Eli and I (later joined by Joe) handed out all our flyers and cards.

Everyone was very friendly because they didn't really know if we were representing a group. Handing out flyers without signs works better, at least for events like this.

My high point: a woman came back and showed me the card with the four maps of Palestine. "Did you hand this out? she asked. When I said I had, she told me she had read it, and couldn't go in to listen to Dennis Ross. I thanked her, she thanked me, and she walked away.

Where Should the Birds Fly

We had a great turnout for this first film in our series. A question and answer session with Fida Qishta followed the film. Her matter of fact presentation about life and filmmaking in Gaza brought us back from the intense emotion of her film. But lingering beneath the surface are always the questions. How is this suffering borne by the people of Gaza? And why don't the American people know about it?

For more information about the film:
http://whereshouldthebirdsfly.org/

Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to the film production:
http://www.deepdishtv.org/ProgramDetail/Default.aspx?id=3520

Dear Friends of Rachel Corrie

Dear Friends of Rachel Corrie,

Attached is the In Memoriam to Rachel Corrie in the Sunday, March 17 Poughkeepsie Journal, that you helped make possible.  Thank you so much for caring and standing steadfastly for truth and justice.

Tom Shaker

Greg DeSylva

First Hand Report on the US Drone War in Pakistan

We had at least 20 people on a cold night in New Paltz. A small crowd for all the publicity we did. Only one college student, and mostly familiar faces. The presentation on drones produced a lively exchange of ideas, from the questioning of why the US would create so many enemies to the assertion that drones provide terror that empires have always relies on.

==========

Patricia "Paki" Wieland:

First Hand Report on the US Drone War in Pakistan

Friday, March 1, starting at 7 pm

Village Hall, 25 Plattekill Avenue

New Paltz, NY 12561

Paki Wieland, retired professor, activist and grandmother, has participated in seven human rights delegations to conflict zones in the last three years. She was on a delegation to Pakistan studying the human rights aspects of the US drone war in Waziristan. She traveled recently to Bahrain in an effort to protect civilian protesters from state directed violence. 

A former family therapist and teacher at Antioch University Graduate School, Paki brings a human insight and empathy to the understanding of US wars in the Middle East. Presentation and discussion is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by: 

Middle East Crisis Response http://www.mideastcrisis.org

Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter http://activistnewsletter.blogspot.com/

Occupy Southern Ulster bask999@yahoo.com

Drone Alert - Hudson Valley 845 699-3051

Phyllis Bennis at Bard College

We took Phyllis out to an early dinner before her talk at Bard College. Some student members of the Bard Palestinian Youth Initiative also attended the dinner.

==============

Phyllis Bennis: "New Year and Old Wars in the Middle East: Where Do We Go From Here?"

Tuesday, Feb. 5 at 7:00 pm 

Bito Auditorium, Reem Kayden Center, Bard College

30 Campus Road

Annandale, NY 12504

Phyllis Bennis is a Middle East analyst and director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. She is also a Fellow at the Trans-National Institute in the Netherlands, and the author of eight books on the Middle East. Presentation and discussion are free and open to the public.

Cosponsored by:

Bard Palestinian Youth Initiative - http://www.bpyi.org
Middle East Crisis - http://www.mideastcrisis.org

Vigil in New Paltz...

Cold, but a good action. We went through over 120 flyers despite the weather.

People seem to read he flyer we hand out as opposed to some of the glossy cards. More to learn on it?

New Paltz continues to be a good location. The winter weather is not conducive to conversations, although we had a few.

Gaza rally in Poughkeepsie

In all, we had 18 protesters on Route 44/55 coming into Poughkeepsie. Some were from Occupy Poughkeepsie, some from the Hip Hop event at Vassar, and several from MECR. Eli got us interviewed by the Poughkeepsie Journal, and he was quoted in an article on the front page. His quote, however, was after three paragraphs of pro-Israeli war analysis, and five paragraphs from the Jewish Federation of Dutchess County.