In honor of Palestine’s Land Day and as a part of the Global BDS Day of Action, I got to work with some fabulous activists to organize a flash-mob here in Chicago.  This was a tough, but very energizing – and successful – project.  Though I can’t dance to save my life, I enjoyed re-writing the lyrics to the Jackson Five’s “ABC” and organizing our media strategy. Our video got over 2,000 hits in the first 24 hours and has now been watched over 13,000 times.   Enjoy and keep sharing!

Chicago Activists Mark Palestinian Land Day with Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Flash-Mob

“BDS” song available for download: http://vocalo.org/blogs/archive/201103/boycott-divestment-and-sanctions-jacks…

On March 30th at 5 pm, a group of social justice activists held a “flash-mob” in downtown Chicago. The demonstration was organized as one of hundreds of demonstrations held around the world to mark the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Global Day of Action, an annual event designed to call attention to the movement to boycott the apartheid policies of Israel. Demonstrators performed a choreographed dance to an original song called “BDS,” a parody of “ABC” by the Jackson Five.

“In the lyrics to our song, we sing ‘apartheid and ethnic cleansing go on in Palestine every day, but without the help of you and your money, the occupation will go away.’ While the struggle to end Israel’s apartheid policies is not an easy one, it’s true that we in the United States can support justice and peace by refusing to support companies and institutions that support Israel and its occupation of Palestine,” said Joy Ellison, an activist with Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago (PSG-Chicago). “We hope that this flash mob empowers our community to stand up against apartheid and challenges Chicago businesses and institutions that are actively supporting the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

Before this performance at “The Bean,” the flash mob was held outside of Chicago Cultural Center, home of the Chicago Sister Cities International office. For the last two years, activists with PSG-Chicago have pressured the city of Chicago to end its relationship with its Israeli sister city, Petach Tikva. Petach Tikva, an officially segregated city, is the first Jewish-only settlement in historic Palestine and the site of the primary detention center where Israeli forces abuse and torture Palestinian political prisoners. Human Rights group Amnesty International dubbed Petach Tikva “Israel’s Guantanamo.”

For more information, go the website of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) at http://www.bdsmovement.net

Today I got some very exciting news.  I won first prize in the Americans for Democratic Action “What would Martin Do?” essay contest.   I’m really thrilled for two reasons.  First, the prize money is going to help to fund costs related to finishing Tuwani: The Graphic Novel.  But second, I would really love to see the ideas in this essay gain a wider audience.  It’s below, if you’d like to take a look.

Beyond Iraq:

Martin and the Revolution in Values

If Martin Luther King, Jr. could visit our country this January, he would see a nation much changed and yet the same. Imagine King catching a bus in downtown Montgomery. Perhaps he would select a seat in the front, next to someone tired from a long day’s work for little pay. Through the bus window, he might see dilapidated schools and foreclosed homes. If he were to open up a newspaper, he would read of another war with no end in sight. If King returned to this country of sweet promise and bitter disappointment, he would once again take up the struggle of the poor. King would organize against the interlocking evils of racism, militarism, and poverty.  And he would invite us to join him.

In the 43 years since King’s death, we have not fulfilled his dream of equality. Poverty is rising. Health care is out of reach for too many Americans while our military budget grows. Ours is a political landscape that King understood all too well.

In his speech Beyond Vietnam, King decried the way the war on poverty was abandoned for the war on communism. Today we still choose fighter jets over unemployment benefits.  The soldiers who fight and die in our army are still overwhelming our nation’s poor. If he were here today, King would say again, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

King cried out for the poor of Vietnam recounting American’s role in their history. “We have destroyed their two most cherished institutions: the family and the village,” he said. “We have supported the enemies of the peasants of Saigon.” Today, King would similarly mourn the poor people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He would point out that we once supported the Taliban, the mujaheddin, and Saddam Hussein – over the protests of Iraqis and Afghanis. We remain the enemy of the poor in Iraq and Afghanistan and everywhere our government supports the rights of corporations over the rights of poor people.

King wrote, “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” But that world revolution is still alive today and brings hope even to our country.

In Iraq, Afghanistan, America, and around the world, millions of poor people are building a nonviolent movement for a peaceful, just future.  We should not need to Dr. King to entreat us to join the right side of the world revolution. The poor are calling us to join them. Just as King heeded their call, may we see their cause as ours.

Thanks to your support, the At-Tuwani Women’s Cooperative tour was a tremendous success!  Over 7 days, Keifah and her husband spoke with approximately 600 people in seven cities and raised over 1,000 euros for the Women’s Cooperative.  Keifah also built connections with members of the Italian peace organization Pax Cristi and several women’s organizations. We are excited to see what new opportunities these relationships bring to At-Tuwani.

Keifah spoke about the development of the At-Tuwani women’s cooperative and its work to support women and children and resist the Israeli military occupation of Palestine.  She described how the women’s cooperative started with 7 women and faced the objections of men in the village. Now, the women’s cooperative has 38 members and supports women’s education and organizes a summer camp.  “We want our children to know that life isn’t just filled with violence, that there are good things in life too.”  Keifah also spoke about how women were able to build the clinic in the day time and face down the Israeli military  in the village’s struggle to get electricity.  She also invited people to become involved in their work – to work together for a world free from oppression.

Keifah’s husband spoke about his experiences as a prisoner inside Israeli jails.  He spoke about how easily Palestinians can be arrested for nothing more than grazing their sheep and his experience of violence in jail.  Nasser also echoed Keifah’s call to work for peace.  He spoke about how the prophets of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all had the same message of peace.  It was extremely moving to listen to Keifah and her husband’s stories of resistance and hope.

We want to thank everyone how made this tour trip possible!



This blog is, in case you couldn’t tell, under construction.   Things are still a little messy, but I hope that you will come back and visit again when all of my “i” are dotted and my hash tags closed.