[Peace] Palestine event: Israeli activist coming to campus!

[SJP UIUC]

*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*<http://december18th.org/2008/11/25/shministim-history/>),
dozens of youth have signed the
*current letter* <http://www.shministim.com/> for *Shministim
2010<http://december18th.org/2009/10/13/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.<http://www.refusingtokill.net/Israel/ShministimLetter2008.htm>
* 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.
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