Friends,
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Carolyn Klaasen and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb of the Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence, Gaza Freedom March, 2009.
Last year, the United States gave $3 billion in military aid to Israel.
How much did your state give?
Find out what your state and local communities' portion of the bill is.
Is it a good use of your tax dollars? What else could this money be used for in your neighborhood?
Move Over AIPAC: May 21-24
Join us in Washington, D.C. this May 21 to 24 as we confront the Israeli military aid lobby!
Can't make it to D.C.?
"We cannot be both the world's leading champion of peace and the world's leading supplier of the weapons of war."
President Jimmy Carter
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The Fellowship of Reconciliation, Interfaith Peace-Builders, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, Global Exchange and more than 100 other peace and justice groups are pushing for human rights in the Middle East this month -- and in order to do that, AIPAC will have to move over.
AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which unrelentingly supports illegal policies of the Israeli government -- separation walls, continuing settlements, and the siege of Gaza -- while pushing for a more bellicose U.S. policy across the region, especially with Iran. AIPAC doesn't accurately represent the interests of American Jews or Israelis, and confounds efforts for peace and reconciliation in the region.
Please join FOR Director of Civilian Diplomacy Leila Zand and Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb in Washington, D.C. this May 21 to 24!
Civil rights leader and former FOR staffer George Houser, and FOR Director of Civilian Diplomacy and the Middle East Leila Zand, in Palestine during the Gaza Freedom March, 2009.
We'll be joined by author Alice Walker, Jewish Voice for Peace director Rebecca Vilkomerson, Dr. Patch Adams, Israeli activist Dalit Baum, analyst Phyllis Bennis, Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, blogger Laila El Haddad, writer Naomi Klein, Col. Ann Wright, Electronic Intifada founder Ali Abunimah -- and more!
These four days of action will coincide with AIPAC's annual policy meeting, and push for an alternative that respects the rights of all people in the region.
- Saturday, May 21: Strategic summit and evening event with authors and poets -- separate sliding-scale registration fee of $50-100, or $20 for students and low-income individuals. Register for the Saturday summit. You need not attend the summit to participate in the rest of the weekend.
- Sunday, May 22: Protest at AIPAC conference and evening cultural event.
- Monday, May 23: Continuing actions at AIPAC conference and evening cultural event.
- Tuesday, May 24: Lobby day at the U.S. Capitol to provide a counterweight to AIPAC's lobbyists.
Sign up now to join us at some or all of the weekend's events! Not able to make it to Washington? You can still write your member of Congress or make a donation to support the event.
AIPAC's continuing pressure has been devastating for Palestinians and the Middle East, and has kept Israel locked in a cycle of violence and occupation.
While pro-democracy movements have swept the Middle East, more than $3 billion in military aid from the United States each year has prevented any such transformation there.
Join us this May in Washington, D.C. as we make space for human rights by saying: Move Over, AIPAC!
Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation |
