Norman Finkelstein comes to UT

ATTENTION: THE ROOM HAS BEEN CHANGED TO WCH 1.120

On Tuesday, April 28th, Norman Finkelstein will present his lecture titled:

“ROOTS OF THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT, THE GAZA MASSACRE, AND PROSPECTS FOR PEACE”

The Palestine Solidarity Committee was originally planning for this event to include an opposing perspective represented by another speaker. However, the pro-Israel supporters on campus were not interested in participating. We still hope to have a diverse audience at the event, and look forward to organizing a debate for the university community in the future.

Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. For many years he taught political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict. He is currently an independent scholar.

Finkelstein is the author of five books which have been translated into more than 40 foreign editions including: “Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History,” and “Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict.” He has just completed a new book entitled “A Farewell to Israel: The Coming Break-up of American Zionism,” to be published in 2009.

Norman Finkelstein’s website

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
7pm, WCH 1.120
Inner Campus Drive, UT Campus
MAP

Sponsored by: Palestine Solidarity Committee

Co-sponsored by: Amnesty International, International Socialist Organization, Campus Progress, Iranians for Peace and Justice, Austin Coalition for Palestine, and Campus Antiwar Movement to End Occupations

Nakba Memorial Day on the UT Campus

Please join us this year to show your support for the human and civil rights of the Palestinian people and remember the 4.6 million UN-registered Palestinian refugees, 780,000 of whom were forcibly removed from their homes during the creation of the state of Israel.

On Monday, March 30, from 12-2pm, we will gather on campus (meet outside the Texas Union) to remember the Nakba, the expulsion of the indigenous Palestinian people from their homes. Participants will dress as Palestinian refugees from 1948. If you have props and clothing, please wear it/bring them.

Palestinian refugees of al-Nakba wore a combination of both 40’s era Western and traditional dress.

Men:
-White button-up shirts, slacks, loose suit jackets
-Traditional galibiyas with suit jackets over them
-Fedoras or keffiyehs wrapped around the head
-Briefcases

Women:
-Long Western dresses or skirts
-Traditional dress, wrapped with cloth belt
-Loose black or white (plain colored) scarves for weather protection

Additional props:
-baby dolls (representing child refugees)
-old suitcases
-bundles of clothing tied with rope
-wicker baskets
-clay and metal pots

For a better idea of how to dress, see these photos:
http://www.hanini.org/Al-Nakbagallery.html
http://www.badil.org/Photos/history/Archive1/Photogallery/photo9757/real.htm

If you do not have suitable clothing for this, please wear all black. We will provide signs and some props.

Response to Israel Block Party CANCELED

Due to the weather, the organizers of the Israel Block Party have moved the event to a private location indoors (Texas Hillel).

Therefore, the Palestine Solidarity Committee has canceled its plans to respond to the event. The Israel Block Party is taking place as a private party at a religious student center and is no longer able to garner public support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.

However, we will be putting together a high-profile Nakba Day in two weeks where we will march through campus and hold a vigil to remember the Palestinian refugees. We will be able to reach out to a greater number of people. Stay tuned, details will be announced soon.

We hope that Texas Hillel and Texans for Israel soon realize that the Israel Block Party, as it currently exists, is detrimental to the cause of peace in the Middle East.

In solidarity,

Mishal Al-Johar

In response to the Israel Block Party

This March 11, 2009 marks the 11th annual Israel Block Party, an event that takes place on the South Mall of UT campus organized by Texans for Israel and Texas Hillel. Though the IBP is often advertised as a cultural celebration, the event is very much politicized, with tents asking you to write a letter to an Israel Defense Forces soldier, camo face painting, Bedouin tents, and postcards that say “Where in the Middle East are daughters valued as much as sons? Only in Israel.” Clearly, these signs and tents are meant to do far more than share a piece of Israeli culture, rather, they are meant to convince the University and greater Austin community that even in this time of occupation, apartheid and segregation, Israel is a country to be championed, right or wrong.

Every year the Palestine Solidarity Committee and its supporters give a public response to the Block Party. This is not an objection of culture, but of the very political nature of the event and the undemocratic policies of the state of Israel. Given the outrage over the brutal Israeli military attack on Gaza just a few months ago, it is more critical than ever to show this campus that we will not endorse injustice and occupation.

Please join us this year to show your support for the human and civil rights of the Palestinian people. We will meet at 3:30PM in front of the Texas Union on Wednesday, March 11 and go together to the IBP on the South Mall.

