Dear all,
Help defend ³The Struggle for Palestine² conference! Please
show up Saturday, October 2nd, at 8 a.m. to help defend the
conference from attack!
***********************************************************
This is an urgent message concerning "The Struggle for
Palestine: 4th Anniversary of the Intifada" conference tomorrow,
Saturday, October 2nd. The details of the conference are listed
in #2, below.
But I am writing all of you because of an article that came out
October 1, 2004, in FrontPageMagazine.com, entitled "Schools
For Jihad" by Lee Kaplan. (#1, below.)
Please read this article to get the extent of the attack that is
being waged against this conference, and against the whole
antiwar movement. Recently, at every demonstration called
against the war or in defense of the Palestinian people and
their fight for their land and their basic human rights,
a forceful group of Israeli Zionists has attempted to
disrupt the event.
Even though permits were secured by organizers for specific
areas such as Civic Center, Powell and Market, etc., Zionist
counter-demonstrators have been turning up in larger numbers
to disrupt our events. They occupy the area we have permits
for and carry out disruptive tactics such as heckling, taking
photos of demonstrators and speakers, etc. The police do
nothing. "It's still freedom of speech" they say.
At a community speakout on 24th and Mission, in solidarity
with Palestinian prisoners of war who were on a hunger strike,
a large group of Zionists attempted to surround our rally and
disrupt it with bullhorns and a giant boom box. Every one of
them had a camera and an Israeli flag and attempted to
photograph each of us and block us off from view of the
street.
At the June 30th demonstration at Union Square, a Zionist
supporter informed us that, "The Palestinians love the wall!"
Now they have termed all those who oppose the war on Iraq
and who defend the rights of Palestinians "terrorists"! They
claim we are "aiding the enemy" and thereby killing U.S. soldiers.
They are demanding that the School Board prohibit pro-Palestinian
or Antiwar groups the use of Public School facilities and more.
They will not go away on their own.
We can't allow them to disrupt this conference or any more
of our events. Please consider showing up and peacefully
supporting this conference tomorrow. It is up to us to defend
our right to freedom of speech and opinion and the public
expression of such.
While the U.S, is currently on the offensive in Iraq, Israel is
on the offensive in Palestine-lengthening the wall, bulldozing
homes, murdering and maiming children and preventing all
Palestinians from pursuing a happy and free life.
We have a right and an obligation to all of humanity to organize
opposition to these atrocities! This is not about anti-Semitism.
Many Jewish people are appalled at what is being done by Israel
in the name of all Jewish people around the world. Many are
opposed to sending $5 billion of our tax dollars to fund Israel's
murderous and larcenous rampage. Many Jewish people are part
of the antiwar and Free Palestine movements.
This is not about religion. This is about universal human rights
and freedom!
We must stand up to this attack! Show your support for peace
and solidarity. Attend this conference to demand:
FREE PALESTINE!
END ALL U.S. AID TO ISRAEL-NOT ONE MORE DIME!
END THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ AND AFTGHANISTAN!
BRING ALL OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!
MONEY FOR HUMAN NEEDS NOT WAR!
If you can, show up tomorrow, Saturday, October 2nd,
at 8 am at Horace Mann to help defend the conference.
Yours for peace and solidarity,
Bonnie Weinstein, Bay Area United Against War
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1) San Francisco Schools For Jihad
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 1, 2004
http://frontpagemagazine.com/
2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Conference:
October 2nd, 2004, beginning 9:00 a.m.
Horace Mann Middle School -
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
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1) San Francisco Schools For Jihad
By Lee Kaplan
FrontPageMagazine.com | October 1, 2004
http://frontpagemagazine.com/
The San Francisco Unified School District will host an event tomorrow
(Saturday, October 2) in support of overseas terrorist groups given by
the International Solidarity Movement and its affiliate, International
ANSWER. Taking place at Horace Mann Middle School in San FranciscoÂ’s
Mission District, the event is titled “The Struggle for Palestine: 4th
Anniversary of the Intifada.” The Intifada means the violent insurrection
started by the PLO in September, 2000 that has resulted in over 25,000
terror attacks and more than 1,000 innocent people deliberately murdered
in cold blood.
For the radical Left, this event is especially timely, since it follows
the beheadings of two American citizens in Iraq last week, a crime and
tragedy that undoubtedly will not be condemned during the proceedings at
the Horace Mann Middle School this weekend.
