Palestinian Popular Conference in the US and more

Silence is complicity

The following surreal direct quote from Haaretz about the Abbas-Olmert
meeting is for those who still think there is possibility of a two state
"solution". Israel has half a million colonial settlers living in the West
Bank (the remaining 1/5th of Palestine slated for a "state") and that number
grows daily as we speak.

"David Baker, an Olmert spokesman, said the leaders did not discuss the core
issues of the conflict [i.e. refugees, settlements, borders etc] or conduct
negotiations. 'Both sides decided to expand the contents of their
discussions in order to advance the understandings ... to allow further
progress to be made for the establishment of a Palestinian state,' Baker
said. At the outset of the talks earlier Monday Olmert said 'I came here in
order to discuss the fundamental issues outstanding between Israel and the
Palestinian Authority, hoping that this will lead us soon into negotiations
about the creation of a Palestinian state.'"!!!!

Billions more of our taxes to fund the Israeli colonization over the next 10
years and they may "expand the contents of their discussions in order to
advance the understandingsto allow further progress to be made for the
establishment of a Palestinian state" ...in the Gaza Palustan or maybe in
JORDAN. Meanwhile ethnic cleansing continues unabated (e.g. in the Jordan
Valley, five houses were demolished just yesterday, see also
http://stopthewall.org/latestn ews/1513.shtml ).  Amira Hass reports in
Haaretz on the fact that "Hebron Jews routinely harass and bully
Palestinians"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/890981.html And "A new bill in the
Knesset seeks to perpetuate discrimination against Israel's Arab citizens"
(Guardian article By Richard Silverstein)
http://commentisfree.guardian .co.uk/richard_silverstein/2007/07/the_right_to_discrimi nate.html

These or hundreds of other atrocities are made possible because the US
continues to be Israeli occupied territory also (thanks to the traitorous
Zionist lobby).  But there are good news.

Israel boycott campaign momentum grows
http://www.greenleft.org.au /2007/719/37305

ALERT From Australian Women for Palestine: TIME Magazine and particularly
the brave journalist who wrote the following article need your support
because thousands of letters will attack him for writing it and TIME for
publishing it. TIME's email address: letters@time.com
http://www.time.com/time /magazine/article/0,9171,1649291,00.html

Zionists bilked tens of billions of dollars from Germany (80 billion alone)
and other countries for Nazi era events (as Norman Finkelstein and others
documented).  The survivors got peanuts.  Now over 60 years later, protests
shatter the mirage of Zionism caring about holocausy survivors.
From Haaretz: Survivors' protest makes foreign journalists gasp, security
vanish
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/890263.html
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Al-Nakba: 60 Years of Catastrophe…60 Years of Resilience

Palestinian Popular Conference in the US
August 8-10, 2008
Chicago, Illinois

Efforts to convene a popular conference for all Palestinians in the United
States on August 8, 2008 continue unabated. It has been little over a year
since the call for a popular conference for the Palestinian people in the US
was circulated. Since then, the response has been, for the most part,
enthusiastic. More meetings were convened. More ideas were exchanged.
Students, youth, workers, housekeepers, artists, and teachers who
spearheading this endeavor recognize the imperative of holding a
community-wide meeting of Palestinian Americans for the purpose of making
our community's contribution to the Palestinian struggle more effective and
united.

The conference will be an arena for the larger sector of our community to
assert its voice for a Free Palestine, and is support of persecuted
Palestinians, whether they live in Gaza, Haifa, Nablus, Nazareth, Baghdad,
Lebanon, Chicago, or Tampa. Equally important, the conference will prove
wrong those who are urging the Palestinian people to forfeit its legitimate
national and human rights due to an unfavorable balance of power.

Palestinians in the US are doubly obligated to assume a central role in the
struggle for a Free Palestine—they constitute one of the most affluent
Palestinian communities in the shataat, and the country of which they are
citizens or residents, the United States, has played a decisive role in
subverting and destroying the Palestinians' rights, aspirations, and lives.

Therefore, we call on our fellow Palestinians and their supporters in the US
to join this much-needed effort to unite and maximize the effectiveness of
our community. It is time for us to transcend the self-destructive
fragmentation and inter-organizational animosities that continue to afflict
our ranks, taking as our terms of reference the common aspirations of our
people, whether in exile or under occupation-- self determination, equality,
implementation of the right of return, and ending the occupation and
colonization of Palestine.

Get involved and participate in the efforts to organize the Popular
Conference.  For more information: contact palestineconferenceusa@yahoo.com
, or call Monadel Herzallah at
(408) 849-7977.

Donate and help us with conference-associated expenses, including ensuring
wide community participation.

Make a secure donation, using your credit card, through Paypal.. Click on:
http://www.palestineconference.org/donate.html and follow the instructions.

Alternatively, send your donation to:
USPCN (US Palestine Conference Network)*
P.O. Box 22518
San Francisco, CA 94122
Register for the conference. Please, click:
http://www.palestineconference .org/register.html ,or by sending an email to
palestineconferenceusa@yahoo.com
Endorse the Popular Conference. Email your organization's endorsement to
conference@palestineconference.org

The Popular Conference Coordinating Committee:
Monadel Herzallah, Mazin Qumsiyeh, Khairi Shadeed, Emad El-Khatib, Noura
Erekat, Magdi Odeh, Hatem Abudayyeh, Abbas Hamidah, Samir Tuffaha, Hesham
Tillawi                         _____________________________
*The US Palestinian Conference Network (USPCN is registered with the State
of Illinois. Its application for recognition of its 501 (c) (3), tax-exempt
status is pending final approval).
**List of endorsers:
Organizations
Aidoun/Returnees (Lebanon)
Aidoun/Returnees (Syria)
AJYAL Center (Lebanon)
Al-Khalisa Association (Lebanon)
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition (USA)
American Muslims for Palestine (USA)
Association of Women for Jerusalem (Lebanon)
General Union of  Palestinian Students, SFSU
Jaridat Sawt Al-Wihda--Voice of Unity Newspaper (Lebanon)
Palestine Solidarity Group (USA)
Palestinian American Congress (USA)
Palestinian American Federation (USA)
Palestinian Arab Center (Lebanon)
Palestinian Popular Gathering (Lebanon)
Tarshiha Youth Movement (Lebanon)

Individuals
Dr. Rabab Abdel Hadi, Dearborn, Michel Shehadeh, San Francisco, CA, MI Dr.
Naseer Aruri, Boston, MA Ali Abunimah, Chicago, IL Dr. Elaine Hagopian,
Boston, MA Dr. Salman Abu Sitta, Kuwait City, Kuwait Dr. Ghada Talhami,
Chicago, IL, Dr. Hillary Rantisi, New Haven, CT, Dr Souad Dajani, Boston,
MA, Eyad Kishawi, San Francisco, CA, Salah Salah, Beirut, Lebanon, Linda
Sobeh, Houston, TX, Dr. George Bisharat, San Francisco,  CA, Dr. Hatem
Bazian, San Francisco, CA