[act-ma] Nov. 11: all day conference to mark the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, roots of Israel/Palestine conflict

[Duncan McFarland]

A conference to mark the *100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration:*
*BALFOUR's LEGACY: CONFRONTING THE CONSEQUENCES*

When:    *Saturday, November 11, 2017, 8 AM to 6 PM*

Where:  First Parish in Cambridge,  3 Church Street in the heart of Harvard
Square

What:    Panels, workshops and a keynote by *Yousef Munayyer,* Executive
Director, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.  Suggested donation at the door $10 (or
more).  Lunch $5.

The Balfour Declaration committed Britain to the establishment of a
'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine without consulting the
indigenous population.  The conference will explore the consequences of
this British commitment, and how we in the US can push for a just
resolution of a century-old conflict with equal rights for Israelis and
Palestinians.

For a description of the conference, and the list of speakers and
co-sponsors, see www.waterjusticeinpalestine.org/blog, the Alliance for
Water Justice in Palestine Facebook page (if you are on Facebook, please
share it!) and the flyer below.  For more information:
waterjusticeinpalestine at gmail.com


*The aims of the conference*

Zionism took various forms when it emerged in the 19th century as a
response to a vicious and pervasive anti-Semitism and the example of
European nationalism.   This conference will focus on ‘political Zionism’
as a settler colonial movement and Palestinian resistance to it.   It will
highlight an historical record that rarely receives public attention, and
examine its repercussions today.

In the words of *Rami Khouri*, the distinguished Palestinian commentator
who will be speaking at the conference, “The Balfour Declaration captures
all the negative dynamics that have plagued the Arab world and parts of the
non-Arab Middle East for the past century -- colonial interventions that
displace indigenous people from their ancestral homeland, foreign political
manipulations that reconfigure our lands and borders without consulting our
people, and decision-making on the basis of the best interests of foreign
capitals rather than local people. Balfour's century-long aftermath has
made Palestine's usurped rights a constant source of radicalization and
destabilization in the Middle East.”

Conference aims are to bring fresh thinking to US foreign policy, and to
energize a push for peace with justice in the region, with equal rights for
Israelis and Palestinians.

*The program*

Conference speakers will examine how the Zionist Project was implemented in
historic Palestine, and consider its long-term consequences for
Palestinians, world Jewry, the United States, the United Nations and
international law.

Following an afternoon keynote address by *Yousef Munayyer*, the executive
director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, panels will focus on
the potential for connecting struggles to build power and the challenges
and opportunities of organizing for Palestinian rights in the Age of Trump.


Action-oriented workshops will develop many of the themes laid out by
panelists:  building solidarity campaigns, anti-BDS legislation and how to
get involved in changing US policy, the future of Zionism, campus
organizing and Israel’s water wars.

*The plenary speakers and workshop presenters*

Thomas Abowd, Tufts University
Susan Akram, Boston University Law School
Leila Aruri, UMass Amherst Students for Justice in Palestine
Elsa Auerbach, Jewish Voice for Peace -Boston
Nidal al-Azraq, 1for3.org

Ari Belathar, Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston
Nadia Ben-Youssef, USA Representative, Adalah
Amahl Bishara, Tufts University
Anat Biletzki, Quinnipiac University
Gabriel Camacho, Project Voice, AFSC
Lawrence Davidson, West Chester University
Sara Driscoll, The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Leila Farsakh, UMass Boston

Dalia Fuleihan, Boston University School of Law
Jude Glaubman, The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Camila Hussein-Shannan, Boston Teacher Residency
Rami Khouri, Journalist, American University of Beirut and the Harvard
Kennedy School
Jeff Klein, Massachusetts Peace Action
Yousef Munayyer,  US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
Mahtowin Munro, United American Indians of New England
Nancy Murray, The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Hilary Rantisi, Harvard Kennedy School
Eleanor Roffman, Professor Emerita, Lesley University
Eve Spangler, Boston College
Tom Suárez, Author
Carl Williams, Attorney, National Lawyers Guild

*Co-sponsors (list in formation)*

1for3.org, AFSC Peace & Economic Security Program, Alliance for a Secular &
Democratic South Asia, Arabic Hour, Andala Coffee House, Arlington Street
Church Social Action Committee, Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights,
Boston University SJP, Cambridge to Bethlehem People to People Project,
Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine, First Baptist Church of Jamaica
Plain, Friends of Mada al-Carmel,  Friends of Sabeel – New England,
Grassroots International, Jewish Voice for Peace - Boston, Harvard Law
School Justice for Palestine, Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine,
Massachusetts Peace Action, Middle East Education Group at First Parish in
Cambridge, National Lawyers Guild-MA, Palestine Caucus at Harvard Kennedy
School, Palestinian House of New England, North Shore Coalition for Peace &
Justice, The City School, Tree of Life Educational Fund,  Tufts University
Students for Justice in Palestine, UMass Amherst SJP, Unitarian
Universalists for Justice in the Middle East - MA chapter, Unitarian
Universalist MA Action Network, United for Justice with Peace, Watertown
Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment, Western Massachusetts
CodePink, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, Young
Abolitionists.