This is a list of local and on-line souces for fair trade products.
WESPAC has exquisite hand embroidered items from the Sulafa Women’s Embroidery Cooperative in the Gaza Strip, including cushion covers, bag, shawl, ornaments. Please consider supporting these women who are the breadwinners of their families. We also have some Fair trade black and green tea, hand painted ceramic bowls and social justice calendars. I’m happy to ship items to you – please see attached:
FYI:December 3, 2018, at the White Plains Public Library, NY (100 Martine Avenue) at 7 pm important information about the GREEN LIGHT campaign-DRIVING LICENSES FOR IMMIGRANTS IN NEW YORK.
PLEASE JOIN US!
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Diciembre 3, 2018, en la Librería Pública de White Plains, NY (100 Martine Avenue) a las 7 pm importante información acerca de la campaña LUZ VERDE-LICENCIAS DE CONDUCIR PARA INMIGRANTES EN NEW YORK.
LOS ESPERAMOS!
Dear Friends and Members of WESPAC,
I write to tell you of an extraordinary opportunity to help WESPAC. As many of you know, WESPAC has been exploring different options for improving our financial independence so we can assure the continuation and expansion of our own programming, and support for our community partners, into the future.
From now through the end of this year, you can help WESPAC grow its investment fund beyond the value of your own gift. A very generous supporter has agreed to match any gift to WESPAC's investment fund of cash, stock, mutual funds or bonds up to a total of $5,000 by December 31, 2018. The value of a gift of stock to WESPAC is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by the law (please consult your tax advisor), and there may be other benefits as well including possible capital gains tax savings that your advisor can confirm with you. This contribution to WESPAC offers you the opportunity to release stocks that are not aligned with our social justice values so that WESPAC can sell them and re-invest in sustainable impact investing.
One simple way to make a charitable gift of securities is to direct a transfer from your IRA to WESPAC. You can count a transfer to a charity toward your required minimum withdrawal. There are other options as well. If you are interested in making such a gift but unsure how to proceed, please contact the WESPAC office at [email protected] or by calling 914.449.6514 and we can connect you with our investment advisor.
Thank you for considering this unique opportunity to help WESPAC. Only by building our financial sustainability now can we guarantee support for the social justice struggles that lie ahead.
For the WESPAC Board of Directors,
Natalie Kabasakalian
Statement of Solidarity on the Anniversary of Kristallnacht
by Howard Horowitz, member of the WESPAC Foundation Board
Tonight, we will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Great Pogrom, which the Nazis euphemistically dubbed ‘the Night of Crystal’ – Kristallnacht. This anniversary comes at a moment in history when anti-Semitism is still prevalent, and we are still plagued by evil and hatred (Rabbi Josh Weinberg).
At WESPAC Foundation we remember Kristallnacht and the Holocaust with a message of “solidarity” with all those struggling for justice in these dark times. Solidarity is uplifting, meaningful and a call to action. In our thinking about this, let me share with you an excerpt from a post by Robert Herbst of Larchmont, a civil rights lawyer, a peace and justice activist and who identifies as Jewish:
"In the wake of Pittsburgh, there is no Jewish future in turning inward, either physically, spiritually, or politically, here in the United States, or in the Middle East. The insecurities of the nation and world we have made and live in since the Second World War are widely shared by all except those who have accumulated the money and power to escape them. Rather than locking ourselves away, it is to the Others we must turn – white, black and brown, Christian and Muslim, poor, working and middle class – if we are to have any hope of Tikkun Olam."
There is an urgent and immediate need for a statement of solidarity. Echoing Charlottesville, there are those among us already muddying the waters claiming “there are bad guys on all sides—left and right.” We reject anti-Semitism in all its forms and expressions wherever and by whomever it is expressed. What happened at Tree of Life is Trump-supported, right wing white nationalism, plain and simple. It has nothing to do with left or anyone else and certainly not anywhere in the struggle for justice in Palestine.
Our struggles are bound up with the many communities facing violence and oppression during these dark times, and we call your attention to just a few of the statements of solidarity that are so needed as we commemorate Kristallnacht.
inthesetimes.com/article/21531/tree-of-life-synagogue-antisemitism-white-supremacy-solidarity-pit...
www.democracynow.org/2018/10/29/rabbi_trump_gop_have_blood_on
palestinelegal.org/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-statement
jewishvoiceforpeace.org/
inthesetimes.com
Our struggles are bound up with the many communities facing violence and oppression during these dark times.WESPAC raised $900 for Yemen Aid this evening. Thank you, Tali, and to all who came out!
Drone Quilt Project now on display at WESPAC
Many thanks to retired U.S, Navy Veteran Leah Bolger who has been coordinating the Drone Quilt Project in the United States for several years now. The idea for a Drones Quilt came from women in the UK who started the project as a way to memorialize the victims of U.S. combat drones. The idea is to collectively create a piece of artwork which connects the names of activists with those killed. The names humanize the victims and point out the connectivity between human beings. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, only about 20% of the drone victims have been identified, so there are many victims whose names are not known. Additionally, Pashtun culture prohibits the release of an adult woman’s name as they consider that an invasion of her privacy, so there are hundreds of women’s names which may never be known to us. We remember these unnamed victims with quilt blocks that say “Anonymous,” “Unnamed Woman,” “Unnamed Man,” or “Unnamed Child.” The important thing to remember is that each victim was a human being, with hopes, dreams, plans, friends and family. We hope that the Drones Quilt Project will help us remember that we are all the same – we are not worth more, and they are not worth less. We all have value. dronesquiltproject.wordpress.com/about/ These quilts will be on display at WESPAC for several weeks and have come with information posters and a folder where we can learn more about the project. Thank you, Leah!
dronesquiltproject.wordpress.com
The idea for a Drones Quilt came from some women in the UK who started the project as a way to memorialize the victims of U.S. combat drones. We believed that there were lots of anti-drone activis…
