkYCzattNSclsCJQoLXaFgnMP_rPVG0g2mcG7RqJJShIU/s1600/BDS.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS is on the side of rights and justice. The BDS Palestinian </span><span style="font-size: large;">call issued in 2005 asks people to stand for freedom, equality </span><span style="font-size: large;">and justice.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVyaLkHehgvlKwPM15_8Gq8qoxbFo7prNHMDFb_0B3uVdWFAst7mXExXZboFmlB0IpTYZvdLbROxEFAuFtCKRAcyFMXBa8l8vN1nb2gdFExtLeI541wwz4Im4wkMRrTwMjyts/s1600/Dialogue.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrVyaLkHehgvlKwPM15_8Gq8qoxbFo7prNHMDFb_0B3uVdWFAst7mXExXZboFmlB0IpTYZvdLbROxEFAuFtCKRAcyFMXBa8l8vN1nb2gdFExtLeI541wwz4Im4wkMRrTwMjyts/s1600/Dialogue.png" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #2:</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">BDS cuts off dialogue. Those committed to peace </span><span style="font-size: large;">should encourage dialogue and programs that </span><span style="font-size: large;">bring together Palestinians and Israelis instead of </span><span style="font-size: large;">promoting BDS.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE: </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWfCk2ne32wxxzxrtZUQ6orEzCdzSnRf61pTsp7ykcrMbM6Dn3zwXTt7k25kI7UY5LDuSMgeDysDAMqV0qFZvQjdlgpPyCWZPCBwEnTW7E_YwCu1xoDiUByF0qfQXHqno3I7WD/s1600/UN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWfCk2ne32wxxzxrtZUQ6orEzCdzSnRf61pTsp7ykcrMbM6Dn3zwXTt7k25kI7UY5LDuSMgeDysDAMqV0qFZvQjdlgpPyCWZPCBwEnTW7E_YwCu1xoDiUByF0qfQXHqno3I7WD/s1600/UN.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">*BDS lifts up the voices of Palestinians living under occupation </span><span style="font-size: large;">and provides space for them to be heard in international </span><span style="font-size: large;">debates where their voices have traditionally been absent. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS encourages dialogue. It opens up conversation between </span><span style="font-size: large;">those who support BDS and those who are opposed, or who </span><span style="font-size: large;">are not sure what they think, or who go along with the status </span><span style="font-size: large;">quo because the issue seems too controversial. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4vtkC9F2sXYB5HAD_aZv6Q0hcM-fJWIK5qMuUCg182vkm1MOwsSZggu89ujrvz_bmY3TdGWBD1T9_RU99r_94nZ1NFyNWceuzmjGu5rYUNxgRMRm038ON0ExxcENRef4TO1N/s1600/human+rights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr4vtkC9F2sXYB5HAD_aZv6Q0hcM-fJWIK5qMuUCg182vkm1MOwsSZggu89ujrvz_bmY3TdGWBD1T9_RU99r_94nZ1NFyNWceuzmjGu5rYUNxgRMRm038ON0ExxcENRef4TO1N/s1600/human+rights.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">* BDS necessitates conversations about ethics and corporate actions and how institutions and corporations may sustain or <span style="font-size: large;">be complicit in abusive behaviors. </span>In short, BDS is about opening and not closing space for dialogue.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZW7GnJXWWKGN5IAlxWiPNaSXAleQrrF8GklY4YasHlt6Ib8WCAP_o5_K46rIMasVBjhk8i87Z0mOVOfzs7LSpNSMJGQecltPQXBJ2vaxTxJjHyIscw8h1NsqRC3_vy-3uaLHr/s1600/friends2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZW7GnJXWWKGN5IAlxWiPNaSXAleQrrF8GklY4YasHlt6Ib8WCAP_o5_K46rIMasVBjhk8i87Z0mOVOfzs7LSpNSMJGQecltPQXBJ2vaxTxJjHyIscw8h1NsqRC3_vy-3uaLHr/s1600/friends2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">*BDS and other activists oppose endless dialogue within what </span><span style="font-size: large;">they refer to as a “normalization” framework. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">“Normalization” involves bringing Israelis and Palestinians </span><span style="font-size: large;">together to understand each other as individuals without </span><span style="font-size: large;">paying attention to content or power differentials. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Those </span><span style="font-size: large;">opposed to normalization are not generally opposed to </span><span style="font-size: large;">dialogue but also recognize that bringing Israelis and </span><span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians together is not enough and can obfuscate </span><span style="font-size: large;">asymmetries in power. Addressing the roots of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">occupation and all of its structures of oppression must be</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">prioritized over contact. Dialogue for the sake of dialogue</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">does not promote justice and equal rights. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RcKtNFaH14HIbKUI2fa1nom8_ZJH0kYvsi0jUPJE4lLGO1jZ01PH8129HBghYYmQSMg_zzd1e8kcqSOf60giR35gJiiaEyfLlBkq_mhAVe2_4mQqp7QDFntg-gzceGA9umi6/s1600/equity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="155" data-original-width="326" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RcKtNFaH14HIbKUI2fa1nom8_ZJH0kYvsi0jUPJE4lLGO1jZ01PH8129HBghYYmQSMg_zzd1e8kcqSOf60giR35gJiiaEyfLlBkq_mhAVe2_4mQqp7QDFntg-gzceGA9umi6/s640/equity.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN6K-A2SWcPzl_jMDZYhw9RPXbU5I5qMPs6aNvZVLQ4jMTV7lhHUzgaF4UDHsaCa2CzwX41BLAidHhumW9bGO1dByuE1790QbtPi0E6aveaOqiHwOPqQikLbitxeC5mqqVt56/s1600/Jews+for+justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="247" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheN6K-A2SWcPzl_jMDZYhw9RPXbU5I5qMPs6aNvZVLQ4jMTV7lhHUzgaF4UDHsaCa2CzwX41BLAidHhumW9bGO1dByuE1790QbtPi0E6aveaOqiHwOPqQikLbitxeC5mqqVt56/s400/Jews+for+justice.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS supports Palestinians and Israelis who come together for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">co-resistance against occupation and injustice. It does not </span><span style="font-size: large;">support bringing Palestinians and Israelis together to discuss </span><span style="font-size: large;">how they can co-exist within a fundamentally unjust system.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #3:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYswMH7DD1tvrwJu2wpBN_cCbPEBZpxjmzUK0hGe2tU7i97XqARG0qcnhkFQ1WzjZ_mPerfYvW08E2FNzFBRzazX68mx6sXNrhfYptqn7BEzhRdb5H5kVVOm6a57HtZdfpQO0r/s1600/argument.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYswMH7DD1tvrwJu2wpBN_cCbPEBZpxjmzUK0hGe2tU7i97XqARG0qcnhkFQ1WzjZ_mPerfYvW08E2FNzFBRzazX68mx6sXNrhfYptqn7BEzhRdb5H5kVVOm6a57HtZdfpQO0r/s1600/argument.jpg" /></a><i><span style="font-size: large;">BDS alienates many liberal Israelis and Jews who </span><span style="font-size: large;">might otherwise work for peace. Peace activists </span><span style="font-size: large;">should support actions that bring together </span><span style="font-size: large;">people, not actions that push people apart.</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE: </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgQPa7ARZKRaRTVJmhRuG-8lCh0QxUzsGum7-e9_k4bD70VwhhcJD6IdLMWzTvMEYuGi4_JTeLGC3QqDzJOxW3Sj1hrmckx4CKOHDQI0MhKclA_HK4_97JfHK6rGe-D8H_ux-/s1600/Equality+justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgQPa7ARZKRaRTVJmhRuG-8lCh0QxUzsGum7-e9_k4bD70VwhhcJD6IdLMWzTvMEYuGi4_JTeLGC3QqDzJOxW3Sj1hrmckx4CKOHDQI0MhKclA_HK4_97JfHK6rGe-D8H_ux-/s1600/Equality+justice.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* The goals of BDS are an end to occupation, equality between </span><span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians and Israelis inside Israel, and justly addressing the </span><span style="font-size: large;">rights of Palestinian refugees. It seeks the realization of these </span><span style="font-size: large;">goals through targeted campaigns to hold companies and </span><span style="font-size: large;">institutions complicit in violations of law or human rights </span><span style="font-size: large;">abuses accountable and pushing for changes in their </span><span style="font-size: large;">behaviors. It never targets individuals because of their </span><span style="font-size: large;">religious identity, beliefs, or political positions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">* If people are </span><span style="font-size: large;">alienated by actions to bring justice, perhaps it is those </span><span style="font-size: large;">people’s positions that should be challenged and not the </span><span style="font-size: large;">actions for justice that make them uncomfortable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">* The BDS movement includes Palestinians and Israelis, </span><span style="font-size: large;">Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and others. It brings </span><span style="font-size: large;">together and provides space for all people committed to </span><span style="font-size: large;">freedom, equality, and justice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgducsSc7Kr3VgISoKaZ0mbXrFc1j3mr1GUWEmSbhHcpcvfRzebPrtxW7ztHUYpJDfn6fq5tN9ErXAmxiI-B5C-XrQmwfzBLT8lIqCSYSirA8bWqlRLmMYyCoaG-coSb-gU7mOh/s1600/Ecumenical.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="154" data-original-width="327" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgducsSc7Kr3VgISoKaZ0mbXrFc1j3mr1GUWEmSbhHcpcvfRzebPrtxW7ztHUYpJDfn6fq5tN9ErXAmxiI-B5C-XrQmwfzBLT8lIqCSYSirA8bWqlRLmMYyCoaG-coSb-gU7mOh/s640/Ecumenical.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">* Israeli actions and apartheid policies are much more </span><span style="font-size: large;">alienating, violent and divisive than nonviolent actions to </span><span style="font-size: large;">realize justice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYi_72a92RRPjfaBUBm-sNi4ICq8mAn2t6C47zHu7PE75gKCuq42R_ftTKDGPSYA79y4eyOpAqjK_9CiCvwNYo5FPDemT8HfvdW0Rn6bX4wRbW91syKZ_Ew9KBIYiNIXu454XJ/s1600/israel+violence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYi_72a92RRPjfaBUBm-sNi4ICq8mAn2t6C47zHu7PE75gKCuq42R_ftTKDGPSYA79y4eyOpAqjK_9CiCvwNYo5FPDemT8HfvdW0Rn6bX4wRbW91syKZ_Ew9KBIYiNIXu454XJ/s1600/israel+violence.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">* Challenging injustice and power is a process that necessarily </span><span style="font-size: large;">causes discomfort among those who currently hold power and </span><span style="font-size: large;">are in positions of privilege. The discomfort caused by </span><span style="font-size: large;">nonviolent actions to Israelis with power should not be placed </span><span style="font-size: large;">over and above the pain and injustice of Palestinians living </span><span style="font-size: large;">under occupation. Nor should the feelings of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">dominant/privileged group outweigh the rights of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">oppressed.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdfu5e93PLTQmTxAPZ1nIF67aAI3MpTEClW7GpB2gsPS1ceFiuFD9J95APCk_tF5tqERq4T2jtAS_gPqVGCL6QGdR5DfMLKOSJe57Ge1MiAUlLL3xehB-ozYDI6nTgAsRcnAM/s1600/human+rights+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdfu5e93PLTQmTxAPZ1nIF67aAI3MpTEClW7GpB2gsPS1ceFiuFD9J95APCk_tF5tqERq4T2jtAS_gPqVGCL6QGdR5DfMLKOSJe57Ge1MiAUlLL3xehB-ozYDI6nTgAsRcnAM/s1600/human+rights+2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #4:</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">BDS singles out Israeli violence and human </span><span style="font-size: large;">rights violations for attention and ignores war </span><span style="font-size: large;">crimes and human rights violations in other </span><span style="font-size: large;">parts of the world. </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* Those advocating BDS are responding to a direct call for </span><span style="font-size: large;">nonviolent action that has come from Palestinians who need </span><span style="font-size: large;">civil society’s help in ending Israeli dispossession, occupation, </span><span style="font-size: large;">and discrimination against them. Pursuing such goals in the </span><span style="font-size: large;">context of Israel/Palestine does not stand in the way of seeking </span><span style="font-size: large;">justice in other contexts.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK88Nu0MxB-kq7ScMIPAdxEg2hFBIVWGoI3huuSxILT1QhnGkIgzxvGjmdGYpDMClF4cqqB0ivSGtR8y6unTmFN5egcUp4jgswkSPr2PvTXyr222ZX3Yemley4qV1t-2-50lVK/s1600/HR+for+all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK88Nu0MxB-kq7ScMIPAdxEg2hFBIVWGoI3huuSxILT1QhnGkIgzxvGjmdGYpDMClF4cqqB0ivSGtR8y6unTmFN5egcUp4jgswkSPr2PvTXyr222ZX3Yemley4qV1t-2-50lVK/s1600/HR+for+all.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS activists support BDS based on a principled stand in </span><span style="font-size: large;">support of human rights, international law, and equality for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">all people. That they may not advocate the use of BDS tactics </span><span style="font-size: large;">in all other situations does not mean they do not support </span><span style="font-size: large;">justice and rights in all situations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">* Although many activists support several causes, most tend to </span><span style="font-size: large;">focus their primary energy on a single issue. Advocates for </span><span style="font-size: large;">justice and rights in Iran are not singling out Iran if they do </span><span style="font-size: large;">not also speak about Israeli human rights abuses. Advocates </span><span style="font-size: large;">for justice in Saudi Arabia, or the Congo, or the United States </span><span style="font-size: large;">are not singling out these countries if they do not also speak </span><span style="font-size: large;">about human rights elsewhere. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKWoZoueXhfmhKTOTCeF0XRrZi8ANk4j5Qbh5SoIMVxt74WBWVMW2egKcxlykv0bI4ps9_fmRinzH-jnPXfh0Z-zKbtVz3_v5vFq8z37QYB5fAzkrD0DZzPJR55iaklRXNRpG/s1600/Rohynga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHKWoZoueXhfmhKTOTCeF0XRrZi8ANk4j5Qbh5SoIMVxt74WBWVMW2egKcxlykv0bI4ps9_fmRinzH-jnPXfh0Z-zKbtVz3_v5vFq8z37QYB5fAzkrD0DZzPJR55iaklRXNRpG/s320/Rohynga.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* Equally, advocates for justice </span><span style="font-size: large;">in Israel/Palestine are not singling out Israel if they do not </span><span style="font-size: large;">speak about abuses in other locations when they speak about</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">abuses in Israel/Palestine.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYADGMoMWLy8Kdb6u0vgWSzNahpLQjzcsZjJMXn4prRTbr6TqjO2BDxcDgSqeVvL0D7SOXVALOrZH7xBmy0P3-FmBoFkDXE_fv5rz21TaYG2DT9U302M7CnOlAyActtkDMNCBM/s1600/arms+to+israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="271" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYADGMoMWLy8Kdb6u0vgWSzNahpLQjzcsZjJMXn4prRTbr6TqjO2BDxcDgSqeVvL0D7SOXVALOrZH7xBmy0P3-FmBoFkDXE_fv5rz21TaYG2DT9U302M7CnOlAyActtkDMNCBM/s400/arms+to+israel.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">* Many U.S. BDS activists do feel a special responsibility to</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">support human rights in Israel/Palestine because of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">massive military, diplomatic, and economic aid the U.S. </span><span style="font-size: large;">government has given to maintain </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">State of </span><span style="font-size: large;">Israel’s </span><span style="font-size: large;">oppression of the Palestinian people over the decades as part </span><span style="font-size: large;">of its own unjust foreign policy objectives. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">government has singled out Israel by giving it unconditional </span><span style="font-size: large;">military aid and diplomatic support.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #5:</i></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJVcsO4eDQTvYCm-lsjxkGSrs8PSp9ZIgDwnlbxnOaN6fZZsXTxGf1Fv5vOnJ9rT0bUOPw8PylMfB08Qm4qgzQjN6LN5P4HXNZeMSwypk6SSOTF1l_9uP-vzhaURW-Myr14c2/s1600/antisemitism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="312" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJVcsO4eDQTvYCm-lsjxkGSrs8PSp9ZIgDwnlbxnOaN6fZZsXTxGf1Fv5vOnJ9rT0bUOPw8PylMfB08Qm4qgzQjN6LN5P4HXNZeMSwypk6SSOTF1l_9uP-vzhaURW-Myr14c2/s400/antisemitism.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The BDS Movement is anti-Semitic.</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGBJ63VkqzkC0G-jNc48TrR_eIy1VBKZ1EGNPZy87MUEXKuDcPXKmBhyBx6cI9EACSTe2ynDzdgtWIakfuX6Je-424S00V3qLVa_KLofpKy4y6_yglIZcpGHXKT6_LjTGimmm/s1600/antisem.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJGBJ63VkqzkC0G-jNc48TrR_eIy1VBKZ1EGNPZy87MUEXKuDcPXKmBhyBx6cI9EACSTe2ynDzdgtWIakfuX6Je-424S00V3qLVa_KLofpKy4y6_yglIZcpGHXKT6_LjTGimmm/s320/antisem.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* The BDS movement does not target Jews or Judaism, but </span><span style="font-size: large;">rather the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Israeli </span><span style="font-size: large;">government against Palestinians, and the various states that </span><span style="font-size: large;">enable this or the companies that profit from it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">* The goals of BDS are freedom, justice and equality for the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian people without violating the human rights and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">security of Israelis. The BDS movement, which includes</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">people of all religions, protests against the unjust policies of a</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">state and it does not target individuals on the basis of their</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">faith or ethnic or national identity. Its focus is getting the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">government of Israel (and the US as its main supporter) to</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">comply with international law and to respect universal human</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">rights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">* The BDS movement categorically rejects and condemns all</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">forms of racism and bigotry, including anti-Semitism. </span><span style="font-size: large;">A statement on the front page of the <a href="https://bdsmovement.net/what-is-bds" target="_blank">BNC</a> (BDS National Committee) website reads: “BDS is </span><span style="font-size: large;">an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is </span><span style="font-size: large;">opposed on principle to all forms of discrimination, including </span><span style="font-size: large;">anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.”</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMxKhARZ55VLoc6UFWwWq4R2aJgJwW-1qJB4kGQJxe0rsTTLHGzhRItJVRFbWkyVCWgXMQl_sbKZO46bWhNok0cuBIlC_HYUq_I0O8V0e-QB1z43N-mVpkpOj3vEJASCmuUoa/s1600/Jews+for+jus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="187" data-original-width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMxKhARZ55VLoc6UFWwWq4R2aJgJwW-1qJB4kGQJxe0rsTTLHGzhRItJVRFbWkyVCWgXMQl_sbKZO46bWhNok0cuBIlC_HYUq_I0O8V0e-QB1z43N-mVpkpOj3vEJASCmuUoa/s1600/Jews+for+jus.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* A growing number of Jews and Israelis, particularly youth and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">young adults, support BDS. They feel that a repressive and </span><span style="font-size: large;">cruel occupation does not embody the prophetic Jewish values </span><span style="font-size: large;">they were taught growing up, values they cherish and believe </span><span style="font-size: large;">in. </span><span style="font-size: large;">They know that their work for BDS does not make them </span><span style="font-size: large;">anti-Semitic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #6:</i></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3qoG6TzLCGEjTpVxQTtxAk6brMJbJufpdOnc_2rBaVw4l2Mtn1RhuWUAQ65IEPmWjXMkR1eySosG2cmM98LMeB7q5Ss5RwvklvqpPY_lxIKb0DrBb4J7E6Hup3l3uaUdcajY/s1600/backlash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3qoG6TzLCGEjTpVxQTtxAk6brMJbJufpdOnc_2rBaVw4l2Mtn1RhuWUAQ65IEPmWjXMkR1eySosG2cmM98LMeB7q5Ss5RwvklvqpPY_lxIKb0DrBb4J7E6Hup3l3uaUdcajY/s1600/backlash.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><i>BDS is violent and punitive. It is a coercive use of economic power to punish and harm one group of people. Those seeking peace should support other nonviolent change processes.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS uses nonviolent means to challenge the violence and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">oppressive policies of the Israeli state. It never engages in or</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">threatens violence against anyone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> BDS calls for accountability and changes in the behavior of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">institutions and companies that are complicit in Israel’s</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">occupation and violations of human rights and international</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">law. BDS is not about punishing these companies or Israel but</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">rather ending their abusive behavior and ensuring</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">accountability.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS does not seek to harm Israelis. It seeks to end harmful</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Israeli government policies and actions with the goal of</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXaJUSxLMIHfAmJ-68HgOGgRfWNA7rWb0utBbmJ_NsCxDzmsTrsj9sAgwoY-cOFuRotoP0eVpxcJCI-cmqu3gHdYZIsP8Vx8Z-vw7vAUpzvVS7HrUwx97AoDPkpX_zZGfYbvY/s1600/Nelson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXaJUSxLMIHfAmJ-68HgOGgRfWNA7rWb0utBbmJ_NsCxDzmsTrsj9sAgwoY-cOFuRotoP0eVpxcJCI-cmqu3gHdYZIsP8Vx8Z-vw7vAUpzvVS7HrUwx97AoDPkpX_zZGfYbvY/s1600/Nelson.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">realizing an end to Israel’s occupation, securing justice for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian refugees, and achieving equality for Palestinians </span><span style="font-size: large;">and Israelis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS actions target institutions - not individuals - for their </span><span style="font-size: large;">complicity in Israel’s occupation and/or human rights abuses.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbreXOquan4YEdZY2JQRrUSl_LHHB32pb0fz6uExrtBO_o5h4dftD-sQlNCkn15JJUU_VeiWG9fBsWK-uQFm1ru5Vy0tnMf-RfKN8896gbclJ4geywQmicLmvWVa_MiQEls5k/s1600/Cesar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbreXOquan4YEdZY2JQRrUSl_LHHB32pb0fz6uExrtBO_o5h4dftD-sQlNCkn15JJUU_VeiWG9fBsWK-uQFm1ru5Vy0tnMf-RfKN8896gbclJ4geywQmicLmvWVa_MiQEls5k/s1600/Cesar.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">* Boycotts and divestment are proven nonviolent tactics used in </span><span style="font-size: large;">many situations -- from the Montgomery bus boycotts and </span><span style="font-size: large;">lunch counter sit-ins in the segregated southern U.S., to </span><span style="font-size: large;">boycotting grapes or strawberries in defense of farmworker </span><span style="font-size: large;">rights in California.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRPBD_PQTLDJmklam3aI3HV_YXKDssQMvHoDftLYzqXza2l2wgShfh0Jj8vlQA51HLNg4g_84m9Q4JKhxBFTjKiFP5feHBliG-gi_Kd0bFnrfq8NJDLfu4AE1WNWkTlKa_Hyt/s1600/Montgom+bb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="255" data-original-width="197" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirRPBD_PQTLDJmklam3aI3HV_YXKDssQMvHoDftLYzqXza2l2wgShfh0Jj8vlQA51HLNg4g_84m9Q4JKhxBFTjKiFP5feHBliG-gi_Kd0bFnrfq8NJDLfu4AE1WNWkTlKa_Hyt/s320/Montgom+bb.jpg" width="247" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If we deny Palestinians the use of even </span><span style="font-size: large;">nonviolent change tactics, what options do we leave open to </span><span style="font-size: large;">them as they seek to realize their rights and end abusive Israeli </span><span style="font-size: large;">actions and policies?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #7:</i></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UqVu34KnEGyyEP2gBrRoRSCEqil9cFULNII5POsX8HIHSCmUAG9g7ANasbBG8NMAlSNhdmi06AkQzct4j24LB4BHNf1cdT-956Z-wr70F3cnQLoY652p0DrJpCV5NIMi0mXI/s1600/jewish+state.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UqVu34KnEGyyEP2gBrRoRSCEqil9cFULNII5POsX8HIHSCmUAG9g7ANasbBG8NMAlSNhdmi06AkQzct4j24LB4BHNf1cdT-956Z-wr70F3cnQLoY652p0DrJpCV5NIMi0mXI/s1600/jewish+state.jpg" /></a><i><span style="font-size: large;">BDS seeks to delegitimize and destroy </span><span style="font-size: large;">Israel. BDS supports the right of </span><span style="font-size: large;">return for Palestinian refugees and </span><span style="font-size: large;">could therefore jeopardize the Jewish </span><span style="font-size: large;">nature of Israel, effectively </span><span style="font-size: large;">eliminating it as a Jewish state.</span></i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3UqVu34KnEGyyEP2gBrRoRSCEqil9cFULNII5POsX8HIHSCmUAG9g7ANasbBG8NMAlSNhdmi06AkQzct4j24LB4BHNf1cdT-956Z-wr70F3cnQLoY652p0DrJpCV5NIMi0mXI/s1600/jewish+state.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"></span></i></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* The goals of BDS are freedom, justice and equality for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians. If asking for freedom and equal rights for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, is</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">perceived as “destroying” Israel, what does that say about the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">current system that is in place?</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2HpPPg4FfF7oZct-MR46U7-pZ45rkWs1sNZQvtqy1uXNTQx7Mk-QKiHzHDGb5PNfK7WC986_67u41-UX9t-mrqpX6UuhmF9mEFbwvGOJ7nJCIEFfh9irtP7kre5vHjUwyVUp/s1600/Nelson2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG2HpPPg4FfF7oZct-MR46U7-pZ45rkWs1sNZQvtqy1uXNTQx7Mk-QKiHzHDGb5PNfK7WC986_67u41-UX9t-mrqpX6UuhmF9mEFbwvGOJ7nJCIEFfh9irtP7kre5vHjUwyVUp/s1600/Nelson2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* When the government of South Africa gave up its racist</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">policies of Apartheid did it destroy the government of South </span><span style="font-size: large;">Africa, or merely reform it and make it more democratic and </span><span style="font-size: large;">respectful of human rights?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVrU2-Y7vtj7IS8b9iIFhRXKsc2iiZu_LtaGrRNVpa0cFvSKybar7g-N_e5a7ocTU_ZeldAeKM92GvsXO1NwPR0pIrlM8_dCP-GOfeTwpWojxve4lMA9RZwkn-8okPz1xGtuZ/s1600/settlements.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="183" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVrU2-Y7vtj7IS8b9iIFhRXKsc2iiZu_LtaGrRNVpa0cFvSKybar7g-N_e5a7ocTU_ZeldAeKM92GvsXO1NwPR0pIrlM8_dCP-GOfeTwpWojxve4lMA9RZwkn-8okPz1xGtuZ/s320/settlements.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">* If anything “delegitimizes” Israel in the eyes of the world it is </span><span style="font-size: large;">Israel’s brutal and unjust policies towards the Palestinians,like </span><span style="font-size: large;">the construction of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian </span><span style="font-size: large;">land, </span><span style="font-size: large;">the destruction of Palestinian homes and farmland, and </span><span style="font-size: large;">a racist political and legal system that treats Palestinian Israelis </span><span style="font-size: large;">and Jewish Israelis unequally.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* Eliahu Elath, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. in 1949, stated</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">that the 750,000 displaced Palestinian refugees could not be</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">allowed to return to their homes, farms, and businesses</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">because “Israel would commit suicide if she took back all the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">refugees.” </span><span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians were denied their right to return after</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCLBEPAoFIaIuxGz1UULC8dm6Cc9usiA_ye3PNVFWA1iPq6EOB82AB_JIvSPHYlrI-FANqDghDXFpD63wk-B5x0SSsUfXjcgJg20jShmAYYG-7xj-m_C9zkiU56xIrRZl6ySF_/s1600/right+of+return.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCLBEPAoFIaIuxGz1UULC8dm6Cc9usiA_ye3PNVFWA1iPq6EOB82AB_JIvSPHYlrI-FANqDghDXFpD63wk-B5x0SSsUfXjcgJg20jShmAYYG-7xj-m_C9zkiU56xIrRZl6ySF_/s1600/right+of+return.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">the 1948 war because Israel saw them as a threat to a </span><span style="font-size: large;">sustainable Jewish demographic majority. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">While it is true that </span><span style="font-size: large;">the ethnic cleansing of most Palestinians from what became </span><span style="font-size: large;">Israel is what allowed for a solid Jewish demographic majority </span><span style="font-size: large;">in Israel, to deny Palestinians their legal right of return under </span><span style="font-size: large;">international law because their return would shift </span><span style="font-size: large;">demographics within the State of Israel again is to repeat the </span><span style="font-size: large;">same racist arguments made by Israeli officials like Eliahu 70 </span><span style="font-size: large;">years ago.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOEMrbdDR7WtifxjMuiMWRZc3fykU4CHmP5Qc3ex3frO4N4o5mQISuGD1qZ0o4j1HQ-WKs-thyhvG_hzxI7HZ5ZMGwhNAYY7MQ4TPm4ncFjtVutJBzGYUy9hKBfewu4KGvl5s/s1600/nakba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="175" data-original-width="287" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVOEMrbdDR7WtifxjMuiMWRZc3fykU4CHmP5Qc3ex3frO4N4o5mQISuGD1qZ0o4j1HQ-WKs-thyhvG_hzxI7HZ5ZMGwhNAYY7MQ4TPm4ncFjtVutJBzGYUy9hKBfewu4KGvl5s/s400/nakba.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* Israel’s displacement of Palestinians is at the core of the </span><span style="font-size: large;">conflict. To lift up the objective to maintain a Jewish</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">demographic majority at all costs and as a reason for denying </span><span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian refugees the legal right of return now is to accept </span><span style="font-size: large;">the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 as justified. A</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">position that says that the Palestinians’ legal right to return</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">must be denied because it threatens current demographic</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">realities makes it impossible to address the core component of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the conflict.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS activists believe that they should not support states in</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">their efforts to unjustly create or retain a particular ethnic</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">character or to privilege certain ethnic or religious groups</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">over others. Rather, they support people in their search for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">equality and human rights for all citizens.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/content/resolution-194" target="_blank">UN Resolution 194</a> enshrines the right of return for</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian refugees. Since 1948 Israel has blocked the return</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XB038Wu8wAIZ4ppZ7XalVHS0wbxVSaM5_qe6TeQg8c4VtwSNCT2wQMsg7Z7_tVshjXO9aobDC2cOzbJAq5ixKsd1heX2A42vmh39RZUrgH2YiWMHNsSkfJSBasq7-GF8L1wL/s1600/right.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="261" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XB038Wu8wAIZ4ppZ7XalVHS0wbxVSaM5_qe6TeQg8c4VtwSNCT2wQMsg7Z7_tVshjXO9aobDC2cOzbJAq5ixKsd1heX2A42vmh39RZUrgH2YiWMHNsSkfJSBasq7-GF8L1wL/s400/right.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">of Palestinian refugees while enacting the “Law of Return” </span><span style="font-size: large;">which allows any Jewish person in the world to move to</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Israel/Palestine and secure rights as a citizen. This double</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">standard is racist.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* There are also different ways that the right of return for </span><span style="font-size: large;">refugees might be addressed in a negotiated settlement that </span><span style="font-size: large;">could include compensation, attractive opportunities in a new </span><span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian state alongside Israel, in addition to the option of </span><span style="font-size: large;">physically returning to live within the internationally </span><span style="font-size: large;">recognized borders of Israel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #8:</i></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFUtrGFWjVtsfg2y8o6pK_zbMs75WnnlXMswg-az8LpWef7JRjixTxtcpEPZ_xdVDTVLdxZ21vstIBMDSBQkM0knv6BVM6U_FeYEcB_j3dlGyFLwPYX8kZmuzWClUTumKGBKw/s1600/onestate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFUtrGFWjVtsfg2y8o6pK_zbMs75WnnlXMswg-az8LpWef7JRjixTxtcpEPZ_xdVDTVLdxZ21vstIBMDSBQkM0knv6BVM6U_FeYEcB_j3dlGyFLwPYX8kZmuzWClUTumKGBKw/s1600/onestate.jpg" /></span></i></a><i><span style="font-size: large;">BDS seeks a single democratic state in all of Israel/Palestine, which means the destruction of Israel.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* The Palestinian BDS National Committee, which leads the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">global BDS movement, takes no position on whether there</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">should be a one-state or two-state resolution to the Israeli-</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian conflict. While there are prominent supporters of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">BDS who call for a democratic, one-state solution with</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis, there are</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">other key BDS supporters who support a two-state solution.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnfrkZeIQ48itk9nO5_N9y3MoUdSG0ScQ4PZuWkw1QRRujmbz7opYWVHVUE30yVNT7u0_riV6gRYJeA7njhiMXuUjZTqbBgNAuGD2tzsJqas0pvlNzEeu_Cvy3W1cfGa0DHc6/s1600/onetwostate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSnfrkZeIQ48itk9nO5_N9y3MoUdSG0ScQ4PZuWkw1QRRujmbz7opYWVHVUE30yVNT7u0_riV6gRYJeA7njhiMXuUjZTqbBgNAuGD2tzsJqas0pvlNzEeu_Cvy3W1cfGa0DHc6/s400/onetwostate.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ultimately, there is no consensus on what a final agreement</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">will entail. Where there is consensus among the Palestinian</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">initiators of the BDS call is that an end to the occupation,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">equality for Palestinians inside Israel, and justice for refugees</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">are rights that must be addressed to realize peace and justice</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">no matter what the final resolution of the political structures</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">in Israel/Palestine.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* It is also true that many prominent observers of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Israel/Palestine, including former U.S. Secretary of State John</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Kerry, have noted that the window for realizing a two-state</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">solution is closing and may even have closed. If that is the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">reality, then those seeking peace have a choice: accept the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">ongoing oppression of Palestinians by the State of Israel or</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">push for the transformation of Israel into a single democratic</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">government in all of Israel/Palestine or a binational</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">democratic secular state that protects the rights of Israelis and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians equally.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"> The purpose of BDS activism, however, is not to preserve or</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">create particular government structures, but rather to protect</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the rights of all people whether or not a one or two state</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">solution is ultimately chosen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpqkcy9nHd-b6uWh0Nfgy6pANtbMqzC06mIAw1e8Rq4OwD_eqMlPbzq7kNzXzCkom0sTn_dg1-9433pt7nfbRh7dkiyOaZHTJViTWi7VIHYP9vr1U1m8rARdKPfL-HVL4JO8t/s1600/violence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpqkcy9nHd-b6uWh0Nfgy6pANtbMqzC06mIAw1e8Rq4OwD_eqMlPbzq7kNzXzCkom0sTn_dg1-9433pt7nfbRh7dkiyOaZHTJViTWi7VIHYP9vr1U1m8rARdKPfL-HVL4JO8t/s320/violence.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><i>CRITIQUE #9:</i></span><br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;">BDS puts all its attention on Israel’s abuses and ignores violence by Palestinians.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">RESPONSE:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS is about accountability for the unaccountable. It uses an</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">international law framework and nonviolent tactics to call</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">attention to Israeli human rights abuses that are not currently</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">addressed and pressures institutions and corporations</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">complicit in those abuses to end their complicity. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCZ1dv6SHawyJtB_l6d76EKGogBQSVu27e-plv6lHRfAO-Y_t0UkQ_U4IqQeXrSXnu69s83VoA0b5laXgXgdCIIHv3QBvQo6lRXidRC5KRmslGzZCmIDGSJslO3tXyrzCDRWX/s1600/boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCZ1dv6SHawyJtB_l6d76EKGogBQSVu27e-plv6lHRfAO-Y_t0UkQ_U4IqQeXrSXnu69s83VoA0b5laXgXgdCIIHv3QBvQo6lRXidRC5KRmslGzZCmIDGSJslO3tXyrzCDRWX/s1600/boy.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinians </span><span style="font-size: large;">who engage in violence are already subject to sanction by </span><span style="font-size: large;">Israeli and international actors, often through abusive military</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">or security services. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* All imports and exports to the occupied Palestinian territory</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">are controlled by Israel, key aspects of the Palestinian</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">economy in the West Bank are controlled by Israel, and Gaza</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">is under siege by Israel. Palestinians are effectively sanctioned.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">At the same time, Israeli receives over $3 billion in military</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkCa-MBrPu5z0tGccezQkppxqTRljCxLcMvsgfNDwczi_e2EcOx4cja8D5eDGSg6memON9tF4QUfuHLUR1e_DVspUKCbVcryvTaX990Dn7HtjIlROHDx8SQo9sK32gUWe08JE/s1600/planes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkCa-MBrPu5z0tGccezQkppxqTRljCxLcMvsgfNDwczi_e2EcOx4cja8D5eDGSg6memON9tF4QUfuHLUR1e_DVspUKCbVcryvTaX990Dn7HtjIlROHDx8SQo9sK32gUWe08JE/s1600/planes.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">support from the US annually. It is not Palestinian violence</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">that is being ignored.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisge6KeU1AY3IAqeQux3LGTQRZytzstRdxq-BDxSxZcQEmKFIpQnqa3mIB2V19JCPJb93LkKTHXDqfaR0ZwGC6Rqtaahvn2ij-6nslOgqgc1aYUrIs90BP5xIkb99qMoVVRq1C/s1600/nonviolence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisge6KeU1AY3IAqeQux3LGTQRZytzstRdxq-BDxSxZcQEmKFIpQnqa3mIB2V19JCPJb93LkKTHXDqfaR0ZwGC6Rqtaahvn2ij-6nslOgqgc1aYUrIs90BP5xIkb99qMoVVRq1C/s1600/nonviolence.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* BDS also builds on a long legacy of Palestinian nonviolent</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">action and strengthens the strategic focus by the majority of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian civil society on nonviolent civil resistance as the</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">best means for achieving freedom, justice, and equality.</span><br />
<i style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></i>
<i style="font-size: x-large;">CRITIQUE #10:</i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Peace activists should support positive actions like investment in the Palestinian economy, not negative actions like divestment and boycott. Otherwise, BDS will hurt Palestinians first.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9CiuS2JN_V2DSYibgZYyJZaWuuDnMpXcUTVbYoUvYtQ1G_ZufkDQMxx8wakg8dFhRisKvEwq-HIo7jzIB6GODQ2vsDfcGoDYogZuhaIsbZZXg_n3EcawTS8wa1hF9UbM863z/s1600/invest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="148" data-original-width="339" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk9CiuS2JN_V2DSYibgZYyJZaWuuDnMpXcUTVbYoUvYtQ1G_ZufkDQMxx8wakg8dFhRisKvEwq-HIo7jzIB6GODQ2vsDfcGoDYogZuhaIsbZZXg_n3EcawTS8wa1hF9UbM863z/s320/invest.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">* BDS activists support positive actions and encourage</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">investment in the Palestinian economy. However, positive</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">actions cannot be a replacement for calls for accountability</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">from companies that are currently complicit in Israel’s</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">occupation and violations of Palestinian rights. Investment in</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the Palestinian economy does not preclude divestment and</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">boycott.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* Divestment and boycott are not negative or punitive actions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">They are nonviolent actions designed to bring accountability</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and to end ongoing human rights abuses. Once this end is</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">achieved, both Palestinians and Israelis will benefit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-z8Y4fK6rc2J4QJLMNkPYyTbIF3jqYCObqCF3_x2zZ7Gz02-NEvmzLzLrRRXwIYfThuze0BP9yJq0CECJRT3pj0_ZENZCcPUo6GrqKhd6xr3SDE_-_dkmKjclyMOVwelRQN0/s1600/gaza2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM-z8Y4fK6rc2J4QJLMNkPYyTbIF3jqYCObqCF3_x2zZ7Gz02-NEvmzLzLrRRXwIYfThuze0BP9yJq0CECJRT3pj0_ZENZCcPUo6GrqKhd6xr3SDE_-_dkmKjclyMOVwelRQN0/s320/gaza2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">* The Palestinian economy is completely controlled by Israel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Long-term development cannot happen unless the occupation </span><span style="font-size: large;">is ended and Israeli controls are removed. While investment</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">in the Palestinian economy is important, there cannot be </span><span style="font-size: large;">sustainable investment and economic growth under</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">occupation. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If it is to be impactful, positive investment must </span><span style="font-size: large;">therefore be paired with divestment and boycott initiatives </span><span style="font-size: large;">which aim at political as well as economic change.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* The BDS movement is led by Palestinians themselves. BDS</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">has been endorsed by over 170 Palestinian political parties,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">organizations, trade unions, and movements, and enjoys</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">overwhelming support among ordinary Palestinians, even</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">though they may face increasing challenges because of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJapyABJRHrqBHc1tr_tA1Wd855-GLTOYKIXFWIwf5mtf-tSYQAoscx6xGU2tpBf-gPic2mJuF3GpQ4HpB4-pP_9mzyXGkEXW42JrgBvUcolnPieOE0Fva3AIoRsqyMhP-Cj4/s1600/Gaza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJapyABJRHrqBHc1tr_tA1Wd855-GLTOYKIXFWIwf5mtf-tSYQAoscx6xGU2tpBf-gPic2mJuF3GpQ4HpB4-pP_9mzyXGkEXW42JrgBvUcolnPieOE0Fva3AIoRsqyMhP-Cj4/s320/Gaza.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">* Palestinians often say that they value their freedom more than</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the few jobs brought about by Israel's occupation, which takes</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">their land, water, and other resources, and imprisons them in</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">ghetto-like bantustans where poverty is rife and there is no</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">room for self-determination.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* Palestinians know that their economy will never thrive or be</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">sustainable as long as the occupation remains in place. Many</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">are willing to endure more deprivation if, in the end, they</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">achieve equality.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* During divestment from apartheid South Africa, Black South</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Africans initially suffered some effects as a result of</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">divestment, and they knew that would happen. It was a price</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">they were willing to pay however, because they knew that in</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">the long run it would help them achieve their freedom. The</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">same is true for Palestinians.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB9aVWVdV0Yo2wKcEb6xGvJx7C_o-T18AGuw7G5onxBbTYZQohpCBzKS1sLr2UoyMdMSKO7xpOvce_QhkzdobQOL2nmcVm2-duNsCZYL0OHxyYVRjwf4XuVAdRyt5QZNbtrMY/s1600/Obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="154" data-original-width="327" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOB9aVWVdV0Yo2wKcEb6xGvJx7C_o-T18AGuw7G5onxBbTYZQohpCBzKS1sLr2UoyMdMSKO7xpOvce_QhkzdobQOL2nmcVm2-duNsCZYL0OHxyYVRjwf4XuVAdRyt5QZNbtrMY/s640/Obama.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-75708749102200169212017-09-03T13:54:00.001-04:002017-09-03T13:57:12.246-04:00What is a Quaker education for?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiIaAgHfitT0yomKMBfj61YWcNnNJMRQVesNLA-SgHaEYo9sF9rimjZIAO7SLmPgfEVPBsx_DtjfYA9rXcluxS5PUpAcLye20HU4oGB09WOI2o9ULhwh_YvylM_pKp5c-yKx-/s1600/Dove.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="126" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjiIaAgHfitT0yomKMBfj61YWcNnNJMRQVesNLA-SgHaEYo9sF9rimjZIAO7SLmPgfEVPBsx_DtjfYA9rXcluxS5PUpAcLye20HU4oGB09WOI2o9ULhwh_YvylM_pKp5c-yKx-/s200/Dove.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Should a Quaker education go beyond the intellectual and into the realm of the moral, the spiritual, and the equitable? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We think so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In this post, PIAG comments on the recent controversy at Friends Central School in Pennsylvania, where an invitation from high school student club to a distinguished Palestinian speaker was denied. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Friends'
Central School<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Head
of School Craig Sellers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Clerk
of the Board Philip Scott<br />
1101 City Avenue<br />
Wynnewood, PA 19096 </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> August 23, 2017</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Dear Mr. Sellers and Mr.
Scott,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As the new school year
approaches, we are deeply saddened to learn the outcome of the controversy at
Friends Central last year regarding the invitation by the Peace and Equality in
Palestine Club to Dr. Sa’ed Atshan to deliver a talk at the school. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As we
understand the situation, at the request of a number of parents who were
dismayed at the idea of a distinguished speaker talking about his experiences
as a Palestinian, you first rescinded Dr. Atshan’s invitation, then later,
reconsidered and re-issued it (though understandably, he declined to accept). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Distressingly, you suspended the student club and fired two teachers of color
who had supported the students. We are concerned about these teachers, and
wonder if you can share with us how the decision was made, their current
status, and the support the school may have given them in finding new
employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As for the school’s
treatment of the Israel Palestine conflict, we understand that hearing about
the experience of Palestinians under Israeli occupation can be deeply
disturbing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, fear has a way of eclipsing reason, reflection, fairness,
and compassion – all qualities that we expect a Friends School to cultivate in
its students. We ask you to find the courage to move beyond the emotions in
this conflict and start anew. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We ask that in the new
school year, you continue thinking about your reactions and those of your
students and parents, and begin working to make the study of thorny conflict –
with human beings on both sides -- a centerpiece in your classes involving
international relations, human rights, and history. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Although we are dismayed
that Friends Central has lost the opportunity to hear from one of the most
compassionate and compelling speakers on the Palestinian experience, we urge
you to invite others – or perhaps spokespeople on both sides of the conflict --
to engage your students so they can make up their own minds about what is fair
and just. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">After all, isn’t critical thinking the goal of a superior education?
And shouldn’t a Friends education go beyond the intellectual and into the realm
of the moral, the spiritual, and the equitable? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With hope,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Palestine Israel
Action Group (PIAG) of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-45741829200070499982017-07-25T12:28:00.000-04:002017-07-25T12:28:45.850-04:00Tensions Escalate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPs7KJs43TEBeZ8fxnBK2RwngShdMaIl01UQpFYIjssPnR3f3kzF0bBs_WT4pFNfojWgf_o37xv1zx7owrmJ2XfwMrQYfq267G7hDwATkUiWv6AF-Cr6dOk57Po4Nsb3sw8sEx/s1600/Al-aqsa+Mosque+compound+%255BReuters%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPs7KJs43TEBeZ8fxnBK2RwngShdMaIl01UQpFYIjssPnR3f3kzF0bBs_WT4pFNfojWgf_o37xv1zx7owrmJ2XfwMrQYfq267G7hDwATkUiWv6AF-Cr6dOk57Po4Nsb3sw8sEx/s320/Al-aqsa+Mosque+compound+%255BReuters%255D.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have
escalated in recent weeks after three Palestinian gunmen opened fire from the
al Aqsa Mosque Compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, killing two Israeli
policemen. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: large;">In response, Israel increased its security measures, which alarmed
Palestinians, who saw the installation of new security cameras as a move by
Israel to expand its control at the Muslim-administered site. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Over the weekend,
thousands of Palestinians staged a mass prayer vigil in the streets surrounding
the compound.</span></b></div>
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip66YvhNYO2otaGGP1Nz28G3cuBLQrkHgNTjuONLqAt411R9ubqdMuvpi3jF-7cOFgzX3mJm6tps0DnB2YIaYyrRk61S85Vx1p_tBMW_gLvTGlhHkBhBMcX8UxJ4DFISWwwWz8/s1600/prayer+protest+vigil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></a></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip66YvhNYO2otaGGP1Nz28G3cuBLQrkHgNTjuONLqAt411R9ubqdMuvpi3jF-7cOFgzX3mJm6tps0DnB2YIaYyrRk61S85Vx1p_tBMW_gLvTGlhHkBhBMcX8UxJ4DFISWwwWz8/s1600/prayer+protest+vigil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip66YvhNYO2otaGGP1Nz28G3cuBLQrkHgNTjuONLqAt411R9ubqdMuvpi3jF-7cOFgzX3mJm6tps0DnB2YIaYyrRk61S85Vx1p_tBMW_gLvTGlhHkBhBMcX8UxJ4DFISWwwWz8/s640/prayer+protest+vigil.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Israel responded to the predominantly peaceful demonstrations
by firing rubber and live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/palestinian-hospitals-stretched-influx-wounded-170723194836416.html" target="_blank">wounding more than 900</a> of the protesters. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas,
though quick to condemn the violence against Israelis, has now declared that
the Palestinian leadership will “freeze contacts” with Israel “on all levels.”</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzWqJm0lxwcPy5kUCrrJvfBfzDk_sZ7sd6o7JemGIeup4BYuVije2qx2hrzBTUxlsQDy9hB0QhHL051J3lzVHlodcs9sf63MFW9s_61K4LW4WFHfiGgK0JZqJRo5MS1SQTFpx/s1600/hunger+strike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCzWqJm0lxwcPy5kUCrrJvfBfzDk_sZ7sd6o7JemGIeup4BYuVije2qx2hrzBTUxlsQDy9hB0QhHL051J3lzVHlodcs9sf63MFW9s_61K4LW4WFHfiGgK0JZqJRo5MS1SQTFpx/s1600/hunger+strike.jpg" /></span></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">The escalating hostility and violence is perhaps predictable,
given the lack of any recent movement toward the resolution of the Israeli
Palestinian conflict, the brutal conditions in Israeli jails – highlighted by a
40-day <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/05/palestinian-prisoners-hunger-strike-170509121104077.html" target="_blank">hunger strike</a> by 1500 Palestinian prisoners, many who had been detained
without trial – and above all, the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH9sNbX-gxCW9vXaQs4BWcaEW_6xWuS-IjDt-B2vaM-Ky-y6_PD20nE71LlwVhI63CGR3_j-gfN1yUx0vmr4EhNs1vo2C3bR0sDYtRwPErndU9YKVMV_dmDN44WwPombyGXzR-/s1600/gaza+collapse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH9sNbX-gxCW9vXaQs4BWcaEW_6xWuS-IjDt-B2vaM-Ky-y6_PD20nE71LlwVhI63CGR3_j-gfN1yUx0vmr4EhNs1vo2C3bR0sDYtRwPErndU9YKVMV_dmDN44WwPombyGXzR-/s640/gaza+collapse.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">According to the International Committee of the Red
Cross, Gaza is on the brink of "systemic collapse.” </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNouhKxqNF8rwIPjisEcZHc1PzHD2ZG1unfijJ61CvqN6p0gYtDE4Pu8_yJVLcmqbxWaZ2TjSXVtSxHsr8-iEkWlvt0LtRv6i3eKETiELuhqcad__RMWepjGTLGuF51hiucHbs/s1600/gaza+restricted+areas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="249" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNouhKxqNF8rwIPjisEcZHc1PzHD2ZG1unfijJ61CvqN6p0gYtDE4Pu8_yJVLcmqbxWaZ2TjSXVtSxHsr8-iEkWlvt0LtRv6i3eKETiELuhqcad__RMWepjGTLGuF51hiucHbs/s320/gaza+restricted+areas.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Two million people
live hemmed in by armed checkpoints, concrete walls, wired fences, and a blockade
at sea. For years, passage out of Gaza has been severely restricted, even
during times of military siege. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxGs7h65nkw4GKGbsY6IcsrZmQ1QaDnq3QpvGj6lDHKnzWCbmzXXcK8ICfz3fD660GLHpYDpOlVTbgNxdTQry7AJzUdKtWY8X36Jz3xjT7tyURbHWxUgrNLcYsJtDuu3_9z61/s1600/gaza+collapse2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="154" data-original-width="327" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxGs7h65nkw4GKGbsY6IcsrZmQ1QaDnq3QpvGj6lDHKnzWCbmzXXcK8ICfz3fD660GLHpYDpOlVTbgNxdTQry7AJzUdKtWY8X36Jz3xjT7tyURbHWxUgrNLcYsJtDuu3_9z61/s400/gaza+collapse2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Infrastructure and agricultural lands have been
shattered by Israeli military attacks, and the rebuilding of homes, schools,
hospitals, farms, and other facilities has been slow, due to Israel’s
restrictions on the movement of supplies. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Throughout Gaza, electricity is now
limited to two hours a day. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtS0D-Yzw24uKl1ZnRHxSgDipPKCqtYcbtbcGhm6fXZvFHeRZTDBvC81X8JSEfG3xKUzYd-k2Cdj1cguJdmPrkbQcj9zY9BGpX9NJmQDyAV-gSLkRSrWwWAtj5Tgnar3pRNRe/s1600/Gaza+water2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="164" data-original-width="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJtS0D-Yzw24uKl1ZnRHxSgDipPKCqtYcbtbcGhm6fXZvFHeRZTDBvC81X8JSEfG3xKUzYd-k2Cdj1cguJdmPrkbQcj9zY9BGpX9NJmQDyAV-gSLkRSrWwWAtj5Tgnar3pRNRe/s1600/Gaza+water2.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ninety-seven percent of the aquafer has become
unsafe for drinking. </span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GeGiN4sWqTFEhtgVsX9QQ7NmBsd-nuMlRZXQ39mrTa7So04nfnXwfmDGqBHmq_U15Q5aC5cnI20-yPxbiCg_EdcLSuDh08PZDuIKUP0qcBua-zM_7WyMDJ_SLlYgiuD21KXg/s1600/food+insecurity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4GeGiN4sWqTFEhtgVsX9QQ7NmBsd-nuMlRZXQ39mrTa7So04nfnXwfmDGqBHmq_U15Q5aC5cnI20-yPxbiCg_EdcLSuDh08PZDuIKUP0qcBua-zM_7WyMDJ_SLlYgiuD21KXg/s1600/food+insecurity.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Over one million Gazans are moderately-to-severely food
insecure, even if they are receiving food assistance. Unemployment has reached
42%. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Fewer than two doctors serve every thousand people. And the population in
Gaza is growing rapidly, increasing the pressure on living space, services, and
opportunities for employment. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpH2zz3qXOhXJDHbjGLH14YcDPDR2dYilwuV0cbWU7TjyrOjo7yWqHB5B8gsvDQ_LH77UOu8R22VDaqWJGmshMUrEIpzzm5Pf_Itg781FdCtmkwddzBuI5xKq4AytixJbgIOI/s1600/BDS.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpH2zz3qXOhXJDHbjGLH14YcDPDR2dYilwuV0cbWU7TjyrOjo7yWqHB5B8gsvDQ_LH77UOu8R22VDaqWJGmshMUrEIpzzm5Pf_Itg781FdCtmkwddzBuI5xKq4AytixJbgIOI/s1600/BDS.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">As in the worst days of the South African struggle,
increasing the pressure on the occupying power through proven nonviolent
methods such as boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) may eventually end the
impasse and ease the suffering of the oppressed population. </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYIOAIZ-CKiuABGmv73qJI9rTpDrxWDQzHzOz8Nz4luqIyHCyZTFksWqbklHOkthN2uLRvQj3Ytw1oEAMD9WO0XavXWZZIMInYU8sJKh85sAF_6YZ-DUhmFxapJ3G9yPy1ZNr/s1600/Child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYIOAIZ-CKiuABGmv73qJI9rTpDrxWDQzHzOz8Nz4luqIyHCyZTFksWqbklHOkthN2uLRvQj3Ytw1oEAMD9WO0XavXWZZIMInYU8sJKh85sAF_6YZ-DUhmFxapJ3G9yPy1ZNr/s1600/Child.jpg" /></a></span></b></div>
<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Ann Arbor Friends
Meeting supports BDS, and in July, approved a Minute requesting Friends
Fiduciary Corporation to exclude investment in companies that support or are
complicit in Israel’s occupation, its economic exploitation and control of the
Palestinian population, and/or violations of international law. </span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTKzYPs0E06ZJgFIlDZyMA7rHWBGa5UISk52wcGV_Kew9EAV1vh9DX1mC19gRDqvipdQkuP4RP_BJySHy1TiHTlN_tyOzexmxR9mSJbAvY0XRHSWQ_q3dJzpFtxpb_sYQ-dmd/s1600/friends+fiduciary2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="207" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfTKzYPs0E06ZJgFIlDZyMA7rHWBGa5UISk52wcGV_Kew9EAV1vh9DX1mC19gRDqvipdQkuP4RP_BJySHy1TiHTlN_tyOzexmxR9mSJbAvY0XRHSWQ_q3dJzpFtxpb_sYQ-dmd/s400/friends+fiduciary2.jpg" width="340" /></a></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Individual
F/friends can also support UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency),
which provides critical education, nutrition, and basic health services to five
million Palestinian refugees. </span></b></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-81681586357057042242017-05-06T15:57:00.001-04:002017-05-06T15:57:24.414-04:00Hamas Accepts 1967 Borders<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;">Two new political developments in Gaza signal a possible
breakthrough in the long-standing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis: the election of a new leader of
Hamas’s political bureau who promises a “new Hamas” that is more “dynamic and
open-minded;” and a policy document, two years in the making, that advocates a
more moderate stance toward Israel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxsR7OJMcxi2CI_Cqc68UoYTeEuHJyqMLXj1b-SEbLxdsGWEHTAb7-7rEAfKbK8QNDUC00tDe0plKp7k5sWlwyiGNHmkUmNeoFD1fQ-hvjqunh984IbUEEp28AgnwGrIx9wM1/s1600/Haniya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxsR7OJMcxi2CI_Cqc68UoYTeEuHJyqMLXj1b-SEbLxdsGWEHTAb7-7rEAfKbK8QNDUC00tDe0plKp7k5sWlwyiGNHmkUmNeoFD1fQ-hvjqunh984IbUEEp28AgnwGrIx9wM1/s320/Haniya.jpg" width="320" /></a><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-size: large;">Ismail Haniya, the new political bureau chief who is described as open to
compromise and willing to talk, has a long history in Palestinian politics. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-veV5QHHqGavy7fdzAn20WOStMhYrYJw972EOSwyV3FIhYfIHMFM1NF7h-oT9lZgfzGWDiYVsChBANK1fWU3QuHZSK8mo9BUD-hY_JxhXOe6YPh2A5_Pnx-78oeiNiq1kGLvt/s1600/First-Intifada-Gaza-1988-August-28-2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-veV5QHHqGavy7fdzAn20WOStMhYrYJw972EOSwyV3FIhYfIHMFM1NF7h-oT9lZgfzGWDiYVsChBANK1fWU3QuHZSK8mo9BUD-hY_JxhXOe6YPh2A5_Pnx-78oeiNiq1kGLvt/s400/First-Intifada-Gaza-1988-August-28-2014.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Born in Gaza in 1962 to parents who fled their homeland when Israel was created in
1948, Haniya was jailed multiple times in the late 1980's during the First Intifada, a
largely nonviolent uprising, and later deported to Lebanon. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPeF1fXSH4WlYNDpvSu3gP3REgcVPbjoEl7222zY7bN9AvO7_h6f0QdddCe3VVvL_-kwou1Ux8luLvD1VZJ6UugFbur8WlJ1I4fx3Y8w3XukPXqPr0usUpYuUqs_Q56RCqiRo/s1600/woman+voting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXPeF1fXSH4WlYNDpvSu3gP3REgcVPbjoEl7222zY7bN9AvO7_h6f0QdddCe3VVvL_-kwou1Ux8luLvD1VZJ6UugFbur8WlJ1I4fx3Y8w3XukPXqPr0usUpYuUqs_Q56RCqiRo/s320/woman+voting.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Haniya rose to political prominence in 2006, when he led Hamas to a shock election victory
over Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5a06d9N1N8qNrgi5etqCfTjQ_8mSnhDSfsEUq59Ze0f3a9q82LHprLqg683jPzx4npaE6k_C7xewgBc1ocYU1z2KhQ5USw1CzRPiFUVMOIx6IMsAItPe1kPG9Mt2C3FaAiRLL/s1600/hamas+fatah+reconciliation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5a06d9N1N8qNrgi5etqCfTjQ_8mSnhDSfsEUq59Ze0f3a9q82LHprLqg683jPzx4npaE6k_C7xewgBc1ocYU1z2KhQ5USw1CzRPiFUVMOIx6IMsAItPe1kPG9Mt2C3FaAiRLL/s1600/hamas+fatah+reconciliation.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;">Haniya stepped down
from the post of Prime Minister in 2014 after a reconciliation between Hamas in
Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wGvNWKurb0EBYoLxmumaaxtRGHE24oSnN34EJ7evnWLV-R1hDu2mE89unGz07LFsOBPoYNadykGe2OIt8ZxYxozCNoIzaEvgHXL-JmF-qwnWNmBHKQFIVc9NvfU8Qhb5NW5M/s1600/israel-palestine_map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4wGvNWKurb0EBYoLxmumaaxtRGHE24oSnN34EJ7evnWLV-R1hDu2mE89unGz07LFsOBPoYNadykGe2OIt8ZxYxozCNoIzaEvgHXL-JmF-qwnWNmBHKQFIVc9NvfU8Qhb5NW5M/s320/israel-palestine_map.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Just days before Haniya’s election as political bureau leader
this spring, Hamas unveiled an important new political document that accepts the formation
of a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital and
the return of refugees to their former homeland. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;">However, the position paper does not fully recognize
Israel, nor does it give up its goal of liberating all of Palestine. Despite
these confusing contradictions, the document does signal important changes, notably greater unity among Palestinians. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbTzb7FtAlS_D2BRPn86M7OGW6u9QSqRZGZTSuFIiSs-5bHr6C1PJw5s65Y1b-XM_7AyXyM0-t5hKO027qIkQlqcliQ1Fd31Bmvpc219t4MGV0q-JfH2kpXY6iYItGnE8Hx7x/s1600/al-azhar+university.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCbTzb7FtAlS_D2BRPn86M7OGW6u9QSqRZGZTSuFIiSs-5bHr6C1PJw5s65Y1b-XM_7AyXyM0-t5hKO027qIkQlqcliQ1Fd31Bmvpc219t4MGV0q-JfH2kpXY6iYItGnE8Hx7x/s1600/al-azhar+university.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;">According
to Professor Mohammad Abu Saada of Gaza’s al-Azhar University, “Hamas is trying
to walk a fine line between its hardliners and its own moderates. In one way,
the moderates can say they accepted a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders,
but the hardliners can still say they are not recognizing Israel.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrCU5GwLXS3D7wxnRqlo_NEPvv7Bn2ozu7BqkkqOPCOtBfCapbnUMDabI0_6TE0MVwzBi7VmTU8uoG9BqMLKlAByxC0oZfLK6QHC5tZzQQzUBRfd5eRyLQX0YW3KpUwUDtbT3/s1600/friends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqrCU5GwLXS3D7wxnRqlo_NEPvv7Bn2ozu7BqkkqOPCOtBfCapbnUMDabI0_6TE0MVwzBi7VmTU8uoG9BqMLKlAByxC0oZfLK6QHC5tZzQQzUBRfd5eRyLQX0YW3KpUwUDtbT3/s320/friends.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The new document also attempts to calm the fears and distrust
of Israelis, affirming that the Palestinian struggle is not with the Jewish
people or the Jewish religion, but rather, it is against the “Zionist project”
-- the Israeli state and its citizens who occupy Palestinian lands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo1yhIEMfI0JQlVQIat2wEOuXPECMaplbOgkZicGfJ1SVZaNlYJunMxWaGPrHGeOUV2DjZo3bXAo-3Cb1QGX0nTsyCRCTrcbzqVHZOmMt3_WArChxvFAgqz54KuklIekerYau/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijo1yhIEMfI0JQlVQIat2wEOuXPECMaplbOgkZicGfJ1SVZaNlYJunMxWaGPrHGeOUV2DjZo3bXAo-3Cb1QGX0nTsyCRCTrcbzqVHZOmMt3_WArChxvFAgqz54KuklIekerYau/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So far, however, the Israeli political leadership is not willing
to budge. Israel rejected the document even before it was made official,
calling it an attempt by Hamas to trick the world into believing it was
becoming a more moderate group. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the U.S., where presidents have long desired to create
a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Donald Trump is no
exception. But his upcoming visit to Israel, theoretically about combating
religious extremism and advancing peace, is likely to inflame tensions further,
given his choice of the location of his major speech, the hilltop fortress of
Masada, one of the ultimate symbols of Zionist nationalism. This is the spot where, in the first century, 960 Jewish rebels chose to commit suicide rather than die at the hands of Roman army. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KDo0dS8L1KDjdvWkKWwWtMad9tMzqW2F_FqWy2alt-BaTsYkhHYQoTtaCiCoH7MKucMC2R1Jp88xPUHcUsyO1O9Z9vGLm1fTDaKTFenBqyqB8vTGbG2NuVAhKdmIUId8ga-p/s1600/Masada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4KDo0dS8L1KDjdvWkKWwWtMad9tMzqW2F_FqWy2alt-BaTsYkhHYQoTtaCiCoH7MKucMC2R1Jp88xPUHcUsyO1O9Z9vGLm1fTDaKTFenBqyqB8vTGbG2NuVAhKdmIUId8ga-p/s640/Masada.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<o:p></o:p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-58508891462699765192017-04-10T10:45:00.000-04:002017-04-10T10:46:35.813-04:00A Loving Solidarity<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzhvnQ2j1BGNLQSwKOH1rmx_KwqZcev2fuUFRIaumQbSH4FMIptsQNmqFcj-U1Ta_rzOF2uJqBFatEKNZD-ltM4PJKWc_PmEw7da_NouVo1SmR5kVJcmjzCqXwYvnhYOEZaMP/s1600/jeanzaru21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzhvnQ2j1BGNLQSwKOH1rmx_KwqZcev2fuUFRIaumQbSH4FMIptsQNmqFcj-U1Ta_rzOF2uJqBFatEKNZD-ltM4PJKWc_PmEw7da_NouVo1SmR5kVJcmjzCqXwYvnhYOEZaMP/s320/jeanzaru21.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Excerpts from an Easter Message from Jean
Zaru, Ramallah Friends Meeting <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">From the land of Palestine, I extend loving greetings to
you as sisters and brothers, both near and far. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">For Palestinian Quakers, Resurrection is a
time of joy, hope and sharing. In Palestinian households, we bake small cakes
for this occasion which are rich in symbolism. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuXoULdr2tqRU-XAYD5fEJo6UHWkMf2U_blZPVl33zmrUA7fNCkPLMF57aOhfNJksCHNu4HbLXF4dRMQrLTqtHgIUFgIQVjIEdU5kzpTYLK7faO65Pgoa7u2QyVOAJvJ4ZVA0/s1600/sweets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuXoULdr2tqRU-XAYD5fEJo6UHWkMf2U_blZPVl33zmrUA7fNCkPLMF57aOhfNJksCHNu4HbLXF4dRMQrLTqtHgIUFgIQVjIEdU5kzpTYLK7faO65Pgoa7u2QyVOAJvJ4ZVA0/s1600/sweets.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Even though the cakes themselves
taste sweet, their shape represents the last bitter moments before Jesus’
torturous death. We transform ring-shaped cakes filed with dates into crowns
of thorns. Another type of cake is filled with walnuts and shaped like the
vinegar soaked sponge, which instead of water, was offered to Jesus on the
Cross. These cakes are baked by Christians and Muslims alike for their
respective special occasions. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL29Z4g0rwJmE6SdFa50sdxJBsKJoqlPZgjIGTtKfEpyWjZc7ocwKX0mwvoHwr2hUMk3l9elJ_IMOi4LPh2T3_tqY0pwsMF5lXmARcnmnvk-dILPRygfAUfrvcP-dVCxw4J1mU/s1600/Easter+eggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL29Z4g0rwJmE6SdFa50sdxJBsKJoqlPZgjIGTtKfEpyWjZc7ocwKX0mwvoHwr2hUMk3l9elJ_IMOi4LPh2T3_tqY0pwsMF5lXmARcnmnvk-dILPRygfAUfrvcP-dVCxw4J1mU/s320/Easter+eggs.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">With similar import, eggs are naturally dyed a
deep red color to represent the blood of Christ. Colored eggs are the joy
of children and adults alike, who exclaim "Christ is Risen!" when
cracking them open. . .</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5xbGL0GOeixuW_3VV0xgrilke-pj-9NVZdNgY2N53ep8fHWExdPi-wZtRgnQRCnHHCTZBqcYHXGHPleBDDXcOSiOjPsf0hZzbhEPVnmDoek63-Ae_FtazFS6N6iHKoyovDFJT/s1600/Jesus+mystic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5xbGL0GOeixuW_3VV0xgrilke-pj-9NVZdNgY2N53ep8fHWExdPi-wZtRgnQRCnHHCTZBqcYHXGHPleBDDXcOSiOjPsf0hZzbhEPVnmDoek63-Ae_FtazFS6N6iHKoyovDFJT/s400/Jesus+mystic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We learn through scripture that Jesus was a mystic. He
had vivid and frequent experiences with the Spirit. He was a remarkable healer,
wisdom teacher, and social prophet. </span><span style="font-size: large;">An outspoken critic of the domination
system, Jesus was also an organizer, an initiator of inclusive movements that
shattered the social boundaries of his time. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6XlW8d_vd8XFyFxv-pK0ar_uBnMe8gU3PK6Yka3u_8ob9tVxIIOOcY3UYP6WACrqoc5Auo1vhrhyItL2zW_wcdSGvnfpLDjCc819NBA8EUzHSpp59wGVJztlJDQbyb-9Oyaj/s1600/Jesus+preached.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6XlW8d_vd8XFyFxv-pK0ar_uBnMe8gU3PK6Yka3u_8ob9tVxIIOOcY3UYP6WACrqoc5Auo1vhrhyItL2zW_wcdSGvnfpLDjCc819NBA8EUzHSpp59wGVJztlJDQbyb-9Oyaj/s1600/Jesus+preached.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">While interpreting Jesus in purely political terms does
not allow us into a full understanding, we may also reduce his message if we
exclude the political dimensions of his life, death and resurrection. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmEs4q_bK0cSQrtpZ6UkUq5pdRT7mabVg4gxcp9qBakGRhMoGMDq8sDb-8QULFRLQeP6RAhoXfWwLDpGMy3N0FZJNhhrrX8sfWOsML7RjFvMOi_dlEI22nvAWTvdHSuuQ3cKD/s1600/Jesus+was.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAmEs4q_bK0cSQrtpZ6UkUq5pdRT7mabVg4gxcp9qBakGRhMoGMDq8sDb-8QULFRLQeP6RAhoXfWwLDpGMy3N0FZJNhhrrX8sfWOsML7RjFvMOi_dlEI22nvAWTvdHSuuQ3cKD/s320/Jesus+was.jpg" width="204" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Our struggle against the
inter-related threats of oppression, violence, warfare and the destruction of
the environment can be and should be understood as one struggle – a struggle
for life." </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>About Ramallah Friends Meeting </i></span></span><img src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4a18a2_2ebcaa9453c9418188f735b70e714e41~mv2_d_2016_1320_s_2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_58,w_2016,h_1047/fill/w_980,h_509,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/4a18a2_2ebcaa9453c9418188f735b70e714e41~mv2_d_2016_1320_s_2.webp" /></div>
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<div class="font_8" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #eae0ce; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">There has been an active and vibrant Palestinian Quaker community in Ramallah since the late 1800’s. In 1910, this community built the Ramallah Friends Meetinghouse and later added another building that was used for community outreach.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="font_8" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #eae0ce; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Ramallah Friends Meeting has always played a vital role in the community. In 1948, the buildings and grounds became the home to many Palestinian refugees. Throughout the years, the members of the Ramallah Friends Meeting organized numerous community programs such as the Children’s Play Center, the First Day School, and women’s activities.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="font_8" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #eae0ce; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">By the early 1990’s, the Meetinghouse and Annex which housed meeting rooms and bathroom facilities, fell into disrepair as a result of damage inflicted by time and impact of conflict. So serious was the deterioration of the meetinghouse that by the middle 1990’s it was impossible to use the building at all.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="font_8" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #eae0ce; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A further blow to the Friends and the wider Palestinian community was the high level of emigration brought on by the economic situation and the hardships arising from the continuing Israeli military occupation. The Meetinghouse, which had served as a place of worship for the Friends in Ramallah, could no longer be used as such and the Annex could no longer be used for community outreach.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="color_11" style="border: 0px; color: black; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In 2002, a committee consisting of members of the Religious Society of Friends in the U.S. and the Clerk of the Ramallah Meeting began to raise funds for the renovations of the buildings and grounds of the Meetinghouse. By November, 2004 the renovations were complete, and on March 6, 2005, exactly 95 years to the day after the dedication, the Meetinghouse and Annex were rededicated as a Quaker and community resource. </span></span></span></span><img height="148" src="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4a18a2_91be68b363e54c7d823dff3646ad63f6~mv2_d_6000_2990_s_4_2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_864,w_6000,h_1426/fill/w_1528,h_363,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/4a18a2_91be68b363e54c7d823dff3646ad63f6~mv2_d_6000_2990_s_4_2.webp" width="640" /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-28689817680848054152017-02-03T11:47:00.002-05:002017-02-03T11:47:49.893-05:00The 8 most significant BDS Wins in 2016<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Palestine BDS National Committee announces the eight most significant indicators of BDS impact in 2016:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #242c2e; font-family: "regular" , serif;">1.</span>Three
more multinationals ended their involvement in illegal Israeli projects. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">Orange, the French Telecommunications giant, announced the termination of its franchise relationship with the Israeli company Partner Communications, which provided telecommunication support, subscription fee waivers, and entertainment services to Israeli soldiers during the 2014 war on Gaza. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv1FH0Em8Ihow0xGUu3udqYvzDfneiPRtuOa6utVm5CfHvrfuQoeU6_QTOvu21pXnbIR26mgCYEBSFbe4cNjWzrn1g0eipgr4Fnfm1-NvdFQAF4JaXi4h4bZ0IH97x5kMcQJH/s1600/crh1_1-600x338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipv1FH0Em8Ihow0xGUu3udqYvzDfneiPRtuOa6utVm5CfHvrfuQoeU6_QTOvu21pXnbIR26mgCYEBSFbe4cNjWzrn1g0eipgr4Fnfm1-NvdFQAF4JaXi4h4bZ0IH97x5kMcQJH/s320/crh1_1-600x338.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;"> The Irish building materials corporation CRH sold off its 25% equity stake in its Israeli operation, Nesher Cement, over links to Israel's illegal Wall and </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">settlements on Palestinian land. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUQa526zLl8gEmTY7o7HlFl1wrnRIPEpGcPBcDzFyExJgLeKjPHPIkdR7Q_-6KYHhJ7xAlv6en7aTBs1tNo2KKpoQ__e1u3qNzaaP5j8eGN3W6qDE7u1VhYBbyWm61rk8ij8-/s1600/CPsve1bW8AAGRRR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMUQa526zLl8gEmTY7o7HlFl1wrnRIPEpGcPBcDzFyExJgLeKjPHPIkdR7Q_-6KYHhJ7xAlv6en7aTBs1tNo2KKpoQ__e1u3qNzaaP5j8eGN3W6qDE7u1VhYBbyWm61rk8ij8-/s640/CPsve1bW8AAGRRR.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">G4S, the world's largest private security company, ended most of its involvement in illegal Israeli business. Considered a top BDS target for years due to its provision of products and services to Israeli prisons, police, military roadblocks and illegal colonies, G4S severed ties with Israel after it lost lucrative contracts or faced prominent divestment decisions in Kuwait, Norway, South Africa, Colombia, the European Union, Jordan, Lebanon, and the U.S.</span><br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrdnHK_CnlSXLezNIfWuO6OzklaWoVGYTuhHlDfu4eiGzkP8fSLPNHnnVxkGdxMGrjcOEVnaZOZ90H_Km6KqUXDqFfRjowWfTJUeeyCAsM2M0hzuzXxyb-vgGQO7JmEG8vqX6/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrdnHK_CnlSXLezNIfWuO6OzklaWoVGYTuhHlDfu4eiGzkP8fSLPNHnnVxkGdxMGrjcOEVnaZOZ90H_Km6KqUXDqFfRjowWfTJUeeyCAsM2M0hzuzXxyb-vgGQO7JmEG8vqX6/s320/download.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> 2.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The
European Union upheld the right to boycott Israel as a legitimate form of
freedom of expression protected by European Human Rights Conventions. Previously,
the right to boycott had been supported by Sweden, Ireland, and the
Netherlands, as well as Amnesty International, the ACLU, the International
Federation of Human Rights, and hundreds of political parties, trade unions and
social movements around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;">3.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Municipal
Councils in </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">France, Norway, and Northern Ireland joined BDS, while in
the U.S., Portland, Oregon became the first U.S. city to endorse divesting from
Caterpillar. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPatzbPm32Ue8BHZYQb3fJsrQ3NdFg3NLw4BsHf8lZ_BJmvJtG0-k4cbAQAoWbq4__pKwe6oyRf8F2d-vFwku5aCI-fLlewbSHyEvTe2vcXe7m3Dx2XmCx0HeawJ-8oS5m23L/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDPatzbPm32Ue8BHZYQb3fJsrQ3NdFg3NLw4BsHf8lZ_BJmvJtG0-k4cbAQAoWbq4__pKwe6oyRf8F2d-vFwku5aCI-fLlewbSHyEvTe2vcXe7m3Dx2XmCx0HeawJ-8oS5m23L/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;">4.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>Israel’s
global isolation intensified as appeasement began to give way to sustained
international pressure: </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlISXhVY_-l6FdjhkKAVIPEIaC0iOt6x2Qos6STvZpdc3Bh7WiLHiTW4MYjkacchsa1hr6ulk-qbvSk7yiW3vKcDwF0yOgsBsxUcQJkAKMjcVzki-G_3BLX8H_x1jUkezLb52/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPlISXhVY_-l6FdjhkKAVIPEIaC0iOt6x2Qos6STvZpdc3Bh7WiLHiTW4MYjkacchsa1hr6ulk-qbvSk7yiW3vKcDwF0yOgsBsxUcQJkAKMjcVzki-G_3BLX8H_x1jUkezLb52/s320/download.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> The UN Security Council unanimously adopted
Resolution 2334: Israel’s settlements
built on occupied Palestinian land </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">constitute a “flagrant violation under
international law.” </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">Even though the US abstained from the UN decision, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/american-attitudes-on-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/" target="_blank">current polls indicate</a> that 46% of the public and 60% of Democrats
supported imposing sanctions or taking more drastic measures against Israel to
compel it to end its colonization of Palestinian lands. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Similarly, the U.N. Human Rights
Council decided to create a <a href="https://bdsmovement.net/news/un-human-rights-council-votes-establish-database-settlement-companies" target="_blank">database of Israeli and international corporations</a>
that are complicit in and profiting from Israel’s occupation. This remarkable
development has made many companies nervous about their own involvement in
Israel’s violations of international law. </span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBixVWTg5PIL3ZDAzH25sBRjwMZwkYzatYjB0Eu1MWosaZqsDqpTHkWRTsA3JaYPOPEEgMqLxJAUpS7lCR_X-pKBOPsRhdkGselBmvwE0H_vFj0JVa3hNxexh7QrdAJ_kzLrD/s1600/download+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBixVWTg5PIL3ZDAzH25sBRjwMZwkYzatYjB0Eu1MWosaZqsDqpTHkWRTsA3JaYPOPEEgMqLxJAUpS7lCR_X-pKBOPsRhdkGselBmvwE0H_vFj0JVa3hNxexh7QrdAJ_kzLrD/s320/download+%25281%2529.png" width="197" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">5.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>More
