Milwaukee, WI – Dozens of Palestine solidarity activists gathered on the lakefront here, May 15, during rush hour to commemorate Nakba Day.

Al-Nakba or “The Catastrophe” refers to May 15, 1948, the day after Israeli “Independence Day.” In 1948, 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by Zionist troops under the pretext of establishing a Jewish state of Israel on Palestinian land. 400 Palestinian villages were depopulated and taken over or destroyed by the Israelis, laying the foundation for the continuing occupation of Palestine.

In response to continuing occupation and oppression of Palestinian people by the U.S. and Israel, activists held signs demanding “End U.S. aid to Israel,” and “Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh!”

Members of the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition responded to the national call to action to support Rasmea Odeh, a veteran Palestinian activist. Odeh is a 66-year-old community organizer who has dedicated her life to the empowerment of Palestinians, especially Palestinian women. She is the victim of a U.S. government attack which is intended to jail or deport her for allegedly lying on a 20-year old immigration form. Her trial is set to begin on June 10 in Detroit.

As the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel grows more successful by the day, activists are facing repression from the U.S. government. Activists in Milwaukee say they will continue to win victories for the BDS movement while defending Palestinian community leaders like Rasmea Odeh from political attacks.

#MilwaukeeWI #PalestineSolidarity #alNakba #IsraeliOccupation #BDS #RasmeaOdeh #MilwaukeePalestineSolidarityCoalition

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition.

The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition is celebrating a major victory this week as the People’s Books Cooperative bookstore joined a growing list of organizations that endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

The People’s Books Co-op board voted in favor of “instituting a consumer, cultural and academic boycott of the Israeli state due to significant human rights concerns involved with Israel’s policies against the Palestinian community,” according to a statement released on their website (http://tinyurl.com/kcuubky).

People’s Books becomes the second cooperatively owned business in the United States to sign on to BDS, behind the Olympia, Washington Food Co-op whose endorsement won a decisive court battle after being challenged by pro-Israel Zionists.

People’s Books joins the likes of Nelson Mandela, Naomi Klein, Stephen Hawking, Stevie Wonder, Alice Walker, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, Judith Butler, The American Studies Association, and many others who have signed on to the Palestinian call to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel. The BDS movement was launched by Palestinian civil society in a 2005 call to the international community.

The People’s Books board responded to the call to BDS by conducting a survey of their membership which resulted in overwhelming support for the boycott proposal. Members of the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition advocated for their proposal before the board of People’s Books, who previously did not carry any Israeli products. We applaud the members and board of People’s Books for their principled stance on social justice issues, and their strong stance in support of Palestinian human rights, especially while facing the economic difficulties inherent to operating a small local cooperative business.

The BDS movement is a growing, non-violent threat to Israel’s ability to continue its illegal occupation of Palestine which includes settlement construction, home demolitions, and illegal detention of Palestinian civilians. The Israeli state is scrambling to buy itself a better image abroad by throwing millions of dollars toward Israeli propaganda events in the US which deceptively present Israel as a liberal paradise with diverse culture and a healthy democracy. Israel's propaganda strategy places college students, social justice activists, academic and cultural workers, and progressive people on the front lines. But those very people are increasingly throwing their support behind the cause of Palestinian liberation.

The People’s Books Co-op stands as an example for all progressive people to follow as we work to build a better world that is free of war and apartheid, and based on the principles of social justice and cooperation.

In Solidarity, The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition

#MilwaukeeWI #Palestine #Boycott #IsraeliOccupation #BDS #MilwaukeePalestineSolidarityCoalition #MiddleEast

Milwaukee, WI – Nearly 50 Palestine solidarity activists disrupted a speech hosted by the Israel Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation on Jan. 30. The event featured Ron Leshem, the original producer of the Israeli television series Hatufim, which was adapted for U.S. television as the series Homeland.

The event “TV: An Israeli Success Story” was designed to laud Israel's cultural achievements in arts and entertainment while using those talking points to ignore or whitewash Israel’s illegal existence on stolen land. During the lecture, Leshem described his use of writing to humanize his subjects, who are often members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and showed a clip of an Israeli prisoner displaying his scars. Leshem spoke of shaping global public opinion, telling the “other side of the story,” and of making Israeli media more “cosmopolitan.”

