Prior Events - 2002

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Lenni Brenner
Monday, December 9th

"Zionism: The Hidden History.
From collaboration with racists in Europe to racist colonialism in Palestine"

7:00 p.m.
Douglass College Center, Faculty Dining Room
100 George Street (click for map)
New Brunswick, NJ

Directions by mass transit: Take NJ Transit Rail to the New Brunswick Station. At the corner of Somerset & George (next to train station) take an F bus. Stay on the bus through downtown New Brunswick. When the driver announces "Cooper Dining Hall/Douglass College Center," (first oncampus stop), get off the bus and walk half a block to the Douglass College Center.

Right click here to download flyer.

Additional background and article links here.

Lenni Brenner was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. He became an atheist at 10, and a Marxist at 15, in 1952. His involvement with the Black civil rights movement began on his first day in the organized left, when he met James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality, later the organizer of the "freedom rides" of the early 60s. He was active in the mid 50s with Bayard Rustin, later the organizer of Martin Luther King's 1963 "I had a dream" March on Washington.

Mr. Brenner is the author of 4 books, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir, Jews in America Today, and The Lesser Evil: The Democratic Party. His books have been favorably reviewed in 10 languages by prominent publications, including the London Times, The London Review of Books, Moscow's Izvestia and the Jerusalem Post.

He has written over 100 articles for many publications, including the Amsterdam News, the Anderson Valley Advertizer, the Atlanta Constitution, CounterPunch, the Jewish Guardian, the Nation, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Middle East Policy, Middle East International, the Journal of Palestine Studies, the New Statesman of London, Al-Fajr in Jerusalem and the United Irishman in Dublin.


Nadia Hijab
Wednesday, December 4th

7:00 p.m.
Douglass College Center, Women's Center
100 George Street (click for map)
New Brunswick, NJ

Directions by mass transit: Take NJ Transit Rail to the New Brunswick Station. At the corner of Somerset & George (next to train station) take an F bus. Stay on the bus through downtown New Brunswick. When the driver announces "Cooper Dining Hall/Douglass College Center," (first oncampus stop), get off the bus and walk half a block to the Douglass College Center.

Right click here to download flyer.

Nadia Hijab is an author who has written widely on the Middle East. Her first book, Womanpower: The Arab debate on women at work, was published by Cambridge University Press. She co-authored Citizens Apart: A Portrait of Palestinians in Israel (I. B. Tauris). She was Editor-in-Chief of the London-based Middle East magazine and was a frequent commentator on the BBC before moving to New York in 1989 to take up an assignment with the United Nations, where she served until 1999.

Since 1999, she has worked as an independent consultant for international development organizations on human rights, human development, gender, and the media.

She is a member and past president of the Association of Arab American University Graduates, and a member of the ADC (the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee).


Boycott Israel-Boycott Starbucks! Rally
Saturday, November 23rd

Noon to 1:00 p.m.
391 George St
New Brunswick, NJ

Throughout the US and around the world, Starbucks has been targeted for boycott by those seeking justice in Palestine. In addition to Starbucks' overall shoddy corporate record, Starbucks chairman Harold Schultz is an active Zionist and champion of Israel. He has worked actively as a propagandist for the Israeli foreign ministry (which has praised him for his efforts in presenting the Israeli view on various campuses), and has been awarded "The Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award" by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah. In addition, Starbucks has numerous stores operating in Israel and is looking toward expanding its Israeli presence.

YOU CAN HELP IMMEDIATELY. DOWNLOAD, PRINT AND POST FLYERS. Flyer 1 or Flyer 2


Boycott Israel-Boycott Starbucks! Rally
Friday, November 22nd

2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
391 George St
New Brunswick, NJ

Throughout the US and around the world, Starbucks has been targeted for boycott by those seeking justice in Palestine. In addition to Starbucks' overall shoddy corporate record, Starbucks chairman Harold Schultz is an active Zionist and champion of Israel. He has worked actively as a propagandist for the Israeli foreign ministry (which has praised him for his efforts in presenting the Israeli view on various campuses), and has been awarded "The Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award" by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah. In addition, Starbucks has numerous stores operating in Israel and is looking toward expanding its Israeli presence.

