Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe

Sara Roy - September 17, 2011

2011-08-21T12:25:00.010-06:00

Update 9/23: Video of Sara Roy's Talk:

Update 9/16: Sara Roy was interviewed by Mary-Charlotte on Santa Fe Radio Café on KSFR, Santa Fe Public Radio, 101.1 FM on Thursday, September 15. A podcast of the interview can be heard here. Roy's interview is the first podcast.

SARA ROY

The Arab Spring and Palestine: Transformation over Revolution--A New Palestinian Strategy

Sara Roy is senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, and has been described as "the leading researcher and most widely respected academic authority on Gaza today." Roy movingly and eloquently wrote about being the daughter of Holocaust survivors in her essay, Living with the Holocaust: The Journey of a Child of Holocaust Survivors.

Dr. Roy has written over 100 articles on Palestine and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which have appeared in the Journal of Palestine Studies, Current History, Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, International Journal of Middle East Studies, American Political Science Review, Le Monde Diplomatique, the London Review of Books, and many other publications. Roy's books include The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development and Failing Peace: Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Her most recent book, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza, was published this May.

Saturday, September 17, 6:30 pm, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona Road, Santa Fe, NM. Suggested donation $10.

[This is not an activity of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Please do not contact them for information.]

Linda Durham & Ken Mayers - July 26, 2011

2011-07-18T15:12:00.002-06:00

"GAZA: THE SIEGE EXPANDS..."

LINDA DURHAM and KEN MAYERS, recently returned from Greece, will share their experiences, adventures, and reflections as passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope. The U.S. Boat was part of Freedom Flotilla II which attempted to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza. But Israel, aided by the U.S. and the EU, outsourced its blockade of Gaza to Greece, which prevented the Audacity and all but one boat (the French Dignité) in the Flotilla from sailing. The U.S. Boat to Gaza is still imprisoned at a US Embassy/Greek Coast Guard dock just outside Athens by the Greek government. And the people of Gaza are still under siege....

Tuesday, July 26, 7:30 pm, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona Rd, Santa Fe, NM. Suggested donation $10.

All proceeds benefit the Santa Fe Maia Project--Clean Water for Gaza's Children.

Presented by Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe.

[This is not an activity of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Please do not contact them for information.]

Rally to Protest Blocking of Freedom Flotilla II - July 8, 2011

2011-07-08T07:54:00.019-06:00

Update 7/13: Video of the rally:

Update 7/09: Slideshow of rally photos:

Double-click in center to view larger images

FRIDAY, JULY 8, 5:00 PM -- JOIN US ON THE SANTA FE PLAZA TO PROTEST ISRAEL, GREECE, AND THE U.S. BLOCKING FREEDOM FLOTILLA II FROM SAILING TO GAZA.

Ken Mayers and Linda Durham, Santa Fe residents and passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, are home and will speak at the rally.

Greece, acting under intense pressure from Israel and the U.S., has prevented Freedom Flotilla II from sailing, and stopped the U.S. Boat to Gaza from delivering its cargo of thousands of letters of love and support to the people of Gaza.

For more than four years, Israel has imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on Gaza, denying its 1.6 million residents adequate access to food, clean water, electricity, medical supplies, reconstruction materials, and basic necessities.

The Obama Administration has supported the blockade by supplying weapons to Israel and shielding Israel from scrutiny and accountability for its actions.

Don't miss this special Democracy Now! report on the U.S. Boat to Gaza:
Audacity of Hope: Inside Report Aboard U.S. Ship's Dramatic Challenge to Greek Ban on Gaza Flotilla

Please attend this urgent rally. Bring signs! At least bring yourself and friends! Let the world know Israel's illegal siege of Gaza, Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian Territory, unconditional U.S. support for Israel's oppression and inhumane treatment of Palestinians, and the extension of the blockade of Gaza to Greece and beyond cannot continue!