Overall, this event is only one example of the support for terrorism
(euphemistically called “resistance”). The fourth purpose listed for
holding the event on some of the organizersÂ’ websites is especially
intriguing. It is to garner:
Support for resistance in Palestine, and to make links with others who
are fighting against the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and against U.S.
imperialism around the world.
Can you guess what the organizers of this event mean by “fighting against
the U.S. occupation in Iraq?” They mean killing of our sons and daughters
in Iraq who are in the U.S. military. And can you guess whoÂ’s fighting
against them? The terrorists from al-Qaeda, the Ba'ath Party, Ansar
Al-Islam and any other members of the terrorist network.
The organizers of this event misrepresented themselves to the San
Francisco Unified School District by claiming their event would be an
impartial meeting of progressives to discuss the Middle East. If that
were really so, it should certainly fall under the parameters of free
speech. However, internal emails broadcasted by the organizers to their
email lists and on their websites tell another story of supporting
terrorism -- an illegal activity not covered by free speech provisions.
Simply put, this event is being staged in San Francisco with workshops
designed to train “activists” to undermine anti-terrorism efforts abroad
and to help devise ways to aid the “resistance” in Iraq that is killing
American soldiers and other Coalition forces. Some of the groups
participating also actively fundraise fungible assets that, once they
arrive overseas, can go toward financing more terrorism.
One canÂ’t really blame the Palestine Solidarity Movement (an affiliate of
the International Solidarity Movement, or ISM), and the alphabet soup of
names its proxy groups go under, for utilizing a publicly funded junior
high school to hold another series of workshops and training sessions.
After all, radicals bent on destroying Israel and attacking U.S. forces
in Iraq need a place to practice “direct action,” plot strategy and plan
fundraising. The public officials who rented the school to them for 12
hours on October 2nd, meanwhile, bear more blame for their lack of scrutiny.
The application form, filled out in the name of International ANSWER, a
group that supports North Korean communism, states the event is merely an
“Educational Forum on the Middle East.” There is no mention of
celebrating the Intifada or supporting the Iraqi Insurgency.
International ANSWER and its affiliate, the International Action Center
(IAC), advocate a communist revolution. The IAC is led by Ramsey Clark,
Saddam Hussein's defense attorney.
When the deception was pointed out to Phillip Smith, the head of the Real
Estate Department for the San Francisco Unified School District, he
claimed by email he was unable to say no to the organizers, citing
California Education Code 38130 which allows use of school facilities for
political groups.
This is erroneous, as I explained to the school districtÂ’s attorney,
Miguel Marquez. California Education Code 38130 also states, “The school
district may grant the use of the school facilities and grounds upon
certain terms and conditions deemed proper by the governing board,
subject to specified limitations, requirements, and restrictions set
forth within the law.” (Emphasis added.)
If thatÂ’s the case, the event should come under Title 18 Section 2339A of
the Federal Criminal Code and Rules and amended Sections 702 and 703
regarding aid to terrorism that extends criminal penalties to those who
engage in aiding terrorism overseas from within the United States.
Marquez claims the rights of freedom of speech are broad and that this
event in San Francisco is an “educational” event, like the organizers
claimed it is. However, he had no reply for me when I told him the event
at Horace Mann Middle School will contain workshops to deal with damaging
the Caterpillar CorporationÂ’s business in the U.S. (placing the school
district at liability also from Caterpillar), as well as other ways to
aid terrorist movements overseas as outlined for the event on multiple
websites. The Israeli army uses Caterpillar tractors to demolish the
homes of suicide bombers because those homes are used as bomb factories
or to house terrorist cells. And any other aid to those “fighting against
the US occupation in Iraq” would also fall into the category of aiding
terrorism overseas, whether by financial or material support as well as
through propaganda.
The copy of the rental agreement, filled out by a Saul Kanowitz of
International ANSWER, had no clauses in the event of misrepresentation of
events to be held on school property. Certainly, the San Francisco
Unified School District would not permit a similar event by the Ku Klux
Klan or the American Nazi Party on school grounds if such organizations
said they were holding educational discussions on American race in their
applications. In any case, the federal statues related to aiding
terrorists overseas gives the school district the right to act in a case
of clear misrepresentation by the organizers.
Kanowitz, who is gay, came to media attention when he sponsored a float
in the San Francisco Gay Pride parade equating the gay rights movement
with the Palestinian struggle to dismantle Israel. Jewish gay rights
activists in San Francisco were infuriated. Kanowitz was also active in
supporting Saddam HusseinÂ’s Iraq against the United States. Kanowitz is
hardly someone who was seeking to organize an objective educational forum
on the Middle East at Horace Mann Middle School.