YOU CAN HELP IMMEDIATELY. DOWNLOAD, PRINT AND POST FLYERS. Flyer 1 or Flyer 2


Diana Buttu - Legal Adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization
Friday, November 15th

"Why a Fair Settlement is Essential to Peace Throughout The Middle East "

4:00 p.m.
Center for Law and Justice - Room 090
Rutgers-Newark Law School
123 Washington Street
Newark, NJ

Right click here to download flyer.

Co-sponsored with Student Lawyers Guild and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Diana Buttu is a legal advisor to the negotiations support unit of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Since October 2000 she been an influential part of the Palestinian team in negotiations with Israel. She is a passionate and informed advocate for a just, honest, and peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Ms. Buttu offers insightful analysis of the current political crisis and the humanitarian disaster facing Palestinians. She will speak from first hand experience of the struggle of Palestinians for freedom and statehood.

Ms. Buttu lives in Ramallah. She is editor of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law and a member of the Ontario Bar. She previously served as legal council to the Canadian Department of Justice in Ottowa. She received a B.A. and an LL. M from Stanford University; a J.D. from Queen's University in Ontario, and a J.S.M from Stanford University. Currently she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Law and Refugee Compensation from Stanford Law School. She is frequently quoted as an authority on the Palestinian perspective in such new sources as MSNBC, CNN and the Washington Post.


Boycott Israel-Boycott Starbucks! Rally
Wednesday, November 13th

Noon to 1:00 p.m.
391 George St
New Brunswick, NJ

Part of the National Day of Action to Divest from Israeli Apartheid.

YOU CAN HELP IMMEDIATELY. DOWNLOAD, PRINT AND POST FLYERS. Flyer 1 or Flyer 2

Throughout the US and around the world, Starbucks has been targeted for boycott by those seeking justice in Palestine. In addition to Starbucks' overall shoddy corporate record, Starbucks chairman Harold Schultz is an active Zionist and champion of Israel. He has worked actively as a propagandist for the Israeli foreign ministry (which has praised him for his efforts in presenting the Israeli view on various campuses), and has been awarded "The Israel 50th Anniversary Tribute Award" by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah. In addition, Starbucks has numerous stores operating in Israel and is looking toward expanding its Israeli presence.


Rally against Racism at the Targum
Tuesday, November 12th

1:00 p.m.
Brower Commons: Rutger's University
145 College Ave
New Brunswick, NJ

Endorsed by NJ Solidarity and American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee - New Jersey.

YOU CAN HELP IMMEDIATELY. DOWNLOAD, PRINT AND POST FLYERS. Flyer 1 or Flyer 2

The DAILY TARGUM, the daily campus newspaper of Rutgers University, on Monday, November 4, 2002, ran a racist advertisement demonizing all Palestinian children as future suicide bombers, declaring that while an athlete is "Israeli school children's hero," a suicide bomber is "Palestinian school children's hero." Despite previous precedent of--at the very least--publishing an editors' note indicating the offensive nature of the advertisement, the Targum printed the half-page advertisement without comment. For more information on the racist advertisement, see our Action Alert.

Since that time, the Targum has received numerous phone calls, letters, and meetings with student and community representatives demanding an apology for running the racist advertisement, free space to affected communities at the University to respond (as was provided in past incidents of Targum-publishedracist material) and fair and balanced coverage. Despite the volume of complaints received, the Targum has refused to make a public statement about the issue or apologize for its lack of recognition of anti-Arab racism.

OUR VOICES MUST BE HEARD!

We call upon ALL communities affected by media racism to come together in common struggle! Unite against media bias and racism--speak out! Only through our unity and action will change be won.


Norman Finkelstein
Monday, November 4th

"Whither the Peace Process"

7:00 p.m.
Douglass College Center, Trayes B
100 George Street (click for map)
New Brunswick, NJ

Directions by mass transit: Take NJ Transit Rail to the New Brunswick Station. At the corner of Somerset & George (next to train station) take an F bus. Stay on the bus through downtown New Brunswick. When the driver announces "Cooper Dining Hall/Douglass College Center," (first oncampus stop), get off the bus and walk half a block to the Douglass College Center.

Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate from the Department of Politics, Princeton University, for a thesis on the theory of Zionism. He is the author of four books: Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Verso, 1995), The Rise and Fall of Palestine (University of Minnesota, 1996), with Ruth Bettina Birn, A Nation on Trial: The Goldhagen Thesis and Historical Truth (Henry Holt,1998) and The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Verso, 2000). His writings have appeared in prestigous journals such as the London Review of Books, Index on Censorship, Journal of Palestine Studies, New Left Review, Middle East Report, Christian Science Monitor and Al Ahram Weekly. Currently he teaches political science at DePaul University in Chicago.

Norman Finkelstein was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1953. He is the son of Maryla Husyt Finkelstein, survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, Maidanek concentration camp, and Zacharias Finkelstein, survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, Auschwitz concentration camp. He dedicated his first book to his parents in which he wrote: "May I never forgive or forget what was done to them."


Islamic Society of Rutgers University presents:
"Silent No More - The Truth About Palestine"
Thursday, October 31st

7:00 p.m.
Busch Campus Center, Room 120
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ

Br. Ronald Chavez Hassan, Administrator & Educator at East Orange Islamic Day School, will present a brief overview of the situation in Palestine. The evening will also feature eyewitness accounts from activists, including NJ Solidarity members, who spent time in Palestine this past summer.


Penny Rosenwasser of the Middle East Children's Alliance
Tuesday, October 29th

"The Face of Re-Occupation"

7:00 p.m.
New Brunswick Public Library
60 Livingston Ave
New Brunswick, NJ

Penny Rosenwasser spent 3 weeks in July doing solidarity actions with peace activists in Israel and Palestine, visiting and photographing unforgettable people and places in the region. She will present a slideshow and discussion revealing the quality of life under the occupation and the efforts of activists seeking peace and justice. She is Assistant Director of the Middle East Children's Alliance and author of "Voices from a 'Promised Land': Palestinians and Israeli Peace Activists Speak Their Hearts."


Protest - No War on Iraq!
Thursday, October 24th

4:00 p.m.
Brower Commons: Rutger's University
New Brunswick, NJ

Click here for list of endorsements.

Across the country and around the world, in communities, towns and schools, people are coming together to take a stand for justice: to say that blood shall not be spilled in a quest for empire and oil. On October 24, 2002, the people of New Jersey must take a stand to join in that call!

We will say that endless war against the world shall not take place in our names; that we say NO to war with Iraq; that we say NO to bombing Vieques; that we say NO to the occupation and oppression of Palestine! We say YES to unity, to resistance, to struggle and to liberation---to making our voices heard against unjust war and oppression around the world.

As we protest, as we speak, US bombs are being prepared to fall on Iraq. These bombs have been falling, repeatedly, since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. The onslaught on the Iraqi people has never been lifted; bombs and sanctions have marked a wide swath of misery through Iraq.

As we protest, as we speak, US bombs are falling on Vieques. Puerto Rican land, long an area of colonialization, is also a testing ground for depleted uranium, for dangerous weapons that kill Puerto Ricans in order to provide a more effective means for killing Iraqis.

As we protest, as we speak, US-made fighter planes are buzzing over the Gaza Strip and West Bank, dropping US-made bombs and missiles on the people of Palestine. The Israeli government engages in its occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people with the money and weapons provided them by the US government. The monstrous injustice and dispossession visited upon Palestine the US and its Israeli client are brutal attacks designed to eliminate a population.

In Colombia, in the Philippines, in Afghanistan, in the Sudan, in Yugoslavia, the US military and US weapons have killed and continue to kill thousands and dispossess millions. We must take a stand to say that these wars are unacceptable, that the American people wish for something better than death and destruction, for ourselves, our children, and our fellow humanity around the world. We demand more: we demand justice.

We demand justice in our own nation for all of its residents. We demand the protection and expansion of our civil liberties. We demand that the Iraqi people not be killed in a quest of greed. We demand an end to the use of Puerto Rican land as a bombing range for the US military. We demand an end to US aid to Israel and support for the liberation struggle of the Palestinian people. We demand change, and we stand for action!