Send Your Letters To Gaza - May & June, 2011

2011-05-26T08:43:00.007-06:00

Please take this special opportunity to do something very easy yet very meaningful for the people of Gaza!

Our own Linda Durham and Ken Mayers, longtime Santa Feans, will be sailing on the U.S. Boat to Gaza, The Audacity of Hope, scheduled to depart the third week of June. The U.S. Boat is one of many in International Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human, which will yet again attempt to break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza.

The Flotilla will carry activists from around the world and humanitarian supplies to the people of Gaza. But U.S. law prohibits The Audacity of Hope from delivering relief supplies to Gaza. Instead, with the "To Gaza With Love" campaign, the cargo of The Audacity of Hope will be letters of friendship and solidarity with the people of Gaza from U.S. citizens--people like you!

Linda and Ken have written moving personal accounts of their reasons for sailing on The Audacity of Hope, which you can read below. And they are asking for your help by writing your own card or letter to be included in the cargo of the U.S. Boat to Gaza. Please see the end of this post for instructions on how to get your letters to the U.S. Boat.

When Linda and Ken return from their trip, we hope safely and after actually getting into Gaza, they will share their experiences with us. Watch your inbox for an event announcement, most likely in July or August. Meanwhile, to follow Linda, Ken, the U.S. Boat to Gaza, and the Flotilla go here, here, here, and here.

Here are Linda's and Ken's messages:

****************************************************
Dear Members and Friends of AJVSF,

My excitement is mounting as I count down the days until I set sail on The Audacity of Hope, the U.S. Boat to Gaza. I am honored and eager to be part of this International Peace Flotilla, with the very important mission of breaking Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza. Participating ships from other countries will be delivering critically needed building supplies, food and medicines to the people of Gaza. According to United States law, we cannot contribute such aid because the elected Hamas leadership in Gaza has been labeled an "enemy" and, as Americans, we can neither aid nor abet enemies--or so the regulations state.

And so, our boat will have as its cargo letters and cards of love and support to men, women and children of Gaza from people across this country. The U.S. Boat to Gaza organization is collecting thousands of letters of friendship and solidarity! Tens of thousands, if our intentions are achieved!! It is my hope that you will join me in making this project a success.

For most of my life, I have been a geographical and intellectual wanderer, an explorer with a passion for art and culture--and cultures. In fact, I frequently refer to myself as "a freelance cultural explorer." Now that my gallery is closed (after thirty-three wonderful years), I intend to devote my life to issues of human rights and peace. I am intent on standing up for those who have been adversely affected by war and greed and catastrophes. In order to do that fully and sincerely, I plan to sell everything (EVERYTHING) I own. I want to be debt free and fancy free! I remember the Tanzanian guide who led me to the top of Kilimanjaro, who said, as I was stumbling through the moonless night, "May I carry your pack for you, so that you may walk more freely?" I want to walk more freely. I'm handing off my proverbial pack!

Now I want to walk, again, with my friends in Rafah...and I want to sing with the children in Jabaliya. I want to embrace the people of Gaza: the women who taught me to make bread and the children who showed me love and laughter in the midst of devastation. I want to be a good, true witness to the situation in that part of the world...and I want to come back to Santa Fe and share what I have seen and heard and felt....

Ken Mayers, from Veterans for Peace, is also a passenger on this voyage. We both look forward to receiving your letters to the people of Gaza!!

Peace, Shalom, Salaam, Paz, Mir...

Linda Durham
****************************************************
****************************************************
Dear Members and Friends of AJVSF,

Between 1942 and 1945, 21 members of my mother's extended family are known to have died in German concentration camps: 7 in Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia; 7 in Riga, Latvia; 4 in Auschwitz, Poland; 2 elsewhere in Poland; and 1 in Sachsenhausen, Germany. Undoubtedly there were other family victims whose place and dates of death are still unknown. Still others managed to escape to Israel, where I still have family.

