Invite Friends on Facebook Here!

This year, the University of Washington Commencement speaker is Jon Huntsman. Best known these days for being a Republican presidential hopeful in the 2012 elections, he also holds a prominent position as a board member of Caterpillar Inc.

UW students, faculty, and community members including the family of Rachel Corrie are concerned about CAT’s involvement in the Israeli occupation of Palestine. In 2003, Rachel Corrie, a nonviolent human rights activist and observer, and Washington State resident, was killed by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer operated by an Israeli soldier as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip. We are urging Huntsman to use his position to end sales of CAT bulldozers to Israel.

Join us at Commencement on Saturday, June 15th starting at noon and help us educate the UW community about CAT. If you are interested in volunteering please email info@rachelcorriefoundation.org.

If you are a graduate, alum, faculty member, or guest attending commencement, join us in urging Huntsman to do the right thing by standing in solidarity with Palestinians.

Print out and hold up this poster during Huntsman’s speech and/or post a photo of yourself in cap and gown holding the poster to the SUPER-UW tumblr: www.superuw.tumblr.com, to twitter with the tag #uwCATfree, or email them to dyzoeojs9uoba@tumblr.com

Finally, help us on social media by re-tweeting us (hashtag uwCATfree and sharing this event on facebook. Tell your friends to help get CAT out of Palestine!

Congratulations to the UW graduating class of 2013! We – your fellow students, faculty, alumni, and members of the greater Seattle community – write to recognize your achievement but, also, to share with you and with commencement speaker, Jon Huntsman, our serious concerns about Mr. Huntsman’s connection to Caterpillar Inc. and to human rights abuses in Palestine/Israel.

The University of Washington has invited Jon Huntsman to give the Commencement keynote address that will set the tone for graduates’ first steps into their post-university lives. We know Mr. Huntsman most recently as one of the 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls. But in addition to a long and prestigious career in American politics, Jon Huntsman serves on the board of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), an American firm that manufactures and distributes bulldozers and civil engineering tools. The CAT logo has become ubiquitous on most construction sites around the country. Most students are not familiar with CAT bulldozers that are part of the daily lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

For decades, CAT has sold specially militarized equipment to the Government of Israel used in the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes, the death and injury of unarmed Palestinian and international civilians, the uprooting of olive trees and destruction of agricultural land, and the expropriation of Palestinian territory through the construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements and a separation-annexation wall. Amnesty International, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch have all reported on and denounced Israel’s breaches of international humanitarian law and CAT’s complicity in human rights violations. The CAT brand and its bulldozers have become a symbol of destruction in Palestine.

CAT’s responses to this overwhelming evidence have been inadequate and contrary to its own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct. CEO Doug Oberhelman has said, “How our customers use [the bulldozers] is their business. We can’t stop them.” But CAT designs the bulldozers to be weaponized. CAT has a choice. The corporation has a moral and legal responsibility to cease sales of CAT equipment used in a clear pattern of human rights abuses by the Israeli government and military.

In 2003, Rachel Corrie, a nonviolent human rights activist and observer, and Washington State resident, was killed by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer (operated by an Israeli soldier) as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip. A student at The Evergreen State College, Rachel did not live to attend her own graduation in June 2003. Numerous Palestinian civilians have also been killed when their homes were collapsed upon them by D9s. So, on the occasion of this UW Commencement, we ask both Mr. Huntsman and the graduating class to address the continuing harm caused by Caterpillar’s machines in Palestine.

We request that Jon Huntsman meet with UW representatives and the Corrie family to learn about the concerns of the Washington State and UW communities and to convey these to fellow Caterpillar Inc. board members. We are eager to share the profound impact the company could have by suspending sales to the Israeli military—implementing due diligence in their sales to any customer, until guarantees are received that their equipment will not be used to violate international law or commit human rights abuses.

To the Class of 2013 Graduates, again, our congratulations! Please use this momentous occasion in your lives to join us in encouraging Jon Huntsman to do the right thing! For more information on how to help, go to www.superuw.org. Find us on twitter at #uwCATfree.

Sources:
News on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Report, 2004: Link Here.
Amnesty International Report, 2004: Link Here.
Human Rights Watch Report, 2010: Link Here.
The Presbyterian Church USA Mission Responsibility Through Investing (MRTI)Committee Report, 2011: Link Here.