mainstream churches around the world adopted BDS-related measures in support of
Palestinian human rights. These are: the United Congregational Church of
Southern Africa, the United Methodist Church, the Catholic Conference of Major
Superiors of Men, the Presbyterian Church USA, The Alliance of Baptists,
the Peace United Church of Christ in Santa Cruz, and the Unitarian Universalist
General Assembly (US).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;">6.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The
BDS campaign against Hewlett Packard went viral.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcEsMRI1Jd51looAjJvBsqGgXdd2K8qNAFerKzV9dXZTMCAvf10I5wKq9dkMnX5ePudDxidjoPEZ1P7FnfGDjHyrb1a8iS5MWtLKbeiYR0T6UhL4IYbJLYEj0oRyYS-AFiLkH/s1600/download+%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcEsMRI1Jd51looAjJvBsqGgXdd2K8qNAFerKzV9dXZTMCAvf10I5wKq9dkMnX5ePudDxidjoPEZ1P7FnfGDjHyrb1a8iS5MWtLKbeiYR0T6UhL4IYbJLYEj0oRyYS-AFiLkH/s1600/download+%25282%2529.png" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> A global Week of Action
was organized around November 29, the International Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian People, to hold HP accountable for providing technology that
enables Israel’s system of occupation and racial segregation. The spread of the HP boycott actions exceeded all
expectation. Over 150 actions were organized in 101 cities across 30 countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPjYgowkjup26MkjZprJK-3aLaEYd2ABbEOEKdE-shomIJFTtNirR2HbpTkBwD8rYJgv8em-RIM1O3mOepAaSoYhtR9CiebPMToaRzX6S-_Ef96g3tw8aafHpO1-8xsAfwQCz/s1600/images+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPjYgowkjup26MkjZprJK-3aLaEYd2ABbEOEKdE-shomIJFTtNirR2HbpTkBwD8rYJgv8em-RIM1O3mOepAaSoYhtR9CiebPMToaRzX6S-_Ef96g3tw8aafHpO1-8xsAfwQCz/s1600/images+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> 7.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>The
academic and cultural boycott of Israel spread further among student unions,
academics, artists, and writers, especially in the Global South. Groups in 225
cities and university campuses registered their participation in Israeli
Apartheid Week. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LQGJsfBUE1jEvU2HaR5LJHKI4HWc4bwIeMof_wYio8aiSa4NpuRxwNn9dbkIZGW1TBdt6zLRusD_IQEUNhNDG_L6ct5RlWqjrx-k4ljR1Ogk7jdi1XxZTWTLh61VXRZxiJOv/s1600/download+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5LQGJsfBUE1jEvU2HaR5LJHKI4HWc4bwIeMof_wYio8aiSa4NpuRxwNn9dbkIZGW1TBdt6zLRusD_IQEUNhNDG_L6ct5RlWqjrx-k4ljR1Ogk7jdi1XxZTWTLh61VXRZxiJOv/s320/download+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: large;">8.<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>International
trade </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">unions intensified support </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">for BDS measures in </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">solidarity with
Palestinian</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">workers. </span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GwG94KmEN7ic3PWkGYa5KqQ52s5FnHGR7FDIPDXnENsFUmo1g024WJV7UwVC4gDH7TBc3aJtzKQ-ibxK3VGtNzByJy_WeeBl41sENy_7fOyWZYn1QylfTzdzKaSEU-hO-rlx/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0GwG94KmEN7ic3PWkGYa5KqQ52s5FnHGR7FDIPDXnENsFUmo1g024WJV7UwVC4gDH7TBc3aJtzKQ-ibxK3VGtNzByJy_WeeBl41sENy_7fOyWZYn1QylfTzdzKaSEU-hO-rlx/s320/images+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course, Israel's right wing </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> took exception to all this. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: -0.25in;">Oh well...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-87346951124354270572016-12-06T14:00:00.003-05:002016-12-06T14:03:19.924-05:00Hooray! A BIG BDS Win!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Q0zo4Tx1PTi_zAu9X8qWZBSE0YabwZ93dkNTRP-PqqKgLEOKxUUzJim3rTJqy2g2mTCEwfYssiT5HhW-ltr1MbBIwqqPje98DYGIjWKgi1h3dQj2CFT616iU4KUrCW02HWrz/s1600/images3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Q0zo4Tx1PTi_zAu9X8qWZBSE0YabwZ93dkNTRP-PqqKgLEOKxUUzJim3rTJqy2g2mTCEwfYssiT5HhW-ltr1MbBIwqqPje98DYGIjWKgi1h3dQj2CFT616iU4KUrCW02HWrz/s400/images3.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">G4S, the security company that has long been a target of Boycott, Divest and Sanctions activism, has sold most of its business with Israel, where it had been extensively involved in Israel's notorious prison system, and provided services to Israeli checkpoints and illegal settlements on Palestinian land. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwg5IX3d0XmaP8xEKwRcAI0qq6PLT0bVkiuaqPZ8sHYG3gdYq3SVB3ApnYHIePhG9G5-orsLVgwK5XEykS3bwNTto2pMTxGh7NySHNdf6h191AjJ52_XlNeP7jXBWoRILUXuDV/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwg5IX3d0XmaP8xEKwRcAI0qq6PLT0bVkiuaqPZ8sHYG3gdYq3SVB3ApnYHIePhG9G5-orsLVgwK5XEykS3bwNTto2pMTxGh7NySHNdf6h191AjJ52_XlNeP7jXBWoRILUXuDV/s1600/download.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">Pressure from BDS campaigns worldwide, including educating the public about G4S activities, and persuading individuals and religious and civil institutions to withdraw their investments in the company, has caused enormous damage to G4S's reputation and cost it millions of dollars in lost contracts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Step by step, sometimes slowly, sometimes with sudden victories like this one, BDS is working around the world, wherever G4S and similar corporations repress the most vulnerable.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwstfW_9Qro_JOJP5uVEbDjO3v-4pZnZL2Rj1kur3Y_gicB1kzGBC7A4SRtnewrkVu7pG4mA9MN5ugxIVf82DNjuZ1YzKXQ0YbMdAX5emGIzKy7fgkCpqyVDY86PsroJrJ5rMM/s1600/g4s+securing_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwstfW_9Qro_JOJP5uVEbDjO3v-4pZnZL2Rj1kur3Y_gicB1kzGBC7A4SRtnewrkVu7pG4mA9MN5ugxIVf82DNjuZ1YzKXQ0YbMdAX5emGIzKy7fgkCpqyVDY86PsroJrJ5rMM/s1600/g4s+securing_0.jpg" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For even though G4S has found it unprofitable to continue to do most of its business in Israel, the company still deals in oppression worldwide.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmvAccerEhQv8mIKl-lGBMcQZKhFX3TAp1X_lfV3gYwj3Yrysj11krR5VKhtD2qTRnm4ai3asKap5GUNBODmXP2zON1rddG5KSGTmcElytsqW28IuBiYx_SybrJVZiyYxBQRS/s1600/standing+rock+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmvAccerEhQv8mIKl-lGBMcQZKhFX3TAp1X_lfV3gYwj3Yrysj11krR5VKhtD2qTRnm4ai3asKap5GUNBODmXP2zON1rddG5KSGTmcElytsqW28IuBiYx_SybrJVZiyYxBQRS/s1600/standing+rock+2.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the U.S. alone, G4S played a role in the repression of the Standing Rock Sioux water protectors.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZf3I8NpKHeAIacCIiJBozoFMSoGgUtRPH0zJCLLeTxjWBGdw59PWMUIra8zO1-qZnJNtEkg7aCvViwAtcf9SifzL3slVwSPqNSa_ybtXDdcizS8vzr1iq9YMbDzwKYg_0Uxy/s1600/deportation2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZf3I8NpKHeAIacCIiJBozoFMSoGgUtRPH0zJCLLeTxjWBGdw59PWMUIra8zO1-qZnJNtEkg7aCvViwAtcf9SifzL3slVwSPqNSa_ybtXDdcizS8vzr1iq9YMbDzwKYg_0Uxy/s400/deportation2.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">G4S still aids ICE and Homeland Security with immigrant deportations. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaDYtHmQ0Gx1jtBg3Vhmq8G39e1gdMLzERiLNu3X6baWNQMMalo4REllQ7frllNOHHDCs9XZRu1jwKfPgJMP3kpRd5slLgkBEXsT2PQZBatRnpEazE47elAbfskjyImEzlahG/s1600/prison+industrial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCaDYtHmQ0Gx1jtBg3Vhmq8G39e1gdMLzERiLNu3X6baWNQMMalo4REllQ7frllNOHHDCs9XZRu1jwKfPgJMP3kpRd5slLgkBEXsT2PQZBatRnpEazE47elAbfskjyImEzlahG/s400/prison+industrial.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">G4S still runs youth detention facilities and provides prison technology as part of the U.S. prison industrial complex. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"Two things have never been clearer," says the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. "(1) BDS works. and (2) We have a lot more work to do."</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Congratulations to activists and institutions around the world that have been a part of the Stop G4S campaign, illustrating the tremendous ability of grassroots organizing to impact multinational corporations and send the strong message that profiting from oppression is not so profitable after all. Now -- on to the next big win!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7z5QapLl14bLmRayzKYq85IipkTW9O5m416y_JU_uTUND_UAuk9fgyTpBkl0xe39YRpgOCNf7di9ztXc1k0FvfcKdP3i-4cO3WeJqKj-hu5FnTxsld3eQpK4m8xhXNcleilBE/s1600/standing+rock1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7z5QapLl14bLmRayzKYq85IipkTW9O5m416y_JU_uTUND_UAuk9fgyTpBkl0xe39YRpgOCNf7di9ztXc1k0FvfcKdP3i-4cO3WeJqKj-hu5FnTxsld3eQpK4m8xhXNcleilBE/s640/standing+rock1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-57808280695944427042016-11-17T20:18:00.004-05:002016-11-17T20:29:54.863-05:00Resisting the Rising Tide of Oppression<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUuiktTzGmfN1Tw0dmVy914i46fxvBkKtmFJPeSXvrTFIpljscMxg5jdAQ0UzX3XnoC9k4EcDm6yQRpFsTzVvF4BxCUg6Db68w6qWWFWYmvSeE4EpWIBA_3KN6CNiiSlmraS1/s1600/Trump2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUuiktTzGmfN1Tw0dmVy914i46fxvBkKtmFJPeSXvrTFIpljscMxg5jdAQ0UzX3XnoC9k4EcDm6yQRpFsTzVvF4BxCUg6Db68w6qWWFWYmvSeE4EpWIBA_3KN6CNiiSlmraS1/s1600/Trump2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The election of Donald Trump was an earthquake that changed the
face of the planet, writes Israeli political columnist, Uri Avnery.</span> In the U.S. personal threats to Muslims,
Jews, and people of color, already on the rise before the end of the
presidential campaign, have spiked in the days after the election. A
Palestinian-American Quaker writes on Facebook, “Folks in Palestine messaging
me to stay safe. Let that sink in.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the University of Michigan
campus, racist posters and fliers demeaning African Americans, Jews, Muslims,
and women have been stapled to kiosks and slipped into dormitories in the dead
of night. Last week a white man approached a young Muslim woman and told her he
would set her on fire with his cigarette lighter if she didn’t remove her
hijab. Twitter accounts of activists have been filled with vile messages from
the “alt-right,” emboldened by the blatant racism and xenophobia of the Trump
campaign.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuiRAOeS_ShTea3sFLjHOv5Gpafu_FOwhQEgMTJ6lW2Y5q4-bAbjGUNPaulrqyYhhuAjVpkfXHpd5YLB8js7lWr-KY7tjXG1FCP3BGMaG6XP1UfEhAB1dwexoAO3-MHQw0trD/s1600/Israel+politics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuiRAOeS_ShTea3sFLjHOv5Gpafu_FOwhQEgMTJ6lW2Y5q4-bAbjGUNPaulrqyYhhuAjVpkfXHpd5YLB8js7lWr-KY7tjXG1FCP3BGMaG6XP1UfEhAB1dwexoAO3-MHQw0trD/s1600/Israel+politics.jpg" /></a>But Donald Trump’s “unique
mixture of megalomania, showmanship and mass appeal,” as Avnery puts it, is not
unfamiliar to Israelis. After last year’s elections, Avnery writes, “Israel was
overrun by a band of far-right politicians, like a pack of hungry wolves. Men
and women without charm, without dignity, possessed by a ravenous hunger for
power.”<br />
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These politicians are challenging the Tel Aviv "old elites," just
as Trump has set the U.S. public against Washington. The worst of them are
inciting interpersonal hatred and resentment: “Jewish citizens against Arab citizens,
Israelis of Eastern descent against Ashkenazis of European descent, the uncultured
against the cultured, and the poor against all others, tearing apart the
delicate ties of Israeli society.” </div>
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Yet s<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">uch rabble rousing and intimidation pales in comparison with the
larger, more impersonal forces that isolate, exclude, and diminish whole
populations based on their social or religious identities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgh9c0m7DiArfZDk4vNx36Tpcxf2Q39_KJaSYvrnXUYpWFq1LPk9DGMdCpqsXV0bTS1iaDYk5GZ7aJg8OYbnVPA0FF2adO8JBgXx82KcnZD5mhnrV5RxfllLtVtY3lCBXEYau/s1600/stop+islam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgh9c0m7DiArfZDk4vNx36Tpcxf2Q39_KJaSYvrnXUYpWFq1LPk9DGMdCpqsXV0bTS1iaDYk5GZ7aJg8OYbnVPA0FF2adO8JBgXx82KcnZD5mhnrV5RxfllLtVtY3lCBXEYau/s1600/stop+islam.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the U.S., we hear loose talk about the new administration
compiling a vast and detailed registry of immigrants from Muslim countries, incarcerating
or deporting up to three million undocumented immigrants from Mexico and other Latin
American countries, and turning mass incarceration into a lucrative business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I</span><span style="color: #222222;">n Israel/Palestine, the far-right is threatening to retroactively
legalize settlements on Palestinian lands, and to continue to escalate the
violent repression of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Such large scale oppression is facilitated by technology –
impersonal in itself, but political when put to human use. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hewlett Packard, the global technological giant, is using its
expertise not only to supply ink to millions of ordinary folks’ printers, but
also to identify and suppress dissidents, censor information, and supervise and
control restive populations around the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUS6XjR2hXS7PyKhv9LX8pMxerp936BVgdoSvf88gbRr5hWp3xBmrKdRkXDXxUhoarKcsQ64vQB-URxHlQHyOJXZQRQTCZXEFH8TBcj8vT33XNL0Qfr3EoZbEqrqJh8HZZfDi/s1600/incarceration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUS6XjR2hXS7PyKhv9LX8pMxerp936BVgdoSvf88gbRr5hWp3xBmrKdRkXDXxUhoarKcsQ64vQB-URxHlQHyOJXZQRQTCZXEFH8TBcj8vT33XNL0Qfr3EoZbEqrqJh8HZZfDi/s1600/incarceration.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the U.S., HP technology is being used by the Department of
Homeland Security to track, raid, detain, and depart millions of immigrant families
on a scale unprecedented in US history. HP tracks data essential for the
continued incarceration of millions of black, Latino, Native American, and
impoverished people, as well as for widespread legal discrimination against
former prisoners. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoL9gprSbuyUzpEk6BSX_Ocy27lmUFvmFcfxDEdm8AqZswFwOBzOnxP3fJQDho8r-EdK9tBgbO_seUzLRiWxJwwPGRQhiDT_5M-H0npbgHoO8J7QwQHg7zKw2bVW7eQQzbn_CZ/s1600/biometric+great+divider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoL9gprSbuyUzpEk6BSX_Ocy27lmUFvmFcfxDEdm8AqZswFwOBzOnxP3fJQDho8r-EdK9tBgbO_seUzLRiWxJwwPGRQhiDT_5M-H0npbgHoO8J7QwQHg7zKw2bVW7eQQzbn_CZ/s400/biometric+great+divider.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Israel/Palestine, HP technology is being used to develop an
automated biometric control system that allows Israel to obtain the full
profile of virtually every Palestinian over the age of 16, including
fingerprints, retinal scans, and facial recognition. Biometric ID cards facilitated
by HP technology lay the technical foundation for Israel’s system of tiered
citizenship, which assigns rights and privileges according to “nationality” –
Jewish, Arab, or Bedouin. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These ID’s form the basis of rampant discrimination
in housing, </span><span style="color: #222222;">employment, marriage, healthcare, education and policing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbm78sGzb0Y_zi3JhtMiWAjsSl-RrKfgokw59fq5KG96SEiu6rULUoXVpxcb4Fd045FlK-sk9DGMxaeOwVuB_e0rpQEoK1JfCnb3y85Ga3ydEzZv9mmrmGQ6tvkwgmry9oMLB/s1600/biometric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrbm78sGzb0Y_zi3JhtMiWAjsSl-RrKfgokw59fq5KG96SEiu6rULUoXVpxcb4Fd045FlK-sk9DGMxaeOwVuB_e0rpQEoK1JfCnb3y85Ga3ydEzZv9mmrmGQ6tvkwgmry9oMLB/s1600/biometric.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Such a scale of technological control has brought forth a tactical,
coordinated response from grassroots activists, religious and civil
institutions, universities, and individuals around the world. The Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions Movement began in 2005 in response to Palestinian oppression.
But now that activists recognize that global corporations and state institutions
are repressing the vulnerable in similar ways around the world, the BDS
movement has expanded. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This year, on November 25, the U.S.’s biggest shopping day of
the year, and in the week that follows, BDS activists plan nonviolent actions
in Palestine, Egypt, Malaysia, several Latin American countries, and all across
Europe. In the U.S. the campaign has confirmation from Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Sacramento, Chico, Santa Cruz, DC, Philadelphia, New York, and
Boston, and are waiting to hear from Rochester, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Ithaca.
Everywhere, it seems, activists are calling for economic boycott and divestment
from HP and its insidious methods of and control.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjew5UX-5fmimwPXSAbIyGnBowSH-LoF3DJG9Irf1-8drqOB74WLMDY5oWRuIu5RxWbVsh6cd2_9oG6T2E27eeYDktakTctmsOtZxdUFspj2i0oGcDDCX23ho4F1v0O8tagE0e/s1600/International+week+of+action.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjew5UX-5fmimwPXSAbIyGnBowSH-LoF3DJG9Irf1-8drqOB74WLMDY5oWRuIu5RxWbVsh6cd2_9oG6T2E27eeYDktakTctmsOtZxdUFspj2i0oGcDDCX23ho4F1v0O8tagE0e/s400/International+week+of+action.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: #222222;">In these perilous times, a strong, coordinated, nonviolent
response to repression is essential. As Quakers, we hope readers will join in
by personally boycotting HP, persuading schools and religious institutions to
divest from HP, and educating government officials about the ways that
institutional racism and bigotry can be so easily facilitated by the benign
technology we rely on every day. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-6947355808758347232016-05-23T10:00:00.005-04:002017-04-14T21:04:18.467-04:00An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><b>Members and Attenders of Quaker Meetings can sign on to this letter by emailing Helen Fox hfox@umich.edu. Please mention the Meeting you attend. </b></i><br />
<br />
As Quakers, we are disappointed in your opposition to the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and your unwavering support
for the right wing government of the State of Israel, despite its
unconscionable repression of the Palestinian people.</div>
</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5m5kPh-2fDyafH_iNpFCTb_VM9llfZPVCTx1GFh8CDuFo3_CL4HoPVHfjfI6MOo0iYibmcnepowQi8RdWCPm8l-w3pWdtD2-zozt2OWNcK37bK3wwqr0Xt9xOrMaQVl_8wqY/s1600/BDS+thumbs+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5m5kPh-2fDyafH_iNpFCTb_VM9llfZPVCTx1GFh8CDuFo3_CL4HoPVHfjfI6MOo0iYibmcnepowQi8RdWCPm8l-w3pWdtD2-zozt2OWNcK37bK3wwqr0Xt9xOrMaQVl_8wqY/s320/BDS+thumbs+up.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We understand that you think BDS stands in the way of peace
negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.<br />
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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In your letter of May 9 to the
Israel Action Network and the Jewish Federations of North America you explain
that the movement aims to “punish” Israel by “dictating” how the two sides
should resolve the core issues of the conflict. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ77w3FyYfgtau5IExOTNH9J-11ps3YiD5SZNOpstfdb7b_8y0a8zTDB3eQZxf5Za-yxLlYf800-t0qjtxZgeL76AmnEjO0AQFDmPCmj834iBiLiSkukvDr8yA44h_CH23Gva/s1600/boy+throwing+stones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZ77w3FyYfgtau5IExOTNH9J-11ps3YiD5SZNOpstfdb7b_8y0a8zTDB3eQZxf5Za-yxLlYf800-t0qjtxZgeL76AmnEjO0AQFDmPCmj834iBiLiSkukvDr8yA44h_CH23Gva/s320/boy+throwing+stones.jpg" width="320" /></a>We respectfully disagree with
this analysis. As you surely know, the balance of power has always been in
Israel’s favor. </div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXG4QHhZLXakEF6LyjWDF5picrrFXhO7sQl1sSJeeuV3RMVrCbrMRkhoHL_iR54rIeb1Bb2BVUyy7FPtZ6wb-kmew4J4eQylf4irFWmhnN8TXATB5jqdKtVaNj3J2OjqAh2mT/s1600/weapons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggXG4QHhZLXakEF6LyjWDF5picrrFXhO7sQl1sSJeeuV3RMVrCbrMRkhoHL_iR54rIeb1Bb2BVUyy7FPtZ6wb-kmew4J4eQylf4irFWmhnN8TXATB5jqdKtVaNj3J2OjqAh2mT/s400/weapons.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Israel, a nuclear armed country with a modern military
supported by $128 billion dollars in US aid since its founding, is pitted
against smaller and smaller enclaves of Palestinians, now crowded into barely
15% of historical Palestine, harassed and dehumanized at checkpoints, deprived
of work, food, water, building materials, travel, health care – everything that
human beings should enjoy.<br />
<br /></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIpYECQj5nczYOIy4CCJCXDKDNkW55wBXhgEWhyPHx4w5jiFhuPb5ZgVHhNurjDvVax3Ag02Bx_G7J5qZc2SkhPiMxNsqCybaEOWNVIPf9xqvfBn9NHvMpPzhehRvQAE-WQyYk/s1600/BDS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIpYECQj5nczYOIy4CCJCXDKDNkW55wBXhgEWhyPHx4w5jiFhuPb5ZgVHhNurjDvVax3Ag02Bx_G7J5qZc2SkhPiMxNsqCybaEOWNVIPf9xqvfBn9NHvMpPzhehRvQAE-WQyYk/s200/BDS.jpg" width="200" /></a>The fact that Palestinian civil society has called
for a powerful, nonviolent, international response to this untenable situation
should be understandable.<br />
<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As you may know, Quakers have been serving since the
1880s in Palestine, where we have had the opportunity to learn from and
appreciate the Palestinian people, their culture, their work ethic, and their resilience
in the face of suffering.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhgpwL2AUzYDiAV75j-YSb-e0XObq3FNnZ1Z5b2NEpaZT5IyeXvXI8dTDFWjfP6xvnoX5OY07PW8FNgEjaDx81NH9dJq1vNqUA8bDekwY1yllBehehd7OwhWA4olPAFE7m47r/s1600/Qs+in+palestine1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhgpwL2AUzYDiAV75j-YSb-e0XObq3FNnZ1Z5b2NEpaZT5IyeXvXI8dTDFWjfP6xvnoX5OY07PW8FNgEjaDx81NH9dJq1vNqUA8bDekwY1yllBehehd7OwhWA4olPAFE7m47r/s1600/Qs+in+palestine1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
We respectfully suggest that as someone who hopes to
act as a fair negotiator, you should avail yourself of every opportunity to do
the same. <br />
<br />
You often reminisce that when you and Bill visited Israel
for the first time three decades ago, you walked the ancient streets of
Jerusalem’s Old City and fell in love with the country and its people.<br />
<br />
We believe you will be a better negotiator if you allow yourself to fall in love with the Palestinian people as well.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2cy_OnvW9wJrMrHjcvnwq6Yo3oEZCuAnIXGyw8G38UkBxROvat0912Ze0SSMRMzk8-Vo8Ny45_e0yKY1exubJpKFSeS6bJC59LQAwdpy7MAMZxNU0R2da5_-XIvzLi16DxVG/s1600/Music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix2cy_OnvW9wJrMrHjcvnwq6Yo3oEZCuAnIXGyw8G38UkBxROvat0912Ze0SSMRMzk8-Vo8Ny45_e0yKY1exubJpKFSeS6bJC59LQAwdpy7MAMZxNU0R2da5_-XIvzLi16DxVG/s1600/Music.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
It is not hard to do.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzi1FcOjC6S3ETW9OFC0z3H4c8ovM7Opk9q_BEskYWEG58jwMoPY0v5G4OBS-Rq_7WHrWNd8Ju6MXWiOhxHLVlBT4lJEWZ4MNmDd-1nSI1zEV-VVpPOPPaeZMbk-jNxh8hCBd/s1600/Olive+harvest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzi1FcOjC6S3ETW9OFC0z3H4c8ovM7Opk9q_BEskYWEG58jwMoPY0v5G4OBS-Rq_7WHrWNd8Ju6MXWiOhxHLVlBT4lJEWZ4MNmDd-1nSI1zEV-VVpPOPPaeZMbk-jNxh8hCBd/s1600/Olive+harvest.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Spend time with
families, visit people’s homes, enjoy their magnificent hospitality, listen to
their stories about their daily lives, learn a bit of Arabic, appreciate the
humor, the children’s games and stories, the music, the beautiful embroidery,
the olive harvest, the importance Palestinians place on education.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFYn8A4IhNFhmk4IqVrY35_ijhkLID-hFZOJupDI6wCHBaZi_K5ntQlB_l9Q6iTPTMdIKDNG5F3wyjkxn3m1sdpjpnpepMmzEPp4LroWVvND1-YhFzg3MGy2rvrd6vQE-sy_t/s1600/children+suffering.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFYn8A4IhNFhmk4IqVrY35_ijhkLID-hFZOJupDI6wCHBaZi_K5ntQlB_l9Q6iTPTMdIKDNG5F3wyjkxn3m1sdpjpnpepMmzEPp4LroWVvND1-YhFzg3MGy2rvrd6vQE-sy_t/s1600/children+suffering.jpg" /></a>Learn, too,
about the terror so many have experienced, the physical and emotional trauma of
scores of children, the displacement from their ancestral homes and villages,
the erasure of their suffering from the eyes of Israelis on the other side of
the “separation wall."<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We know this is not how diplomacy usually works. But we
believe the world is ready for a new way of addressing human disagreements that
result in violence and war. If you spend significant time experiencing the
lives and perspectives not just of the Israelis, but of the Palestinians as
well, you will be able to move negotiations forward in ways that both sides
will ultimately see as fair.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As Quakers, we yearn for an end to this terrible conflict
that has spawned such hard feelings between good people. </div>
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<br />
We ask you to act with
integrity in the critical work that you do.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOd9lAZmOtvA2bdCckPxpCj8qIOsg7MX2mdC5vu5DwHRBVHklGew1atSJajWd3O0tk8-H8vc72OETCgZaVQmUbYIEuLZpUc5fY-NKnzEir-QIyWSxPfZ-_0txWlzVXjECn_6Bq/s1600/peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOd9lAZmOtvA2bdCckPxpCj8qIOsg7MX2mdC5vu5DwHRBVHklGew1atSJajWd3O0tk8-H8vc72OETCgZaVQmUbYIEuLZpUc5fY-NKnzEir-QIyWSxPfZ-_0txWlzVXjECn_6Bq/s1600/peace.jpg" /></a></div>
Sincerely,<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dr. Helen Fox (Michigan)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Edward Morin (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ruth Zweifler (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Anne Remley (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Marilyn Churchill, MA (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Karen Deslierres (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Sara Koopman (Canada)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
James Koopman (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ruth Carey (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
Steve Chase (Pennsylvania)</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maia Carter Hallward (Georgia)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7UGfICyNqhf0rvITqfWd-rPDMK4CZGCLzPcsGC4wuo84dBMGVYoQ-8MuMhWm2qQ-T77TSESNO4zM8gTuXOKjItsONI4F7SQY1xnuKRhqr57fO5aZSMVRd4Oh20RVLA1IMe4k/s1600/wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy7UGfICyNqhf0rvITqfWd-rPDMK4CZGCLzPcsGC4wuo84dBMGVYoQ-8MuMhWm2qQ-T77TSESNO4zM8gTuXOKjItsONI4F7SQY1xnuKRhqr57fO5aZSMVRd4Oh20RVLA1IMe4k/s320/wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Jan Wright (Michigan)<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Elizabeth Block (Canada)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Joan Sampieri (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Al Connor (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
