Brooklyn For Peace Opposes the Cornell Technion Partnership.

Here’s Why: (Cornell Technion Partnership BFP statement, PDF):

Brooklyn For Peace supports the campaign against the partnership between Cornell and The Technion for a new applied science and engineering facility on Roosevelt Island. This campus will be a major part of the military-industrial complex in the US and Israel. The Technion is complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and attacks and siege on Gaza. This includes numerous violations of international law and human rights, including the deliberate targeting of civilians and supporting an apartheid system within Israel. The $100 million in taxpayer money that Bloomberg is turning over to this enterprise should be spent on urgent social needs like low-income housing, smaller class size, day care spaces, senior centers, and jobs.

Brooklyn For Peace would be happy to see a first-rank engineering and applied science school in New York (without ties to the military). But given the Technion’s past history of engaging in research concerning drones, and given the Obama Administration’s determination to expand worldwide the nature and scope of drone warfare, it seems highly likely that this institution will be involved with further research into drone use. This will increase the already substantial likelihood that drones will soon be produced in New York City, and very possibly used here as well. This school’s drone research will likely not just make the rest of the world less safe, but will endanger the personal security of all New Yorkers.
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Join us for a lecture with Omar Barghouti and Judith Butler:

How can BDS (Boycotts, Divestment, Sanctions) help end Israeli apartheid and the illegal occupation of Palestine?

Thursday, February 7, 2013 ~ 6:30 PM (Doors open at 6:00PM)

WHERE: CUNY Brooklyn College, 2900 Bedford Avenue New York, NY 11210, Room: TBA

**RSVP is required. Click here to RSVP.**
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WE WILL NOT BE SILENT! Wear your message on your chest!

WE WILL NOT BE SILENT is an artist/activist collective that has worked together since 2006. Through the creative use of language embodied on shirts and at times emboldened on signs held up in public spaces, WE WILL NOT BE SILENT responds to current social justice issues, encouraging creative direct public actions, where many people can participate.

Check out the text you want to wear! Choose from these and other collections: Reclaim; Greed Kills; Peace with Iran; Palestine; Tibet; Toward Liberation; and more.

Purchase your T-shirt on line at this link: wewillnotbesilent.net. You’ll be spreading the word while supporting the work of this energetic and important group.

Brooklyn For Peace, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and the Arab American Association of New York joined together to host Brooklyn Cares: A Benefit Gala on Sunday, December 2 at Widdi Hall in Brooklyn. See some select photos from the evening.

All proceeds went to support the new PCRF Pediatric Oncology Clinic in Beit Jala (in the West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories) and helped to raise awareness of the work of PCRF, AAANY, and BFP.

Dr. Ahmad Jaber, President Arab American Association was the master of ceremonies, hosting a lovely evening. Remarks were made by David Wildman, the Executive Secretary for Human Rights and Racial Justice for the United Methodist Church, and regional secretary for the Middle East and Afghanistan. He has served on the steering committee of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation for the past 12 years

Simon Shaheen, internationally acclaimed master of the oud and violin, performed. There was also a performance by Debke dancers.

Palestinian children injured by Israeli air and land attacks, as well as those suffering from cancers, usually do not have access to appropriate medical care. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund is a US-based non-profit, non-political medical charity with a 5-star rating from Charity Navigator. The PCRF has treated thousands of children in Gaza, the West Bank and refugee camps in Lebanon by bringing surgical teams to local hospitals, and has brought over 1,000 children to the US and other countries for medical care not available in their homeland. PCRF is currently building a Pediatric Oncology Clinic at Al Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala, which will allow Palestinian children with cancer to finally receive the care they need. Since most of the children have leukemia (85% remission or cure rate if properly treated), we hope to make a significant change in cancer care in Palestine.

If you would like to support the clinic and PCRF, please click here to make a donation..

For more information: pcrf.net or 908-874-5844
Learn more about the work of our Israel-Palestine Committee

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Verdict has been rendered in case of Rachel Corrie: Judge Oded Gershon’s verdict absolved Israel’s military and state of the 2003 murder of American ISM activist Rachel Corrie. Rachel was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer while protesting the demolition of a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.

Despite the American administration stating that the Israeli military investigation had not been “thorough, credible and transparent” and the Israeli government withholding key video and audio evidence, Judge Gershon found no fault in the investigation or in the conclusion that the military and state were not responsible for Rachel’s death. Judge Gershon ruled that Rachel was to blame for her own murder and classifies her non-violent attempt to prevent war crimes as proof that Rachel was not a “thinking person.” Link to the full statement.

On Thursdays since the verdict was given, we have joined to stand in solidarity with Women in Black. Please join the Women in Black Union Square Vigil on Thursday, September 6 at 14th Street and Broadway from 5:30-6:30 pm. All are welcome!

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Nikhal Pal Singh recently returned from a US scholars’ delegation to Israel and Palestine. A the 8th annual Brooklyn Peace Fair in April, he discussed his experiences with activists and scholars in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Haifa, and refugees in the Aida camp near Bethlehem. He also discussed how Justice for Palestine involves the major moral, ethical, and political questions of our time, and discuss the role of BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) against Israel in bringing justice for Palestinians.

The Brooklyn Peace Fair is a large annual event sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace.

Nickhal Pal Singh is the author of Black is a Country: Race and the unfinished struggle for Democracy (Harvard U. Press, 2004), and the Exceptional Empire: Race and War in U.S. Globalism (Harvard U. Press, forthcoming). He is an Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History at NYU.

Israel-Palestine Information and Actions

Brooklyn For Peace regularly issues Action Alerts via email. The Israel-Palestine Committee has also sponsored and co-sponsored forums relating to Israel-Palestine and supported related demonstrations.

Outreach to Decision Makers

We arrange face-to-face meetings with Brooklyn Congressmembers urging them to them to support bills which advance peace in Israel-Palestine. We also encourage members to communicate by letter, telephone, and e-mail with elected officials.

Israel-Palestine Reading Group

The Israel-Palestine Reading Group meets monthly on a weekday afternoon, see the reading list. A separate reading group meeting in the evenings will be starting in early 2009. Discussions are also held at I-P committee meetings based on recent news. Click here for information on the next meeting or email us at is.pales@brooklynpeace.org.

Ahava, an Israeli cosmetics company, is violating basic principles of international law by profiting from the occupation of Palestine.

Read about the international boycott.

All those who are members of the Park Slope Food Coop are encouraged to attend the March General Meeting to vote on the question:
Shall the Park Slope Food Co-op hold a Referendum to determine whether the Coop should take products made in Israel off its shelves until Israel complies with international law, ends the occupation of Palestinian territories, and ends its apartheid policies?

A YES vote for the REFERENDUM would insure a democratic process at the Coop on this issue, by allowing all coop members to express their opinion.
Work credit given for attending this meeting! Bring your member card.

Location: Brooklyn Technical High School, 29 Fort Green Place, Fort Greene (near downtown.)
Trains: G to Fulton; 2/3/4/5 to Nevins; B/Q/R to DeKalb

Do you have questions on this issue? E-mail is.pales@brooklynpeace.org for more information.
See BFP’s statement of support for the referendum
See our Fact Sheet on Israeli Apartheid

This delicious, organically grown oil is produced in Palestine. For sale at $20 per 750 ml bottle all proceeds support Palestinian farm families and contribute to Brooklyn For Peace.

Thanks so much to those who have ordered Olive Branch Olive Oil for themselves and friends, and in so doing have made an important contribution to the struggling Palestinian economy, as well as to Brooklyn For Peace.

Learn more about how to order.