To Gaza With Love

ON WGRZ NBC

THE APPLICATION PROCESS TO SAIL ON THE U.S. BOAT TO GAZA IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO APPLIED.

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Click Here To Watch A Newly Released Video 

TO GAZA WITH LOVE

Featuring  Ali Abunimah, Kathleen Chalfant, Kathy Kelly, and Alice Walker.

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UPDATE ON NYC BOAT EVENT

A special guest, Dr. Ahmet Dogan, will be joining us for this event. Dr. Dogan is the father of Furkan Dogan, the 19 year old Turkish American killed by Israeli forces on the Mavi Mamara, one of the boats in Freedom Flotilla I bound for Gaza last year. Immediately after learning about the attack on the flotilla the organizing for the U.S. BOAT TO GAZA, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE began. 

Now it is a reality and soon we will sail.

Let us come together to hear Dr. Dogan speak about his son and honor Furkan Dogan's commitment to justice for Palestine and look forward to the launch of THE AUDACITY OF HOPE as we affirm our commitment to help end the siege of Gaza and free Palestine.

SENDING PERSONAL LETTERS TO THE PEOPLE OF GAZA

The U.S. Boat to Gaza Campaign is collecting thousands of personal letters to the people of Gaza from people like you in the U.S., in an act of friendship and solidarity. These letters will be carried as our cargo on the U.S. Boat to Gaza when it sets sail in June 2011 in the next International Freedom Flotilla "Stay Human."

The Audacity of Hope will sail as a human rights mission to help end the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. The campaign To Gaza With Love allows you and thousands of other people to take part in this effort.  To include your voice please write a letter, card or postcard and send it to:

LETTERS TO GAZA
119 West 72nd St. #158
New York, NY 10023

or

Letterstogaza@gmail.com

 

US TO GAZA | PO Box 373 | Bearsville | NY | 12409

http://ustogaza.org/about/contact-us/

Susan Marie Public Relations
This is NOT the Apple
New York USA 2010

Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra: 75th FREE Event May 22

 

Clement and Karen Arrison, the Stradivari Society and young musicians from Western New York invites the community to attend a free BPO 75th Birthday Bash on Sunday, May 22, 2011, at 2pm in the Mary Seaton Room of Kleinhans Music Hall.

Musical Performance by: Augustin Hadelich, violin* Alex Boissonnault, violin; Henri Muhammad, violin; Robert Koeing, piano; Buffalo Suzuki Strings; Muhammad School students and Trombonists Jonathan Lombardo and Jeffrey Dee of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

*Mr. Hadelich plays the 1723 Antonio Stradivari "Kiesewetter" violin

Refreshments and birthday cake will be served immediately following the concert. Event is free, but reservations are required, please call 716-242-7890.

The Birthday Bash is made possible in part by the Western New York Foundation and Dr. Bernard Kolber.

 

 

 

 Buffalo Philharmonic | 499 Franklin Street | Buffalo | NY | 14202

 www.bpo.org

For information on the 75th anniversary fundraiser dinner/performance also on May 22, please contact Robert Pape, 716-242-7805 or rpape@bpo.org. 

Spirit of Rachel Corrie Mission: Malaysia Interception: Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF)

 

0825 (Jordan Time)  16 May 2011 (Monday)

The Spirit of Rachel Corrie Mission, involving a Malaysian owned ship carrying aid for Palestine, has been intercepted and attacked by the Israeli naval forces in the Palestinian security zone this morning at 6.54 am local time. The ship’s 12 crew and passengers are safe. Currently the ship has been forced to anchor in the Egyptian waters at one and a half nautical miles from the Gazan waters.

This latest event occurred in the wake of yesterday’s sad commemoration of the ‘Nakba’ in which many lost their lives. ‘Nakba’ the Arabic word for catastrophe means “the expulsion and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948.″

The humanitarian initiative is sponsored by Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) and participating in this mission includes anti-war activists and journalists from the Asian, American and European continents.

The mission crew on the ship -- The Spirit of Rachel Corrie (officially known as FINCH)

The cargo ship The Spirit of Rachel Corrie (officially known as FINCH) is carrying 7.5 kilometers of UPVC (plastic) sewage pipes to help restore the devastated sewerage system in Gaza. The ship was named after the courageous American activist who was crushed and killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2003 while trying to prevent the demolition of another Palestinian home. She died at 23.