Signed,

1. Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER UW)
2. The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
3. Rabbi Alana Alpert
4. Amnesty International, UW
5. BDS-LA for Justice in Palestine
6. Boycott from Within, Israeli citizens for BDS
7. Chico Palestine Action Group
8. Cindy & Craig Corrie
9. CodePink, Seattle
10. CodePink, Taos
11. Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
12. Community & Middle East Peace Builders, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Washington
13. Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice, Tennessee
14. Fellowship of Reconciliation, USA
15. Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
16. For a Democratic University, UW
17. Friends of Sabeel, North America
18. 14 Friends of Palestine
19. Free Palestine Movement, Northern California
20. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
21. Grassroots International
22. Tim Harris, Founder of Real Change
23. Hilton Head for Peace, Hilton Head, South Carolina
24. Rabbi Margaret Holub 
25. Interfaith Peace-Builders, Washington, DC
26. Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, USA
27. International Solidarity Movement, Northern California
28. Jewish Voice for Peace, National
29. Jewish Voice for Peace, Seattle
30. Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland
31. Jewish Voice for Peace, Tacoma
32. Lutherans For Justice in the Holy Land, Central Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon
33. MidEast JustPeace, Traverse City, Michigan
34. Mideast Solidarity Project, Olympia
35. Rabbi David Mivasair
36. Monica Mendoza Castrejon, External Chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MEChA UW), Class of 2015
37. Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility, United Church of Christ, Tennessee
38. New Profile, Israel
39. New Yorkers Against the Cornell-Technion Partnership (NYACT)
40. The Northwest Regional BDS Coalition
41. Olympia BDS
42. The Palestine Concerns Task Force, Seattle
43. The Palestine-Israel Working Group of Nevada County, California
44. Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
45. Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Seattle
46. Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
47. TESC Divest, The Evergreen State College
48. United Methodist Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel of the Upper New York Conference
49. University of Denver Students for Justice in Palestine
50. Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
51. UW International Socialist Organization
52. Vancouver for Peace, Vancouver, Washington
53. Voices for Palestine, Seattle
54. Rabbi Alissa Wise
55. Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation

Faculty:

1. Philip L. Bereano, Emeritus professor, College of Engineering
2. Dan Berger, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
3. David Citrin, Department of Anthropology
4. Rachel R. Chapman, Department of Anthropology
5. Eva Cherniavsky, Department of English
6. Kate Cummings, Department of English
7. Karam Dana, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
8. James Barrett DeLong, School of Social Work
9. Raya Fidel, The Information School
10. Abraham D. Flaxman, Department of Global Health
11. Tom Foster, Department of English
12. Amy Hagopian, Global Health & Department of Health Sciences
13. Tracy W. Harachi, School of Social Work and Dept. of Global Health
14. Gillian Harkins, Department of English
15. Michael Honey, Haley Professor of Humanities, UW Tacoma
16. Moon-Ho Jung, Department of History
17. Aaron Katz, Health Services and Global Health School of Public Health
18. Danuta (Danka) Kasprzyk, Department of Global Health
19. Steve Leigh, Fiscal Specialist, Dept. of Biostatistics
20. Jamie Mayerfeld, Department of Political Science
21. Mary Anne Mercer, Departments of Global Health and Health Services
22. Diane M. Morrison, Director of Social Welfare Doctoral Program University of Washington School of Social Work
23. Devon G. Peña, 2013 NACCS Scholar, American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, Program on the Environment
24. Michael Vicente Perez, Department of Anthropology
25. Chandan Reddy, Department of English
26. Sonnet Retman, American Ethnic Studies
27. Laurie Sears, Department of History
28. Clarence Spigner, School of Public Health
29. Sundar Srinivasan, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; Mechanical Engineering
30. Helene Starks, Department of Bioethics and Humanities
31. Amoshaun Toft, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
32. Jonathan Warren, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
33. Scott Winn, School of Social Work
34. Robert Wood, Atmospheric Sciences

Alumni:

