The panel included, in addition to Deek, Sherry Wolf of the International Socialist Organization and Adalah-NY; and arguing for the 2-state paradigm, authors and academics Norman Finkelstein and Stephen Shalom.

Deek’s presentation is a powerful argument for Palestinian liberation and contesting attempts to preserve Israeli supremacy:

Each spring Left Forum convenes the largest gathering in North America of the US and international Left. Continuing a tradition begun in the 1960s, we bring together intellectuals and organizers to share perspectives, strategies, experience and vision. For the US and the world, revitalizing an American Left has never been more urgent; Left Forum has a critical role to play in that undertaking. Register online here, or at the door.

Palestine panels at the Left Forum include the following:

Sat., June 8, 10:00am – 11:50am
The Fundamental Issue: Palestinian Right of Return
Details: http://www.leftforum.org/content/fundamental-issue-palestinian-right-return

Sun., June 9, 10:00am – 11:50am
Apartheid: We Don’t Buy It, the BDS Movement on the Rise
Details: http://www.leftforum.org/content/apartheid-we-dont-buy-it-bds-movement-rise

Sun., June 9, 12:00pm – 01:50pm
Emerging Revolt in the Arab World: Egypt, Palestine and Beyond
Details: http://www.leftforum.org/content/emerging-revolt-arab-world-egypt-palestine-and-beyond

Sun., June 9: 03:00pm – 04:50pm
Debate: How to solve the Israel-Palestine Conflict: 0, 1 or 2 State Solution: Lamis Deek and Sherry J. Wolf v. Norman Finkelstein and Stephen Shalom
Details: http://www.leftforum.org/content/how-solve-israel-palestine-conflict-0-1-or-2-state-solution

Also of interest:

Sat, June 8, 12:00 pm – 01:40 pm
Greenwashing Apartheid: the Jewish National Fund and the Colonization of Palestine
Details: http://www.leftforum.org/content/greenwashing-apartheid-jewish-national-fund-and-colonization-palestine

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AF3IRM NY Hosts Idle No More Founder

On May 25th, Saturday, from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, AF3IRM NY is sponsoring a public forum featuring Sylvia McAdam, one of Idle No More’s four founders and Kerry Coast, author of “The Colonial Present,” a book on the First Nations of British Columbia.

Ms. McAdam is of the Cree Nation and “has analysed the situation in Canada from the point of view of a woman who historic Treaty 6 with Canada is at risk of bring finally broken.”

Idle No More started as a social media-driven protest against continuing expropriation of First Nations lands in Canada and grew to a continent wide movement.

The two speakers come to AF3IRM courtesy of the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities.

Please RSVP by emailing nynj@af3irm.org as seating is limited for this forum.

Please donate soon and generously at
http://al-awdany.org/support-our-work/

On Wednesday April 3rd, Zionist forces murdered in cold blood Amer Nassar, 17, and Naji al-Balbisi, 18, who were protesting the murder by Zionist prison doctors of Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh. Israeli military and settlers are constantly harassing, beating, detaining, torturing and shooting children of all ages, as well as their parents.

Palestinian youth in New York City have been organizing consistently against these atrocities, and are now trying to get to the May 3-5 Conference of Palestinians in the shatat (diaspora) to reinvigorate, develop and carry out an effective strategy for our national movement for liberation and return. For too long the voices of those in the shatat, especially youth, have been excluded and the majority unrepresented in the decision-making and direction of our movement. But the recent escalation of violence against youth in Palestine has made youth in the shatat even more eager to take their rightful place as part of the leadership of our global movement!

To get to this conference these youth need your help! A round trip ticket to Vancouver from New York costs at least $500. Click here to donate now via Paypal.

