Breaking the Barriers: Sabeel Conferences in Sacramento, 3-16-17 and Sunnyvale, 3-23-24
Naim Ateek
Friends of Sabeel has lined up another outstanding all-star cast of presenters for two conferences in Northern California this week, one beginning today!
Huwaida Arraf
Sabeel is an international peace movement initiated by Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land, who seek a just end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Friends of Sabeel – North America (FOSNA) is a non-profit Christian ecumenical organization seeking justice and peace in the Holy Land through non-violence and education.
Laila ElHaddad
If you’re in the region and you’ve never attended a Sabeel Conference this is an opportunity of a lifetime. I was swept off my feet when Sabeel hosted a conference in my hometown a couple years ago, absolutely mind blowing. No matter how much or how little you already think you know, run don’t walk, just get there!
Hatem Bazian
The Sacramento Conference this weekend is themed, “A Time for Justice: Supporting Human Rights in Palestine-Israel,” features presentations giving the context of the current situation in Palestine-Israel, with many workshops providing participants with various strategies and opportunities for taking action.
Cecilie Surasky
The Sabeel Regional Conference in Sunnyvale (right outside Santa Cruz) is on March 23 and 24, 2012. Even when Sabeel Conferences share some of the same speakers, no two conferences are alike! The Sunnyvale Conference next week on the theme, “Breaking the Barriers: To a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine” explores both broadly and in depth the barriers and potential breakthroughs for a just peace. This is an excellent opportunity for activists to attend either or both conferences and introduce family and friends who are just becoming aware of the issues for a weekend of Palestinian culture, food, education and engagement. Tune in to KPFA’s Morning Mix, Friday at 8AM (PST) to hear interviews with several of the conference speakers.
Remi Kanazi
Highlights of the conference include:
– Special Sessions on current topics such as “Islamophobia,” with Hatem Bazian of UC-Berkeley’s Department of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies; “Palestine and the Arab Spring,” with Omar Dajani, professor of law at University of the Pacific, Leila Hilal, Director Of Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation and Khalil Barhoum, Stanford professor of Middle Eastern Languages and “Censoring the Prophetic within Christian and Jewish Communities” and “Christian Zionism” with Marc Ellis, Baylor Professor of Jewish Studies and Don Wagner, Program Director of Friends of Sabeel.
– Plenary speakers and workshop facilitators from a range of backgrounds and faith traditions – Muslim, Jewish and Christian — who give the opportunity to gain a broad overview of the existing barriers to a just peace or to explore in greater depth the issues — such as the physical impact of the occupation and forms of nonviolent resistance, the economic dynamics between Israel, Palestine and the US, and the roles of Israeli and International Law, of ideological and political institutions and of mainstream and new media.
– Examples of Palestinian creativity and resilience: A sampling of Palestinian culture, including Middle Eastern food, poetry by spoken word artist, Remi Kanazi, music by the Georges Lamman group, Gaza Childrens’ Art Exhibit, traditional Palestinian hand-crafts and a marketplace with Palestinian fair trade goods. Also displays and speakers who will address Palestinian innovation and resilience under occupation — highlighting high tech and building bridges between Silicon Valley and Palestine.
Dalit Baum
– Opportunities to meet others who are concerned about Israel/Palestine and interested in working locally, regionally and nationally to promote a Just Peace. During the Saturday lunch hour, various interest groups will have the chance to caucus. Among the groups that have already signed up are Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Jewish Voice for Peace, Bloggers, and College Campuses.
Anna Baltzer
The College Campus Caucus will be convened by Dalit Baum of Global Exchange and the American Friends Service Committee and Anna Baltzer, of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, who will report on conferences and campaigns around the country in recent months.
The conference will be held at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church, located at 728 West Fremont Blvd (corner of Hollenbeck Avenue) in Sunnyvale, California. You may register for the full two days or choose one day of the conference: the cost of the conference is $90; for students is $25, with student ID.
Other plenary speakers include the Rev. Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel, Huwaida Arraf of the International Solidarity Movement, Laila El-Haddad, of gazamom.com and Anna Baltzer of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. For more information about SABEEL and the conferences, along with the most up to date listing of speakers and workshops, and conference registration, please visit Breaking the Barriers: To a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine and A Time for Justice: Supporting Human Rights in Palestine-Israel.
OK, great. The same all-star cast. All of them great speakers, great people.
But damn it. After the same speeches, we all go home and sit on our fat butt.
We email each other weepy stories. Then, start over again next year.
When, at long last, are these people going to push for actual action against Israel– like a big boycott resolution? There are thousands of campus governments. There are thousands of city councils, town councils, village councils.
Why is NO one at these places demanding even the mildest symbolic action against Israel?
Have fun at Sabeel, though. Bring Kleenex.
where do you go to bluntly demand action against Israel?
OK, Annie. I see you can’t really believe it’s possible to publicly demand boycott. Too bad for all of us.
Annie:
Sabeel is great — compared to nothing. Mondoweiss also.
Mondoweiss is the only place activists can go to get any sense of what the Palestine solidarity movement is doing.
For those readers who have never experienced either: please go and experience Sabeel and Mondoweiss too. You will find good, like-minded people. You will get valuable news that you can use. But will you use it to march for boycott? I hope so.
My disgust at witnessing so many years of inaction has made me pretty bitter about these banquet-hall activists. But they are much better than nothing. I can’t point you to any better groups or blogs, because none exist. What a shame for all of us.
Shed your fear and demand boycott against Israel — right in your student government meetings.
Annie,
In fact you are correct, when you say sarcastically that I have “blazed a trail like no other”. No one will follow that trail — the trail of demanding boycott resolutions at city councils and student councils, except on rare occasions in the U.S., like at Oxford, and in that Australian town council (Marrickville). It seems impossible, even to you.
So you could say my suggestion of yelling for boycott actually won’t work: because no one will do it. They want safety (like in a Sabeel conference.) They want the comfort of like-minded people to reinforce them (like at Sabeel). They like to hear inspiring speeches (like at Sabeel.)
After the Sabeel conference is over, these people will not march for boycott or for any other action against Israel. If you actually did what I’m asking, no one would follow you either. But it will happen in the future. You could make it happen. (As you say, no one will follow me. I’ve grown too bitter, as you can tell.)
Jo Anne Robinson blazed the trail of the Montgomery bus boycott in the early 1950’s. She was laughed at, even by her closest friends. She actually wrote to the Montgomery City Council threatening a bus boycott! Nobody joined her in that confrontational stance. In fact, she is forgotten.
A couple years later came Rosa Parks and also MLK, who was new to town and less fearful than his fellow preachers.
Now we know– Jo Anne was right to be confrontational. Call it Gandhian if you like, but it was confrontational, demanding — and in 1955-56, that bus boycott changed this country and the world.
So think about the value of peaceful, confrontational, loud boycott campaigns against Israel, that will reach the newspapers and change the world.
OK?