This year’s response to the Block Party will be in remembrance of the 4.6 million UN-registered Palestinian refugees, 780,000 of whom were forcibly removed from their homes during the creation of the state of Israel. Participants will dress as Palestinian refugees from 1948. If you have props and clothing, please wear it/bring them.

Palestinian refugees of al-Nakba wore a combination of both 40’s era Western and traditional dress.

Men:
-White button-up shirts, slacks, loose suit jackets
-Traditional galibiyas with suit jackets over them
-Fedoras or keffiyehs wrapped around the head
-Briefcases

Women:
-Long Western dresses or skirts
-Traditional dress, wrapped with cloth belt
-Loose black or white (plain colored) scarves for weather protection

Additional props:
-baby dolls (representing child refugees)
-old suitcases
-bundles of clothing tied with rope
-wicker baskets
-clay and metal pots

For a better idea of how to dress, see these photos:
http://www.hanini.org/Al-Nakbagallery.html
http://www.badil.org/Photos/history/Archive1/Photogallery/photo9757/real.htm

If you do not have suitable clothing for this, please wear all black. To honor the solemnity of the Nakba (Palestinian catastrophe), this will be a peaceful response to the Block Party.

We will provide signs and some props. If you cannot meet us at the Union at 3:30 because of scheduling conflicts, please find us at the South Mall of campus. The event lasts through the evening.

Facebook event for PSC’s demonstration

Israeli activist speaks in Austin

The Palestine Solidarity Committee and Monkey Wrench Books present:

Shachaf Polakow, member of Anarchists Against the Wall, on his U.S. Tour!

Sunday, March 8th
5:00PM
Monkey Wrench Books
(110 E. North Loop)

Anarchists Against the Wall is an Israeli direct action group that fights
against Israeli apartheid and oppression in all its forms, including
the recent atrocities in Gaza. For five years the group has waged a
constant struggle against the “separation wall” that Israel is
building. In the West Bank, AATW works alongside the Palestinian
popular movement to break new ground in the struggle for Palestinian
liberation.

Shachaf Polakow, a member of Anarchists Against the Wall, is
touring the U.S. and Canada. His presentation includes video and
photos, and will focus both on AATW’s recent work in solidarity with
Gaza and their ongoing resistance in the West Bank.

It is critical to support the Israeli resistance movement against
the state’s repression of their work. Members of Anarchists Against
the Wall continually pay the price for their activism—including
being shot, beaten, arrested and indicted. We desperately
need funding for legal support for both Palestinian and Israeli
activists who are arrested and charged in the course of the struggle.

Anarchists Against the Wall: http://www.awalls.org/
Palestine Solidarity Committee: http://utpalestine.org/
Monkey Wrench Books: http://www.monkeywrenchbooks.org/

Palestine Activism Workshop: Tuesday, March 3rd

Palestine Activism Workshop:

The Necessity of Action in the Academy and Everyday Life

Tuesday, March 3rd
6PM
UT Austin, Flawn Academic Center (FAC) 21
Building Map: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/fac.html

Agenda:
1) Dr. Shannon Speed, Professor of Anthropology, will speak on Activism and the Academy
2) Joe Carr will speak on nonviolent direction action in Palestine
3) Ben Snyder will speak on the Boycott Divestment Sanction (BDS) campaign

Following the talks, we will have a WORK PARTY, with tables on:

A) How to Speak to the Media and craft Op-Eds.
B) How to be peace keepers at events.
C) Crafting props and/or signs and art.
D) DIY/Plan Your Own Action.

Prof Shannon Speed’s Faculty Page:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/anthropology/faculty/profiles/Speed/Shannon/

Facebook Event:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52563838532

Film screening Thursday, teach-in Tuesday

The Palestine Solidarity Committee announces two events:

PEACE, PROPAGANDA, AND THE PROMISED LAND:
Film Screening
Thursday, February 12, 2009
7:30pm in GAR 0.102 (http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/gar.html)

With the recent violence in the Gaza Strip, the 2003 documentary film “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land: U.S. Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” is more relevant than ever. The film “provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Chalmers Johnson, author of The Sorrows of Empire, called PPPL a must-see documentary, “the best, least-biased presentation we have of all the issues involved.”

