Posted by AssurHaddon from dialup-67.73.32.121.Dial1.LosAngeles1.Level3.net (67.73.32.121) on Monday, August 18, 2003 at 9:37PM :
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3rd Call: SUPPORT THE THIRD ANNUAL PALESTINE SOLIDARITY AND DIVESTMENT CONFERENCE
We, the undersigned, hereby lend our full support to the efforts of New Jersey Solidarity (NJS) in organizing and hosting the Third Annual Student Conference on Divestment from Israel, to be held between October 10-12, 2003, at Rutgers University, New Jersey. We call on all Palestinian, Arab, solidarity, and peace & justice organizations to render all material, organizational, and political support possible to ensure the success of this watershed Conference.
We recognize that during this time of attempted liquidation of the Palestinian struggle and consolidation of colonial gains from the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, that solidarity with the people of Palestine is vital. The Rutgers Conference is a crucial step in securing and expanding this solidarity in the US.
The Conference comes at a time when the steadfastness of the Palestinian people is continuing the reaffirmation of perseverance and resistance against the greatest of all odds. Fifty-five years after the materialization of the Zionist project, the Palestinian people continue to work towards repatriation to their towns and homes of origin, revolt against the thirty-six year old military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and fight for their national rights and against apartheid all over historic Palestine occupied in 1948.
The Conference comes at a time when Israel is constructing a medieval-style wall to expropriate more land, divide more towns and in essence transform more of Palestine into a Jewish-Only polity. This more recent form of apartheid is designed to allocate 8 - 11% of Palestine to 8.5 million Palestinians. In fact, as an expression of ultimate ethnic supremacy and pursuit of purity, Israel recently passed a law prohibiting Palestinians that marry Palestinian or Jewish Israeli citizens from permanently residing inside the borders of the Jewish-Only State.
Yet, the Palestinian people continue to struggle. They do so despite massacres, home demolitions, attacks on refugee camps to induce further dispossession and displacement, mass detention and a great deal of suffering due to discrimination, national, civil and human rights violations.
Responding to the International Call to Divest from Israel, issued on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November 2000, peace and justice voices represented by Students and Committees for Justice in Palestine, New Jersey Solidarity and others went to action. Today, from Princeton to Berkeley, nineteen universities have pending petitions calling on their administrations to divest from Israel. SUSTAIN is working on exposing and isolating Caterpillar for providing house-demolition bulldozers to the Zionist state. Community grocers are disheveling Israeli products. Socially responsible investors refuse to fund their retirement with profits reaped from the theft of Palestinian land. Tens of peace and justice committees are actively lobbying local, state and government officials to stop aid to Israel, both private and public.
But there is always a price to be paid. The Third Annual Conference has come under a vicious attack by governor McGreevey of New Jersey, various Zionist forces and the corporate media. Although the pressure was immense, through the unwavering resistance of NJS, the conference now enjoys the support of a multitude of forces and promises to be a watershed mark in the solidarity movement with Palestine.
Some argued that this movement should steer away from divestment and from characterizing Israel as an Apartheid State. Others claimed that linking with the Palestinian movement is the same as linking with "Terror." Some attempted to place a limit on Palestinian rights, by demanding that the Palestinians forfeit their right to return and accept a canton or a bantustan in a butchered and "fenced" sliver of Palestine. Some even attempted to remove Palestine form the anti-war movement, despite the fact that the Palestinian people are spearheading the struggle against war, colonialism, and global domination.
We, the undersigned, reject these racist assertions that demand of the Palestinians to accept various forms of servitude. We reaffirm that every successful solidarity movement was launched in coordination with the stakeholders and organic voices of the struggle. These movements well recognized that the authenticity and historical accuracy of the indigenous narrative are a prerequisite to its sustenance and success.
The greatest asset to colonialists is the internalization of defeat by the colonized and the popularized distortion of history. We salute NJS for taking leadership during the challenging time of colonial exploits, and are compelled in this context to invoke Frantz Fanon: "Colonialism is not satisfied by imposing its authority on the nation's present and future. It does not accept the mere control of the land's population, by depleting the indigenous mind of form and content. It has to go further by introducing a skewed logic, focusing on the suppressed people's history in order to mischaracterize it, disfigure it and ultimately destroy it."
NJS stood by the Palestinian struggle, called for divestment and was uncompromising on the narrative. It is for this reason that we support this vital effort and call on all peace and justice forces to rally behind the students in building the Conference at Rutgers University.