James Crowfoot (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Stephen Zunes (California)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Joyce Rawitscher (Connecticut)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A.M. Fink (Iowa)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Deborah Fink (Iowa)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dr. Linda Wotring (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Alex McDonald (Texas)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Jonathan Avery Wright (New Mexico)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Donald MacGregor (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Nancy E. Taylor (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Rebecca Hatton, Ph.D. (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Letitia W. Ufford, Ph.D. (New Hampshire)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Mary Day Kent (Pennsylvania)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
David Zarembka (Kenya)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
John Steinmeyer (Florida)<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCA05f9klw-jvUS1mLXwZGgAPNQgga-RyFl3EweyceWVjfVsDmb4oQ0skpSC2kBAXxZ7BNnOGLIMGLIDjoFcqP1Gt3opd6TuVsGSnoZWr9yub5PrMsN4Reef9b3JDWYIvWYtV5/s1600/embroidery2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCA05f9klw-jvUS1mLXwZGgAPNQgga-RyFl3EweyceWVjfVsDmb4oQ0skpSC2kBAXxZ7BNnOGLIMGLIDjoFcqP1Gt3opd6TuVsGSnoZWr9yub5PrMsN4Reef9b3JDWYIvWYtV5/s1600/embroidery2.jpg" /></a>Kristine Stroad Moore (Washington)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ruth Havighurst Neff (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Samuel Holton Neff (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Kristina Kenegos (Washington)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Cliff Bennett (Vermont)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dorlan Bales (Kansas)<br />
Rose Law Miller (Pennsylvania)</div>
Andrew Zweifler, MD (Michigan)<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Marlena Santoyo (Pennsylvania)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Jim Best, MA, CCC-SLP<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixx-Q5hLAhOOswWJ6w5UsW9W5YYLVDyuzvLvD-h0KWc7DvJP_N_S6dlY83gFzsVXj945RqFNLPByJAvF-sbYHsrRXVSxirltFTUrBqccR8ZA0qeTszTYe_gvR9zxcztB2K8FQU/s1600/Pal+humor.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixx-Q5hLAhOOswWJ6w5UsW9W5YYLVDyuzvLvD-h0KWc7DvJP_N_S6dlY83gFzsVXj945RqFNLPByJAvF-sbYHsrRXVSxirltFTUrBqccR8ZA0qeTszTYe_gvR9zxcztB2K8FQU/s1600/Pal+humor.png" /></a><br />
<br />
Roger Conant (Massachusetts)</div>
William Riccobono (Michigan)<br />
Arlene Kelly (Pennsylvania)<br />
Max L. Carter (North Carolina)<br />
Jane D. Carter (North Carolina)<br />
Kristin Loken (West Virginia)<br />
William Zakee McGill (West Virginia)<br />
Shawn Donovan (New Hampshire)<br />
Elizabeth Bullard Morse (New Hampshire)<br />
Catherine Miles Grant (Vermont)<br />
Phebe McCosker (New Hampshire)<br />
Dr. William B. Telfair (West Virginia)<br />
Carol Perera Weingeist (New Hampshire)<br />
Anne Ogren (Michigan)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0XeegjefFXOWtD0UthCBP4dtJ-IUOxls2K7qng7Eg2bQluTDfGGHEugrec1NDbQ9HBoyXbYlhXwFPNdHZ2SP3cr71GhDakQh091ujueOyVMsg9LbWEZqjStAh2sYkUD-YyRg/s1600/Pal+food2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0XeegjefFXOWtD0UthCBP4dtJ-IUOxls2K7qng7Eg2bQluTDfGGHEugrec1NDbQ9HBoyXbYlhXwFPNdHZ2SP3cr71GhDakQh091ujueOyVMsg9LbWEZqjStAh2sYkUD-YyRg/s1600/Pal+food2.jpg" /></a></div>
Sandra Stephens (New Hampshire)<br />
Mary Linares (New Hampshire)<br />
Bob Schultz (New Hampshire)<br />
Scott Rhodewalt (Massachusetts)<br />
Bess Klassen-Landis (New Hampshire)<br />
Susan Rhodewalt (Massachusetts)<br />
Peggy Daub (Michigan)<br />
Todd Kummer (Wisconsin)<br />
Cassandra Dixon (Wisconsin)<br />
Joan Raducha (Wisconsin)<br />
Louise Lund (Wisconsin)<br />
Laura Ward Good (Wisconsin)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyHGdFGdGa2ptLOW6W_frFwro3rAYl7WQLcuvJbK5ElsOQSnoNJIL3RviRbrRZp5Q-MzJEq5kV6SI3D7SGpKaX2VpH0KC9Adwa6ZUmscOQnypn2F0KEZLp5v5Pr_Dt8VzDLZ6/s1600/Pal+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyHGdFGdGa2ptLOW6W_frFwro3rAYl7WQLcuvJbK5ElsOQSnoNJIL3RviRbrRZp5Q-MzJEq5kV6SI3D7SGpKaX2VpH0KC9Adwa6ZUmscOQnypn2F0KEZLp5v5Pr_Dt8VzDLZ6/s320/Pal+poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Meg Skinner (Wisconsin)<br />
Hilda Kuter (Wisconsin)<br />
Annemarie Carr (Delaware)<br />
Cendra Lynn (Michigan)<br />
Lynn Drickamer (Michigan)<br />
Anne Carpenter (Michigan)<br />
Thomas W. Blackwell (Michigan)<br />
Arthur C. Wolfe (Michigan)<br />
John A. Rasumussen (Michigan)<br />
Robert Boyle (Michigan)<br />
Sherry Hutchison (Iowa)<br />
John G. Deikis, Ph.D. (Michigan)<br />
Johanna MacNee (Idaho)<br />
Joann F. Elder (Wisconsin)<br />
Joseph W. Elder (Wisconsin)<br />
Herb Beskar (Virginia)<br />
Sallyann Garner (Florida)<br />
Sarah Hernandez (Florida)<br />
Elizabeth Stokes (New Jersey)<br />
Kathleen Ranlett Mock, M.A. (California)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDR11M0Zehr_6a1NHUiYZBf2JDeqaHn-srTT1An-tITyVqtPzU1rRXJj37tTLojOFqrsH-6ylRzD4RrcXEDTsgRSD1BpREnmliLeyng-1oGw4FkfCN_OiJRTY-GUOFrv7bEH6/s1600/Pal+father+and+child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDR11M0Zehr_6a1NHUiYZBf2JDeqaHn-srTT1An-tITyVqtPzU1rRXJj37tTLojOFqrsH-6ylRzD4RrcXEDTsgRSD1BpREnmliLeyng-1oGw4FkfCN_OiJRTY-GUOFrv7bEH6/s320/Pal+father+and+child.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Steve Livingston (North Carolina)<br />
Elizabeth Wood (Pennsylvania)<br />
Ingrid Hogle (California)<br />
Kenneth Southwood (Texas)<br />
Janet L. Owen (Illinois)<br />
Helena Cobban (North Carolina)<br />
John Bach (Massachusetts)<br />
Ruth Podolin (New Jersey)<br />
Jerry Taylor (Pennsylvania)<br />
Linda Lotz (New Jersey)<br />
Bruce E. "Pacho" Lane (New York)<br />
Skip Schiel (Massachusetts)<br />
David Hadley Finke (Missouri)<br />
Wilmer Rutt (Illinois)<br />
Jane E. Houser (Texas)<br />
Evan Welkin (Washington)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Meredith George (Illinois)<br />
Michael C. Batinski (Illinois)<br />
Helene Pollock (Pennsylvania)<br />
Nancy Cirillo (Massachusetts)<br />
Randolph Holladay (Utah)<br />
Brayton Gray (Illinois)<br />
Nancy Mackin (Washington)<br />
Lorraine B. Claggett (Maryland)<br />
Beverly England Williams (Massachusetts)<br />
Maurine Pyle (Illinois)<br />
Thomas Carlisle (New Mexico)<br />
<br />
Robert Brooks (Florida)<br />
Donna Schumann (Washington)<br />
Margaret J. Nelson (Illinois)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92khRP9mFhl3CXwDkFel1XVud1wDSntUQLPfV7nZCx3qiBmniFGbBCUak9EWrTKBSnmVvrAoOrkgAvWXwRmGCfEQXoocds-FsgYdDfc9cVsxp_g434H3kVFt_RMSZzIW9BOoY/s1600/embroidery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92khRP9mFhl3CXwDkFel1XVud1wDSntUQLPfV7nZCx3qiBmniFGbBCUak9EWrTKBSnmVvrAoOrkgAvWXwRmGCfEQXoocds-FsgYdDfc9cVsxp_g434H3kVFt_RMSZzIW9BOoY/s320/embroidery.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Dorothy Gaydosh (Massachusetts)<br />
Sarah McElroy, M.A.(Washington)<br />
John Satzberg (Maryland)<br />
Lorie Wood (Oregon)<br />
David B. Fankhauser (Ohio)<br />
Lois Jordan (Indiana)<br />
Lorna Low (United Kingdom)<br />
Marcy Bethelle Harman (Illinois)<br />
Nahida H. Gordon (Ohio)<br />
Bruce Thron-Weber (Colorado)<br />
Spencer Putnam (Vermont)<br />
Michael Conover (Illinois)<br />
Neil Snarr (Ohio)<br />
Kristin Brown (Illinois)<br />
Gordon Davies (Virginia)<br />
Elizabeth Sprague (Illinois)<br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
John Gordon (Ohio)<br />
Thomas S. Costello, Ph.D. (New York)<br />
Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta (Canada)<br />
Julie Anne Medjanis (Massachusetts)<br />
George Matry Masselam (Massachusetts)<br />
Jo Scott (United Kingdom)<br />
Mark Chalk (United Kingdom)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3-k1y4n8c_JLq5pbJxlre1V_-M9MD8lbbl8TtNMU7ep9XV3Zo2X_SHNuA07-lu98ud8-NjhpGs7dksJmDnQGsXIxCycJ9NV1RlVkUCDAimkrFy9LzYuHrj7Ww6Tt6aaL4QB9/s1600/violin+maker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3-k1y4n8c_JLq5pbJxlre1V_-M9MD8lbbl8TtNMU7ep9XV3Zo2X_SHNuA07-lu98ud8-NjhpGs7dksJmDnQGsXIxCycJ9NV1RlVkUCDAimkrFy9LzYuHrj7Ww6Tt6aaL4QB9/s200/violin+maker.jpg" width="200" /></a>Margaret Katranides (Missouri)<br />
Zandra Moberg Price (Pennsylvania)<br />
Cas Overton (Virginia)<br />
Rhonda Ligon (Virginia)<br />
Peter J. Eccles (United Kingdom)<br />
Myra Ford (United Kingdom)<br />
<br />
<br />
Dave Cundiff (Washington)<br />
Wayland M. Hubbart (Washington)<br />
Benjamin Hebner, Jr. (Virginia)<br />
Julia B. Hebner (Virginia)<br />
Katy Rugg, M.A. (Virginia)<br />
Blair Seitz (Pennsylvania)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvBRU2rJk_SEHW2OeGjEFIuQ-20s27WVK_mvBFSUAjpa9tnixm_rw97DXXtgZMNDLlnyZ9We1POkNKKfJizvxTikTDgNxqGbQx5v145Gy2TL-KOVnyQV2eiBm26Lrj60YiAXB/s1600/Dabka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmvBRU2rJk_SEHW2OeGjEFIuQ-20s27WVK_mvBFSUAjpa9tnixm_rw97DXXtgZMNDLlnyZ9We1POkNKKfJizvxTikTDgNxqGbQx5v145Gy2TL-KOVnyQV2eiBm26Lrj60YiAXB/s320/Dabka.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Sandra Green (Pennsylvania)<br />
Peter Dale (Michigan)<br />
Carolyn Stanley (Florida)<br />
Mariette Norbom (Virginia)<br />
Quinn Dilkes (Iowa)<br />
Joyce Balderston (Ohio)<br />
Phil Balderston (Ohio)<br />
Jim McQuaide (New Mexico)<br />
Eric J. Schiller (Canada)<br />
Mary Fran Hughes-McIntyre (Virginia)<br />
Sandy Moller (Michigan)<br />
Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Friends Meeting at Cambridge, Massachusetts<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YW0Mncemj0BVZ-_1kUKcbIqoNfTOIQHZWnVVv3HlifcOKpMhUv3vLFeUz0kh3PvJtneLsCS-tbHvcJa1N2ipBBsmJtghWwLiDRikhs_XsjGSdSQiAv53GvqYLAVwwj_2x_H3/s1600/tear+in+wall2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6YW0Mncemj0BVZ-_1kUKcbIqoNfTOIQHZWnVVv3HlifcOKpMhUv3vLFeUz0kh3PvJtneLsCS-tbHvcJa1N2ipBBsmJtghWwLiDRikhs_XsjGSdSQiAv53GvqYLAVwwj_2x_H3/s1600/tear+in+wall2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Free Solomon Polazzo (Georgia)<br />
Donald Saunders (United Kingdom)<br />
Dr. Margaret Barker (United Kingdom)<br />
Wayne Lee (Florida)<br />
Christine Ashley (Iowa)<br />
Geraldine Farrow (United Kingdom)<br />
Katharine B. Johnson (Georgia)<br />
Don Bender (Georgia)<br />
Judy Bender (Georgia)<br />
Clive Gordon (Georgia)<br />
Mary Ann Mays (New York)<br />
Richard Corl (Texas)<br />
Linda Taffs (Canada)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia35YT1deVJbE36M7iko3Z8Un7iTb4zl1avMflDGX4-RKvkBvTTqzd0PuDWzKUQSSbatjkTrm8XXnN2mMJ6oC4LbHXT-7z-nbGpICNhVBSiUXPR49tYpFwbBNarcXg9wqlG8bE/s1600/not+a+terrorist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia35YT1deVJbE36M7iko3Z8Un7iTb4zl1avMflDGX4-RKvkBvTTqzd0PuDWzKUQSSbatjkTrm8XXnN2mMJ6oC4LbHXT-7z-nbGpICNhVBSiUXPR49tYpFwbBNarcXg9wqlG8bE/s1600/not+a+terrorist.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Elizabeth Claggett-Borne (Massachusetts)<br />
Dave Swindells (United Kingdom)<br />
Elizabeth Lees (United Kingdom)<br />
Martha Yager (New Hampshire)<br />
Bill Mims (Virginia)<br />
Sherry Monroe (Illinois)<br />
Jim Fine (Pennsylvania)<br />
Carol Barclay (New York)<br />
Deborah Fine (Pennsylvania)<br />
Maud Easter (New York)<br />
Anne Liske (New York)<br />
Gottfried Brieger (Michigan)<br />
Gatewood West (Massachusetts)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkSNiOzTfUjVz5DRIZDXd2f1WYuFzdov3VAyaVjq3yftrtjOQuNGddLcNElDDcZuuttTf7ZnHslPkDsu5v3OMNu-lRduAILxTFpevCep7rkJtpCxQIaT2RfwgUStcFYjVn04e/s1600/girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLkSNiOzTfUjVz5DRIZDXd2f1WYuFzdov3VAyaVjq3yftrtjOQuNGddLcNElDDcZuuttTf7ZnHslPkDsu5v3OMNu-lRduAILxTFpevCep7rkJtpCxQIaT2RfwgUStcFYjVn04e/s320/girl.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
George Capaccio (Massachusetts)<br />
Shirley P. Wolfe (Michigan)<br />
Marilyn Siegel (Michigan)<br />
Karen L. Connor (Michigan)<br />
Pat Micks (Michigan)<br />
Carol Bechtel (Minnesota)<br />
David Easter (New York)<br />
Deena Kinsky (Massachusetts)<br />
Dinah Starr (Massachusetts)<br />
Lynne Cadman (California)<br />
Robert Cadman (California)<br />
Shaun McFee (Ohio)<br />
Joe Mills (Michigan)<br />
Linda Mills (Michigan)<br />
Samuel Madeira (Pennsylvania)<br />
Susan Madeira (Pennsylvania)<br />
Elva L. Carter (California)<br />
Gabi Clayton (Washington)<br />
<br />
Kirsten Ebsen (Canada)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLIgiSAKo5VSm6opVSnsorMf0IzNwbRJuTVPCqcmzWnyqs-9SnBLGmDDNeNjYz2DiyxdNWHZPzIjK20ILXW1fbQ4bkkaEfQZ1gexDxAIWYFyO4-XUbtL5DFt5tqXgP3ZGxQti/s1600/women1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLIgiSAKo5VSm6opVSnsorMf0IzNwbRJuTVPCqcmzWnyqs-9SnBLGmDDNeNjYz2DiyxdNWHZPzIjK20ILXW1fbQ4bkkaEfQZ1gexDxAIWYFyO4-XUbtL5DFt5tqXgP3ZGxQti/s320/women1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
David Newlin (Michigan)<br />
Carol Meyer-Niedzwiecki (Michigan)<br />
Flo Friender (Michigan)<br />
Karen Chadwick (Michigan)<br />
Jeni Payton (Michigan)<br />
Catherine A. Cammann (Michigan)<br />
Jeff Cooper (Michigan)<br />
Bert Skellie (Georgia)<br />
Barbara K. Spring Ph.D. (New York)<br />
Ian Harrington (Massachusetts)<br />
Ruth Pauly (Wisconsin)<br />
Alan Garnell (United Kingdom)<br />
Robert Schellenberg (Michigan)<br />
Jane Beck (Pennsylvania)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lO1_ajaCCSw3JArn95dljw-AejcwsVKQX5A5pghQ4WOv8mZeZJIW1Zk_86Emknv9H3wwyubO3hoFKydKWeNZB3hxLBkYZiZbHPIi8At2F3IXVRxz84JoOyGYFdzM58N8gb89/s1600/Children+at+school1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0lO1_ajaCCSw3JArn95dljw-AejcwsVKQX5A5pghQ4WOv8mZeZJIW1Zk_86Emknv9H3wwyubO3hoFKydKWeNZB3hxLBkYZiZbHPIi8At2F3IXVRxz84JoOyGYFdzM58N8gb89/s1600/Children+at+school1.jpg" /></a></div>
Daryl Hoopes, Jr. (Pennsylvania)<br />
Stephanie Judson (Pennsylvania)<br />
Philip Bogdonoff (Maryland)<br />
Carolyn Gregory Ph.D. (Pennsylvania)<br />
Lawrence Block (Montana)<br />
Corrie Dorrington (Montana)<br />
Lucretia Humphrey (Montana)<br />
Sandra Schultz (Montana)<br />
Jasmine Krotkov (Montana)<br />
Galina Milohov (Montana)<br />
Dorothy Starshine (Montana)<br />
Mari McLean Ph.D. (Ohio)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmIJDJp_p8CvRkaMlhutyN65t9kRndnMqy-YhPzosnDbGahy8xY4yaFYEWYaKkrQmEeyzFL5Q451KWEaWEJa5Mx8xo0rNj0OFal_NtUDcVLADKKM9Jy5NK9TPmY5174mC7dDk/s1600/Friends+School+Ramallah+with+teens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGmIJDJp_p8CvRkaMlhutyN65t9kRndnMqy-YhPzosnDbGahy8xY4yaFYEWYaKkrQmEeyzFL5Q451KWEaWEJa5Mx8xo0rNj0OFal_NtUDcVLADKKM9Jy5NK9TPmY5174mC7dDk/s1600/Friends+School+Ramallah+with+teens.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Jessica Rettig (Ohio)<br />
Linda Stagg Long (Ohio)<br />
Peter Yff (Lebanon)<br />
Alan Penn (United Kingdom)<br />
Amy Beaumont (Michigan)<br />
Richard P. Tucker (Michigan)<br />
Rebecca Morehouse (Michigan)<br />
Robin Lloyd (Vermont)<br />
Jinchun Ma (Pennsylvania)<br />
Janet Lamborn (Pennsylvania)<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhW1A8Wyk9rvbI-1eVFpXAmTqeFjgNxuRFkVjP-hJq9khVbUJqqNZ_UwQBAgV1HlGSJxh1S46wepmt8ZCMuA1P3FDalgN5hDGwk2zQy5aKgMenp6y9J25SgZDGV2_YMZYiwWX/s1600/child+playing+schiel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhW1A8Wyk9rvbI-1eVFpXAmTqeFjgNxuRFkVjP-hJq9khVbUJqqNZ_UwQBAgV1HlGSJxh1S46wepmt8ZCMuA1P3FDalgN5hDGwk2zQy5aKgMenp6y9J25SgZDGV2_YMZYiwWX/s1600/child+playing+schiel.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Skip Schiel </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Bob Stauffer (Hawaii)<br />
Margaret Nielsen (Michigan)<br />
Lucia Anne Kalinosky (Ohio)<br />
Princewell Onwere (Michigan)<br />
Tracy Davis (Colorado)<br />
Mary Kay Kernan (Colorado)<br />
Tom Kowal (Colorado)<br />
Susan Wiley (New Mexico)<br />
Phyllis Hoge (New Mexico)<br />
Wyn Lewis (New Mexico)<br />
Sara Keeney (New Mexico)<br />
Ellen Ackerman (New Mexico)<br />
Penelope Thron-Weber (Colorado)<br />
<br />
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Anna Darrah (New Mexico)<br />
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Siva Raver (New Mexico)<br />
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Ann Anthony (New Mexico)<br />
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Elaine Emily (California)<br />
Katherine Young Meister (New Mexico)<br />
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Susan Waltz (Michigan)<br />
Paul C. Pratt (Michigan)<br />
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Irene Appleyard (Pennsylvania)<br />
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Ted Huryn (Pennsylvania)<br />
Carter Nash (Pennsylvania)<br />
Ruth Hoover Seitz (Pennsylvania)<br />
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Helen Howard Hebben (Michigan)<br />
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Winifred Covintree (Michigan)<br />
Bill Warters (Michigan)<br />
Margaret T. Walden (Ohio)<br />
Leslie E. Walden (Ohio)<br />
Joel Ottenbreit (Michigan)<br />
Robert Orr (Michigan)<br />
John R. Beaty (Ohio)<br />
Michelle Ajamian (Ohio)<br />
Brandon Jaeger (Ohio)<br />
Elaine Ruscetta (Georgia)<br />
Nadine Thompson (Michigan)<br />
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Linda J. Moody (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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David Rusch (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Pam Hoffer (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Phil Hoffer (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Derney Hamilton (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tom Munk (North Carolina)<br />
Donald E. Hartley (Ohio)<br />
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Jean Turkish (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Phillip Dilley (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Palline Plum (Michigan)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paul Krice (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary Garman (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Carol Anne Ferlanto (New Jersey)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Larry Habschmidt (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
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David Dilley (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Warnoek Davies (Indiana)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gwendolyn Halsted (Indiana)<o:p></o:p><br />
Michael Klein (Ohio)<br />
Pauline Klein (Ohio)<br />
Johanna Jackson (Pennsylvania)<br />
Kersey Bradley (Pennsylvania)<br />
Cathy Clifford (Michigan)<br />
Dr. J. L. Underfer (Michigan)<br />
Jamie Young (Ohio)<br />
Robert Cooper (Oregon)<br />
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<i>Members and Attenders of Quaker Meetings can sign on to this letter by emailing Helen Fox hfox@umich.edu. Please mention the Meeting you attend. </i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-11249976358874355092016-04-21T13:47:00.001-04:002016-04-21T14:09:59.553-04:00"Let Us See What Love Can Do"<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhqpCXSEF_yPmsdtKnmdZ_-MSFWpHu2WewCI6OYHDysIn0n4y5y8DbR0T4gk42ZEvrjKCU_PXp2S3Ky6A_J6LrI7HMFV0mi8wBPCTZa2HE-aAasoZAgsdqW532zOAbYydAj5n/s1600/Palestine+refugees2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxhqpCXSEF_yPmsdtKnmdZ_-MSFWpHu2WewCI6OYHDysIn0n4y5y8DbR0T4gk42ZEvrjKCU_PXp2S3Ky6A_J6LrI7HMFV0mi8wBPCTZa2HE-aAasoZAgsdqW532zOAbYydAj5n/s320/Palestine+refugees2.gif" width="320" /></a>Early in 1948, just before the end of the British Mandate,
Palestine was in turmoil. Jewish immigrants fleeing European persecution were
pouring into the region, believing they were returning to a long-lost homeland,
now devoid of civilization. Palestinian Muslims and Christians, forced out of
their homes and villages, were fleeing into neighboring countries; others had
taken up arms to defend their land and way of life. Palestinian Jews, who had lived in friendship with their Muslim neighbors for generations, were appalled at the idea that they must now take sides against them. The holy city of Jerusalem was on the verge of collapse, its water supply compromised, the threat of disease imminent.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Into this cauldron stepped three Quakers: Edgar Castle
from Britain, James Vail, representing the American Friends Service Committee,
and Kendall Kimberland, a Cairo-based Quaker with long experience in the Middle
East. After prayerful consideration, they had decided to travel to the heart of
the conflict to see what love could do. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI0k_N6JFDCLHlO2UIfiFLj-lb0WYDVNclUGImm4QWThuwS0q4L_x6EAYatTdVw5oN8BI4cEs7CcaHoDTH-5w-ycF3T8zvKr0rKS5qA06rfSSD7b5h3Rigi5s2GLlDNobCH-i/s1600/AFSC+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI0k_N6JFDCLHlO2UIfiFLj-lb0WYDVNclUGImm4QWThuwS0q4L_x6EAYatTdVw5oN8BI4cEs7CcaHoDTH-5w-ycF3T8zvKr0rKS5qA06rfSSD7b5h3Rigi5s2GLlDNobCH-i/s200/AFSC+logo.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->AFSC recently has made
public their archives from that tumultuous period: four cubic feet of notes,
cables, letters, and reports that tell the story of the attempt of these three
men to “discover what Friends might do in reconciliation work between Jews and Arabs.” They were convinced that the
political deadlock “would yield only to the reconciling force of reason founded
in love.”</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibVjHyjkdFi4z-swMtU1AwVZEUEpatuDl9otfanffoJDELVkoFhz1rayOh9U26TS7_ddmZyAo-rT5yockq4iYskf7-ylIjIF1bRkL009aeorWKyblcrGe252Q0DCqZuaiyvlb/s1600/AFSC+in+Palestine+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhibVjHyjkdFi4z-swMtU1AwVZEUEpatuDl9otfanffoJDELVkoFhz1rayOh9U26TS7_ddmZyAo-rT5yockq4iYskf7-ylIjIF1bRkL009aeorWKyblcrGe252Q0DCqZuaiyvlb/s320/AFSC+in+Palestine+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]-->Over a period of two
months, the small Quaker delegation met with high-level individuals from all
sides in the conflict. They would explain, sometimes to sympathetic listeners,
sometimes to hostile ones, that “the Quaker aim was always to seek peace and
create brotherhood.” By appealing to the best in all three religious traditions
they were able to make a surprising amount of headway: they offered emergency
assistance “without discrimination except that of human need,” transmitted messages
of compromise and reconciliation from one side to another, and established a
basis for a truce in Jerusalem’s Old City that seemed amenable to all sides.
“We had learned once again,” Castle wrote, "that barriers of suspicion will fall before confident acceptance of God's goodness in men."<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fHF8-F0WW3K8ankql45zetFJ1_tYWu0DSAff3h56cBEwaYX4rNFvw3hCMBPiWMPXI1z1JRfLiwTjelhFhIpv2daU8lHNcLxRA7eUwfjjX5vJP3qO8SClgInE_YvnHcH0xj1S/s1600/Count+Folke+Bernadotte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9fHF8-F0WW3K8ankql45zetFJ1_tYWu0DSAff3h56cBEwaYX4rNFvw3hCMBPiWMPXI1z1JRfLiwTjelhFhIpv2daU8lHNcLxRA7eUwfjjX5vJP3qO8SClgInE_YvnHcH0xj1S/s1600/Count+Folke+Bernadotte.jpg" /></a>But as they soon discovered, in such a volatile situation love was not enough. "I had not written three words of these notes, says Castle, "before the radio announced the news of Bernadotte's assassination, surely the consumation of evil." Count Folke Bernadotte was a Swedish diplomat who had arranged the release of 31,000 Jewish prisoners from German concentration camps in WW II, and was at the time serving as U.N. Security Council mediator for the Palestinian conflict. He was traveling in the region with a peace plan proposal but was assassinated by the Lehi, a Zionist group that opposed his plan.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjS_n4xXOjrsWM42NG_jBlZ5a45dVqzqziLl0psa9S1S-8FMbCyiMGJgGdct-nfl6rBFcwnC1a4tUXX2ias284gQWxD5rigVZZhQBZ3M8AD4TkmqzKUOSnkOpL9MxheHobOpMQ/s1600/Pal+aid+1940s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjS_n4xXOjrsWM42NG_jBlZ5a45dVqzqziLl0psa9S1S-8FMbCyiMGJgGdct-nfl6rBFcwnC1a4tUXX2ias284gQWxD5rigVZZhQBZ3M8AD4TkmqzKUOSnkOpL9MxheHobOpMQ/s320/Pal+aid+1940s.jpg" width="320" /></a>Despite the failure of their attempt at a truce, the Quaker mission was not in vain. As a result of their two-month effort, AFSC was asked by the United Nations to set up humanitarian assistance for some of the 500,000 refugees "flying from another refugee people" -- the Palestinians who had been left homeless while joyful newcomers celebrated the birth of the State of Israel.<br />
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<!--[endif]--><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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As Quakers continue
the work begun by Castle, Vail, and Kimberland sixty-eight years later, we have
learned that in dealing with powerful regimes, ever-more deadly weapons, and
still-raw emotions, we need to do more than appeal to reason guided by love.
Nonviolent pressure tactics, refined over the years in struggles for justice in
South Africa, Latin America, India, and countless other places, have proved
both ethical and effective.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakpDhja-mhZaZ0h6AkL5faqLbWmuYYNQoa6f88j9hqhmsyPRgUgg14tYd5if1EBGGtUoFGKYoHDYkqySHUgH5379E4qh5CT4eCtkOD1lZ9MDpHfodMR9_V6WDCzPsjNs6QAUO/s1600/BDS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakpDhja-mhZaZ0h6AkL5faqLbWmuYYNQoa6f88j9hqhmsyPRgUgg14tYd5if1EBGGtUoFGKYoHDYkqySHUgH5379E4qh5CT4eCtkOD1lZ9MDpHfodMR9_V6WDCzPsjNs6QAUO/s1600/BDS.jpg" /></a></div>
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The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is now
leading the way. Yet the optimism and spiritual determination that guided the
small AFSC delegation should never be discounted. What love can do is
astounding when it informs the power of nonviolence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-60208876361948917122016-02-24T08:30:00.004-05:002016-02-24T09:20:43.963-05:00The Candidates on Israel/Palestine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiganycGNtazJJt6dZvmxKRBr1Hik7UgcANgfwFDkUuPTRiBEbDNJh6lC4JujP4PD1xedJ5SpzjSiGyTCkDexEilwTU4GJRKK8cxZYRZzh9NTigMR326uuNtCrKLUBnWpcQ2k8Z/s1600/Obama+Netanyahu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiganycGNtazJJt6dZvmxKRBr1Hik7UgcANgfwFDkUuPTRiBEbDNJh6lC4JujP4PD1xedJ5SpzjSiGyTCkDexEilwTU4GJRKK8cxZYRZzh9NTigMR326uuNtCrKLUBnWpcQ2k8Z/s320/Obama+Netanyahu.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->In February, President
<a href="http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/international/mideast-africa/2016/02/13/obama-israel-aid-package-netanyahu-iran/80265988/">Obama
offered Israel</a> what a US official described as “the largest single pledge
of military assistance to any country in US history.”<br />
<br />
The package would start
at $3.8 billion for the first two or three years and grow incrementally until
it reached a combined 10-year total of more than $40 billion.<br />
<br />
<br />
Yet Israel’s
Prime Minister Netanyahu was not convinced that this amount would be enough,
and suggested he would wait to conclude a deal with whoever succeeds President Obama.<br />
<br /></div>
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<b>So what are the views of the candidates now vying to become
the next president?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQpsawlCHmM-iH9kDXxc_Tk84bWOfIBEXa3d7idfzkpZZElnagouG94MqK34F8QSBP_AQl4VVVFJHIbGFnIx1jN1ZA-7xrLCNjsckTk1mba1zuJS6QXzIU0AYJ76AlkGmB05ed/s1600/Trump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQpsawlCHmM-iH9kDXxc_Tk84bWOfIBEXa3d7idfzkpZZElnagouG94MqK34F8QSBP_AQl4VVVFJHIbGFnIx1jN1ZA-7xrLCNjsckTk1mba1zuJS6QXzIU0AYJ76AlkGmB05ed/s1600/Trump.jpg" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><b>TRUMP</b>: Although he has
cited Israel’s “separation barrier” as an example of why the US should build a
wall on the Mexican border, Donald Trump <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/269806-trump-ill-be-neutral-on-israel-and-palestine">claims</a>
he will remain neutral about the Israel Palestine conflict. He is used to
making deals, he says, and if he came out in favor of one side or the other, he
would not be seen as a credible broker in making peace between the two groups.