The aims of the conference include “restoring our people’s morale and commitment to our national struggle for return and liberation, reviving our transnational unity and building our national liberation movement despite our geographical dispersion, and overcoming the current impasse of national fragmentation (socio-economic, political, geographic and ideological)…

“Conference participants will not only gain knowledge, but are expected to invest time, energy and willingness to collectively and democratically work with fellow Palestinians to re-build and revive our national liberation movement.”

Help us send a youth delegation to the conference!
Please donate at http://al-awdany.org/support-our-work/

Learn more about the conference: http://www.palestinianconference.org/call-conference-of-the-palestinian-shatat-in-north-america/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/338531666261119

Register online for the conference: http://www.palestinianconference.org/register/

From April 29 to May 2 Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine will be having an art exhibit that will showcase Palestine through the artwork of various individuals. We are accepting art that relates to Palestine, its culture and struggle, whether it is personally or politically derived. If you have an art piece please consider donating it, and if you don’t, consider making one!

The deadline for submissions is April 25th.

The minimum size of the artwork must be 11×14″ and the maximum size is 30×40.” Through this art exhibit we wil be commemorating the catastrophe known to Palestinians as Al-Nakba. The day when more than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and lands in 1948 to make way for the apartheid state of Israel. The art exhibit will help people understand that even though Palestinians are not allowed to return to their homes that their culture and roots are very much alive.

To donate art, please email brooklyncollegesjp@gmail.com. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Press conference to discuss new Israeli Apartheid ad on Metro North Line

(NEW YORK CITY 03/25/2013) – The American Muslims for Palestine, a national grassroots organization educating the public about Palestine and its rich cultural and historical heritage, today announced the launch  of its new nationwide outdoor advertising campaign, calling for an end to Israeli apartheid and to unconditional American aid for Israel. The ads, which will appear at 25 stations on the New York City Transit Authority’s Metro North line, will run for four weeks before moving to another metropolitan area elsewhere in the nation.

WHAT: PRESS CONFERENCE
WHEN: 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 26
WHERE: Metro North Harlem-125th Station, 101 E. 125th St. at Park Ave., New York 9 (Event will take place on street level, not on the platform)
WHO: American Muslims for Palestine
WHY: To raise awareness about Israel’s apartheid policies and how US aid supports it
SPEAKERS: Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP national chairman; Raja Abdulhaq, AMP-New York president; Lamis Deek of Al Awda-NY; Michael Letwin, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, and other solidarity partners

“We timed the release of our ads with President Obama’s visit to the Middle East to underscore his administration’s failure to address the true cause of conflict: Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and its racist apartheid policies, which subject Palestinians on a daily basis to humiliation, deprivation and a loss of their basic rights, including the freedom of movement,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman.

While Israel denies its policies constitute apartheid, one who knows the colonial, racist policies best, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, recognizes Israel as an apartheid state.

AMP’s ad quotes Tutu asserting, “I’ve been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa.”

Apartheid runs counter to every principle Americans hold dear. Israel’s military occupation violates the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness enshrined in our own Declaration of Independence.

Therefore, AMP is calling on President Obama and Congress to end US aid to Israel, which only enables and supports Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies against oppressed Palestinians.

The American Muslims for Palestine is a national, grassroots organization whose mission is to educate the American public about issues related to Palestine and its rich cultural and historical heritage. For more information, go to www.ampalestine.org.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY – SPECIAL EARLY BIRD RATE AVAILABLE!

Web: palestinianconference.org + Facebook + Twitter

Registration is NOW OPEN for the Conference of the Palestinian Shatat in North America! This conference – which will take place at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver on May 3-5, 2013 – will bring together Palestinian and Arab organizers, activists and community members to discuss our collective role as Palestinians in our liberation movement and assert our voice as Palestinians in shatat/exile.

There is more information about the conference at our website, palestinianconference.org This conference is being organized from the ground up, and will benefit from the active involvement and participation of Palestinian organizations and organizers across North America. The conference will include facilitated workshops, plenary discussions, conversations, and presentations – it welcomes your participation, your voice, and your active involvement in reclaiming the voice of the shatat.