1. Danielle Abbott, MSW, Class of 2005
2. Linda Bevis, JD School of Law, MA International Studies, Class of 1990; MA of Education, Class of 1996
3. Jean Darsie, BS Mathematics, Class of 1960
4. Selma Al-Aswad Dillsi, MSW, Class of 2010
5. Stefanie Fox, MA Public Health, Class of 2007
6. Aditya Ganapathiraju, BA Psychology; BA Philosophy, Dean’s Medalist in Social Sciences, Class of 2010
7. Naomi Goldenson, MS Atmospheric Sciences, Class of 2012
8. Geraldine Haynes, BS Nursing, 1964
9. Sarah Hartzell, MSW, Class of 2010
10. Shima Houshyar, BA Political Science and French, Class of 2011
11. Hanady Kader, BA Political Science, Class of 2007
12. Susan Koppelman, MSW, Class of 2005
13. Marc Krasnowsky, BA English, Class of 2001
14. Zarah Kushner, DNP 2012, MN 2010
15. Eden Lord, MSW, Class of 2011
16. Gita Mehrotra, PhD Social Welfare, Class of 2012
17. Vicky Kathleen Morris, MA English, 1970
18. Lawrence Mosqueda, MA Political Science, Class of 1973
19. Nathaniel Shara, MSW, Class of 2008
20. Wendy Somerson, PhD English, Class of 1999
21. Meghan Storms, MSW, Class of 2011
22. Yecelica Jaime Valdivia, BA with College Honors Anthropology; BA with College
    Honors Women Studies, Class of 2009
23. Tiffany Woelfel, BS Psychology; BA Spanish, Class of 2004
24. Sylas Wright, MSW, Class of 2013

Join us Thursday, June 13th, 7:00 pm, at Traditions Café, 300 5th Avenue SW, in downtown Olympia, for a conversation with Amani and Gaza update! The event is free to the public. Donations to support the Rachel Corrie Foundation’s numerous current Gaza projects are welcomed!

Amani is a 25-year-old English-language tutor and educator who works in Gaza with both elementary school and young adult learners. In 2011, she served as a translator and teaching assistant for GCE members in Gaza to build connections between Corvallis and Palestinian youth. In summer 2012, Amani spent several weeks in Corvallis to connect directly with that community’s youth through the Boys and Girls Clubs. In Olympia, she captivated hosts and community members alike with her energy, warmth, and insights into life in Gaza. Don’t miss this special opportunity to reconnect with Amani Inshasi, a delightful friend from the Gaza Strip.

For further information contact the Rachel Corrie Foundation at (360) 754-3998.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The BBC has admitted that a reference it made to Israeli soldiers dying on the same day US activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza was not ‘duly accurate’. No Israeli soldiers were killed on that day.

The claim was made by veteran BBC presenter, Martha Kearney, on BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, on the day an Israeli court ruled that Israel was not to blame for Corrie’s death.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has been lobbying the BBC for seven months, since the broadcast in August 2012, to extract an admission that Kearney’s false claim constituted a breach of the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines on Accuracy.

During a segment dealing with the court ruling on 28th August, Kearney interviewed the Israeli government spokesperson, Mark Regev, to ask for his views on the case.

In the course of the interview, she said to him: ‘Clearly Rachel Corrie was one of the casualties of what happened that day – and I know Israeli soldiers died too’.

She concluded her sentence with a question: ‘But has this meant there’s a re-think of the policy of what was happening at that time – bulldozing Palestinian houses?’

PSC objected on the grounds that Kearney’s statement was false and on the additional grounds that the presenter seemed to be implying conflict ‘that day’ between Corrie – an unarmed civilian protestor – and the Israeli army which had resulted in armed Israeli soldiers being killed.

The organisation, which campaigns for justice and self-determination for the Palestinian people, said this amounted to a breach of the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines, in particular:

‘The BBC must not knowingly and materially mislead its audiences. We should not distort known facts, present inverted material as fact or otherwise undermine our audiences’ trust in our content.’

Today, the BBC Trust ruled that there had been no breach of the guidelines. In its decision, published on the BBC website, the Trust acknowledged that Kearney’s question ‘was poorly phrased and therefore gave a false impression’. However, the Trust added that ‘there was no evidence to support the assertion that the audience were knowingly misled.’

The Trust also said Kearney’s question ‘had not been duly accurate; the BBC should have apologised and this had been done at Stage One.’

In an online apology printed in September 2012, the BBC continued to defend Kearney, saying: ‘Two Israeli soldiers were killed in the previous week.’ However, neither of those soldiers were killed in Gaza, but died in the West Bank, and their deaths were entirely unrelated to Corrie and her actions on 16th March 2003, the day she was killed.

In the course of seven months of correspondence, the BBC repeatedly said Kearney was right to mention the non-existent deaths of Israeli soldiers as this provided ‘context for the incident’ and for the ‘overall situation’. When questioned on why Kearney hadn’t mentioned Palestinians being killed, including Palestinian children killed on the same day Corrie was killed, the BBC said:

‘The fact that other [Palestinian] deaths occurred on the same day as hers is incidental to that topic, and I therefore don’t agree that the omission of that information rendered the report inaccurate or misleading.’