20 minutes into the presentation, an activist stood in front of Leshem and loudly announced “Occupation is not cosmopolitan, it’s genocide! If you want to understand the other side, listen to the 2002 Palestinian call for academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Stop filming on occupied territory, stop touring with the IDF, stop advocating for Israel. Occupation is not entertainment!”

During the interruption, about 50 activists in the front of the room wearing t-shirts that read “Occupation is not education” and “Boycott Israel” stood up and slowly filed out of the event. About 30 people remained in the room, many hurling insults as the activists walked out.

Israel funding campus propaganda

With Palestine solidarity activism growing on U.S. campuses, Israel has poured millions of dollars into public relations to counter the success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A 2013 move by the Jewish Agency for Israel will allocate $300 million a year to fund pro-Israel events, most of which will fund events on U.S. campuses, according to watchdogs.

Campus activist groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine have found success in neutralizing pro-Israel events with walk-outs, disruptions, mock checkpoints and other direct actions.

Ihsan Atta, member of the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition states, “As Zionist groups continue to invite speakers who promote hatred and discrimination, we will continue to be there to remind them that oppressing the civilian population of Palestine is not acceptable nor will it be tolerated.”

#MilwaukeeWI #Culture #Palestine #MilwaukeePalestineSolidarityCoalition #Homeland #Hatufim #RonLeshem #MiddleEast

Milwaukee, WI – Nearly 50 Palestine solidarity activists disrupted a speech hosted by the Israel Center of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation on Jan. 30. The event featured Ron Leshem, the original producer of the Israeli television series Hatufim, which was adapted for U.S. television as the series Homeland.

The event “TV: An Israeli Success Story” was designed to laud Israel's cultural achievements in arts and entertainment while using those talking points to ignore or whitewash Israel’s illegal existence on stolen land. During the lecture, Leshem described his use of writing to humanize his subjects, who are often members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and showed a clip of an Israeli prisoner displaying his scars. Leshem spoke of shaping global public opinion, telling the “other side of the story,” and of making Israeli media more “cosmopolitan.”

20 minutes into the presentation, an activist stood in front of Leshem and loudly announced “Occupation is not cosmopolitan, it’s genocide! If you want to understand the other side, listen to the 2002 Palestinian call for academic and cultural boycott of Israel. Stop filming on occupied territory, stop touring with the IDF, stop advocating for Israel. Occupation is not entertainment!”

During the interruption, about 50 activists in the front of the room wearing t-shirts that read “Occupation is not education” and “Boycott Israel” stood up and slowly filed out of the event. About 30 people remained in the room, many hurling insults as the activists walked out.

Israel funding campus propaganda

With Palestine solidarity activism growing on U.S. campuses, Israel has poured millions of dollars into public relations to counter the success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. A 2013 move by the Jewish Agency for Israel will allocate $300 million a year to fund pro-Israel events, most of which will fund events on U.S. campuses, according to watchdogs.

Campus activist groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine have found success in neutralizing pro-Israel events with walk-outs, disruptions, mock checkpoints and other direct actions.

Ihsan Atta, member of the Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition states, “As Zionist groups continue to invite speakers who promote hatred and discrimination, we will continue to be there to remind them that oppressing the civilian population of Palestine is not acceptable nor will it be tolerated.”

#MilwaukeeWI #Culture #Palestine #MilwaukeePalestineSolidarityCoalition #Homeland #Hatufim #RonLeshem #MiddleEast

West Milwaukee, WI – The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition organized actions outside Target in West Milwaukee, calling on the store to drop illegal settlement products. The protest was coordinated with an international day of action organized by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

Activists rallied in front of the store with signs reading “Boycott Soda Stream” and “No money for apartheid.” Some activists entered the store to hand out educational fliers detailing the case against SodaStream.

SodaStream operates a factory on stolen Palestinian land, in an Israeli settlement condemned by the international community. In the past year, the company has emerged as one of the primary targets of the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement for its involvement in Israeli occupation and apartheid.

#WestMilwaukeeWI #PalestineSolidarity #Apartheid #IsraeliOccupation #BDS #SodaStream #MilwaukeePalestineSolidarityCoalition