Reportback from Israel Apartheid Week 2011, at UH

This is a little late (only about a year) but we look to get the report back from 2012 up soon.

For Israel Apartheid week, SDS hosted four different events to raise awareness of apartheid and other human rights violations in Palestine/Israel and the ongoing occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory.

Dabke Flash Mob

The first was our Dabke flash mob. We had over half a dozen dancers, and handed out over 200 fliers, using the attention that our flash-mob got. While the University community didn’t take as much notice as they could have, we had a reporter from the Jewish Herald Voice (a local, pro-Israel, Jewish community newspaper) watching us, and the event was even covered in an Israeli publication.

A video of the Flash Mob:

Haretz (Israeli publication) bizarre coverage: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/what-does-israeli-apartheid-week-actually-achieve-1.347807

Slingshot Hip-Hop film Screening

We hosted a Screening of Slingshot Hip-Hop at the Sedition Bookstore. From their website, the film is about:

Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.

Panel Discussion on Feminism Under Occupation

We filled up our room and had a very enlightening discussion on Women and Feminism under the Occupation ( and Apartheid )

Viva Palestina Concert

We hosted a concert featuring Palestinian musicians Sabreena Da Witch, two members of P.R. the Palestinian Rapperz (AKA the Palestinian Resistaance) and our member and local spoken work and a Hip-Hop artist Kamil Khan. We had a good turnout of between 50 and 80 people with many passers by at Lynn Euson Park and were able to get the message out through music.

Israel Apartheid Week 2012, This Week!

Occupy Houston this Thursday!

Inspired by the movement to Occupy Wall Street in New York and the wave of similar occupations around the country, SDS will be joining the rest of the radical Houston community this Thursday (Oct. 6 2011) for Occupy Houston.

The march will be at 9am, but the occupation will last at least the whole day.

Learn more: http://occupyhouston.org/    http://www.facebook.com/OccupyHouston

SDS Preliminary Meeting

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that SDS will be having a preliminary meeting. We want to see what you guys are most interested in working on this semester!

WHEN: Thursday September 1st, 5 pm
WHERE: UC top floor, red couches

This is not our regular meeting time. If you can’t make it to this, please email sdsuhtx@gmail.com and let us know what time works better for you. Then we will decide on a time that is most convenient for everyone. So no excuses!! lol

See you guys soon! 🙂

Support the KPFT BDS Campaign

Many SDS members have been working with The KPFT BDS ad hoc committee since January. Thanks to US Campaign to end the Israeli Occupation for helping to get the word out!

Students from new US Campaign member group the University of Houston Students for a Democratic Society have joined with other Houston activists to campaign for Houston-based Pacifica Radio station KPFT to endorse the Palestinian-led campaign for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS).

Students from new US Campaign member group the University of Houston Students for a Democratic Society have joined with other Houston activists to campaign for Houston-based Pacifica Radio station KPFT to endorse the Palestinian-led campaign for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS).

An ad-hoc KPFT BDS Committee of station listeners and members originally formed in response to KPFT’s giving air-time to “Voice of Peace,” a show promoting Israel historically produced by the Israeli Government. KPFT is a listener-supported radio station with a mission to promote peace and social justice. Airing this programming was a clear violation of the BDS call. The ad-hoc committee of concerned individuals sees BDS as “the fullest action to address the current situation and prevent pro-colonial propaganda in the future.”

The committee put together this petition– All are encouraged to sign!!

For a list of KPFT-affiliate signers, click here.

SDS Alumni Travels to Palestine

UH SDS alumni Rob Block traveled to Palestine and Israel this summer as part of the Health and Human Rights Project Delegation, a project of American Jews for a Just Peace.

He will be blogging about the experience here on our blog. Below is some of the video taken on the trip.

Tour of Nablus Palestine

Students, Faculty and Community members from the West Bank city of Nablus gave a tour of the old city, including the cemetery, to a North American Delegation in June of 2011.

Eitan Bronstein of Zochrot: Learning the Nakba as a condition for peace and reconciliation

Part 2 | The Right of Return is our chance for Peace
Zochrot is an Israeli organization that raises awareness about the Nakba (“catastrophe” of 1948) primarily within Jewish Israeli communities. They lead tours to destroyed and depopulated Palestinian villages and support Palestinian refugees to symbolically reclaim their land by placing signs with the villages’ original names. Zochrot is one of the only Israeli organizations to actively support the Palestinian right of return.

Omar Barghouti Speaking about BDS to a delegation in Ramallah

Part 2 | Part 3
On June 29th 2011 Omar Barghouti met with a delegation from the United States and Spoke about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.

July 8th 2011 Demonstration in Bi’lin against the wall

From the July 8th Demonstration against the Seperation wall. We marched from the village, past where the old wall was recently removed to the wall of the settlement of Modi’in. Member of the Popular Committee in Bi’lin addresses international activists. This is the second week in which the wall had been removed (http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=398774) based on a 2007 court decision on the wall.

Shireen Al-Araj of the Al-Walaja Popular Committee Against the Wall

On July 1st 2011, Shireen Al-Araj of the Popular Committee Against the Wall spoke with a delegation from the USA about the struggle against the apartheid wall and enclosure of their village of 2,300 people.

