Meet Schachaf Polakow and learn about Israeli action against apartheid and occupation

LEARN ABOUT “ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL” in OLYMPIA on FEBRUARY 10
Most U.S. citizens do not know that at least 700 Israelis have been arrested since the Israeli attack on Gaza Dec. 27. Come listen to an account by one of them in Olympia.

Shachaf Polokow is on a North American speaking tour, talking about the actions of Israelis and Palestinians working together against the occupation and raise funds for the legal defense of members of Anarchists Against the Wall.

VITALS: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH > 12 NOON ON THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE > CAMPUS, SEMINAR II D1105 > 7PM AT TRADITIONS CAFÉ 300 5TH AVENUE SW, DOWNTOWN OLYMPIA.

Polokow will discuss the work of Anarchists Against the Wall and his own experiences in solidarity with Palestinians in villages in the West Bank. Find out what you haven’t seen on the news, that scores of Israelis are opposing the annexation of Palestinian land, the wall being built on Palestinian land, settlement expansion and more.

Anarchists Against the Wall was established in 2003 in response to Israel’s construction of the Separation Wall on Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank. Activity began with a four-month protest tent in Mas’ha, where the wall was to leave 96% of the Palestinian village’s land on the Israeli side. AATW continues to work with Palestinians in joint popular struggle throughout the West Bank. Efforts are coordinated through local Palestinian villages’popular committees and are essentially Palestinian led.

Anarchists Against the Wall is a direct action group that fights against Israeli apartheid and oppression in all its forms, most recently also the atrocities in Gaza. For five years the group has waged a constant struggle against Israel’s Wall. The work on the ground in the West Bank, alongside the Palestinian popular movement is breaking new ground in the joint struggle for Palestinian liberation. In December 2008, Anarchists Against the Wall and the Bil’in Village Committee were jointly awarded the prestigious Carl von Ossietzky Medal—an award given annually by the Berlin-based International League of Human Rights, named after German Nobel Peace Prize winner Carl von Ossietzky who died in a Nazi concentration camp.

Anarchists Against the Wall believe it their duty as Israeli citizens to resist immoral policies and actions carried out in their name.

“We believe that it is possible to do more than demonstrate inside Israel or participate in humanitarian relief actions. Israeli apartheid and occupation isn’t going to end by itself – it will end when it becomes ungovernable and unmanageable. It is time to physically oppose the bulldozers, the army and the occupation.”

Under occupation law, people are indicted for simply participating in demonstrations and AATW activists are faced with mounting legal expenses to cover defense in Israeli courts. Donations in the evening are suggested to help meet legal costs for Palestinians and Israelis arrested in the course of non-violent protests against the Separation Wall being built on Palestinian land.

Sponsored at Evergreen by Students Educating Students About the Middle East, OMJP and Political Economy of the Media.

Sponsored at Traditions Cafe by OMJP and the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.

Co-sponsors include: American Friends Service Committee, American Jews for a Just Peace-Seattle, Palestinian Solidarity Committee – Seattle, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace-Seattle, and International Socialist Organization-Seattle.