JWPF Supports Al Quds Day

Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends have joined with the National Lawyers Guild, Arab Student Union (U. of Michigan), Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (U. of Michigan and Michigan State Univ.) and others as official supporters of The International Day of Quds. Our friends from The Jerusalem Committee (Dearborn, MI) have organized this local event as part of the international effort. Attendees will hear speeches by Sr. Fatima Mohammadi (Gaza Flotilla survivor) and Br. Dawud Walid (CAIR – Michigan). Dearborn City Hall, September 3, 2010 at 2:30 PM. See flyer here.

“Al-Quds is the Arabic name for the holy city of Jerusalem. Al-Quds Day is a day of solidarity with Palestinians living under military occupation by, or as second-class citizens in, Israel. It also extends beyond Palestine to support all oppressed people in their struggles around the world. All over the world rallies and marches are held on Al-Quds Day, the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in order to pledge solidarity with those seeking peace through justice.” [source: action alert from the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs]

Presentation at St. Joseph Parish

Parishioner Jon Heffelfinger showed an excellent, home-made video of Michigan Peace Team’s trip to the West Bank in 2005 to an attentive audience in Dexter, Michigan last Wednesday. Jon is a professional videographer, and his skills as a peace activist and video producer were evident. He was followed by my Harvard Graphics* presentation, which provided an answer to the overarching question “Why?”. Why did Jon show us photos of a wall? Why was a woman and her small children ordered off a bus? Why was our friend Basem Abu Rahme murdered by soldiers of the Jewish State? Why are armed, Jewish settlers walking the lands of Qawawis?

The nutshell answer, of course, is that all these travesties and atrocities are being committed because international Jews want the land, and want the indigenous peoples thrown (and kept) off that land.

* Harvard Graphics is the non-Israeli option to Power Point. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, at the inauguration of a new research center in Apartheid Israel, said “Microsoft is as much an Israeli company as an American company.”

New Sign for the Vigils

JWPF notes that our regularly scheduled Saturday vigil on September 18th coincides with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, aka the Day of Atonement. In addition to our normal display of signs, we will feature the new one, which will advise Beth Israel congregants to”Atone For the Sin of Supporting Genocide”.

UMS Remains in Violation of Palestinian Call to Boycott

The University Musical Society plans to violate PACBI’s call to boycott Apartheid Israel by hosting The Jerusalem Quartet on October 21. Musicians in this racist group are also members of the Israeli Occupation Forces. As the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign writes:

“The members of this Quartet are ’cultural ambassadors’ for Israel and the Israeli army. The Israeli Press Service says: ’For the three immigrants [3 of the Quartet came from Russia ], carrying a rifle in one hand and a violin in the other is the ultimate Zionist statement’. Their record label hypes their status within the army: ’They now enjoy the status of Distinguished IDF, playing for troops thrice weekly when the JQ is in Israel . ’”

Hopefully, one of the groups supporting the International Day of Quds will organize a protest in Ann Arbor. JWPF looks forward to again joining in.

Seven Vigillers
US citizens are killed because Jews want the land
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends