We are pleased to announce our first Al-Nakba Witness event!
On Thursday, June 4th and Friday, June 5th we will be at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines over the lunch hour (about 11a.m. to 1p.m.). We will have visual displays and tables with information and MEPEP volunteers to talk about the Nakba then (1948) and now (2009). Please drop by if you are able!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
May 2009 Marks the 61st Anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba
Photo: Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee RightsNakba Defined
Sources:
Nakba: The Ongoing Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, The Palestine Online Store, 2008.
Factsheet from Al-Awda on Palestinian Right of Return, www.al-awda.org, 2006.
Palestinians have not been granted the right of return by Israel to this day, though United Nations Resolution 194 specifically gives refugees the right to return or be compensated, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights gives all people the right to leave and return to their own country.
Links to more information, photos & resources:
http://www.al-awda.org/ (Palestinian Right to Return Coalition)
http://www.60yearsofnakba.org/ (a free copy of Nakba, The Ongoing Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine is available for download)
www.badil.org/Publications/badil-nakba-60-info-packet/index.html (Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
First Action Alert! May, 2009:
Source:
Friends of Sabeel--North America PO Box 9186, Portland, OR 97207
http://www.fosna.org/; and Cindy & Craig Corrie.
Action:
Urge Members of Congress to Join Congressman Baird's Delegation to Israel and Palestine
In February, Congressman Brian Baird, representative from Washington, joined Congressman Keith Ellison from Minnesota, for a visit to Gaza and Sderot in Israel. Since then, he has spoken out strongly about all that he witnessed. Congressman Baird has planned and organized a late May Congressional delegation to Israel, the West Bank, and hopefully Gaza . Not enough members of Congress have signed on to make the May trip viable. Unless there is a surge in interest, it appears that Congressman Baird will postpone this delegation until later in the year. We all know how important it is for people to see for themselves what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Please call and/or write to your Congressional members and urge them to join Congressman Brian Baird's delegation to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza--either in May or later in the year. Tell your representatives in Congress that it is important to you that they go to the West Bank and Gaza (as well as Israel) to see the situation firsthand. Tell them that the financial investment we are making in this region and the relevance of Israel/Palestine to U.S. interests, require that they see the full picture.
Sample letter:
Dear ,
Congressman Brian Baird of Washington has organized a Congressional delegation in late May to visit Israel, the West Bank and Gaza so that members of Congress can observe, first-hand the situation in Israel-Palestine. I strongly urge you to join this delegation, or one later in the year, because it is important to me that you see the full picture for Israelis and Palestinians, given the financial and diplomatic investment the United States is making in the region.
Sincerely,
name
address
It is now necessary to go to each member of Congress' website to contact them. Website for Senators: senator last name.senate.gov (example- http://www.harkin.senate.gov/), for representatives: representative last name.house.gov (example- http://www.boswell.house.gov/). Find your member of Congress http://www.congress.org/.
Source:
Friends of Sabeel--North America PO Box 9186, Portland, OR 97207
http://www.fosna.org/; and Cindy & Craig Corrie.
Action:
Urge Members of Congress to Join Congressman Baird's Delegation to Israel and Palestine
In February, Congressman Brian Baird, representative from Washington, joined Congressman Keith Ellison from Minnesota, for a visit to Gaza and Sderot in Israel. Since then, he has spoken out strongly about all that he witnessed. Congressman Baird has planned and organized a late May Congressional delegation to Israel, the West Bank, and hopefully Gaza . Not enough members of Congress have signed on to make the May trip viable. Unless there is a surge in interest, it appears that Congressman Baird will postpone this delegation until later in the year. We all know how important it is for people to see for themselves what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Please call and/or write to your Congressional members and urge them to join Congressman Brian Baird's delegation to Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza--either in May or later in the year. Tell your representatives in Congress that it is important to you that they go to the West Bank and Gaza (as well as Israel) to see the situation firsthand. Tell them that the financial investment we are making in this region and the relevance of Israel/Palestine to U.S. interests, require that they see the full picture.
Sample letter:
Dear ,
Congressman Brian Baird of Washington has organized a Congressional delegation in late May to visit Israel, the West Bank and Gaza so that members of Congress can observe, first-hand the situation in Israel-Palestine. I strongly urge you to join this delegation, or one later in the year, because it is important to me that you see the full picture for Israelis and Palestinians, given the financial and diplomatic investment the United States is making in the region.
Sincerely,
name
address
It is now necessary to go to each member of Congress' website to contact them. Website for Senators: senator last name.senate.gov (example- http://www.harkin.senate.gov/), for representatives: representative last name.house.gov (example- http://www.boswell.house.gov/). Find your member of Congress http://www.congress.org/.
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