So why am I going to be sailing on The Audacity of Hope in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza? At a universal and abstract level, it is because I believe the blockade is illegal under international law that prohibits the collective punishment of a population. But at a personally more specific level, it is because I believe the power elite that rules Israel has drawn too narrow an understanding of the great lesson of the holocaust, a lesson often summarized in the slogan, "Never again!"

The narrow understanding can be stated as "Never again shall Jews be subjected to the persecution that culminated in the holocaust." A broader understanding would be, "Never again should any people be subjected to the persecution that culminated in the holocaust."

It is a tragic irony that after a millennium of Jewish confinement to the ghettos of Europe, the Jewish state now turns around and creates the world's largest ghetto in Gaza by blockading its ports, controlling its air space, and with some support from Egypt, imposing tight limits on access and egress by land. But far beyond tragic was the turning of the ghetto into a killing field with Operation Cast Lead from December 27, 2008 through January 21, 2009. According to a B'Tselem report, "1,389 Palestinians were killed, 759 of whom did not take part in the hostilities. Of these, 318 were minors under age 18."

Since Cast Lead, the blockade of Gaza has further tightened, delaying any substantial recovery from the devastation of the attack. Since the weapons and armaments used in the attack in large part either came from the United States or were enabled by the $3 billion annual aid given to Israel by our government, the act of attempting to break the blockade is an act of atonement.

My Santa Fe colleague in this mission is Linda Durham. Linda has explained why The Audacity of Hope will be carrying its unusual cargo and has made an eloquent appeal to you to participate in this mission by providing your own letters, cards, and art works to be carried to the people of Gaza. I will simply add my earnest request for an outpouring of support for the people of Gaza--"To Gaza with Love."

Best regards,

Kenneth Mayers
Veterans for Peace - Santa Fe
Organized Locally - Recognized Nationally
Wage Peace!
www.veteransforpeace.org
www.vfp-santafe.org
****************************************************

If you possibly need more inspiration to write a card or letter, please watch this short YouTube video, "To Gaza With Love_The Audacity Of Hope", featuring Ali Abunimah, Kathleen Chalfant, Kathy Kelly, and Alice Walker: http://youtu.be/2ag4ZP4-5es.

TO SEND YOUR CARDS OR LETTERS FOR LINDA AND KEN TO THE U.S. BOAT TO GAZA, please mail them to: Letters To Gaza, 119 West 72nd Street #158, New York, New York 10023. Or email your letter to: letterstogaza@gmail.com.

Please consider writing and sending a hard copy, actual, letter or card which will be much more meaningful to Linda, Ken, all those on board The Audacity of Hope, and most especially the people of Gaza who will have a tangible message from their friends in the U.S. Please also include in your letter that you're writing from Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, or wherever you are in the U.S.

And a reminder: The Audacity of Hope sets sail the third week of June. So don't delay--write today!

After you send your letter, we'd very much appreciate it if you emailed AJVSF at kenandlindagazaletters@gmail.com so we can let Linda and Ken know. If you like, please indicate whether your letter is for Linda or Ken or both.

Beyond the Rhetoric - January 30, 2011

2011-01-12T15:38:00.013-07:00

Realities of Israeli Occupation

As international media focus on the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Bekah Wolf will describe the realities of life under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, including the real-life consequences of settlement expansion, land confiscation, and the continued presence of the Israeli military on Palestinian civilian lives. Includes slides and Q&A.

Bekah Wolf, an American Jew with Israeli citizenship originally from Santa Fe, will speak about life in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, where she has worked since 2003 and lived with her Palestinian husband since 2007. Bekah is the daughter of Temple Beth Shalom Musical Director Aaron Wolf, and co-founder of the Palestine Solidarity Project.

Sunday, January 30, 6:00 pm, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona Rd, Santa Fe, NM.

Suggested donation $10, $5 students/seniors. All proceeds to benefit the Center for Freedom and Justice, a Palestinian community development organization.

Presented by Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe.
Sponsored by: Santa Fe Veterans for Peace, Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Monthly Meeting of Friends Santa Fe.