“I don’t want to get into it,” he told a South Carolina town hall meeting. “You
understand a lot of people have gone down in flames trying to make that
deal. So I don’t want to say whose fault it is. I don’t think that helps.” But Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (net worth $28.9 billion) sees something else in Trump: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb-PcrC_HYcUSEChiJraHa8IZO0JZRkyI4xCK04YUmkHBBz3T-8DThtvoLIuJ1tLoRL5WW0veLKA0Ink147jQlQPsgOKbtERJRUfHyJLPMToc8yDV8eCFv47avra-QWOPtQ5F/s1600/Trump+tweet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb-PcrC_HYcUSEChiJraHa8IZO0JZRkyI4xCK04YUmkHBBz3T-8DThtvoLIuJ1tLoRL5WW0veLKA0Ink147jQlQPsgOKbtERJRUfHyJLPMToc8yDV8eCFv47avra-QWOPtQ5F/s640/Trump+tweet.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmp-6PWk-QBGoDrTPw4SIQMrwsMnLQEM03PB3QkxBgFcogU16QjbZqA0-37u84_sqA1ya1EYd2Du4Fw7lAI8hP4-oPk3H55Ck9i0aLirS3uwsZdylDBUUFonp0lKjUMjrogMWU/s1600/Rubio+Israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmp-6PWk-QBGoDrTPw4SIQMrwsMnLQEM03PB3QkxBgFcogU16QjbZqA0-37u84_sqA1ya1EYd2Du4Fw7lAI8hP4-oPk3H55Ck9i0aLirS3uwsZdylDBUUFonp0lKjUMjrogMWU/s1600/Rubio+Israel.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>RUBIO</b>: Questioning
Trump’s “commitment to Israel” because of his comment suggesting that Israel
would need to offer “sacrifices” to win a peace deal, Senator Marco Rubio <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/261945-rubio-slams-trump-on-israel">told
the Republican Jewish Coalition</a>, “There is no moral equivalence between
Israel and those who seek to destroy her. Understanding that fundamental truth
is essential to being the next commander in chief.” “Today, anti-Semitism hides
behind the label of anti-Israel,” Rubio continued. “We need a president who
will call it that. I will be that president.” The <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/1.683511">largest single backer</a>
of Rubio’s campaign is billionaire auto dealership magnate Norman Braman (net worth $1.88 billion), a
past president of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RQpt9LRHqS_3mDLPg-gHJLpW_Bnd83nygr5CK1vMBTQfVjwmHPAGHKJqZT3reIip4AAhbnZGPnPmfQaajkaQBT50tcGdmJfj0Eg0g6m38fh6tboM0dHBPY6w4RZCRXHXpFlt/s1600/Cruz+Israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RQpt9LRHqS_3mDLPg-gHJLpW_Bnd83nygr5CK1vMBTQfVjwmHPAGHKJqZT3reIip4AAhbnZGPnPmfQaajkaQBT50tcGdmJfj0Eg0g6m38fh6tboM0dHBPY6w4RZCRXHXpFlt/s1600/Cruz+Israel.jpg" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><b>CRUZ</b>: Responding to
Trump’s claim of objectivity, <a href="http://www.jpost.com/International/Senator-Ted-Cruz-to-Post-US-should-stop-lecturing-the-Israelis-427601" target="_blank">Senator Ted Cruz said</a> he had “no intention of being
neutral” in his support for Israel. Cruz positions himself to the right of GW
Bush, who at one time, called on Israelis to disband their settlements on
disputed land. Instead, Cruz says, the US shouldn’t be dictating where
Israelis choose to live. Confusingly, this means he isn’t averse to a
two-state solution, because even though “the barrier to peace is the
Palestinians,” if Israel chooses to negotiate with them the US has no right to
dictate the terms. Yet Cruz also insists that there is “no moral equivalency”
between “terrorists” and Israelis who are only trying to protect themselves. <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-1.701249" target="_blank">Cruz's biggest benefactors</a> are Farris and Dan Wilks, Texas billionaire brothers who made their money from fracking. But Farris Wilks is also a pastor in an obscure Christian denomination called the Assemblies of Yahweh, which traces its roots to "Jewish Cristianity."</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidH19DbbpKkz9u1pKEGSkMSVpZkTxvPaTught0z3r1yzmGUoTgJV5nTn92LrkXCayxYA6VkMUTBGxKZNX3Cy3YcvexzQ-U41I_pXsayCEli_IRqFsvsS9n1tTkhivrEexWIKne/s1600/Hillary+Bibi+Abbas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidH19DbbpKkz9u1pKEGSkMSVpZkTxvPaTught0z3r1yzmGUoTgJV5nTn92LrkXCayxYA6VkMUTBGxKZNX3Cy3YcvexzQ-U41I_pXsayCEli_IRqFsvsS9n1tTkhivrEexWIKne/s320/Hillary+Bibi+Abbas.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>CLINTON</b>: Palestinians “deserve to have a state of their
own,” <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.704681" target="_blank">Hillary Clinton told CNN’s Jake Tapper</a>. “That’s why I support a two-state
solution.” Supporting Palestinian aspirations “is in the long-term best
interests of Israel, as well as the region.” Yet at the same time, she vows to
strengthen relations with Israel’s right wing government. “I have stood with
Israel my entire career,” she wrote in an <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/02/18/hillary-clinton-with-little-notice-vows-to-embrace-an-extremist-agenda-on-israel/" target="_blank">op-ed in <i>The Jewish Daily Forward</i>.</a> “As Secretary of State, I requested more
assistance for Israel every year. . . . I defended Israel from isolation and
attacks at the United Nations . . . including opposing the biased Goldstone
report” (which documented widespread Israeli war crimes during the 2014 assault
on Gaza). Clinton's donors include "Hollywood leftists" George Soros, Steven Spielberg, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who have <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/clintons-big-jewish-donors-are-hollywood-leftists/2015/08/04/" target="_blank">given at least $1 million</a> to Clinton's super PAC.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepc1YDbbsq9dnSvq6FBzx8oSuYebF4Aj_xSVciOAyiD-rUHlmwb_vRg9PEJQoso5X0KC2geenHkEK_A0EKaIjfM2V1UK9JuZEtWsQBjOOb23hqo1pUJbFdq7izlgkmRDm0hbh/s1600/Sanders+button.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepc1YDbbsq9dnSvq6FBzx8oSuYebF4Aj_xSVciOAyiD-rUHlmwb_vRg9PEJQoso5X0KC2geenHkEK_A0EKaIjfM2V1UK9JuZEtWsQBjOOb23hqo1pUJbFdq7izlgkmRDm0hbh/s1600/Sanders+button.jpg" /></a></div>
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoZXbFHHxZ0Fs4ExlQBNiZY8DrmbX69uuA4DWDgC8bbjQFFVszsPTWJtFRn-IGzbeD44wP7GPDYHhDVi6kYQoDJR1kY5kVnrIc10fDNy6niOGxg4MXmn4sZig1K-H6gL281kR/s1600/Bernie+quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoZXbFHHxZ0Fs4ExlQBNiZY8DrmbX69uuA4DWDgC8bbjQFFVszsPTWJtFRn-IGzbeD44wP7GPDYHhDVi6kYQoDJR1kY5kVnrIc10fDNy6niOGxg4MXmn4sZig1K-H6gL281kR/s400/Bernie+quote.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>SANDERS</b>: Given his
heritage as the son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland whose family was murdered
in the Holocaust, Sanders might be expected to have the strongest ties to
Israel. Yet <a href="http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-israel-and-the-palestinians/" target="_blank">his website claims</a> he does not favor Israel over the Palestinians,
nor does he otherwise let his religion influence his positions regarding the 60+
year conflict, which he describes as “depressing and difficult.” He believes
that the Palestinians must fulfill their responsibilities to end terror against
Israel and recognize Israel’s right to exist. In return, the Israelis must end
their policy of targeted killings, prevent further Israeli settlements on
Palestinian land, and prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes, businesses
and infrastructure.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=Career&cid=n00000528" target="_blank">Sanders' top contributors</a> include members (or PACs) of the Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union ($105,000), the Teamsters Union ($93,700), the National Education Association ($89,242), and other unions.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-76744059949241311932016-01-24T19:46:00.002-05:002016-01-24T20:05:13.726-05:00The Effluent of the Affluent<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
that the damage to the people of Flint, Michigan from their contaminated water supply has
been exposed, Americans are rightly outraged. <i>The New York Times</i> called
Governor Snyder’s attitude toward residents who complained “depraved
indifference.”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64djyDC5Vz_8Be5doZPymWdRM1LrPm_1WKEIF5UyFMnvUtIJx4hgIVpAtDYmN4B-6T-UFHYdud8owPdzRptZQ0xWixN2uGG6sHHk1gaDYvqtAst-OvfKmYEW-6sq8B1TPgaW3/s1600/Time+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64djyDC5Vz_8Be5doZPymWdRM1LrPm_1WKEIF5UyFMnvUtIJx4hgIVpAtDYmN4B-6T-UFHYdud8owPdzRptZQ0xWixN2uGG6sHHk1gaDYvqtAst-OvfKmYEW-6sq8B1TPgaW3/s320/Time+cover.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Time Magazine</i> published a photo essay on an impoverished black child,
two year old Sincere Smith, who is suffering the effects of his bath water.
Public health officials announced that drinking water in some areas of the city had tested
at more than twice the level of toxic waste, and that all of Flint’s children
should be treated as if they had been poisoned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Astute
commentators are calling what happened in Flint environmental racism, pointing
out that the poorest and most vulnerable communities, almost always of color,
are the ones that serve as dumping grounds for the waste of the affluent.
Whether it’s polluted water, pesticides, toxic smoke from incinerators, pig
farm refuse, or factory toxins, environmental pollutants are more likely to be
located in poor communities of color where complaints are ridiculed, disparaged, and ignored as they were in Flint, where forty percent of the population live below the poverty line and more than half are African American. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext;">Despite
assurances from Governor Snyder that his failure to respond to the water crisis in a timely manner
had “nothing to do with race,” many Michigan Quakers are not convinced. We are quite sure
of what would happen if Ann Arbor residents turned up at City Council meetings
with jugs of foul-smelling tap water rife with floating bits of “organic
matter.” Indeed, Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor pointed out that the water crisis
in Flint was not simply the result of a few poor official decisions, but can be
traced to “decades of state neglect . . . decades of broken promises, decades
of disinvestment in our communities." That’s another component of
environmental racism: a political culture of ignoring poor people’s problems.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-t5aWySp4XaQAZVewf-axg66ZS4lrE4VesDZC8V7Q2NPHV_xpU-t7Ec2MPzXxMGhAbYUNe8Qj_gAYTNydW9n9pbjTBwXw7G_9ZsQ6F57czTbiwXkZhnEcBANXyALKVarbTaN8/s1600/West+bank+toxic+waste+crisis+al+jazeera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-t5aWySp4XaQAZVewf-axg66ZS4lrE4VesDZC8V7Q2NPHV_xpU-t7Ec2MPzXxMGhAbYUNe8Qj_gAYTNydW9n9pbjTBwXw7G_9ZsQ6F57czTbiwXkZhnEcBANXyALKVarbTaN8/s400/West+bank+toxic+waste+crisis+al+jazeera.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Six
thousand miles away, in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinians are facing a similar
crisis – for similar reasons. As journalist Ben Lorber <a href="http://links.org.au/node/2956" target="_blank">writes</a>: Israel has historically used Palestinian land as a dumping ground, covertly transporting waste products into the occupied west Bank, polluting the Palestinian earth and water supply, while Israeli settlers deliberately poison the water, land, and livestock of nearby Palestinian villages. Solid wastes from Israeli settlements and military camps throughout the West Bank are dumped without restriction on Palestinian land, fields, and side roads, and industry regularly moves from Israel to the West Bank, where labor is cheaper, environmental regularions are lenient and wast products can flow freely down to Palestinian villages in surrounding valleys. </span><br />
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Today, says Lorber, as Israel portrays itself as a "green democracy," an eco-friendly pioneer in agricultural techniques such as drip irrigation, dairy farming, desert ecology, water management and solar energy, Israeli factories </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoVDSOX7C9D-QjcJPzn52-g-r_6-fpAASggjVU1BvY-ozaKGGKVkNZZlOhA-V10e089cAU222C4ZRBz9E4UYpdL-5k7uQrXa5jMgHxanLT7E7Kp0xCOKOiOI-qy2m0KeYcdBVt/s1600/envt+racism+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoVDSOX7C9D-QjcJPzn52-g-r_6-fpAASggjVU1BvY-ozaKGGKVkNZZlOhA-V10e089cAU222C4ZRBz9E4UYpdL-5k7uQrXa5jMgHxanLT7E7Kp0xCOKOiOI-qy2m0KeYcdBVt/s400/envt+racism+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">drain toxic waste and industrial pollutants down from occupied West Bank hilltops into Palestinian villages, and over-pumping of groundwater aquifers denies Palestinians access to vital water scources in a context of increasing water scarcity and pollution. </span></div>
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<span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Environmental racism is not just an American problem, It is a problem of "depraved indifference" of those who see themselves as dominant, entitled, and superior to others, wherever they may live. </span>As people of conscience, our response to institutionalized racism and injustice should be worldwide, as well.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-78667294445206792662016-01-22T19:19:00.004-05:002016-01-22T19:28:39.963-05:00What if Vermont were Conquired, Occupied, and Colonized by Israel?<div align="center" style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: geneva, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">It's hard to get accurate information: Seven Days has been shut down; two editors have been replaced at the Burlingon Free Press; Kevin Kelley has suffered a questionable bicycle accident trying to cover the situation at the checkpoints. Power has been shut off from Sovernet, Together.net, and Burlington Telecom.</b><br />
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: geneva, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></b>
<b style="color: #333333; font-family: geneva, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; text-align: start;"><span class="myriad14" style="color: #333333; font-family: "geneva" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Movement is severely restricted. Passports are required at the Main Street, Riverside Avenue, Route 7, and I89 checkpoints, and there are mile-long backups on all routes. Within city limits, all major east-west streets are restricted to permitted drivers and vehicles, and many businesses have been severely affected. To control movement in and out of a particularly troublesome area, razor-wire now surrounds the Old North End. </span></b></b><br />
<img alt="What If Israel Occupied Vermont?" src="http://www.vtjp.org/images/IfIsraelInvadedVermont_600.png" /><br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<span class="myriad14" style="color: #333333; font-family: "geneva" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><b>Life is hard in occupied Burlington. More than 400 homes have been bulldozed or claimed via eminent domain to be used for other purposes, leaving many homeless. All public schools are closed for use as detention centers. There have been sporadic reports of torture in these facilities, but no contact is allowed with families, so details are scarce. Burlingtonians out-of-city will not be allowed to return to their homes, as these dwellings are needed for a selected out-of-state population. Though schools are closed, no day care is available; many have lost jobs taking time off to care for their families. Running water and electric power are limited to 3 hours/day and all telephone service has been suspended. Police stand by as the more affluent attempt to appropriate by force goods and services from their less well-off neighbors. Those with extensive bank holdings have watched money and valuables taken from vaults by armed officials to support the expenses of the occupation and the construction of the South End hotel and government theme park complex.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, public health has precipitously declined. All community and backyard gardens have been poisoned by occupiers and the Intervale shut down; a food emergency is fast approaching as City Market and Rite Aid have closed, and the Food Shelf sees no more donations. Burlington water is being diverted to Shelburne and Williston.<br /><br />Health care has not been able to keep up. At least 40 people have died at checkpoints in the last month, unable to reach Fletcher Allen. Both BFD and St. Mike’s ambulances have been fired upon, and two EMTs have been killed insisting on getting their patients through checkpoints. Hospital supplies are running low, and the destruction of its water tower by F16s has severely affected operations. Medicine is increasingly unavailable, and its importation into the city restricted.<br /><br />There is little hope for political relief. All Independent and Progressive city councilors have been arrested, and Council meetings are being held without them. Mayor Weinberger has been targeted for assassination if necessary. All city paychecks are on hold until further notice. The Peace & Justice Center has been shut down, its staff arrested, and demonstrations have been met with violent responses from the authorities, using of illegal gases and live ammunition. The curfew has been extended, and people on the street or at their windows have been shot. Landmines surround the lake to prevent escape by water. All calls from other state, national and foreign governments have been rebuffed, as authorities assert that this is not the time to discuss key issues. It is promised that some of these restrictions will be lifted, pending correct results of the next election.</b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #333333; font-family: geneva, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"></b><br />
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<b><span class="myriad14" style="color: #333333; font-family: "geneva" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><i>An unimaginable dystopian fantasy for Vermonters, but a compendium of real daily experience for Palestinians, with all mechanics and ammunition funded by US tax dollars. Is this really how we want to spend our money and our moral and political capital?</i></span><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<b><span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f0f0f0;">With thanks to: Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine Israel http://www.vtjp.org/icecream/whatif.php#sthash.rpBlYf5W.dpuf</span></b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-16946976609488532002016-01-09T15:01:00.002-05:002016-01-09T15:08:38.805-05:00Writing Letters to the Media<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -24px;">Mainstream media in the United States often slants its coverage in favor of Israel. Even media that are progressive on other issues tend to allow right wing Israeli politicians to go unchallenged, omit a Palestinian point of view, and ignore the historical context of emotionally charged events. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2got1vIiAtxC_E0LH61Wg5XEOMGzpHK0amvJUiEW0lQ6GFBFjgSg5L27FxhYI8F6gtVNFSMCwcUylC0zO4UmoUMwrS5ywAzcmo8M2s20kdliEHe14bs4ypO9nmeVzf8PHrwO/s1600/bird+with+pencil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2got1vIiAtxC_E0LH61Wg5XEOMGzpHK0amvJUiEW0lQ6GFBFjgSg5L27FxhYI8F6gtVNFSMCwcUylC0zO4UmoUMwrS5ywAzcmo8M2s20kdliEHe14bs4ypO9nmeVzf8PHrwO/s1600/bird+with+pencil.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -24px;">PIAG has begun a <b>letter writing campaign</b>, using facts, examples, recommendations, and questions to counter biased reporting. Please join us! Email is quickest, but don't forget the power of a hand-written note. </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -24px;">Here are some sample letters PIAG members have sent recently, followed by the contact information for several media outlets:</span></div>
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<b style="font-size: 12.8px;">TO NPR MORNING EDITION:</b></div>
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<b>The "headlines" today include a biased statement about Israel-Palestine. It is biased because seriously incomplete. The announcer tells that the EU has adopted a new rule, insisting that many West Bank exports NOT be labeled as from "Israel." Then comes the bias: the announcer only states Israel's protest: that this West Bank label on exports will hurt Israel and will block peace with Palestine. BUT there is NO statement about WHY the EU is taking this step, which is that under international law, the West Bank is NOT part of Israel; it is militarily occupied territory. This information is crucial in helping listeners understand the actual status of Palestine and the growing worldwide protest of Israel's occupation and repression of Palestinians.</b></div>
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<b><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_491041338" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-size: 12.8px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">To CNN: </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The interview with Mark Regev re: violence in Israel-West Bank was hugely biased and incomplete. The Palestinian toll of wounded and dead was totally omitted, as was the reason for Palestinians' attacks--Israel's repressive colonial military occupation. Palestinians have no rights; their children are jailed brutally; their trees and cattle are destroyed by "settlers" who are taking over their land acre by acre. PLEASE give the Palestinians' reality to the uninformed US population. Furthermore, </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ambassador Regev's description of the verbal response of Palestinian leadership was false. Surely you can couple such false claims with a response from Palestinians and their leaders. Thank you!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><b>To NPR: Emily Harris's description of why Palestinian Muslims see Jewish visitors to the mosque as provocative omits a key factor. She focuses on "covert praying" by Jews who stand near the mosque. She omits the fact that these Jewish visitors often shout cruel, racist, and disrespectful epithets at the Muslims who are there to pray at the mosque. Please do a story on the "racism" problem. Many Israeli Jews are ever more vocal in angry racist actions toward Palestinians. "Arabs to the ovens" is printed on a wall. "Death to Arabs" is shouted in mass demonstrations. Some American and Israeli Jews are speaking with great concern about the runaway racism that afflicts the Israeli government, its soldiers, and many citizens. It's dangerous. Please cover it.</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Media Contact info:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrY40bL0QvxJeLj2YR4XpK12OrW7HJBn086qcFjrCAQZDOVlySrlNPBsKzdMj419sBPqXmwun-WDFTw5h5hDY3DvkENB4uMJ4_P6EnX4qtrEW4Osg2kLl4_L8OQcxmOQZK2uW/s1600/goddess+writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrY40bL0QvxJeLj2YR4XpK12OrW7HJBn086qcFjrCAQZDOVlySrlNPBsKzdMj419sBPqXmwun-WDFTw5h5hDY3DvkENB4uMJ4_P6EnX4qtrEW4Osg2kLl4_L8OQcxmOQZK2uW/s200/goddess+writing.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>
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<b>National Public Radio</b></div>
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<a href="https://npr.desk.com/customer/portal/emails/new?i=5&s=NPR%20Management">https://npr.desk.com/customer/portal/emails/new?i=5&s=NPR%20Management</a></div>
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<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Diane
Rehm Show</b></div>
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4401 Connecticut Avenue NW</div>
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Washington, D.C. 20008<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://thedianerehmshow.org/contact">http://thedianerehmshow.org/contact</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">CNN </b><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/feedback">http://edition.cnn.com/feedback</a> </div>
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<a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/">http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/</a> (Use this page to obtain transcripts of current news programs so you can cite chapter and verse)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-54290332935370522242015-12-24T13:09:00.003-05:002015-12-24T13:09:38.109-05:00Holiday Message from Jean Zaru in Ramallah<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; width: 600px;"><tbody>
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<span style="color: darkgreen; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 24pt;">Ramallah Friends Meeting</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Advent Meditation 2015</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span><u></u><u></u></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">How Can I Keep from Singing?</span><span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Advent is upon us, my Friends.<br /><br />Wherever we find ourselves and regardless of our circumstance, this season beckons us to pause, to prepare our hearts, and to appreciate the Giver’s gifts ever more deeply. But how? How to pause and open our hearts when life is so hard and death so close?<br /><br />Today, the violent policies of a nearly half-century military occupation seem more closely coupled with overt racism and identity-based discrimination than ever before. These past few months have been very distressing for those of us living in Palestine. So, too, is direct and indiscriminate violence being felt in an increasing number of countries around our world. Each day is like the ice of the hardest winter and we wonder how much longer we can go on.<br /><br />Yet, is it not, at precisely such times as these, that we must heed the Advent call?<br /><br />In such times as these we are invited to tap ever deeper into the wellspring of our common humanity. We are called to root ourselves ever-more firmly in a posture of gratitude. Surely, when we do so our faith is refreshed and our Spirit renewed –no matter the state of our bodies and our surroundings. And wide open are our lives to the expectant wonder of Advent and the coming of the Blessed Community where all are cherished without exception.<br /><br />Although it is December, there are still a few olives left on the tree in my back courtyard. For those of you who have visited my home, you may remember this beautiful olive tree. What a joy it is to wake up to the sound of birds singing, as they sit perched in the tree. They seem to call other birds to share their food. It is as if their music invites the whole community of birds to gather together in celebration. Their joy is infectious and I bask in their sweet notes, appreciating both their beauty and the bounty of the season’s olive harvest. The birds and their seemingly unceasing optimism, remind me of Mary, the mother of Jesus.<br /><br />Mary certainly lived under the harsh realities of empire. And many years later, in the same land I, too, live under the harsh realities of empire. I feel that Mary, who I call Our Lady of Palestine, stands by me. She witnesses day in and day out to the harshness of our experience, to the reality of life under a brutal and prolonged occupation. She sees the rich oppressing the poor, the powerful lording their authority over society’s most vulnerable.<br /><br />Mary witnesses to the seen and unseen walls of exclusion, to livelihoods stolen, homes demolished, lands confiscated, water rights violated, freedom of movement restricted, access to holy sites forbidden, human spirits being bent to the breaking point and lives extinguished. The disregard of human rights has become routine, as years roll into decades, and decades into generations. She watches and she knows.<br /><br />Yes, Mary, Our Lady of Palestine, shares our lived reality even today. She understands and she stands with us as we experience the heavy hand of empire.<br /><br />Likewise, in her time, in the shadow of the Roman Empire, Mary bore witness. She sang to God, the Truth and the Light. She sang with full-throated confidence in God’s deliverance of the captives and release for those living under lawless oppression. She proclaimed through song that God will turn the world upside down --lower mountains, and raise valleys. God will bring down empire and raise a new human community of all God’s people. God will restore balance, equality, and well-being to humankind.<br /><br />And yet I ask myself how, after 67 years of dispossession and 48 years of occupation and denial of all basic rights, can I continue to witness and sing joyfully, as did Mary?<br /></span><strong><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. (Luke 1: 46-49)</span></i></strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><br />In Luke’s account, the unwed Mary seeks support from another woman: Elizabeth. Together, the two women rejoice in God’s liberating action of new life; they are filled with the Holy Spirit which will later work through their sons. John will, in his own ministry, call for an upturning of societal norms as he instructs people to share their abundance, to be fair in their dealings, and to uphold justice in their daily lives. Ultimately, he asks the people to repent from the evils and vanities of society.<br /><br />John’s call is just as valid and hard-hitting today. We have plenty of reasons to repent: militarism, fanaticism, disregard for pluralism, and a lack of attention to refugees and other vulnerable children of God. John calls the crowd to prepare themselves for the One who will baptize them in the Holy Spirit. As he does so, he renews the prospect of hope for a new order where justice is abundant and the well-being of all life is assured.<br /><br />The future that God promises of well-being for people of all faiths, races and identities without exception is not to be awaited passively. It is born in us today, from our flesh and blood, from our commitments and struggles for justice. It becomes the hope for those who do not have hope. A hope that abounds in Mary’s humble song.<br /><br />How then, my Friends, can we keep from singing?<br /><br />May this Christmas season be a time of renewal of our commitment to one another and hope in Christ!</span><span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><br /></span><u></u><img align="left" alt="Jean head shot" class="CToWUd" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgt3lvq79ov8m-wTk5UySEKk2lsUS-eQ0LS3vpydkDtSU0nGe8CQC4djL8WriF20AYimhPIH9xc-fTKLhEdmAexgnOP93OAZubhLVxbPmm6GyXW4YlZqOpBZUYvDrnpeTh_3d796De7H3bdx_QLpf4bOVkPIuTKEplQNcIlUHxpR0bJQ2aMNkpzqhQfXKe2BFjCp2Mpvu0T4TnCYSbVri3A2R9kwwfWs57_=s0-d-e1-ft" width="95" /><u></u><span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jean <span class="il">Zaru</span><br />Clerk, Ramallah Friends Meeting</span><span style="color: #474747; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 8.5pt;"><br /><br /> </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-87434336954550335332015-10-28T12:27:00.004-04:002015-10-30T10:52:40.534-04:00Talking Points on Current Violence in Israel/Palestine<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Please write, comment, tweet, or call the media on their one-sided coverage of the current violence in Israel/Palestine. Here are some talking points:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">U.S. MAINSTREAM MEDIA COVERAGE IS HEAVILY BIASED TOWARD ISRAEL.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Whether it's FOX News, CNN, or the New York Times, most U.S. news reflects a right wing Israeli point of view. Ironically, Israeli media, notably Ha'aretz, cover many sides to the story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NEW YORK TIMES IS PARTICULARLY BIASED. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">According to a Jewish Voice for Peace report (http://tellthenyt.org/) over 50% of New York Times headlines have depicted Palestinians as the instigators of violence, while no headlines depicted Israelis as aggressors. Palestinians were referred to as terrorists 41 times, while the term was used four times (including quotes from Palestinians) to refor to violent Israeli actions intended to terrorize Palestinians. The terms "attack/s" or "attackers" were used 110 times to describe Palestinian actions and people, and 17 times to desribe Israelis. <i>This is important since no media organization is more influential in shaping the way American policymakers and news outlets think about Israel and Palestine than the New York Times.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">VIOLENCE IN THE REGION IS DISPROPORTIONATE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Eight Jewish Israelis have died in attacks by Palestinians. 64 Palestinians have been killed (as of 10.30.15) by Israeli fire and over 7200 injured, many of whom were only suspected of engaging in violence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">PALESTINIAN FRUSTRATION HAS REACHED A BOILING POINT</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Attacks by disaffected Palestinian youth are the inevitable result of decades of occupation, dispossession and state violence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">PALESTINIANS SUFFER MANY KINDS OF VIOLENCE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The <b>emotional violence</b> of humiliation at check points, imprisonment without trial, and seeing one's children snatched from their beds at night by heavily armed soldiers; the <b>violence of word</b>s when racist mobs are allowed to roam the streets, or when Palestinian suffering is denied, diminished, or belittled, or when youth are forced to sign confessions in a language they do not understand; the <b>violence against personal property</b> when Palestinian homes, orchards, and water storage tanks are demolished; the <b>violence of the deliberate destruction of critial infrastructure</b>, such as Gaza's electrical grid and water treatment plant during Israeli bombing attacks in 2014; the <b>physical violence</b> of beatings, tear gas, and shooting with live fire; and the <b>sadistic violence of all-out war against a population (in Gaza) that is not allowed any means of escape.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">NO CENTRALIZED DIRECTION TO ATTACKS BY PALESTINIAN YOUTH</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Knife attacks on Israelis by Palestinian youth are uncoordinated. None of the youth were recruited, indoctrinated, or controlled by others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">PALESTINIAN MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AND JOURNALISTS TARGETED</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Palestinian Medical Relief Society reports that Israeli security has targeted medical professionals, first aid providers, nurses, and ambulance drivers with live fire and metal bullets. Forty one journalists have been injured.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">U.S. COMPLICIT IN THE VIOLENCE AGAINST PALESTINIANS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Under the current arrangement, Israel is receiving $3 billion in U.S. military aid per year, most of which is used to purchace U.S. military hardware such as fighter jets and missle defense systems. The U.S. has offered to increase military aid to Iarael by another $1.5 billion per year to ease tensions over the nuclear deal with Iran. https://www.rt.com/usa/310049-us-military-aid-israel/</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">WAYS TO SUPPORT A JUST PEACE IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Heed the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. Spread the word about the biased news coverage of the current violence. Write to U.S. administration officials. Visit your members of Congress. Sign on-line petitions. Write or tweet questions to presidential candidates during debates. Support campus student groups and faculty who are targeted by right-wing, pro-Israel organizations. Post articles on Facebook and Twitter. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtSO1eLUexdDI9VztL0SHxJ7V79NeD8tdL6dsm_jJ-m3c9vQVxfxcHjyAupVmgw1h8lKZbdJwoTGbjSqi4wuYnFoODbTYaSOcQ19xipsvQ1i-oDO97HMZJlcDk-ejh3IsOFf-/s1600/Jewish+for+Palestine.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtSO1eLUexdDI9VztL0SHxJ7V79NeD8tdL6dsm_jJ-m3c9vQVxfxcHjyAupVmgw1h8lKZbdJwoTGbjSqi4wuYnFoODbTYaSOcQ19xipsvQ1i-oDO97HMZJlcDk-ejh3IsOFf-/s320/Jewish+for+Palestine.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">REMEMBER,
as in all struggles for justice and human equality, “the oppressor” is not
monolithic. Many thoughtful Israelis and American Jews support Palestinian
freedom. (Photo courtesy Jewish Voice for Peace)</span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Some
References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">• 972 http://972mag.com/ (Jewish/Israeli
writers who oppose the occupation) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">• Ma’an News Agency
http://www.maannews.com/ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">• Ha’aretz http://www.haaretz.com/ (Israel’s liberal newspapter)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">• Mondoweiss http://mondoweiss.net/ (U.S.
