**********CALL TO ACTION**********

***************PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY***************

Blessings Community! We hope our words find you in good health and spirits! As you may all know Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine have been fighting to uphold Senate Bill 118A, calling for divestment from two companies that support the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.

SJP is calling on all supporters to

join us in a DIRECT ACTION!

What: Silent Direct Action!
When: Wednesday April 14, 2010 at 11:30am-2:30pm
Where: Sproul Plaza University California Berkeley

How:

Please Respect the following wishes from SJP Berkeley:

1. Please do not bring any outside literature or fliers for other groups and organizations you may be affiliated with.
2. Please do not engage in any debate or argument with the organizations, student groups, or individuals that will try and engage and antagonize you (they will be there for the very purpose of provoking us we do not want to engage them for any reason!)
3. We ask that you please remain SILENT.
4. We ask that you find one of the three SJP members Dina Omar, Gazi Mahmud, or Mahaliyah Ayla O and they will instruct you when you show up to Sproul at 11:30am

Sincerely in Struggle,

CAL SJP

*As special thanks to the Middle East Children Alliance, Jewish Voices for Peace and the Arab Resource and Organizing Center

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In Commemoration of Palestinian Political Prisoners Day

& In Support of the UC Berkeley Divestment from Israel Resolution Join us:

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

6:30 PM

UC Berkeley Boalt Hall 105

Palestinian Political Prisoners in the Context of Colonial Occupation

& Resistance, Displacement and the Struggle Against Israeli Apartheid

Speakers:

Lena Meari: belongs to a Palestinian refugee family from Al-Birweh village which was destroyed in 1948. Born and raised in Haifa and later worked and lived in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Graduated and worked in the Institute of Women Studies at Birzeit University. Currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at the University of California- Davis. Conducted her research on the interrogation encounter between Palestinian political activists and the shabak.

Ziad Abbas: a Palestinian refugee from Dheisheh Refugee camp in the West Bank. He is the cofounder of the Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh where he served as Co-Director from 1994 to 2008. Ziad is also a journalist who has worked with Palestinian and international media and has participated in the production of several documentary films. He recently completed his Master of Arts in Social Justice in Intercultural Relations from the School for International Training Graduate Institute. Ziad is the Associate Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance in Berkeley.

Following the event we will be attending the UC Berkeley Senate meeting where they will vote on the Divestment Resolution.  We encourage all to attend and support the efforts the Students for Justice in Palestine.

Sponsored By:

Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), Al-Juzoor, Al-Awda SF, Bay Area Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid, Free Palestine Alliance, Middle East Children’s Alliance, Muslim Student Association – Berkeley, Palestine Youth Network (PYN), Students for Justice in Palestine – Berkeley, Sunbula: Arab Feminists for Change, US Palestine Community Network (USPCN), Voices of Middle East and North Africa-KPFA

For more info:  www.freepalestinianprisoners.com

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ASUC Senate Debate on Divestment: Round II
Wednesday 4/14/2010  7th floor Eshleman Hall UC Berkeley

This Wednesday night you have a chance to stand up for universal human rights standards and to object to Cal’s profiting from war crimes and occupation. Following the veto by the ASUC President’s of a 16-4 vote in the student senate in support of the “UC Divestment from War Crimes” bill, there will be a vote to override the veto this Wednesday night starting at 7:00 PM on the seventh floor of Eshleman Hall. The bill calls for the removal of ASUC and UC investments in companies that supply the Israeli government with weaponry used to commit violations of international law, human rights law, and, in the judgment of the UN, war crimes. It also establishes an ASUC committee to look into a comprehensive divestment policy targeting companies that enable war crimes throughout the world. Come speak and show your support.

The previous debate lasted till 3AM, so be prepared.

Information on the original debate and full text of the bill:

http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/03/uc-berkeley-student-senate-passes-divestment-resolution.html

Letter of Support by Archbishop Desmond Tutu:

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april112010/desmond-tutu-dt.php

Statement of support from internationally best-selling author, journalist, and cultural critic Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and the Shock Doctrine:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-klein/open-letter-to-berkeley-s_b_520328.html

Where: 7th floor of Eshleman Hall, (near Bancroft and Telegraph), UC Berkeley