The village of al-Walaja sits between Beit Jala and Jerusalem next to the settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, both of which have been built on historic al-Walaja land. Recently, Israel has started to construct a portion of its separation wall on al-Walaja’s land. The wall will completely surround the village leaving only one entrance to be controlled by an Israeli military checkpoint.

May Day 2011 (International Workers Day)

Fliers to download

MayDaygeneral

Israel Apartheid Week 2011 March 7th to March 22nd

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. The aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement. Last year, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) took place in more than 40 cities across the globe.

SDS strives to amplify the voices that have been silenced by blockades, travel restrictions and racism to show that Palestinians continue to persevere despite the oppressive system they face. We support the peaceful popular resistance movements that demand self determination, equality and respect from the Israeli government. Until the Israeli government respects human rights, the right of return and other international laws, and ends their apartheid policies we will continue the struggle in solidarity with the Palestinian people. We strongly oppose government funding to the Israeli government or any other government that commits crimes against humanity and we are working towards implementing BDS policies in Houston.

So this year, Houston will host IAW once again! Scroll down for our list of events:

March 7th – Dabke Flashmob
Butler Plaza in front of MD Anderson Library
11 am – 1 pm

We’re going to meet and dance dabke at 11, 11:20, 11:50, 12:20, and 12:50. This is a great way to get people’s attention, hand out information on BDS and the Palestine issue, and have fun! Come out and bring your friends for the dance party!!

March 10th – Movie Screening of Slingshot Hip Hop
Sedition Books, 901 Richmond Avenue, Houston, TX 77006
7 pm

Movie screening of Slingshot Hip Hop. Here’s the trailer:

March 21st – Women’s Panel on Feminism Under Occupation
MD Anderson Library, Honors College, 212L
7 pm

Sabreena Da Witch (Palestinian hip hop artist) will come speak on a panel of women activists about feminism in Israel/Palestine and how occupation and war have affected women and their rights.
Co-sponsored by the Student Feminist Organization

March 22nd – Viva Palestine Outdoor Concert
Lynn Eusan Park (behind the Hilton hotel, right in front of Cougar Village dorms)
4 pm – 6 pm

Sabreena Da Witch, Mohammad Al-Farrah, and many more musicians will be coming to perform at UH! Free food, nice weather, and awesome music!

IAW2011handbill [PDF] | Facebook Event for IAW | Israeli Apartheid Week International Website

This Thursday: Reportback on Resistance Movements in Arizona

This Thursday (Feb. 24) from 5-7pm in the UC San Jacinto Room, Houston activist RoB will be reporting back on his experiences joining the protesters and organizers resisting the implementation of SB 1070 in AZ. The controversial bill SB 1070 has caused outrage for encouraging racial profiling, excessively targeting non-criminal immigrants, being harmful to immigrant and minority communities and giving local police the responsibility to enforce federal immigration policies. Not only is this …law inherently racist, it hurts all of Arizona’s residents by increasing police budgets, increasing funding for private prisons, and changing the priorities of police to target non-violent minorities rather than violent criminals.

A large resistance movement has formed in response to these racist policies and Rob will be sharing stories about what people are doing to resist.

This event is especially important right now due to the copy-cat legislation being proposed by the far right in our own state of Texas. Educated people need to unite against these attacks on minorities and migrants to build safer communities and to oppose racist and xenophobic agendas. Let’s stop Texas from being the next Arizona!

On current laws being proposed: http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2010/11/71569_comment.php#71673

On shifting federal immigration responsibilities to local police: http://www.justicestrategies.org/publications/2009/local-democracy-ice-why-state-and-local-governments-have-no-business-federal-immig

Contact SDS at sdsuhtx@gmail.com or call Marie at 832-474-5536 for questions or directions.

Report on the Teach-in

The Teach-in on Revolution featuring Dr. Hosam Aboul-Ela from UH, Dr. Ussama Makdisi from Rice, and Dr. Nivien Saleh from University of St. Thomas was a complete success! Thanks to the speakers who gave us their time and knowledge, the audience for asking such great questions and being so attentive, and the SDS members who made this happen. You are all amazing!

Dr. Hosam Aboul-Ela spoke about the different organizations and movements responsible for the revolution in Egypt. He clarified many points on the causes of the uprising, and explained that it was not a sudden outburst but a series of events that had culminated into dissent and eventually reached their tipping point.

Dr. Ussama Makdisi spoke about the American response to the events in the Middle East, particularly Egypt. He spoke on the history of US intervention and the prospect of democracy in the Arab world. Dr. Makdisi explained that American intervention has proven unhelpful in the region and damaging to our interests.

Dr. Nivien Saleh spoke on the question of whether facebook and other forms of social media “sparked” the revolution, as certain media outlets have claimed. She explained that although information technology is helpful for these movements, this industry was historically controlled by the Egyptian regime. Essentially, Dr. Saleh proved that “technology does not liberate people; people liberate people.”

The question and answer session that followed was focused and informative. We apologize for the few who did not get to ask a question because we ran out of time. We also apologize for the space. Since more than 80 people showed up, it was a little hard fitting into that room! We’ll try our best to get a bigger area for our upcoming events.

For those of you who enjoyed the event, or for those who missed the event and would like to learn more, please come to our meetings Tuesday at 5 in the UC Palo Duro room (top floor of the UC). With your help, we can keep these important events happening at UH.