[This is not an activity of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Please do not contact them for information.]

Update 1/28: Mary-Charlotte, host of Santa Fe Radio Café on KSFR 101.1 FM, interviewed Bekah on Thursday, January 27. A podcast of the interview can be heard here. Bekah's interview is the first podcast.

Update 2/08: Video of Bekah's talk, in two parts, can be seen online at AJVSF's Vimeo page: Part 1, the talk; and Part 2, the question and answer session.

Video, Ali Abunimah Talk - November 6, 2010

2010-11-12T08:46:00.014-07:00

Video, in three parts, of Ali Abunimah's talk and Q&A, "Palestine-Israel: Is A Just Solution Possible?", in Santa Fe on November 6, 2010, before an enthusiastic, overflow audience. Ali was introduced by Kathy Christison. [The third, last, part of the video ends abruptly because the camcorder battery died. As a result, unfortunately some very good audience questions and Ali's answers were not recorded.]

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Ali Abunimah - November 6, 2010

2010-10-08T17:10:00.015-06:00

ALI ABUNIMAH

Palestine-Israel: Is a Just Solution Possible?

Update 11/01: Abunimah was interviewed Monday, November 1 by Mary-Charlotte on Santa Fe Radio Café on KSFR 101.1 FM. A podcast of the interview can be heard here. Abunimah's interview is the second "Standard Podcast".

Abunimah will speak about the current situation in Israel and the Palestinian Occupied Territory, and if it might be the U.S. that impedes reaching a just peace. Q&A to follow.

Ali is a writer, commentator, and speaker on the Middle East, and on the Palestine-Israel crisis in particular. He is the author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse and a co-founder of The Electronic Intifada. He contributes regularly to numerous print, radio, and television news outlets, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Nation, Al Jazeera English, CNN, NPR, and Democracy Now!. Abunimah blogs on Posterous, where his Twitter feed can also be found.

Born in Washington, D.C., Abunimah spent most of his early life in the United Kingdom and Belgium before returning to the U.S. for college. His parents are both Palestinian refugees. His mother, from the village of Lifta, now part of Israel, was a victim of the 1948 expulsion of Palestinians known as the Nakba ("catastrophe"). His father is from the village of Battir, now part of the occupied West Bank, and is a former Jordanian diplomat who served as ambassador to the UN. Ali has a BA from Princeton University and an MA from the University of Chicago. He lives in Chicago.

Saturday, November 6, 7:00 pm, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona Rd., Santa Fe, NM. Suggested donation $10.

Endorsed by: Santa Fe Veterans for Peace, Santa Fe Women in Black, Santa Fe Amnesty International, Journey Santa Fe, TaHa Mosque, SF Monthly Meeting of Friends.

[This is not an activity of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation. Please do not contact them for information.]

Exile and Return - August 17, 2010

2010-08-04T16:21:00.003-06:00

Exploring a Jewish past through the Palestinian present.

Helenty Homans, a refugee of the Holocaust; her granddaughter Teresa Davis, and Danya Mustafa, a Palestinian-American will talk about their recent trip to Israel and occupied Palestine. They will focus on the shared heritage they discovered: one of exile, displacement and the search for home.

The speakers will describe the transformational experience of seeing the reality of Israel and occupied Palestine contrasted to what they had expected.

They will speak Tuesday, August 17th at 7pm at the Unitarian Church of Santa Fe. Admittance is $5 per person as a fundraiser for SF MAIA, a project to provide water purifiers to the school children of Gaza.

The flyer for this event can be viewed by clicking here.

Rally - Protest Israel's Freedom Flotilla Assault - June 9, 2010

2010-06-04T15:03:00.004-06:00

In reaction to Israel's murderous assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and US policy in support of Israel's blockade and siege of Gaza, Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe will hold a protest rally in front of the Federal Building, 120 S. Federal Place, this Wednesday, June 9, 12 noon to 1:00 pm.