Most agreements of other school districts in California regarding the
renting of school property for events all contain provisions such as this:
Persons or organizations applying for the use of school facilities shall
submit a statement of information indicating that the organization
upholds the state and federal constitutions and does not intend to use
school premises to commit unlawful acts.
The San Francisco Unified School District might consider adding such a
clause to its own rental applications.
To verify some information, I called one of the organizers of this event
listed on the Al Awda website who answered the phone saying, “ADC” (the
acronym for the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee). The ADC
claims to be an Arab civil rights group fighting discrimination against
Arabs and Muslims since 9/11. So why is it conducting events designed to
aid terrorist movements overseas, especially in Iraq?
Rayan Elamine, who identified himself as an employee of the ADC during my
telephone interview, told me the San Francisco event was organized for
people who could not make it to the bigger national conference being held
at Duke University, October 15th-17th, which will also host workshops on
how to aid the “resistance” in Iraq against U.S. soldiers and damage the
Caterpillar Corporation’s business . He also spoke of “neo-conservatives”
(Jews) in the U.S. government that are “running things.” When I asked him
to specifically condemn attacks by al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups in
Iraq, he refused to condemn such activities even after I gave him several
opportunities to do so. “We don’t make statements about occupations first
and foremost,” he said, refusing even to condemn suicide bombings that
kill both U.S. soldiers and Israelis. However, all media about this event
on the websites run by the organizers list “fighting against the
occupation” as the event’s goal. Jess Ghannam, who is also on the Board
of the ADC, is listed as another contact for the event on the Al-Awda
website.
The Duke Conference will be mimicked in San Francisco by other local
sponsors besides International ANSWER. These include the ADC, the ISM,
Al-Awda, SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Taxpayer Support Against Israel Now), Jews
for a Free Palestine (a group that includes Jamie Spector, who was
exposed and deported from Israel due to another Front Page Magazine
article), as well as a new group called QUIT (Queers Undermining the
Occupation), no doubt led by Kanowitz. The Stalinist National Lawyers
Guild and even a current attorney from the ACLU will round out the program.
I also asked the school districtÂ’s attorney, Marquez, if the district
would require that people with dissenting views be admitted to this
“educational event” or would they be forced to sign statements supporting
the dismantling of Israel or against U.S. forces in Iraq in order to get
in. Again, he had no reply, claiming state law tied his hands.
Apparently, “freedom of speech” isn’t as broad a topic as Marquez says it
is.
On many occasions, FrontPage Magazine has exposed how our colleges, high
schools and now even junior high schools are being used by
terrorist-supporting groups.
This support of terrorism has to stop.
The San Francisco Unified School District administrators refuse to stop
their complicity with terror -- even after they learned they are giving
support to murder overseas. No doubt, the administrators were duped by
the organizers of this event. However, instead of acknowledging their
error, they claim they are preserving the very freedoms that the
organizers of this event are working to destroy.
Let San Francisco Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman know how you feel:
ackermana@sfusd.edu . So far her office has stonewalled any common sense
solution
to not letting this event go forward. While youÂ’re at it, contact Governor
Schwarzenegger as well: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/.
Lee Kaplan is a contributing editor to Frontpagemag.com.
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2) The Struggle for Palestine:
4th Anniversary of the Intifada
Conference:
October 2nd, 2004, beginning 9:00 a.m.
Horace Mann Middle School -
3351 23rd Street, San Francisco
9:00-9:30: Registration
9:30-11:00: Morning Plenary Session:
The Current Status of Resistance in Palestine
11:00-12:15: Workshop Session #1
Continuations of Plenary: Status of Resistance
History of Palestine, The Nekbah and the Right of Return
Iraq and Palestine: 2 Struggles, One cause
Zionism
12:15-1:30: Lunch (Catered, with Music)
1:30-2:45: Workshop Session #2
Direct Action: Skills Development
The Impact of Palestine on the US Elections
Political Prisoners, Here and in Palestine
Globalization in the Arab World
2:45-3:00: Tea/Coffee Break
3:00-4:15: Workshop Session #3
Women and Resistance
The Targets of Empire: Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti,
Iran, Philippines, and Africa
US Solidarity Groups
Repression/Occupation in the US
(patriot Act, profiling, attacks on civil liberties)
4:30-6:00 Closing Plenary
Closing Summation and the Future in Palestine
6:00-7:00: Dinner with music
Cultural Performances
for more information:
info@justiceinpalestine.net
or visit
www.justiceinpalestine.net
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