Remembrance of Nakba

Friday, May 18th on the Woodstock Village Green. Remembrance of Nakba: The Catastrophe that Continues for the Palestinian People.

In human terms, 1948 saw the mass deportation of a million Palestinians from their homes, massacres of civilians, and the razing to the ground of hundreds of Palestinian villages. The apartheid system that followed has destroyed any hope of peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. We grieve for these tragedies, while working for the day when Israelis and Palestinians can once again share the land of their ancestors.

Sponsored by the Middle East Crisis Response http://www.mideastcrisis.org

Impeachment Rally

On Monday, May 14, an important impeachment rally was held beginning at 12:00 at the West Steps of the Capital building in Albany. The rally entitled "A Trust Betrayed: Impeach Cheney/Bush" included speakers and musical performers who made the case for immediate action to save our democratic form of government.

Speakers at the rally included: Elliot Adams - National President of Veterans for Peace, Yonatan Shapira - former Israeli Air Force Blackhawk pilot, now a Combatant for Peace, Dr. Stephen Larsen - Director Stone Mountain Counseling, Professor Emeritus Suny, Ulster and biographer of Joseph Campbell, Nathen Alft - Lafond - student activist on the situation in New Orleans and Government complicity, Dr. Andor Skotnes - Professor of History at Sage Colleges and former Co-chair of Historians Against War, Jay Wenk - World War II veteran and peace activist hero, co-founder Veterans for Peace, Joan Walker - co founder, NO DU Coalition of the Hudson Valley, Sarvananda Bluestone - founder of Wisconsin Committee against Vietnam War, Dr. Michael Rice – founder of Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace.





The last picture is of our large group chanting the names of the war dead in Iraq. Hillary Clinton's Office was closed, but we were allowed to chant the names in the lobby. I will see if I can include a short mp3 file so that people can listen to a couple of minutes of this dramatic event.

Yonatan Shapira Speaks in Kingston

“What I am asking for is a new Jewish lobby in America, one that acts in the love of Israel.”

So spoke Yonatan Shapira at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills in Kingston on Sunday, April 29. Mr. Shapira, a former Black Hawk Helicopter pilot in the Israeli Defense Force, talked about his growing sense of unease about the Israeli occupation of Palestine. In the end, Mr. Shapira refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza, and instead helped organize a group of like-minded veterans in Israel, Combatants for Peace combatantsforpeace.org.

Mr. Shapira described in detail the role of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in controlling the US Congress and stifling debate about the suffering of the Palestinians. “There is a joke in Israel,” Mr. Shapira said. “We were offered a chance to become the 51st state, but turned it down. That would give us only two US Senators.”

Describing himself as a lover of Israel, Mr. Shapira is traveling around the United States, trying to free the American people from the influences of the Israeli lobby, an impediment to genuine peace for the Israeli people. "As a Jew, as a lover of Israel, you must stand up and criticize the government of Israel. No one can call you an anti-Semite. It is your job to be a non-insane Jew."

Yonatan Shapira’s talk was sponsored by the Middle East Crisis Response http://www.mideastcrisis.org.

Permission granted to use text and photographs in any news article.

Kathy Kelly speaks in Woodstock

Kathy Kelly spoke to a large group of people this Thursday, March 29 at the Woodstock Community Center. The title of her talk was "Eyewitness to War, Witness to Peace: Reflections on the US war in Iraq and the ongoing Middle East conflict." Having visited Iraq 24 times in the past ten years, Ms. Kelly gave a uniquely personal face to the suffering of civilians in the war zone. Her stories were both harrowing and very moving, and several in the audience expressed a desire to do more to end the occupation of Iraq. The presentation concluded with a plan to stage a sit-in in Hillary Clinton's office in Albany.

The talk was sponsored by a new group, the Middle East Crisis Response (http://www.mideastcrisis.org). Donations were accepted for Kathy Kelly's work in the Middle East.

Kathy Kelly on Activist Radio

It was a privilege to have Kathy Kelly on Activist Radio today. If you didn't hear her tonight in Staatsburg, go to http://www.classwars.org and click on Mar. 28.

I put a picture of Kathy and Gary in the studio (thanks, Tarak).

Fred

Norma Musih

Norma Musih from Zochrot spoke recently about Israeli efforts find the truth about Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948. Thanks, David, for the pictures.



http://www.zochrot.org

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh

Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, author of "Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli/Palestinian Struggle," spoke on Wednesday, March 7 at the Woodstock Community Center. His talk entitled "Is It Apartheid?" prompted a lively but courteous debate on the morality of ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestine. Dr. Qumsiyeh described how the 450,000 Jewish "settlers" in the West Bank have made the two state solution impossible. Several Jewish members of the audience spoke of their own inner conflicts when presented with the obvious racism of the occupation. The talk was sponsored by the Middle East Crisis Response.