The film will be introduced by Robert Jensen, a UT journalism professor who also is interviewed in the film. Discussion after the film will be led by Tariq Ahmed Elseewi and Karin Wilkins. Elseewi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Radio-TV-Film, is currently working on a dissertation exploring the relationship between globalization, communal identities, and electronic media in the Arab Middle East. Karin Wilkins, an RTF professor affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, is the author of the new book Home/Land/Security: What We Learn about Arab Communities from Action-Adventure Films (Lexington Books, 2009).

TEACH-IN SERIES: WHAT’S GOING ON IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL?
Short lectures followed by group discussion
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
7:00pm in GAR 0.102 (http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/gar.html)

MAKING SENSE OF ISRAEL’S CHANGING BLUEPRINT FOR THE OCCUPATION
Dr. Bernice Hecker, activist with the Austin Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights, draws on her experiences living in Israel.

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE AND LIBERATION MOVEMENTS
Ziyad Doany grew up in Lebanon through the Israeli invasions of ‘78 and ‘82 and the incursion of ‘06. He was in Beirut during the recent Gaza attacks and is active in support of Palestinian Rights.

Film Showing: Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land

PSC EVENT:

“Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land”

Followed by discussion with University of Texas scholars Tariq Ahmed Elseewi, Robert Jensen, and Karin Wilkins.

Thursday, February 12, 2009
7:30 p.m.

Garrison Hall, Room 0.102 (GAR 0.102)
http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/gar.html
University of Texas at Austin

With the recent violence in the Gaza Strip, the 2003 documentary film “Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land: U.S. Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” is more relevant than ever. The film “provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Chalmers Johnson, author of The Sorrows of Empire, called PPPL a must-see documentary, “the best, least-biased presentation we have of all the issues involved.”

The film will be introduced by Robert Jensen, a UT journalism professor who also is interviewed in the film. Discussion after the film will be led by Tariq Ahmed Elseewi and Karin Wilkins. Elseewi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Radio-TV-Film, is currently working on a dissertation exploring the relationship between globalization, communal identities, and electronic media in the Arab Middle East. Karin Wilkins, an RTF professor affiliated with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, is the author of the new book Home/Land/Security: What We Learn about Arab Communities from Action-Adventure Films (Lexington Books, 2009).

For more information on the film, go to:
http://www.pppl.org/

A study guide is available at:
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=117

This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Committee. For more information, contact Robert Jensen at (512) 471-1990 or rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.

Teach-In This Saturday

The Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a teach-in on the Israel-Palestine conflict on Saturday, January 31 at the University of Texas at Austin (2-4 PM,  in Garrison Hall, room 0.102). Joe Carr (peace activist with the International Solidarity Movement, in Gaza since 2003) and Radwan Dalu (Gaza-born American) will be speaking about their personal experiences in Gaza. I will briefly talk about the “Peace” Process.

– Joel Suarez

Summary of Events: January 19 – 25, 2009

Beit Lahya's UNRWA elementary boys school being attacked using phosphorous bombs during the Israeli aggression (photo by Muhammad Al-Baba)

Death and Destruction

The death toll of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza now stands at more than 1,330, including 437 children. Additionally, there are an estimated 5,450 injured Palestinians. Al Jazeera reports that about 65 percent of the casualties are civilian. The Al Mazen Center for Human Rights estimates civilian deaths account for 86 percent of the total death toll, while the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights puts it at 85 percent. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were also killed. The Times (UK) reports that “According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 22,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed and the total repair bill will cost at least $1.9 billion. A UN report, meanwhile, said that more than 50,000 displaced people have been left crowded into 50 emergency shelters – mostly in unused schools.” Moreover, “A UN official says 500,000 people have been without water since the bombardment began on December 27 and huge numbers are without power.” Amnesty International’s respected military expert also noted that “Gazans have had their houses looted, vandalized and desecrated. As well, the Israeli soldiers have left behind not only mounds of litter and excrement but ammunition and other military equipment.  It’s not the behaviour one would expect from a professional army.” On the wall of a home badly damaged by the IDF, soldiers drew a Star of David and wrote: “we came to annihilate you” in Hebrew, another reads “Next time it will hurt more.” Amnesty International’s investigative team in Gaza reports that “previously busy neighbourhoods have been flattened into moonscapes,” and “how there is no camera lens wide enough to embrace the sheer dimensions of the devastation.” Nevertheless, the tunnels which Israel sought to destroy as part of its war aims are up and running again, allowing Palestinians to receive limited relief from Israel’s blockade.