A delegation will deliver a letter to Senator Udall's office demanding an end to US military aid to Israel, and urging Congressional support for ending the Israeli blockade that threatens the very survival of the 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip.

Please join us to protest Israel's brutal assault, Israel's illegal siege of Gaza, and continuing US support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians. Please join us to show your support for Palestine, for justice and for peace!

For more info please email us at: anotherjewishvoice [dot] sf [at] gmail [dot] com.

Santa Fe Maia Project - Water For Gaza

2010-06-03T15:27:00.008-06:00

In cooperation with the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA), Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe is raising funds to construct water purification and desalination units in UN elementary schools in Gaza through MECA's Maia Project. More information on the Maia Project ("maia" is Arabic for "water") is available here.

We are very pleased to be able to provide such a basic necessity as water and at the same time horrified that Israel has bombed and severely damaged the central Gaza water system and refuses to permit the building supplies into Gaza to repair it. More than 90% of Gaza's water is contaminated, unfit for human consumption, and 80% or more of Gazans do not have regular access to potable water. We recognize that New Mexico often has droughts, but the people of Gaza are thirsty. Only if we force Israel to end the blockade of Gaza will the majority of people of Gaza have drinking water and other basic necessities.

Thanks to your very generous contributions we have raised enough for THREE water units, one at the Bureij Girls Elementary School, an all girls school with 1800 students located in the Bureij Refugee Camp in the center of Gaza; another at the Khan Younis Co-ed Elementary School B with 1900 students; and a third at the Nuseirat Boy's Elementary School.

We are now raising funds for a fourth water purification unit, to continue to provide desperately needed clean drinking water to the children of Gaza. To help, please make a tax-deductible contribution by sending a check payable to MECA, designated "SF MAIA", to Jeffrey Haas, 1433 Seville Rd. Santa Fe, NM 87505.

Thank you for helping to bring clean water to the children of Palestine!

Mohammed Omer & Dahr Jamail - April 9, 2010

2010-03-29T15:53:00.003-06:00

A very special opportunity to hear from a Gazan journalist about life in Gaza and his experiences reporting from a war zone.

Welcome To Hell: Life Under Siege in Gaza

MOHAMMED OMER - Award-winning independent journalist and photographer from the Gaza Strip, and author of the Rafah Today blog. Mr. Omer was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. In 2008 he became the youngest journalist ever to be awarded the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. He was honored as "the voice of the voiceless" whose reporting constituted a "humane record of the injustice imposed on a community forgotten by much of the world." As he was traveling back to the Gaza Strip from the award ceremony in London, he was beaten and humiliated by Israeli soldiers at the Allenby Bridge border crossing. His treatment precipitated an international outcry.

Following his short film and presentation, Mohammed will be joined in conversation by:

DAHR JAMAIL - Journalist, author, frequent reporter on Democracy Now!, and co-recipient with Omer of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism: Dahr Jamail's Mideast Dispatches.

Friday, April 9, 6:30 pm, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona Rd, Santa Fe, NM. Suggested Donation $5.

Sponsored by: Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe and the Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance.

Endorsed by: Veterans for Peace, Joan Duffy Chapter, Santa Fe; and Santa Fe Women in Black.

Palestine Under Siege - March 28, 2010

2010-03-07T07:41:00.012-07:00

In conjunction and solidarity with:
- The Sixth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week March 1-14
- Rachel Corrie Remembrance Day March 16
- The Second Global BDS Day of Action March 30

Palestine Under Siege

Israeli Apartheid, International Solidarity, and Water

Barbara Lubin: Founder and Director of the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA), witness to the devastation of Gaza in January 2009, and member of the Viva Palestina Convoy to Gaza in July 2009.

Ziad Abbas: Palestinian refugee, filmmaker, journalist, and co-founder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in the Dheisheh refugee camp in Occupied Palestine.

Suggested donation $10. A benefit for MECA's Maia Project: Bringing Clean Water to the Children of Palestine.

