Fwd: Notes from Abigail

[Rachel Roberts]

a...@balatacamp.net wrote:

Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 12:07:24 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Notes
From: a...@balatacamp.net
To: "Zakharia, Toufic" <tzak...@miamigov.com>,
rache...@yahoo.com

hey rachel and toufic- here's the new e-mails and the notes- feel free to
add anything to the notes if i left something out:


Notes for first PJI meeting- 01-07-07:

-We went over the points of unity- Rachel emphasized the importance of
these points in order for everyone in the group to be on the same page, we
made a few changes including not writing specific organizations that we
agree with (such as the Masalla and Adalla centers) since not all of us
were familiar with the groups and felt uncomfortable saying that we agree
with everything they do. Instead, we thought it would be better to just
state the kind of work we support, in general, instead of specific
organizations. Also several people suggested adding links on the points
of unity on the blog in order to site the international laws that we refer
to, and also putting some facts on how much money is going to Israel (aka
"the special relationship")
-We discussed if we as a group should have a stance on whether we support
a One State or Two State Solution... we came to the conclusion to state up
front that it is for Palestinians and Israelis to decide that solution and
we support a solution based on justice- and not an imbalanced power
dynamic.
_ everyone agreed that we should keep the demand for the Palestinian right
to return- even though we've already received criticism for that.
- The details/semantics of the mission statement will be further discussed
over the blog/e-mail as to not spend the whole meeting on wording!

-We discussed the January 13 event, which is going to be at the UU church
next saturday- and how everyone should distribute flyers and bring snacks!
Abigail will also bring embroidery/t-shirts from the Palestine Children's
Welfare Fund to sell at the event.

-We talked about the possibility of bringing Rachel's friend Sami to Miami
to speak- he is returning from having spent the last 7 or so months in
Lebanon- we were all excited about bringing him- and Abigail will find out
from S.U.P.E.R. if we can use their funds for his plane ticket.

- also Jeff Halper from the Israeli Coalition Against Home Demolitions is
going to be coming on a U.S. tour this year, so we discussed how it would
be really great to bring him, especially to try to get a gig for him at a
synagogue.

- We talked about beginning the steps of becoming US campaign
congressional District Coordinators, we discussed the importance of
putting pressure on our Congress people- since so much anti-Palestinian
legislation comes out of South Florida. In general, people felt
intimidated to "bottom line" this aspect alone, and would rather if the
group worked on it all together. It seems as though Rachel (and maybe
Toufic) will probably start the beginning steps and then maybe more tasks
can be delegated later on....

-Abigail gave a lil update on the idea for the Balata Film Collective
Fundraiser- the urgency of sending the money has dwindled, and so Abigail
is more excited about having a free "Cafe Intifada" show- where the new
Balata Films are shown, we have Shaheed perform some Palestinian hip-hop,
and hopefully there are more poets, and music... She will keep everyone
updated once she gets a hold of the films.

- Aury talked about the fundraiser for ASWAT- Palestinian Gay Women- which
is going to be January 21- where the movie "zero degrees of separation"
will be shown ( a film about palestinian- israeli queer couples are
affected by the occupation) and there will be fun queer performers and
dance party.

-It was an exciting start to the Palestinian and Jewish Initiative for
Justice! Hooray for everyone who came! Let's all spread the word about
our first event on Saturday!

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[muhammed malik]

i have some palestinian friends who are activists with me. two women,
also students at fiu. i think their input would be invaluable. i shall
try to bring them to the event at the UU Church . i think it's
important to have more palestinians (whatever their background:
americanized, from arab countries, muslim or christian, and/or
secular) get involved in the decision-making processes of this
organization. one of the concerns of some of my palestinian friends
(this is from their past experience) was that they flt marginalized
from movements either because they were not as americanized or because
the leadership tended to be more top-down and less representative of
the view of palestnians in palestine. but i'll invite my friends to
the UU church so that they can see for themselves. i think they'll
feel comfortable. you must understand their concern. in a post-911
world, being palestinian (especially if you are muslim) doesn't ease
over concerns about the consequences of speaking your mind freely.

in solidarity,

muhammed

[rachelhinda]

Hey Muhammed,

Sorry I'm so late in responding. Things have been a bit busy and my great-uncle died yesterday. Of course I understand your friends' concerns. Please let them know that they can be involved without putting themselves "out there." And also tell them that we as a group can take measures to insure that our meeting space is safe if it makes them more comfortable. In terms of people not being Americanized enough, I've had experience organizing in Pstine and here in the U.S. as have a few of our other participants. Sometimes the cultural divide can be hard to bridge, but we need their input. If they're comfortable with you, then this is a first step. In terms of folks here not understanding the concerns of people in Palestine, I'd need to hear more of what they mean because this could mean a number of different things. If you could tell us more it would be of real value to us. I'd be really happy to meet them or email with them if they have additional concerns that need to be addressed.

Best,

R

muhammed malik <activis...@gmail.com> wrote:

i have some palestinian friends who are activists with me. two women,
also students at fiu. i think their input would be invaluable. i shall
try to bring them to the event at the UU Church . i think it's
important to have more palestinians (whatever their background:
americanized, from arab countries, muslim or christian, and/or
secular) get involved in the decision-making processes of this
organization. one of the concerns of some of my palestinian friends
(this is from their past experience) was that they flt marginalized
from movements either because they were not as americanized or because
the leadership tended to be more top-down and less representative of
the view of palestnians in palestine. but i'll invite my friends to
the UU church so that they can see for themselves. i think they'll
feel comfortable. you must understand their concern. in a post-911
world, being palestinian (especially if you are muslim) doesn't ease
over concerns about the consequences of speaking your mind freely.

in solidarity,

muhammed

On 1/8/07, Rachel Roberts wrote:
>
>
>
> a...@balatacamp.net wrote:
> Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 12:07:24 -0600 (CST)
> Subject: Notes
> From: a...@balatacamp.net

> To: "Zakharia, Toufic" ,

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