[Peace-discuss] Tomorrow (Monday): Israeli Army Refusenik and member of Anarchists Against the Wall will be speaking on campus!

[David Green]

Israeli Army Refusenik and member of Anarchists Against the Wall will be 
speaking on campus!

When: Monday, November 1st, 7pm
Where: Noyes Lab Room 217
What: Gal Lagassi will give a presentation about what anti-occupation organizing 
looks like on the ground in Palestine/Israel, focusing on mass mobilization 
against the construction of the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and West Bank 
separation wall. Gal is an Army refuser and member of Anarchists Against the 
Wall, a group that does direct solidarity work within occupied Palestine. 


Please note that the speaker has been changed. Sahar Verdi, who was initially 
going to speak, was denied entry into the US. 


Background info:
 
Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW) is an Israeli direct action group that was 
established in 2003 in response to the construction of the wall Israel is 
building on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. The group works in 
cooperation with Palestinians in a joint popular struggle against the 
occupation. Since its formation, the group has participated in hundreds of 
demonstrations and direct actions against the wall specifically, and the 
occupation generally, all over the West Bank.  AATW's work in Palestine is 
coordinated through Palestinian villages' local popular committees. 

 
The Israeli Refusenik Movement:

Military service is mandatory after high school for young Jewish Israelis. The 
Shministim are Israeli youth who refuse to serve in the army because it enforces 
Israel’s 40-year occupation of the Palestinians. While a number of Shministim 
letters have been written in the past (read about the first letter sent to Prime 
Minister Golda Meir here ), dozens of youth have signed the current letter for 
Shministim 2010, which states, "Our objection to becoming soldiers of the 
occupation stems from our loyalty to our values and to the society surrounding 
us, and it is part of our ongoing struggle for peace and equality, a struggle 
whose Jewish-Arab nature proves that peace and co-existence is possible. This is 
our way, and we are willing to pay the price." About one hundred signed last 
year’s 2009 Shministim letter. Each letter articulates the basis for refusal by 
members of that year’s “graduating class.” The Shministim face  prison terms as 
a result of their military refusal.
This event is sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine.


      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20101031/351383d1/attachment-0001.html>