Hidden Histories: Honoring Local Native American and Palestinian Struggles

Where: The Olympia Community Center (222 Columbia St NW, Olympia, WA) Multipurpose Room B
When: November 29, 2007, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Time: 7 p.m.Please join the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice for a film presentation and discussion looking at the expulsion of Palestinians from their land and how it relates to the local history of Native Americans. Gary Peterson, faculty at the Evergreen State College, will speak about the “hidden histories” of the indigenous inhabitants of the area, and a film will be shown about the Nakba (meaning “catastrophe”), in which over 60% of Palestinians were expelled from their land in 1948.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed by the UN on November 29th each year to focus on the lack of self-determination and sovereignty for Palestinians. On this day in 1947, the General Assembly adopted resolution 181(II), the Partition Resolution, that provided for a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State” in Palestine. Palestinians, who now number more than 8 million, still do not have sovereignty and live primarily in territories occupied by Israel since 1967 (including East Jerusalem), in Israel proper, in neighboring Arab States, and in refugee camps in the region.

This event is in conjunction with the Olympia-Rafah mural project, an effort to reveal, through art, the connections between global struggles for peace and justice, as well as to honor the efforts of all marginalized peoples to tell their stories and claim the human rights denied to them.

Questions? Please contact the Rachel Corrie Foundation at (360) 754-3998 or [email protected].

The Olympia-Rafah Mural Project is an official recognition, by the people of Olympia, Washington, of the sister city relationship that exists with the city of Rafah, Palestine. Through the act of creating a collaborative public mural, we will express our desire for Palestinian self-determination, which is rooted in honoring the common struggles for global justice faced by marginalized people everywhere. By upholding rights for all, we seek to break down barriers to understanding, increase visibility for Palestinian people, encourage imagination, embrace the hope and courage of Rachel Corrie, and bring people together in one voice for change.