Anna Baltzer's eyewitness reports
annas_peacework_palestine
What I am about to tell you is a recipe for action that has been
growing in my mind for almost a year but I've been waiting for the
right moment to put it all together. As I receive more invitations to
speak than I can even accept, as I receive requests to join the
movement all day long, I am increasingly aware that times are changing
in the United States. It may not be perceptible from any one town or
city, but as someone who travels from place to place, the overall
trend is clear: Americans are more and more skeptical of US foreign
policy in the Middle East and increasingly sympathetic towards the
plight of the Palestinians.
It's not just in the big liberal cities--it's in the smallest Midwestern towns, it's on conservative
southern ranches--it's everywhere. In every corner of the country,
there is a middle-aged couple who just came back from Bethlehem or a
soldier who just came back from Iraq who is outraged. We have reached
a critical mass.
The trouble is, change in popular opinion doesn't automatically effect
a change in reality. For many years the majority of Americans opposed
George W. Bush and his war on Iraq, but until only recently the
majority's frustration was in vain. People would throw up their hands
with disgust at the nightly news--just as they may today watching the
carnage in Gaza--but they were most often too disillusioned or
disempowered to change what they saw. Then Obama stepped into the picture.
The significance of Obama's campaign and subsequent victory cannot be
overstated. Obama tapped into the critical mass of disillusioned
citizens who were either passive or seperately active, and focused
them all into one powerful voice that could not be ignored. He found a
way that everyone, no matter who they were, could actively participate
in the process and contribute (even if only symbolically with one
dollar--it was still a personal investment in the cause). The trouble
before Obama's campaign was not that public consciousness for change
lacked numbers or even money; the problem was that it lacked
organization.
I believe the same can be said about the US movement for justice in
Palestine today. People are anxious to see change, but many take no
action and those who do often act separately. The middle-aged couple
does a presentation for their church; the Iraq veteran talks to
whoever will listen; the musicians make hip-hop; the artists paint
murals; the labor unions put out joint statements; the ordinary
citizen writes a letter to the editor or to congress; the community
groups demonstrate or vigil; the organizers put on educational events;
the mosques host fundraisers; the teachers talk to their students; the
college students work on divestment resolutions; the high school
students join facebook clubs...
Many of course do more than one of these things. They are all valuable
to the movement, and are much of what accounts for the change in US
public opinion, the physical sustenance of the Palestinian people
(with financial contributions, especially to Gaza), and the noticable
discomfort of Israel (following boycott and divestment efforts). We
will--we must--continue to do all of these things. My particular niche
has been educational, I plan to continue and expand by founding a new
organization later this Spring called Witness in Action, which will
facilitate the training of new speakers, placing them to inform
communities, and then helping enthusiastic audience members find their
place in the movement (more about Witness in Action later this year).
As an educator, I believe my greatest failure has been leaving
audiences moved and enthusiastic but not necessarily clear on their
next step. I always provide a list of ideas for getting involved, but
I only recently realized how overwhelming and unrealistic the options
are for most audience members. As much as I wish they would, the
average high-school student, senior citizen, or anyone in between is
not going to organize an effective divestment campaign. Most won't--or
can't--visit Palestine, give talks, or donate significant funds. What
is needed is something every single person can do, no matter how
little experience, time, or money they have.
I found my answer in the Five for Palestine campaign organized by the
American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights (AAPER). The
campaign proposes five very simple and accessible steps that by
themselves don't amount to much, but if every single person who cares
about this issue did them we could change the course of history. The
five steps are as follows:
1. Learn about AAPER at www.americansforpal estine.org
You've already started by reading this email. Now visit the website.
2. Sign up for the campaign at www.fiveforpalestin e.org
You'll have to enter your zipcode so you'll be immediately placed with
others in your elected officials' consituencies.
3. Contact your elected representatives 5 times during the year.
Most of the contacting can be done quickly via the Five for Palestine
website, which will ensure that your letters are grouped with others
in the same constituency, giving them much greater impact than if you
sent them alone.
4. Contribute $5 per month to the campaign to help it grow.
Once there are a few hundred members in a constituency, the campaign
can hire a local organizer. Once there are a few hundred more, it can
hire lobbyists on Capitol Hill.
5. Find 5 others to join the campaign too.
This shouldn't be too difficult for most people on this list who know
at least a handful of people involved in the movement.
Again, the issue isn't numbers--it' s organization. We have the people,
and we could have the financial sustainability, but we lack the
infrastructure for a fast-growing and effective campaign to unify us
and make our diverse voices resonate as one. I think AAPER has
provided that infrastructure and with enough dedication we could be
every bit as effective as the Zionist lobby currently maintaining the
status quo, in fact even more. We are not talking about a top-down
change that begins with Congress or even Obama--this is a bottom-up
grassroots campaign through which we will assert--not request--the
change that needs to happen.
So will we continue to boycott?--Of course we will! It's what
Palestinians have asked of us, and it is applying necessary pressure
on Israel to comply with international law. Will we continue to
demonstrate? --Heck yeah! But we will compliment all of those things
with a solid presence and pressure on Capitol Hill that represents our
growing numbers.
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THE LATEST:
In addition to learning about AAPER at www.americansforpalestine.org
and joining Five for Palestine, here is AAPER's latest outreach effort
(I've paraphrased a bit --Anna). You'll notice AAPER's tactics are
largely based on the Obama campaign's successes utilizing internet
social networking and promotion:
Dear Friends:
With the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the AAPER Foundation
initiates a public letter calling for the dawn of a new era in U.S.
policy toward Israel and Palestine. The letter is neither a symbolic
gesture nor a desperate plea, but a Statement of Principles for an
American Movement for Palestinian Rights in which we will ask every
signatory to participate. As such, it is also an organizing document
through which we will identify, inspire and invite the American people
to join us. Our objective is to obtain the signatures of 100,000
Americans in President Obama's first 100 days in office and, together,
begin to change the course of history.
We ask each of you to take just 5 minutes to read, sign, and, most
importantly, forward this letter to your family, friends, neighbors
and fellow citizens: www.aaper.org/ obamaletter
In addition, we ask each of you who uses Facebook to take just 5
minutes to take the following three simple actions:
1) Join our Facebook Group
(http://www.facebook.com/pages/AAPER-Foundation/31138263216) and
invite your friends to join;
2) Add our Facebook Application
(http://apps.facebook.com/americaforpalestine) and invite your friends
to add it;
3) Donate your Facebook status for at least 3 days to read -- "Donate
your status! President Obama: We, the American People, Seek a New
U.S. Policy Toward Palestine! Sign the letter at
www.aaper.org/ obamaletter."
100,000 signatures in 100 days. Change begins with you.
Sincerely,
AAPER Foundation
www.americansforpalestine.org
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