The Spirit of Rachel Corrie Mission is part of the Perdana Global Peace Foundation’s (PGPF) “Break the Siege on Gaza” campaign. The purpose of this campaign is to highlight the effects of the illegally imposed Israeli siege and raise awareness of the human rights violations of the people of Gaza. Breaking the siege and ending the illegal collective punishment of 1.5 million people must be a priority for the international community.

On 27 December 2008, the Israeli military launched Operation Cast Lead, which not only killed some 1400 Palestinians, but also destroyed vital infrastructure leaving the Gazans with critical water and sewage problems. Repair of the infrastructure has proved impossible as Israel has prevented the entry of construction materials and fuel to resolve this dire situation.

According to a report from the Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene group (EWASH), “the release of 80 million litres of untreated or partially treated sewage into the environment and Mediterranean Sea each day is primarily a result of the Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip.”

Gaza, one of the world’s most densely populated areas, is currently dealing with serious health issues such as the blue baby syndrome, diarrhea and other waterborne diseases like typhoid and hepatitis A. The World Health Organization is warning of a possible cholera epidemic if nothing is done rapidly to resolve this sanitation crisis.

According to Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: “Between 90% and 95% of the aquifers in the Gaza Strip are not safe for drinking.” The primary cause of the current problem originates from the destruction, during Operation Cast Lead, of “20 kilometers of water pipes, 7.5 kilometers of sewage pipes and 5,700 mobile water tanks”.

While the Gazans are experiencing the dramatic environmental impacts of the sewage and water crisis, the effects have already reached the Israeli shores, and could spread further affecting neighbouring countries. This severe health and environmental issue needs to be dealt with urgently. The international community must demand that the illegal Israeli blockade be lifted.

The Spirit of Rachel Corrie Mission stemmed from PGFP’s participation in the Freedom Flotilla in 2010, in which 9 activists were killed by Israeli commandos. Following a fact finding mission conducted in Gaza in October 2010, PGPF decided to continue its efforts to assist Palestinians and shows this project as the most immediate of all priorities.– PGPF

http://www.perdana4peace.net/

 

 

 

Susan Marie Public Relations

Think Twice Radio New York USA 2011

Join the Resistance: Fall in Love: Franklin Lopez: Buffalo: Fri May 20

via Alex Mead:

* word prophet, rapper, hip hop artist, spoken word poet, musician, 

activist and awesome human being

One day, about five years ago, I was clicking around the web looking for something and I found something else. Without really trying to I found myself watching the film, Join the Resistance: Fall in Love by Franklin Lopez.  It's probably not work safe, but it was extremely inspiring.   

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/ejem0u/join-the-resistance-fall-in-love

So I subscribed to his YouTube channel and that led me to checking in on his website fairly regularly.  Over the course of the next several years I found a lot of my ideas being heavily influenced by the film clips that he was churning out.

In 2009, I recorded a CD and asked him if he would mind me using his voice on it.  I asked my neighbor Roxanne to record a vocal piece for it also.  And I also asked my friend Leslie James Pickering, who's activism I have a deep and abiding respect for, to record a piece for my CD as well.  

At the tail end of last year, I read a post from Franklin Lopez that he was giving up his apartment, buying a van, and touring around North America to promote his new movie END:CIV which is based on the books ENDGAME I and II by Derrick Jensen.

I suggested that he should come through Buffalo and invited my neighbor Roxanne to help organize it and my friend Leslie James Pickering to do a brief presentation. Roxanne has found the perfect location for it at the Adam Mickiewicz Library, and a few weeks ago Franklin Lopez stopped here in Buffalo and did an interview with Roxanne that turned out really great.

http://www.spiritmorphstudio.com/audio/frankLopez2W-DJ-20may2011-10.28.mp3

I highly, highly --and even more highly-- recommend folks stop by the Polish Library this Friday to see Franklin Lopez present END:CIV in person.  And please help get the word out between now and then.

we would love to see you there,

  -Alex Mead

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Event Flyer:

http://sharedcalendarproject.com/images/EndCivInBuffalo.jpg

Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=214650448562754

[invite people!]

END:CIV website  

http://www.endciv.com/    

Leslie James Pickering:

http://lesliejamespickering.com/

Susan Marie Public Relations

Think Twice Radio 

New York USA 2011