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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250308T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250308T130000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250226T200124Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250226T200124Z
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SUMMARY:Needham for Palestine Standout
DESCRIPTION:Join Needham for Palestine at noon on Saturday\, March 8\, for a standout outside of Needham Town Hall.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/needham-for-palestine-standout/
LOCATION:Needham Town Hall\, 1471 Highland Ave\, Needham\, 02492\, United States
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/n4p-standout-38.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250306T161500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250306T173000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250306T164432Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250306T164453Z
UID:10003279-1741277700-1741282200@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:Protest Israeli former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/protest-israeli-former-prime-minister-naftali-bennett/
LOCATION:John F. Kennedy Memorial Park\, John F. Kennedy St. and Memorial Drive\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/hks-protest.jpg
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250301T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250301T160000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250204T171524Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250226T225503Z
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SUMMARY:The Destruction of Healthcare Systems in Gaza: Realities\, Ramifications & ACTIONS
DESCRIPTION:Register to attend. \n \nJoin us for a panelist event to discuss on-the-ground realities in Gaza and the West Bank and the short & long-term ramifications of the destruction of the healthcare systems. Get immediate & impactful action steps to help the people of Palestine! \nDr. Bram Wispelwey is a Harvard Chan School of Public Health\, Co-Founder of Health for Palestine\, recently in the West Bank. \nDr. Ahmad Thaer is a Palestinian-American emergency physician who worked at Nasser & Al-Aqsa in Gaza in 2024. \nDr. Othman Mohammad\, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist\, Gaza Mental Health Expert and a Diaspora Palestinian \nThe event will be at Community Church of Boston\, 565 Boylston St.\, Boston 02116\, and also can be viewed online. \nSponsored by MAPA and JVP Boston\, cosponsored by CCB\, SEMA for a Free Palestine\, Watertown Citizens for Peace\, Justice and the Environment\, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine\, Doctors Against Genocide\, Arlington for Palestine.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/the-destruction-of-healthcare-in-gaza-realities-ramifications-actions/
LOCATION:Community Church of Boston\, 565 Boylston St\, Boston\, 02116
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Healthcare-in-Gaza-Flyer-horizontal-updated-2.26-1.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Massachusetts Peace Action":MAILTO:info@masspeaceaction.org
GEO:42.3506456;-71.0763255
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250227T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250227T130000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250218T183332Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250218T183332Z
UID:10003266-1740657600-1740661200@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:Western Massachusetts Stands with Smith SJP
DESCRIPTION:This rally\, organized in consultation with Smith Students for Justice in Palestine\, is intended to show broad community support for the demands that Smith College: \n(1) completely divest from holdings that are in any way connected with the genocide against the Palestinian people; \n(2) speak out against Israel’s scholasticide against the Palestinian people; \n(3) end new Smith policies aimed at suppressing free speech at Smith.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/western-massachusetts-stands-with-smith-sjp/
LOCATION:Smith College\, John M. Greene Hall\, 60 Elm St\, Northampton\, MA\, 01060
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Western-Massachusetts-Stands-with-Smith-SJP.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250224T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250224T193000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250201T164211Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250219T192609Z
UID:10003249-1740420000-1740425400@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:Eradicating Gaza: How to Remember and Forget Genocide
DESCRIPTION:Register to attend. \n \nA discussion with Prof. Omer Bartov. As we’ve been witnessing a genocide in Gaza for the past 15 months\, it’s timely to reflect on the politics of the use of the word “genocide”\, and the use and misuse of the memory of the Holocaust in WW2. \nProf. Bartov will also expand our thinking about the development of Zionism over time: as a settler colonization effort\, as a mechanism for helping Jewish refugees and as an ideological national movement. \nOmer Bartov is an Israeli-American historian. He is the Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University\, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a historian of the Holocaust and is considered a leading authority on genocide.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/eradication-gaza-how-to-remember-and-forget-genocide/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/02-24-Eradication-Gaza-How-to-remember-and-Forget-Genocide.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund":MAILTO:info@masspeaceaction.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250220T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250220T200000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250214T001208Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250214T001208Z
UID:10003265-1740074400-1740081600@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:SEMA.FreePalestine presents "Walled Off"
