Two Invitations to honor and forward ~ Window Into Palestine

Please forward this posting to those who might be interested. Two Invitations

1) Invitation to Book Launch "Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment"

Thursday 10 February 2011 at 6 PM

Bethlehem Peace Center, Manger Square, Bethlehem

Author, activist, and professor, Dr. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh summarizes and analyzes the rich 130+ year history of civil resistance in Palestine presenting challenges and opportunities faced in different historical periods with emphasis on trends, directions and lessons learnt. Nobel Peace laureate, Mairead Maguire has this to say about this book: 'Mazin Qumsiyeh's book is enlightening and powerful. It reveals the human suffering and destruction of Palestinian people and land, which are the appalling consequences of Israel's ethnic, nationalist, military, project that has displaced the indigenous Palestinian population and committed crimes of genocide and apartheid. In spite of such injustice, we can all take hope and inspiration from Mazin's stories of the lives of the courageous Palestinian people who make the real, often unrecorded, history. Their peaceful spirit and persevering struggle for human rights and international law, has been, and continues to be, carried out (in the main) by popular nonviolent resistance. Their method of active NV resistance deserve to be known more widely by the International community who need to see such examples, so they too can reject violence, militarism, and war, and build their security and freedom on Human rights and International Law.' Mairead Maguire, Nobel Prize Winner.

Book launch co-sponored by Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, Holy Land Trust, Miftah (The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy), Al-Rowwad Center and others (list in formation).

2) Come Visit Palestine July 8

Palestinian civil society organizations and peace and human rights defenders and activists on the ground call on civil society organizations and people of conscience around the world to come to Palestine July 8 for a week of fellowship and peace-building. Israel must recognize the basic human right of entering to Palestine by those who want to visit us (See the Right to Enter Campaign at http://www.righttoenter.ps/) and of the rights of Palestinians to live in freedom and dignity.

Palestinians throughout historic Palestine and in exile still believe in and work for peace based upon justice and trust that with the help of the international community we will achieve our peace and freedom and restore the values and principles that we share as human beings. We believe in peace-building based on nonviolence for implementation of International Law and Human Rights. We believe that every single one of us is a change maker, and nobody has the right to to deny us the access to suffering populations.

We invite you. We call upon you. Join us and be the change you want to see in this world. You will be accommodated locally and enjoy Palestinian hospitality and a program of networking, fellowship, and peace work in Palestinian towns and villages including land reclamation.

Local activist groups in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa are organizing delegations. Email us at info@palestinejn.org if you would like to be connected to the organizing group in your country or better yet, write to activist organizations in your city and ask them to take on the organizational aspects in your city in cooperation with us.

Sponsoring groups (in formation, email us if your group would like to sponsor)

Al-Rowwad Cultural and Theatre Training Centre, www.alrowwad-acts.ps

Alternative Information Center www.alternativenews.org

BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights:www.badil.org/

Bil'in Popular Resistance Committee www.bilin-village.org

Friends of Freedom and Justice, Bil'in www.bilin-ffj.org

Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign www.stopthewall.org

Holy Land Trust: www.holylandtrust.org

International Solidarity Movement: www.palsolidarity.org

Open Bethlehem: www.openbethlehem.org

Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People www.PCR.PS

Palestine Justice Network www.palestinejn.org