Sunday, March 28, 7:00 pm, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona, Santa Fe, NM.

Presented by Another Jewish Voice, Santa Fe.
Endorsed by: Middle East Peace & Justice Alliance; Another Jewish Voice, Albuquerque; Veterans for Peace, Joan Duffy Chapter, Santa Fe; and Santa Fe Women in Black.

Gathering for Gaza - January 17, 2010

2009-12-21T15:45:00.009-07:00

Gathering for Gaza - the siege continues...

A benefit for the people of Gaza on the one year anniversary of the official end of Israel's all-out onslaught on innocents, featuring:

"Gaza Strip", a film by James Longley. This intense and moving cinéma vérité documentary, filmed in 2001, depicts real life and events in Gaza.

After the film, Ken Mayers, local peace activist, founder and former president of Veterans for Peace, Santa Fe, just returned from the Gaza Freedom March, will give an update on the current situation in Gaza and share his experience on the march.

Suggested donation $10, students $2. All proceeds support the Middle East Children's Alliance: Bringing Clean Water to the Children of Palestine, and Viva Palestina-US.

Sunday, January 17, 2010, 7:00 p.m., Warehouse 21, 1614 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM.

Presented by Another Jewish Voice, Santa Fe
Cosponsors: Veterans for Peace, Joan Duffy Chapter, Santa Fe; and Woman in Black, Santa Fe

Kathy and Bill Christison - August 23, 2009

2009-08-04T05:29:00.019-06:00

Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe, a grassroots organization of progressive Jews and friends, presents "Palestine in Pieces: A West Bank Slide Show" by Kathy and Bill Christison from their April-May trip to Palestine, Sunday, August 23, at the Unitarian Congregation, 107 W Barcelona.

Their new book, Palestine in Pieces: Graphic Perspectives on the Israeli Occupation, will be available for purchase. Reception at 6:30 pm. Talk and slide show, demonstrating intensifying levels of Israeli control, at 7pm, followed by discussion. $5 suggested donation gratefully accepted to support AJV's work for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel. For more info call 820-6476.

The Christisons were also on GRITtv with Laura Flanders, August 31, 2009:

"Seven Jewish Children" - The Video

2009-08-02T17:41:00.017-06:00

Video of "Seven Jewish Children" performed by members of Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe, July 12, 2009 at El Museo de Cultural, Santa Fe, New Mexico. To read the program, click here (PDF file).

Part One:

Part Two:

Still Photos From Our Performance Of "Seven Jewish Children" - July 12, 2009

2009-07-18T15:57:00.024-06:00

Click to play slideshow. Actors' names are from left to right.

"Seven Jewish Children" - July 12, 2009

2009-06-30T08:23:00.011-06:00

Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe, a grassroots organization of progressive Jews and friends, presents "Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza" by Caryl Churchill on Sunday, July 12, 7:pm, at El Museo Cultural, 1615-B Paseo De Peralta. This ten minute play, in seven segments, suggests discrete stages of Jewish/Zionist/Israeli history beginning with the Holocaust and ending with the events in Gaza in January. Directed by Maura Dhu Studi, the play is followed by a facilitated discussion. Churchill asks "that no admission fee be charged and that a collection is taken at each performance for Medical Aid for Palestinians." For more info call 820-6476.

For some background and analysis of this challenging play, read Tony Kushner's and Alisa Solomon's excellent article 'Tell Her the Truth' in The Nation.

Ellen Fox, AJVSF member and actor in the play, and Maura Dhu Studi, director, were interviewed several days before the performance on KSFR 101.1 FM by Mary-Charlotte, host of the Santa Fe Radio Café. Listen to the interview by clicking here.

Linda Durham - June 16, 2009

2009-06-23T17:52:00.007-06:00

Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe, a grassroots organization of progressive Jews and friends, presents, Linda Durham -- Back From Gaza, June 16, 7 PM, at the Unitarian Church, 107 W. Barcelona, Santa Fe, NM.