DESCRIPTION:The SE Mass Coalition for a Free Palestine begins its second Palestine Film Series on February 20 with Walled Off\, a documentary film by Vin Arfuso in collaboration with Anwar Hadid\, Kweku Mandela\, Roger Waters and Immortal Technique. \n6pm to 8pm at the SE Mass Central Labor Council\, 560 Pleasant St.\, New Bedford. \nWalled Off Hotel is a guesthouse established by the notorious artist Banksy in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. The film takes an intimate look at the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation\, and highlights the importance of creative resistance as a form of protest. In telling the stories of individual Palestinians\, the documentary explores the ways in which media coverage of the conflict perpetuates an inaccurate and biased narrative. Through interviews with activists\, politicians\, and everyday citizens\, the film offers an often unseen perspective on the Palestinian struggle for freedom. The film ultimately seeks to challenge the mainstream media narrative of the occupation\, and to bring to light the realities of life under military.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/sema-freepalestine-presents-walled-off/
LOCATION:Greaer SE Mass Labor Council\, 560 Pleasant St\, New Bedford\, United States
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Southeastern-MA-Coalition-for-a-Free-Palestine-Presents.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250214T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250214T183000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250207T163237Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T203432Z
UID:10003256-1739552400-1739557800@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:The True Superheroes of Gaza Standout
DESCRIPTION:Following the February 14th release of Marvel’s\, Captain America: Brave New World\, join us outside of the AMC Boston Common Theater to recognize true superheroes: those who have sustained\, protected\, and saved the victims and survivors of the genocide in Palestine. \nRead more about our project!
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/the-true-superheroes-of-gaza-standout/
LOCATION:AMC Boston Common\, 175 Tremont St\, Boston\, 02111
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/02-15-AMC-DA-event-post.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Massachusetts Peace Action":MAILTO:info@masspeaceaction.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250210T130000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250210T150000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250205T154853Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250207T202459Z
UID:10003255-1739192400-1739199600@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:Challenge Anti-Palestinian Racism at Commission Hearing
DESCRIPTION:Are you concerned about anti-Palestinian racism promulgated under the umbrella of the Mass Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism? \nThe commission will hold a hearing on Monday\, February 10 at 1pm. It will feature testimony by four representatives of Together for an Inclusive Massachusetts (TIM)— a group of Jewish\, Muslim\, Christian\, labor\, education\, student\, civil rights and other organizations and individuals advocating for justice and equity in the Commonwealth. \nAttend the hearing to support our representatives and gain a better understanding of the issues at stake.  The hearing will be in room A-1 of the State house and can also be viewed online; go to https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/5080 for further information. \nThen\, sign up to receive TIM’s occasional action alerts. \nTIM came together in response to a back-door effort\, supported by Israel-aligned advocacy groups (ADL\, JCRC\, AJC\, and more)\, to shape antisemitism policy and education in the Commonwealth.  The Legislature formed a commission that is heavily stacked with exponents of the pro-Israel narrative on antisemitism — which regards anti-Zionism as equivalent to antisemitism.  Antisemitism is a serious problem\, but it can’t be fought by silencing and censoring those who also support the humanity and rights of Palestinians. Please help us broaden the circle of Massachusetts residents and legislators who are watching the work of the commission and holding them to account for fact-based\, nuanced\, and antiracist recommendations. \nTIM’s steering committee includes Boston Workers Circle\, Massachusetts Peace Action\, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston\, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine\, Sawa: Newton-Area Alliance for Peace and Justice\, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Massachusetts\, MTA Rank and File for Palestine\, Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine\, and If Not Now Boston. TIM seeks to ensure that the Commonwealth’s next steps are inclusive\, transparent\, and constructive. It is our deep and unwavering commitment to equality and justice for all—including Jews and Palestinians—that compel our work. \nRead an earlier article about TIM’s work. \n \nYes\, I’ll be there
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/challenge-anti-palestinian-racism-at-commission-hearing/
LOCATION:Massachusetts State House – room A-1\, 24 Beacon St\, Boston\, MA\, 02108\, United States
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/02-10-Challenge-Anti-Palestinian-Racism-at-Commission-Hearing-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Together for an Inclusive Massachusetts":MAILTO:inclusivemassachusetts@proton.me
GEO:42.3587596;-71.063803
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250208T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250208T153000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250116T200352Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250120T145714Z
UID:10003238-1739023200-1739028600@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:Reporting from the Frontlines of the Massacre
DESCRIPTION:Haggai will talk with us about the latest events in the Israeli onslaught in Gaza\, the chances for a ceasefire\, Israel’s campaigns in Lebanon and Syria and the push for attacking Iran. We will also discuss the overall climate among Jewish Israelis for relations with the Palestinians\, the future of the country\, and the role of the media in all of this. \nHaggai Matar is an award-winning Israeli journalist and political activist\, and the executive director of +972 Magazine\, which is an independent\, online\, nonprofit media outlet run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists\, founded in 2010.  He is a conscientious objector who refused to serve in the Israeli army back in 2002\, and spent two years in prison. \nRegister to attend. 