REGISTRATION RATES:
Register early and save! Early bird special: March 11 – March 24: $25
Early Registration: March 25 – April 7, $35
General Registration: April 8 – April 22, $45
Late Registration: April 23 – May 1, $55
Registration closes on May 1st.

We will soon be posting accommodations information. If you have any questions, or require solidarity housing, please email us at housing@palestinianconference.org.

Highlights of the program include the two KEYNOTE PLENARIES:

PALESTINIAN REPRESENTATION: Raising Our Voices in the Shatat in North America

The PLO is historically regarded as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, an overarching mechanism by which we all came together to deliberate on the strategies of our national movement. In this plenary, we will discuss the histories of political representation in our national movement, and what representation might mean today. Some of the questions addressed will include: What did the PLO look like, what does it look like now, and how/can it be remade? What can we learn from our earlier revolutionary histories? How has the current lack of representation impacted our struggle, and our ability to develop a coherent and cohesive national strategy for liberation and return? How do we create representation bodies that are inclusive of all our people and forces, and serve the needs of our national movement? How do we embody our demands for popular and democratic representation in our own communities and associations?

LOOKING BACK, FORGING FORWARD: Strengthening our Organizing in the Shatat

This plenary will examine Palestinian organizing in the shatat, looking at the past and moving to the present day. We will discuss the reasons and implications for how different methods and mechanisms came to frame our organizing as part of our liberation movement, and consider frameworks moving forward. Some of the questions addressed will include: What have been the organizing trends within the history of our movement? What has been the historical role of students, workers, and women? How do we forge our role and revitalize our sense of national responsibility in the shatat? How do our communities currently organize? What internal and external challenges are confronting our communities? How do we build community accountability and organizing discipline? How can we imagine and strategize ways to connect our organizing in North America with our brothers and sisters on the ground and in exile?

This is a critical time for the Palestinian people and the national liberation movement, and this conference is an opportunity to connect, build and mobilize our people in North America. Conference participants will not only gain knowledge, but are expected to commit themselves to collectively and democratically working together to re-build and revive our national liberation movement.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY – Confirm the special Early Bird Rate!

LIBERATION and RETURN: The Conference of Palestinian Shatat in North America
May 3-5, 2013
Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories
Canada

As we approach our 65th year of exile from our homeland, the need for Palestinians in the shatat (diaspora) to reinvigorate, develop and carry out an effective strategy for our national movement for liberation and return is as urgent as ever.  For too long our voices have been excluded and the majority of us have been unrepresented in the decision-making and direction of our movement.

We call on all Palestinian activists, organizers and community members in the shatat to join us in this historical gathering to re-examine our history and build together towards a free future for our people and land by putting an end to Zionist colonization and normalization everywhere throughout the Palestinian and Arab homeland.

Join us to plan, discuss and learn from each other about our homeland and how we can become active participants in reviving our movement. The conference will include facilitated workshops, plenary discussions, conversations, and presentations – it welcomes your participation, your voice, and your active involvement in reclaiming the voice of the shatat.

At a time when Zionist colonization continues its incessant destruction and exploitation of Palestine and our people, our body-politic remains fragmented, with empty, unrepresentative and often corrupt national institutions and leadership, and a clouded vision of how to move forward towards our national aspirations for return and liberation.

This conference aims to work towards: restoring our people’s morale and commitment to our national struggle for return and liberation, reviving our transnational unity and building our national liberation movement despite our geographical dispersion, and overcoming the current impasse of national fragmentation (socio-economic, political, geographic and ideological).

Participation is a right, but also a duty.  Conference participants will not only gain knowledge, but are expected to invest time, energy and willingness to collectively and democratically work with fellow Palestinians to re-build and revive our national liberation movement.

