Please watch and share this very important interview. Palestine will be free. #Nakba70 #Nakba #FreePalestine
Jewish Voice for Peace
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Hello folks! Here you can watch the first part of the author talk that took place at WESPAC on Saturday, May 12th with Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa and moderated by Felice Gelman discussing Susan's book "Mornings in Jenin". Thank you to Howard Horowitz for helping with transportation and to Marina Guvenc and her mother for serving as the main sponsors and for providing the delicious food: ... See MoreSee Less
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The Universality of Persecution
By Marina Guvenc
As a little girl I was often overwhelmed with the sad stories my mother shared with me about her life in the Soviet Union. She spoke a lot about how it felt to be ostracized, persecuted and even physically assaulted for being Jewish.
When I was 4 years old my parents and I came to the United States as Jewish Refugees. While I never experienced anti-Semitism myself, I grew up with a strong impression of what that was like for my parents and their parents. My maternal grandmother watched with her own eyes how her family was executed in their backyard during WW2.
“Never Again” are words that are imprinted in me. Never again should any group of people be dehumanized, made to suffer for generations while the world looks the other way. This is why my heart breaks for what the Palestinian people have faced and still endure at the hands of Israel. My mother asks me “How could the same people who suffered so much, now hurt others in that same way?”
On May 14, 2018 marks 70 years since The Nakba –– the catastrophe where the Palestinian people were literally terrorized and driven out of their homes. For weeks the people of Gaza have been holding demonstrations in several sites where Gaza meets the Israeli barrier. The demonstrators have no weapons. They have gathered there in camps with their entire families. They are protesting because they deserve to be treated humanely. They have a right to food, water and electricity –– all of which they have been deprived intentionally by Israel as a form of collective punishment.
They are denied their right to travel to see their families outside of Gaza in other parts of Occupied Palestine. Yasir Murtaja, a Press Photographer from Gaza who was clearly wearing a vest labeled ‘PRESS’ was shot to death by Israeli snipers several weeks ago. He was a kind hearted young father and husband. He wrote on Facebook once, “My name is Yasir Martaja. I live in Gaza City. I’ve never traveled.” Like most people in Gaza he has never left the 140 square mile, open air prison. Since then over 40 people like Yasir have been killed, and an estimated 3,000 seriously wounded.
As a WESPAC Foundation Board Member I am honored to announce that this Saturday May 12th at 4PM at WESPAC (77 Tarrytown Road, Suite 2W, White Plains NY) we will commemorate The Nakba with a book reading and talk from Susan Abulhawa, author of the critically acclaimed novel “Mornings in Jenin.” Through the novel we gain an understanding of the resilience that allows us to survive a terrible history and emerge with our humanity intact. I hope you will read this remarkable story and let it into your heart. Join us on Saturday as we come together to listen, share and be the change we want to see in the world.
About WESPAC Foundation
WESPAC has been a leading force for progressive social change in Westchester County, New York, since 1974. We have been educating, agitating and organizing for a more just and peaceful world, an end to militarism and racism and a more fair economy that works for all. Our members are currently involved with food justice work, anti-fracking/anti-nuclear and pro-safe energy, solidarity with Indigenous Peoples, an end to militarism and drone warfare and a just resolution to the Israel/Palestine conflict ... See MoreSee Less
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