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/reporting-from-the-frontlines-of-the-massacre/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2-8-Haggar-Matai-webinar-.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund":MAILTO:info@masspeaceaction.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250202T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250202T163000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250124T175526Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T185135Z
UID:10003200-1738508400-1738513800@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:GAZA IN CONTEXT: The Colonial History that Shaped the Modern Middle East
DESCRIPTION:A 4-part online series Sundays\, Jan 5\, 12\, 26\, and Feb 2\, 2025\, all at 3pm The Israeli war on Gaza – widely considered genocide – did not begin on October 7\, 2023. This series will look at the background of Zionism and colonialism that laid the foundation for ongoing wars and today’s violence in the Middle East. Palestinian dispossession\, we will see\, began more than a century ago. \n\nJanuary 5 – CONQUEST AND COLONIALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST DURING THE 20TH CENTURY: The roots of the contemporary Middle East go back to the First World War and its aftermath; the birth of Zionism as a political movement.\n\nVideo: https://youtube.com/live/Y_75LgjQiAg \nSlides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jTrcqiR3IZlebo5bUQHziKVeavw10VRO/ \n\nJanuary 12 – MANDATES AND REPRESSION IN PALESTINE AND BEYOND: The failure of the British colonial attempt to shape Palestine in conformance with the Balfour Declaration; Palestinian resistance and the first proposals for partition; Zionist terror; British\, French colonialism in Iraq\, Syria and Lebanon.\n\nVideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duY-ABJP_8A \nSlides:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nhUBtaPKkUQZdInsLL7GTMbgIgnGmoK0/ \n\nJanuary 26 – THE US AND ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Although the US government supported the Zionist project from the time of the First World War\, and it was quick to recognize the independence of Israel in 1948\, US policies toward the Middle East centered on Oil and later Cold War interests. The US was not much involved the Middle East until the 1930s and then oil-rich Saudi Arabia\, not Israel\, was its close all — as it remains to this day. Republicans – who as a party are now firmly pro-Israel —  were skeptical in the 1950s and 1960s of unconditional support for Israel. It was only in the 1970s that Israel came to be viewed as an important strategic ally\, especially in the context of the Cold War. Since then\, the Israel Lobby also became an important player in US politics.\n\nVideo:  https://youtube.com/live/Chuz0APhZic \nSlides:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zSHbg52kYJI1Z27hx8mq-5rYGn_h4dbg/ \n\nFebruary 2 – LOOKING IN THE MIRROR: How the U.S. has shaped the contemporary Middle East from before the Cold War to the present. Indigenous nationalism and its opponents. Addressing the domestic colonial and imperial background to US support for Israel and its destabilizing interference in the region.\n\nVideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_pdo_Q8Rpw&t=4418s \nSlides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13ZTXZlBuyRkkIfTFQ4aR-UConOBdpT-1/ \nSpeaker: Jeff Klein is a veteran anti-war activist\, retired machinist and local trade-union president\, who for 8 years until 2023 taught a course on “The US in the Middle East” at the UMass Boston Lifelong Learning Institute.  He is a board member of Massachusetts Peace Action and a member of its Gaza Israel Mideast peace campaign’s steering committee. Since 2004 Jeff has traveled almost every year to Palestine/Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East\, and has many close friends among veteran activists in Palestine\, Lebanon and Jordan.  He has also worked in Nicaragua and for the exiled African National Congress in Zambia.  Check out his weekly presentations on “Genocide in Gaza” and read his articles on the Middle East. \nRegister to attend any or all of the four sessions.  Course materials: Readings and Resources on Israel/Palestine Course Outline – the US in the Middle East – This outline was prepared for an 8-session version of the course given at UMass Boston in fall 2023.  The material will be condensed for this 4-session online version.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/gaza-in-context-the-colonial-history-that-shaped-the-modern-middle-east-3-2/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/gaza-in-context-part-4.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund":MAILTO:info@masspeaceaction.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250126T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250126T163000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20250124T175559Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260215T185009Z
UID:10003199-1737903600-1737909000@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:GAZA IN CONTEXT: The Colonial History that Shaped the Modern Middle East
DESCRIPTION:  \nA 4-part online series Sundays\, Jan 5\, 12\, 26\, and Feb 2\, 2025\, all at 3pm. \nThe Israeli war on Gaza – widely considered genocide – did not begin on October 7\, 2023. This series will look at the background of Zionism and colonialism that laid the foundation for ongoing wars and today’s violence in the Middle East. Palestinian dispossession\, we will see\, began more than a century ago. \n\nJanuary 5 – CONQUEST AND COLONIALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST DURING THE 20TH CENTURY: The roots of the contemporary Middle East go back to the First World War and its aftermath; the birth of Zionism as a political movement.\n\nVideo: https://youtube.com/live/Y_75LgjQiAg \nSlides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jTrcqiR3IZlebo5bUQHziKVeavw10VRO/ \n\nJanuary 12 – MANDATES AND REPRESSION IN PALESTINE AND BEYOND: The failure of the British colonial attempt to shape Palestine in conformance with the Balfour Declaration; Palestinian resistance and the first proposals for partition; Zionist terror; British\, French colonialism in Iraq\, Syria and Lebanon.\n\nVideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duY-ABJP_8A \nSlides:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nhUBtaPKkUQZdInsLL7GTMbgIgnGmoK0/ \n\nJanuary 26 – THE US AND ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST: Although the US government supported the Zionist project from the time of the First World War\, and it was quick to recognize the independence of Israel in 1948\, US policies toward the Middle East centered on Oil and later Cold War interests. The US was not much involved the Middle East until the 1930s and then oil-rich Saudi Arabia\, not Israel\, was its close all — as it remains to this day. Republicans – who as a party are now firmly pro-Israel —  were skeptical in the 1950s and 1960s of unconditional support for Israel. It was only in the 1970s that Israel came to be viewed as an important strategic ally\, especially in the context of the Cold War. Since then\, the Israel Lobby also became an important player in US politics.\n\nVideo:  https://youtube.com/live/Chuz0APhZic \nSlides:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zSHbg52kYJI1Z27hx8mq-5rYGn_h4dbg/ \n\nFebruary 2 – LOOKING IN THE MIRROR: How the U.S. has shaped the contemporary Middle East from before the Cold War to the present. Indigenous nationalism and its opponents. Addressing the domestic colonial and imperial background to US support for Israel and its destabilizing interference in the region.\n\nVideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_pdo_Q8Rpw \nSlides: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13ZTXZlBuyRkkIfTFQ4aR-UConOBdpT-1/ \nSpeaker: Jeff Klein is a veteran anti-war activist\, retired machinist and local trade-union president\, who for 8 years until 2023 taught a course on “The US in the Middle East” at the UMass Boston Lifelong Learning Institute.  He is a board member of Massachusetts Peace Action and a member of its Gaza Israel Mideast peace campaign’s steering committee. Since 2004 Jeff has traveled almost every year to Palestine/Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East\, and has many close friends among veteran activists in Palestine\, Lebanon and Jordan.  He has also worked in Nicaragua and for the exiled African National Congress in Zambia.  Check out his weekly presentations on “Genocide in Gaza” and read his articles on the Middle East. \n \nRegister to attend any or all of the four sessions. Course materials: Readings and Resources on Israel/Palestine Course Outline – the US in the Middle East – This outline was prepared for an 8-session version of the course given at UMass Boston in fall 2023.  The material will be condensed for this 4-session online version.
