[Peace-discuss] Palestinian Truth Tour (fwd)

[Carol Inskeep]

These folks are scheduled to come through Urbana, sponsored by AWARE on
April 13th.  Please take a minute and skim their info.  We hosted them
last fall also...  cpi



*Please circulate widely*

Palestinian Truth Tour - Midwest 2003

Tour Info:

By giving first-hand accounts of activis'ts experiences in Palestine, we hope to give more information about the reality of life under occupation.  This tour gives voice to those the mainstream media chooses to ignore - the activists living and working with the people in Palestine.  The tour consists of a group of diverse volunteers who will be sharing their experiences through video, pictures, music and art.  We hope to appeal to a broad and diverse audience across the Midwest.  We also hope local groups will be able to use this tour to support their local organizing, outreach and fundraising, as well as to raise awareness and encourage activism.


Speakers:  Not all speakers will be available at all events - further details are available.  

**Possible speaker depending on arrest and deportation status**:  Susan Barclay:  An amazing activist who has spent nearly a year working in Nablus as a coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement.  Susan is currently facing arrest and deportation as a result of her non-violent actions in Palestine.  Her case has drawn the attention of the press - both domestic and international.  

Iron Sheikh:  A Palestinian-American hip-hop artist from the Bay Area.  He has a new CD coming out March 17.  An an activist for seven years, the Iron Sheikh merges his political activism with his music.  

Liv Leader:  Liv has been one of a growing number of Jewish Americans standing
against the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. Leader received her BA in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College in 2002 and has since been working for Tikkun Magazine in Berkeley, CA.  In addition, she is a contributing photographer and
editor for Muslim Wake Up.  She was been to Palestine and Israel three times, most recently as an activist with the International Solidarity Movement.  She also spent four months working with the Alternative Information Center.  

Garrick Ruiz:  Garrick Ruiz has been an organizer and activist in Los Angeles for nearly a decade.  On his second trip to Palestine in the summer of 2002 he spent nearly three months working as a coordinator in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement.  While there he accompanied ambulances, engaged in monitoring Israeli 
military checkpoints, stayed in homes threatened with destruction, documented human rights abuses by the Israeli Occupation Forces, accompanied Palestinians in demonstrations and many other activities.  He is most currently working in L.A. on issues of labor and divestment.

Hadeel Assali:  A Palestinian-American currently active in
Al-Awda-Chicago and AWSA (Arab Women Solidarity
Association).  Before coming to Chicago, she was an
organizer at University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where she was involved with the divestment campaign and other Palestine solidarity work.

Flo Razowsky:  An activist based in Minneapolis who has also spent time in Occupied Palestine.  Recently she has co-coordinated the Art Across Borders Exhibit, which features work from artists in Palestine and Iraq.

Kelly Bornshlegel:  Activist based in Madison, WI who has spent time volunteering in Occupied Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement.

More speakers are also in the process of being finalized!

Logistics:

The tour will be taking part in events in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan from April 2 - April 17. Local groups are asked to provide a venue and local promotion for events.  If anyone is interested in hosting or would like more information on the tour, please email kel156 at yahoo.com or kbornshlegel at yahoo.com  We are looking for new venues to incorporate into our schedule.


 Most events will feature 2-3 performers, with stories, video, pictures and music.  We are completely flexible depending on the needs of the audience, but the event will generally run 45 minutes to an hour with time left for question and answer.  We will be performing in a variety of venues - public forums, concerts, radio shows, open mics, and school presentations.  We are always open for new and creative forms of presentation

Who is sponsoring this tour?

We are activists from the International 
Solidarity Movement 
(www.palsolidarity.org); Al-Awda, the Palestinian 
Right of Return Coalition 
(www.al-awda.org); SUSTAIN (Stop US Tax Aid to 
Israel Now - 
www.sustaincampaign.org); and Jews Against the 
Occupation 
(www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org); among other 
groups.  For more 
information on us, see below for news coverage of 
the other tours we’ve 
sponsored.

4) Press Coverage of previous tours:

We’ve had events covered by radio, tv and 
newspapers across the US. Here are 
some links to news coverage of previous tours:

Midwest Tour:
>From Urbana, Illinois:
http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/8150/index.php
>From St. Louis, Missouri:
http://www.stlimc.org/front.php3?article_id=3834&group=webcast

Winter Tour:
>From Jackson, Mississippi:
http://www.etv.state.ms.us/news/0301/stories.html#030113 
(audio file)
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0301/13/m07.html
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=574_0_1_0_C
>From Atlanta, Georgia:
http://atlanta.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=11637&group=webcast





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