analyses of US foreign policy)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">• Electronic Intifada
https://electronicintifada.net/ (Independent online news)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">• PIAG’s blog
www.quakerpiag.blogspot.org</span><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-12204779641031526332015-10-22T13:07:00.002-04:002015-10-30T10:55:09.845-04:00In the War of Information, Truth is the Loser<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Since
mid-September, violence in Israel/Palestine has spiraled out of control. </div>
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Threats to the religious integrity of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque have prompted a spate of stabbings by disaffected Palestinian youth on Israeli police, military personnel, and random citizens.</div>
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The deaths of eight Jewish Israelis from these attacks have led to an extreme crackdown by Israeli security forces.<br />
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According to the Ministry of Health, since October 1, 2015, 64 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and 7200 injured in the West Bank and Jeruselem, many of
whom were only suspected of engaging in violence. See stats <a href="http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=29688" target="_blank">here</a>. The <a href="http://palsolidarity.org/2015/10/pmrs-to-israeli-forces-stop-attacking-our-personel/" target="_blank">Palestinian Medical Relief Society</a> reports that Israeli security has targeted medical professionals, first aid providers, nurses, and ambulance drivers with live fire and metal bullets. Forty one journalists have been injured.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYYT5GndU2LqQNCzONFk0F5nnCwq3OEB5NLad8Ra3ewNm0rf-pjTuzyExcSRrk505a4w7LHsvJ4DnJbN_tmYJv6rCNk5bOr2DYtzXfuFqtiD7heePReIx9lGhpW3OmVBJczS9/s1600/violence2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYYT5GndU2LqQNCzONFk0F5nnCwq3OEB5NLad8Ra3ewNm0rf-pjTuzyExcSRrk505a4w7LHsvJ4DnJbN_tmYJv6rCNk5bOr2DYtzXfuFqtiD7heePReIx9lGhpW3OmVBJczS9/s1600/violence2.jpg" /></a></div>
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In the Israeli
street, fear and rage have taken over. Racist mobs roam the streets of Jerusalem shouting "Death to Arabs." Video footage circulating on social media in mid-October showed 13-year-old Ahmad Manasra, whose limbs lay at unnatural angles after being run over following a knife attack in the Pisgat Zeev settlement near East Jerusalem (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3535PnzqnE" target="_blank">here</a>). As he attempts to rise, onlookers taunt him: "Die! Son of a whore, die," and exhort police to "give him one in the head." <span class="apple-converted-space" style="color: #242424;"><a href="http://www.juancole.com/2015/10/information-israel-palestine.html" target="_blank">Other videos</a> show young people being shot with their hands raised, apparently in surrender, or shot in the back as they try to flee.</span></div>
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Instead of
calming the population and reining in the police, some Israeli politicians and
senior police officers have openly called for the extrajudicial killing of
suspects and have urged civilians to carry weapons. Prime <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.681525" target="_blank">Minister Binyamin Netanyahu</a> recently added more fuel to the fire by claiming, bizarrely, that it
was Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti who persuaded Adolf Hitler to exterminate the Jews.
It took German Chancellor Angela Merkel to correct Netanyahu’s distorted view
of history.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGXcET2qz662BTZVd-cLQhclKDoj5aE7bLZd8QDI3y4espuzvQys04bwo36bBIl4UJvlAcolNKoSsaBhiw5PqjfGOaxdx9NS6PhnipxEt7kW89GVgsb8gzgPaXswJlpE_xKkz/s1600/time+to+end+the+occupation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGXcET2qz662BTZVd-cLQhclKDoj5aE7bLZd8QDI3y4espuzvQys04bwo36bBIl4UJvlAcolNKoSsaBhiw5PqjfGOaxdx9NS6PhnipxEt7kW89GVgsb8gzgPaXswJlpE_xKkz/s1600/time+to+end+the+occupation.jpg" /></a></div>
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Despite the
mayhem, mainstream US media continue to ignore Palestinian deaths and injuries
and the decades of repression, isolation, and enforced poverty that have brought
Palestinian youth to the breaking point. As <a href="http://tellthenyt.org/" target="_blank">Jewish Voice for Peace</a> reports, “no
media organization is more influential in shaping the way American policymakers
and news outlets think about Israel and Palestine than the New York Times. But
with some notable exceptions, the Times has done a shamefully poor job of
including the historical and political context readers need to understand the
roots of the current uprising.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Some examples:
Over 50% of New York Times headlines depicted Palestinians as the instigators
of violence, while no headlines depicted Israelis as aggressors. Palestinians
were referred to as terrorists 41 times, while the term was used four times
(including quotes from Palestinians) to refer to violent Israeli actions
intended to terrorize Palestinians. The terms “attack(s)” or “attackers” were
used 110 times to describe Palestinian actions and people, and 17 times to
describe Israelis.<br />
<br />
Nor has the U.S. media reported the coalitions of Palestinians and Israelis who are marching together, vowing, "We will not surrender to despair!"<br />
<span style="color: #242424;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4gMtgf4d8LDNneUkMEUYV9FwHEsC0wYfwrnLdq7sB-T74A-ZGIBibLnfZ-XdDJ6RpL6UbXpfg2j26KTzuFAwvsgzWi3gD4QV2l_r0zdfjIZVq-k9HMVCRhB1UDqRBN4r-a4L0/s1600/stop+the+madness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4gMtgf4d8LDNneUkMEUYV9FwHEsC0wYfwrnLdq7sB-T74A-ZGIBibLnfZ-XdDJ6RpL6UbXpfg2j26KTzuFAwvsgzWi3gD4QV2l_r0zdfjIZVq-k9HMVCRhB1UDqRBN4r-a4L0/s1600/stop+the+madness.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peace Now</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="background: white; color: #242424;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Please
join PIAG in responding to one-sided media reports by calling, writing, or
posting comments that add missing information and context, which can be found
on alternative media such as </span><i style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/19/as_israel_palestine_toll_mounts_an" target="_blank">Democracy Now</a></i><span style="background-color: transparent;">, Juan Cole’s </span><i style="background-color: transparent;"><a href="http://www.juancole.com/2015/10/information-israel-palestine.html" target="_blank">Informed Comment</a></i><span style="background-color: transparent;">,
</span><a href="http://www.afsc.org/story/afsc-address-root-causes-end-violence-and-bring-justice-israel-and-occupied-palestinian-territ" style="background-color: transparent;" target="_blank">the <i>American Friends Service Committee</i></a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> and other posts on PIAG's blog.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-9386272867674600532015-09-23T14:42:00.002-04:002015-09-23T14:52:47.579-04:00Frustration and Fear<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
What do the majority of Palestinians and Israelis think about
prospects for a just and secure peace in the region? Here are some results of recent
polls conducted by the <a href="http://www.pcpsr.org/" target="_blank">Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in theWest Bank and Gaza Strip and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem</a>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGmwy-bgzwhPBSesVjKEA_-qHB1E7ADGEOulMwErqXEHUdIAM6nh9-yDNz5rowgZHK3wwP_0nV6oVAaRU17hxFCs4WcAd1AJQU98Yl4pQGjERw1ei5Cn5St4JehcwXH-E7Ho9/s1600/Bibi1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGmwy-bgzwhPBSesVjKEA_-qHB1E7ADGEOulMwErqXEHUdIAM6nh9-yDNz5rowgZHK3wwP_0nV6oVAaRU17hxFCs4WcAd1AJQU98Yl4pQGjERw1ei5Cn5St4JehcwXH-E7Ho9/s1600/Bibi1.jpg" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="text-align: center;">After the formation of the right wing government in
Israel in May 2015, 79% of Palestinians were pessimistic about the future of
Israeli-Palestinian relations. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmQxGDQcePEA8omyhVwHxCr4Brjyswg9XALbi8XfYkvUPucicmbwYT5euO07gKvfdM1B7aiW-EJkMgAVVNq6pgpRfLQZglxryu0nimVGG9Q_e5cACWn3HNdPb50xun_36Ho2K/s1600/settlements2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNmQxGDQcePEA8omyhVwHxCr4Brjyswg9XALbi8XfYkvUPucicmbwYT5euO07gKvfdM1B7aiW-EJkMgAVVNq6pgpRfLQZglxryu0nimVGG9Q_e5cACWn3HNdPb50xun_36Ho2K/s400/settlements2.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjHkfd9fntF82PZY8p2sn2dNug4OhklfaJbHCGXpQLjkKdNowsPRM_CzlBQyNzXzc9TTpGo7xDOGHyCIVqnat9945KppyA4X8vVqXJvrRgUTpGwnTnwGrHiyHqFlJgfG0rzxog/s1600/settlements1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
Sixty-five percent of Palestinians said that
they no longer believe a two-state solution is a practical possibility due to
the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements across the occupied Palestinian
territory.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
Only 32 percent of Palestinians believe an independent Palestinian
state can still be achieved.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjCDcBmcKpuNlJmaZEI5_mQKw2s5ecAISZJgjuqIgQZchUh6mLXD8u7FU83uJzBqAUJxu0Hrdpba9urII_vyv49cvhOyp6Fsf8NaRCByoU2x4kNNDRkSO0EGecPll2XHeFCTY/s1600/Save+palestine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjCDcBmcKpuNlJmaZEI5_mQKw2s5ecAISZJgjuqIgQZchUh6mLXD8u7FU83uJzBqAUJxu0Hrdpba9urII_vyv49cvhOyp6Fsf8NaRCByoU2x4kNNDRkSO0EGecPll2XHeFCTY/s200/Save+palestine.jpg" width="171" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqaWnb7PxyCWnE0G6GJdbGSbo8YDT6c8ahDA1wIBBCXAzSDHVnooCbH8C03IQnSHy9DHykvgEKl1IDPIWHRtJphgP4eEGowLH5yZsYIlVIGyedrtlGnObTu9ZfVfyDWlChLge/s1600/save+israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOqaWnb7PxyCWnE0G6GJdbGSbo8YDT6c8ahDA1wIBBCXAzSDHVnooCbH8C03IQnSHy9DHykvgEKl1IDPIWHRtJphgP4eEGowLH5yZsYIlVIGyedrtlGnObTu9ZfVfyDWlChLge/s200/save+israel.jpg" width="171" /></a><span style="text-align: center;"></span><br />
An overwhelming 85% of Palestinians believe Israel’s long-term aspiration is “to annex the lands occupied in 1967 and expel their population or deny them their rights,” with only 15% believing that Israel intends to withdraw from the occupied territory. Israelis are suspicious as well: Forty-three percent think that Palestinian aspirations in the long run are to conquer the State of Israel and destroy much of its Jewish population.<br />
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<br /></div>
On a personal level, too, each side perceives the other
as a threat. Among Israelis, 56% are worried and 41% are not worried that they
or their family may be harmed by Arabs in their daily life. Among Palestinians,
79% are worried and 21% are not worried that they or a member of their family
could be hurt by Israel in their daily life or that their land would be
confiscated or home demolished.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy4mWc2BjnM79k6VMLoul3m5dAhzl6vhyphenhyphen6JljvMrplvpJYxGh3Dl3ZGz-4m4Dpn1a_3VOYYvTWpdy5-MbW0BybvG11LD9TiSiR9tUvZKqeh2NXXCOKotBtDsLVYz8Ghpx3f9Z/s1600/emigrants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXy4mWc2BjnM79k6VMLoul3m5dAhzl6vhyphenhyphen6JljvMrplvpJYxGh3Dl3ZGz-4m4Dpn1a_3VOYYvTWpdy5-MbW0BybvG11LD9TiSiR9tUvZKqeh2NXXCOKotBtDsLVYz8Ghpx3f9Z/s320/emigrants.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It is not surprising that among Palestinians, Gazans are
experiencing the worst conditions and the most pessimism about the future. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fully half of Gazans polled said they are considering emigration from the Gaza
Strip. This is the highest percentage ever recorded in these polls.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhCVvt2922B9sC7AlEFtrKhB_LjLExrA9aZYMmaitCrI0Zwfec4vRQf-qjS0EwbiJXJ368QF6vfT6atj53RtAM5OjL6O3SLF62xe0h2Ru6tcScmXp7VZCsoitFXt-KwpXOUkR/s1600/ICC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikhCVvt2922B9sC7AlEFtrKhB_LjLExrA9aZYMmaitCrI0Zwfec4vRQf-qjS0EwbiJXJ368QF6vfT6atj53RtAM5OjL6O3SLF62xe0h2Ru6tcScmXp7VZCsoitFXt-KwpXOUkR/s1600/ICC.jpg" /></a>In the West Bank, however, popularity of Abbas and Fatah
has improved, and people show support and satisfaction with the Palestinian
Authority’s new membership in the International Criminal Court. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKOmLDFrzD2BzstUJT1QlwPPZw4aQtqoHyE2XrL_WiwVDNLPHBhtTM1RRqSJJQV7ZCZd7Mzck8kkFHPhZulP3T-V3JsmKkIVQRiqK-8YxQSLSELJiXthN-NvSkM_Z6tO0Zrv_/s1600/corruption.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKOmLDFrzD2BzstUJT1QlwPPZw4aQtqoHyE2XrL_WiwVDNLPHBhtTM1RRqSJJQV7ZCZd7Mzck8kkFHPhZulP3T-V3JsmKkIVQRiqK-8YxQSLSELJiXthN-NvSkM_Z6tO0Zrv_/s1600/corruption.jpg" /></a></div>
Nevertheless, cynicism
about government remains high. Seventy nine percent of Palestinians believe
that corruption exists in Palestinian Authority institutions. Only 33% say
people in the West Bank can criticize the PA without fear. <br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UT7uppzQYxxOPxQod3hUjbUAalCTtBm7xKDbxoA8FbDrWYG4m-4eMdGmhBz0_6khjNPnX04sWO-PfLCBLREWU7bUs-RaduxOKl7KUkCkOEdUtiIFI2iT8Haq6hsboZoEULFj/s1600/intifada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UT7uppzQYxxOPxQod3hUjbUAalCTtBm7xKDbxoA8FbDrWYG4m-4eMdGmhBz0_6khjNPnX04sWO-PfLCBLREWU7bUs-RaduxOKl7KUkCkOEdUtiIFI2iT8Haq6hsboZoEULFj/s1600/intifada.jpg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Most troubling for the future of the region, Palestinian
support for armed resistance to Israel has risen from 36 percent three months
ago to 42 percent today, with a startling 57 percent now supporting a return to
an armed intifada, or uprising. </div>
<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxze3553BABg9n7L8yGpZqsmhBRbfirC20FKqxGZCzw2XxD4pdecqa4mF8hHeV-x0yliqCEG4gr04w5e9t6jmTZ3h_U-if1ihrNJ0J5pJAKeG4Dnoejm_gU-OVHsc8erEen9fL/s1600/boycott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxze3553BABg9n7L8yGpZqsmhBRbfirC20FKqxGZCzw2XxD4pdecqa4mF8hHeV-x0yliqCEG4gr04w5e9t6jmTZ3h_U-if1ihrNJ0J5pJAKeG4Dnoejm_gU-OVHsc8erEen9fL/s1600/boycott.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Still, support for nonviolent resistance remains
high. An overwhelming majority of Palestinians – 86% -- support the campaign to
boycott Israel and impose sanctions on it, and 64% believe that the
boycott of Israeli products will be effective in helping to end the Israeli
occupation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lu3v_vDi-H8kNLw7DjTcnDP0ynBjd3Sqtilay-ZeY8IF-6gQ0bw8vCmQyAjpE5tJEJn_aXpLSzqi2bJojejKGJ68LZojXsX2g4cf6TQgdN4_zcixm558nfaTfa907ZpuqPvY/s1600/hudna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lu3v_vDi-H8kNLw7DjTcnDP0ynBjd3Sqtilay-ZeY8IF-6gQ0bw8vCmQyAjpE5tJEJn_aXpLSzqi2bJojejKGJ68LZojXsX2g4cf6TQgdN4_zcixm558nfaTfa907ZpuqPvY/s1600/hudna.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div>
Two thirds of the public support Hamas-Israel indirect negotiations
over a long term Hudna, or truce, in return for ending the siege over the Gaza
Strip.<br />
<br />
But a majority believes that these negotiations will not succeed.<br />
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</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-14142801533464615952015-09-10T13:03:00.001-04:002015-09-26T13:50:14.705-04:00An Open Letter to the American Friends Service Committee <div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;">From: Palestine Israel Action Group (PIAG) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;">Re: AFSC’s position on the expulsion of Alison Weir from
the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation</span><o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<i>The Context: The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is a coalition of social justice groups working for a just peace in Israel/Palestine. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the social justice "arm" of the Religious Society of Friends, is a member of the U.S. Campaign, and in that capacity, agreed to the expulsion of Alison Weir and her organization, If Americans Knew, from the coalition The reason, apparently, was that an unnamed individual or organization within the coalition had prepared a dossier of Weir's actions, some dating back five years or more, which, in the accusers' opinion, did not sufficiently contest the racism or anti-Semitism of the individual hosting her talks. The idea of discrediting a long-time activist's effectiveness by seizing on a "flaw" in her work was worrisome not only to PIAG, but to many other defenders of Weir's activism. Mike Merryman-Lotze, speaking for AFSC, defends its actions by saying that as anti-racist activists, we "must" confront oppression directly wherever we find it. It has even been insinuated that PIAG members' questioning of AFSC's position is racist in and of itself. This open letter is a reply to these claims. More details of the controversy can be found <a href="http://www.afsc.org/friends/palestine-activism-anti-racist-framework" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.afsc.org/friends/response-palestine-activism-anti-racist-framework" target="_blank">here</a>.</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3qqABvRwrEHCtdXNKxValqOnMzstojNvgtoGvX0HUR1-Sr_HqVapBNr-bD4XFgYetTeMHdNQP_SaToUUjL0F6q9vhsqL8NQzYIHnKldE-Bjz1AeWdYUNNXejP7bp_JGOqhqy/s1600/PIAG+dove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3qqABvRwrEHCtdXNKxValqOnMzstojNvgtoGvX0HUR1-Sr_HqVapBNr-bD4XFgYetTeMHdNQP_SaToUUjL0F6q9vhsqL8NQzYIHnKldE-Bjz1AeWdYUNNXejP7bp_JGOqhqy/s1600/PIAG+dove.jpg" /></a>As a Quaker organization, PIAG has always worked against all
forms of oppression. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD94Qah4tFeXn1zSCPdcWFoMSSHa-mf2g3hzKg_Gcp0MozL0X9LSd7GTzZbbpuQo0FcFI4NjPJciujL-l4ynfD23-87iJd2eVoFWWPP0q2WDcbKj0oyYEMQ7eqmkfwPVtcEnPQ/s1600/BLM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD94Qah4tFeXn1zSCPdcWFoMSSHa-mf2g3hzKg_Gcp0MozL0X9LSd7GTzZbbpuQo0FcFI4NjPJciujL-l4ynfD23-87iJd2eVoFWWPP0q2WDcbKj0oyYEMQ7eqmkfwPVtcEnPQ/s200/BLM.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a></div>
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Individually and/or collectively, we are members of
anti-racism groups such as the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation, Jewish
Voice for Peace, and #Black Lives Matter.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbzYS3B_ISSvC6W84oSyzv8RcXjZSDZyxAkfjaGzuzB3dah_cFwsluVuUeNV_pNQzGWBIbaLQwUsDsqadgdl1VatmwLk9I3B76QaeBN64M95J0kAfeVdSPwFo5FpXh8o9wfFw/s1600/AAFM+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbzYS3B_ISSvC6W84oSyzv8RcXjZSDZyxAkfjaGzuzB3dah_cFwsluVuUeNV_pNQzGWBIbaLQwUsDsqadgdl1VatmwLk9I3B76QaeBN64M95J0kAfeVdSPwFo5FpXh8o9wfFw/s200/AAFM+image.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ann Arbor Friends Meeting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As a subcommittee of the Peace and
Social Concerns Committee of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, PIAG</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
has engaged in
educational efforts with our Monthly and Yearly Meetings over the last twelve
years, and have convinced both groups to support the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions movement.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4DyTq2KgwTduSg5uPBP-DM8N3ciqtcEck2Yy5R7kM7Qm7xox1c75QBz-YdGHkNBHTTEFjCetdcadlcsQVqb1C0AH1_4SsT5EA5uQG_aJx_ke9QgyBh2FrlxoA84HAWn3dT28/s1600/FourMaps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4DyTq2KgwTduSg5uPBP-DM8N3ciqtcEck2Yy5R7kM7Qm7xox1c75QBz-YdGHkNBHTTEFjCetdcadlcsQVqb1C0AH1_4SsT5EA5uQG_aJx_ke9QgyBh2FrlxoA84HAWn3dT28/s320/FourMaps.jpg" width="320" /></a>We have distributed over a half million map cards
nationally and internationally showing the loss of Palestinian lands to
Israel’s Occupation.<br />
<br />
In short, we are knowledgeable, seasoned activists who are
strongly committed to working for justice and equality wherever that work may
lead us. <br />
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It is in the spirit of our anti-oppression work that we
take issue with the message in AFSC’s online communication, IMPACT;
specifically, the post by Mike Merryman-Lotze on AFSC’s <i>Acting in Faith</i> blog, “<a href="https://www.afsc.org/friends/palestine-activism-anti-racist-framework" target="_blank">Palestine Activism in an Anti-Racism Framework</a>” (8/10/2015). We find a disturbing disconnect between the statement:
“At AFSC, our work is guided by the Quaker belief that all people are equal in
the eyes of God” and the participation of AFSC in the denunciation of one
particular person, Alison Weir, and her <a href="http://www.ifamericansknew.org/" target="_blank">longstanding work for justice inIsrael/Palestine</a> – work which PIAG deeply respects. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We are also troubled by the insistence that “we” (that is, we presume, Quakers
engaged in anti-racism work) “must” act in particular ways, choosing certain
tactics, methods, analyses, and goals over others. We cannot agree, as Quakers,
that everyone must see the truth in the same way, analyze human behavior in the
same way, and agree to work according to principles put forth by any social
justice organization, however well-intentioned.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKjRsD4zXcOtJsipVCEtezA4Kgv_DjZzD81VWGvzmVwSDCZuNM1zd1Se7LtM0KnaG5S5TLtbQyBXb7q7JN9FWnTsBIE1IQPUWb_HMY0N1VLHJO_Ex62RZ5GOiuGtBzC6tr3eX/s1600/George_Fox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKjRsD4zXcOtJsipVCEtezA4Kgv_DjZzD81VWGvzmVwSDCZuNM1zd1Se7LtM0KnaG5S5TLtbQyBXb7q7JN9FWnTsBIE1IQPUWb_HMY0N1VLHJO_Ex62RZ5GOiuGtBzC6tr3eX/s1600/George_Fox.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Fox </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Quakerism's founder George Fox was
pretty clear about the idea that everyone has the ability to listen to the
voice of God, to think about the meaning of that voice, and above all, to speak
for themselves.<br />
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<br /></div>
<div>
As Fox told the assembled at Ulverston steeple-house, “You will
say ‘Christ saith this, and the apostles say this,’ but what canst <i>thou</i> say? Art thou a child of the Light,
and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from
God?" <o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh31kGMCzWiY1elQS8DFLRPti8Kujd9k8qkajU2M89raqsKU-B32qDgCvqKKY0Oumb4wpl_vlC7LWrqwiZhgfn-wbgg6JGLYXv6XU-kRtQlmv5xIJZ_CoZK46c5Tl5uG2uY0x0u/s1600/woman-preacher-early-quaker-meeting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh31kGMCzWiY1elQS8DFLRPti8Kujd9k8qkajU2M89raqsKU-B32qDgCvqKKY0Oumb4wpl_vlC7LWrqwiZhgfn-wbgg6JGLYXv6XU-kRtQlmv5xIJZ_CoZK46c5Tl5uG2uY0x0u/s320/woman-preacher-early-quaker-meeting.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early Quaker Meeting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This message was
one of the earliest and most radical challenges to the dogmatism and demands
for obedience required by the Christian Church in 17 <sup>th</sup> century England. The statement was so compelling that it later
formed the basis of Quakerism: There is no dogma. There are no “musts” in
Quaker belief and practice. It is enough that Quakers be inspired by the values
of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, and equality, and that we work to
incorporate these abstract, but profound Quaker values into our lives and the
lives of others as we see fit.</div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzt_wEAoaFimXf9ggAm_BISAjgi1pmr7EcKC5XHDykyE0gof1fITyX7SaA3Kd0RglYL33b7l9zhTad19HH9Zkv2V5qK2DoXImuRWIs8-dyMcu55kz5HesMwmBjNF-B_hyA8jj/s1600/anti+racism.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzt_wEAoaFimXf9ggAm_BISAjgi1pmr7EcKC5XHDykyE0gof1fITyX7SaA3Kd0RglYL33b7l9zhTad19HH9Zkv2V5qK2DoXImuRWIs8-dyMcu55kz5HesMwmBjNF-B_hyA8jj/s200/anti+racism.png" width="157" /></a>We agree that anti-racism
efforts that counter prejudice and bigotry on every possible occasion can be
meaningful work. We agree that oppressions are linked and widespread and that
opposing only one form of bigotry may not be enough. But we do not agree that
everyone must accept these insights as the only way to see and be guided by the
light. As Quakers, we strive for inclusion of ideas and perspectives. We have
faith in Quaker process in resolving disagreements, rather than removing
individuals and groups from the family when their beliefs and practices
threaten our vision of the truth. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We do not dispute
the “right” of the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation to remove any member of the group as the
leadership sees fit. But we have seen the effects of that removal: fear and
silencing (“Who among us will be next?”) discord and schism, and a loss of
focus on Palestinian freedom. Unfortunately, as we have come to understand, righteous
zeal creates its own oppression.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VC2d8e3fWLpuj1hvGmhx2CLmtebmYAA50UeP3W7TEb8_0rG0n0ThuuxN50aW5vH-uY0T4ixEN2IWfGzxetfyKmWiVMOT0BOIsJ4Pmq4SkbwBD9aBKoZPxRIAK-CsnscfXeY4/s1600/inner+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VC2d8e3fWLpuj1hvGmhx2CLmtebmYAA50UeP3W7TEb8_0rG0n0ThuuxN50aW5vH-uY0T4ixEN2IWfGzxetfyKmWiVMOT0BOIsJ4Pmq4SkbwBD9aBKoZPxRIAK-CsnscfXeY4/s1600/inner+light.jpg" /></a>PIAG continues to
promote vigorous, open debate, a multitude of paths toward justice, and a focus
not on transgression, but on the Inner Light, the spirit of the Divine that resides
in every human soul.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-31251898223616099292015-08-25T15:02:00.006-04:002015-08-25T15:59:21.772-04:00Water is a Human Right<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In Stockholm at the end of August, World Water Week focused
on the needs of impoverished communities for clean water – or any water at all.