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/gaza-in-context-the-colonial-history-that-shaped-the-modern-middle-east-2-2/
LOCATION:Online Event
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://masspeaceaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/gaza-in-context-part-3.revised.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund":MAILTO:info@masspeaceaction.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250119T093000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250119T170000
DTSTAMP:20260613T182038
CREATED:20241210T194119Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250120T144816Z
UID:10003210-1737279000-1737306000@masspeaceaction.org
SUMMARY:Arise and Resist: Organizing for Peace and Justice Under Repression
DESCRIPTION:Arise and Resist: Organizing for Peace and Justice Under Repression \nJanuary 19\, 2025\, 9:30am – 5:00 pm\nRoxbury Community College\, Media Arts Center\, 1234 Columbus Ave.\, Boston\, MA 02119 \n \nSpeakers \nDr. Lara Jirmanus\, press coordinator of the Vote No Preference MA campaign and a leading voice for solidarity with Palestine as well as an innovative health organizer.   A Palestinian/Lebanese-American\, she is an instructor at Harvard Medical School and a practicing primary care physician\, community organizer and public health researcher.  She co-founded the Health and Law Immigrant Solidarity Network\, and during COVID\, the Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity. \nDr. Karameh Kuemmerle is a pediatric neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital\, affiliated with Harvard Medical School\, where she focuses on epilepsy and brain injury. Her clinical research centers on improving healthcare outcomes for refugee communities around the world\, with a special interest in addressing the impact of social determinants like racism. She co-founded Doctors Against Genocide\, an organization dedicated to mobilizing the medical community to respond to and prevent genocide and severe human rights abuses worldwide. \nRami G. Khouri is a Palestinian-American academic and journalist whose family resides in Beirut\, Amman\, and Nazareth. He is Distinguished Public Policy Fellow at the American University of Beirut and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Arab Center Washington\, D.C.  During his 50-year career in journalism across the Middle East he was Editor of the Jordan Times and the Daily Star (Beirut) newspapers\, and contributed reporting and opinion pieces from the Middle East to the Financial Times\, NPR\, BBC radio\, and other outlets. \nJamie McGonagill is a climate activist and climate communications consultant. She is the media coordinator for Extinction Rebellion (XR) Boston and AIR Inc. She also leads the communications team for Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere (SPJE) and assists with Climate Emergency Fund’s development team. \nKhury Petersen-Smith\, Michael Ratner Middle East Fellow and Co-Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. He researches U.S. empire\, borders\, and migration and strategizes with activists to work against the violence that the U.S. carries out and supports around the world. Khury focuses especially on U.S. militarism in the Middle East and in the Pacific\, and movements that resist it. He graduated from the Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Massachusetts\, after completing a dissertation on U.S. military bases in the Pacific. He is one of the co-authors and organizers of the 2023 Black Voices for Ceasefire \nHarris Gruman is executive director of the Massachusetts State Council of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)\, the nation’s second largest labor union; co-leader of the Raise Up Massachusetts Coalition\, and former executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor MA Education Fund. \nLiv Santoro is deputy director for field education and mobilization at the ACLU of Massachusetts. \nDr. Alexandra Piñeros Shields is a life-long activist and community organizer. She is an Associate Professor and directs the Master of Public Policy Program at the Heller School\, Brandeis University where she teaches courses on immigration policy\, economic justice\, and participatory action research. Prior to joining the Heller faculty\, she was the Executive Director of the Essex County Community Organization (ECCO)\, an interfaith network of 40 congregations working on racial and economic justice issues. \nMike Prokosch is a Dorchester climate\, peace\, and housing activist who leads popular economics workshops for community and union members. His latest workshop\, “Who’s Afraid of Elon Musk?”\, traces the US economy over the past half-century and what it’s done to workers and billionaires. \nBreakouts \nAttendees will join one of seven issue-oriented breakout groups\, which will meet twice during the day. \n\nImmigration and mass deportation threat\nThe genocide in Gaza and US politics\nFederal\, State and municipal electoral politics\nA Strong Labor Movement is Democracy’s Best Defense\nClimate and ecocide\nGreat power rivalry and nuclear war danger\nWar against the poor: Fighting back against budget cuts and tax cuts\n\nAgenda \n9:00am Welcome and literature tables open; coffee available \n9:30 am Welcome and introduction \n9:45 am Panel 1 – Palestine and the U.S. \nRami Khouri\, Karameh Kuemmerle\, Lara Jirmanus \n10:50 am Breakouts 1 \n12:00 pm Palestinian style lunch \n1:00 pm Organizing and coalition building – Mike Prokosch \n1:15 pm Panel 2 – Domestic issues and other international issues \nHarris Gruman\, Jamie McGonagill\, Liv Santoro\, Alexandra Piñeros Shields\, Khury Petersen-Smith \n2:30 pm Breakouts 2 \n3:30 pm Plenary – Strategy and organizing \n5:00 pm Adjourn \nVenue: The Media Arts Center\, also called building 1\, at Roxbury Community College\, features a 460-seat modern auditorium with a number of classrooms that we will use for breakouts. \nThe Media Arts Center is directly across Columbus Ave. from the Roxbury Crossing station on the MBTA Orange Line.  