Amena Saleem, of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: ‘The hypocrisy of the BBC is breathtaking. In the same breath it is saying that Kearney’s fabrication of the deaths of Israeli soldiers on the day Rachel Corrie was killed provides ‘context’ for what happened, but to mention the deaths of Palestinians, including children, who were actually killed on that day is irrelevant.’

Saleem added: ‘While the BBC has admitted that one of its star presenters was not ‘duly accurate’ when she claimed to know that Israeli soldiers died on the same day as Corrie, it cannot just come out and say she was wrong and shouldn’t have said this at all. For seven months, the BBC has done its utmost to justify Kearney’s false statement and has made itself look ridiculous in the process.’

In total, 11 complainants took the case to the BBC Trust. Saleem said she hoped this would show the BBC that it could not take its misreporting lightly. She added: ‘In the week Rachel Corrie was killed, 27 Palestinians, including seven children, were killed by Israeli forces. If you listened to the World at One on 28th August 2012, you would think Rachel Corrie and some Israeli soldiers were killed in related incidents. You would be completely misinformed, and you would have no idea of the scale of the slaughter by Israel against the Palestinians. This, unfortunately, is par for the course with BBC reporting on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.’

March 30, 2013, marks the 37th annual commemoration of Land Day in Palestine when in 1976 Israeli military forces killed six Palestinians and wounded and arrested hundreds more during what began as nonviolent demonstrations. Protests in several Palestinian villages were in opposition to the Israeli government’s announcement of a plan to expropriate several thousand acres of land to build new settlements.  Land Day has more recently become an international day of protest through Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS).  Each year, people around the world join in solidarity actions targeting companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements.

We hope you will help us commemorate Land Day by educating about the Israeli company SodaStream that produces at home beverage carbonation systems.   We know you’ve heard about SodaStream, but did you know that the company is located on occupied Palestinian land in an illegal settlement, in violation of international law? Your local SodaStream distributor might not know either!  Follow this link for a template of a letter you can send or deliver  to stores near you asking them to stop selling SodaStream products in your community!

For those in the Seattle area March 30th, come out and join our friends and partners at Palestine Solidarity Committee-Seattle (PSC) for an afternoon of music, dance, and BDS action beginning at 1 pm at Westlake Park at 4th and Pine. Click here for more details. In other places, create your own gathering to creatively carry the word about SodaStream to local businesses supporting the settlement enterprise and Israeli occupation.

For more information about Land Day follow these links:
Press TV-Land Day
BDS Movement- Land Day

The Rachel Corrie Foundation for peace and justice fully endorses the 2005 Palestinian civil society call for BDS.  We continue to increase our BDS efforts locally, nationally, and internationally. If you are interested in getting involved, please let us know! Send inquiries to amirah@rachelcorriefoundation.org.

Reem Kelani will provide an authoritative, captivating introduction to music of the Arab uprisings drawn from her experiences in Tahrir Square during the 2011 Egyptian revolution, with short demonstrations of song accompanied by jazz pianist Bruno Heinen. The singer’s debut album “Sprinting Gazelle: Palestinian songs from the Motherland and the Diaspora” gained worldwide acclaim for musical excellence and intellectual integrity.

“Her voice combines the poignancy of Billie Holiday with the glass-busting power of Aretha Franklin ” – Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, The Independent

She currently studies and records the music of Egyptian composer Sayyid Darwish (1892-1923), “the father of contemporary Arabic music.” Her profile in the Arab and non-Arab world continues to grow, all the more to her credit as an unsigned artist who has preserved her independence – musically, spiritually and politically. For the past decade, Kelani has worked with the best of British jazz musicians, introducing them to and training them in Arabic music. She has toured extensively in the UK and internationally, and brought musicians together on international tours, extending her UK based line-up to include performers from Syria, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Portugal. Kelani is back in Washington five years after her residency at Seattle International Children’s Festival. She will also perform April 12th at Seattle’s Town Hall.

“Palestinian singer Reem Kelani was a new name in my world, but the woman was so endearing I’ll never forget her.” – Gary Bannister, Artistic director, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle

Tickets: $15, Student/low income: $10
Traditions Café and World Folk Art
300 5th Avenue SW, Olympia, WA 98501
360-705-2819

http://reemkelani.com/
http://www.traditionsfairtrade.com/pages/tradhome.html?../events/index.php~Content

This event is cosponsored by the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.