A United Nations report in March said the world faces a 40 percent shortfall in
water supplies in the next 15 years due to urbanization, population growth and
growing demand for water for food production, energy and industry. But the root
cause of water shortage is often political. Occasionally, it is deliberately
inflicted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55vkVLQdXUr8rFR9qbylzgEzEND7nmT1ASwWQehjtnPST_az5I37F4ASS74GcmH14NM7cXgFIpFXvJ1vZ6GYasjJeo2dfAr3nBvAiD3HnYlLnEcl_HdFFUT5TWCbqIZ-RumxQ/s1600/PikiWiki_Israel_8121_swimming_pool_in_eilat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi55vkVLQdXUr8rFR9qbylzgEzEND7nmT1ASwWQehjtnPST_az5I37F4ASS74GcmH14NM7cXgFIpFXvJ1vZ6GYasjJeo2dfAr3nBvAiD3HnYlLnEcl_HdFFUT5TWCbqIZ-RumxQ/s400/PikiWiki_Israel_8121_swimming_pool_in_eilat.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swimming pool in Eilat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the West Bank, while Israelis water their lawns,
irrigate crops and swim in Olympic-sized pools, Palestinians living a few
kilometers away are sweltering and thirsty. A report from the United Nations
found that the average Israeli settler uses 300 liters of water per day. But Israeli
restrictions ensure that the average Palestinian in the occupied West Bank gets
only about 70 liters, well below the 100 liter daily amount advocated by the
World Health Organization.</div>
<br />
<o:p></o:p>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4YycN3jkOJcutYUynjIswthRyNKixL0WuD8nkjXb52HXGIKVb34d5fkF7jAjKVC1TcgsSEoF7hBHMexFQBmaCcAQLClezqcR9aPX8dVoZvYVV4RzR1q5yNlkR2ycpmX2fh7C/s1600/desert-water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4YycN3jkOJcutYUynjIswthRyNKixL0WuD8nkjXb52HXGIKVb34d5fkF7jAjKVC1TcgsSEoF7hBHMexFQBmaCcAQLClezqcR9aPX8dVoZvYVV4RzR1q5yNlkR2ycpmX2fh7C/s320/desert-water.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watering the stock: Palestine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Despite its location in a region thought to be
perennially dry, Israel-Palestine actually has ample natural freshwater
resources in the form of underwater aquifers and the Jordan River. Palestinians
in the West Bank and Israeli settlers live in equal proximity to these
resources, which should allow for equal consumption. But ever since its
foundation, Israel has controlled the water supply for the region, first by
military edicts, and later through <i>Mekarot</i>,
the Israeli national water company. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
To this day, Israel requires Palestinians
to obtain permits from the military to build new water infrastructure. If they
build new wells, springs, or even rain-collecting containers without Israeli
permission, soldiers confiscate or destroy them, often without prior
notification. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8zyj083g7xahrxW5DWjZJwlBw5qZgvXTOv_02NFe8V9uuM3J67kmBPWDQF5IEaPv2p_6MFmlL4FpYmSFvYdsRF5ndbwPdzswrxkoc7sLle3tg3war7wND-MVs6krFhnwVXeF/s1600/settles+vandalize+palestinian+water+tanks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8zyj083g7xahrxW5DWjZJwlBw5qZgvXTOv_02NFe8V9uuM3J67kmBPWDQF5IEaPv2p_6MFmlL4FpYmSFvYdsRF5ndbwPdzswrxkoc7sLle3tg3war7wND-MVs6krFhnwVXeF/s320/settles+vandalize+palestinian+water+tanks.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Settlers vandalize Palestinian water tanks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Israeli settlers, emboldened by government indifference,
cruelly vandalize Palestinian community water storage tanks. Fifty-six water
springs near Israeli settlements have become the target of “systematic settler
activities.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Even when Palestinians attempt to go through the ‘proper’
Israeli channels, they’re met with innumerable obstacles. Israeli regulatory
organizations have created a bureaucratic nightmare for West Bank residents
attempting to acquire permits to either build new instillations or repair the
region’s infrastructure.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The most striking inequality lies in the division of the
Mountain Aquifer, the only underground water source that Palestinians in the
West Bank are allowed to access. Despite it being the sole water source for the
territory, Israeli regulations ensure that 80% of the rain that falls on the
West Bank flows underground to Israel, while Palestinian extraction is limited
to 20% of the aquifer’s total capacity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt0aJsO5IWTL1kjgXfiEBKH1VYGZl2Q0iLsDjsY6R20FAj-f8w1wVid-wT7QCOun8-LQZpFPAhnL1ZFrO7iZoe5s4-GC1MnEekppOYHhkWtcRh2SvROU8X3WsLsH9sNMJoe0f/s1600/boy+carrying+water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt0aJsO5IWTL1kjgXfiEBKH1VYGZl2Q0iLsDjsY6R20FAj-f8w1wVid-wT7QCOun8-LQZpFPAhnL1ZFrO7iZoe5s4-GC1MnEekppOYHhkWtcRh2SvROU8X3WsLsH9sNMJoe0f/s320/boy+carrying+water.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palestinian boy totes water for his family</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As for Gaza, the UN estimates the crowded, blockaded
region will be uninhabitable by the year 2020 if the current water restrictions
continue. Although the West Bank is relatively well-off in comparison, the
water crisis there has resulted in severe economic hardship for hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians, a situation that is not conducive to long-term
stability in the region.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Water, a life-giving natural resource, is both a human
need and a human right. Whether in Detroit, or California, or Palestine,
deliberate policy should not deprive the most vulnerable </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
of a region’s ample resources.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHprlMmm76iKGV8UynhZNwvc_QVlLWMKATi4MAyetRa4LUAKqRlgp4UnKbPo2PINj66B6i4HnCgqIw72CpQmMOULlSxOYeqAqW7QgMBrbtUv9K7zLSO4ip4eOhNLsurPCArCi/s1600/water+human+right+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglHprlMmm76iKGV8UynhZNwvc_QVlLWMKATi4MAyetRa4LUAKqRlgp4UnKbPo2PINj66B6i4HnCgqIw72CpQmMOULlSxOYeqAqW7QgMBrbtUv9K7zLSO4ip4eOhNLsurPCArCi/s1600/water+human+right+3.jpg" /></a></div>
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References:</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Shakir, L. (2015, August 24). Palestine: “Dying of Thirst.” The Drought is
Deliberately Inflicted by Israel. Global Research. http://www.globalresearch.ca/think-californias-drought-is-bad-try-palestines/5471179 </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory. (2012, March). Special
Focus: How Dispossession Happens. <a href="https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_springs_report_march_2012_english.pdf">https://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_springs_report_march_2012_english.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Vatican Radio. (2015, August 24). Stockholm World Water
Week Focuses on Development. <a href="http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/08/24/stockholm_world_water_week_focuses_on_development/1167141">http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/08/24/stockholm_world_water_week_focuses_on_development/1167141</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Water Resources in Israel. <a href="https://waterresourcesandersen.wordpress.com/">https://waterresourcesandersen.wordpress.com/</a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-29240779473946254562015-07-28T11:29:00.002-04:002015-07-28T11:36:24.928-04:00"No Way To Treat A Child"<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjkJ7OFMZ88fAq6nd-qPnSii8rrJtGZrAJvZKhKkvpETa-KeMUTWAG3cs_UEuAbS4vOTdc5DOaORJ8enBdZ0kQGNRgVcPCM7Ew1LvNenl6yHokFnpuoXjHTielWl_cpwYerfR/s1600/children+in+detention+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtjkJ7OFMZ88fAq6nd-qPnSii8rrJtGZrAJvZKhKkvpETa-KeMUTWAG3cs_UEuAbS4vOTdc5DOaORJ8enBdZ0kQGNRgVcPCM7Ew1LvNenl6yHokFnpuoXjHTielWl_cpwYerfR/s320/children+in+detention+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Each year, an estimated 700 Palestinian children are
prosecuted in two Israeli military courts operating in the West Bank. Their
crime? In most cases, simply throwing stones. According to UNICEF and Defense
for Children International, Palestinian children picked up by the IDF are
routinely ill-treated, even tortured, with impunity.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXZWJnK9UToSh1I-JsfKsyaO2ofHRLCh14nKE4yvdbjZzOPvGJjfD0-meyurfKGhIWfCTWF6dure2GBJRjQvp8ppITESkl6I6swlxWK3GDpyfNMqMnkSfe-YVIbGPBbJpTCto/s1600/Children+in+detention+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXZWJnK9UToSh1I-JsfKsyaO2ofHRLCh14nKE4yvdbjZzOPvGJjfD0-meyurfKGhIWfCTWF6dure2GBJRjQvp8ppITESkl6I6swlxWK3GDpyfNMqMnkSfe-YVIbGPBbJpTCto/s1600/Children+in+detention+3.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>They may be pulled out of
bed in the middle of the night by heavily armed soldiers. They may be blindfolded
and handcuffed, separated from their parents, denied access to a lawyer, and threatened
with physical and emotional abuse, including violence to family members. They
may be placed in isolation, beaten, choked, and coerced into a confession in Hebrew,
a language they do not understand. </b><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMdMfNWD-cBUtzc2Zm7_fQrCfwfOhh59WVl-nBSgkDiJGri-bDhhap9GfJ_0l0yfru8ywetO25TGnzzSIY84D3ckqiHG_eqwqeqzFFUxpTuRabE4xzxdLVOzSI6JpW0_HzhaL/s1600/children+in+detention+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMdMfNWD-cBUtzc2Zm7_fQrCfwfOhh59WVl-nBSgkDiJGri-bDhhap9GfJ_0l0yfru8ywetO25TGnzzSIY84D3ckqiHG_eqwqeqzFFUxpTuRabE4xzxdLVOzSI6JpW0_HzhaL/s400/children+in+detention+2.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>This treatment is not carried out by a few
“bad apples,” but “appears to be widespread, systemic, and institutionalized,”
according to a 2013 UNICEF report. </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>This abuse must stop.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<b>Why single out Israel for its mistreatment of children in
military detention? </b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Because we expect “the most humane army in the world” to do
better. And because Israel’s practice of routinely trying children in military
courts is unprecedented. As UNICEF says: “It is understood that in no other
country are children systematically tried by juvenile military courts that, by
definition, fall short of providing the necessary guarantees to ensure respect
for their rights.”</b><br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqUe19UZTuJiM3-75rrXOl_d8GMK1ooMfXyOv40FMZLS4Z6oiRGGPuwvNublJD-GK4KNNvN5asVk2iZAgL1E2BRJ3yGc2HDbnlQV0m3BQVii6qJMna7OWrS2Z8hSNkW4VNzqD/s1600/children+in+detention+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqUe19UZTuJiM3-75rrXOl_d8GMK1ooMfXyOv40FMZLS4Z6oiRGGPuwvNublJD-GK4KNNvN5asVk2iZAgL1E2BRJ3yGc2HDbnlQV0m3BQVii6qJMna7OWrS2Z8hSNkW4VNzqD/s1600/children+in+detention+5.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<b>International civil society is coming together to say: “NO
WAY TO TREAT A CHILD.” The campaign is supported by <i>AFSC and FCNL</i> as well as <i>Jewish
Voice for Peace</i>, <i>Christian Peacemaker
Teams</i>, <i>Friends of Sabeel North
America</i>, and many other human rights organizations.</b><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Even U.S. Congress members are taking action. In a letter
to Secretary of State John Kerry, nineteen Congress members urged the
Department of State to “elevate the human rights of Palestinian children to a
priority status in our bilateral relationship with the Government of Israel.” Citing
UNICEF’s “profoundly disturbing” report regarding the “cruel, inhuman, and
degrading treatment and punishment” of Palestinian children in Israeli military
detention, the officials emphasized that “progress to ensure Palestinian
children’s rights are not abused is in the interest of the U.S., Israel, and
the Palestinian people.”</b></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkTovCgGBA74bY5cvZ8jLkZxzBnKwZhymEcgLhMp6vLXMWU16dvNs6nWDdQV9rKrAgmsTUg2_FtnvBtNK4H4eM39Ewfy-_RPoOpxKF3oWcmmoRuFFljkEtUrOKJZfHxE8SEHS/s1600/Children+leading+march.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRkTovCgGBA74bY5cvZ8jLkZxzBnKwZhymEcgLhMp6vLXMWU16dvNs6nWDdQV9rKrAgmsTUg2_FtnvBtNK4H4eM39Ewfy-_RPoOpxKF3oWcmmoRuFFljkEtUrOKJZfHxE8SEHS/s1600/Children+leading+march.jpg" /></a><b>You can add your voice to the “No Way To Treat A
Child” campaign by logging on to <a href="http://www.nowaytotreatachild.org/">www.nowaytotreatachild.org/</a>
There you can read the letter to Secretary Kerry and find out who signed it –
and who didn’t. You can find talking points, download graphics, watch videos,
and read case studies of individual children. With this information you can write
your members of Congress, post information on email, Facebook and Twitter, or
talk to your friends over the garden fence. </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Children’s rights are human rights.
Palestinian children need our advocacy. </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-32615761980287334612015-06-25T13:32:00.001-04:002015-06-25T13:36:51.863-04:00Assault on Gaza, One Year Later<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJYOXeAQ5G3QFizA5R_AzeL2b-P78w_wspCOyXSTPucOUiwjUqLl3jMwq976m5oCOXwzfLxGw3BKjH6o9d5g6Ymmm9kTsiGPA25HeN8jUUDDr9w42spDji0JCq1ztbUwr-ufS/s1600/gaza+infrastructure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJYOXeAQ5G3QFizA5R_AzeL2b-P78w_wspCOyXSTPucOUiwjUqLl3jMwq976m5oCOXwzfLxGw3BKjH6o9d5g6Ymmm9kTsiGPA25HeN8jUUDDr9w42spDji0JCq1ztbUwr-ufS/s320/gaza+infrastructure.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Operation Protective Edge"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One year ago, on July 8, 2014, Friends were horrified to learn that Israel had
launched an all-out assault on Gaza resulting in over 2100 Palestinian dead and
11,000 wounded. The U.N. reports that 1000 wounded children will suffer a
life-long disability. At least 142 Palestinian families lost three or more
members killed in a single Israeli attack, and nearly 1500 children were
orphaned.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXPr-3jXnrutAiR-AOr8zxrMNOGt14GWz7_V4sRi7qB_LLDV8qorlSpj0pATGjvv2seyeKyr56Y4yhgqeP_AKi6UDtnVShm2BvBa_9JzjlBU0MLDSUCr3cOUuToplKfxvr_z1/s1600/gaza_sweage_flood1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXPr-3jXnrutAiR-AOr8zxrMNOGt14GWz7_V4sRi7qB_LLDV8qorlSpj0pATGjvv2seyeKyr56Y4yhgqeP_AKi6UDtnVShm2BvBa_9JzjlBU0MLDSUCr3cOUuToplKfxvr_z1/s320/gaza_sweage_flood1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flooded street in Gaza</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
In addition to the human devastation, “Operation Protective
Edge” destroyed homes, schools, municipal buildings, and power, water, and
sewer systems – the basic infrastructure so many of us take for granted. Israeli
attacks caused widespread damage to Gaza’s already frail and dilapidated
electrical grid, run down and in disrepair after nearly 9 years of siege and
blockade. In last summer’s attack, Israel intentionally bombed Gaza’s only
power plant, knocking it out of commission indefinitely, prompting Amnesty
International to condemn the attack as an act of “collective punishment”
against the entire population. Without electricity, water treatment plants could
not function, leading to the release of raw sewage into open pools, farmland,
and the Mediterranean Sea. By last August, 15 tons of solid waste had leaked
into the streets of Gaza.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>How are the living conditions in Gaza today?</b>
In the 11 months since a ceasefire agreement was signed between Israel and the
Palestinians, Israel has refused to allow in the building materials needed to
reconstruct Gaza’s infrastructure. Tens of thousands of Palestinian families
continue to live among the rubble of their houses without electricity or
running water. Aid agencies report that malnutrition is spreading.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPDbabeZUsFYyUyU72yu8lj_hptGVBcn2gDwugdSdR1ZaGUR5HBtWfzDuxwEbpH9SU8F9bhx5OMLhlFev2nHLViG6u3U9Ty3fuzOLmP5mkUdktPveCmoL_fM1K0SwTuihK3SN/s1600/WWII+ruins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNPDbabeZUsFYyUyU72yu8lj_hptGVBcn2gDwugdSdR1ZaGUR5HBtWfzDuxwEbpH9SU8F9bhx5OMLhlFev2nHLViG6u3U9Ty3fuzOLmP5mkUdktPveCmoL_fM1K0SwTuihK3SN/s320/WWII+ruins.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World War II, Montebourg, France</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine <b>the ruins of World War II in Europe</b>: cities reduced
to rubble, children hungry and homeless, families decimated. Like those
Europeans, Palestinians are resilient, creative and ready to work to rebuild.
The children of Gaza still have hopes and dreams for their future. Take a look
at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCnhZIx4qBk&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">this sweet little video</a> of Palestinian children against the backdrop of
devastation: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_hjXFBZs3tL3rioPW8Lv6gcdwbzMaPK69Or5a5tBb1gG-xvqimYmhuA-DIYJqEJaU9fEv71upf7WGkqNmvLV0o152K4VLpExasmcvPgIRr34cArw3RskkLHp-wxCSpT31nng/s1600/marshall-plan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_hjXFBZs3tL3rioPW8Lv6gcdwbzMaPK69Or5a5tBb1gG-xvqimYmhuA-DIYJqEJaU9fEv71upf7WGkqNmvLV0o152K4VLpExasmcvPgIRr34cArw3RskkLHp-wxCSpT31nng/s320/marshall-plan.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WWII Marshall Plan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet unlike post-WWII Europe, where the U.S. launched a
massive Marshall Plan to help countries on both sides of the conflict rebuild,
Gaza remains under a strict military blockade. Its export sector has virtually
disappeared and the manufacturing sector has shrunk by 60%. Even prior to the
assault, Gaza’s unemployment rate was 46% -- the highest in the world. 35% of
the available agricultural land is now unsafe for Gazans to use. 97% of the
water supplied through the municipal networks is still unfit for human
consumption. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0CD06_ZSkgFAj-k8N99neApNvC_qRcJD1swGeLA93QnZnMFRaf5GrLkAiZy1GhKdHQRniaP1s_sTLrfcs7hDuSPsXrm0v82hZh0dnRswICrwEeo8SvHMVpv8N9Sq8P2ShWJN/s1600/UNRWA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0CD06_ZSkgFAj-k8N99neApNvC_qRcJD1swGeLA93QnZnMFRaf5GrLkAiZy1GhKdHQRniaP1s_sTLrfcs7hDuSPsXrm0v82hZh0dnRswICrwEeo8SvHMVpv8N9Sq8P2ShWJN/s1600/UNRWA.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Fortunately, the <b>United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)</b> has been delivering
aid through it all to Gaza as well as to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank,
Syria, Lebanon and Jordan – five million in all). Despite incredible
challenges, UNRWA is providing schools and teachers, primary health care,
emergency food aid, psychological counseling, vocational training and
microfinance loans, and is leading the efforts to import vital construction
materials. We can support UNRWA online: <a href="http://www.unrwausa.org/">www.unrwausa.org</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Yet the people of Gaza do not want to rely on this
critical international aid for the long term. They’re not even hoping for a Marshall Plan. What
will help Gaza the most is our work toward the larger goals: peace and security
throughout the region, the resettlement of refugees, an unconstrained economy,
the reopening of schools and hospitals, just compensation for confiscated lands
and properties, an end to racist assaults and illegal imprisonment – in short,
a return to “ordinary life.” Who would
ask for more – or less? <o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27201587.post-52270631210243902672015-05-19T19:52:00.002-04:002015-05-20T13:31:12.756-04:00Where Movements Converge<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Question: What do environmentalists, labor unions, family farm
supporters, consumer groups, Internet freedom advocates, and Palestinian human
rights organizations have in common? </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b>Answer: Opposition to Fast Track authority for the
Trans-Pacific Partnership</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRwWgxeteF_y3bM-KnwHc5ky9A8wBfPB304yIFygcWENiq4i510psCXBm_Fnrv_04BeSXEcjrWWoCKpck99EoqHeqUXr_SETXv6c-czsarXC4noj2V77P8Wv40iAU83j7X31m/s1600/Fast+Track+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCRwWgxeteF_y3bM-KnwHc5ky9A8wBfPB304yIFygcWENiq4i510psCXBm_Fnrv_04BeSXEcjrWWoCKpck99EoqHeqUXr_SETXv6c-czsarXC4noj2V77P8Wv40iAU83j7X31m/s1600/Fast+Track+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In an unprecedented show of unity, over two thousand
organizations, including the progressive Jewish Voice for Peace, have signed a
joint letter to the U.S. Congress urging opposition to Fast Track legislation
that has been making its way through the legislature this spring.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of
Teachers, offers the reasons why so many progressive groups are leery of fast
track authority for the TPP: “While we are not currently permitted to see the
terms of the new trade deal, what we do know is the Fast Track process enables
trade deals that hurt everyday Americans and stack the deck in favor of
corporations. It limits public and congressional oversight and does not allow
effective enforcement.<i> </i>We need trade
policy that strengthens our country — ensuring the rights of workers, and
protecting consumers and the environment. We need a democratic and transparent
trade process that offers a fair shake for American workers. Fast Track fails
these standards and should be rejected.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
But Fast Track authority for the TPP would not only threaten
the quality of life of ordinary Americans. Amendments have been tacked on –
amendments backed by AIPAC, the powerful right-wing “pro-Israel” lobby that
would discourage and penalize boycotts against Israel and erase the distinction
between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupies. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKlamZJlMT4uG0mKnUe__bobzxJBqMj305BVSpni7kLMQVsyjCMbQQYal-AL2i_uBTjBohKoqgx2CvMHK9RJ5luKmRl-Rq0Ozf3f8wxjlgxJI5NpJ2eApH1C8SyxJ-PBTHsec/s1600/Images+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKlamZJlMT4uG0mKnUe__bobzxJBqMj305BVSpni7kLMQVsyjCMbQQYal-AL2i_uBTjBohKoqgx2CvMHK9RJ5luKmRl-Rq0Ozf3f8wxjlgxJI5NpJ2eApH1C8SyxJ-PBTHsec/s1600/Images+2.jpg" /></a></div>
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As Jewish Voice for Peace federal policy organizer Rabbi
Joseph Berman explains: “JVP opposes ‘Fast-Track’ not only because it is
anti-democratic and bad for workers and the environment, but because it will
also legitimize support for illegal Israeli settlements and impede efforts to
apply non-violent pressure to hold Israel to the standards of international law
and human rights norms.” In fact, these amendments make discouraging the BDS campaign
“one of the principal U.S. trade negotiating objectives.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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These anti-BDS amendments suggest common interests
between those who would grant ever more authority to powerful corporations and
those who would privilege Israeli control at the expense of Palestinians. This
fact alone should provide us with food for thought.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW55CcQ8nilCoZ7PqZl3zihGs7KQIhEcokoASV1833nodJf1N3wfJXRSZ_q9ZL_ru8JLsaW0mZqZE5tLhyZiz7mnh3PoLTUW62F10Wb0qXOGJgsnC1xurlljW8gosJucJIC7yq/s1600/images+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW55CcQ8nilCoZ7PqZl3zihGs7KQIhEcokoASV1833nodJf1N3wfJXRSZ_q9ZL_ru8JLsaW0mZqZE5tLhyZiz7mnh3PoLTUW62F10Wb0qXOGJgsnC1xurlljW8gosJucJIC7yq/s1600/images+3.jpg" /></a>Yet the attempt to
delegitimize BDS through binding international legislation also suggests that the
BDS movement has grown to become a powerful nonviolent threat to the Israeli
right. Public opinion is changing.<br />
<br />
Says JVP: Across the U.S., millions of people inside and outside of the Jewish community are taking a long hard look at Israel's human rights abuses. Elected leaders who'd been too scared to speak out are raising their voices.<br />
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Academics and students are building power on campuses, where once it simply wouldn't have been possible.<br />
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Even Pope Francis has added the moral voice of the Vatican to the fray by signing a treaty that recognizes the "state of Palestine."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXApdLLiFVF-8BUfy5l7fbUAx0tDf3Dvku0_QiQm9Nuh1KJ1NEHlilBo871k5bcIWkQqm36fDoixIMdZ_9WR3Jeu2Xy4HQ9T1J-YZJjdfsPF5q7qoqvAq2kTC2ldENoX66Pn_/s1600/images+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXApdLLiFVF-8BUfy5l7fbUAx0tDf3Dvku0_QiQm9Nuh1KJ1NEHlilBo871k5bcIWkQqm36fDoixIMdZ_9WR3Jeu2Xy4HQ9T1J-YZJjdfsPF5q7qoqvAq2kTC2ldENoX66Pn_/s1600/images+4.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>Our work is bearing fruit. The times they are a-changing.</i></div>
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