There is ample free parking in RCC’s lot on Cedar St. near the corner of Columbus Ave. \nConference registration includes morning coffee and a Palestinian style lunch catered by Zaaki (rice with lentils\, salad\, hummus\, falafel for vegans; chicken shawarma and kofta; bread).  Register to attend. \nThe conference will be in person only. \nSponsored by Massachusetts Peace Action\, Boston Democratic Socialists of America\, Northshore for Palestine\, Our Revolution Massachusetts\, Doctors Against Genocide\, Communist Party of Massachusetts\, Watertown Citizens for Peace\, Justice and the Environment\, and American Friends Service Committee. \nCosponsored by Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine\, Campaign for Peace\, Disarmament and Common Security\, Cape Cod DSA\, CD8 for Palestine\, Dorchester People for Peace\, Extinction Rebellion Boston\, Green-Rainbow Party\, Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution\, Jewish Voice for Peace Boston\, SEIU Local 509\, United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9A\, and Western Massachusetts Coalition for Palestine.    \nMassachusetts progressive organizations are invited to sponsor or cosponsor the conference\, help plan it\, or to set up literature tables; organizations sign up here to do so. \n \nGoals and Overview \nThe purpose of this conference is to bring together a mass movement and situate ourselves in our political reality of repression in the US\, genocide in Palestine\, expanding US-Israeli war in West Asia\, the Russia-Ukraine war\, and the impending US confrontation with China. We must work in alliance with each other to build a society based on solidarity\, peace\, and justice. Our work here in Massachusetts will be shaped by national and international developments.  We are holding this conference before the inauguration so we can prepare for the crises we will face after January 20. \nWe aim to take meaningful steps toward creating a vigorous alliance of organizations\, unions\, houses of worship\, and other groups and individuals who pursue peace\, protection of the earth\, the well-being of working families\, gender\, sexual and reproductive rights\, economic justice\, and indigenous sovereignty\, and oppose U.S. imperialism\, militarism\, genocide\, racism\, and other forms of oppression. \nOver the past 15+ months\, we have watched a live-streamed holocaust in Gaza\, the acceleration of the ethnic cleansing and annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank\, the decimation of Southern Lebanon\, the bombings of Yemeni ports\, and the invasion and further occupation of Syria. With the complicity of U.S. cultural\, academic\, and other public institutions\, a frontal assault on our civil liberties has begun: many speaking up against genocide have lost jobs\, and university students have been brutalized on campus\, suspended\, and expelled. In Congress\, a pending bill would give the incoming Trump administration the power to arbitrarily revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations\, another would crack down on criticism of Israel. The tightly interwoven national security and surveillance programs of the U.S. and Israel used to surveil and exterminate Palestinians are already being deployed against our people at the border or in urban ghettos. \nThese challenges will intensify once Trump takes office. His top priorities include the mass deportation of up to 11 million immigrants which will require police state methods and concentration camps. The “Muslim ban” is once again on the horizon. Project 2025\, once translated into policy\, threatens civil liberties\, public funding for education\, and the rights of sexual and gender minorities.  \nTrump’s commitment to the extraction and consumption of fossil fuels presents the climate movement with its greatest challenge yet to reverse the increasingly deadly attacks on life on Earth. The transfer of wealth from the working class to the capitalist oligarchy will accelerate through more tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy and the slashing of public funding for healthcare\, public education\, and housing. Attacks on academic freedom and dissenting media will only increase. \nThese threats call for a more coordinated and strategic anti-war and pro-justice effort. We will likely face more overt repression than in most of our lifetimes. Yet this new landscape presents new openings and opportunities to build a more effective and lasting movement to create the world we envision. This is our moment to redouble our commitment to solidarity and defend ourselves\, protect vulnerable groups\, reach the disengaged and discouraged and expand our organizing to build broader constituencies and develop flexible strategies needed to survive and succeed. We must seize these opportunities together. Now!  \nOn January 19\, we will hear from movement leaders\, go deep into issues in breakouts\, brainstorm solutions\, and peruse literature tables. \n \n 
URL:https://masspeaceaction.org/event/arise-and-resist/
LOCATION:Media Arts Center\, Roxbury Community College\, 1234 Columbus Ave\, Roxbury\, MA\, 02120\, United States
CATEGORIES:Palestine/Israel,Strategy and Ideas
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