- There are a number of ongoing BDS campaigns nationwide in which supporters of equal rights for Palestinians can become involved. Locally, the Rachel Corrie Foundation actively defends and supports the gains of the Olympia Food Co-op, which in 2010 became the first grocery store in the U.S. to implement a full boycott of Israeli products. We also support the boycott of and divestment from Caterpillar Inc., and efforts by religious communities like the United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to boycott and divest from Caterpillar Inc. and other companies profiting from the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. RCF is also committed to fighting against anti-BDS legislation in the United States, which are measures to squelch free speech and advocacy for Palestinian equal rights.
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ACT NOW Support Methodist Divestment!
From April 24-May 4, the United Methodist Church’s top legislative body, the General Conference, will meet in Tampa, Florida and address the proposed resolution “Aligning United Methodist Church Investments with Resolutions on Israel/Palestine.” The resolution supports prompt divestment from Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola (cited as companies that perpetuate the Israeli occupation – which Methodists are on record opposing). The resolution further proposes engagement with similarly implicated companies, followed by divestment should they refuse to change their policies. Nine hundred and eighty-eight Methodists (lay and clergy delegates) will attend the conference to set policy and direction for the church. Every four years, the General Conference, with delegates from around the world, revises The Book of Resolutions, “a volume declaring the church’s stance on a variety of social justice issues.” The book contains more than 300 such resolutions.
This event is only ten days away.
Time to act is now!
Help in these ways:
1) As an individual, read and endorse the resolution here.
2) Act to have your organization read and endorse the resolution here.
3) If you participate in services provided by the UMC General Board of Pension & Health Benefits, read and sign the petition here.
4) If you are Palestinian and support church divestment, click here to sign this letter written by Palestinian Christians but open for signature by all Palestinians.
5) Lend help reaching out to voting delegates and commissioners by emailing to us at [email protected].
For background on the major Methodist and Presbyterian votes on divestment this year, see info from the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. A victory in either of these campaigns would be a major step forward for divestment in the U.S., empowering other institutions to take similar steps.
Verdict in Corrie Lawsuit Postponed
MEDIA ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – APRIL 9, 2012
(Olympia, WA USA – April 9, 2012) – The announcement of a verdict in the civil lawsuit against the State of Israel for the killing of peace activist Rachel Corrie, which was scheduled for late April, has been postponed due to delays in the filing of closing arguments. A new verdict date has not yet been scheduled by the court, but is likely to be months away. […]
Download: Verdict in Corrie Lawsuit Postponed (3884 downloads ) , Verdict in Corrie Lawsuit Postponed (3616 downloads ) , Verdict in Corrie Lawsuit Postponed (3673 downloads )
Memorial of Rachel Corrie in Rafah
On Sunday 19th March, We travelled to Rafah area of Gaza to remember Rachel , whose 9th Anniversary fell on March 16th. Rachel was a 23-year-old American peace activist from Olympia, Washington, who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on 16 March 2003, while undertaking nonviolent direct action to protect the home of a Palestinian family from demolition. We first attended an olive planting ceremony attended by Palestinian schoolchildren and organised by the Ministry of Sport and Youth. A speech was read by Nathan, on behalf of the International Solidarity Movement which included excerpts from Rachel’s letters home in which she portrayed her admiration and love of the Palestinian people. The school children sang song’s and held up posters of Rachel and messages of solidarity.
» Click here to see photos by Jeff Bright from the event…
In the afternoon, we went to the Rachel Corrie Children’s Centre, also in Rafah.
After Rachel’s untimely death in March 2003, the Union of Health Work Committees named their clinic and children’s center after her. The Children’s Center is dedicated to building relationships between the isolated children and youth in Rafah and their peers in other countries.
Urge the National Building Museum to Rescind the Award to Caterpillar Inc.
As we build our list of petition signatures, help us today to tell the National Building Museum and the Turner Prize jury how many of us are concerned. Copy and paste our sample email template (below) or send your own email message for Mr. Chase Rynd, Executive Director of the National Building Museum ([email protected]). Tell Mr. Rynd why you cannot support this award to Caterpillar Inc..
We advise you to send the letter to the public email address of Chase W. Rynd ([email protected]), Executive Director at the National Building Museum.
Sample Letter
Dear Mr. Rynd and Turner Prize Jurors:
Thank you for your recent decision to cancel the public award ceremony where Caterpillar Inc. was scheduled to receive the 2011 Henry C. Turner Prize. Although this is a great first step it does not address the critical issue of the National Building Museum selecting an organization complicit in human rights abuses to receive the award. I respectfully urge you to listen to the voices of the 5,300 people and over 55 organizations who have signed the petition urging you to reconsider your decision.
For decades, Caterpillar Inc. has supplied equipment to the Israeli government that is used in a pattern of human rights abuses and violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The equipment continues to be used to demolish the homes of Palestinian civilians, to destroy olive groves and farmland, and to construct a separation/annexation wall and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank that expropriate Palestinian territory. International and Palestinian civilians have been killed and injured in these illegal and immoral actions, committed by the Israeli military with Caterpillar equipment.
Individuals, human rights organizations, and the United Nations have put Caterpillar Inc. on notice about the use of its equipment by the Israeli Government in Palestine. Yet, Caterpillar’s sales to Israel continue. The company’s business practices in this matter and its ongoing complicity in egregious policies do not equate with the stated principles of the Henry C. Turner Prize or with the values of the National Building Museum. In seeming to break with the intent of the prize by giving it to a multinational corporation, you have made an unfortunate choice in Caterpillar Inc.
I can appreciate Caterpillar’s technological innovation, but I am not willing to blind myself to the damage perpetrated against the Palestinian people under the Caterpillar name. I ask those at the National Building Museum to open your eyes to the death and destruction that Caterpillar Inc. has facilitated through its continuing sales to Israel. Please do not use the Henry C. Turner Prize to congratulate participation in human rights violations. I respectfully ask that you rescind this award to Caterpillar Inc. immediately.
Sincerely,
_______
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