"This is the first time an occupied people has been subjected to economic sanctions.…"

At Columbia University:

"The Siege of Gaza - Israeli Apartheid, US Imperialism"

http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/92036.html

"The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not make them die of hunger,"

Dov Weisglass, senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Prime Minister Olmert, January 2006.

In early 2006, US Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, a convicted architect

of the Iran Contra scandal, advocated "a 'hard coup' against the Hamas government… the U.S.

had to support Fatah with guns, ammunition and training."

--Alastair Crooke, former adviser to the EU in Jerusalem

October 22, 7:30 PM

Columbia University
Schermerhorn building, Room 501

between Broadway and Amsterdam, and 116th and 120th Streets:

New York, NY

http://www.columbia.edu/about_columbia/tour/schermerhorn/map.html

SPONSORS: The Arab Student Association at Columbia University, and

Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East ( http://www.mideastjustice.org/ )

PANELISTS:

LAILA EL-HADDAD: is a journalist, blogger and mother from Gaza, who divides her time between the Gaza Strip and the US. She writes for english Aljazeera.net, has been published in the Washington Post, the New Statesmen, Le Monde Diplomatique, The Guardian Unlimited and the Herald Tribune and blogs at http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/ . She recently co-directed the film "Tunnel Trade", which aired on CBC and Aljazeera International.

DARRYL LI: served as information officer for the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, and visits Gaza regularly. His writing has been published in the International Herald Tribune and the Journal of Palestine Studies, and he co-authored reports on Gaza for Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem. He is a PhD candidate at Harvard University and a JD candidate at Yale's law School.

TOUFIC HADDAD: is the co-editor (with Tikva Honig-Parnass) of Between the Lines: Readings in Israel, the Palestinians and the US War Against Terror , published by Haymarket Books. He is a Masters student at NYU.

EVENT ORGANIZERS CALL ON ACTIVISTS TO:

BREAK THE SIEGE:
Support the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme's plans to launch an international campaign on behalf of Palestinian civil society to break the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza.

BOYCOTT THE ISRAELI OCCUPIERS, NOT THEIR PALESTINIAN VICTIMS:
"This is the first time an occupied people has been subjected to economic sanctions.… Israel is in violation of countless UN resolutions and refuses to comply with the Opinion of the International Court of Justice. The Quartet has taken no action against Israel but has imposed economic sanctions on the Palestinian people." - UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories John Dugard, July 5, 2006

REJECT THE RACISM AND ISLAMOPHOBIA UNDERPINNING US POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST:
From October 22 - 26 a coalition of right-wing groups is organizing "Islamo Fascism Awareness Week" on US university campuses, including at Columbia University. This racism and Islamophobia directly supports the US war on Iraq, plans for an attack on Iran, and the Israeli/US war on the Palestinian people.

For more information contact Adalah-NY at: justiceme@gmail.com

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