[Peace-discuss] support the signers of the Toronto protest of the Israeli occupation

[Robert Naiman]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Cecilie Surasky, Jewish Voice for Peace <info at jewishvoiceforpeace.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 15, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Subject: Attacks on my heroes
To: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org


 Dear Robert,

         <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=sRMyMk5%2F%2B5gUEnjhiPxTN6295kTWydhu>

 * Sign the petition<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9q0PNLbod%2FPS4Q75H0ytG6295kTWydhu>to
support Walker, Klein, Ensler, Belafonte, Mortensen and over 1,000
signers of the Toronto Declaration. Say no to the smears. *

            Do you know that terrible feeling you get when someone you care
about is viciously attacked for something they haven't done? I got that
feeling when I heard the outrageous charges against amazing and courageous
people like Alice Walker, Noam Chomsky, Judith Butler, Naomi Klein, Daniel
Boyarin, and Jane Fonda. *They need our
support.*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hqnZoqx5NSCRGyR0BLpHRK295kTWydhu>

Why? Because they signed "The Toronto Declaration", a letter questioning the
wisdom of unconditionally celebrating Tel Aviv and Israel at the Toronto
International Film Festival just months after the brutal attack on Gaza. The
letter they signed opposes this celebratory spotlight on Tel Aviv when 1.5
million Gazans suffer the effects of an ongoing blockade of food, medical
supplies and goods; and while the Israeli government continues to dispossess
Palestinians from their homes and lands, without any accountability.  *
*

*Now, over 1,000 artists and writers who signed this statement, including
many Israelis and Palestinian and the people I named above, are being
falsely charged with boycott, censorship, and even, amazingly enough,
supporting the destruction of Israel.
*

Nothing could be further from the truth - *read the letter
yourself*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=6z%2B7IoS2cn4nHlHc9qClRq295kTWydhu>.
If anything, they've cracked the debate wide open, and said truths that must
be spoken if we are ever to reach a solution. The brave signers of the
letter, many of whom are leaders in the struggle *against* censorship and
repression, need your support. We need to continue standing up against the
bullying attacks against anyone who dares to question the status quo
regarding Israel. *We must not let them change the subject.* *Please sign
the petition saying you stand with
them.*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IoaAU9TS%2Fz3z6P9jXfw4AK295kTWydhu>

The part that infuriates me the most is that the people who signed
thisletter are not singling out Israel - the film festival did that.
The signers
of the letter are people of conscience who have devoted their lives to
social justice and who have spoken out on many issues, among them:

   - *Harry Belafonte* who marched with King and helped plan the March on
   Washington.
   - *Howard Zinn*, the voice of conscience of American History.
   - The legendary screenwriter *Walter Bernstein*, born in 1919, who was
   blacklisted and forced to testify before the House Un-American Activities
   Committee. He knows about real censorship and would never endorse it.
   - The playwright *Eve Ensler*, who has perhaps done more than anyone in
   the world to shine a spotlight on the mass rapes in the Congo.

They also include people like the Palestinian fillmaker *Elia Sulieman* and
Israeli filmmaker *Udi Aloni*, both of whom have films in the festival; the
actor and playwright *Wallace Shawn*; and musician *David Byrne*.

This story isn't just about a film festival. This is about defending the
right of people, no matter who they are, to express their views, to open up
the conversation, and to use nonviolent means to end Israel's occupation and
bring justice for all people to the region.

*Sign the petition
now.*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ODeQCMGtWreXU8Qntkc%2BKq295kTWydhu>





 Cecilie Surasky
Jewish Voice for Peace

P.S. We've put together several fact sheets that I'll hope you read and
distribute. This one is about the
*smears*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LSuWv2RXj2K3HLI0%2B5gqA6295kTWydhu>,
and this one is about the
*history*<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=AKfDl7M5VdDZrVTm1XKjHa295kTWydhu>of
the region.





  * *
* *




-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org

Senator Feingold Calls for Timetable for U.S. Troop Withdrawal from
Afghanistan
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/exit-afghanistan
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