Linda Durham, a well-known, long-time, Santa Fe Gallery Owner, and "freelance cultural explorer," will share her experience as a witness traveling in Gaza with Code Pink this past March. Reception with the original harp music of Roark Barron at 7, followed by Linda’s presentation with photos and questions. $10.00 suggested donation. A fundraiser for Code Pink and the Palestine Solidarity Project.

Jimmy Johnson - May 17, 2009

2009-06-23T17:48:00.005-06:00

Jimmy Johnson of The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) spoke on the history of the Israel-Palestine "conflict" and the Occupation. An article in the Santa Fe New Mexican announced the event. And Johnson was interviewed on KSFR 101.1 FM by Mary-Charlotte, host of the Santa Fe Radio Café. Listen to the interview by clicking here.

Ziad Abbas - April 23, 2009

2009-06-23T17:30:00.004-06:00

Ziad Abbas, a Palestinian refugee and journalist from Dheisheh Refugee Camp in the West Bank, and cofounder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh, spoke on Gaza and the Right of Return. He was interviewed on KSFR 101.1 FM by Mary-Charlotte, host of the Santa Fe Radio Café. Listen to the interview by clicking here.

Announcing Another Jewish Voice, Santa Fe

2009-06-23T17:15:00.004-06:00

Jeff Haas' February 28, 2009 Op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican announcing AJVSF and our first event:

Jewish voices speak out for human rights

Jeff Haas |
2/28/2009

I am announcing the formation of Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe and urge people to join us in demanding that the United States stop supporting Israeli actions that are in violation of international law and a betrayal of Jewish humanist values. We feel a responsibility as American Jews to formulate, propose, and advocate creative new foreign policy initiatives toward Israel and Palestine.

Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe is a grassroots organization of progressive Santa Fe area Jews and friends who have come together to speak out against Israel's attacks on and the continuing blockade of Gaza, the occupation of the West Bank, the inhumane treatment of the Palestinians, and the suffering each of these causes. We speak for the many Jews who are concerned for the rights and lives of Palestinians and for all citizens of Israel and Palestine.

For years, many Jewish Americans have, because of a concern for Israel, ignored conduct by the Israeli government that, in the long run, threatens that country and makes a just peace impossible.

However, recent actions in Gaza have caused many Jewish Americans to think more deeply about Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories and toward the Palestinian people. Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe is one of many Jewish groups springing up around the United States to give voice to another viewpoint within the Jewish community.

We want to stop the unconditional military and economic support of Israel by the U.S. because it promotes the most militaristic and expansionist policies of the Israeli government.

These policies make Israel less secure and make both Israel and the U.S. more isolated from the world community. We oppose AIPAC and its allies because they encourage and support the most right-wing and militaristic Israeli policies — policies many Israelis do not support. These groups also seek to prevent the airing of views critical of Israeli policies even though these criticisms are often the subject of intense criticism in the Israeli news media.

Our first public event will be at 2:30 p.m. March 8 at the Main Public Library. We are sponsoring Rabbi Brin from Rabbis for Human Rights and Temple Nahalat Shalom in Albuquerque. She will present an interactive slide show from her recent trip to Israel and the Occupied Territories. Her presentation will be followed by a discussion of how we in the U.S. can bring about a just peace in Israel/Palestine.

We also seek to urge our representatives to take an even-handed approach in the Mideast conflict and not give carte blanche military and economic support to Israel's illegal, immoral and self-destructive policies.

Recently, we sent a letter to Sen. Jeff Bingaman thanking him for his courage and independence for being the only senator to speak out against Senate Resolution 10, which gave unqualified endorsement to Israel for its attack on Gaza. The resolution passed by a voice vote. We thanked him for acknowledging the human crisis in Gaza and the need for the U.S. to take action to end the suffering.

As I write this, we are particularly concerned with the devastation in Gaza following the Israel invasion and civilian slaughter and the continued Israel blockade of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, in the face of United Nations and world demands for relief.