Special Event: Film showing - "After Jenin"
followed by a presentation from The Baladna Tour
Tuesday, October 22nd

After Jenin: The filming took place immediately after the first withdrawal of Israeli forces from Jenin & other West Bank towns, following a month long killing and destruction rampage last April. Filmed in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Tel Aviv, the film interweaves the story of events on the ground of the massacre perpetrated by the invading forces in the Jenin refugee camp. It also includes a brief account of the historical events that led to the establishment of Israel, & the several attempts to reach peace agreements. The documentary also features interviews with Palestinian academics, multi-national officials, and activists from Amnesty International.

The Baladna Tour: Four young Palestinian citizens of Israel, members of Baldana, a pluralistic, democratic youth organization focusing on Arab and Palestinian identity and culture within Israel, will come to Rutgers to share their thoughts and experiences. See Baladna website for more information about this group.

Demonstration - Free the Detainees
Saturday, October 12th

2:00 p.m.
Passaic County Jail
Directions

Endorsed by NJ Solidarity.

Click here for more details.


Audrey Bomse, Esq.
Thursday, October 10th

"Justice vs. Israel: Two Separate and Unequal Legal Systems in Israeli Democracy"


Demonstration - Not In Our Name
Sunday, October 6th

1:00 p.m.
East Meadow, Central Park, NYC (enter at Fifth Avenue and 97th Street)

Endorsed by NJ Solidarity.
Stand up to resist the U.S. government's:

See Not In Our Name web site for more details.


Thursday, October 3rd - Joachim Martillo

"Issues and Questions in the Historiography of Pre-State Zionism"

Academic and general understanding of modern Europe and the Middle East has been severely harmed because many scholars of political, intellectual or cultural history fail to integrate the analysis of Zionism into the context of contemporaneous Central and Eastern European development. To study Zionism as a case of Jewish exceptionalism begs important ethical questions, conceals the connections of Zionism to similar Central and Eastern European political movements and is probably racist. Come see Joachim Martillo as he surveys the field.

Joachim Martillo attended undergraduate school at Harvard University and received his graduate degree from Yale University. As a scholar, Joachim taught at both Harvard and MIT. Joachim is a commentator for many web related sites on Zionist myth, ideology and history.


Film: Gaza Strip
Saturday, September 28th

"GAZA STRIP pushes the viewer headlong into the tumult of the Israeli-occupied Gaza, examining the lives and views of ordinary Palestinians.

The documentary often sees the world through the eyes of young people. The central character is Mohammed Hejazi, a 13-year-old paperboy in Gaza City, one of the young "stone-throwers" who risk their lives throwing rocks at Israeli tanks across the barbwire fences. As the newspapers arrive announcing Ariel Sharon's victory in the Israeli elections, Mohammed offers up tirades against Arafat and Sharon alike. We also catch glimpses of his inner world: his sense of hopelessness, his sorrow at the IDF killing of his best friend, his conception of death.

As the camera floats through the Gaza Strip, we encounter signs of the occupation everywhere: crowds of Palestinians are making their way along the beach on foot, donkey carts and tractor trailers when the Israeli soldiers close the roads. The Palestinians interviewed as they pass by reveal a common internal conflict, between anger at the Israeli occupation and the desire to live in peace."

Running time: 73 minutes


Reportback from Palestine
Monday, September 16th

Click here for details.


Alison Weir
Monday, August 19th

Click here for flyer.

Selected articles by Alison Weir:
Gaza Under Siege
Visiting Gaza



Report from Occupied Palestine
Tuesday, April 9th

8:00 p.m.
Douglass College Center, Women's Center
100 George Street (click for map)
New Brunswick, NJ

Jim Davis, a Rutgers University graduate student who worked for months with the International Solidarity Movement in occupied Palestine, working to build nonviolent resistance and community programs, has just returned from Ramallah after being deported by the Israeli government! He will discuss what he saw, the experience of the Palestinian people and their struggle, the new Israeli onslaught and the possibilities for organizing in solidarity. Jim has incredible first-hand knowledge of the situation in the Middle East and a great deal to share with the community!