Friday, August 10, 2012

Meet Me in St Louis!

Dear friends,

I continue to send most of my emails in my capacity as National Organizer with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, via our listserve there. If you aren't on it yet, please join by clicking here!

I have been working most of the year on two church divestment campaigns, both of which ended with some historic victories. Here are my accounts of both:

- My article on Jadaliyya about the Presbyterian divestment and boycott initiatives
- Our statement reporting back from the Methodist general conference

The movement is growing more quickly than most of us can keep up with. We are reaching a critical mass and a breaking point (see the Jadaliyya article above for what I mean) with some victories we thought would take many more years to achieve.

That's why I'm so excited to announce our upcoming national organizers conference in St Louis. See our announcement below. I hope many of you can make it!

~ Anna

Join the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation for our 11th Annual National Organizers' Conference September 21-23 at St. Louis University!
Register by August 21 for $80 registration and special hotel room rates!

Our conference is an opportunity for our member groups and activists from across the country to come together and strengthen our efforts to end U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid policies toward Palestinians. With nearly 380 member groups now a part of the coalition, this year's conference will be a great opportunity for strategizing, networking and sharing our achievements and struggles.

Register and find more information at www.endtheoccupation.org/2012conference.

We will start the conference at 7:00pm on Friday, September 21 with a panel discussion on the Arab uprisings and their impact on organizing to change U.S. policy toward Palestine/Israel.

Speakers and presenters include:

Dalit Baum, Co-founder of Who Profits from the Occupation
Hatem Bazian, Chairman of American Muslims for Palestine
Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
Remi Kanazi, Author of Poetic Injustice: Writings on Resistance
Sydney Levy is Director of Advocacy at Jewish Voice for Peace
Linda Sarsour, National Advocacy Director for the National Network for Arab American Communities.

The weekend's program will include panels and workshops discussing:

Engaging Faith Communities
BDS Training
Campus Activism
Academic and Cultural Boycott
Organizing and Coalition Building.

Check out our website to register, book your hotel room, and submit a workshop proposal.

Contact Ramah Kudaimi at membership@endtheoccupation.org or 202-332-0994 if you have any questions.

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