To join or for more information about Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe, you can e-mail us at anotherjewishvoice [dot] sf [at] gmail [dot] com.

Jeff Haas is a civil rights lawyer who lives in Santa Fe.

Letter to Senator Bingaman On S.Res.10

2009-06-23T16:25:00.006-06:00

Below is AJVSF's letter to Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) supporting him for speaking against and not voting for S.Res.10, "A resolution recognizing the right of Israel to defend itself against attacks from Gaza and reaffirming the United States' strong support for Israel in its battle with Hamas, and supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process", passed in the US Senate by Unanimous Consent (i.e., voice vote) January 8, 2009:

Senator Jeff Bingaman
703 Hart Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

February 3, 2009

Dear Senator Bingaman,

We are writing you as Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe (a newly formed group within the Santa Fe Jewish community) to express our strong support for the position you took in your January 13, 2009 statement on the Senate floor regarding the Gaza Strip. We share your belief that the United States must begin to take a balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A continuation of knee jerk support for any action taken by Israel is not the way to peace but to continued war and destruction of both peoples. Each should be able to live in secure borders as defined by UN Resolution 242. Your expressions of concern about the need to condemn the excessive force used by Israel, along with the rocketing of civilian populations by Hamas and about the need to provide immediate humanitarian aid to the devastated people living in the Gaza Strip showed insight and leadership.

Your criticism of Senate Resolution 10, which ignored both the disproportionate response by Israel against an essentially unarmed civilian population and the suffering inflicted on that population took courage given the US political environment at this moment.

We believe your perception that the current conduct of Israel has strengthened, not weakened, Hamas, is correct. Likewise, the policy of continuing and even increasing the settlements within the West Bank ultimately has the same effect. We hope you will continue to speak out on this issue and will work towards having the Obama Administration take a position supporting the implementation of UN Resolution 242, which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian people to enjoy a secure existence within pre 1967 borders of Israel.

Please be assured that you will continue to receive support within the Jewish community for the positions you have advocated. Groups such as Another Jewish Voice, Santa Fe, are springing up around the nation, including here in New Mexico, because many members of the community are tired of our voices for peace being ignored.

Mission Statement

2009-06-23T16:08:00.006-06:00

Another Jewish Voice Santa Fe (AJVSF) is a grassroots organization in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA advocating and working for justice and peace in Palestine and Israel. We support the rights of all people to freedom of movement, to equality in law and in practice in their nation of residence, to freedom from and the right to resist military and civil occupation, and the right of all displaced persons and refugees to return to their land and homes, as recognized in international law.

To further the prospects of a just peace in Palestine-Israel, we call for an immediate end to all violence against civilians, including Israel’s illegal collective punishment and extrajudicial assassinations of Palestinians; an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and the return of all illegally expropriated lands; the immediate removal of Israel’s illegal separation wall; the immediate cessation of all illegal Israeli settlement construction; and, of special concern to us as U.S. citizens, an end to unconditional U.S. military, economic, and other aid to Israel in violation of U.S. and international law, and unconditional U.S. political support for Israel which undermines the cause of justice and peace in the region.

AJVSF’s primary activities are education and fundraising. We attempt to present to the public a diversity of voices, analyses, and opinions on the Palestine-Israel issue through lectures by invited speakers, cultural events such as plays, films, and readings, and other educational programming. Most of our educational events are fundraisers for other organizations sharing our basic principles and directly providing needed relief, support, and services to the occupied and oppressed people of Palestine. We also develop independent fundraising projects, and organize rallies and demonstrations to protest U.S. and Israeli policies and actions as the need arises. AJVSF is also actively engaged in lobbying our elected representatives on the Palestine-Israel situation.

We believe the restoration of the basic human rights and values of justice, dignity, freedom, and equality for all is necessary to achieve a just peace in Palestine-Israel. We welcome all who agree with our general principles and broad aims to join us in pursuing our various activities.