Learn more about the conference: http://www.palestinianconference.org/call-conference-of-the-palestinian-shatat-in-north-america/

Register online for the conference: http://www.palestinianconference.org/register/

Guidelines for Participation

We look forward to seeing you at the conference and working together! Contact the organizing committee at palestinianconference@gmail.com!

READ: Did the NYPD Entrap Ahmed Ferhani?
http://www.thenation.com/article/173201/did-nypd-entrap-ahmed-ferhani?page=full#
For more information: justiceforahmed.com

Please come support or cover the sentencing of Ahmed Ferhani, who expects to receive a ten-year prison sentence. 

Ahmed Ferhani is a 27-year-old Algerian-American who has lived in East Elmhurst, Queens since he was a child. He is a hip-hop musician, jewelry designer, and aspiring actor.

“We think this is a case that was brought in bad faith to justify the illegal and unconstitutional campaign of the police and the district attorney’s office to further their agendas … and to criminalize the Muslim community,” one of his attorneys, Elizabeth Fink, told the AP in June.

Ahmed was arrested in May of last year for his involvement in an NYPD-orchestrated and funded entrapment scheme that was meant to make it appear that Ahmed planned to attack a synagogue. Ahmed met an NYPD agent who went by the name Ilter in late 2010. Ilter befriended Ahmed and quickly gained his trust. Ilter pursued Ahmed, driving him to doctor’s appointments, spending money on him, lending him money, and calling him his brother.

Ahmed was a vulnerable target–he was broke, unemployed, depressed, and struggling with emotional imbalances. The NYPD was fully aware of Ahmed’s condition, and most likely chose him as a target because of it. Ahmed was tricked and coaxed into a scheme that was completely initiated, constructed, and performed by NYPD agents preying on one Muslim man who they knew to be impressionable and in need of help.

Federal terrorism authorities declined to prosecute this case, and the grand jury threw out the top charge against him, second degree conspiracy as a terror crime.

Join us in demanding justice for Ahmed, who got caught up in a sting operation preying on his psychological and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

And please donate to the defense fund for the case at justiceforahmed.com

What: Most critical and final date for entrapment victim Ahmed Ferhani
Where: 100 Centre Street, Manhattan, New York City, Part 51, 13 floor, Judge Obus
Time: 10am,
For more information: justiceforahmed.com

Please come support or cover the sentencing of Ahmed Ferhani, who will receive a ten-year prison sentence.

Ahmed Ferhani is a 27-year-old Algerian-American who has lived in East Elmhurst, Queens since he was a child. He is a hip-hop musician, jewelry designer, and aspiring actor.

“We think this is a case that was brought in bad faith to justify the illegal and unconstitutional campaign of the police and the district attorney’s office to further their agendas … and to criminalize the Muslim community,” one of his attorneys, Elizabeth Fink, told the AP in June.

Ahmed was arrested in May of last year for his involvement in an NYPD-orchestrated and funded entrapment scheme that was meant to make it appear that Ahmed planned to attack a synagogue. Ahmed met an NYPD agent who went by the name Ilter in late 2010. Ilter befriended Ahmed and quickly gained his trust. Ilter pursued Ahmed, driving him to doctor’s appointments, spending money on him, lending him money, and calling him his brother.

Ahmed was a vulnerable target–he was broke, unemployed, depressed, and struggling with emotional imbalances. The NYPD was fully aware of Ahmed’s condition, and most likely chose him as a target because of it. Ahmed was tricked and coaxed into a scheme that was completely initiated, constructed, and performed by NYPD agents preying on one Muslim man who they knew to be impressionable and in need of help.

Federal terrorism authorities have declined to prosecute this case, and the grand jury threw out the top charge against him, second degree conspiracy as a terror crime.

Join us in demanding justice for Ahmed, who got caught up in a sting operation preying on his psychological and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.

And please donate to the defense fund for the case at justiceforahmed.com

PLEASE SIGN THIS STATEMENT, GET YOUR ORGANIZATION TO SIGN, AND FORWARD WIDELY!