To join in support, please write to: rashmawi@sbcglobal.net
(Alphabetically listed and representing scores of organizational and individual endorsements in North America)
1. Abbas Hamideh
2. Adrianne DeSantis
3. Ahlam Chaibi Elmaghrebi
4. Ahmad Khalifa
5. Aiyanas Ormond
6. Ali Mili
7. Allen Maki
8. Amany Hajyassin
9. Amjad K. Jadallah
10. Andrew G Lawson
11. Anne Ingham
12. Anne Silver
13. Annie Chang
14. Arthur Miller
15. As'ad Abukhalil
16. Ayad Al-Qazzaz
17. Ayham Dahi
18. Ayman Elsawah
19. Ayman Jadallah
20. Ban Al-Wardi
21. Barbara Aswad
22. Basel Bahhour
23. Bassam Bahour
24. Benjamin Grunde
25. Beth Irikura
26. Beth Semmer
27. Bill Kong
28. Bill Massey
29. Bryan Hendon
30. Carol Pridgeon
31. Caroline Herzenberg
32. Charlee Hathaway-Bevington
33. Charles McGee
34. Charlie Demers
35. Charlotte Silver
36. Chris Alonso
37. Christine Geovanis
38. Christine Madore
39. Chuck Anderson
40. Chuck Kaufman
41. Connie Pratt
42. Cristina Deptula
43. Cyrus Kashani
44. D. Yasser
45. Dagmar Torres
46. Dahlia Wasfi
47. Dale Nesbitt
48. Dalia Sadek
49. Dan Rathbun
50. Danielle Chiero
51. Darla Anelli
52. Darlene Wallach
53. Dave Bayard
54. David Gutkowski
55. Deeg Gold
56. Degaulle Adili
57. Derrick O'Keefe
58. Dick Reilly
59. Dina El-Nakhal
60. Donna Wallach
61. Dorothy Schwartz
62. Edith Cacciatore
63. Elias Rashmawi
64. Elise G. Young
65. Emily Katz Kishawi
66. Eric Peters
67. Eyad Alnuweiri
68. Eyad Kishawi
69. Eyas Alhomouz
70. Fadi Jadallah
71. Fadia Rafeedie
72. Fadwa El Gundi
73. Frances ReMillard
74. Gabriel Voiles
75. Garrett Wright
76. Gavrielle Gemma
77. Hassan Fouda
78. Hatem Bazian
79. Husam Abusneineh
80. Hussein Agrama
81. Ian Roxborough-Smith
82. Ihab Darwish
83. Irene M. Sanchez
84. Isabella Silver
85. Ismail Kamal
86. Itrath Syed
87. J. B. Neilands
88. Jamal Natour
89. Jamal Saleh
90. James Grippo
91. James Scully
92. Janan Azzghayer
93. Jane Stillwater
94. Janice Nakashima
95. Jean-Anne Lesniewski
96. Jennifer Wager
97. Jennifer Winkler
98. Jess Ghannam
99. Jimmy Qaqundah
100. Jiries Mogannam
101. Joe Navidad
102. John Green
103. John Martin
104. John Sigler
105. Johnny Batarseh
106. Kariman Diab
107. Kathleen Densmore
108. Kathy Kidd
109. Khairy Abuljebain
110. Khaled Barakat
111. Lamis Deek
112. Lara Kiswani
113. Layla Kaiksaw
114. Leilani Dowell
115. Lenni Brenner
116. Lucie Sweda
117. Mag Seaman
118. Mahmud Ahmad
119. Manal El-Hrisse
120. Marlene Newesri
121. Mary Harb
122. Mary Merryman
123. Maryloo Souied
124. Masad Arbid
125. Mazen Yehya
126. Mazin Qumsiya
127. Michael Aziz
128. Michel Shehadeh
129. Michelle Holubisky
130. Mike Rozworski
131. Millie Barnet
132. Mona Baker
133. Mona Coobti
134. Mona Yehya
135. Monica Moorehead
136. Mother Marcy J. Gordon
137. Mughir Hindi
138. Munir Akash
139. Musa Al-Hindi
140. Na'eem Jeenah
141. Nada Elia
142. Nader Abuljebain
143. Nadine Naber
144. Nahiel Nazzal
145. Nancy Hormachea
146. Nathalie Hecker
147. Nawal Barkawi
148. Neda Khalil
149. Nellie Hester-Bailey
150. Nizar Sakhnini
151. Osama Abuljebain
152. Paul D. Noursi
153. Paul Omelich
154. Paul Ponitkoff
155. Peter Signorelli
156. Phil Gasper
157. Philip Hoehn
158. Raed Bahour
159. Raja Bisharat
160. Ramiz Rafeedie
161. Rania Hafez
162. Ravi Singh
163. Reem Awad-Rashmawi
164. Riaz Behra
165. Richard Becker
166. Rima Anabtawi
167. Robert Kirkconnell
168. Robert Monroe
169. Robert Squires
170. Robert Triver
171. Ron Peterson
172. Ruth L. Schafer
173. Sadek Ahmed
174. Said Shehadeh
175. Saida Osman
176. Samar Siyam
177. Samer Elatrash
178. Sami Kitmitto
179. Samia Halaby
180. Samiha Saleh
181. Samira Sood
182. Sanley Heller
183. Sara Flounders
184. Sara Smith
185. Sarah Issa
186. Sarah Weir
187. Scott Campbell
188. Scott Cooper
189. Scott Rohan
190. Senan Khairie
191. Shadi Fadda
192. Shadia Husary
193. Sharon Obeidallah
194. Shirin Eskandani
195. Snehal Shingavi
196. Sonya Kaleel
197. Suad Joseph
198. Susan Abdallah
199. Suzanne Adely
200. Suzanne Ross
201. Tarik Kazaleh
202. Tawfiq Alhussieni
203. Thomas E. DeGloma
204. Vanessa Ramos
205. Waleed Bader
206. Wendy Campbell
207. Y. Yasser
208. Yousef Abudayyeh
209. Yvette Hochberg
210. Zahi Damuni
211. Zeina Zaatari
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-- AssurHaddon
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